Life 1984

Chapter 28 Breaking the Iron Shoes
Li Yunhai also learned about the prices of other models of copiers. The cheapest one costs 7 yuan.

This Brother Guang turns out to be a second-rate dealer!
Not a real importer!
Li Yunhai came to such a conclusion.

Even in later generations, buying an old copy machine will not be so expensive!

Dongguan's Hecheng Trading Company and Brother Guang's business are actually similar. They both sell second-hand copiers, but one is retail and the other is wholesale.

If Li Yunhai does not have the wisdom and experience to be reborn, and if he just wants to do the order from Liu Shitao Bank, he can also wholesale five copiers here, repair them, and earn a price difference of 3000 yuan for each machine. Five copiers can also You can make 1 yuan!

However, Li Yunhai did not intend to do this.

He believed that there was another copy machine merchant in Huacheng, perhaps in the Tianhe area. The goods sold by that person were the real first-hand source of goods and what Li Yunhai really needed.

It was too late today, and it was impossible for Li Yunhai to search everywhere.

He did not reject Brother Guang's cooperation outright, but said that he was on a business trip to purchase and needed to report to his superiors for instructions. If he was sure he wanted to buy, he would come back another day.

Brother Guang asked him which unit he was from?

In order to win the trust of others, Li Yunhai was likely to cooperate with this person after all, so he took out the business trip introduction letter issued by Liu Shitao and showed it to him.

Brother Guang glanced at it, saw the words Xizhou and Bank, and saw the official seal of the bank. He couldn't help but be in awe, and his tone was obviously much more enthusiastic. He took out a business card, held it in both hands, and handed it to Li Yunhai said: "Brother, you must come to buy from me! If you buy more than three units, I can give you a preferential price."

Li Yunhai took the opportunity to ask: "If I want to buy five units, what is the minimum discount you can give me?"

Brother Guang made an eighty-eight sign: "I'll give you a 1% discount! You can get the receipt however you want, even if you say you pay [-] yuan, you can get it for each one!"

This is a very good approach!

Even if Li Yunhai buys all the copiers priced at 1 yuan each, with a 8000% discount, he only needs 5000 yuan per machine. If he sells it to Liu Shitao's bank, he can earn [-] to [-] yuan per machine!
With five copy machines, Li Yunhai can earn at least more than [-] yuan.

But these five copiers cost 4 yuan!

As for Li Yunhai, he only had more than 2000 yuan.

Where can I get 4 yuan?
Li Yunhai was worried.

He said goodbye to Brother Guang and left the shanty town.

These are all residential areas, not even a decent hotel.

Li Yunhai thought to himself, he might as well live in the city center!Stop by the night market in Huacheng and buy some cheap and useful Hong Kong products.

Huacheng was the first city to be liberalized.

1978 was the year that changed my country's economic development. The year of reform and opening up completely changed the destiny of urban development, and the same was true for Huacheng.

Huacheng is at the forefront of reform and opening up, taking the lead in opening the fish, fruit, vegetable, and three-bird (chicken, duck, and goose) markets.

An agricultural and sideline products market opened on Ruinan Road.

In 1979, Dongfang Hotel held the first commercial music cafe in China.At that time, workers' wages were only more than 20 yuan, but tickets for the music cafe cost 7 yuan.

In 1983, Nanfang Building opened the underground air-raid shelter into Dongtian Shopping Mall, becoming my country's first underground commercial street.

In 1984, in order to unify the management of stalls around the road and solve the livelihood problems of low-income people.Huacheng opened the Xihu Road Light Night Market.This is also the earliest illuminated night market in the country.

Li Yunhai took the bus to the bustling city and found a guest house that looked relatively clean.

"Comrade, are there any beds?" Li Yunhai asked the service desk.

"There are still beds available in the five-person room." The woman at the reception desk glanced at him and said, "It's five yuan a bed. Do you want it?"

This price is ridiculously expensive!It is indeed a flower city!
Li Yunhai thought it was expensive and asked if there was a super large room for 20 people.
The front desk said there were beds available, but the extra-large room for 20 people has bunk beds. No matter if you sleep on the top bunk or the bottom bunk, you will be disturbed by others turning over. If there are 20 people, each of you snores. Don't even think about getting a good night's sleep in one night.And the price is not cheap. It costs 3 yuan a night. You might as well spend an extra [-] yuan to live in a five-person room. Anyway, you can ask your employer for reimbursement when you go back.

Li Yunhai thought of the terrifying feeling of spending the night in the bathhouse, gritted his teeth and asked for a bed in a five-person room.

