money player

“The song is very nice.”

Xian Yaowen looked in the direction of the speaker and saw a young man about his age, carrying a lead bucket in his hand. He looked like a street vendor.

He nodded slightly, "Thank you for the compliment."

The young man smiled at him and said, "Would you like some sesame cake?"

"Selling sesame cakes?"

"Fifty cents each." The young man's laughter suddenly turned shy.

"not cheap."

“Inflation makes everything more expensive.”

"Yes, why is there still inflation in Taiwan this year?" Xian Yaowen chuckled and handed the young man two one-dollar bills, "Give me four."

"Thank you for your care." The young man took a sesame cake from the bucket and said, "The issuance of New Taiwan dollars lacks strict constraints, and the supply grew too fast last year. The government's tax revenue is insufficient and it relies on printing money to make up for the fiscal deficit, which has led to increased pressure on currency depreciation.

Taiwan's industrial base is weak, and many necessities of life rely on imports. Insufficient foreign exchange reserves push up prices. The government maintains a large army, and military expenses account for more than 70% of fiscal expenditures. It is forced to issue more currency to pay for military expenses, exacerbating inflation.

The memory of the hyperinflation of the previous year is still there. People hoarded supplies and rushed to buy gold and foreign currency, which exacerbated the price increase. The government controls prices, but merchants hoard goods, and the black market prices are much higher than the official prices.

These factors combined have resulted in inflation this year, but as the US aid arrives this year, the inflation rate will slowly decrease. Please take it.”

"That's very well said."

Xian Yaowen took the oil paper bag handed over by the young man and expressed his appreciation for his conclusion. Although anyone who has a little knowledge of economics can summarize it and its gold content is not very high, it has a different meaning when it comes from the mouth of a sesame cake vendor.

The young man smiled shyly again, "I just made a blind analysis."

"I think it's great." Xian Yaowen shook his shirt, "Don't look at me dressed like this, I'm not a gangster. Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Xian Yaowen, a businessman."

As he said this, he extended his right hand towards the young man.

The young man was flattered. He wiped his clothes with his right hand and held Xian Yaowen's hand. "I'm Yuan Di, a vendor selling sesame cakes."

"Die, the host and the guest?"

"May your descendants continue to prosper."

"This Die is rare. How many generations has Brother Yuan's family been a single-line family?"

Yuan Di said in surprise: "This is the fifth generation. My mother hopes that I will give birth to more sons."

Xian Yaowen took his hand back and said, "I think you should do what you can when it comes to having children. It's easy to raise a child, but it's hard to raise one into a talent. Brother Yuan, don't blame me for being too direct. If you are not a nobleman who has experienced the suffering of the common people on a whim, and the current situation does not change, you should be cautious in enjoying the blessing of having many children."

"Mr. Xian is right. In my current situation, it's hard to raise one child, let alone several."

"Brother Yuan has a heavy burden in life?"

"It's not too heavy. Mom is still strong enough to work."

"Since the burden is not heavy, you can consider changing your career. If a chicken stays in a chicken coop for too long, its greatest ambition is just to become the head of the chicken coop. But it's different in a phoenix coop. No matter how bad it is, it will be the tail of the phoenix."

Yuan Di said sadly: "I just finished high school. It's not easy to find a decent job in Taipei, otherwise I wouldn't be selling sesame cakes."

"Have you tried? Did you try your best?"

"I tried, but..."

"You dare to conclude that it's hard to find a job in Taipei without trying hard enough?" Xian Yaowen glanced at his watch and said, "Opposite the Bank of Taiwan, there is a Prince Enterprise and a Jinhai Company. Both are hiring. Even the most ordinary clerk has a starting salary of 120 yuan. Go and give it a try.

As long as you keep talking like you are now and show a little more confidence, I believe you can pass the interview."

Xian Yaowen patted Yuan Di's arm and said, "I'm waiting for a girl. I won't talk to you any more. I expect you to call me boss. Goodbye."

Xian Yaowen left without hesitation, leaving Yuan De alone in the wind.

The wind is picking up and there is a chance of a sudden thunderstorm today.

Xian Yaowen arrived at the school gate seven minutes early, but was still late. Yang Jingyi was already standing there waiting for him.

"get out of class ended early?"

"The instructor wants to give some male students extra training, so the class will be dismissed early."

"Well." Xian Yaowen naturally lifted up Yang Jingyi's backpack strap and took the bag in his own hands. "What is the latest time to go home so that your family won't worry?"

"It's okay as long as it's not too late." Yang Jingyi was looking forward to the next few hours.

"Let's go to the department store first. You are a high school student and will soon face the National Taiwan University exam. Time is very important and you should have a watch."

