Chapter 234 Two in One
The next day, Ding Guo and his group went to a nearby market and first looked for the stall owner who was selling tape recorders. This time, there was a short, dark and thin young man standing next to the stall owner. There were two small cardboard boxes at his feet, which contained two hundred electronic watches.
The stall owner who sells tape recorders is named Chen Yongqing.
Ding Guo and his friends bargained skillfully, and the price was about the same as the batch they bought yesterday, so they bought all of them.
The man also brought several bundles of stockings, and collected all the dingos and mosquitoes.
There were steel stockings at other stalls, but I had never seen such long ones, so it was an unexpected gain.
After a few days, Chen Yongqing had already identified Ding Guo and others as important customers.
Without showing off, he took goods worth more than 2,000 yuan from him and his friend.
Although he only handled four tape recorders, he could help others introduce clients, which not only earned him red envelopes, but also strengthened his personal network. After all, those so-called friends were people he met after he entered the industry, and their relationship was not very good, but they could help each other introduce routes and sources of goods, and remind each other when there were risks.
Hearing that Ding Guo came here not only to buy recorders and electronic watches, but also wanted to buy clothes, shoes and socks, he took the initiative to talk to her about the situation in this market, raised his hand and pointed to a few places, and said: "Several bosses have not been here these two days, and the goods they have are really beautiful. There is one called Aqiang, he specializes in selling pants, and the goods are also imported from Hong Kong City. He hasn't been here these two days. I guess he went to... to buy goods again."
He spoke so quickly that he almost revealed the place where Aqiang was waiting for the goods.
The situation that Chen Yongqing described was something that Lu Wenming could not understand.
Chen Yongqing talked about the clothing factory again: "In Haizhu, there is a clothing factory that just opened in June. It is privately owned. The boss of the factory has been tailors for three generations. The clothes look good. Although the factory has only been open for less than two months, the goods are in great demand... Look over there, the fourth stall in the second row on the east side, that is the young man in black clothes. He is not the boss, but someone hired by the boss. Now the stall is full of ordinary goods. His good goods have been sold out long ago, so the boss is rushing to Haizhu to buy the goods. You have to wait in line."
Ding Guo became interested, but could they rush over to get such popular goods?
Chen Yongqing: "Just try your luck. The only solution is not to go to the factory. The bosses will also sell the goods after they get them out. They are waiting for the goods from the factory. You wait for them on the road, let them make some money at the wholesale price, and you can go back and make a fortune by selling them at retail."
Retail is hard work, but you earn more money.
Ding Guo asked, "Boss Chen, do you have any connections with that clothing factory?"
Chen Yongqing shook his head: "I don't have any connections. The factory owner doesn't know me. I can't get the goods even if I go there. They don't lack buyers. The supply can't meet the demand."
He just knew about the factory and used it as a favor to introduce the situation to Ding Guo, but he didn't go to see Ding Guo himself.
Ding Guo nodded. He had to go and see for himself to see whether it was good or not.
But since so many stalls selling clothes, shoes and socks have sprung up like mushrooms in Guangzhou, there must be many small workshops and private clothing factories. This was something she had not thought of before she came, but Chen Yongqing reminded her of it now.
She wanted to go and see what Chen Yongqing mentioned, and she also wanted to wait for the stall owners who were absent in the past two days.
Mosquito was also very interested: "Sister, we didn't think of private clothing factories before, why don't we ask more and go to the factory to see if we can get first-hand sources of goods."
Ding Guo nodded: "Stay a few more days, I also want to see the goods in the hands of the stall owner who brought clothes from the port city that Boss Chen mentioned."
When it comes to clothes from Hong Kong at this time, the first thing Ding Guo can think of is bell-bottom pants. This style of pants first came from Hong Kong, although the source of the trend was not Hong Kong.
After leaving Chen Yongqing, Lu Wenming scratched his head and said, "I really didn't pay attention to this."
