Siheyuan: Rebirth of a comfortable life starts with Shazhu

Yan Bugui exchanged a glance with Xiao Lan, then extended his hand in a gesture of invitation, his face plastered with a fake smile, and said, "It's rare to find a true friend in this world. Since Comrade Lan also likes this, why don't we come inside and enjoy it together?"

Xiao Lan stayed at Yan's house for more than an hour before leaving with the potted plant in her arms.

He not only made a deal, but also secured a partnership.

His collaboration with the Yan family can be described as a perfect match.

Yan Bugui understands these things and has connections to find cheap orchids.

Xiao Lan had connections and could freely travel between the inside and outside of the pass, so he became the middleman.

Yan Bugui quoted Xiao Lan 120, but Xiao Lan hesitated for a moment and then bargained down to 90.

Neither side was willing to budge, so in the end they simply put aside the price negotiation and admired the oil painting together.

Xiao Lan is also quite knowledgeable.
He spoke eloquently about the oil maker's merits, and the several characteristics he pointed out all hit Yan Bugui's sore spot.

Finally, Yan Bugui voluntarily lowered the price by ten yuan.

After much negotiation, the deal was finalized at one hundred.

Logically speaking, this price has already reached Yan Bugui's acceptable price point.

But Yan Bugui's face, which was wearing a fake smile, immediately darkened after watching Comrade Xiao Lan leave.

Yan Jiekuang sat at the table counting his money, grinning foolishly.

"Hmph..." Yan Bugui snorted coldly, looking at his son's ignorant attitude.

"Dad, we made money! We made seventy yuan!" Yan Jiekuang waved a stack of ten-yuan notes in his hand, grinning from ear to ear.

After making two trips, Yan Jiekuang earned seventy yuan, which naturally made him happy.

The key is that this business involves no risk whatsoever; you can run the business from home.

Unlike when he was selling roller skates, Yan Jiekuang was always on edge every time he sold a pair.

In other words, Yan Jiekuang already knew that the source of those goods was unclear from the very beginning when he started the roller skate business.

Now, he is simply an orchid enthusiast who has 'exchanged' a pot of flowers with another enthusiast.

Even if the police station is furious, they can't do anything about it.

Where did he even think of such a good thing?
"Be happy my ass, we sold it cheaply."

"Sigh..." Yan Jiekuang cursed in annoyance.

"Sold too cheaply?"
Dad, didn't you say on the way back that you were only planning to sell these flowers for a hundred?

Yan Jiekuang was somewhat surprised.

When Comrade Xiao Lan quoted 90, he felt he could agree to it.

"Didn't you see how nervous Liu Haizhong's apprentice was when he carried the flowers out?"
They are, after all, college graduates who have been big bosses and have seen money before.

If the profit is only a few dozen yuan, they wouldn't bother with that...
This kid probably knows the real price of this potted plant.

"Maybe a trip to the outskirts of the pass could sell it for two hundred, or even three hundred." Old foxes are shrewd; Yan Bugui immediately noticed the nervousness Xiao Lan was feeling when she was holding the flowers.

This led to the assumption that the flower was quite valuable.

Of course, his limited knowledge restricted his imagination.

In his opinion, no matter how valuable a potted plant is, in this era without bosses, it's only worth two or three hundred yuan at most.

Yan Bugui is a person who came from the pre-liberation era.

He had seen people who would spend a fortune on something they really liked.

But decades of social equality have made him forget the scenes of those important figures paying for their hobbies before liberation.

Even now, Yan Jiecheng has opened a restaurant and become a boss.

But that kind of boss still didn't match the boss Yan Bugui remembered.

In Yan Jiekuang's mind, Yan Jiecheng was more like a manager of a store under a collective enterprise than a so-called boss.

This is yet another variable that differs from the previous life.

Liu Haizhong never dealt in steel in his life, so Yan Bugui was the first person in Compound 95 to start a business. Without anyone to learn from, he could only feel his way forward, cautiously testing the limits of openness in society.

In particular, the roller skate incident last time must have dampened Yan Bugui's courage to do business to some extent.

This is also why he didn't pester his boss to interfere with the restaurant.

Despite Yan Bugui's blow, Yan Jiekuang's smile did not diminish.

He still clutched the money tightly, staring longingly at Yan Bugui.

Old Yan also felt the intense gaze in his son's eyes; he knew what the third son meant.
He cursed inwardly that dog meat was not presentable, but still smiled and said, "Jie Kuang, take twenty as your reward from your father this time."

Through his words, Yan Bugui subtly transformed his cooperative relationship with Yan Jiekuang.

It turns out that Yan Jiekuang was the one who first brought up this matter.

Yan Jiekuang's initial thought was to get the old man to help him.

But what Yan Bugui is implying now is that he wants Yan Jiekuang to work for him.

This caused Yan Jiekuang's expression to freeze.

Yan Bugui knew what his son was thinking, and he inwardly scoffed at it.

Yan Jiekuang has neither a source of goods nor a sales channel, so why does he think he can make decisions about this business?

But things are different now; Yan Bugui's health is failing.

If Yan Jiekuang hadn't carried him in his cart, it would have been extremely difficult for him to even walk out of this alley.

So Yan Jiekuang will have to be his 'driver' from now on.

This is the Yan family's characteristic: when it comes to money, there is no such thing as kinship in the Yan family, only calculation of interests.

Yan Bugui said gently to his son, "Third son, put away your little schemes."

Dad has two things to tell you.

A business like this is definitely not sustainable.

There aren't many people who truly love flowers.

Most people who jump on the bandwagon are just hoping to make money from it.

So if my son and I want to make more money, we have to get ahead of everyone else.

My father has connections and vision, so this matter must be led by my father.

Secondly, given Dad's current condition, how many more years can he live?

After Dad passes away, all my money will belong to you and your second brother.

Money is something you can't take with you when you're born, and you can't take it with you when you die.

There's no need for us, father and son, to be so calculating...

There's nothing wrong with what he said, but no one knows for sure whether it's Yan Bugui's true thought.

Meanwhile, the Liu family in the backyard also overheard Xiao Lan taking a pot of flowers from the Yan family.

This made Liu Haizhong look quite serious.

He didn't think his apprentice, Xiao Lan, would do anything illegal.

But he felt that this was unreliable and would disrupt his family's peaceful happiness.

So after Liu Guangtian returned home, Old Liu had a serious talk with his second son and his wife.

"...That's the gist of it. I didn't agree."

Dad also wants to remind you that no matter who makes money from this, don't be envious.

To be frank, we're not professionals in this field.

"By the way, do you think those things—things you can't eat or drink, things that are naturally grown and available year after year—can be valuable in the long run?" Old Liu said earnestly to his second son. (End of Chapter)