Back to 1978: Getting rich starts with treasure hunting

"Brother Jiu, why are you here so early?"

Chen Fei and Xiao Hui had just arrived at the store entrance and had not yet parked their bicycles when Gu Jiu suddenly braked in front of them on his bicycle, scaring them both.

Gu Jiu parked his bicycle against the wall and patted his cotton coat. "Come and get some work clothes. I'll need them later."

"Oh, okay." Although Chen Fei didn't know what he wanted the work clothes for, he came to get them early in the morning because he thought he might need them urgently.

He handed the key to Xiaohui and motioned him to open the door of the discount store first.

"Brother Jiu, why are you going to wear work clothes so early?"

"Go to the mountain and pick some gardenias for your sister-in-law."

Fade Chen knew about gardenias, but he didn't know what they were used for. "Sister-in-law, do you use gardenias to scent the house?"

"What are you thinking about? Gardenias are fragrant, but your sister-in-law is not that bored. She wants to use them as stuffing for dumplings."

The corner of Chen Fei's mouth twitched. It was boring to smoke the house, but making stuffing was almost the same. He should stop making trouble here.

"Brother Jiu, you dote on your sister-in-law too much. If those former classmates knew about this, they would be shocked."

Gu Jiu turned to look at him, raised his eyebrows with a smile, "I will tell your sister-in-law exactly what I said. It seems that you don't want to try the dumplings stuffed with gardenia. I told her not to bother."

"Don't bother me!"

When Chen Fei heard that he would have a share of the dumplings, he quickly smiled and said, "Sister-in-law is lucky to have found you. Sister-in-law is so capable and virtuous, you can't do too much to pamper her. I have never eaten dumplings stuffed with flowers in my life, and this time I am lucky to have benefited from your help."

Gu Jiu snorted, and seeing that Xiaohui had already opened the shop door, he walked into the shop.

Chen Fei followed closely behind.

Gu Jiu had not paid attention to the shops here for a while. When he walked into the shop, he saw the piles of clothes were neatly arranged, so he asked, "How is business recently?"

Chen Fei sat on the bench as soon as he entered the store. After listening to his question, he pointed at the clothes on display in the store and said:

"Not long after the Chinese New Year, business naturally cannot be compared with that before the New Year. Now the No. 1 Garment Factory saw that our business was good before the New Year, so they also followed our example and rented a few storefronts for promotions, snatching a lot of our business."

Gu Jiu had guessed this a long time ago. The clothing factory wanted to clear out their inventory, so when they saw the promotional methods, how could they not quickly follow them?

"Have you seen their spring and summer clothes? What are the styles? How much stock do they have?"

Chen Fei shook his head: "There is not much inventory, and the styles are mostly common ones, which are outdated. Even if they are put on the market, they will not be very competitive. The most important thing is that the First Factory wants to keep them for themselves and deal with them slowly."

Gu Jiu: "Then after we sell out these goods, we will temporarily stop the sale and wait until we find other sources of goods."

"Brother Jiu, I'm thinking of going to Guangdong Province in a few days to see if there are any channels to get electronic products there, or find a shoe factory to get a batch of shoes to sell."

Chen Fei was considering that so many of his brothers were following him for a living, so he couldn't just leave the store idle. He had to make use of it so that his brothers could earn a salary to support their families.

They opened a Guangdong fashion clothing store, and customers always want to match the clothes they buy with shoes.

If they open a shoe store, they should have good business.

"Your idea is good. If I don't have time, you can take two brothers with you to help you run errands. When you get there, don't show off or fight with others. Stay calm and tolerate things if you can." Gu Jiu reminded him.

Lin Shu is already in the late stage of pregnancy and is expecting twins. Gu Jiu thinks that he will not go out of town again until she gives birth.

"Okay, I'll pay attention, don't worry."

"Also, when you get there, you can learn about the local fruit situation and contact them first. When their lychees, longans and other fruits are ripe, you can ship them directly to us."

As for the fruit shop, there has never been a shortage of goods since it opened, but due to transportation problems in this era, there are not many varieties.

Gu Jiu changed into a set of work clothes in the store and rode his bicycle out of the city.

Lin Shu, who was at home, got up and had breakfast. Wang Suzhen had already taken the nanny to the state-owned vegetable market. She was bored so she took a walk in the courtyard and unknowingly walked to the gate of the courtyard.

The first fruit shop opened by Gu Youhui was just across the road from the compound, and it was also the front of the unit's family compound. Next to his fruit shop was a business, which was opened by Gu Jiu.

The roads at that time were not as busy as they are in later generations. At most, there would be an occasional car passing by, and most of the time it was bicycles.

