The operation of the steam train caused the entire capital city to boil with excitement.
It's not just ordinary people who are talking about it.
Even some shrewd businessmen saw the potential benefits of steam trains.
Yulong Trading Company, East of the City.
"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper..."
A waiter strode into the lobby, looked at the manager who was drinking tea, and hurriedly said, "I have found out what you asked me to do."
"Yeah?"
Qiao Mingli, the manager of Yulong Trading Company, stared wide-eyed at his clerk and hurriedly asked, "How is it?"
"Shopkeeper,"
The shop assistant shook his head and said, "I've already found out. All the land near Beijing West Station and Beijing East Station has been bought by railway construction teams. I heard they're going to build shops, warehouses, restaurants, inns, and the like, for rent later."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Qiao Mingli frowned slightly and muttered, "I didn't expect the railway construction team to act so quickly. They had these things planned out as soon as they started building the train station!"
"Very likely!"
The waiter nodded and looked at Qiao Mingli, asking, "Manager, what do you think we should do now?"
"Well..."
Qiao Mingli pondered for a moment, then fell into deep thought.
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Qiao Mingli said, "You just said that the railway construction team built shops for rent?"
"Yes, shopkeeper!"
The man nodded and said, "This is information I found out from within the railway construction team. That's what the managers there all said. It seems that this practice was instructed by His Majesty and General Manager Qiao Juncheng."
"oh?"
Qiao Mingli nodded slightly and said, "Since they're all for rent, that makes things easier! Let's go to the railway construction engineering team and meet with General Manager Qiao Juncheng. We can reserve a few shops now so we don't have to compete with others later. As the saying goes, 'First come, first served!'"
"Shopkeeper, you're truly brilliant!"
The guy immediately gave a thumbs up.
Immediately, the shopkeeper Qiao Mingli, his employees, and others headed towards the Beijing headquarters of the railway construction engineering team, carrying gifts.
Upon arriving, Qiao Mingli quickly cupped his hands and said to the gatekeeper, "I am Qiao Mingli, the manager of Yulong Trading Company. I have something to ask you, Manager Qiao. Please inform me of the situation."
As he spoke, Qiao Mingli calmly pulled out a small stack of new banknotes from his sleeve, handed it to the gatekeeper, and said with a smile, "It's just a small token, nothing special, please give it to us brothers as a token of your appreciation."
The gatekeeper did not refuse the small stack of new banknotes in Qiao Mingli's hand.
He reached out and took it, but didn't put it in his waist bag.
Instead, after taking stock, he announced, "Qiao Mingli of Yulong Trading Company has donated one hundred guan!"
Another security guard was carefully writing those words down in a small booklet at the entrance.
Then they stuffed the small stack of new banknotes into a large box by the door.
There was a note stuck to the outside of the box.
It was clearly written above—
Donations were made for railway construction.
Forehead?
Qiao Mingli was stunned when he saw this.
I never expected the security guards here to do things this way.
Times have really changed; they don't even accept gifts anymore.
You should know that in the past, this kind of thing was commonplace.
As the saying goes, even a third-rank official can stand before the prime minister's gate!
A mere gatekeeper's hut can make life worse than death.
That's fine!
This is just a small token of my appreciation, a way for me to contribute to the construction of the national railway!
Thinking it over, Qiao Mingli took out a small stack of new banknotes from his pocket again and said with a smile, "Railway construction benefits the country and the people! Although I am a businessman, I understand the reasons behind it."
"One hundred strings of cash was too little."
"I, Qiao Mingli, am willing to donate another 1,000 guan to contribute to the construction of the national railway!"
Please accept this!
Qiao Mingli's words stunned the security guards.
The security guards exchanged glances, and one of them said calmly, "Please put the donation into the donation box!"
Immediately, the security guard next to him wrote it down again.
As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face!
After Qiao Mingli donated 1,100 guan, the gatekeeper looked at Qiao Mingli and asked, "Our General Manager Qiao has many affairs to attend to. If you have anything to say, just say it."
Thank you!
Qiao Mingli bowed again and said, "Please inform them that I have noticed the construction of shops near the West Railway Station and East Railway Station in Beijing and would like to rent some shops in advance."
"Rented shops?"
The gatekeeper nodded slightly and said, "This matter will be handled by Director Lin. The small courtyard next door is it!"
As he spoke, the gatekeeper pointed to the side.
Looking in the direction the gatekeeper was pointing, Qiao Mingli froze.
The small courtyard was unremarkable; if it weren't for its location near the railway construction site, one might mistake it for someone's traditional courtyard house.
Nowadays, a few men in fine clothes stand sparsely outside the gate of this small courtyard, waiting at the entrance.
Qiao Mingli was stunned when he saw these people.
Could it be that all these people are queuing up, hoping to take over shops near the train station?
this……
Qiao Mingli sighed helplessly, thinking to himself: I thought I was early, but I didn't expect these merchants to be even earlier!
Just then, a person walked out of the courtyard.
The businessman held a document and had a bright smile on his face.
As soon as he stepped out, several people surrounded him, asking all at once, "Brother Wang, how was it?"
"Has it been rented?"
"How much does it cost?"
"How's the location?"
The businessman surnamed Wang patted the documents in his hand and said, "We didn't rent it, but we got the tickets to the auction."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Lin has said that shops, warehouses and other facilities near Beijing West Railway Station and Beijing East Railway Station will be auctioned off in a unified manner. At that time, everyone will compete for shop locations and areas based on their own abilities."
"This document is for the rental of the auction admission ticket, with a deposit of five hundred strings of new banknotes. Lin, the office manager, said that the deposit can be refunded if the bid is unsuccessful."
The other businessmen around him were puzzled by what the businessman surnamed Wang said.
However, at least there's some news.
At that moment, a guard came out of the door and announced loudly, "Next!"
Immediately, other businessmen also entered the courtyard one after another, paid deposits, and received admission tickets to the auction for the rental of shops at the Beijing Railway Station.
Before long, Qiao Mingli also received his admission ticket.
Along with the admission ticket, a shop layout map of Beijing's train stations was also distributed.
Looking at the shops marked with numbers, Qiao Mingli took a deep breath, thinking to himself: At least I didn't lose out!
With these shops, we'll be able to choose some suitable ones!
Below the admission ticket, there was a line of text: "Auction start time: December 20th, the first year of Yan Ning."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
