Back to 1978: Getting rich starts with treasure hunting

It is most peaceful to go home and sleep well.

Gu Jiu took out his watch from under his pillow and checked the time. It was already seven in the morning. He put the watch on his wrist, looked back at Lin Shu who was sleeping soundly, and carefully lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

When the first ray of sunlight shone through the window, the sleepy courtyard became lively.

The crying of children, the clinking of cooking, and the voices of adults mixed together, gathering together the unique atmosphere of the Gu family, filling the entire villa.

"Brother Jiu, why did you get up so early today?"

"I went to bed early last night, so I woke up early. Mom, what do you want to have for breakfast this morning?" Gu Jiu stroked his hair and walked down the stairs slowly.

That sense of relaxation made Gu Zhiyuan jealous. "Laojiu, after breakfast, do you have anything important to do?"

Gu Jiu shook his hair and asked with a sly smile, "Is accompanying my wife considered a big deal?"

Gu Zhiyuan felt a toothache when he saw his reckless appearance: "After breakfast, help me send Youming and Youxing to kindergarten."

"Your unit's kindergarten, you can just send it there on your way to work, why do you want me to make a special trip?" Gu Jiu refused to do it. Whoever has the child should be responsible for it.

Gu Zhiyuan helped Youxing put on his shoes and rubbed his brows, "I have to go to the provincial government meeting this morning, so I don't have enough time."

Gu Jiu said calmly, "Okay, as long as you don't mind that I scare your son by riding my bike."

Gu Zhiyuan was relieved about this, knowing that this kid was the kind of person who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and he was quite patient with his nephews and nieces.

He patted his son's head and said, "Your uncle sent you to school today, why don't you thank him quickly?"

"Thank you, uncle."

Gu Jiu nodded indifferently, entered the kitchen, saw the porridge cooking in the pot, and the aroma of noodles in the air, "Mom, porridge with steamed buns this morning?"

"Don't be so obvious in your tone of disdain. You know, there are still many families who can't even afford white flour. And you're still disdainful of it. Have you forgotten your roots after a few days of good times?"

Wang Suzhen was not merciful with her words, but her hands kept moving. She handed the chopped salted vegetables to the nanny and asked her to stir-fry them with chili peppers to go with the porridge.

Gu Jiu looked at the side dishes they prepared and said, "Mom, this salted vegetable is just salted vegetable stir-fried with salted vegetable. How about some oil residue or some pork belly stir-fried with it?"

"What are you thinking about?" Wang Suzhen washed her hands and pushed Gu Jiu out. "Yesterday you had fish and meat, why do you want to eat meat again the next day? You want to eat meat every day, where do you get so many meat tickets?"

"If you don't have meat coupons, just take out the bacon you stored last year and stir-fry it."

Young people have a fast metabolism, so at this age they don’t have to worry about the three highs. They just think about eating meat every day.

Especially when they were in the county town, the couple’s meals were so good.

Now he is suddenly asked to tighten his belt and live a somewhat reluctant life.

"Go away, those who know me know that you love your wife, and those who don't know me would think that my family has a greedy son. If you are worried that your wife will be pregnant and lack nutrition, you can help her fry an egg when she wakes up."

Wang Suzhen pushed the man out of the kitchen and ignored him. Instead, she wiped the table and prepared to eat.

It was already half past eight when Lin Shu got up. When she washed up and went downstairs, Gu Jiu just came back from outside.

Lin Shu noticed the dew on his hair, "Hey, where did you go so early in the morning?"

Gu Jiu took off his gloves and threw them on the coffee table, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the mist off his face. "I've sent Youming and Youxing to kindergarten. You just got up. Are you hungry? Breakfast is in the pot. Wait for me to serve it."

Gu Changsheng, who was resting at home today, felt so annoyed when he saw Gu Jiu and his gang being so attentive. It was really too much to watch.

Gu Jiu brought out the porridge and steamed buns and was about to go into the kitchen to fry an egg for her, but was stopped by Lin Shu, "No, fried food will make you sick. You'd better stop bothering me. I'm fine with porridge and steamed buns."

The meal was too greasy this morning and her stomach can’t take it anymore.

"Then boil it?"

"There's no need to boil the water. By the time you cook it, I'll have finished my breakfast."

Wang Suzhen, who was sitting in the living room, gently tugged at Gu Changsheng and winked at him, "It's true that there's always someone better than you. You definitely never thought that he would have such a day. He's simply... in your words, a henpecked man."

"It's not a bad thing that he's a henpecked man. At least, you and I don't have to worry about him anymore. After he got married, we successfully handed this hot potato to his wife."

