Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Take Fanjiayuan for example. It became so famous in later generations that almost everyone in China had heard of it.

However, the current Fanjiayuan is just like a rural market. Although it may have some reputation in Yandu, it has not yet formed a scale.

Seeing that Wang An had returned so quickly, Wang Li, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't help but ask:
"Fourth Brother, you found a buyer so quickly?"

Wang An got into the car and closed the door, then said with a helpless expression:
“This place won’t do. It’s all just places to make a little pocket money. It’s a waste of time. Xue Li, turn around and drive back. Let’s go check out Hai Wang Village.”

Fan Jiayuan is only a dozen miles away from Haiwang Village, so it only took Mu Xueli less than ten minutes to drive the car to the vicinity of Haiwang Village.

After parking the car in a less crowded spot, Wang An got out, carrying a sack, and walked into Haiwang Village.

To be honest, compared to the Fan Jia Yuan market at that time, Hai Wang Village did look much more organized.

In addition to the stalls selling various cultural artifacts and antiques, there are also many shops on both sides of the street.

In any case, a place with shops is definitely more regulated than a place full of street vendors.

Here, you can find people buying and selling cultural artifacts, antiques, jade and agate, as well as old books, ancient books, and various calligraphy and paintings. There are also people buying and selling secondhand goods, furniture, and handicrafts.

Of course, in addition to these shops that buy and sell old and secondhand goods, there are also shops that sell everyday items, such as bookstores, stationery stores, ceramics stores, watch stores, and leather goods stores.

In short, Wang An felt that only places like this looked real.

After scanning the surroundings, Wang An ignored the other shops and walked straight to the nearest watch shop.

Upon entering the shop, Wang An's first thought was that he had finally come to the right place.

Because this is definitely a genuine watch shop.

The watch shop isn't very big, only about 30 square meters, but that 30 square meters is completely filled with watches.

The walls were covered with all kinds of clocks, some Chinese, some foreign, some old, some new. Many of them looked very antique and were obviously quite old.

On the counter not far from the wall, there were all sorts of clock-related items, such as various hourglasses, compasses, mechanical alarm clocks, watches, pocket watches, miniature sundials, and other oddly shaped clocks.

As for the counter, this shop's counter is different from the wooden counters commonly seen in this era, because this shop uses glass as the tabletop, and there are light bulbs inside for lighting.

This kind of counter is very similar to the commercial counters of later generations.

Inside the counter were all kinds of watches, both new and old.

Wang An glanced at the counter and immediately noticed that many of the watches in the display case were the same as or similar to the watches in the sack he was carrying.

Wang An glanced at the man for a moment, then spoke directly to him in Tianjin dialect to someone whose appearance and demeanor resembled the shop owner:
"Hello, may I ask if your store buys used watches? I mean, watches that are broken and stop working."

The man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, paused for a moment after hearing Wang An's words, then frowned and said:

“We’ll take them, but we usually use them as spare parts; they’re not worth much.”

Wang An nodded, took out an ordinary, non-functional watch from the sack, placed it on the counter, and said:
"How much money can you get for something like this?"

The man picked up the watch, examined it carefully, then held it to his ear to listen, and said with a frown:

"Your watch has gotten wet, but not much. If you dry it, clean it, and re-oil it, it should be fine. We can repair watches here too. Would you like us to open it up and fix it for you?"

Wang An shook his head and said:

"I won't repair it. Just see how much it's worth."

Wang An didn't intend to keep any of these watches; he just wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible.

The man hesitated for a moment and said:

"This watch cost over 120 yuan when it was new, but I can only give you 20 yuan at most."

Wang An nodded without hesitation, then pointed to the sack and said:

“I have more than 200 watches like these here. How about I sell them all to you for this price? You don’t need to appraise them one by one. I’ll give you 4 yuan in total.”

When Wang An and his two companions were picking out watches, Wang An noticed that many of the 200-plus watches were cheap watches with elastic bands and few or no diamonds.

In the first two years, watches like these with few or no diamonds would sell for 25 yuan at the supply and marketing cooperative if you had a watch coupon. This year the price has been adjusted, and it seems to be around 30 or 40 yuan. Anyway, they're not worth much.

