My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 107 Concerns
"How was this resolved?"

"Hehe, I treated them to something to eat..." Xu Guoqing said with a half-smile.

"Eat something?"

"Correct!"

"What do you want to eat?" Zhou Jiye asked curiously.

"Eat life!"

Xu Guoqing's answer left Zhou Jiye speechless. Looking at his smiling face, he didn't know whether he was telling the truth or not. When he asked again, Xu Guoqing stopped talking and only said that the matter had been resolved and that he would guarantee that the other party would never dare to cause trouble again.

Zhou Jiye was both amused and exasperated by Xu Guoqing's words. He was still somewhat puzzled about how the matter had been resolved, but seeing Xu Guoqing's confident demeanor, he could only choose to believe him. In addition, with the stalls in Xigong starting to reopen, the group quickly got busy.

Business at the West Palace remains as good as before.

They gained fame by setting up a stall in Xigong a while ago. Many people in Shanghai know that there are stalls selling good products in Xigong. A few days ago, because they didn't set up a stall, many people came to ask when they would set up a stall again. So today, as soon as they brought the goods over, customers came quickly. When they saw that the stall had new products, people who didn't have time to buy before, or those who came late, rushed to take out their money to buy the goods. They were busy all day long.

As night fell and the city lights came on, the four packed up their stall and headed back. Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were in a good mood; they had sold quite a lot of things that day, and sales were better than expected. However, they also knew in their hearts that this unique business probably wouldn't last long and would soon face competition.

"Do you think what Brother Qing said today was true or false? How exactly did he handle that matter? Did he really treat someone to a meal?" On the way, Zhou Jiye was still thinking about that matter and couldn't help but ask Lin Ying.

"What? Still thinking about this?" Lin Ying asked with a smile, seeing his curious expression.

Zhou Jiye did not deny it, nodding and saying, "Of course, I've been thinking about this for a whole day, but he just wouldn't tell me the details. I'm so frustrated."

"Hehe, you, you think an egg is delicious, but why do you insist on getting to know the hen that laid it? Brother Qing already said it's over, so why ask again if he won't go into details?"

“How can these be the same?” Zhou Jiye shook his head, feeling that Lin Ying’s example was completely wrong.

"Sometimes it's better not to know than to know. You should learn from the four words written by Zheng Banqiao."

"Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy...you mean 'it's good to be confused'?"

“Yes!” Lin Ying nodded. “Since Brother Qing doesn’t want to go into details, he doesn’t intend for us to get involved in this matter. Besides, he’s always been a cautious and reliable person. Didn’t we ask him before if he needed our help? Do you remember what he said then?”

Zhou Jiye thought back for a moment and seemed to understand Lin Ying's words. Xu Guoqing had refused their help at the time, saying that it was best not to get involved in this matter, that the few of them were not suitable to interfere, and that he would find someone else to handle it.

Based on Xu Guoqing's words today, Zhou Jiye seemed to have figured something out and couldn't help but sigh.

"Brother Qing is really something! Why does he have to shoulder everything alone?"

“He has his reasons, and it’s better for everyone. Some things are better left unsaid; asking too many questions is not appropriate.” Lin Ying saw things more clearly than Zhou Jiye and said this meaningfully. Zhou Jiye silently nodded in acceptance and did not bring up the matter again.

In the days that followed, everyone acted as if the situation at the warehouse had never happened, and no one asked about it again. The matter simply passed by quietly.

Their business in Xigong was booming. Although they distributed some of their goods to Awei and his group, the distribution did not reduce sales in Xigong. Instead, the gradual popularity of these products in Shanghai made business even better.

With the successful sale of the calculators to the university, the stock was almost sold out in less than half a month.

As for the other goods, they also sold very well, with a good amount sold every day. Seeing the amount of money coming in, the four of them were happy. No one expected that the second sales would be much better than the first. According to the previous estimate, this batch of goods should have been able to sell for two or three months, but now, in less than a month, their goods were almost gone. As for Awei, he even took the initiative to come and ask when the next batch of goods would arrive.

"Let's chat and discuss what to do next." After closing up shop that day, the four returned to the Shikumen area. Xu Guoqing first offered cigarettes to everyone, lit one, and then asked for their opinions.

There aren't many goods left in the store. Apart from the hardest-to-sell cassette tapes, there are only some clothes and pants left. Microphones, lighters, perfumes, and even calculators have all been sold out. There are only a few dozen digital watches left, but they probably won't last more than a few days.

"What else can we do? Of course, we'll keep trying!"

Without a second thought, Lao Wen answered just that. He had been in a state of high excitement these past few days. With the sales boom, he was selling a lot of goods every day, and the amount of money he received was also rising, which made him even more excited, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Yesterday they calculated their earnings, which came in at nearly 50,000 yuan. If they add today's sales, it will definitely exceed 50,000 yuan. Once the remaining goods are all sold, they estimate they'll get another 3,000 to 4,000 yuan in revenue, bringing the total to a hefty sum of around 54,000 yuan.