He took out the letter of introduction and took out five yuan to pay for the room.

The front desk registered the information and took Li Yunhai upstairs.

This is a five-person room with five independent small beds. The bedding and other things look very clean and tidy.

There were already two people living in the room, a middle-aged man and a young man.

As soon as Li Yunhai came in, the middle-aged man greeted him with a smile: "Comrade, you are young and promising! At such a young age, you can go on a business trip on behalf of your unit!"

The young man was originally reading a book sideways, but after hearing this, he turned around and glanced at Li Yunhai.

Li Yunhai smiled slightly.

In the early 20s, our country had not yet implemented a citizen identity card system. When cadres and employees of government agencies and enterprises went on business trips to other places, they had to have a letter of introduction from their unit before they could stay in a hotel or guest house.At this time, hotels were not allowed to be privately operated, and all service industries were state-owned businesses. If you wanted to stay, you had to have a letter of introduction from your employer.

A business trip is considered a good job. With public money, you can ride in a car, hang out, stay and have fun. Generally speaking, it is not the turn of young people who have just joined the job.

This middle-aged man had traveled extensively and had seen a lot. Based on his experience, he deduced that Li Yunhai was able to travel on business at such a young age. This showed that he was highly valued by the leaders in his work unit, so he deliberately talked to Li Yunhai and asked him where he was from and where he was from. Work in the unit and what kind of position do you hold?
Li Yunhai said he had something else to do and would talk when he got back. He stuffed his bag under the quilt and went out.

The bag itself was scratched, and there was only a book and a change of clothes inside, with no valuables. Moreover, this was a state-owned guest house, and everyone who stayed had gone through registration procedures, so there was no fear of theft.

Li Yunhai went downstairs.

Seeing that he was about to go out, the woman at the reception desk kindly reminded him: "Brother, when you go out, be careful at night! If you meet someone checking for a temporary residence permit, show them a letter of introduction from your work unit and say that he is on a business trip and lives with us. A guest house will do.”

Li Yunhai knew that he had good intentions, and it was really no joke to check the temporary residence permit these days.It costs one month's salary to apply for a temporary residence permit, and most people who come out to work are reluctant to apply for it.For a period of time, the inspection of temporary residence permits in coastal cities was particularly strict. If you were caught, you would either have to pay to apply for a permit, or ask your workplace to collect the person.If there are no personnel, they will be deported to their place of origin. In serious cases, they will be detained for several days or even sent to a labor camp.

He stopped, said thank you to the woman, and asked her: "Sister, where can I go to the night market?"

This call made the woman glow, she walked out of the counter enthusiastically, stood at the door, pointed to the road outside, and said with a smile: "You are staying in the right place, our hotel is closest to the night market. From here on the left side of the street Turn, walk more than 300 meters, then turn right, and you will find the largest illuminated night market in the city."

Li Yunhai thanked him again and went out to the Lighting Night Market.

The illuminated night market in Huacheng is really as bright as daytime, bustling with people coming and going.

This street, which is quiet during the day, reveals a bustling side at night.Thousands of stalls are lined up, with bright tube lights hanging above each stall.Thousands of light tubes form a bright river of light, which is particularly dazzling under the dark night sky.

In this brightly lit place, there is a dazzling array of merchandise, and crowds of people come from all over the world.The flowing light and shadow form a vivid picture of reform and opening up.

There are three main types of business personnel in the market: educated youth who have returned to the city to work in the mountains and countryside, downsized personnel from state-owned and collective enterprises, and people released from labor camps.These people live without security and need proper resettlement.Huacheng designated some streets, held night markets, unified management of individual stalls, and at the same time solved the livelihood problems of unemployed young people.

Due to its proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, stall owners have a keen sense of fashion, and new domestic and foreign fashions can always appear in the night market very quickly.

For a long time, Huacheng's illuminated night market has become a window to showcase the latest fashion trends.Tens of thousands of people come here to visit the night market every night.In addition to the city's residents who don't have a rich nightlife, there are also clothing wholesalers from all over the country, as well as many foreigners with high nose bridges and blue eyes.

Li Yunhai finally came to Huacheng, so of course he had to bring some things back.

He took a fancy to a dress, which was a fashionable style that had never been seen in Xizhou. When he asked the price, he asked for 25 yuan.

Li Yunhai felt it was too expensive and counter-offered 15 yuan.