However, most of the watches inside were priced at around 100 yuan, which is about 17 jewels. These were the kind of watches that were considered essential for weddings in those days, often referred to as "three turns and one sound." Of course, there were also quite a few 19-jewel watches worth two or three hundred yuan, or even three or four hundred yuan, but they were all water-damaged and damaged, so Wang An and his two companions didn't bother to pick them out.

In short, if this person bought all 200-plus watches at 20 yuan each, repaired them, and then sold them, he could make at least 1 yuan.

Without considering the risks, this person could definitely make a fortune!
As soon as Wang An spoke, the man's expression tightened, and he glanced towards the door before lowering his voice to say:

"These watches of yours, you didn't get them by any good means, did you?"

There's really no need to ask that question. In this day and age, how could an ordinary person possibly have so many watches?

Wang An nodded very calmly and said:
"I can only say that they weren't stolen or robbed; they were all found. These watches are all waterlogged, and I don't know exactly how they got there. Just tell me if you'll take them or not."

At this moment, Wang An's face was made up, and the corner of his cotton hat was draped down, covering much of his eyes, so he wasn't worried at all that his image would be remembered by the boss.

After hesitating for a long time upon hearing this, the man finally said:

"Fifteen yuan, I'll take them all at fifteen yuan each."

To be fair, people who dare to do business these days are quite bold, or rather, confident. Even if they know the goods are stolen, they don't have much to fear.

However, this is normal. You have to know that there was still the crime of "speculation and profiteering" at that time. If you were not strong enough or bold enough, how could you dare to do watch trading?

Wang An felt that the clocks in this room alone were worth at least several hundred thousand yuan.

Upon hearing this, Wang An shook his head without hesitation and said:
"At this price, I might as well repair it and sell it at the same time. Once this watch is repaired, it can be sold for at least sixty or seventy yuan. It just takes a little more work."

After a pause, Wang An said in a very firm tone:
"It's 4, not a penny less. If you can take it, great. If not, then goodbye. I'll go ask around elsewhere."

The man swallowed hard several times, hesitated for a long time, and then finally said:
"How about we talk in private, inside?"

As he spoke, the man pointed to the back door, then looked towards the door again.

It's clear that this person is interested in these watches, but he's also afraid of being seen.

Wang An nodded and casually said:

"Let's find a quiet place. Please lead the way."

Wang Anyi is incredibly brave and fearless; he even carries a Type 54 pistol, so he's not afraid to go anywhere.

And so, Wang An, carrying the sack, followed the man to the backyard.

It has to be said that this person is really quite capable, because the shop and the house in the backyard are clearly a two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house).

As for the shops, they were actually converted from a traditional house.

Upon entering a room in the backyard, the man enthusiastically offered to make tea for Wang An, but Wang An stopped him, saying:
"I won't drink the water, and I won't stay here any longer. Let's get down to business."

Seeing this, the man stopped being polite and said:
"Could we inspect the quality of the goods first?"

Upon hearing this, Wang An immediately rolled up the sack with the opening facing down, saying as he did so:
"This stuff, feel free to inspect it. Inspect it whenever you want. We're here to sell goods, so we're not afraid of your inspection."

After rolling up the sack, Wang An took out the small cloth bag containing the 24 expensive watches.

So, this person started randomly taking out forms to check.

As the saying goes, "A master's skill is evident from their first move," and after only a few minutes, this man said excitedly:

"Okay, okay, are you sure you're going to let me have all this for 4 yuan?"

Wang An continued, speaking in a less-than-authentic Tianjin dialect:

"A man's word is his bond. If he says 4,000, he means 4,000. He will never go back on his word."

The man said with a smile:
"Great, hehehe. I'll get the money for you right now."

Ignoring the fact that Wang An was inside, the man simply opened a drawer and took out four stacks of ten-yuan notes.

Wang An moved the sack closer to the man and reached out to take the 4 yuan in his hand.

Only then did Wang An open the small cloth bag, take out the Patek Philippe and the Rolex, as well as a very new-looking radar, and said:
"Boss, are you interested in this high-end watch?" (End of Chapter)