Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 219 He is still my brother-in-law

A few days later, Xia Chengying came to Yanda again. The delegation of the Chinese University of Hong Kong had finished its visit in the mainland and would return to Hong Kong tomorrow.

Xia Chengying has obtained authorization from the publishing house today to sign a publishing contract with Lin Chaoyang. After the contract is signed, Lin Chaoyang only needs to wait for the royalties from Hong Kong Chinese University.

The only pity is that although he earned foreign currency, due to the regulations on compulsory exchange settlement, he could only get RMB.

On this day, Tao Yushu received a payment slip for her manuscript from Hebei Literature and Art. The review she had discussed with Zhang Dening about writing for Furong Town had been submitted some time ago and was accepted by Hebei Literature and Art. She received a fee of 24 yuan. This was the second review she published this year.

He was in a good mood after receiving the royalties and added an extra dish to dinner. In the evening, Tao Yushu started to calculate the family savings.

At the end of March, the couple paid the last installment of 3,000 yuan for the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

In recent months, Lin Chaoyang has not received much royalties because he has not published any works, only sporadic royalties from print runs.

The only large sum of money was the royalties for "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Imperial Court". Thanks to Li Hanxiang's help, he obtained more than 1 foreign exchange coupons. Before that, Lin Chaoyang exchanged 1.4 foreign exchange coupons through Amao at a ratio of :.

After deducting the more than 1,000 foreign exchange coupons they had spent before, the couple now still has nearly 13,000 foreign exchange coupons in their hands, and 12,000 yuan left in savings.

"Spending quickly is not enough to earn slowly!" Lin Chaoyang said complacently.

Tao Yushu smiled and said, "Didn't you say before that you could spend it easily?"

"Then I'll go to the trust store tomorrow. I have so many foreign exchange certificates. If I don't spend them and there's no interest, I'll lose money."

Tao Yushu rolled his eyes at him and said, "You are really good at settling accounts."

The next day was the weekend, and Lin Chaoyang rode his bicycle to the city early in the morning.

In the 1940s, a "Datong Trust Company" appeared in the city of Yanjing, located in Dazhalan outside Qianmen. It was the earliest trust store in Yanjing, or it could be called a trust store.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state established authorized commission stores and state-owned material recycling companies to replace the original pawnshops, and also absorbed private commission stores and street "pawnshop operators".

After the 1950s, state-owned entrusted stores gradually became the favorites of the common people. State-owned stores were fair in their transactions, reasonable in their dealings, and honest in their conduct, making them much more reliable than the pawnshops of the old society.

At that time, there were often news about state-run commissioned stores. They were all about someone going to a commissioned store to sell something, and the apprentice gave a lower price, so the store had to make up the difference to the customer.

The reputation of the commissioned stores was accumulated bit by bit through news like this. More importantly, due to the shortage of commodity supply and the implementation of the ticket system, many ordinary people could not buy things even if they had money. Only in the commissioned stores could they enjoy the pleasure of shopping with open supply.

Of course, most of the goods in the commissioned stores are old and useless items from various households. They are sold in the commissioned stores to alleviate the shortage of daily necessities.

The operation of a consigned store is like taking care of two businesses at the same time, and the acquisition is also divided into two forms.

One is consignment, where the seller offers a suitable price to sell the item in the consignment store, and the store charges a handling fee after the item is sold. The handling fee is 7% for general items and 4% for furniture, bicycles, etc.

Another form is for sellers who are in a hurry to use the money. They can directly hand over the goods to the commissioned store for appraisal, and then take the money and leave.

Compared with consignment, the price of this method is naturally lower.

There are quite a few commissioned stores in Yanjing City, including Xidan, Dongdan, Xisi, Beixinqiao, Tianqiao, Xinjiekou, and Caishikou.

Xisi Commission Store is the closest one to Lin Chaoyang's home, so he came here early in the morning.

The Xisi Commission Store is one of the larger commission stores in Yanjing City. It is located just north of the Xisi intersection. The light in the store is a little dim, and the lights are on even in broad daylight.

There is a strange musty smell as soon as you enter the door. This place sells miscellaneous items, so it is not surprising to have such a smell.

