Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 34 Autumn
"Hahaha, luckily you have 30 yuan, otherwise this deal would be impossible!" Lao Guo handed Yan Hui a bottle of beer. "I'm so happy today, I even beat up Da Kai!"

"Ah? Are you really going to fight?" Yan Hui was a little surprised. Didn't this kid say he was just pretending?
"Of course there was no real fight, but there were some punches and kicks. I gave all the money to Dakai! Dakai is a very nice guy and doesn't blame me at all," Lao Guo was still very excited. "Your method is the best. Otherwise, how would I have earned these 200 yuan?"

"Don't let your dad know." Yan Hui kindly reminded him.

"It's okay! Do you think my dad doesn't know?" Old Guo revealed the secret. "This kind of thing is for the neighbors to see. As long as two or three families see it, everyone will know! The surrounding stores will also look at us with admiration when they see that we caught a thief and beat him up!"

"So that's how it is? There are such benefits?"

"It's mainly because of the time when Dakai came to steal things. My dad mentioned it to others when he was chatting, saying that he would catch the thief and give him a good beating." Lao Guo said, looking around, as if looking for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"Is there anything that can open the beer bottle?" Lao Guo was still holding the beer bottle in his hand.

"Can't we just take a piece of wood?" Yan Hui had drunk beer with his brothers several times when he was in junior high school.

"Okay, I'll try."

The two chatted while opening their beers, and Lao Guo went on to talk about some details.

The last time Dakai went to steal wood, Lao Guo's father couldn't help but tell the shop owners nearby about it, and vowed to catch him. But once the word got out, it stayed that way.

The 200 yuan reward this time was actually done by Lao Guo's father for the sake of the store's prestige. It was worth it to invite Dakai to act.

"If that's the case, the thief is the one who gets the advantage." Yan Hui felt that it was not fair.

Of course, he was very happy that he could earn 20 yuan so easily, not to mention that Lao Guo also bought food and drinks to come to him.

At his age, he would be hungry two hours after eating. Eating that box of rice at night would not affect his eating now at all.

"After this, I have to save some money," Lao Guo sighed. "I don't even have 30 yuan. What a failure."

"The main thing is that you don't get paid much for working for your dad. Look at me, it's actually a good thing that I'm not busy with my uncle. I get paid as much as I work."

"Who says it's not true? But if you work for your uncle, he must pay you. But my dad...ah..."

"You have your advantages," Yan Hui naturally understood. "Look at Old Song and the others. Didn't his brother already start his own business? You have your father to help you. When you are a little older and want to open your own business, your father will definitely help you. But who will help me?"

"That's true," Lao Guo picked up the bottle of wine, "Here, take a sip."

Yan Hui's parents left the country to work when he was very young. In today's terms, Yan Hui was a left-behind child, closer to his grandparents. It's true that the people of Southern Fujian were among the first to leave the country after the reform and opening up. For example, Lao Guo's father left the country in the late 1980s. In those five or six years, Lao Guo's father's net worth had grown from a few thousand yuan to over 100,000 yuan. If things continue this way, breaking through a million yuan wouldn't be a dream.

Millions!
Yan Hui had never considered such a figure before, but now he dared to think about it. In the two months he'd been at the forest farm, the total value of the timber he'd handled had already exceeded one million. While this was just a "cash flow," it was still an experience that ordinary people couldn't possibly have. Simply put, Yan Hui had a concept of what a large sum of money meant.

Being so young, he didn't have many worries. Yan Hui's little house wasn't too hot at night, and there wasn't any major problem except for some mosquitoes.

As for mosquitoes, Yan Hui is really used to it. The mosquitoes in southern Fujian are much more powerful than those here.

Chatting, eating peanuts and drinking beer, Yan Hui felt that he was already very happy.

After two bottles of beer each, neither of them felt anything after drinking. They just talked a little more and became more excited. Their dialect became more and more pure, and people outside could not understand what they were talking about at all.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone's knocking on the door.

Yan Hui opened the door and before he could switch dialects, he spoke several sentences to Shan Ge, but Shan Ge didn't understand.

"Nothing, we are just chatting. Did it disturb your rest, Brother Shan?" Yan Hui finally switched to Mandarin.

"No, I just heard you speaking dialect in the room, and I thought Brother Hang was coming over."

"No, he's my friend, Lao Guo. His father runs a rosewood business in the North District, and he's also our fellow villager." Yan Hui introduced him.

"Oh, then you guys play," Shan Ge nodded, "Yan Hui, come here, I have something to tell you."