This is indeed an enormous sum of money, equivalent to the total income of an average person who doesn't eat or drink for 125 years. It's a fortune that an average person couldn't earn in a lifetime.

In less than half a year, with an initial investment of just over three thousand yuan, they had achieved such a return on their investment in such a short time. This was unimaginable not only for Lao Wen, but also for anyone else, and they were even more excited.

"Keep up the good work? Just like before?" Xu Guoqing asked rhetorically.

"Of course!" Old Wen counted on his fingers: "The first time we invested 3,000 yuan and made more than 18,000 yuan. The second time we invested 15,000 yuan and have now made back 50,000 yuan. If we add the unsold goods, we estimate we will have at least another 4,000 yuan in income."

"Oh right, we also have to take into account the money from Awei. If we hadn't given him a batch of goods and given him some discounts, we could have easily made over 60,000 this time. Since business is so good, what are we hesitating for? This time, let's try to get as much as possible from Lingnan. Based on this profit margin, once the goods arrive and we sell them all, do you know how much money we can make?"

"Three hundred thousand! A full three hundred thousand!" Old Wen was overjoyed, nearly six times the profit. If he invested five hundred thousand as purchasing funds this time, he could sell the goods for three hundred thousand after returning. Even if it was less, it wouldn't matter, but two hundred and fifty thousand or more should be a sure thing.

If they pull off this one job, they'll be completely financially free. The 300,000 yuan will be split among four people, meaning each person will get 75,000 yuan. Adding the money they originally set aside, that's nearly 80,000 yuan. If they deposit that much money in the bank, with the highest fixed deposit interest rate at 5.04%, that means the annual interest on that 80,000 yuan would be 4032 yuan, or 336 yuan per month. That's almost half a year's salary for an average person.

The thought filled Lao Wen with excitement; he couldn't wait to rush to Lingnan to get the goods and achieve financial freedom. But Xu Guoqing frowned slightly at his words.

In his opinion, Lao Wen was a bit obsessed and oversimplified things. Doing business is not like a primary school student doing math problems, where one plus one equals two. Lao Wen's way of calculating was fine when the business was small, but as the business gradually grew, such thinking became inappropriate.

Admittedly, theoretically this is true; the greater the investment, the greater the return. However, the problem is that the greater the investment, the greater the risk. In addition, their first two purchases were from Macun. Although the goods from Macun were cheaper and the quantity was sufficient, the risks there were simply too great.

They were unfamiliar with the area, and even though they had cooperated twice before, as outsiders, they were not locals. The first time they picked up goods, they almost ran into trouble because they were intercepted halfway. The second time, although Uncle Qi had someone guide them around the roadblocks, they encountered a problem with shipping in Fengdong. They finally managed to pay to resolve the issue. Even now, Xu Guoqing still feels a bit scared when he thinks back on these two incidents.

It's better to be safe than sorry. If anything goes wrong in any of these areas, all the money they've worked so hard to earn will be gone. Moreover, as the amount of money invested increases, the risk also increases exponentially, and Xu Guoqing has to consider these factors.

Furthermore, the goods from Ma Village have always been sold in blind boxes. Although the first two shipments were fine, this kind of blind-sight approach to getting goods isn't sustainable. What if next time they get a batch of hard-to-sell, substandard goods, or even boxes full of junk? Are they supposed to go and argue with Uncle Seven then? That's simply impractical!

Another important question is how to bring so much money over there?
Last time, Xu Guoqing and Zhou Jiye had a hard time carrying 15,000 yuan in payment for goods. It was not easy to hide so much money on their person, and they had to be wary of unexpected events along the way. They didn't eat or sleep well and were exhausted.

That's it for 15,000 yuan. If they were to take 50,000 yuan south this time as Lao Wen suggested, the two of them simply couldn't carry such a large sum. Besides, Xu Guoqing couldn't guarantee that Uncle Qi wouldn't have any ulterior motives when he saw such a large sum of money.

Besides these, Xu Guoqing also needs money now. He originally planned to take this opportunity to divide the money in his hands, with each person taking a portion first and keeping a portion for purchasing goods.

The reason he needed the money was because of his younger siblings. A few days ago, there was a fight at home, which was all about the house.

Xu Guoqing's family of five squeezed into one apartment. His younger siblings are all quite old, and Xu Guoqing himself is already considered an older single man. But given their family's circumstances, they simply cannot start a family without a house.

My sister is alright; girls eventually have to get married. But what about my brother? Two grown men getting married under these conditions—how will they live together after the wedding? Moreover, according to the customs of Shanghai, renting a place is a last resort. Any family with a bit of means would absolutely not want to rent a place for their wedding; if word got out, they would be looked down upon.

(End of this chapter)