Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 23 Business Experience

After shopping in the market, Yan Hui went straight back to his fourth uncle's shop.

Compared to such a trivial matter as giving steamed buns to the boy, Yan Hui was more worried about his fourth uncle's affairs.

He didn't talk in detail with Fourth Aunt. After a brief chat, he started helping Fourth Aunt clean the house.

While cleaning, Yan Hui had a brief chat with his fourth aunt.

Yan Yan is about to take an exam and will go to college after the summer vacation. She will probably be away for a semester, so she knitted a sweater for Yan Yan in advance.

This made Yan Hui somewhat touched.

But this feeling of being touched did not last long. In less than an hour, Fourth Uncle came back. Fourth Aunt took the sweater to take credit for it and asked Fourth Uncle for some benefits. Yan Hui did not understand what they were.

"Xiaohui, come here," after communicating with Fourth Aunt, Fourth Uncle called Yan Hui, and the two of them went into the house.

After entering the house, Fourth Uncle took out Yan Hui's letter and said, "I've read everything you wrote. Are you worried that I, your Fourth Uncle, have been deceived?"

"Well, I think there's something wrong with these people. They don't look like good people." Yan Hui said.

"I called someone to check, and found that the man does have some skills and doesn't seem like a liar." As Fourth Uncle said this, he felt a little nervous.

"Is the person you asked very reliable?" Yan Hui thought for a moment and asked.

"We've been business partners for many years." Fourth Uncle glanced at Yan Hui and asked, "Did Dashan borrow 300 yuan from you?"

"Well, I didn't want to tell you, but I was worried you wouldn't believe me."

"Dashan is a good person in every way except that he loves drinking and women. There's nothing wrong with loving women, but the woman he brought today is no good. She's only after his money."

Yan Hui nodded and told everything he knew about Hong Chun.

Fourth Uncle listened carefully and nodded. "You're quite observant. But don't worry about Dashan. Last time you two went to the forest farm together, I gave him the car, and he was fine, wasn't he? He definitely wouldn't lie to me about such a thing."

"Yeah." Yan Hui didn't say much.

"By the way," Fourth Uncle didn't want to continue the topic, "I've been busy lately and haven't found a suitable buyer for your two ginseng roots. I sold them to this person this afternoon. He gave me 1800 yuan. I'll give them all to you."

"Huh?" Yan Hui was startled. "1800?"

Yan Hui spent a total of 930 yuan on these two ginseng roots, which was basically double the price of 1800. Even in Fengtian, it is generally difficult to sell them at this price.

"Well, they have channels to sell to Hong Kong Island, so they won't lose money," Fourth Uncle nodded. "As for the money Dashan lent you, I guess he will pay you back in the future."

"That's nothing." Yan Hui was still immersed in the happiness of 1800 yuan, but then he thought it wouldn't be appropriate to take all the money for himself. He changed his mind and said, "Uncle, my cost was 930 yuan, and I made 870 yuan. Let's split it 50-50."

"Haven't I recently arranged for you to go to the station to help me keep an eye on the goods?" Fourth Uncle seemed to not care about the money at all. "Just consider it your wages. Take it."

"Thank you, uncle!" Yan Hui accepted it with peace of mind.

"Did you gain anything from coming back this time? I'm free right now, so tell me about it."

"The harvest was okay. I basically told you everything," Yan Hui said this, and suddenly remembered what happened at noon. He then talked about how he was scolded when he went to see a client at noon.

"If you think about it this way, customers are all Mazu, and it's only right to be scolded by Mazu." Fourth Uncle couldn't help laughing when he saw Yan Hui's aggrieved look.

"Customers are Mazu." Yan Hui pondered this sentence and felt that what his fourth uncle said was a bit outrageous, but it seemed to make some sense.

"No matter what, don't let your customers get on your nerves. But remember, only your customers can treat you this way, not outsiders!"

"Well, I understand, Fourth Uncle."

"Then go ahead and do your work. Your aunt and I still have something to talk about."

"Okay." Yan Hui turned around and prepared to leave. After thinking for a moment, he turned back and reminded his fourth uncle, "Uncle, whether you believe it or not, I just think there's something fishy about these people. You must be careful."

"Don't worry. I won't give you money or goods casually." Fourth Uncle said with a smile.

Fourth Uncle's attitude made Yan Hui feel a lot more at ease. Fourth Uncle had been in business for so many years, so this shouldn't be a problem. He was now more immersed in the joy of "getting rich quickly".