"Okay." Yan Hui walked closer.

"That's right," Shan Ge said quietly, making sure no one else could hear him from this distance. "Do you remember the small town below the forest farm we went to?"

"Yes, I remember." Yan Hui nodded.

"What do you think of that place?"

"It's okay. That town has a train station. It's a good place anyway." Yan Hui gave an affirmative answer.

"Yeah, I think so too, and it's sure to develop well there in the future," Shan said. "I want to buy a small courtyard there. They're so cheap there, just over 10,000 yuan. What do you think?"

"Huh?" Yan Hui hadn't expected Brother Shan to ask him that question. Logically, why would he ask him such a question?
On second thought, Yan Hui understood. Was Brother Shan asking him to borrow money? Was it because he heard that Fourth Uncle had given him the money for the ginseng?

"I think it's good, but there's nothing I can do. It's over 10,000 yuan, and I don't even have 1,000 yuan right now, let alone 10,000."

"Not even 1000? You're spending money so quickly?"

"I used to spend money recklessly, so my uncle left all my money with him and said he would give it directly to my grandfather when I go home for the Chinese New Year. I only have two or three hundred yuan on hand. Alas." Yan Hui had talked about this issue with his fourth uncle before.

Yan Hui had told his uncle about Shan Ge borrowing money from him. Later, Yan Hui told his uncle that he would tell everyone that he kept his money with him. This way, it would be safe. He had long understood the principle of not showing off one's wealth. "Forget it, I'm still thinking of calling you when there's an opportunity to make money. I call you this, I say, investment."

"Then you can call my uncle to come along. He is rich." Yan Hui took the initiative to say.

"Well, I'll ask him." Brother Shan didn't say that he wouldn't look for Fourth Uncle. He continued to chat with Yan Hui for a few more words, and then went back to the house.

Yan Hui actually believed what Shan Ge said. If the small courtyard in that small town cost over 10,000 yuan, it would definitely increase in value in the future. But now he felt that Shan Ge was unreliable, especially after learning about his relationship with Hong Chun.

A while ago, Fourth Uncle and Brother Shan were involved in a ginseng business. It's hard to say whether there was anything about Red Lips involved. Now Brother Shan wants to buy a small courtyard over there. Could it be an investment?

Speaking of which, Yan Hui still doesn’t know what’s going on with the ginseng incident.

After returning to the house, Yan Hui closed the door and started chatting with Lao Guo.

Old Guo asked Yan Hui about Shan Ge, and Yan Hui briefly explained. Since he was speaking in dialect, he didn't need to avoid Shan Ge. Although Shan Ge and Fourth Uncle had been together for a long time, he definitely wouldn't understand if they spoke in dialect.

"There's someone like that around my dad," Lao Guo nodded, "but he seems to be a soldier. His name contains the word 'bing', so I call him Brother Bing."

"Your dad is so powerful too?" Yan Hui was a little surprised. "This must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"No, his salary is half that of an ordinary worker, and he gets free food and lodging. He's usually a foreman." Lao Guo said this and laughed, "So I said my dad was just acting, right? If he really wanted to beat up Dakai, he definitely wouldn't let me do it."

"I understand now that you put it that way."

Yan Hui's bed was only 1 meter wide, which was a bit narrow for two people to sleep on, but the two teenagers didn't care. They squeezed together, facing the sky, and chatted about family matters and things happening here, having a great time.

"Wait, next time I make more money, I'll treat you to as much beer as you want!" Lao Guo promised, patting his chest.

"No need for you to treat me, I'll treat you to a drink!" Yan Hui was also very generous.

The beer here is tied with plastic ropes. There are 9 bottles in a bundle, and each bottle costs 1 yuan. Returning a bottle costs 3 yuan. Although it is not cheap, you can afford to drink it when you are happy.

Time always passes quickly, and there is nothing new on Yan Hui's side recently.

This entire summer was Yan Hui's most comfortable time, mainly due to the warm weather. When he first arrived, the painfully low temperatures still frightened him. So, while others might not love summer, he truly did.

Ma Junliang went home for the summer break, so Yan Hui couldn't go to the university to play. He could only wait for Ma Junliang to start school. Speaking of which, the university cafeteria was not expensive, and Yan Hui was really looking forward to eating something good there.

Yan Yan is going to college. This summer, Yan Yan went out to travel for a while and came back with some beef jerky for Yan Hui. It was said to be from Inner Mongolia. Yan Hui has kept it as a treasure and has not finished it yet.

