Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 29 Pleasant Night

People from the same hometown are really different. Yan Hui has been here for three months and has only just started to interact with friends from the same hometown.

Because they were roughly the same age and their accents were understandable, Yan Hui's relationship with these three friends quickly blossomed. Of course, their accents were limited to those he could understand, as they were not from the same village and each had their own unique tone.

Dakai had once asked Yan Hui about the North Gate Redwood Market. Thinking back, Dakai and Xiaobao were already in cahoots back then. Regardless, Yan Hui had to be more cautious now that Dakai had left his second brother's side. Dakai was a timid person, but he was also a bit cunning.
The four of them chatted and soon arrived at 724. Lao Guo looked for the stall and said helplessly, "Today is bad luck. The fried rice seller didn't come."

"What should we do then? What should we eat?" asked Old Wu, who wore glasses and looked rather refined.

"How about..." Lao Guo was really hungry, "How about we eat dumplings!"

"Dumplings?" Old Song agreed immediately. "Dumplings are good, but they're too expensive."

"How about we just walk around and buy whatever we see?" Yan Hui chimed in. The dumplings were simply too expensive, far beyond Yan Hui's budget.

"No, let's just eat dumplings!" Lao Guo said proudly, "This is the first time the four of us are together."

"Are you treating us?" Old Song came out from behind Old Guo.

Among the four people, Lao Song is the shortest and has always been a follower.

"How can I afford it? What I mean is, let's buy a plate of dumplings to try! Let's pay together!" Lao Guo said, and he felt that his plan was very reliable.

When everyone heard this, they all thought it was a good plan.

"Okay, I'll go buy some steamed buns later to eat with the dumplings." Yan Hui also became excited when he heard it.

"Why eat steamed buns when you have dumplings?" Old Song was a little confused.

Old Song is small to begin with and doesn't do any physical work in the market, so it's normal that he doesn't eat much. But Yan Hui can't stand it and still has to eat steamed buns.

"I have to buy one too." Lao Guo nodded.

Although everyone is from the same hometown, they adhere to the principle of clear accounts between brothers and buy their own steamed buns.

Carrying the steamed buns, the four of them walked into a dumpling shop together. After asking, they learned that a plate of dumplings was 8 yuan, which was about half a pound.

"Half a pound?" Yan Hui frowned. He moved wood every day and was very familiar with weight.

How many of these large dumplings from Northeast China can you get in half a pound? Seven or eight? That's too expensive! Are they dumplings or buns?

"This half a pound we're talking about is the dumpling wrappers," the boss pointed to the person next to him, "this plate is half a pound, 20 pieces."

Everyone looked in the direction the boss pointed and saw that the dumplings on this plate were round and plump, and there looked to be quite a lot of them!

"Okay, let's buy a plate." Lao Guo said, taking out two dollars.

Yan Hui and others took out their change, collected eight dollars, and gave it to the boss.

The boss seemed to be used to it. He took the money and asked his wife to put the dumplings into the pot.

"We agreed to divide it equally. If there are 20, it's 450-20, so each person gets 5." Lao Guo explained the rules.

"No problem." Everyone thought it was fair.

The four of them lined up and sat down, full of anticipation. Yan Hui was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore. He bought two steamed buns and saw vinegar and garlic on the table, so he ate one of the steamed buns with garlic.

After eating a steamed bun, Yan Hui was still half full. He had a good appetite. He saw someone next door getting a bowl of soup, so he asked about it.

Dumpling soup, free!

Hearing this, the four of them immediately stood up and each poured a bowl of dumpling soup.

"You call this soup?" After taking a sip, Yan Hui found that it had no taste at all.

"It's free, what else do you want?" Old Song looked at Yan Hui with some disdain, "This is the water for cooking dumplings."

"It's good to have free hot water, be content." Lao Guo pointed to his bowl, "Look, there's still some oil on it."

"No, I just saw some chopped green onions, I have to pick some in." Yan Hui stood up after saying that.

"Then I'll go too."

"I'll go as well"

The four of them pinched a handful of chopped green onions and a little salt and sprinkled them into their bowls, and the taste immediately became much better.

"This is what we call soup." Yan Hui said, and the dumplings arrived.

When the dumplings arrived, everyone stopped talking and Lao Guo stood up and said, "Wait, wait, everyone eat one first."

