Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

"Smuggling? Isn't that illegal?" Yan Jiecheng immediately widened his eyes and asked his third son, his worried expression growing stronger.

He even felt a pang of regret, thinking that he shouldn't have impulsively come along to do business.

But there's no going back in this world.

Since he divorced Zhang Juan for money and quit his job at the steel rolling mill, Yan Jiecheng has had no way out and can only go down a dark path.

Seeing that neither Lao San nor Xu Damao responded, Yan Jiecheng's worried expression deepened, and he spoke again, "Lao San..."

"Is nothing going to happen?"

This wasn't the first time the third son of the Yan family had done something like this. Facing Yan Jiecheng's worried gaze, he patted his chest and answered confidently.

"Don't worry, big brother, nothing will happen."

"Those bosses who were able to smuggle radios and televisions from Hong Kong Island all had some connections."

"If someone were really targeting us, they would have received the news long ago, and there would be no chance of an accident happening right when the two parties are making a transaction."

"I've come here with Brother Da Mao to buy radios and TVs a few times before, and there's never been a problem. You can rest assured..."

"Anyway, we're not going to do this for the rest of our lives. Once we make money in the future, we won't have to take any more risks."

As they were talking, a beam of light suddenly appeared on the mountain road directly ahead; one look was enough to tell it was coming from a flashlight.

It flashed three times in a row, very clearly visible in the darkness, and then the light disappeared.

Xu Damao, who had just been leading everyone on a fast journey, quickly stopped and took out a flashlight he had prepared in advance, turning it on and off three times in the direction of the village.

Two beams of light appeared on the other side a minute later.

Before Yan Jiecheng could understand what was happening, Xu Damao's face lit up with joy and he said, "We can go now."

"Once we enter the village, don't look around. Stay behind me and follow me wherever I go. Don't wander off anywhere."

"We'll leave the village as soon as we get what we need, and we have to be quick."

Upon entering the village, the group was led into a courtyard.

There were three or four people standing inside, watching Xu Damao and his group with wary expressions.

Xu Damao seemed to know one of the middle-aged men well, so he immediately went over to greet him and handed him a bag of money that he had wrapped in newspaper beforehand.

With a fawning smile, he said to the other party, "Brother Wang, we agreed beforehand that this batch of goods is worth a total of 28,300 yuan... The money is all in the bag, I guarantee not a penny less..."

"I don't know if the quantity of goods is correct."

The middle-aged man who took the money seemed very dissatisfied with Xu Damao's suspicion. He frowned and scolded, "This isn't the first time we've done business together. Don't you even have this much trust?"

"All the goods are in the house. There are three types of radios and two types of televisions, all of which are the latest models sent from Hong Kong Island. The quality is definitely not a problem."

At this moment, the men standing beside the middle-aged man had already counted the 20,000 yuan that Xu Damao had brought, and immediately said to the leader, "Brother..."

"The money is not a problem, and the quantity is correct."

The middle-aged man nodded, then said to Xu Damao, "The things are inside the house, go in and see for yourselves..."

“From now on, all the goods in the house belong to you. We are even, and I will not be responsible for the radio and television in the house.”

"You must keep a close watch on them and get them out of there as soon as possible. Make sure the police don't notice them." Xu Damao seemed very satisfied with the deal, replying with a smile, "Brother Wang, your goods are definitely fine."

"Don't worry, my car is all arranged. It can be moved in the middle of the night, and I guarantee it will be done without anyone noticing."

After listening, the other person didn't reply, but smiled and walked out of the yard.

The three Yan brothers looked anxious. They had originally planned to get to know Xu Damao's supplier through this transaction so that they could prepare for getting rid of Xu Damao and going it alone in the future.

As a result, the group remained together, and Xu Damao stood by watching them leave the yard, preventing Yan Jiecheng from having any chance to chat with them.

Xu Damao didn't know what the three Yan brothers were thinking, but he knew the Yan family's character.

Too calculating.

Although I can earn money on my own now, there's no guarantee that one day they won't turn around and scheme against me.

For his own safety, he always kept his distance from the three Yan brothers.

Seeing their expressions constantly changing and their eyes frequently glancing at their supplier, even if Xu Damao was stupid, he knew they were up to no good. This made him even more wary of the three Yan brothers.

As soon as the upstream suppliers left the yard, they started making arrangements: "Banggeng, you guard the door. Jiecheng, Jiefang, you two come inside with me to inspect the goods..."

Xu Damao's idea was simple: since you want to mess with your upstream supplier, then he would not give you the opportunity to contact your upstream supplier.

The three Yan brothers originally planned to use the opportunity of Xu Damao entering the house to inspect the goods to catch up with Xu Damao's supplier, but Xu Damao did not give them the chance at all and directly let the three brothers enter the house to inspect the goods.

Now that the three brothers still rely on Xu Damao to make money, they certainly wouldn't dare disobey Xu Damao's orders.

Despite being extremely unwilling, I had no choice but to follow Xu Damao to inspect the goods, temporarily suppressing my thoughts of contacting Xu Damao's supplier and waiting for a better opportunity in the future.

Xu Damao couldn't possibly let the three Yan brothers into the house to inspect the goods every time.

From now on, as long as one of the three Yan brothers stays outside to keep watch, they will have the opportunity to contact Xu Damao's superior.

What Xu Damao and his group didn't know was that they had been under police surveillance for half a month.

Previously, when they smuggled a few or even dozens of radios, they would carry the radios themselves and sell them from street to street, so the impact was not very significant.

Now, more than two hundred radios have been smuggled, and relying on just a few people to go door-to-door selling them would take too long.

It's possible that we won't be able to sell a batch of goods for several months.

The less often a sum of money is smuggled, the less money is earned.

The more times a smuggling operation is carried out, the more money is made.

In order to increase income, Xu Damao decided to develop a downline with Banggeng and the three Yan brothers.

They would buy smuggled radios and televisions at low prices and deliver them to inland county towns, then sell each radio to local smugglers for an extra twenty yuan, in exchange for their help in selling the radios.

In this way, Xu Damao can make a profit of twenty yuan just by reselling the radio he bought at a low price.

Although the profit is much less than when I sold it myself, the cycle of smuggling has been shortened from two or three months to just over half a month.

What used to take the time it took to smuggle once can now be done four or five times, and the final profit has not only not decreased, but has actually doubled. (End of Chapter)