This was Lin Chaoyang’s first time to come to the commission store. After taking a look around, he felt a little disappointed.

According to some descriptions in later articles, the commission shops were almost full of gold, but the reality was that most of the things here were daily necessities for ordinary people.

Old clothes, fur coats, quilts, watches, phonographs, cameras...

The consignment store was full of second-hand goods. A customer like Lin Chaoyang, who had plenty of money, naturally wouldn't look at most of the goods when he came here, but he still patiently walked around the store several times.

At that time, all stores had closed counters, and if you wanted to buy something, you had to ask the salesperson to take it from the shelf and place it on the counter.

Lin Chaoyang looked around and found a few cameras on a shelf. He approached the salesperson and said, "Comrade, can you let me see those cameras?"

The salesperson first glanced at Lin Chaoyang, then picked up a camera from several cameras on the shelf.

This is a Zenit camera made in the Soviet Union, estimated to be 70% new. Lin Chaoyang took a look at it and put it on the counter. This camera is a bit old.

After looking for a long time, Lin Chaoyang found something valuable on the shelf of porcelain, which was two blue and white bowls inscribed with "Made in the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty".

When I asked the price, I learned it was ten yuan each.

Two bowls cost twenty yuan, which is almost half a month's salary for him.

After thinking about it, Lin Chaoyang understood the reason behind it.

Most of the sellers who come to the store to sell things are because they have no money. You can't expect a family of three generations of poor farmers to come up with antique calligraphy and paintings to sell. Therefore, most of the goods here are definitely not worth collecting for Lin Chaoyang.

There is also a small number of people who sell really good things for emergency purposes, but state-run commissioned stores are not pawnshops. They pursue reasonable profits rather than extreme profits. The valuations given by the masters are basically in line with the prices of that era.

The store that commissioned the item also knows that it is an antique and certainly cannot be sold at the price of a daily commodity. However, the market for antique collecting in those days was not as hot as it is in later generations, so the premium was naturally limited.

After figuring it out, Lin Chaoyang happily asked the salesperson to issue the invoice and paid the money.

One advantage of buying things in a commissioned store is that you don't have to worry about buying fakes or counterfeits. The things in here have all been carefully examined by the master craftsmen. After buying these two bowls, there was nothing else to look at, and Lin Chaoyang thought of his own courtyard again.

The furniture and daily necessities for the main house have all been purchased, but the wing rooms are still empty. Anyway, no one lives there often, so it would be nice to get some second-hand furniture and daily necessities.

"Comrade, don't you have second-hand furniture?" Lin Chaoyang asked the salesperson.

The salesperson replied, "We buy and sell miscellaneous items. If you want to buy furniture, you can go to the Donghuamen Trust. There is also a furniture store at the Di'anmen Trust Store."

Lin Chaoyang rode his bicycle to the Donghuamen Trust Store. The storefront here looked a little more imposing than the Xisi Trust Store.

Because the shop specializes in furniture, there is a group of tricycle operators gathered at the door. They are responsible for helping buyers transport large pieces of furniture to their homes, and their service is attentive and considerate.

Compared with the fine goods in the second-hand goods department of Long Shuncheng Furniture Factory, the second-hand goods here are basically daily furniture.

After choosing for a long time, Lin Chaoyang found a rosewood octagonal table and a large rosewood stool. Both were good items from the mid-Qing Dynasty, and were no worse than the two pieces of furniture Lin Chaoyang had bought from Long Shuncheng before.

Lin Chaoyang asked the salesperson about the price, and the salesperson said that it was a consignment from a customer. The rosewood eight-immortals table cost 100 yuan, and the rosewood square stool cost 30 yuan, and they wanted foreign exchange coupons.

The consignment goods of the trust store are all subject to the conditions of the seller. Of course, the premise is that the seller's asking price is approved by the appraiser.

A small number of sellers of high-quality goods will choose to ask for foreign currency or foreign exchange coupons. Sometimes, when they really can't find a suitable buyer, the seller will lower the requirements and agree to transactions in RMB.