Everyone couldn't wait to pick up the dumplings with chopsticks and eat them with a sizzling sound. They were too hot and no one could taste anything after finishing them.

For the second dumpling, Yan Hui learned his lesson and took a big bite of the steamed bun, then put the dumpling on top of the steamed bun and ate it slowly.

The pork dumplings smell so good!

None of the four people was polite and ate the fifth dumpling in one go.

"One more?" Lao Guo was the first to notice the problem.

This plate of dumplings doesn't have 20, but 21!
Who eats?

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors," Old Wu adjusted his glasses.

"Come on," Lao Guo quickly ate his fifth dumpling, "Let's fight two by two, and the winner will have another fight!"

"Best of three or one game to decide the winner?" Yan Hui asked.

"One round!" Lao Guo shouted.

As he spoke, Lao Guo took the lead in demonstrating with Lao Song next to him.

Yan Hui directly matched with Lao Wu, but he was not panicked at all.

Everyone has played Rock, Paper, Rocks, and Hammer. Yan Hui has played it since he was a child, and he has also summarized some rules and even tricks!
Yan Hui hadn't even told the fourth brother about this trick.

After playing more, Yan Hui discovered that the most crucial part of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Roller is the first move.

Always observe your opponent's fist before you strike. If the opponent's fist is clenched, then you are generally ready to strike.

If the fist is not clenched, it will be a scissors or a bundle. If you are not sure whether the fist is clenched, analyze it as if it is not clenched. In this case, the scissors is a safe bet.

If the first game is a draw, then it becomes complicated. You need to make a comprehensive analysis based on the choice of draw, the opponent's state, etc.

Anyway, as soon as Yan Hui and Old Wu reached out, he knew Old Wu wasn't going to throw a punch, so he went for a scissors move. It was a draw.

Then Yan Hui felt that Lao Wu would not use the punchline, because the punchline lost to the scissors in the previous round, so Yan Hui chose the fist.

Old Wu still used scissors and won the first round!

Next, Yan Hui faced Lao Guo. I didn't have time to watch the first part of Lao Guo's fight, but I saw the third round, and Lao Guo won with a punch.

But after the punchline and before the match with Yan Hui, Lao Guo's fists tightened instantly. Yan Hui also reacted quickly, confirmed the information, and delivered the punchline directly.

"Huh?" Lao Guo was still lost in the confusion of defeat. "Lose already? That's not right. Best of three, right?"

"How is that possible?" Yan Hui was unhappy. "We agreed to have one round to decide the winner!"

After saying that, Yan Hui picked up the last dumpling without hesitation! The winner's dumpling!

The dumplings before were a little hot, but this temperature was more suitable. Yan Hui swallowed it in one gulp, then stuffed the last piece of steamed bun in his hand into his mouth, chewed it with big mouthfuls, and drank a few sips of soup by the way.

"Let's have dumplings again when we have time?" Old Wu was still not satisfied, but he didn't dare to ask for another plate today.

Two dollars per person is already very expensive.

"Okay." Everyone agreed.

Yan Hui looked at everyone without any panic. He estimated that the next time he could eat dumplings would be next month.
After eating dumplings, the four of them went to a karaoke place. When the boss saw Yan Hui, he quickly greeted him.

"Brother Hui, you sing for free?" Old Song was very shocked.

"Spending money is no big deal!" Yan Hui said with a proud smile.

Yan Hui felt very happy after playing with his friends for a whole night, but on the way back, Yan Hui still talked about the timber business with everyone.

What the four brothers did was more or less related to wood, and Yan Hui was the last one to arrive. Everyone knew some news about wood, and Yan Hui was unwilling to miss this opportunity. He asked a lot of questions and learned a lot of the latest prices.

He repeated today's information to himself, intending to write it all down when he returned to his room.

Back in the mountains, Yan Hui only had to deal with two or three types of wood. Initially, he took notes, but later relied solely on his brain. But now, that's no longer possible. The timber market offers a wide variety of wood types and sizes, and crucially, prices fluctuate daily. This information isn't publicly available, so he can only gather it bit by bit.

Yan Hui's advantage was that he moved wood every day, so he generally knew the prices at Second Brother's place. He couldn't say for sure, but he had a rough idea.

But my second brother only owns a part of it. If he wants to do this business, he must persist in recording information for a long time.

"It's fun here at 724, but it's a bit far away." When they were almost at the market, Lao Guo started to complain.

