Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

Even before he finished speaking with Liu Jianjun on the plane, Wang Feiyang was already planning a new scheme: to abandon the big market and find another way out!

I came here today to check out the market situation, just to help myself make up my mind.

After all, business is easy to do in the big market. You don't need to worry too much. You just need to rent a shop, hang up the samples, and wait for customers to come.

This place has long been established as a large-scale market and is the largest wholesale market in Eastern Europe. Many customers from CIS countries come here to purchase goods, so there are quite a few large customers.

But that path is no longer feasible; we have to execute Plan B!

Having made up his mind, Wang Feiyang decided to go and check out Zhang Zhongguo and Liu Jianjun's bunks.

The market was huge and chaotic. Wang Feiyang walked around asking for directions before finally finding Zhang Zhongguo's shop. He saw Zhang Zhongguo busy serving customers, including a Russian woman in her fifties who had bought a lot of thick woolen socks from a cart.

Of course, a pair of wool socks that cost 20 rubles wholesale cannot possibly be made of real wool.

Zhang Zhongguo rented half of this shop, on the right side. The upper part had a wire mesh screen with more than ten kinds of socks displayed as samples, while the lower part had a wooden shoe rack with several pairs of sneakers on it. These were the goods he sold.

The other half was a stall selling women's handbags, also displayed using wire mesh. A middle-aged man in his forties was communicating with a customer about prices and quantities in broken Russian.

These people who share stalls are mostly small business owners who can't afford to hire sales staff or translators. They do it all themselves, acting as salespeople, translators, warehouse managers, and laborers on their own...

Seeing that Zhang Zhongguo had finished his work and there were no new customers for the time being, Wang Feiyang went over and greeted him.

"You finished watching it so quickly? How was it? Was it as I said, incredibly cheap?" Zhang Zhongguo asked with a smile.

Wang Feiyang nodded with a bitter face, "Yes, they're basically all priced at 200 rubles, and some are even selling for 180 rubles. If I bring my goods here to sell, I can only get 220 rubles at most, no higher, otherwise I simply won't be able to sell them."

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. This is a classic case of Gresham's Law. Over the years, it has created a fixed impression that things in the big market are cheap and of poor quality! It has even created the impression throughout Russia that Chinese goods are cheap but of poor quality. So, those large-scale factories or brand-name businesses in China are unwilling to develop in Russia. That's the reason," Zhang Zhongguo said helplessly, shaking his head.

Even Wang Feiyang couldn't change this impression; this was the general trend, and those who followed it prospered while those who opposed it perished.

Only when the domestic economy takes off and the country becomes truly powerful can this impression be gradually reversed.

He doesn't need to think too much right now; his priority is to sell his batch of jeans and make more money.

As they were chatting, another customer arrived, which showed that Zhang Zhongguo's business was doing quite well.

Wang Feiyang greeted him and said, "You go ahead with your work, I'm going to check on another friend, and then I'll head straight back."

"Okay! You know how to get back, right? If not, wait for me until noon, and we'll go back together," Zhang Zhongguo asked with some concern.

"No need, I'll just take a taxi back later," Wang Feiyang waved his hand and smiled.

…………

Wang Feiyang naturally had to go to Liu Jianjun's place. Although there was nothing important, it wouldn't be right not to visit him since he was at the market.

Before going, he called Liu Jianjun and asked if he was at his stall when he arrived at the market. Liu Jianjun was happy to receive the call and said he was there and told Wang Feiyang to just go over there.

Liu Jianjun's stall is in the ACT area, a newly opened wholesale market, but it is also directly connected to and inseparable from the old market.

In fact, the entire market is divided into three parts: the Old Sun Area, the New Sun Area, and the ACT Area, which are collectively referred to as the "One Ant Market".

As the name suggests, the Old Sun District is the oldest market and also the dirtiest and most chaotic. It is now known for selling the cheapest and lowest quality goods. Most of the merchants here are Vietnamese, but there are also some Chinese and Russian merchants.

The new Sun District is a bit better; it looks more like a proper market now, with Chinese merchants dominating the business. Zhang Jianguo's shop is also located here.

ACT was the last market to open and is officially called "Chinatown Market". It is clearly a large market that is only open to Chinese customers, so almost all the merchants in it are Chinese.

Although this is also a container market, it is built quite beautifully. Brand new and spacious large containers are stacked in two layers, the middle road is very wide and paved with large tiles, and there is a huge steel frame canopy above for shelter, so no matter the wind or rain, it will not affect your business.

Before going to Liu Jianjun's shop, Wang Feiyang took a walk around the ACT area. He was quite satisfied with the environment there. Although it was still not as good as the Lyublino Market that opened two years later, it was still pretty good.

Unfortunately, there are no jeans shops here. The main products are shoes, leather goods, and bags, with the wholesale shoe section taking up more than half of the area!

Following the directions given by Liu Jianjun, I easily found his berth. It was much easier to find here; rows of berths were neatly arranged, and the berth numbers were clearly marked.

Liu Jianjun's business was quite large. He owned two adjacent shops, one selling suitcases and the other selling women's handbags. He also hired a foreign student translator, two black female sales assistants, and a black laborer to pick up and deliver goods.

When a customer comes in, two female sales assistants with black hair will come forward to greet them. Under normal circumstances, Liu Jianjun does not need to appear. Only when there is a price disagreement or the quantity of goods ordered is relatively large will Liu Jianjun have to come with a translator. Such situations are rare, so he is usually quite free.

When Wang Feiyang arrived, Liu Jianjun was sitting in the shop drinking tea.

Seeing Wang Feiyang arrive, he was very happy and greeted him warmly, "Haha, why are you here so early? Have you settled in at school yet? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"A classmate of mine also runs a stall in this market, so I came with him to check it out. Brother Liu, your business is doing pretty well! Big boss, my apologies!" Wang Feiyang joked.

Liu Jianjun's smile grew even brighter as he waved his hands repeatedly, saying he didn't deserve such praise and that he was still far from being one of the real big bosses in the shoe and leather goods section!

"Come on in, the conditions here are rather basic. Let's have a cup of hot tea to warm up first. This weather is freezing cold."

He pulled Wang Feiyang into one of the shops with fewer goods. The conditions were indeed quite basic. The so-called tea room didn't even have a table; they just dragged a large suitcase over to make do.