Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 133 Courage (Bonus chapter 610 for Elbow Who Speaks for the Silver Alliance)

Returning to Northeast China, Yan Hui felt a strange sense of familiarity. Although this place was very far from Fengtian, the overall feeling was very similar to that of Baishan.

Places where large numbers of workers and merchants gather are always bustling with activity, offering accommodation, dining, and bathing facilities, but the conditions are rather poor, and many city dwellers would certainly find them unsuitable.

The next morning, Yan Hui and Lao Guo agreed to get up together and have breakfast at the restaurant.

This shop is run by locals and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily for 10 yuan, which is 2 yuan, 4 yuan, and 4 yuan respectively.

The food was decent; it was filling, and there were meat dishes for both lunch and dinner. Although there wasn't much meat, it was much more affordable than at a restaurant.

The owners are a nice family. They heard that Yan Hui might be staying here for a while, so they were very welcoming and said that I could speak to them directly if I needed anything.

The boss is a man in his forties from Northeast China who is mainly responsible for cooking, while his wife is responsible for cleaning.

In addition, they also have a daughter who graduated from junior high school. She looks about sixteen or seventeen years old and helps out at the store, mainly cleaning and washing bed sheets and blankets.

"Old Yan, look at the boss's daughter, she's been staring at you for ages," Old Guo said to Yan Hui while they were eating breakfast.

"She's looking at you, isn't she?" Yan Hui took a bite of the fried dough stick, looking very satisfied.

In the morning, the temperature in Tangwanghe District was still below zero. Yan Hui had a very good appetite and had already eaten two large fried dough sticks.

"I've been here for months, how could she possibly be interested in me? We're the only two young people here, the only guests are middle-aged people all year round. With a handsome guy like you, she's probably smitten," Lao Guo teased.

"I'm handsome my ass." Yan Hui was too lazy to pay attention to Lao Guo.

"You're good enough, honestly." Old Guo rarely praised Yan Hui like that.

Yan Hui was already quite good-looking, and his experiences over the past two years have given him a more resolute air, making him look more charismatic than his peers.

"While I agree with what you said, just eat your food," Yan Hui laughed.

The two chatted and laughed, but outsiders couldn't quite understand what they were saying. Their dialect was almost like a foreign language in this area.

“I’m serious, this boss is something else. Think about it, he lives in at least a dozen rooms every day and sells food outside. Making three thousand yuan a month is no problem. This shop has supposedly been open for five or six years. If you marry into the family, your problem will be solved.” Old Guo had been going around in circles for a while, and now he’s here.

"You haven't been beaten up in a long time." Yan Hui clenched his fist.

"Hahaha"

Old Guo was in a really good mood. He'd been incredibly bored these past few months and had been eagerly anticipating Yan Hui's visit. He would have been even happier if Yan Hui hadn't been under a lot of pressure at the beginning of the trip.

Upon hearing this, Yan Hui suddenly thought of Su Jin. Yan Hui could tell that Su Jin's family was extremely well-off, almost excessively so. That evening, after her birthday celebration, Yan Hui drove Su Jin home and learned that she lived in a two-story house with a Mercedes-Benz parked downstairs.

如果
Forget it, Su Jin doesn't have any money anyway. If Yan Hui really needs to borrow money, he'll choose to borrow from his uncle.

Yes, you can't just borrow money from friends.

Yan Hui didn't mention his uncle's situation to Lao Guo, nor did he intend to consider it himself. This was a last resort. After dinner, Yan Hui and Lao Guo took a good walk around the neighborhood. Yan Hui decided to stay for a couple of days to gather more information before looking for opportunities at the various forest farms.

In the evening, Yan Hui and Lao Guo had dinner at the hotel and chatted idly.

Tangwanghe District was established in 1958, initially called Dongfeng District. It is located in the northeastern part of Yichun, at the summit of the Lesser Khingan Mountains. In 2019, Tangwanghe District and Wuyiling District merged to form Tangwang County. The area is sparsely populated; when Yan Hui visited, the entire district had only about 20,000 to 30,000 people. Tangwanghe District has nine large forest farms, but in the area covered by the surrounding railway, there are at least a hundred more.

Because of its altitude of about 5 meters and its northward location, the average annual temperature in this area is around 0 degrees Celsius, and spring doesn't officially begin until mid-May.

“This place is frozen for more than half the year. When I first came here, I almost froze to death. You’re so lucky. It’s only zero degrees now. It’s so warm. When I first came here, the coldest day was almost minus 40 degrees.” Old Guo talked about his condition a few months ago.

Coming from Fengtian, which is already very cold, Lao Guo didn't realize how big the difference was between -20 and -40 degrees Celsius. He almost died here when he first arrived.

"Minus 40 degrees Celsius?" Yan Hui exclaimed in surprise. "I'll try to get back within six months."

"Haha, good luck, I wish you all the best," Lao Guo laughed.

"What's the best timber in this area?" Yan Hui is currently selling larch, but he can expand to many other tree species in the future.

"The city tree of Yichun is the red pine, and the three more expensive trees are the Amur cork tree, Manchurian ash, and Manchurian walnut. Other trees include larch, white pine, Scots pine, poplar, and birch—you name it. The truckload I recently shipped was Manchurian ash. This stuff…" Old Guo, though speaking in dialect, leaned close to Yan Hui's ear and whispered, "You can make at least ten thousand yuan per truckload of this stuff."

"Transported to Fengtian?" Yan Hui was surprised.

"Hmm." Old Guo nodded.

“Jianye, my market doesn’t have any ash trees yet. I’ll focus on selling larch this year. Once I have my 10 yuan, I’ll go back and look for other business opportunities.” Yan Hui made his preparations for the future.

"Well, you're already doing well if you can get the first truckload of larch. I think it'll be difficult, and you might even have to ask your uncle for help. This place is frozen for half the year, and many people... well, let's just say they're quite tough. If you don't have enough money, you might even get beaten up." Old Guo glanced at Yan Hui as he said this, already putting it rather tactfully.

While we can't dampen our brothers' enthusiasm, we can't keep information to ourselves.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I won't get into a fight. If someone hits me, I'll apologize and bow. They won't do anything to me. People in Northeast China care about face. I'll just back down." Yan Hui wasn't stupid.

"I'm relieved to hear that. I know you can fight, but I was worried you might fight back or get into a brawl. If you do, you'll be lucky and leave Yichun as soon as possible, but if you're unlucky, it'll be troublesome. We outsiders can't cause trouble when we're doing business here; there are too few of us." Old Guo added a few more words of advice.

"Okay, I know what I'm doing." Yan Hui nodded. "I'll spend another day exploring the route tomorrow and study it more carefully. I'll go out to look for business the day after tomorrow. I estimate I'll be back every three days. I'll leave my things in your room for now."

"You come back every three days? You're going to travel that far? There's nowhere to stay in many places."

"It's alright, it's not minus forty degrees now, it's not that dangerous." Yan Hui shook his head.

“Come to my room later. I have a knife here. Put it in your bag. If you encounter any danger, you won’t be without anything to fight back.” Old Guo said calmly.

"Okay, thank you!"

(Happy Children's Day to all the kids born in the 00s and 10s!)

(End of this chapter)