"Is this place too far?" Old Wu was obviously very familiar with the area. "There are so many fun places, some of which you can't even walk to."

"Then we can take a taxi there later." said Lao Song.

"Take a taxi?" Yan Hui shook his head. "The starting fare is 5 yuan. Who's going to pay for the taxi?"

"That's easy. Whoever sits in the front pays," said Lao Guo.

When Yan Hui heard this plan, he thought it was a competition to see who could run faster, so he should have no problem. He moved wood every day, so his leg strength must be very strong.

"I think it's okay."

"Let's just split it equally." Old Song was a little timid.

"We have to share this little money equally?" Old Guo immediately laughed.

"Okay. We basically don't take taxis anyway." Old Song muttered.

"I think Section 724 is pretty good. It has everything. Sometimes I come here alone." Yan Hui took over the conversation.

Although he was confident that he could run fast enough, he still didn't want to take a taxi because it was too expensive.

"What do you usually do here?" asked Lao Guo.

“Singing, eating, and mailing letters, all here.”

"Yeah, the way to send the letter is from here," Lao Guo still felt it was far away, but he didn't know what to say, so he just complained a few words.

Speaking of this, Lao Guo seemed to want to show off and patted himself: "Don't think I'm reluctant to spend money. I'm very good to my mother. Last time I wrote to her and sent her 100 yuan!"

"100 yuan?" Old Wu said in disbelief. "You're still willing to send 100 yuan?"

"What's the big deal! She's my mother!" Old Guo said confidently.

"Wait a minute," Yan Hui interrupted their conversation, "My fourth uncle told me that I can't send money in letters. If I want to send money home, I have to transfer it through a bank transfer."

"That's your fourth uncle, and that's definitely how he does business. What I'm saying is that you should put one or two bills in your heart, seal the envelope, and no one will check it. But you can't put too much. If the postman finds the money inside and opens it and takes it away, you'll have no place to complain!" Lao Guo reminded.

"It can be done this way, I understand." Yan Hui immediately became excited when he heard it.

The people Yan Hui cared about most weren't his parents, but his grandparents and younger sister. His grandparents lived a very frugal life, but they probably had some savings. However, he knew his younger sister was desperate for money.

Yan Hui's parents left home to work when he was very young. He knew how hard they worked, but he still saw them less often. But his sister was different. From childhood to adulthood, if anyone dared to bully Yan Hui's sister, Yan Hui would jump up and beat them.

Send money to my sister!
Thinking of this, Yan Hui was extremely excited. He was really rich now! No matter what, he was rich! Compared to the little money he brought with him when he went out, he was now able to afford it. He should send money to his sister.

When my sister has money, she can share delicious food with her friends. Then she will be more popular and will not be bullied so easily.

Yan Hui's sister has a very high emotional intelligence. If you give her some money, she will definitely use it well.

After arriving at the market entrance, everyone said their goodbyes. Yan Hui returned to his residence, but instead of taking notes to write down today's information, he took out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his sister first.

He had envelopes, stamps, and even glue in his room. Of course, this wasn't commercial glue, but just some flour to make a paste.

The self described by Yan Hui is a self in which everything goes well.

At this moment, there were at least two small wooden thorns in his hands, and he didn't know where they were. The special action of writing just happened to cause a little pain, but Yan Hui didn't care at all and started writing quickly.

After writing more than a thousand words and taking up three pages of paper, Yan Hui folded the 100 yuan note and placed it in the middle of the letter, then sealed the envelope.

Sure enough, it’s completely invisible from the outside.

Yan Hui could already imagine the exciting moment when his sister received the letter and saw the money.

Thinking of this, Yan Hui checked the envelope again to make sure it was sealed properly, then placed the envelope under his pillow. Tomorrow morning, he would go to 724 to mail the letter early in the morning so as not to delay his second brother's work.

After finishing the letter, Yan Hui calmed down and took out his notebook to record the day's information. The information covered a wide range of topics, especially Lao Guo's understanding of rosewood. This opened up a new door for Yan Hui. Although he didn't necessarily want to sell rosewood, more information was always good. And if a client wanted rosewood in the future, he could always contact Lao Guo and make money together!
Yan Hui and others never think of themselves as children.

That night, Yan Hui had another dream. He dreamed that he returned home, bought two big crabs for his sister, and ate dumplings and crabs.
(End of this chapter)