2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 2 The Age of Abundant Gold
Although the life of a seafarer for more than a year is on a cruise ship that is like a five-star hotel at sea, the intensity of the work is not low.

After more than a year of intense work, Tan Jincheng looks much stronger than his peers who are 19 years old. The sun at sea is scorching, and even without working outdoors, his skin is much darker than that of his peers.

With his sturdy build, dark skin, and dragging a suitcase, he looked like a construction worker returning home for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Shortly after leaving the park, taxi drivers kept approaching Tan Jincheng, asking where he was going and if he needed a ride.

This had happened once before when I left the bus station. Yicheng taxi drivers are just that reckless, and they overcharge passengers just as badly.

Even in 2019, the practice of taxi drivers overcharging passengers in Yicheng still existed. It was better in the city center, but if you were going to the counties or towns below, it was common for drivers to stop halfway and ask you to pay extra.

Tan Jincheng's home is quite a distance from Linghu Park. In his previous life, he might have walked back slowly; however, Tan Jincheng in the present naturally did not want to.

He told the drivers who gathered around the area the name of his residential compound; sure enough, as soon as the name of the compound was mentioned, and given that Tan Jincheng spoke with a city accent, the drivers scattered.

Only one driver happened to be going the same way and was willing to give Tan Jincheng a ride, but even then, he looked annoyed.

"No meter, 20 yuan, wanna go?"

"Alright, let's go." Tan Jincheng shrugged, seemingly indifferent.

The distance is about three kilometers. Nowadays, the starting price for taxis in Yicheng is 3 yuan for 2 kilometers. If you use the meter, it won't even cost 10 yuan. They'll just ask for 20!

However, this is how taxi drivers are in most cities now, so Tan Jincheng didn't really care. Twenty yuan is fine, he wouldn't be short of money.

In his previous life, Tan Jincheng traveled to various cities for business and took many taxis. There was no point in arguing with them; if he could accept it, he would just have to swallow his pride and accept it.

It wasn't until Didi (a ride-hailing app) was launched that taxi service improved somewhat.

"Where did you come back from working, young man? You're dragging such a big suitcase."

"Students, go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival and drop off your summer clothes while you're at it."

"Oh, seeing how strong you are and how big your suitcase is, I thought you'd struck it rich somewhere and come back with a 20-yuan taxi ride without a second thought."

"I'm a military trainee, uncle. If you don't see I'm a student, can you give me a discount? How about 10 yuan?"

"That won't do. Whatever you say you'll pay, you'll pay. College students especially need to be trustworthy."

Tan Jincheng chuckled but didn't respond, and the driver wisely kept quiet as well.

It's not that I'm badmouthing my hometown; in fact, most cities are like this these days. After the reform and opening up, material conditions have improved, but the quality of most people hasn't kept up.

Even in developed coastal cities, this phenomenon exists; the driver clearly saw that I had agreed too readily and wanted to get some information out of me to see if he could get some more benefits.

I was careless. I should have tried to negotiate the price with him. Maybe he would have brought the 8 yuan with him. Anyway, he was going the same way, and it would have saved me from his empty promises.

Having spent over a year on the ship in a relatively closed environment, Tan Jincheng didn't feel anything special. But now that he's ashore and interacting with people more, he's finding it quite difficult to adjust.

The taxi drove very fast. The advantage of not using the meter is that the driver won't take a detour, and we arrived at the entrance of the residential area in no time.

Just then, Tan Jincheng's phone rang. The familiar Nokia ringtone pulled him back to reality. He glanced at the number—it was his home landline. Sure enough, Zhang Xupeng, that big mouth, had already given his number to his family.

I bought this phone after I got ashore. It's a Nokia 3100, which was released last year. It cost me over 1800 yuan, which is quite expensive nowadays.

In 2004, the house price in Yicheng city was only a little over 1,000 yuan, right? A mobile phone was worth more than one square meter of house.

The driver glanced at Tan Jincheng with a puzzled look, muttered something to himself, and sped away.

Tan Jincheng didn't take it seriously and pressed the answer button. It was really hard to get used to going from the smartphone era to the feature phone era.

"Hello," Tan Jincheng replied softly.

"Pengya is already home, where are you? Why aren't you back yet?" A middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end of the phone; it was Tan Jincheng's mother.

"I'm downstairs in the apartment complex, almost home."

"Why are you taking that call downstairs? It's a waste of phone credit. I'm hanging up now."

Before Tan Jincheng could speak, the other end of the phone hung up. Only then did Tan Jincheng remember that roaming charges still apply for phone calls these days. He had registered his phone number when he disembarked at Ningbo Port, and it was registered in Zhejiang Province.

The minimum monthly fee for Global Pass is 88 yuan. If the fee is less than 88 yuan, it will be charged as 88 yuan. When making or receiving calls outside the province, roaming fees will be charged, which seems to be 6 cents per minute.

It seems the branch mentioned it when he applied for the card, but Tan Jincheng doesn't remember it clearly. This is a habit from his past life, so he can't blame himself.

Looking at the Nokia in his hand, Tan Jincheng fell into deep thought. When did smartphones become popular? There should still be some market for universal chargers, right?
These days, there's gold everywhere. In an era of ever-expanding demand, it would be incredibly easy for someone like Tan Jincheng, who carries memories of his past life, to make money if all he wanted was to.

Even just opening a mobile phone accessories store, selling universal chargers, batteries, and the like, can earn you a good income; and in the smartphone era, there are also small businesses like phone cases and screen protectors that can be done well for many years.

Don't underestimate these small businesses. If you figure out the way to do it and get in early, the profits can be huge.

The major trends are obvious, but industries like real estate, the internet, and automobiles also offer opportunities for ordinary people to enter. While they may not become extremely wealthy, making some money is certainly achievable.

If all else fails, you can always buy stocks. Although I was a novice investor in my past life and never traded stocks in 2004, I still remember a few stocks, such as Moutai liquor.

Tan Jincheng doesn't know how much each share of Moutai is worth now, or even whether it's listed or not. But in his previous life, when he was reborn, the stock was worth nearly 2000 yuan. Now, he can practically buy it without even looking.

"What a vibrant era!"

Tan Jincheng absolutely loves this era and is so grateful to God for sending him back.

With light steps, Tan Jincheng walked towards his home. It was a residential area built by a state-owned enterprise, with each building having six floors and no elevators.

Tan Jincheng's home is on the third floor. Now much stronger, he easily carried his suitcase and arrived at his front door.

The door was ajar. As Tan Jincheng pushed it open and entered, he called out, "Mom, I'm back."

(End of this chapter)