So Lin Shu walked out of the door slowly and came to the fruit shop. There were several customers choosing fruits at the door.

When Gu Youhui was helping customers weigh and collect money, he accidentally discovered Lin Shu looking at the fruits at the door and was shocked.

"Aunt, why did you run out today?" Gu Youhui helped her move a stool for her to sit against the wall, so he had the chance to stretch his head to look around the streets, "Didn't my uncle come out with you?"

Isn’t it true that Jiao is inseparable from Meng and Meng is inseparable from Jiao?

"Did my uncle go to the business next door?"

Thinking of this, he wanted to look at the next store to see if Gu Jiu was inside.

Lin Shu chuckled: "Don't look for him. He's not at home today. He went out to pick gardenias."

"Gardenia?" Gu Youhui felt that the sun had made him a little confused. "What are you going to do with the gardenia?"

"I plan to blanch it and use it as stuffing, and then make dumplings and pies." Lin Shu picked up an orange and asked Gu Youhui to find him a knife.

Gu Youhui found a knife from the drawer behind the counter and handed it to her, "Are the dumplings made with Gardenia delicious?"

Lin Shu peeled the orange and smiled, "I think it's delicious. If it's your taste, you should add some meat."

Gu Youhui admitted that he was a foodie. Just hearing that meat was added made him feel greedy.

"I want to eat it, little aunt, please add some meat when you mix the stuffing."

"Don't always think about eating it. Let me ask you, how is this kind of orange selling in your shop?" Lin Shu tasted a slice of orange and it tasted good.

It is sweet with a little bit of sourness, which is especially friendly to pregnant women.

"The oranges look good and are large, so they sell well. As the weather gets warmer, the daily sales are pretty good."

Gu Youhui felt that the fruits that Lin Shu brought from his friends were of the highest quality in terms of both taste and appearance.

"If you contact your friend and ask him to help send another batch of goods, the goods in my warehouse won't be sold for long. I can clear them out in a month at most."

Lin Shu nodded: "I'll ask your uncle to contact him then. You're at the fruit shop today, so you don't need to help at the restaurant?"

Gu Youhui's restaurant has been open for more than a month, and business is booming due to the delicious taste of the dishes.

Especially Gu Youjiang, the first person to invest in him. Every time he came back from vacation and saw the busy scene in the restaurant during dining time, he couldn't stop smiling.

Of course, the other people in the Gu family who did not invest were envious and regretted why they did not invest more money in the beginning.

Gu Youhui: "It's not too late to wait until meal time. Auntie, do you want to follow me to the store at noon to try the new dishes?"

Lin Shu was curious: "What new dishes are there?"

Gu Youhui smiled proudly: "My friend's grandparents live in the countryside. They raised a batch of ducks in their village, but they couldn't sell them at a good price at the purchasing station. I heard about this and ordered this batch of ducks from them. Now the chefs in the restaurant have made bundled ducks, and they taste pretty good."

"Bundled duck, what kind of duck is that?" It was the first time that Lin Shu heard of bundled duck, whether in his previous life or now.

Gu Youhui clapped his hands excitedly. When he mentioned this dish in the restaurant, he praised it highly: "Oh, little aunt, this duck tying method is very particular. Each piece of duck meat must be tied with duck intestines before cooking. When the duck meat is out of the pot, you can eat the duck intestines while eating the duck meat. The taste is really spicy and fresh.

Now the restaurant has retained a large number of repeat customers because of this dish, and I also love it very much. "

Lin Shu: "Since this dish tastes so good, why haven't I heard you mention it before?"

"Ah... I forgot because I was busy." Gu Youhui chuckled.

"I won't go there at noon today. I'll go to your restaurant with your uncle to have a meal someday when I have time."

"That's fine. I'll basically be in the store during meal times anyway." Gu Youhui nodded.

Lin Shu came out of the fruit shop and went into the store next door.

The employee of the store welcomed her in with a smile, asked her to sit behind the counter, and took out the account book for her to check.

The cashier in charge of this store is a female comrade named Chen Li.

She is Gu Jiu’s high school classmate. She is married and a mother of two children.

Chen Li was an educated youth who went to the countryside to work in the fields. She returned to the city last year.

Because she couldn't bear to leave her children behind when she returned to the city, she brought both of them with her. In order to earn food for her children, she learned from Chen Fei that Gu Jiu was recruiting workers, so she went to the door and asked for help.

What she didn't expect was that the boy who used to be naughty in school has now turned into a polite and high-quality man. He decisively extended a helping hand to the difficulties she encountered and gave her this job opportunity.

At this point, I must explain that although Chen Li also has the surname Chen, she is not a relative of Chen Fei.

"Lin Shu, are you supposed to take the morning's sales back?"

