The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 262: Little Hong Kong Gangster

At Director Hou's residence, Jiang Cheng had a very nice chat with him.

According to Jiang Cheng, the goods that were previously sold secretly can now be sold openly. The key point is that the factories and supermarkets that cooperate with us can use foreign exchange for settlement in the future. But there is one thing: if we use foreign exchange for settlement, we will not pay for the freight.

Many domestic enterprises and units need to declare the use of foreign exchange if they want to import equipment and some products. In recent years, if some units can attract foreign exchange, they will be considered as the focus of local attention.

If the settlement is made in foreign exchange, it may not be possible to pay in cash like now, but directly remit the money from business to business. In this case, it will be difficult for Director Hou to make a profit from the price difference.

But if a foreign exchange transaction cooperation is reached, Director Hou will no longer have to be the logistics director. He can be directly promoted to focus on production and external sales.

Those who should have been promoted have already been promoted, but those who have been promoted know the situation on Director Hou's side and that they have to deal with some new cadres and the like.

Director Hou actually has no choice but to stay in this position. The people above him don't want him to leave. It will be difficult to find someone who is willing to do this, and the key is that it will increase the risk.

Now there are other benefits, if the farm can get foreign exchange, although the real foreign exchange will not come to them, it will be saved by some units and converted into domestic currency and transferred to their public accounts.

However, those who have foreign exchange trading units have priority in using foreign exchange. For example, when purchasing foreign equipment or arranging for people to go abroad for inspection, it is easy to get approval for the use of foreign exchange.

Jiang Cheng's cooperation with Director Hou this time actually meant that he and some people behind him gave up their private interests, but they could get some opportunities to go to Hong Kong for "exchanges".

For example, as long as Director Hou agrees to cooperate, the Jiangdonglai company in Hong Kong will immediately send him an invitation letter, allowing him to bring a specified team of people to visit their company in Hong Kong, and provide a certain amount of travel expenses.

Just this one condition of being able to bring people to Hong Kong for inspection, exchange and cooperation, not to mention that the reclamation farm is now under the jurisdiction of Lichuan County, even the leaders of FZ City in the urban area here will be eyeing the "study and exchange" quota in Director Hou's hands.

It can be said that Jiang Cheng is helping Director Hou. But the premise is that the supply must be in accordance with Jiang Cheng's requirements. As for fish, don't expand the breeding in the future. Grow more grains, raise more pigs, and grow a large number of vegetables and fruits.

Prices and wages in Hong Kong are very high now. In Guangzhou, this year is actually the craziest year for smuggling. The smugglers who help smuggle people also charge high fees. If they don't make tens of thousands of yuan a month, they can't survive in Hong Kong.

The invitation that Jiang Cheng asked the company to send out was for business exchanges, not the kind of overseas inspection for leaders of state-owned enterprises.

In this way, there is no assessment standard for those who go with you. Unlike Zhou Lingying's uncle, the people he takes with him to go abroad are strictly examined and reviewed.

So let Director Hou lead the team to Hong Kong for inspection. If one person gets lost in Hong Kong, at most Director Hou will come back to write a review and criticize himself.

For some leaders, the little difference they earned privately before is nothing if they just send it to anyone.

After Jiang Cheng left Director Hou's house that night, if it wasn't already evening, Director Hou would have wanted to go out immediately to find his former leader.

The next day, Jiang Cheng and Song Wei had breakfast here before leaving. Director Hou also came to accompany them early in the morning. In addition, he directly gave Jiang Cheng and Song Wei a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of Fenjiu as part of the hospitality standards.

The cigarettes and liquor used to entertain people must be registered. Even if Director Hou is the logistics director, it does not mean that they are gone after being used for entertainment. Because the cigarettes and liquor are also purchased by the reclamation farm, and it must be registered for entertaining anyone.

The identities of Jiang Cheng and Song Wei definitely do not meet the hospitality standards. They are just two drivers. If they really have to follow the hospitality standards, it would be good enough if they could be treated to a simple meal.

But this time Director Hou wanted to not meet the standards, so that he could go to the leaders to explain the situation. He said that he had entertained foreign businessmen and reached some agreements. By then, let alone entertaining ordinary mid-range cigarettes and Fenjiu, if a cooperation was really reached, Director Hou wanted Huazi and Maotai, and the leaders above could help him get them.

"Jiang Cheng, you have such great connections. You can get food and gifts here, including a whole pack of cigarettes. This wine is Fenjiu. A bottle of wine must cost five or six yuan now." Song Wei said to Jiang Cheng admiringly while driving.

In fact, Fenjiu was more expensive than Moutai in the early days. When Fenjiu was sold for 3 yuan, Moutai was only 2.5 yuan. But now a bottle of ordinary Moutai costs 8 yuan.

The cigarettes given here are also high-end cigarettes from Gan Province. A pack costs more than 40 cents, and this time they are all one carton.

This meant that Song Wei had obtained ten yuan worth of cigarettes and alcohol from following Jiang Cheng to the reclamation farm. Adding the food and drinks he had eaten last night and in the morning, Song Wei was very grateful.

