The Beginning of the World: Going to the Countryside as an Educated Youth

Zhao Dongchuan was obviously prepared. He took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and threw it to the man in black.

"Brother, please keep this pack of cigarettes. This is a gift for you since we are meeting for the first time."

"I know the rules," Zhao Dongchuan said, and took out another 5 cents.

When the man in black saw the cigarette in his hand and the extra 5 cents in Zhao Dongchuan's hand, he immediately knew that this was not a government servant, but was introduced by an old man.

The rule for strangers here is to add 5 cents to a pack of cigarettes, which is like a secret code. Any more or less is wrong. This is also what Zhao Dongchuan bought from the old farmer with money.

"Okay, go in. Remember, although this is not something that can be made public, doing business requires mutual consent on both sides and we cannot force a sale!" The man in black said as he opened a side door.

Zhao Dongchuan entered the door and walked a short distance along an alley. Suddenly, the view in front of him opened up. This was a place that looked like an open-air vegetable market. Many people were setting up stalls inside with all kinds of groceries in front of them.

Zhao Dongchuan looked around and suspected that there should be several ways in, and he was taking just one of them.

He didn't have time to think about it, so he walked around the place and looked around. There were vendors selling meat, vegetables, cigarettes, bicycles, sewing machines, and all kinds of things. None of these required a ticket, but the prices were more expensive than those in department stores on the market.

At this time, the supply and marketing cooperative will not sell to you even if you have money if you don’t have receipts. This is the advantage of the black market. No receipts are required, and there are many varieties of goods. No one knows where these goods are obtained.

Zhao Dongchuan soon found the target. In front of a stall, there were some electronic products such as electronic watches, tape recorders, and televisions.

He walked up and observed from the side without saying anything, just watching the boss talking to the customer.

The stall owner was a young man in his twenties, dressed fashionably, wearing a watch and with a middle-parted hair style!!!

"No, no, the minimum is 30 yuan, take it, or go look somewhere else," the stall owner said impatiently to a bargaining customer.

After observing for a period of time, Zhao Dongchuan also understood something. Most people look at electronic watches, but few buy them. 30 yuan for a watch is equivalent to about 1600 yuan today in terms of purchasing power, which is not too expensive. If it were in Huangyuan, which is remote and valuable, an electronic watch would cost more than yuan, which is several months' salary for an ordinary worker, and he might not even be able to buy it.

But most people around here don't have a high standard of living and are reluctant to spend a lot of money to buy it. Moreover, most people have relatives there, so it's still possible to ask someone to bring a piece back. The production cost of this thing on the assembly line in Gangcheng is only a few dollars.

Other businessmen who resell goods usually have their own fixed purchasing channels and will not buy from him.

Zhao Dongchuan walked over calmly and asked, "Boss, would you sell this watch for 15 yuan?"

"Not for sale, not for sale, stay away!" The stall owner made an attitude as if to chase people away.

"Don't be impatient, brother, I want this number," Zhao Dongchuan said as he stretched out two fingers.

When the stall owner saw this, he was surprised to see a big customer coming. He was no longer annoyed and immediately started chatting with Zhao Dongchuan enthusiastically.

"Hey, you want 200? You're brave, brother. Come on, sit down!" The stall owner found a wooden stool nearby and asked Zhao Dongchuan to sit down and talk.

Zhao Dongchuan complained in his heart, damn, their business is so big, and they are so arrogant.

He just made a "two" gesture, meaning 20, but he thought he wanted 200. What a misunderstanding.

Of course, it was not easy for Zhao Dongchuan to say this at this time.

"It's like this. I came from the north and heard that there is an opportunity to make a fortune here, so I came to take a look. To be honest, I came here just to explore the road and test the waters. If my family thinks there is a potential, we can cooperate for a long time," Zhao Dongchuan said, staring into the stall owner's eyes.

"Oh... I understand... Then how much do you want?" asked the stall owner.

"My first batch of goods requires 20 pieces. If there is no problem, I will purchase more later," said Zhao Dongchuan.

"Okay, twenty watches, I'll give you the wholesale price of 15 yuan each. Brother, I have high hopes for you, so let's just consider it as making friends." As he said that, the stall owner opened a snakeskin bag, counted the twenty watches, and handed over the money to Zhao Dongchuan while he was delivering the goods.

Zhao Dongchuan checked the watch carefully and found no problem. It was not made of plastic. Some plastic watches may look fine but can only run for a few days.

After the two men completed their business transaction, Zhao Dongchuan did not leave but chatted with the stall owner.

Perhaps in order to show off his own strength, the stall owner also boasted to Zhao Dongchuan.

This man's nickname is Li Dabing. He has an older brother. A few years ago, when the inspection was not strict, he was lucky enough to follow a relative to the port city and settle down there.

His brother is also a capable person. He has been doing well in Hong Kong in recent years. He is said to have opened an electronics factory. He often goes to sea by boat through Yuen Long, and then transports goods over when the British police in Hong Kong change shifts.

Zhao Dongchuan did not comment on this. He just wanted to get the goods and sell them to complete the system task.

"How should I contact you if I need goods in the future?" Zhao Dongchuan asked after he finished speaking.

"You can come here to find me next time. I usually set up a stall here on Wednesdays. Brother, I'm quite famous in this area. You can ask around and find out," Li Dabing said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll come find you later." Zhao Dongchuan said as he walked into the crowd with his bag on his back and disappeared.

Looking at Zhao Dongchuan's receding back, Li Dabing said to himself: "This boy is quite interesting." He had deliberately exaggerated the numbers before just to embarrass Zhao Dongchuan, to dampen his momentum and raise the price. Unexpectedly, Zhao Dongchuan would not take the bait and went straight to the point.

Although Li Dabing seems to be careless in doing things, it is because he is bold and careful that he can build his business, otherwise he would have been arrested long ago.

When doing business, it's best to be honest. If Zhao Dongchuan boasted that he could make 200 guns, he wouldn't chase him away, but he would inevitably look down on him.

As Zhao Dongchuan walked, he pretended to organize his backpack and put the watch into the system space.

He had previously thought of freeing up the space to store a large amount of goods, but he obviously underestimated the prices. This watch was indeed much cheaper than what was sold outside, but he did not have that much money.

"Take your time!" Zhao Dongchuan said as he returned along the same route.

The man in black was still hiding in a dilapidated corner of the wall, as if he had merged into the darkness.

Zhao Dongchuan opened the small door, closed it silently, and walked away.

The man in black didn't even look up, as if he didn't care about anything, but Zhao Dongchuan knew that if anything went wrong, he would definitely notify the people inside to evacuate through secret channels.

As a qualified lookout, he carefully hid himself.

If you stay like this all the time, without extraordinary patience, you will definitely not be able to hold it in, and it will be easy to be exposed.

The "ticket" money was not wasted. On the way back, Zhao Dongchuan silently thought about what had just happened.

Along the way, Zhao Dongchuan looked quite natural on the surface, but he was cautious in his heart. Although the things had been put into the space and others could not find them, others did not know about it. If someone followed him and wanted to kill and rob, he would be in trouble.

Fortunately, there was no one following him along the way, so Zhao Dongchuan merged into the crowd smoothly. After deliberately making a few circles, he found a corner, took off his glasses, and returned to the guesthouse.