Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 92 Assets of 3

When the pay was distributed in the morning, since it was done one person at a time, Yan Hui didn't hear his fourth uncle or anyone else mention the day off. He figured his fourth uncle had probably told some of the foremen. But Yan Hui didn't have a foreman, so no one told him.

"I'm off tomorrow, so I'm planning to buy some clothes. I just got paid, so I need to tidy up a bit," Yan Hui said.

He had asked everyone to wear shirts because he thought shirts would make the four of them stand out from ordinary movers and make the bosses think they were also key figures like the boss or Accountant Liu.

But the shirt was indeed a bit conspicuous, and neither Fourth Uncle nor Accountant Liu wore shirts often.

Autumn is just around the corner, and Yan Hui's idea is that everyone should wear a slightly more sophisticated yet not too flashy outfit.

This wasn't difficult for Lao Guo and the others; their families were all well-off and they all had these kinds of clothes. Only Yan Hui didn't have any and had to buy them separately. As for Song Zhiyuan, it didn't really matter; he wasn't responsible for communicating with the boss at all.

Yan Hui is certainly willing to spend money on clothes for business purposes, even hundreds of yuan.

"You just got paid and you're already thinking about buying new clothes?" Brother Shan laughed. "Yeah, it's getting cold soon. If I had money, I'd buy a mink coat!"

"Where would I get the money for that!" Yan Hui quickly waved his hand. It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, but it was too eye-catching; was he afraid Xiao Bao wouldn't see him?
"Don't listen to him," Brother Liu smiled slightly. "With your build, you'd actually look great in a jacket. I know a good shop; if you want to go, I'll tell you the address."

"A jacket? A jacket is good!" Yan Hui's eyes lit up, and he ran over to Brother Liu to chat.

There were exactly four of them. They didn't have anything to do that night, and they had the day off tomorrow, so Brother Shan called on three of them to play "Four-Player Rush".

Yan Hui couldn't avoid it at all. He could only use the excuse that he didn't know how to play and didn't have money to lower Shan Ge and Zhao Ge's expectations to one or two yuan. If it went any higher, Yan Hui would stop playing.

...

Yan Hui played until past midnight and was exhausted, so he got up promptly at seven o'clock the next morning.

While the three older brothers were still sleeping, Yan Hui got dressed and, based on what Brother Liu had said yesterday, found the men's clothing store and spent over 70 yuan to buy a high-end jacket.

Yan Hui has the kind of features with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, and when paired with an expensive jacket, his entire demeanor changes instantly. The only problem is that he's somewhat conspicuous.

Fortunately, most people are busy at the freight station at night, which provides some cover.

After carefully looking at himself in the mirror, Yan Hui thought he looked incredibly handsome!

I'll wear this outfit when I go home for Chinese New Year this year!
Wearing the most expensive piece of clothing he had ever bought, Yan Hui felt a little giddy. He couldn't wait to get back to his dorm, and the first thing he did was to find a suitable place to sew money inside the jacket!

Yan Hui was the only person in the entire dormitory, so he could freely fuss over his clothes. The clothes themselves had two layers, with several places where he could hide money.

According to Yan Hui's estimate, there's no problem sewing 30,000 to 40,000 yuan worth of stuffing into this garment.

With the pants included, sixty or seventy thousand is no problem!

Sew!
This kind of work seems addictive. Yan Hui spent over two hours completing the technical modification of the garment, which gave him a great sense of accomplishment. His design inside the garment allows for easy removal of money, yet the money is unlikely to be lost. This is the culmination of two years of money-sewing skills!
…That night, Brother Zhao came back very late. Yan Hui had already lain down, but he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Judging from Zhao Ge's state, he didn't seem very happy. Yan Hui didn't want to chat with Zhao Ge either, so he pretended to be asleep.

He pretended and pretended, and then he really fell asleep.

...

Yan Hui's new proposal was ultimately unanimously approved by everyone.

Success is achieved in secret; wealth is made quietly!
Everyone kept a close eye on Xiao Bao, avoiding him whenever possible, and if they couldn't avoid him, they would look around and pretend to be doing business with their elders, not caring if they were mocked.

Song Zhiyuan quickly adapted to the work here. Although he was somewhat disappointed that he couldn't make money in the market, he listened to Yan Hui's advice and completely withdrew from the competition with Da Kai.

What's more, to everyone's surprise, Song Zhiyuan was quite clever. He quickly figured out the train schedules and other information, and whenever Song Zhiyuan was there during the day, everyone could learn more at night.

On one Sunday, Yan Hui and his team sold a total of seven freight cars, earning 1400 yuan! Yan Hui received 420 yuan, Lao Guo and the other two each received 280 yuan, and Xiao Song received 140 yuan! When Xiao Song came the following Saturday, he was stunned to see 140 yuan and worked even harder to collect information.

Song Zhiyuan compiled so much information that he wrote it all down in notes, which were invaluable to Yan Hui. After a while, Yan Hui could guarantee that no one in the entire freight station who dealt in timber understood the freight dispatch patterns better than him!

On average, Yan Hui earns 100-150 yuan every night, easily reaching a monthly income of around 4,000 yuan.

This was in 1996. Many workers earned only four or five hundred yuan a month, and some employees earned only around three hundred!
Gradually, some bosses noticed something amiss with Yan Hui and his group.

Some business owners became less willing to work with Yan Hui after their second or third encounter. Faced with such owners, Yan Hui would either transfer the business for 100 yuan or offer it for free. Gradually, everyone adjusted their plans, preferring to earn less rather than make a foolish mistake.

And so, time flew by, and snow fell in Fengtian.

Everyone stayed here for a full three months!

With the wages paid by his fourth uncle, Yan Hui's money officially exceeded 30,000 yuan!
Thirty thousand yuan—his body was completely covered in the fabric, wherever there was room to sew money. Luckily, the weather was getting colder; in the summer, with short sleeves and shorts, it would be impossible to sew so much money.

Two important things happened during this period.

First, there was Zhao Ge's sudden resignation. It was said that he owed gambling debts and had a conflict with Shan Ge, forcing him to leave. Yan Hui had anticipated this.

After Brother Zhao left, Uncle Si gave Wang Chao a 200 yuan raise and asked him to take charge of some mechanical issues. In addition, Brother Shan often stayed here to help with these matters.

Zhao's departure gave Uncle Si a headache and also made him somewhat resentful of Yan Hui. The reason was that when Uncle Si asked Yan Hui about it, Yan Hui said he knew the two of them were often together. Uncle Si then asked Yan Hui why he hadn't told him, leaving Yan Hui speechless.

The conversation between the two ended unhappily. Uncle Si believed that since Yan Hui was paid a high salary of 1,000 yuan, Yan Hui should have a sense of ownership and inform Uncle Si promptly of any issues. However, Yan Hui wasn't the type to gossip; unless he discovered anyone had done anything to harm the factory, why should he tell Uncle Si?
This was also the first time Yan Hui had a problem with his fourth uncle. Perhaps Yan Hui himself didn't realize that his problem wasn't because he was in the right, but because he had indeed gained some confidence.

(End of this chapter)