Chapter 6 is wonderful and praiseworthy.
Having made money, Yao Fanghua was in a good mood and took Yao Weimin to a restaurant to eat dumplings.
Actually, Yao Fanghua prefers dumplings to stews. She doesn't like any special fillings, just cabbage and pork. And then there are meat pies; she especially loves chive and egg pies. She remembers eating her grandmother's homemade meat pies once when she was little, and she's never forgotten the taste. It's a pity her mother didn't inherit that skill.
They ordered two large plates of dumplings, served with vinegar, sesame oil, and garlic, and the two of them buried themselves in their food.
While eating, Yao Weimin couldn't help but boast, "I told you so, this place makes the best food."
"Mmm, not bad." Yao Fanghua ate a dumpling and a clove of garlic, then drank some dumpling soup after a few dumplings, feeling comfortable and warm from the inside out.
As soon as Wu Peng entered, he saw Yao Fanghua, whose ponytail was tied high and swayed with its owner.
Yao Fanghua was ordering Yao Weimin to get another plate of dumplings when she looked up and met Wu Peng's gaze.
Wu Peng smiled and led Wang Huaizhi this way. The hall was full of people, and there were no empty seats, so they could share a table.
As the year draws to a close, there's a lot of time spent hosting parties and exchanging gifts.
Wang Huaizhi was just wondering what to give his superiors as New Year's gifts when Wu Peng happened to come knocking on his door. Wang Huaizhi worked at the Education Bureau, and after the New Year, he had the opportunity to be transferred to the Machinery Factory. If he could get the position of department head at the Machinery Factory, it would be a real promotion, and the benefits there were much better than at the Education Bureau. These days, everyone was flocking to big factories. Naturally, he took it to heart and was very careful about the gifts, having already been thinking about it for several days.
Wu Peng got up early and rode his bike out. First, he bought a dozen brand-new small boxes, wrapped them in soft cloth, and put them in good condition to store the dozen or so watches. If you didn't know, you wouldn't be able to tell they were secondhand. Thinking that Wang Huaizhi would definitely sleep in, he wasn't in a hurry. He ate breakfast outside, then strolled around the old lady's house, called out to the scrap collector a few times, before leisurely heading to Wang Huaizhi's house.
Wu Peng's arrival is perfect! If no one told him, no one would guess they were secondhand! He can just give them away as new. And they're all good brands, including several Shanghai watches! The items are high-quality, they didn't come through official channels, so he's not afraid of being caught. Even if he's unlucky enough to get caught, he can still claim they're secondhand and worthless. After all, Wu Peng is indeed a junk collector.
Wang Huaizhi thought about it more and more and found it ingenious and wonderful. He bought them all for a price ranging from sixty to eighty yuan. This kind of gift would be presentable, economical, and safe to give.
Originally, they thought Wang Huaizhi wouldn't need that many, and he could find someone else to sell the rest. If he really couldn't sell them all, they could use the leads provided by Yao Fangfang to sell them precisely. Yao Fangfang worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, interacting with many people every day. Since colluding with Wu Peng, her work attitude had improved considerably. She always greeted customers with a smile, and many customers praised her for being kind and were willing to queue up to buy things from her. Her little notebook contained a lot of people's information: names, addresses, approximate ages, what they needed, what they thought was expensive or bad, and some even had their family situations found out. Only because her job was legitimate, as a state-owned enterprise employee, could she gather so much information and inspire confidence.
Unexpectedly, Wang Huaizhi's generous offer saved him a lot of trouble. Wu Peng spent less than three hundred yuan in total to acquire these watches. Especially the ones he gave to Yao Fanghua—except for the one he didn't recognize—cost almost nothing. After all, those watches were in really bad condition, with little cost to begin with, and they even saved him from expensive repair fees. The more Wu Peng calculated, the more he felt he had made a huge profit. He earned a full eight or nine hundred yuan.
Wu Peng looked smug and self-satisfied. Money really is a person's confidence. "Hua Hua, what a coincidence?"
Yao Fanghua: "What a coincidence."
"I was just saying I'd treat you to dinner yesterday, and here we are today. Perfect, this meal's on me." That's quite a statement!
Yao Weimin had just returned with the dumplings when he saw Wu Peng grinning from ear to ear. How could he not be happy to see his sister's lucky charm?