"It's nothing. If you drive the route to Guangzhou in the future, your truck will be empty when you go there anyway. I can help you connect with the reclamation farm, and help deliver some goods from the reclamation farm to Shenzhen. I'll give you ten yuan for each trip. If you drive a lot in a month, you can earn dozens of dollars." Jiang Cheng said.

Ten yuan for a lay, if it's on the way, it's a free gift for Song Wei. And the driver will take the initiative to find people who need to carry goods. In Song Wei's view, getting on the line of the reclamation farm means a stable increase in income.

Moreover, when you help people transport goods, you always have to treat them during meals, which costs money.

But for Director Hou, he would definitely agree. For their farm’s fleet, a driver’s minimum guaranteed salary plus subsidies is around 80 yuan a month.

If we really want to deliver goods to Shenzhen in the future, it will take four or five days to deliver the goods back and forth, and the driver's salary for four or five days will not be less than ten yuan. Moreover, if we let Song Wei help deliver the goods, it will not occupy the farm's vehicles.

"Jiang Cheng, I didn't expect that you have resigned. Instead, I still need your care." Song Wei said bluntly.

Song Wei couldn't quit his job and go to Shenzhen to manage a fleet, mainly because of the state-owned and private enterprises. But if he could earn an extra ten yuan per trip, that would be no problem.

Jiang Cheng smiled. He had been driving for so many years, and he would rather drive empty than help some companies to carry goods. Many people knew that the third transport team of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was specialized in handling the list of foreign trade to domestic sales, and they were all empty when they set out.

Some units will inquire about the residences of these drivers who travel from outside to inside, and many people will contact them on their own initiative.

For the sake of ten or twenty dollars, Jiang Cheng was not willing to bother with it at all, even if it was just something he put into the space casually.

Because Jiang Cheng had let Song Wei take advantage of the farm, Jiang Cheng was not allowed to drive on the way to Shenzhen. In fact, because Jiang Cheng was going to SZ City, Song Wei deliberately sent him there first, and then went back to Guangzhou Port to pick up the goods.

In less than two years, all drivers who specialize in transporting goods from foreign trade to domestic sales will be dismissed. Now many things need tickets to be purchased, such as cloth, canned food, bicycles, watches, sewing machines, etc.

But in less than two years, most things in Shenzhen no longer require tickets. You don’t have to haul a lot of things, the key is how to haul them.

When cloth in Shenzhen can be bought freely, those cloths that are not exported no longer need to be sold domestically, but can be directly taken to the market for processing.

Two years later, in Shenzhen, it is not that you don’t need a ticket at all, but you will be charged a little more if you don’t have a ticket. The price of selling things is divided into the price with and without a ticket.

After Jiang Cheng arrived in Shenzhen, he took his Hong Kong ID card and passport, registered and took a boat to Hong Kong that afternoon.

~~
After entering Hong Kong, Jiang Cheng strolled out of the port station. There were many taxis at the station, with a starting price of two yuan, and then one yuan per kilometer after two kilometers. The price was not much higher than in 1973. The main reason was that Hong Kong was such a large place, there were too many taxis, and under the situation of mutual competition, it was normal that the price increase did not keep up with the increase in everyone's salary.

In 1973, taxi drivers were very popular in Hong Kong, and their monthly income was similar to that of some company managers. But now, the income of taxi drivers is considered lower-middle class in Hong Kong.

There are also many people who run illegal taxis, because cars are cheap and many people can afford them. With more car owners, it is not surprising that there are part-time illegal taxi drivers.

In 1973, some cars cost about 12,000 Hong Kong dollars. At that time, a car was almost a year's salary for a person with a little technical skills. At that time, the exchange rate between Hong Kong dollars and US dollars was about 5 to 1.

But now in 600, some economy cars in Hong Kong are still priced at around . And according to the current exchange rate of Hong Kong dollars, it is already to . In fact, the price of cars in Hong Kong has fallen instead of rising. According to this exchange rate, a Honda N in Hong Kong is now only sold for Hong Kong dollars, which is equivalent to about US dollars per car.

In Hong Kong, some people who can work as plumbers can buy a car with a few months' salary. So now in Hong Kong, there is really a lot of traffic, people and cars everywhere.

Jiang Cheng didn't take a taxi and left the platform. He found a place where no one was. He could put cars no longer than six meters in the space. Jiang Cheng could put things in the space up to a cube with a diameter of five meters.

This means that the width and height are both five meters, and as long as it is not too thick or too wide, according to the oblique angle, some things can be more than five meters in length, but not much more.

Many cars in Hong Kong are only about five meters long. Jiang Cheng can’t fit a truck into the space, but a car is still possible.

A Ferrari 308GTB soon appeared in a place where no one could see it. This was Jiang Cheng's only sports car in Hong Kong. The price was entry-level, and the exchange rate between Hong Kong dollars and US dollars was quite high when he bought it.

I bought a sports car for 65,000 Hong Kong dollars, which would be more than 100,000 according to the current exchange rate.

Considering Jiang Cheng's wealth in Hong Kong, a sports car worth tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars is considered very low-key. He is really afraid that driving a too good car will cause some unnecessary trouble in Hong Kong.