Hearing this, Yang Jingyi felt sweet in her heart, but also a little guilty. With her grades, she probably would not be eligible to take the entrance examination for National Taiwan University, let alone be directly admitted to the university.

After a while, she got into the jeep and looked curiously at the two men in front of her, then looked at the woman sitting like a wooden stick beside her. Yesterday she had guessed that the two men and one woman were bodyguards, and now it was confirmed.

After looking at the person, she carefully weighed her hips and felt the softness of the seat cushion. It was her second time riding in a car, the first time was yesterday.

Soon she felt that the seat of this car was not as soft as the taxi she took yesterday, but she still liked this car better because she had the opportunity to sit in it more often and it drove very steadily.

She turned to look at the man next to her. He was reading China News, an English newspaper. His English must be very good, right?

Are you reading the newspaper instead of talking to me?
If you don’t say it, don’t say it.

She quickly found her own fun, admiring the scenery outside through the car window and trying to understand the mood of the people sitting in the car.

Not long after, the car drove onto Hengyang Road and stopped in front of the China National Products Company, which is known as the Seventh Heaven.

This used to be the Juyuan Department Store. It was renamed Xintai Department Store in 1945 and was later taken over by the National Government and changed to its current name. The information that Youyun told him was obviously outdated.

After opening the door and getting out of the car, Yang Jingyi and Xian Yaowen entered the seventh heaven together. Her eyes instantly became busy, looking east and west, at the counter, the elevator, and the people shopping.

There is no need to buy tickets to the Seventh Heaven, and you can just visit without buying anything, but she has never been there because what it represents is too far away from her reality.

Just like people who have to scrape together the down payment for a small apartment, they generally don’t go to look at villa properties. What’s the point of looking? If they can’t afford it, they just can’t afford it.

She was very reserved and followed Xian Yaowen closely, but her eyes were fixed on the counter.

Xian Yaowen had never been to the Seventh Heaven before. He originally thought that this place would definitely not be as good as the department stores in Hong Kong, but even if it was worse, it wouldn't be that bad. But now it seems that it is not even as good as the small county department store that his father took him to in the 1980s, which was full of high-end products.

The first floor is like a farmer's market, selling all kinds of things, such as cotton cloth, mosquito nets, towels, soap, matches, aluminum pots and pans, enamel bowls and basins, flashlights, batteries, electric fans, etc. There are seven floors, but about 90% of the goods are displayed on the first floor.

After searching around and not seeing anything he needed to buy, Xian Yaowen pulled Yang Jingyi's hand and led her to the elevator.

There is an elevator lady operating the elevator. She is wearing a full uniform, no worse than that of a flight attendant. Her quality is the same, with a pretty face and a height of 167 cm. Her salary is probably higher than that of the teller standing at the counter.

It was almost lunchtime and there were not many passengers, so Xian Yaowen and his friend almost took the elevator to themselves. However, the height between the first floor and the second floor was very short, so there was no time or space for anything ambiguous. The time they spent in the elevator was not even as long as the time it took the elevator lady to pull the gate twice.

The scenery on the second floor is much better than that on the first floor. It looks more like a department store. The first thing you see is the cosmetics and watch counters. Looking to the right, you can see bookshelves and stationery counters. This is almost the entire view of the seventh heaven.

There is actually another floor on the third floor that is open to the public, but there is no need to go up there. I heard from Fei Baoshu that the third floor is the private domain of the privileged class, and there are many imported goods that are rare on the market. Not only do you have to pay to buy things, you also have to show your ID.

Arriving at the watch counter, Xian Yaowen glanced through the glass. There were only five models of watches on display in the counter. Four of them had large dials, and they were obviously modified pocket watches. One of them, by coincidence, was manufactured in Sham Shui Po, no more than 500 meters away from his home. It was said to be a small factory with only six or seven workers. He didn't expect that it could export.

At a glance at the price tag, it's actually 182 yuan. This is selling products from small factories as simple imported high-end products, which is even darker than the black market.

Xian Yaowen doesn’t care whether others will buy it or not, he won’t buy it anyway.

Pulling Yang Jingyi away from the counter, he leaned over to her ear and whispered, "The watches here are too bad and too expensive. Don't buy them here. I'll take you to the commission bank later."

"What is the commission house?"

"You do not know?"

Yang Jingyi shook her head, "I don't know."

"The commission houses are places that sell duty-free foreign goods. American soldiers, overseas Chinese, and diplomats all have duty-free quotas. The commission houses will collect the foreign goods they bring into Taiwan from them and then sell them at a higher price."

Xian Yaowen omitted the fact that the entrusted bank actually mainly sold smuggled goods. There was no need to tell such industry secrets to a little girl.

“Are the things there very expensive?”

"Fortunately, it's not too expensive."

The two of them went to the stationery counter and took a look, but didn't find any decent pens. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the door of a nearby commission bank.