Yao Weimin smiled obsequiously, leaving Wu Peng somewhat bewildered. Even if he heard Yao was offering to treat him, this was no need for such enthusiasm; what a greenhorn.
Wu Peng ordered three plates of dumplings, two hot dishes, one cold dish, a plate of peanuts, and a bottle of wine. That's quite a generous order.
"This is my old classmate and her brother, Yao Fanghua and Yao Weimin. This is my grandfather's student, Wang Huaizhi." Wu Peng gave a brief introduction, then invited everyone to have a drink together.
After taking a sip of wine, Yao Fanghua's face turned red and her throat felt burning.
After a glass of wine, the atmosphere at the dinner table became lively.
"This young man and his father both work in the machine factory; they are workshop workers."
Upon hearing about the machinery factory, Wang Huaizhi's brow furrowed slightly. He only truly warmed up when he learned Yao Fanghua was a recent college graduate. Apparently, the machinery factory had also assigned two college graduates, who would report for duty after the New Year, immediately receiving deputy director-level treatment—quite an achievement. "I'd like to propose a toast to everyone. Where has Comrade Yao been assigned?"
"Fan factory".
Wang Huaizhi: "A fan factory, huh? That's really good. I heard that college graduates like you get a deputy director-level position as soon as they go there."
Yao Weimin choked on his drink. What? What did he just hear? Deputy Director? The kind of Deputy Director he understood? The one who sat in the office, or even a leader, the director who was a leader? His sister? Yao Weimin's gaze towards his own sister changed.
In his mind, anyone who could be a leader was incredibly capable. He had a "leader's filter," always thinking that leaders were unapproachable and unfathomable. He had never been so close to a leader before. He immediately felt that his sister was different; she seemed to have an aura about her, very authoritative—no wonder she was a leader. The more he looked at her, the more impressive he felt she was; truly worthy of being a leader. Having a living, breathing leader in his presence, he even became a little more reserved while eating.
When Yao Fanghua heard that it was a deputy director-level position, her face lit up with joy. The hardship of studying was worth it.
Although the fan factory was small, everyone was on the same level, and they even had some business dealings. They might have to deal with each other in the future. Besides, Yao Fanghua was a college graduate valued by the higher-ups, and such a young college graduate at that; she might have a bright future ahead of her. So Wang Huaizhi had another drink with Yao Fanghua.
Wu Peng felt a pang of disappointment. This young man was already a junior leader, while he was still collecting scrap every day. Compared to him, Wu Peng's initial smugness was completely overshadowed. However, he was a shrewd man and wouldn't let anyone see through his act.
He was an ambitious man who refused to be subservient to others. After a brief internal struggle, he quickly regained his fighting spirit. The road ahead was long; collecting scraps was only temporary. He would wait until he had accumulated enough capital.
He urged everyone to have another drink, asking, "What are you all doing here eating?"
Yao Weimin stammered. He couldn't very well say that the watch had sold for a high price, could he? Wouldn't Brother Peng turn on him and demand money back?
Yao Fanghua said directly, "There are many wealthy people here, and I have a few foreign exchange certificates that I'm thinking of exchanging."
Foreign exchange certificates? Wu Peng and Wang Huaizhi perked up, especially Wu Peng, who had never obtained any before and had been wanting to get a few for a long time. They exchanged a glance, and Wu Peng asked, "How many? How do we exchange them?"
Yao Fanghua: "1.5".
"No, that's too expensive. We're old classmates, so it has to be cheaper than the market price."
Wu Peng tried to appeal to emotions, but when it came to negotiating the price, he showed no empathy whatsoever: "One and a half points. I'll take it all, however many there are."
"One and a half, that's the lowest I can go." Yao Fanghua pulled out five large foreign exchange certificates.
Five hundred, multiplied by 1.4, is seven hundred. Wu Peng felt like the money he had just received was about to fly away. Although it was expensive, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; who knew when he would encounter foreign exchange certificates again? Just to make a trip to the Overseas Chinese Store, he had to buy it! He could resell it later at twice the price. He knew several young men who specifically collected foreign exchange certificates to make money at the Overseas Chinese Store.
Wang Huaizhi patted his already meager pockets and said, "I'll take two."
Wu Peng nodded and took out his money to buy the remaining three tickets.
Looking at the foreign exchange certificates, Wu Peng couldn't help but think of the watch. Could it have been sold for five hundred foreign exchange certificates? The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. This meal should really be paid for by this girl!
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