From now on, let his wife take care of this boy's affairs, and they can rest easy.

"Yes, that's what I thought too." Wang Suzhen smiled secretly.

Lin Shu noticed that Gu Jiu had been staring at him while he was eating breakfast, so he asked helplessly, "What are your plans for today? If you have something to do, just go and do it."

"Today we are picking up the goods, will you go with me?"

"Okay." Lin Shu was happy to accompany the couple as they moved together.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, when Gu Jiu and Lin Shu arrived at the train station, Chen Fei and his brothers had already arrived, and there was a truck parked nearby.

"Have you borrowed all the trucks from your father's unit?" Gu Jiu asked when he saw the trucks.

"I originally wanted to rent a truck from the transportation company. My dad rarely saw me doing something serious, so he lent me the company's car." Chen Fei looked back at the truck parked behind him, feeling quite proud.

As soon as the train arrived at the station, we checked the list with the staff, signed our names, and then started unloading the goods.

Except for fruits, other goods were packed in fiber bags and it was impossible to tell what they were from the outside. Lin Shu was arranged to sit aside to help count and check the list.

After all their goods were unloaded, the brothers loaded them all onto the truck in one go.

Chen Fei and another brother got on the truck and followed it, while Gu Jiu and his other brothers rode their bicycles to the warehouse.

The so-called warehouse is the second floor of the storefront. Among the storefronts, only one second floor of the gatehouse is used as an office. The rest are all used to store goods.

Since there was no room left on the second floor, they were piled in the storefront on the first floor.

There was no time to pack up the other goods, so the fruits were put directly in the store after being unloaded from the truck.

Lin Shu took a look and found sugarcane, pineapple, banana, grapefruit, etc.

In this era, fruits from other places are really rare. Some well-off families can afford to buy them for their own consumption. Families with poor conditions usually only buy some fruits as gifts.

There were large quantities of each item in the shop, which immediately attracted passers-by.

"Hey young man, why do you have so many fruits here? Are you selling them?"

"These should be southern fruits, right? Why are there no apples?"

Chen Fei smiled and explained to everyone: "The fruits here are all fresh goods that have just arrived today. We went to the south this time, so they are all southern fruits. The price is cheap and no tickets are required. Buy them as soon as possible. As for the apples that the lady just mentioned, next time we go to the north to purchase goods, we will have more apples in the shop."

"No tickets? Young man, how much are the bananas and pineapples?"

"Sugar cane is 25 cents a piece, bananas are 40 cents a pound, pineapples are 60 cents each, and grapefruits are also 60 cents each."

"Pineapples and grapefruits are sold individually. Can I choose any one?"

Chen Fei reminded: "You can choose, but be careful when turning it over."

Lin Shu lowered his head, opened the system mall, and checked the prices of pineapples and grapefruits.

The wholesale price of pineapples and grapefruits is 1.5 cents each, and bananas are 0.5 cents per pound.

The wholesale price of the system mall is probably the same as the real wholesale price of these fruits.

Of course, they wholesale from Guangdong Province, and there are freight and labor costs for transportation along the way. There are also shipping fees for trains, and then there is further transportation when they arrive in the provincial capital. If they are not their own people, it is another cost expenditure.

Calculated this way, there is profit but it won’t be too big, which is okay.

It is rare to come across fruits that do not require a ticket. Passersby who see someone picking them will basically come over to take a look. Once they find out that the fruits do not require a ticket, they will more or less buy some to take home for their family to try.

In this way, the fruit shop's business suddenly became popular.

Gu Jiu asked someone to go to the state-owned restaurant to pack up some meals. Except for a few people who were busy in the fruit shop, the rest of the people went to the store on the other side to eat.

After dinner, Lin Shu asked them what other goods were packed in fiber bags and cardboard boxes.

"The cartons contain canned fruit, and the fiber bags contain clothing, bags, socks and other goods that don't need to be kept fresh."

"Put some canned goods on the table at the fruit shop, and sell some canned goods while people are buying fruit."

People at this time like to buy fruits or canned fruits as gifts. The People's Hospital is about 100 meters away from the cinema. I believe that passers-by who go to the hospital to visit patients will buy some fruits or canned fruits when they pass by the fruit shop.

Gu Jiu glanced at the empty shop behind him and asked, "What do you think we should do with this clothing store?"

Lin Shu had already noticed that several shops had painted the walls white in advance, and had cleaned the floors, doors and windows.

These days, supplies are in short supply, so there aren't too many requirements for store decoration. It's a seller's market, so as long as you have goods, you won't have trouble selling them.

Lin Shu asked them to find someone to weld an iron rack specifically for hanging sample goods, nail it on the high wall, and use clothes hangers to hang the main models.