Ding Guo smiled and said, "You are not a professional in this kind of investigation."
Lu Wenming is also a student studying foreign languages. He has no plans to start a small business yet, but he is aware of the quietly changing trends here, which makes him a relatively observant person.
Ding Guo asked Mosquito to stay here and purchase the goods she wanted, and she would send the electronic watch back first.
Chen Dongfang went back with her. After Ding Guo put the things back in the room and came out, he sent him back to the market and left.
At lunch, Ding Guo asked if there was a post office nearby. Knowing that Ding Guo and his friends wanted to make a phone call, Lu Wenming said, "You can make a call at the guesthouse. Just ask the front desk. There is also a supply and marketing cooperative nearby. It is more convenient than the post office in terms of time."
Ding Guo said, "That's great. I'll call you when we get back to the guesthouse."
Since there are better channels, there is no need for them to go to the post office and make phone calls.
Continue shopping in the afternoon.
At around six o'clock in the evening, a call came to Fengning Transportation Company. Ding Dayong, who had just finished his exam, was waiting for their call.
Before Ding Guo called, Ding Dayong had already called his father-in-law. He was surprised to hear that his sister and his wife had gone to the south without saying a word. When Ding Guo called, he hurriedly told him what he knew about the situation in Yangcheng and reminded them to be careful.
Ding Guo asked vaguely where he bought the things he brought back last time. Dayong guessed what his sister wanted to ask, and hurriedly gave the address and the appearance of the stall owner, and said, "The comrade said that his hours are not fixed, so we should go and check more often."
Talking about the exam later, Ding Dayong was very emotional: "Sister, you don't know that this year's exam questions are much more difficult than last year's, but I have practiced several question types, and I think I answered them well."
In short, although he, a poor student, felt that this year's exam was difficult, he was actually more confident than last year.
He also put in more effort than last year, attended a study class taught by college students, and had three private tutors. If he didn't do well in the exam, he would feel it was unacceptable.
Dayong was still talking about Ding Zhigang on the phone.
"It just so happened that Dingxiang and I were assigned to the same school this year. For several days in a row, I saw the old man waiting at the door after taking the exams. However, Dingxiang is not close to the old man now. She neither goes back with him nor eats the food he sends her..."
Last year, Ding Xiang almost died together with Jia Anping, and she registered again this year.
After registering, she did not stay in Fengning, but returned to the countryside and kept reviewing in her hometown. She came back just before the exam. She neither went to Yue Hongmei's house nor stayed at Ding Zhigang's house. She asked the street to issue a letter of introduction and found a guesthouse to live in.
After finishing the exam today, Ding Dayong had to go back to her hometown immediately. She asked her colleague who was going to Wuxin to give her a ride and bought a ticket from Wuxin back to Huiyang.
"After being harmed by Jia Anping last year, she is much more cautious this year. She filled in the address of the food factory and asked Taozi to collect it for her."
The real reason why Dingxiang failed the exam last year was known to only Dingxiang and Ding Guo, apart from Jia Anping.
Jia Anping also took the exam again this year. I don't know if he was frightened by Ding Xiang's desperate attempt to get him into trouble last year, or if Ding Zhigang no longer trusted them after knowing about the two "wrongful cases" and had no loopholes to exploit, so he behaved himself this year and didn't play any tricks.
Ding Jianguo also took the test again, but Dayong didn’t know how he performed.
After Ding Guo finished talking with Dayong, Song Yuling held the phone and chattered on and on about her concern.
After hanging up the phone, everyone packed their things, went to take a shower and do some laundry, then came back and sat in the house to count the incoming goods.
Of course, it was not to count the quantity, but to start discussing the selling price when they take it back.
Mosquito has been coveting the stalls in front of Tiananmen Square for a long time and is rubbing his hands in anticipation.
