Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 235 The Birth of a Trader

A few days later, there were still two days before the start of school. Many students had returned to school early, and Yanyuan, which had been silent for half a summer, became lively again.

Today is the last weekend of the summer vacation. The yard in Mianhua Hutong has not been properly tidied since it was renovated. Tao Yushu plans to tidy up the yard.

The couple came to Mianhua Hutong and saw that the gate was locked from the inside, so they knew that Du Feng was there.

After knocking on the gate, someone finally opened it after several minutes. Du Feng looked a little flustered when he saw them.

"Sister, brother-in-law, why are you here?"

"I can't come to my house?"

Tao Yushu had a bad feeling when she saw his sneaky look. When she walked into the yard, she took a special look towards the west wing.

"Did you sleep here last night?"

"Yes."

It was just eight o'clock and Du Feng looked sleepy. He couldn't believe Tao Yushu's words that he didn't live here.

"You brought someone here?"

"No, no." Du Feng denied hurriedly. A hint of guilt flashed across his face, and he kept winking at Lin Chaoyang.

"Yushu, let's go to the main house first. There are so many rooms, it may take half a day to clean them all, we have to hurry."

Understanding the plea for help in his brother-in-law's expression, Lin Chaoyang spoke up.

Tao Yushu didn't say anything and went to the main room with Lin Chaoyang.

After entering the room, she did not pack her things but stood in front of the window, watching Du Feng enter the west wing. Then another figure came out soon, crouching for fear of being seen by others, and walked out of the yard quickly with two long braids swinging.

She turned around and Lin Chaoyang looked embarrassed.

"Okay, you guys are now cooperating skillfully enough." Tao Yushu said sarcastically.

"Oh! Mainly because I didn't expect that the style of their art troupe is so... open. This kid is really outrageous!"

Lin Chaoyang pretended to be angry, but Tao Yushu broke through his pretense, "Come on, stop pretending. Sometimes I really doubt that he is your real brother."

Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "We are a family."

Tao Yushu said helplessly: "Our yard is almost as good as the one we bought for him."

"He restrained himself when my parents came."

Tao Yushu shook his head. "I'm just afraid that he'll get into trouble before my parents get here."

"If something happens, your uncle will be happy to be a grandfather. He might even be happy."

"What are you happy about?"

"Du Feng should get married, it would be nice to be able to focus on his life after marriage."

Tao Yushu rolled his eyes at him and said, "You're full of heresy."

The couple chatted for a while and started cleaning. Du Feng, who had "covered" his girlfriend, returned to the yard.

"Sister, you don't have to be busy. I usually clean when I have nothing to do. The house is clean now."

“You come here quite often!”

Du Feng sensed the innuendo in Tao Yushu's words and said vaguely, "Well... I'll come over on weekends when I'm in the city for fun."

Tao Yushu was too lazy to expose his lies. He spent half a day cleaning up the yard. He was exhausted and sweating all over.

At noon, Lin Chaoyang was ready to go out for lunch, but Du Feng said, "Brother-in-law, let's eat at home. I'll go buy some groceries."

As he was talking, he was about to go buy groceries, but Lin Chaoyang stopped him and asked, "What do you have at home? Do you have the ingredients for noodles with soybean paste?"

"There are noodles and cucumbers, but no sauce."

As soon as Du Feng finished saying this, he realized something was wrong. The food was so well prepared, it didn't seem like something that only happened once a week. He smiled at Tao Yushu in a flattering way.

"I'm going to buy some sauce." Then he ran out.

Tao Yushu shook his head, "You still feel ashamed."

"It's not necessarily that he knows shame. Maybe he's afraid that you will tell your uncle about it?" Lin Chaoyang joked.

Tao Yushu couldn't help but laugh.

At noon, Lin Chaoyang made some noodles with soybean paste.

There is a pressurized well in the courtyard of Mianhua Hutong. When the cooked noodles came out of the pot, hot steam hit their faces. Du Feng took an aluminum basin to the courtyard and filled it with cold water. He rinsed the noodles with the water, alternating between hot and cold water. The noodles became firm and chewy after being rinsed with water.

Add the vegetables and mix with the fried Old Yanjing sauce, then stir until the aroma is fragrant.

"Mmm~Brother-in-law's cooking is delicious!"

Du Feng took a bite of the noodles with soybean sauce and started praising it. After taking two bites of noodles, he felt unsatisfied, so he went to the kitchen to get two cloves of raw garlic. He ate the noodles and garlic at the same time, enjoying the delicious food.