After happily returning to his residence, Yan Hui's first thing was to put the money away. He had needles, thread and cloth in his bag. He also sewed two inner pockets on his body. He put 2000 yuan in cash in one of the pockets, which was sewn shut. If he wanted to take it out, he had to cut the thread.

Yan Hui also placed the remaining 800 yuan in different places on the three people.

After tidying up these, Yan Hui prepared to rest. He didn't have much to do at night, so he went to bed early and got up early. He would go to his second brother's house early tomorrow morning to help clean up and leave a good impression on his second brother. After all, he didn't help tonight.

Not long after he lay down, someone knocked on the door. When he opened the door, he saw it was Brother Shan.

"You're already lying down?" Shan Ge was a little surprised. "Have you had dinner?"

"I ate it." Yan Hui replied.

"You don't have much food in your stomach. Your uncle and I will go out for dinner tonight. Your uncle left early because of something. I brought some pork ribs and pancakes stewed in an iron pot for you." Brother Shan said.

"Ah?" Yan Hui looked at the plastic bag in Brother Shan's hand, "Brother Shan, I really ate it."

"Don't you and I know that? You can only make do with two steamed buns every night," Shan Ge handed the plastic bag to Yan Hui. "By the way, I'll give you the money in a few days. Don't tell anyone."

"I understand, Brother Shan." Yan Hui took the plastic bag and watched Brother Shan go back to the house alone. He didn't say anything and started eating immediately.

The ribs and pancakes are still hot!

Yan Hui was in the growth stage, and two steamed buns were definitely not enough to fill him up. If he had not given the boy three steamed buns tonight, Yan Hui might have eaten another one before going to bed.

After finishing all the food happily, he was extremely satisfied and lay on the bed feeling so comfortable. At this moment, all his unhappiness disappeared.

The next morning, after having some breakfast, Yan Hui ran to his second brother's shop.

The second brother had not arrived yet, but Yan Hui knew how to open the door, so he opened the warehouse door and started cleaning.

It was much simpler now than in the winter. There was no need to light the stove, just a quick tidy up. Yan Hui didn't feel tired at all. He cleaned for more than half an hour, and by the time his second brother came over, the entire warehouse was spotless.

"Good morning, Xiaohui," the second brother said with a smile when he saw Yan Hui, "How was yesterday's work? Did you finish it?" "Yes, Uncle Li."

"Okay, you don't have to clean up every day. Just go and do whatever you need. I'll let you know when there's work in the store."

"It's okay, Uncle Li. I'm not very busy."

"There are four trucks of cargo today. One truck was unloaded in the morning, and the rest were unloaded in the afternoon. After unloading this truck in the morning, there's nothing else to do."

"Yeah, thank you Uncle Li!"

When Yan Hui first arrived, he had no idea what time the trucks would arrive to load and unload goods, so he had to stay here all day. However, due to his diligence, his relationship with his second brother grew stronger and stronger. His second brother would tell him the loading and unloading times, which was indeed much more convenient.

Not long after the two finished chatting, the unloading truck arrived and three or four loaders also came. Everyone immediately started working in full swing.

This truckload of wood boards was just shipped from the processing plant. It looked like they were processed just yesterday. There were so many splinters in the wood that Yan Hui felt a headache even when he had to pad his head with a towel. He secretly cursed the processing plant.

The machines in the processing plants are different, and the wood splinters they produce are also different. This one must be a garbage processing plant.

Not only Yan Hui was unhappy, the other workers were also unhappy, but no one said anything. Everyone worked together for more than two hours and finally finished the work.

At this time, Uncle Cheng Gui's son Dakai finally arrived.

"Do you have any work in the morning?" Dakai asked Yan Hui when he saw him.

"I'm not sure either." Yan Hui shook his head.

My second brother didn't want the loaders to leave as soon as nothing happened. Firstly, no one had a phone, so if a truck suddenly came, there would be no way to call for help. Secondly, the store would not look good if it was empty.

"Then I'll sit and wait." Dakai was a little helpless and picked up a cigarette and lit it for himself.

Yan Hui had nothing to do, and he wasn't planning to leave. Although his second brother had told him when the car would arrive, he couldn't just slack off. If he really left as soon as he had nothing to do, his second brother would never talk to him about this again.

After Dakai finished smoking a cigarette, he was obviously in a better mood. He looked at Yan Hui and said, "You've been here for so long, have you made a lot of money?"

"Me?" Yan Hui thought Dakai wanted to borrow money and shook his head. "I only did it for a month before, and it was intermittent."

"I heard from my dad that you went to the forest farm with your uncle a while ago. Didn't your uncle give you some money?" Dakai asked again.