Song Yuling had just planned to come here for fun, and had no intention of starting a small business. But now seeing how enthusiastic Mosquito and her sister were, she was also eager to try: "Take me with you when the time comes. I'll go and keep watch for you."
Dazhu said, "I'll go too!"
He didn't have much money, so his sister covered all his expenses for this trip and even gave him fifty bucks to spend. But now, the fifty bucks are still in full.
His sister had previously suggested that he come along to keep her company, and his subconscious thought was to help his sister, acting as a strong laborer and bodyguard or something.
When I got there, I found out that he looked more like a hookup.
As a strong laborer, he is not as strong as his sister. As a bodyguard, he is not as good at fighting as his sister and Comrade Chen Dongfang. He may even be worse than a mosquito in fighting.
Apart from going around the market and eating and drinking, he hasn't found any use for him yet.
When they get back, if his sister and Mosquito go to set up a stall to test the waters, even if he can't help with anything else, he can still give a brief inspection.
The next two days were spent looking for goods everywhere. On the third day, Ding Guo met A Qiang that Chen Yongqing mentioned, and also saw the goods on his stall.
It really is bell-bottom pants!
A Qiang was very straightforward and said directly: "If you take one or two pairs, it's 16 per pair. If you take more than ten pairs, I'll charge you 14 per pair. I'm not exaggerating, these pants will definitely be popular if you take them home."
Ding Guo shook his head and smiled, "It's not as easy as you say. It takes time for the public to accept new things. It's hard to say whether they can gain a foothold in the market."
She remembered that before she transmigrated into the book, she had accidentally come across a memoir about shoes. In the memoir, the author talked about a kind of rubber-soled cloth shoes that were popular at that time... They were not rubber shoes, but cloth shoes with creamy white and light yellow soles. When they first became popular, they were very popular among young people, especially street urchins, and were once called "hooligan shoes."
They are obviously a pair of shoes with a very ordinary style, but they are called the favorite shoes of little gangsters, as if wearing such shoes would make you a little gangster who is not doing his job properly.
But those so-called street urchins are also the group that is most susceptible to fashion trends.
Ding Guo just said it casually, but A Qiang's eyes flickered before he argued again: "How could it be? I don't have enough goods to sell..."
This girl had a really sharp eye. How did she know that when these pants first appeared, almost no one was interested in them and not a single pair was sold for several days in a row? If his married sister hadn't secretly sent him food without telling her in-laws, he would have almost starved to death.
But this girl is from the North, where there probably aren't that kind of pants available. It might be difficult for her to get them back.
But as long as people accept these pants, there will be no problem selling them as long as you can persist.
Ding Guo certainly knew that bell-bottom pants could gain a foothold in the market and be quite stable. They might fall out of favor for a while, but they would become a fashion trend again decades later.
But when it comes to business now, that’s certainly not the way to say it.
A Qiang was afraid that Ding would really give up buying the pants because they were too trendy and difficult to sell, so he promoted the fabric of the pants as a selling point: "This material is called denim. Feel its thickness. It's durable and strong, and the color is beautiful."
Ding Guo smiled and said, "The price is also good!"
She looked at the people gathered in front of the stalls selling cheap goods, and then looked at Aqiang. It had been a while, and there were only a few of them. She knew that these bell-bottom pants could be sold, but they were still a little far from being popular.
But once they really become popular, you can really make a lot of money by selling bell-bottom pants.
Dazhu and Song Yuling had been watching from the side, and they were both shocked by the strange shape.
Dazhu said to Song Yuling, "The material is good, but the style is... a little weird. If we take it back and make some changes, such as reducing the exaggerated part of the trouser legs, we should be able to sell it with this material."
Ah Qiang was so amused that he said, "Brother, this is how these pants are sold. Believe me, these pants are really good to sell."
Ding Guo smiled and continued to bargain with A Qiang. This time A Qiang brought a total of 60 pairs of trousers, and she said she wanted them all. A Qiang finally lowered the price to 11.5 yuan, and refused to lower the price any further.