"Who did you learn this from?" Tao Yushu asked him.

"Comrades in the army. In their words, if you don't eat garlic when eating noodles, the taste will be half gone." Du Feng said with a smile.

Tao Yushu moved a little closer in disdain, "Stay away from me."

After finishing the meal with laughter and chat, Du Feng suddenly came to Lin Chaoyang and asked, "Brother-in-law, I want to ask you something."

"What's the matter?"

"What do you think about me retiring from the army?"

Du Feng asked this question out of the blue, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but be curious, "You were doing well in the army, why did you want to retire?"

"I just feel like there's no future for me in the army."

Listening to his words, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but think of the back of the man who sneaked out in the morning with his back bent.

Du Feng's personality is not that of a playboy, but Lin Chaoyang has known him for such a long time and he really doesn't see any ambition in him.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on him. If Lin Chaoyang had a father like Du Ruolin, he might not have any ambition.

They have only been in love for a short time, but they are already thinking about retiring. Is this the magic of love?
"What do you want to do after you retire from the army?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Du Feng did not answer his question, but ran into the west wing. When he came back, he had a pair of frog-eye glasses in his hands.

"Wow, quite fashionable!" Lin Chaoyang teased.

In 1980, a foreign TV series "The Man from Atlantic Ocean" was broadcast on Chinese TV screens. The protagonist Mike Harris often wore a pair of frog-eye glasses in broad daylight.

With the popularity of the TV series, Mike's image has been enthusiastically sought after by many young people, and the cool frog-eye glasses in the TV series have also become a fashionable item that young people are flocking to.

In the past year, I always see people wearing these things when walking on the streets, no matter whether it is cloudy or sunny, even when going to the cinema, they have to wear these frog-eye glasses.

Moreover, when wearing it, the quality is demonstrated by not tearing off the trademark, because the label often has words like "Hong Kong" or "Guangzhou" written on it. In people's initial impression, this kind of product from the south has become a high-end product.

Du Feng did not respond to Lin Chaoyang's teasing, but said seriously: "I bought this pair of frog-eye glasses for 20 yuan. Guess how much it cost?" Lin Chaoyang chuckled: "Two or three yuan."

Du Feng was slightly surprised, "Brother-in-law, have you studied it?"

"I haven't studied it. A writer friend of mine went to Shenzhen to collect inspiration and bought this thing. He said he spent 3.6 yuan on it."

"I see." Du Feng nodded and asked, "Did he really say he bought it for 3.60?"

"Yes."

Du Feng looked strange, and Lin Chaoyang asked, "What's wrong?"

"My friend told me that this thing costs five dollars."

Lin Chaoyang almost couldn't hold back his words, "Your friend is planning to make some money from you!"

Du Feng smiled awkwardly, "It's a good thing I asked you, brother-in-law, otherwise I would have almost been cheated."

"You can't say that." Lin Chaoyang waved his hand and asked, "From what you said, you plan to do business after you retire from the army?"

Du Feng nodded and said, "The job assigned to me after I retire only pays a few dozen yuan a month. I want to try my hand at doing business."

"How to do it?"

"Goods from Hong Kong and Guangzhou are very popular now. I plan to start a business with someone. He will be responsible for purchasing goods and I will be responsible for selling them. We will split the profits in half."

Lin Chaoyang listened to his words and shook his head silently. Du Feng asked, "Brother-in-law, is this idea wrong?"

"The person you want to partner with is the one who told you that the frog mirror costs five dollars?"

"We definitely can't find that thief Sun. He wants to cheat me before we even form a partnership. If we really form a partnership, won't he kill me? I can find someone else." Du Feng said angrily.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head again, "It's not a question of whether to change people or not, but your concept."

Du Feng looked doubtful.

Lin Chaoyang went on to say: "To put it bluntly, doing this business means being a middleman. You have to have control over both the buying and selling. Otherwise, you will just make some quick money and be eliminated after a while."

Du Feng couldn't help but fall into deep thought upon hearing this. His brother-in-law said, "Buying and selling must be under your own hands." "Buying" must be referring to the purchasing channels. He has just learned this lesson.

If you act rashly without understanding the market conditions, you will end up being sold out and having to count the money for others.

His thoughts extended, "selling" naturally means selling goods. Once the goods come in, they have to be sold. How to sell them and how to ensure that others cannot take away his job, this should be what his brother-in-law wanted to remind him.

Thinking of this, Du Feng couldn't help but feel a little ashamed and fortunate. He felt ashamed that he wanted to do business but hadn't even figured out the most basic business principles; he felt fortunate that he had asked his brother-in-law.