The three walls of the entire shop can hold a dozen main styles, and the remaining styles are hung on the iron racks below.

As for bags, they can be hung on the wall or placed in a wooden container. Things like nylon socks can also be placed on the counter.

Lin Shu was not very energetic due to pregnancy, and she felt very tired when she came back from outside in the afternoon. She went back to her room to rest after dinner.

"What's wrong? Are you tired after going out with me today?" After washing up, Gu Jiu sat on the edge of the bed and gave Lin Shu a gentle massage.

Lin Shu closed her eyes and enjoyed it. After listening to his words, she sighed, "Maybe I'm not energetic enough because of my pregnancy. I've been busy for several hours. Although I didn't do anything, I just feel tired. I feel more tired than you who are working."

Gu Jiu's eyes showed some distress, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to accompany me today."

"It's none of your business. I just think that Shanlin is more suitable for me. Doing business like you guys is too energy-consuming and not suitable for me at the moment."

Gu Jiu looked at her slightly pregnant belly hesitantly, "It's not safe for you to go up the mountain with a big belly now. If you really want to go up the mountain, I'll take you for a stroll in the suburbs when the weather is good. But you are absolutely not allowed to go up the mountain alone."

Lin Shu remembered that he had climbed the mountain twice this time, and felt guilty and didn't dare to refute.

Quickly changing the subject: "Do you need to go to the store tomorrow?"

Gu Jiu paused his massage hand for a moment, staring at her fair neck, his Adam's apple rolling, and he coughed and asked, "Chen Fei and the others will be watching there tomorrow, so I don't have anything to do. I can go or not. Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"

Lin Shu turned sideways and lay facing Gu Jiu. After thinking for a while, he said, "I mainly thought that you are familiar with the provincial capital. I wanted to ask you which factories in the provincial capital have products that are suitable for our store. When the time comes, you can go to their sales department and get more products to enrich our store."

Gu Jiu listened to her and agreed without hesitation. However, thinking of the inconvenient transportation, he suggested: "That's no problem, but it's a bit inconvenient to ship the goods back to the county after they have been shipped there. Why don't we rent a warehouse in the city as a turnover place?"

Lin Shu has another idea. "I don't mind renting a warehouse, but it's just for turnover. It's better to rent a store in the city and open a department store, doing both retail and wholesale. The small shops in the county are the distributors of the department store."

Lin Shu's idea is to become a city-level general distributor. If the two stores are successful, she doesn't mind becoming a provincial-level general distributor in the provincial capital.

It can be regarded as the earliest provincial and municipal private wholesale department.

All cities and counties below the provincial level can come to him for wholesale. Naturally, counties and towns within the city's jurisdiction can all wholesale goods from her.

Gu Jiu knew that this business had great potential after a brief thought, but he didn't expect Lin Shu's brain to work so quickly. "If you want to open a department store, you will need a lot of goods, and you need to have a wide variety of goods to choose from. Under the current situation, it is a bit difficult."

Lin Shu certainly knew. "What worries me most right now is the transportation problem. We can slowly search for more types of goods and gradually enrich the types of goods in the store. As long as the store is open, the business will slowly grow. If we want to develop to a certain scale, the biggest obstacle in front of us is transportation."

The fastest logistics now is probably train shipment, but after leaving the train station, trucks are still needed for transportation. At that time, there was no well-connected transportation like in later generations, and there was no service where someone would deliver the goods to your door with just a phone call.

Starting a business is really difficult.

No matter how many ideas you have, they are not as hindered as transportation.

No wonder there was a period of time in later generations when the streets were filled with slogans saying, "If you want to be rich, build roads first."

"The transportation problem is not something we can solve on our own at the moment." Gu Jiu stopped massaging, leaned against the head of the bed, hugged Lin Shu and asked her the most realistic question.

"You want to open a department store in the city. Who are you going to put in charge?"

"What do you think of Dongfa? That boy has unlimited energy, is steady and smart. Why don't we let him go to the city and try?"

Gu Jiu had a look of astonishment on his face and smiled: "I have no objection. Young people should always be given opportunities to exercise. I believe he will slowly grow up with the company."

"How about you be the general distributor in the provincial capital?" Lin Shu looked at him with a smile.

He talks about giving young people a chance in a mature manner, as if he is in his seventies or eighties.

Gu Jiu scratched his nose and said with a guilty conscience: "It's not impossible for me to take responsibility. Don't you want to go back to the county town?"

How could he not want to go back? Although the provincial capital was more prosperous than the county town, Lin Shu still felt that life was more comfortable in the county town.