Ding Guo also knew that he had almost reached the bottom line, so he immediately inspected the goods, paid the money, and left.
Afterwards, I went to the location of the stall that Dayong mentioned, but didn't find anyone there. However, the stall owner who had taken the electronic watches from me before had received another batch of goods and took another three hundred yuan worth of electronic watches from me.
Ding Guo collected all the three hundred yuan himself. After buying the tape recorder, some electronic watches, and clothes, shoes and socks, his capital was almost gone, and he only had some pocket money left.
But she was not panicked at all.
I can make money by reselling any of these goods I import. It’s exciting just to think about it.
Ding Guo and his friends also went to see the factory that Chen Yongqing mentioned.
The factory is not big, but it is very profitable. Ding Guo also saw the goods that others had bought, and the styles and workmanship were all good.
Ding Guo and his friends wanted to discuss wholesale on the spot, but a bunch of people surrounded them with the same purpose as them. Even Mosquito, who was jumping up and down, couldn't reach a front row seat.
The goods were difficult to get, but fortunately they didn't have to buy this batch of goods. I couldn't lose money by taking the other carefully selected items back, so I gave up and will come back when I have the chance next time.
During this period, they also found several small workshops, but they had seen the products they produced in several markets, so they were nothing special.
When coming to the south, you can't just buy goods and leave, so a few of them went shopping in the department store here.
As soon as she entered the department store, Song Yuling's eyes lit up and she said, "Sister, look at the bag hanging on the shelf."
It is a military green canvas backpack. I didn’t see it on the stalls outside, but I could find it in Ding Guo’s system mall.
Song Yuling was eager to buy it.
Mosquito also liked it: "It's easier to carry as a school bag than a crossbody bag."
Purchasing is purchasing, shopping is shopping, although both are buying things, but the meaning is different, the mood is also different. The former is the fun and pressure of making money, while the latter is pure fun.
Although Ding Guo could buy it from the system mall, she was also happy to participate in this kind of small group activity.
She is the only one who is not short of money among all of you here.
I went up to ask and found out that I could buy it without cloth coupons, but the price would be slightly higher.
Backpacks are more expensive than canvas crossbody bags, and Song Yuling has reached the limit of her sister-in-law status at this time, so she plans to buy one for Dayong and her two brothers-in-law. She is determined not to let Ding Guo compete with her, but she embarrassedly asks Ding Guo for some money back.
Dazhu was so anxious that his face turned red. He said, "Sister-in-law, I don't want it. My messenger bag is still about 80% new."
His sister bought it for him two years ago, and Dalin also has one.
Ding Guo couldn't help but want to laugh, but thinking about how Dazhu took care of the bag, it wasn't 80% new, maybe 70% new, and he used it very carefully.
Song Yuling said with a straight face: "As your sister-in-law, can't I give you a gift?"
Ding Guo knew that Dayong had plenty of money. He didn't lack money, but his wife did. He smiled and said to Dazhu, "Your sister-in-law bought it for you, you just keep it."
Dazhu had no choice but to take it with embarrassment and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
He also liked this bag, but he didn't show his love for it because he was afraid that his sister-in-law would spend the money. Unexpectedly, he still let his sister-in-law spend the money.
As soon as Ding Guo finished talking about Dazhu, Song Yuling smiled at her and said, "You have to give gifts to your brother-in-law and your sister-in-law. Sister, don't push it!"
Ding Guo couldn't help laughing: "No push, no push, I won't be polite to you."
Song Yuling also bought gifts for her parents-in-law.
Ding Guo naturally stopped fighting at this time, and there was no need to make gift giving a competition.
Mosquito bought two.
She said to Ding Guo, "I'll keep one for myself, and I'll go back and add five dollars to the price of the other one. If it's easy to sell, next time we'll look for a factory that makes this kind of bag and see if we can get some."
Ding Guo smiled and nodded.
