Reborn during the early days of China’s reform and opening, the narrator finds himself in the 1980s countryside. In this setting, the past is still a cold reference, yet it is also a fresh start....
Lu Wu had already gathered everyone to Xia Qiulong's house. There were people inside and outside the house, and the atmosphere was as warm as boiling water.
Wan Feng first traded the clothes he brought with Xia Qiulong, and then started to put away the electronic watch.
"I may not come here often before the New Year, mainly because I have too many things to do. Please prepare as much as you want. Come and tell me the number. I am in a hurry to go back."
"I'll give you 100." Yu Hongchui shouted.
Yu Hongchui's shout startled Wan Feng. He thought that a thousand electronic watches would be enough, but he didn't expect that Yu Hongchui would only take one-tenth of them.
That won't work.
Wan Feng squinted at him and said, "Second brother, I only brought a thousand of them. If you take them, ten of us will be wiped out. What do you think of the rest of us?"
"Ah! That's too much. Let's start with fifty." Yu Hongchui threw down a stack of money.
This is a piece of loose wholesale so there is naturally no discount price. It's 15 yuan each, not a penny less.
Wan Feng quickly counted out fifty watches and gave them to Yu Hongchui, hoping that he could sell all of them in the first year.
Then you bought thirty and he bought fifty, and all the thousand electronic watches were sold out quickly. Wan Feng also collected 15,000 yuan, and his pockets were full of money.
If you count the 5,000 yuan that Zhang Xian earned from the 500 watches yesterday, the 20,000 yuan he invested in purchasing this batch of goods has been recovered, and he still has 2,000 electronic watches and a bunch of tape recorder accessories left at home, which are all profits.
The ten tape recorders he brought were all bought by these young people, and they were planning to reward themselves for the New Year.
The main reason is that they have money. If they don’t have money, it would be useless to ask for rewards.
"Don't expect me to come on the 5th, 38th, or 49th day of the lunar calendar. If I come again, it will definitely be on the 16th or 27th day of the lunar calendar. The next time I come, I might be on the 12th day of the twelfth lunar month."
Xia Qiulong was anxious: "Brother, it's been so long, what are you going to do with your sister-in-law's clothes?"
"You'll have to find a way to get it yourself. I'm currently selling couplets with my classmates at the market, trying to make some money for them to celebrate the New Year."
"Selling couplets? How much money can you make in a day?" Tang Xielin immediately became interested.
Ever since Wan Feng brought them electronic watches that brought sunshine into their lives, he has been interested in studying every business that Wan Feng does.
"I make a little over ten cents selling a set of couplets, so I can make two or three dollars a day."
"Damn! There are so few, it's boring." Tang Xielin's interest only lasted for a few seconds.
They make twenty or thirty dollars from selling a watch, so how could they be interested in making two or three dollars a day? People are spoiled, and their appetites are spoiled that way.
"I have to go back. It will be dark soon."
Wan Feng went out and drove a tractor to the People's Bank of China, where he deposited some money.
Damn, having too much money is a hassle. He doesn't dare to deposit large amounts. He only dares to deposit 500 at a time, for fear that depositing tens of thousands at once will scare the other party.
If it's just a scare, it's not a big deal. But if you meet someone with a stupid brain and they report it to the police, that would be a big trouble. After all, the transactions he is doing are not allowed by national laws.
In 1981, apart from Huang Xinwen, who was known to the public as a millionaire, there was no other millionaire reported by the media.
Wan Feng doesn't want to be the second person known to the world.
I deposited 500 yuan in the People's Bank of China, then 500 yuan in the Agricultural Bank of China, and finally 500 yuan in the China Construction Bank. As for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was there an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 1981?
He already had a handful of certificates of deposit like this, but the denominations were no more than ten thousand.
The remaining money was locked in a box and became working capital, but this working capital seemed a bit too much?
All the money was locked in a box. Anyone who saw this box would be scared to death.
Are you considering buying a safe?
Wan Feng quickly dismissed the idea. Even if he had money, he couldn't buy it. Besides, it would be too conspicuous to have it at home.
Buying a safe is not advisable, but it should be okay to let Xiao Dexiang weld an iron box for him with iron plates, right?
After returning to the depression, it was already dark when he drove the tractor to Luan Feng's house. After filling the tractor with water, Wan Feng divided the meat he bought into two parts, giving half to each family.
Luan Feng saw Wan Feng unloading things from the car in the workshop and ran out to help. When she saw that Wan Feng had bought so much meat, her eyes were filled with excitement.
"Are they all for my family?" Luan Feng asked in surprise.
"You're not greedy, are you? I've given you everything you can eat?"
"I can eat more of these."
Wan Feng was speechless: "You are a complete glutton, a glutton!"
He is just a glutton, it’s not real, Luan Feng didn’t take it seriously at all.
Wan Feng divided the meat: "These are from your family, and these are from my grandma's family."
The meat was now frozen as hard as stone, with ropes on it. Wan Feng picked up a few pieces and Luan Feng picked up a few pieces and brought them to the small building at the west end of her house.
There is a millstone in this building, which is used to grind cornmeal and other things.
It was dark in the house. Wan Feng groped for the meat by stepping on the millstone.
It must be hung high, otherwise it will be fed to the rats.
After getting down from the millstone, Luan Feng rolled into his arms and bit him on the face a little fiercely.
Wan Feng didn't expect Luan Feng to use this trick, and was caught off guard and bitten.
You bitch, you dare to bite me!
This must be bitten back, otherwise you will suffer a loss.
Wan Feng decided that he would never suffer any loss in his life, so he immediately fought back and bit back.
Unexpectedly, the enemy would resist stubbornly and refuse to surrender. This is intolerable. We must destroy the enemy or conquer them.
The intensity of the war is constantly escalating. If it were not limited by environmental constraints, a small local conflict would likely evolve into the scale of a world war.
Even my cheeks are sore from biting them.
The war must be stopped immediately, otherwise it will be impossible to stop.
As long as Wan Feng signed the armistice document unconditionally, a certain woman, as the victor, would be extremely proud.
The two came out of the house with a feeling of not having enough time to spare. Wan Feng gave the money for the clothing that he had settled with Xia Qiulong to Luan Feng, and put the remaining meat in a cloth bag to carry back to his grandmother's house.
He carried it on his back and threw it on the ground.
These 60-plus kilograms of meat are very heavy, and because they are frozen like stones, they are not easy to carry. If I carry it to my grandma's house on my back, I will be exhausted and out of breath.
Throw the cloth bag onto the cart and push it home.
I was calculating as I walked. I had pork, beef, and donkey meat, but it seemed like I was still short of mutton. There should be mutton in the hot pot during the Chinese New Year. Wouldn't the hot pot be missing something without mutton?
But it seems that hot pot is not available yet.
It’s useless to have mutton without hot pot.
I'll see if the Gushan Supply and Marketing Cooperative sells hot pot tomorrow. If not, I'll have to go to the county town to buy it.
"What are you pushing?"
Zhu Ping stood at the door and watched Wan Feng push the cart into the yard.
Wan Feng pushed the cart in front of his uncle and put it on the ground: "I leave it to you."
After saying that, he went into the house.
Zhu Ping opened the cloth bag in confusion, and his face immediately brightened up like a chrysanthemum.