The stall owner is a young girl who is soft-spoken and very good at talking: "Comrade, you bought it for your girlfriend, right? Then you have chosen the right thing! In the entire Flower City, the products in my stall are the most fashionable and affordable. The cheapest one, many wholesalers from other places come to me to buy goods! I see that you sincerely want it, so I will give you a wholesale price, 20 yuan, no less."

Li Yunhai touched the fabric of the skirt and made a counter-offer of 18 yuan.

The stall owner groaned, with a grimace of having suffered a big loss: "Comrade, you are so good at bargaining! You are better at bargaining than us women! Come on, come on, I sold it to you for 18 yuan. Seriously , it’s the first time I sell it at such a low price, it’s even cheaper than wholesale! Can you take a look at the other styles on my stall? Look at this water red Doliang shirt, it only costs 5 yuan, no bargaining!”

Li Yunhai picked up the shirt, looked at it, and said, "I want two, for a total of eight yuan!"

The stall owner chuckled and said: "Comrade, you are so good at living! You are my old customer, I sold it to you."

Li Yunhai took out 26 yuan and bought a skirt and two shirts.

He went shopping again and saw a stall selling leather shoes.

There are many styles of leather shoes here, which are better-looking than those at the leather shoe counter in Xizhou Department Store. The leather shoes in Xizhou are either large toe shoes or round toe shoes, and there are very few other styles.

"How do you sell this pair of leather shoes?" Li Yunhai asked, pointing to a pair of leather shoes.

"35 bucks!"

"Is it so expensive? Can it be 20 yuan?"

"I can't sell it! You really want it, 32 yuan is the minimum!"

Li Yunhai paid off the price several more times, lowering the price to 25 yuan to complete the transaction.

He asked his boss to try on a pair of size 42 shoes. They were pretty good and looked great on his feet. He looked more like a city dweller and a national worker than wearing rubber shoes.

Most of the night markets are clothing stalls, shoe and hat stalls, food stalls, and there are also many jewelry stalls for women.

Li Yunhai visited the night market for an hour and returned to the hotel with a bag full of things.

When you go out, you rely on your clothes.He will also be a businessman in the future, so he bought himself two outfits, a white shirt, a blue T-shirt, a pair of navy blue trousers, a pair of casual jeans, a pair of fashionable leather shoes, and a pair of sports shoes.

The most important thing is a briefcase, which has a large capacity and can hold a lot of documents and a set of summer clothes.

These were things he was reluctant to buy when he was in school.

Today at the night market, he took advantage of the cheap prices and bought everything.

He tried his best to bargain for everything, shopped around, and took the trouble to bargain until the stall owner became impatient and no longer wanted to do his business, so he paid for it.

This time he went out, maybe he was lucky and didn't encounter anyone checking his temporary residence permit.

Two more people moved into the hotel room, and the beds in the five-person room were filled with guests.

Li Yunhai took a shower and put on new clothes, and his whole mental outlook was completely renewed.

He was lying on the bed, thinking about where to find a cheaper second-hand copier dealer tomorrow.

The chatty middle-aged man next to him was chatting with a newly arrived passenger.

When Li Yunhai heard that they actually talked about the copier, he immediately raised his ears and listened carefully to their conversation.

The middle-aged man said that he knew a person who used to repair typewriters and made a lot of money. Recently, he was repairing copiers in Beijin. He could earn at least a few hundred yuan or more than a thousand yuan by repairing a copier. With just a few clicks, you can get more than someone else's salary in a year.

The new visitor was a fat man about 30 years old. He was afraid of the heat. He took off his shirt and sat on the edge of the bed, with his bellies stacked together as if he were carrying three swimming rings.He kept fanning himself with a folding fan and said, "I know a businessman from Taiwan. He specializes in wholesaling used copiers from overseas. The price is very cheap and he sells them by the ton!"

The middle-aged man chuckled and said: "Selling by the ton? That's probably foreign garbage, right? It's worthless and can't be used for much! We also have photocopiers in our unit. They are advanced machines that can only be produced by the United States, Japan and Germany. Gold is very expensive!" A machine can cost tens of thousands at least, and expensive ones can cost hundreds of thousands. How can anyone sell it by the ton?"

The fat man spat, pointed to the sky with his finger, and said emphatically: "Can my words be false? I slept in a sleeper workshop with the Taiwanese businessman on the train. He was lying opposite me, and I listened to him personally. That’s right. It’s a pity that I don’t know much about photocopiers and I don’t do this business! Otherwise, I would have asked him to get the goods!”

Li Yunhai suddenly stood up and asked loudly: "Hello, brother, may I ask where is this Taiwan businessman you mentioned? Do you have his contact information?"

(End of this chapter)