On the last day in Guangzhou, the group did not go anywhere. They asked Lu Wenming to take them to the scrap yard to buy a large stack of old newspapers, which they used to wrap their electronic watches and tape recorders to prevent them from bumping into each other in the crowded streets.
Arrange and classify clothes, shoes and socks and pack them.
The amount of goods coming in seems to be quite a lot, but since there are so many of them, there won't be that much to share if each person helps to carry the goods.
Chen Dongfang rarely stayed with them in the last two days. He was outside every day and didn't know what task the old man had assigned to him.
It was time to return, so Chen Dongfang went with them. After asking Ding Guo if he wanted to buy sleeper tickets, he took the task, went out for a walk, and bought five sleeper tickets.
After sorting the luggage, the group set off for the train station.
Lu Wenming went to see them off and also bought some local specialties for Ding Guo to take to Yu Shaofen.
Lu Wenming had been running around for a long time these days, and Ding Guo didn't let his help go in vain. Before he left, she gave him a red envelope of twenty yuan, and she and Mosquito each gave ten yuan.
Lu Wenming did not refuse and accepted it calmly. He then gave Ding Guo his contact information and said, "I know all the goods you have imported. If they sell well and you need to purchase more, give me a call and I will help you ship them from here. And that bag, I see you all like it. If you bring it back to the north, there will definitely be a market for it. I will take advantage of the summer vacation to visit other factories to see if I can find a source of goods that can be shipped to private individuals. I will write to you when I have the result."
It costs money to mail goods, but does it cost nothing to carry the goods in person?
The journey is more than 30 hours, the ticket is not cheap, and it is troublesome and risky, so it is better to send it by mail.
But if I don’t have someone familiar with the matter, I really wouldn’t dare to ask for help in purchasing and shipping goods.
After all, if you ask someone to help you, you have to mail the payment first.
Ding Guo had the same idea, which is why he gave such a generous red envelope. In addition to thanking the other party for his hard work over the past few days, he also hoped to establish a good relationship with him so that it would be easier to ask for help in the future.
Moreover, after getting to know him over the past few days, I found Lu Wenming to be a nice person, very reliable and considerate. Now he has even thought of helping them find sources of backpacks, which shows that he is really suitable for this job.
Ding Guo and the others agreed immediately.
It was crowded when we came here, and it was just as crowded when we returned to the city, with too many people getting on the bus.
Ding Guo and his companions, carrying the goods, did not dare to rush into the crowd.
Chen Dongfang said: "You wait here, I will go in and look for it."
He randomly chose a carriage and jumped in through the window, quickly found their compartment, leaned out to call Ding Guo and the others over, handed all the goods in, and everyone climbed through the window again.
After arriving in the capital, everyone didn't even walk to the place where they got off the bus, but climbed through the window skillfully.
Song Yuling couldn't help but sigh, "I went to the south. Except for the formal door when I got on the train from the capital, I didn't even touch the door when I got off the train or returned to the city."
The mosquito laughed: "It touched the window."
The train arrived in the morning on the way there and in the evening on the way back. This was the train that Ding Guo specially selected to make it convenient for them to bring the goods back.
Chen Dongfang sent Ding Guo and the others back to Zizhu Bridge before leaving.
It was inconvenient for Mosquito to carry the goods home alone, but she had been away for several days and missed her grandmother, so she went home with Ding Guo first, left the goods with Ding Guo, and borrowed her bicycle to return to Pengbo Hutong.
There was Bubai at home. When they returned, Bubai barked twice first. Then he realized that his master had returned, so he ran from the east yard to the west yard to greet him and circled around Ding Guo's feet.
Aunt Qiao heard the noise and peeked out from the middle gate. She knew that Ding Guo and the others had returned. She breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice, "Have you eaten yet?"
They really didn't eat dinner, but Ding Guo didn't intend to let Aunt Qiao busy herself, so she whispered, "Aunt Qiao, you go to sleep, we can just cook some noodles ourselves."