In Du Feng's opinion, his brother-in-law is not only talented in writing, but also has far more knowledge than ordinary people, so he wanted to ask Lin Chaoyang for his opinion and views on his business.

Du Feng felt that this approach was obviously completely correct. With just a few words from his brother-in-law, he avoided being cheated and at the same time understood some business principles.

"Brother-in-law, I think I understand."

"You are a smart person. It is not difficult to do business as long as you are willing to work hard. The most important thing is to do it yourself. If you want to do business, you must endure hardships."

Du Feng nodded solemnly, "I'll remember that."

Lin Chaoyang chuckled and asked, "Is it decided?"

Du Feng's eyes flickered for a moment, and then he said, "If CJ continues, our art troupe will definitely have to leave. With my dad around, I'm not worried about being laid off, but it's not a good idea to just slack off like this all the time. Besides..."

He felt a little embarrassed when he said this, "It's really not enough to spend with such a small salary every month."

Lin Chaoyang expressed his full understanding that no matter what time it is, young people’s love expenses will not be small.

Judging from Du Feng's current condition, he and Feng Juan should be in the hottest period. It is actually a good thing to have such ambition.

"Now that you've made up your mind, just work hard and try to achieve something." Lin Chaoyang encouraged.

Du Feng smiled confidently, "Of course."

"Brother-in-law, I have something else to do." Du Feng said hesitantly again.

Lin Chaoyang expected something and asked, "Do you need money?"

Borrowing money is always difficult to talk about for adults, and Du Feng explained the reason with an embarrassed expression.

"I don't plan to tell my dad about quitting the army to start a business. If he knew I was going to do business, he would definitely not agree."

"If you don't tell him, he won't know. Your discharge procedures must be approved by higher authorities, right?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"I have my own way." Du Feng said.

Lin Chaoyang knew that he must have a way to say that, so he stopped asking.

Du Feng continued, "After listening to you, I decided to go it alone, but I can't ask my dad for money. I originally had more than 400 yuan in my hand, but recently... I've been spending a lot, so I only have 200 yuan left. Going to Shenzhen to buy goods, the food, lodging, and travel expenses will probably cost at least 100 to 180 yuan, so there is less money left for buying goods."

At this point, his eyes were filled with pleading, "So, I have to borrow some money from you and my sister. I can pay the interest, or I can give you a share of the profits."

The idea of ​​taking up shares was a sudden idea of ​​Du Feng. He thought that his brother-in-law had extraordinary knowledge and maybe he could give him more guidance after he got the shares.

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand and said, "Forget about the shares. I have no problem lending you the money, but I have to tell your sister. She is the chief steward of our family."

As he spoke, Lin Chaoyang called Tao Yushu over and explained Du Feng's idea to her.

After listening to this, Tao Yushu looked at Du Feng with suspicion, "Are you really going to quit the army and do business?"

"Why would I lie to you about this?"

"I have no money but I still learn how to do business."

"You have to do business to make money when you have no money!" Du Feng said bitterly, "Sister, just lend me a few hundred dollars. In half a year, I will definitely pay you back with interest."

Tao Yushu snorted, "Forget about the interest, just pay me back the principal. I told you in advance that if you don't pay me back on time, I will complain to my uncle."

Du Feng was not afraid of her threat at all, and said happily: "Don't worry, I will definitely get it right."

That night, Tao Yushu and Lin Chaoyang were lying on the bed, and she asked Lin Chaoyang: "Aren't you afraid that Du Feng will lose money?"

"It's not like I'm losing money, it's just a matter of making more or less money." Lin Chaoyang said without any burden.

During the early period of reform and opening up, it was easy to make money by doing business as long as one had a little brains and courage and did not encounter the constraints of tightening policies.

This is not to glorify reform and opening up, but the fact is that the supply of commodities and materials in this era was too scarce, and there was no shortage of people buying things.

It was only 1981, and Du Feng realized that becoming a trader was a smart move. As long as his mindset gradually changed to that of a businessman, it would be easy to make money.

"Then he wants to give you a share, but you don't want it?"

Lin Chaoyang chuckled and said, "I want to borrow some money and invest in it. Am I so greedy? Isn't it the same for others to borrow from others?"

"I think he wants to drag you along," said Tao Yushu.

Of course Lin Chaoyang could see Du Feng's purpose. He could only say that this brother-in-law did have some business acumen.

"Okay, don't think about your 500 yuan." Lin Chaoyang said while hugging her.

(End of this chapter)