This rosewood eight-immortal table and large square stool are fine furniture from the mid-Qing Dynasty, so the price is certainly not expensive.

The seller was lucky. Lin Chaoyang had more foreign exchange coupons than RMB, so he was naturally not short of money and bought the two items happily.

Then Lin Chaoyang picked out a few pieces of old furniture in the store. At this time, most people could not tell the difference between red sandalwood, huanghuali, and wenge, and they were all called redwood.

Lin Chaoyang picked out two beds, two octagonal tables, a desk, six armchairs and two wardrobes from a pile of old furniture. All of them were either made of rosewood or huanghuali. He directly emptied out all the good stuff in the store.

After checking out, excluding the two pieces of antique furniture, the total cost of all these furniture was only 178 yuan, and no tickets or foreign exchange coupons were required.

Lin Chaoyang now finally understood why the people of Yanjing loved trust stores so much. This shopping experience was so fucking great!

This is probably what it feels like for Americans in later generations to shop on the overseas version of Pinduoduo, right?

After settling the bill, there is another more important thing, which is to transport the goods. This is when the tricycle operators at the door come in handy.

Not only did Lin Chaoyang buy out all the furniture at the Donghuamen Trust Store today, but the tricycle drivers at the door also got some, and they even had to make a second trip.

Lin Chaoyang rode a bicycle in front to lead the way, and a tricycle pulling furniture followed behind. It took them half an hour to reach Mianhua Hutong.

He arrived at the gate of the courtyard and found that it was not locked, but the bolt was inserted. Thinking that today was Sunday, he knew that it must be Du Feng who came.

I knocked on the door knocker. After more than a minute, the gate opened from the inside, and it was indeed Du Feng's face.

Looking at the long line of tricycles and the furniture on them at the gate, Du Feng was surprised, "Brother-in-law, what's going on?"

"The wing doesn't have any furniture yet. I went to the Trustee Shop to get some today."

As Lin Chaoyang spoke, he directed the craftsmen to carry the furniture into the yard, and Du Feng took the initiative to step forward to help.

Lin Chaoyang and Du Feng carried an octagonal table together and walked to the center of the courtyard. They saw a pretty woman with a round face, big eyes and two big braids on her chest standing at the door of the west wing, looking a little panicked.

The two of them carried the eight-immortal table into the house, and Lin Chaoyang teased, "Would you like to introduce this female comrade to me?"

Hearing this, the female comrade's face was full of shyness. Du Feng was also a little embarrassed, but he still pulled her over and introduced her: "This is Feng Juan, my comrade from the art troupe."

"This is my brother-in-law Lin Chaoyang, a writer."

"Hello, brother-in-law!" After Du Feng introduced both parties, Feng Juan took the initiative to greet Lin Chaoyang, "Du Feng always mentioned you to me."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and asked, "Hello, Comrade Feng Juan. What did he say about me?"

"They say you are talented and very capable."

There was a gleam in Feng Juan's eyes. Nowadays, the identity of a writer is regarded as a halo in the eyes of many ordinary people.

"Haha, as long as you don't say bad things about me behind my back. Are you guys taking a break today?"

Du Feng replied: "We went shopping in Xidan in the morning, came back to rest after lunch, and planned to go to a movie in the evening."

Perhaps fearing that Lin Chaoyang would embarrass Feng Juan if he continued to ask, Du Feng pulled Lin Chaoyang out of the room, "Brother-in-law, don't ask so many questions."

"A lot? I just asked."

Lin Chaoyang had a mischievous look on his face, which made Du Feng feel a little embarrassed.

"Hey, move this bed to the west wing, and move the wardrobe over here too..."

Lin Chaoyang ordered people to neatly arrange the furniture in the west wing from inside to outside. This room was previously reserved for Du Feng, and he couldn't help but give Lin Chaoyang a thumbs up.

He has to be my brother-in-law!
After two trips back and forth, Lin Chaoyang finally transported all the furniture he bought today to Mianhua Hutong. It was already past four in the afternoon when he finished moving the furniture.

He invited Du Feng and Feng Juan to dinner and talked about their work and life in the art troupe.

(End of this chapter)