Aunt Qiao smiled and said, "How much effort does it take to cook noodles? The braised beef that Sister Zhang just delivered yesterday is frozen in the refrigerator. I'll cook you a bowl of noodles, cut some beef, and make a few poached eggs. It'll be quick."
As he spoke, he washed his hands and went into the kitchen.
Wang Chunhua also stood up and said with a smile, "Finally I'm back."
Although Ding Guo is not her relative, they have been together for such a long time that they have become close, and she and Aunt Qiao are both worried about him.
Knowing that they hadn't had dinner yet, I went to the kitchen to help Aunt Qiao.
Ding Guo and his friends placed the goods in the room where Dazhu slept, and took two pairs of steel stockings and two head flowers from their own goods.
After the noodles were cooked, Aunt Qiao put some lard and dried shrimps in the bottom of several bowls, poured hot soup over them, scooped the noodles in, put two poached eggs in each bowl, and cut a few slices of beef into the noodle soup to thaw.
She also opened a can of watermelon jam for them and said to Ding Guo with a smile, "Your Aunt Yu sent it over."
Ding Guo smiled and said, "My Aunt Yu is really good at making watermelon sauce."
Tomorrow I will give Aunt Yu a gift for Lu Wenming, and also bring a few big watermelons from the space.
The noodles smell delicious.
Song Yuling took a deep sniff, her face full of intoxication.
She felt that no matter how exquisite the southern snacks were, they were not as good as Aunt Qiao's bowl of noodles.
This is not regional discrimination, but a matter of personal taste. I can't get used to the food.
Ding Guo gave the stockings and hair flowers to Aunt Qiao and Wang Chunhua. They could wear the stockings themselves or give them to others. Aunt Qiao could not wear the hair flower, but her daughter could.
Wang Chunhua has young children, but she has long hair and is young enough to wear a headband.
Although the capital is a big city, not everything becomes popular here immediately.
The hairpin that Ding Guo handed to them was something they had never seen before. The socks were from the batch of goods that Dayong brought back when Aunt Qiao last saw them. They were rare items. The little girl named Mosquito said she sold them for more than one dollar a pair outside.
Both of them felt it was too expensive and were embarrassed to take it for free, but they also liked it very much and wanted to pay Ding Guo to buy it.
Ding Guo would never agree, and hurriedly asked the two men to take it: "You're still being polite to me!"
On the other side, Chen Dongfang went to report to the old man.
"The wind direction in Guangzhou changed faster than we expected... The people over there are also bolder than we thought... It shows their eagerness for the wind direction to change... I also met Director He and Mr. Qian. I followed your instructions and didn't let the other one find out. Mr. Qian is in good condition, so you don't have to worry. Director He asked me to bring you a message..."
As for Ding Guo and his team's actions and the goods they brought in, Chen Dongfang did not mention a word.
This was also the instruction given by the old leader before departure. He was not asked to monitor Ding Guo's whereabouts, but only to protect and observe, and analyze current affairs. He did not need to report anything else.
So Ding Guo didn't mention the fact that he had imported some smuggled goods this time.
But when Mr. Pei heard Chen Dongfang talk about his "desire for a change in the wind direction," he couldn't help but laugh.
You don't have to look at the desires of the people in the South, just look at my granddaughter-in-law and her friends.
He does not oppose this trend, on the contrary he supports it very much. His granddaughter-in-law caters to this development, which is also his attitude.
Although it is a little early now, it will change sooner or later.
Help the higher-ups push it forward as soon as possible.
"The change in wind direction is a trend. Not only does the country's development need this trend, it is also what the people want. Those who oppose it cannot stop this trend..." The old man said in a resounding tone. After he finished speaking, he looked at Chen Dongfang and said, "The mission was completed well. Go to the army tomorrow to ask me to reimburse the expenses for this time."
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