"I gave it to you, but my uncle is holding it for me. He said he would give it to my dad when he goes home for the New Year." Yan Hui had prepared this sentence long ago.

The timber market was so small, and everyone on Second Brother's side knew Yan Hui had gone to work with his uncle. It would be bad to say too much, as people might borrow money; but it would also be bad to say too little, as it would embarrass Fourth Uncle.

"These adults, what do they know? They might as well put the money in our hands." Dakai seemed to empathize with the others and cursed a few times.

"Does your father take the wages from you?" Yan Hui asked back.

"Yes, he said he would save it for me so I could get married." Dakai said, cursing a lot of dirty words.

"Me too, they were all taken by my uncle." Yan Hui said.

"Ah, it's not easy for you either. I was originally going to borrow 10 yuan from you," Dakai said, his eyes fixed on something else. Then he pointed in one direction, "I heard there are a few shops north of this market that specialize in making fabrics. Do you know?"

"Are you talking about rosewood?" Yan Hui asked back. He was a little glad that he hadn't said he was rich. He had suffered the same kind of loss in junior high school.

When I was in junior high school, a gangster from the next village came to school with his big brother to borrow money from everyone. That was not borrowing!
"Almost. Anyway, I heard it's quite valuable." Dakai's words brought Yan Hui back to reality.

"Yes, it is over there, but they are not hiring workers there. I asked before."

"Why do you only think about being a porter every day? What future can you have in that? You will never be able to make a name for yourself in your life!" Dakai looked at Yan Hui with some disappointment.

Yan Hui was baffled: "Take your time."

Seeing that Yan Hui was not getting along, Dakai didn't say much and just snorted a few times.

When it comes to rosewood, Yan Hui doesn't really know much. He can now recognize almost all Northeast tree species, especially the most common ones. Even when they're made into furniture, he can tell them apart at a glance. But he's definitely not an expert on rosewood.

The two were silent for a while. Dakai finished his cigarette, stood up straight and stepped on the cigarette butt, as if he had made up his mind.

As for his second brother, Yan Hui has never had many friends. He finally met someone of the same age, but it seemed difficult to communicate with him.

Near noon, Yan Hui went out to look for business opportunities again.

My uncle said that customers are like Mazu, so it's normal to be scolded. He went back to his residence to change into new clothes and then went to look for customers in the retail area.

Yan Hui didn't know why he was a little angry, so he deliberately stared at Boss Lin's shop from a distance, and whenever someone came out from there, he would go and talk to them.

After trying a few times, he realized he was being foolish. The people who came out of Boss Lin's place weren't planning to buy anything here, so this wasn't stealing customers at all. Furthermore, after asking a few people, the number of buyers was too small. Some people just wanted to buy a few planks, which wasn't worth much.

After staring here for half a day, Yan Hui actually came up with the idea that "Boss Lin has it hard too."

The retail industry really needs high profits, otherwise it will not be able to operate at all.

Yan Hui's previous thinking was that business should be about buying goods for 5 yuan and selling them for 5.5 yuan. The business he and his uncle were running at the forest farm had a similar profit margin, relying on volume and turnover. But after observing and inquiring with Boss Lin's clients, Yan Hui had a new idea.

Having failed to close a deal with a single client during the entire afternoon, Yan Hui ran back to his second brother's place early. He was exhausted after working the entire afternoon. He had been involved in two of the three trucks of goods and was completely exhausted.

"Okay, Xiaohui. I think your work has caught up with those adults." The second brother watched the old loaders leave and started chatting with Yan Hui.

Yan Hui was cleaning. He looked at his second brother and said, "Uncle Li, during the time I've been in the mountains, I've been exercising and climbing mountains. I have to say that your Northeast is a great place!"

"That's right!" The second brother was very happy. "Training in the mountains will definitely pay off. I see that you are working hard now and can catch up with the others. Have you considered negotiating with them to get your wages back?"

Second Brother's words completely sided with Yan Hui. Yan Hui's current salary was lower than the others, and the difference was shared by the others. While the difference wasn't huge, it was still there. According to Second Brother, as long as Yan Hui brought up this matter tomorrow, Second Brother would help him out, and then it would definitely be done.

Yan Hui thought about it and shook his head. "No, no, Uncle Li, I'm still not as good as him. These two cars this afternoon are already my limit. If I'm too busy one day and can't keep up, I'll have all sorts of things to say then."

"Okay, you have an idea." The second brother laughed and left.

Yan Hui continued to work. After he cleaned the warehouse, he locked the door and left.

(End of this chapter)