Lin Shu closed the account book, smiled and shook her head: "Gu Jiu will come to collect it in the afternoon. It is not safe for me, a pregnant woman with a big belly, to carry a large sum of money."

Chen Li glanced at Lin Shu's large pregnant belly and nodded: "I didn't think it through. It's really not safe for you to walk outside like this. How about I take you to the compound later?"

Lin Shu refused: "No, just walk from here to the other side, there is no danger. The reason why I don't take the money is for safety reasons."

At this time, a woman came in from outside the store.

After she entered the store, she walked straight to the counter and put the lunch box in her hand on the counter. "Lili, I brought you the meal. I'll leave first."

Chen Li took the lunch box: "Okay, thank you sister."

Lin Shu raised his wrist to check the time. It was already half past eleven, almost twelve o'clock. "I won't delay your meal. I'll go back first."

As soon as she started to speak, she immediately attracted the attention of the female comrade who came in. She shouted in surprise: "Lin Shu!"

Lin Shu looked up at the woman outside the counter, blinked, and it took him a while to remember who she was.

"Li Zhiqing?"

"Yes, it's me." Li Zhiqing nodded happily: "Actually, you should call me sister-in-law."

Li Zhiqing had been working in Xiaohe Village for many years. Later, she couldn't stand the hardship of working in the fields, so she married Lin Gan from the village.

Lin Gan and Lin Shu are relatives, that is, members of the Lin clan. In terms of seniority, Lin Gan is of the same generation as her, so Lin Shu has to call her sister-in-law.

"It's time to call her sister-in-law." Lin Shu stood up.

Chen Li was very attentive and moved a stool for Li Zhiqing, also known as Li Lanqiu.

"Sister-in-law, are you going back to the city?" Lin Shu didn't know what Li Lanqiu's current situation was, but she guessed that she shouldn't have abandoned her husband and children, otherwise, she wouldn't have come to recognize her.

Li Lanqiu frankly explained her situation, "I'm back in the city now. Your brother Lin Gan agreed to let me move my household registration here. For the sake of my child, I'm going back to the city first.

Wait until you find a job and then slowly bring him up. Even if you can't find a formal job, you can find him some temporary or odd jobs.

In short, for the future of our children, we think we should first get out of the countryside, as there are always more opportunities in big cities than in rural areas.”

If the couple is sincere, Lin Shu admires their courage. Lin Gan's decision is a test of human nature.

In reality, there are many educated youth who abandon their families and return to the city, but there are very few women like Chen Li who are willing to bring their children with them after returning to the city.

There are even fewer people like Lin who dare to support their wives to return to the city, and there are even fewer like Li Lanqiu who are willing to accept their rural husbands and children to struggle together.

"Sister-in-law, have you found a job now?"

Li Lanqiu smiled bitterly. "I have a job for now. The street has set up a production service cooperative. Now I sell big bowls of tea on Jiefang Road."

Lin Shu: “…”

Please forgive Lin Shu for going to Guangdong Province early in his previous life and not really understanding what a service cooperative is?

Li Lanqiu explained: "It's a collective unit. The street can't find so many unemployed young people, so they came up with a solution and asked us to sell big bowls of tea, which would at least bring in some income."

Lin Shu nodded, as if remembering something, and glanced at Chen Li, "Sister-in-law just brought food to Chen Li, what is your relationship with her?"

Li Lanqiu smiled and said, "Well, she is my uncle's daughter, a few months younger than me, so we are cousins."

"I didn't expect to see you in the provincial capital. After all, we are all relatives. Sister-in-law, please come to our store more often next time. This store is opened by Gu Jiu and I."

Lin Shu was thinking about what kind of job would be suitable for her, but she didn't say anything as she hadn't confirmed anything.

"Okay, now that I know this store is yours, I'll come over more often next time." Li Lanqiu had never expected that Lin Shu and her husband would open such a big store not long after returning to the provincial capital.

Because Li Lanqiu was in a hurry, after chatting with everyone for a while, he got up and left.

Lin Shu came out of the trading company and glanced at the fruit shop next door. Gu Youhui was no longer in the shop. He must have gone to the restaurant.

In just a few months, who could have thought that Gu Youhui, the unemployed vagrant who was treated as a street urchin by his family, would become the owner of several shops?

When he started his business, he hardly asked his parents for a penny, and he earned it all through his own hard work.

Fortunately, Lin Shu had a system, otherwise, he would have to work hard like him and start by setting up a stall.

Among the skills and knowledge she has mastered, setting up a stall to earn the first pot of gold is probably the most realistic and the least difficult one compared to other industries.

She doesn't understand or handle any other more advanced tricks.