There was no fancy signboard, only a wooden piece with the words "Foreign Goods" written on it hanging on the door. The door was closed tightly, as if it was not open.

Xian Yaowen knocked on the door. After a while, a voice came from behind the door, "Who are you looking for?"

"The proprietress of Hengyang Hotel introduced it to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the door bolt being removed was heard, and soon the door opened a crack. A pair of eyes glanced at Xian Yaowen vigilantly for a few times, and then the door opened wide and saw Qi Longque and the other two. Like a flash of lightning, the door opened again and became a crack. "Who are they?"

"My bodyguard."

He looked at Qi Longque and the other two and said, "Only one of them can come in, that woman."

"Row."

The three were let into the store, and the door was immediately closed and the bolt was reinserted. Then, with a smile in his eyes, he said, "Sorry, we're afraid of being raided, so we have to be careful."

"I understand." Xian Yaowen nodded. "I want a fountain pen, a Parker 51 and a Guan Leming Victory. I also want a ladies' watch, for students, not gold-plated."

He glanced at Yang Jingyi and said, "Guan Leming only has old ones, but they are well maintained and 90% new. The watches include Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Longines, Tissot, and Seiko. Which brand do you want?"

“Does Tissot have anti-magnetic watches?”

"Yes, yes."

"Bring both Tissot and Longines to have a look."

"I'll get it, wait a moment."

In a flash, Eyes came back with a tray, on which lay three pens and several watches.

Xian Yaowen picked up the Parker 51 and took a look at it. It was brand new. He handed it to Yang Jingyi and said, "Take a look and see if you like it."

Yang Jingyi took it, looked at it carefully in her hand, and then nodded happily.

Xian Yaowen looked into his eyes and asked, "Pay in US dollars, how much?"

"20 dollars." The eyes said happily.

Xian Yaowen was too lazy to haggle back and forth, and said directly and decisively: "15 at most, if you don't want to sell it, keep it."

"Sell."

Xian Yaowen picked up the other two Guan Lemings and examined them. He found that they were both in good condition, so he said, "8 dollars, two for one."

"it is good."

The promise was so straightforward that Xian Yaowen felt that he had overpaid. "Send me a bottle of ink."

His eyes smiled and he said, "Look at the watch first, look at the watch first."

The watches were nothing fancy. There were no gold-plated or diamond-encrusted watches. They were just cheap Longines and Tissot watches. Xian Yaowen pointed and said to Yang Jingyi, "Jingyi, you pick whichever one you like."

Since returning with the tray in her hands, Yang Jingyi's eyes have never left the watches. When she heard Xian Yaowen's words, she turned to look at him, as if asking, "Is it really okay?"

"You take your pick."

"Ah."

Yang Jingyi picked up one, played with it in her hand for a while, then put it on her wrist to see if it looked good. After trying one, she switched to another. After trying them both, she became conflicted and kept picking them up and putting them down, not knowing how to choose.

“It would be nice if I didn’t have to choose.”

The urge to own all of them came into her mind, but then she blamed herself for being greedy. These watches were so expensive, and it was already great to own just one.

Xian Yaowen saw that Yang Jingyi was struggling with her choice, but he did not do the most correct and gentlemanly thing at the moment, which was to "take it all". Being so indulgent at the beginning would raise Yang Jingyi's expectations, and later on, she would think that she was holding Aladdin's magic lamp and could make a wish by just stroking and licking it.

After struggling for more than a minute, Yang Jingyi turned to Xian Yaowen and asked, "Which one is the anti-magnetic watch?"

Xian Yaowen smiled faintly and said, "Can't choose well?"

Yang Jingyi nodded. "Each one is good. I don't know how to choose."

Xian Yaowen picked up the Tissot anti-magnetic watch and put it directly on Yang Jingyi's left wrist. "The biggest function of a watch is to tell time, and decoration is just its added value. The hairspring, balance wheel and other steel parts of a watch are easily magnetized. After magnetization, the hairspring will stick together, causing the watch to run faster, and the error may be dozens of minutes a day.

The anti-magnetic design is to solve this problem and ensure that the error does not exceed plus or minus ten seconds. "

Yang Jingyi looked at her wrist and murmured, "Is this watch the most accurate?"

"Yes." Xian Yaowen nodded, "How much?"

“Or in US dollars?”

“Who would carry so many Taiwan dollars?”

"240 U.S. Dollars."

Xian Yaowen laughed and said, "Boss, your math is really good. The exchange rate was not wrong at all."

He smiled awkwardly, "220 dollars, and I'll give you a bottle of ink."

"200 US dollars, and three bottles of ink for free." As he said this, Xian Yaowen pretended to take the watch off Yang Jingyi's wrist.