But even if it was a cheap sports car, it was easy to pick up girls in Hong Kong in this era. You could drive to some bars at night, smoke in the car, and if you were not bad looking, you would be sure to be approached by many young girls.

Jiang Cheng also has a driver's license in Hong Kong, but he was too lazy to take the test, so he bought it. In fact, if you don't pay to buy it, the person who taught you in Hong Kong will ask you for some benefits. It's not expensive to buy it directly, and it's not necessarily more expensive than going to a driving school to learn and take a driver's license test, and it's more convenient.

Anyway, there is no computer information record, whether you pass the test or not is all up to the examiner. You can just go and take the test.

In China, when the Internet is not well developed and the driver's license test is scored by the examiner, there are still many people who buy directly. In some years, many places even clearly marked the price and guaranteed passing.

This time when he entered Hong Kong, Jiang Cheng could actually discover many business opportunities through the passage of time. As a person who traveled through time and space, he didn't need to remember any history. Many business opportunities would automatically appear in Jiang Cheng's eyes.

One was a small metal cube that Jiang Cheng took out from the space after getting on the car. As soon as it came out, it received a paging signal and beeped several times.

BB machine, also called pager. Nowadays, it is very fashionable for people in Hong Kong to hang a BB machine on their waist. Although it is just a device for receiving messages, Jiang Cheng bought it for more than 2,000 Hong Kong dollars.

This thing was very popular in that era. If Jiang Cheng invested in a factory that produced BB machines, he would be able to make a lot of money in at least ten years.

But Jiang Cheng is not interested in this business. However, he will take care of some relatives properly in the future and bring some to China, letting others make some profit from the difference.

Besides, it will take at least five years for this to be available in China.

Because Jiang Cheng now lives in a villa in Kowloon District, it takes him nearly an hour to drive there.

Kowloon is the most interesting area, unlike Central, where people are all in the financial industry. There are many gangsters and girls here, and many night food stalls.

At night, you can often see some middle school girls wearing JK. The uniforms of Hong Kong's high schools are completely superior to the clothes used in China. It must be said that the designers of Hong Kong's school uniforms are people with taste.

After Jiang Cheng drove into the Kowloon area, he looked at the time on his watch. It would be a bit awkward to ask the nanny to prepare a meal when he got home at this time. He decided to just have a meal on the roadside.

There are roadside stalls in many busy places in Kowloon at night. Jiang Cheng stopped the car next to a night snack stall.

"Sir, what would you like to eat?"

"Order whatever you want. One shrimp, one boiled pork slice, and one vegetarian dish. Boss, give me a drink."

"No problem."

The uncle selling midnight snacks said with a smile, he also knew that Jiang Cheng was joking when he asked him to give him a drink. He meant to just give him a drink. When the bill came, if there was a small change, he could round it off appropriately and treat it as a free drink.

Jiang Cheng ordered so much for one person, which was considered casual for him, but was considered rich for the night snack uncle, because people without money usually just ordered fried rice.

The sports car parked on the roadside was very attractive to young people, even though Jiang Cheng was driving an entry-level sports car. Jiang Cheng sat in an open-air stall, looking through the messages on his BB machine, mostly from Ali and Shen Li.

It was Jiang Cheng's action of flipping through the pager that made the two girls lock on him, thinking that he should be the owner of the sports car.

"Uncle, I'm alone."

Hearing the greeting, Jiang Cheng, who was looking at his pager, noticed two little girls in school uniforms standing in front of him. One of them had a lollipop in her mouth, looking quite cute.

Jiang Cheng felt it was a pity, the two girls in front of him were at most about the same age as when he met Shen Li in 1972. He had already experienced this type of situation with Shen Li, and he already had so many daughters.

With someone taking the initiative to greet him like this, Jiang Cheng knew that as long as he paid a little favor, he could have something tender tonight, or even a big one.

But Jiang Cheng, who has a daughter, actually feels very sad for these girls. He doesn't want his daughter to become like this.

"Is there something wrong?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"It's boring to eat alone, uncle, we'll keep you company."

Jiang Cheng smiled and put the pager in his pocket. He could see that the two girls in front of him really wanted to tease him, and they were also really hungry.

This is just like the young men and women in later generations, who often go hungry three times a day.

"Order what you want to eat, I'll pay the bill." Jiang Cheng said. He just wanted them to have a meal for fun, it didn't matter.

"Boss, what dishes did this uncle order? We want more." Upon hearing that Jiang Cheng was treating them to a meal, the girl who was eating the lollipop immediately went to the owner of the late-night snack stall excitedly to order more dishes.

"Uncle, do you want to drink? I'll drink with you." Another little girl also said with a smile.

"I don't drink. If you want to drink, feel free to do so. I drove here and will go back after dinner." Jiang Cheng said politely.

Jiang Cheng didn't expect to change anything, and he couldn't change anything. He also couldn't save anything. There were so many little gangster girls in Hong Kong, and he was too busy to handle them all.

(The previous chapter was manually deleted by the system, more than a thousand words were missing, oops~~)

(End of this chapter)