Chapter 131
The reason Lei Tingjun approached A-Qiang first was because he was 70-80% confident that he could persuade A-Qiang to work with him.
A-Qiang had prior experience in scrap steel recycling and could see how this business could be profitable. His family, like him, had no worries and were willing to take risks.
He was the first person Lei Tingjun thought of.
After receiving a positive reply from A-Qiang, Lei Tingjun said on the other end of the phone, "Okay, I'll go find the car."
Ah Qiang asked, "Will my little three-wheeled truck be able to handle this?"
“No, the cargo we’re loading is too small. We need to get a few medium to large trucks, at least five tons each.” Lei Tingjun’s tone suggested that he didn’t consider this a difficult task at all.
Upon hearing this, A-Qiang felt a surge of excitement. He had a feeling that his chance to rise above others and make a fortune was about to arrive.
"Brother Xinglei, I'll pack up and come to the city to find you tomorrow."
Lei Tingjun paused, then said, "See if you can borrow some money from your side, just enough to make up the difference. Borrow as much as you can."
“Okay, I’ll go find someone to borrow it.” A-Qiang agreed without hesitation.
As soon as he hung up the phone, A-Qiang excitedly began sorting through the scrap in the yard and warehouse. He didn't care what it was, he loaded it all onto his tricycle and took it to the recycling plant to sell.
The price of scrap metal recycling is not high to begin with, and some of the items are unknown to the public. A whole truckload of scrap metal only sold for a few dozen yuan.
But Ah Qiang didn't care about those things anymore. The most important thing now was to turn the goods into cash and then invest it in the building materials transportation business that Brother Lei had mentioned.
That afternoon, A-Qiang went to knock on the doors of his father's distant and old relatives one by one, saying that he was going out to do business and asking if they could lend him some money.
Ah Qiang spoke very sincerely, but his distant relatives didn't think highly of him at all.
A bachelor in his twenties, without parents, can't even find a wife, yet he says he's going to do business in another city.
Is business so easy to run? You just decide to do it like that?!
If it were that easy, everyone would go into business and everyone could become a rich boss.
A-Qiang used to think that after his old man died, these distant relatives would occasionally ask him a few questions, which made him feel that they were still taking good care of him.
But when it comes to actually asking for a loan, everyone avoids them like the plague.
Ah-Qiang felt a chill in people's hearts and was disappointed.
He knocked on seven or eight doors, but only one relative was willing to lend him two hundred yuan.
This relative was the same one who drove the car with his father back then. In that accident, A-Qiang's father died, but this relative saved him.
Ah Qiang held the two hundred yuan in his hand, his eyes silently reddening.
The family bond his father risked his life for was ultimately only worth two hundred yuan.
“Ah Qiang, as you can see, our family isn’t well-off. You said you wanted to go out and do business, and of course your uncle supports you. We don’t have any savings, and the most we can come up with is two hundred yuan. That’s all we have.”
Ah Qiang took the money, thanked them, said he would return it next year, and then turned and left.
He borrowed from all his relatives but only managed to get two hundred yuan. Over the past two years, A-Qiang had saved a few hundred yuan, mainly because he had high daily expenses and often had to treat his friends to drinks and meals.
Thinking of this, A-Qiang went to borrow from his brothers again.
The brothers were more loyal than distant relatives, but they were also broke. They borrowed from four or five of their closest brothers, but could only scrape together two hundred yuan.
Ah Qiang counted his money and, adding what he had on him, he could make up a thousand yuan.
So, the next morning, he closed the door of the recycling station.
With his backpack on, he boarded a bus to Pingdong City to find Lei Tingjun.
***
The next day, after Luo Chunyan and Ji Wanmei had lunch at the shop, they were sweating from the heat, so Luo Chunyan suggested buying two popsicles.
The tricycle that sells popsicles travels around the county town all day long, selling wherever it happens to be, without any fixed location.
Luo Chunyan then walked down the street behind A-Qiang's recycling station.
When they arrived at the recycling station, they found that the door was closed.
Luo Chunyan thought it was strange. Usually, even if A-Qiang went out or went to pick up some goods next door, the iron gate outside the dam would not be closed.
If you need to close it, just close the door to the sleeping room inside.
Where did Ah Qiang go? Did he go out to pick up some goods?
Luo Chunyan glanced at the vendor as she passed by, and when she came across a tricycle selling popsicles, she bought two popsicles and went back to her shop.
As soon as Luo Chunyan entered the room, she told Ji Wanmei about it.
August has arrived in the blink of an eye, and there are only two weeks left before school starts. Ji Wanmei brought a book with her during the day and began to slowly review it.
At this moment, Ji Wanmei looked up from her book and pondered, "Qiang isn't here, and he even locked the gate to the dam. Where could he have gone?"
Ji Wanmei knew that ever since Luo Chunyan came to mind the shop, A-Qiang would often come over to talk to her, whether he had something to say or not. It seemed that he had a crush on Luo Chunyan.
Luo Chunyan could sense it herself, but she pretended to be indifferent and said, "Who cares where he goes? It's none of my business."
Two days later, when Luo Chunyan passed by Aqiang's recycling station, she saw that the gate to his yard was still tightly locked.
When asked, the neighbor said, "Qiang packed his bags and went to the city three days ago, saying he was going to make a lot of money."
Luo Chunyan then realized that A-Qiang was really gone.
She stormed back into the store, plopped down on a stool, and crunched on the popsicle in her hand.
"What's wrong with you?" Ji Wanmei asked, both amused and exasperated. Who had upset her this time?
"Qiang went to the city to make a lot of money. We were friends, after all. He didn't even say goodbye when he left. It's really unbelievable," Luo Chunyan said sullenly.
Ji Wanmei was taken aback; A-Qiang had actually gone to the city three days ago.
Does he have any friends in the city?
As her thoughts drifted away, Ji Wanmei suddenly thought of Lei Tingjun, who had left Pingquan County half a month ago, and wondered how he was doing in Pingdong City.
He was gone for half a month, and he neither wrote a letter nor made a phone call to her.
Ji Wanmei sighed softly.
But whether he writes a letter or makes a phone call to her home, it is highly likely that Ji Xingguo will receive it.
Ji Wanmei couldn't even describe her own feelings. She was worried that her father would find out about his contact with her, but when he actually stopped contacting her, she felt a tightness in her chest.
How could Lei Tingjun not want to contact Ji Wanmei?
He didn't know Ji Wanmei's home phone number, but he did know Ji Xingguo's office landline. But could he call Ji Xingguo's office?
He could also choose to write a letter.
Almost every night after finishing his work, Lei Tingjun would sit on the edge of his bed and review his college entrance exam materials, and then write a few letters to Ji Wanmei.
Long or short, sometimes just simple thoughts, sometimes everyday experiences, he would pick up his pen and write them down on paper at will.
Those letters, filled with longing for her, were collected and tucked inside books, but never a single one was ever sent.
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