"Hey, hey, deal." He said anxiously, "Sir, you are really good at bargaining. There is not much profit to be made from 200 US dollars. Come and take care of the business more often in the future."

Xian Yaowen pointed out $225 and handed it to Yan Yan, "No need to change, take two packs of Quechu milk powder."

He cursed in his heart, fearing that Xian Yaowen would do something weird again. He took the money, checked its authenticity, and quickly went to get the ink and milk powder.

Xian Yaowen had already squeezed out the water content of these smuggled goods in his mind, and set the sales prices based on actual situations. As long as he could control the channels for the export of Taiwan dollars, the money could be multiplied more than ten times in a year. If he gave away half of it, he would still have five or six times the amount left for himself.

If we take into account the export of Taiwan dollars in the form of goods, the profit margin can be calculated to be around 700% a year. Don't be too optimistic.

"Soong Mei-ling, Soong Mei-ling, you won't wait until you find something wrong with me before jumping out, right?"

Yang Jingyi stroked the dial and felt very happy. What a watch, a high-end imported product worth two hundred dollars. Her classmates would definitely envy her when she wore it to school.

But after a while of being happy, she realized what two hundred dollars meant. An old bungalow in Monga could be bought for two two hundred dollars. Two watches could end her and her mother's life of wandering and living under someone else's roof. She was no longer happy, and the watch on her wrist became heavy.

Soon, Yanyan came back with a cloth bag made from a flour bag. After the transaction, he respectfully saw Xian Yaowen and the other man off.

Sitting back in the car, Yang Jingyi was still unhappy, with her head down. She had not yet come out of her previous mood, and at the same time she began to perform subconsciously.

She and her mother arrived in Taipei, and she relied on her mother to work as a servant in wealthy families for a living. Because her mother's asthma recurred, they were often forced to move because they could not afford the medical expenses or were disliked by their employers.

When mothers couldn't find a job, they would go to live with relatives who had already disliked them. From one kind of dependent home to another, they developed a survival philosophy of appearing weak and pitiful. There was no need for the brain to control it subjectively, as the body would automatically respond to stress when needed.

Xian Yaowen saw it but said nothing. He just stroked Yang Jingyi's hair and then held her in his arms.

We drove in silence all the way until the car arrived at the entrance of the Star Cafe on Wuchang Street.

It is said that the roots of the Star Café are on Xiafei Road in Shanghai. It is a Russian-style western restaurant opened by Belarusians. The investor of the Star Café in Taipei, Jian Jinzhui, and the chef, Belarusian Esni, both have connections with the Star Café on Xiafei Road.

Precisely because it was a Russian Western restaurant from Shanghai, it attracted fashionable people and intellectuals from Shanghai, making it a continuation of "Little Shanghai". It also attracted White Russians who could afford it to patronize it, naturally including Jiang Fangliang and her accompanying Chiang Ching-kuo.

Chen Cheng and Chiang Ching-kuo had a good understanding with each other. They each contracted a Western restaurant and adhered to the principle of "kings do not meet each other".

In Taiwan today, the biggest boss is naturally Chiang Kai-shek, but the one who is doing the work in the front is Chen Cheng. The people and grassroots officials only know Chen, not Chiang. This creates an illusion - the next boss will be Chen Cheng.

However, the idea of ​​hereditary rule that has been passed down for thousands of years means that as long as the throne can be passed on to one's own son, outsiders will never be considered. Chiang Ching-kuo has been sitting on the throne of the crown prince for more than 20 years. Since there is no hope of returning to the north, it is time for him to cultivate his own party members and prepare for a peaceful life in a corner.

From a human perspective, it was inevitable that Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng would confront each other. Whether Chiang Ching-kuo, who controlled the intelligence agencies, would be ruthless to Chen Cheng depended on who died first, Chen Cheng or Chiang Kai-shek.

Before Chiang Kai-shek showed any signs of being critically ill, Chen Cheng would not do anything, but his followers must be eliminated. However, it could not be done too obviously.
With their minds racing, Xian Yaowen and Yang Jingyi walked into the cafe together, found a seat in the corner, sat down, waited for the waiter to come over, and ordered the store's signature set menu for two - borscht and Russian salad as appetizers, goulash and Viennese pork schnitzel as main courses, and ice cream for dessert.

After the waiter left, Xian Yaowen and Yang Jingyi looked at each other and said gently, "Don't frown at your young age, and don't act like you have a deep hatred for others. Some of your problems are not problems for me.

From the moment you leaned on my arms, I had the obligation to protect you. Relax and enjoy the rest of the dinner. When you are full, tell me your problem and I will help you solve it. "

Yang Jingyi stared at Xian Yaowen's face deeply.

Silence is better than words at this moment! (End of this chapter)