The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

"That's about it! It's mostly done by hand over there, so they can't make anything really good."

"Okay, Second Brother. The parts for these models are all interchangeable and easy to use."

"Xiao Guan, calculate how much ten thousand sets cost!" Shen Lian had already included springs, flint wheels, and a fire starter, and even the cotton wick. It wasn't expensive anyway, and he was too lazy to go back and find someone else to make them.

Large-scale industrial chains are great; all these components cost less than 100,000 yuan in total. Shen Lian couldn't even imagine how troublesome it would be to manufacture them himself back home.

Shen Lian immediately transferred the money and told them to send the goods to Shanghai as soon as possible, and he would go back to pick them up the next day.

After getting his boarding pass, Shen Lian realized that Lao Liu had booked him first class. A minibus took the four of them, who were in first class, onto the plane first. Seeing that everyone else seemed to be rich and powerful, Shen Lian didn't think much of it and immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep on the plane.

After arriving in Guangnan, he took a taxi directly to Sihui. He was too busy to explore the area.

Sihui is just a county-level city, not well-known domestically, but it is the largest jadeite processing base. It mainly produces mid- to low-grade jadeite, which is exactly what Shenlian needs.

Empress Dowager Cixi's favorite jewelry was jadeite, and she can be said to have spearheaded the jadeite consumption boom in China. Nowadays, people pursue quality and color, but during the Qing Dynasty, people's aesthetics were different. They didn't have much requirement for quality; as long as it was green, it was considered good jadeite.

Therefore, judging from the jadeite pieces that have surfaced, including the jadeite watermelons and cabbages that Empress Dowager Cixi loved most, they were actually of very poor quality in terms of texture and clarity. What they liked now was at a very low price, while the high-quality jadeite that people pursue now was unwanted back then.

Shen Lian was planning to take some low-grade jade back to sell for this reason, and also get a few gifts for the old hag. He planned to see if he could get some high-quality rough jade to sell later. He desperately needed money, and this way of trading should earn him a good profit.

Shen Lian casually looked at a few shops and compared the prices online, quickly getting a feel for the market. He found the largest carving factory in the area and started sourcing the goods, spending over six million yuan in just half a day.

Having bought the jade, Shen Lian didn't dare delay and rushed back to Shanghai. By the time he got back to his rented apartment, it was almost dark.

Shen Lian took a shower, put on his slippers, and went downstairs to the convenience store.

"Sister Shanshan, give me a bag of Da Zhong Jiu and an iced Red Bull!" Shen Lian knocked on the counter.

A stunningly beautiful young woman dressed scantily cladly was engrossed in scrolling through Douyin (TikTok) behind the counter when she heard the voice. "Hey, Shen Lian. Haven't seen you in days, you little rascal, struck it rich? You actually dared to buy Da Zhong Jiu!" the woman said loudly, ignoring Shen Lian's gaze that was fixed on her chest.

Wow, that's huge! It should be about the same size as number 88 last night.

"Have you looked enough? I'm talking to you!" The young woman rolled her eyes at Shen Lian.

"Beautiful, beautiful. Hehe! What did Sister Shanshan just say? I didn't hear clearly." Shen Lian wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm telling you, you little rascal, you've struck it rich! You've gotten bolder today too."

"Hehe! I've made some money lately." Shen Lian took the cigarette, tore it open, lit it, and then opened a Red Bull and took a sip.

"Did you find money or rob someone? You didn't go out and sell yourself, did you? Hehehe!" Bai Shanshan finished speaking and burst into laughter, her breasts surging, making Shen Lian swallow hard.

"If all customers were like Sister Shanshan, I'd be happy to sell to them, even for free. Hehe!"

"You little rascal, you're dreaming!" Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes at Shen Lian again.

This Sister Shan is quite a sight here. Her husband is a truck driver and is often away from home, so she basically runs the shop alone.

Because she was young, beautiful, had a great figure, and liked to dress scantily, and was also straightforward and generous, many men from the neighborhood would come to her shop to ogle her, which she didn't mind. Once they got to know her, she wouldn't have a problem making some inappropriate jokes, so her shop did very well.

"Sister Shanshan, give me the phone number of that kid who often comes to your shop to collect cigarettes."

"What? You want to skip your sister and go straight to the supplier?"

"Hey! Do you think they'd even want the few packs of cigarettes I smoke? It's just a friend of mine who wants to buy some. Besides, I can't bear to part with Sister Shanshan! I can't sleep if I don't come to see you every day."

"Glib talker!" Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes, then rummaged through the counter and found a business card.

Shen Lian took out his phone and dialed in front of Bai Shanshan. The other party was initially cautious, but after hearing that he was at Bai Shanshan's place in Xingfu Community, he hesitated for a moment before agreeing to come and meet her immediately.

"What, you're asking for a lot of cigarettes. You better watch out, they're cracking down hard. You've made a fortune lately, you're not doing this, are you?"

Consumption habits vary from place to place, resulting in significant differences in the types of tobacco sold. Each store has a fixed weekly quota, leading to a situation where popular cigarettes are not sold in sufficient quantities, while less popular ones are piling up unsold.

Where there is demand, there is a market. Some people saw a business opportunity and bought up the stockpiled cigarettes at low prices, then resold them to places where there was demand at a slightly higher price.

Luo Chuncheng does this kind of work; he comes from central Sichuan. He was introduced to this line of work by chance through a fellow villager.

Although there are some risks, the work is easy, and on good months he can earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Shanshan's shop is an important customer of his, and he comes here almost every week.

Just as Shen Lian finished his third cigarette and was almost done chatting with Sister Shanshan, an electric scooter stopped at the door. The short man riding the scooter opened the trunk and brought in a bag of fruit.

This kid isn't a good person either; he starts speeding as soon as he opens his mouth.

"I saw these bananas on the way and they looked nice, so I brought some for Sister Shanshan to try. Besides eating them, Sister Shanshan can also use them if Brother Wang isn't around at night."

"You stupid monkey! Do I even need bananas? I can have as many as I want. Humph!" Bai Shanshan was naturally not intimidated.

"Is this Mr. Luo? I was the one who called just now." Shen Lian took out a cigarette and offered it to him.

The other person took the cigarette but didn't say anything, instead glancing at Bai Shanshan.

"Don't worry! They're my neighbors upstairs, regular customers." Bai Shanshan smiled slightly.

"Oh! Hello, hello! What's your name, brother?" Luo Chuncheng immediately shook Shen Lian's hand warmly.

"Shen Lian!"

"What kind of cigarettes does Brother Shen want? Domestic or imported, as long as they're available on the market, I can get them, guaranteed to be genuine."

"I'm a little hungry, how about we go to the barbecue stall across the street and eat and chat? Sister Shan, want to come along?" This place is bustling with people, it's definitely not a good place to talk business.

"Can I even go?" Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes at Shen Lian; "If you have any conscience, just grill a piece of dried tofu for your sister."

“No problem!” The two walked toward the barbecue stall.

Shen Lian ordered some skewers and asked the owner to grill two chicken wings, a piece of tofu skin, and a few side dishes for Bai Shanshan.