The partnership with Song Zhiyuan went smoothly. In the past two months, Yan Hui and Song Zhiyuan earned a combined 2000 yuan, with Song Zhiyuan receiving around 700 yuan. While not much, Song Zhiyuan felt it was quite good, considering his investment was minimal. He could sell his woven baskets at the door while waiting for the driver to call him. As a messenger, he earned an average of over 10 yuan per day, which was quite good.

As for Yan Hui, including his wages, his total assets have reached about 6000 yuan.

Although he had more money, Fengtian was not that hot in early September. Yan Hui had started wearing a coat and changed his pants from shorts to long pants. This meant that he had more places to sew money. With only 6000 yuan, he could sew enough money!

Fengtian, just entering autumn, was truly beautiful. Many leaves had turned yellow. Yan Hui had never seen such a sight before. It was truly beautiful. After all, he didn't have much literary talent, so he really didn't know how to describe it.

However, it seems that it will soon get cold again. It is said that it will snow in more than a month!
This made Yan Hui feel a sense of crisis. It wasn't that he was afraid of the cold, but the main reason was that when it got colder, he felt like the New Year was approaching.

When Yan Hui left his hometown, he never thought that he could earn 10,000 yuan a year. After all, it was difficult for his parents together to save that much, let alone a child like him.

But now that he has more than 6000 yuan in his pocket, he naturally had this idea.

If I go home for the New Year with 10,000 yuan in my hand, how awesome would that be? I would definitely fix the drain at the door! Replace the door! And renovate the house.
Well, I've been waiting for the house for two years.

During this time, Yan Hui's relationship with Lao Guo and the others became closer. They often went out together and sometimes took taxis. As mentioned before, whoever took the slowest taxi would sit in the front and pay the fare. The starting price was 5 yuan.

Yan Hui is in good physical condition and is usually the first to arrive, so he never has to spend money on taxis.

Speaking of trains, Yan Hui recently heard some bad news! Train fares are about to increase!
The base passenger fare rate has been adjusted from 0.03861 yuan per person/kilometer to 0.05861 yuan!
This is equivalent to a 50% increase in train ticket prices. This means that even if Yan Hui still takes a hard seat when he goes home for the New Year this year, he will have to spend about half the price. Thinking of this, Yan Hui felt even more pressure to make money.

The days gradually grew shorter, and it was dark by 6:30 pm. By the time Yan Hui finished his work with his second brother and returned home after eating, it was already dark. He turned on the light, took out his notebook, and wrote down the lumber prices he had inquired about that day.

I don't know why, but prices have changed a lot this year. The price of wood has increased a bit, and the average price is 150 yuan more expensive per cubic meter than two months ago.

Snow would fall in two months. Once the frost had broken, the loggers from the major forestry farms would be able to resume logging in the mountains. They would drag the finest timber from the depths of the mountains one by one, then gradually transport it to where it was needed. Yan Hui estimated that lumber prices would only return to normal after the new logging season began.

The rising price of lumber has been the biggest obstacle to Yan Hui and Song Zhiyuan's recent profitability. Customers are reluctant to accept high prices, so Yan Hui's profit margins as a middleman have been reduced. If he takes too much, neither the lumber shop nor the customer will be happy. Thinking of this, Yan Hui began to look forward to the snow, to the lumberjacks coming up the mountain, to more wood being transported down the mountain, and then the wood becoming cheaper, so he could easily profit from the difference.

"Everyone, come with me today," Yan Hui was busy working that day when his second brother called him.

Yan Hui and Uncle Wang looked up and saw their second brother coming over. He was talking to several people at once.

"What's wrong, second brother?" asked a porter.

"Their construction schedule is too tight today, and they can't spare anyone to move the wood. The boss who bought the wood asked us to send a few porters to go with the truck to the construction site and unload the wood directly when we get there. When you finish moving, just follow me and we will unload the goods." The second brother said briefly.

It is impossible to carry out construction in Fengtian in winter, and September is also the time for construction sites to rush to complete the work. Yan Hui has recently been able to move more than three trucks every day, and his average daily income has exceeded 50 yuan.

(Today I cut out a lot of boring plots and started moving forward directly, so the manuscript has been revised a lot. I will update it as usual at noon tomorrow. The explosive update that everyone is looking forward to will probably have to wait until it is on the shelves. I still want to hear more of your opinions during the new book period. However, this book is actually more like reading the past of a big boss, so there is no need to rush~~)

(End of this chapter)