My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 91 Heading South Again
The remaining stock is running low and won't last more than a few days. If no new stock is replenished, I estimate that in another two days, only tapes and calculators will be left.

Fortunately, the next day, a telegram finally arrived from Achang's side. The telegram said that the source of goods had been found, but asked Xu Guoqing how to handle the payment and delivery. Xu Guoqing took the telegram and discussed it with everyone. After some discussion, they decided to make another trip to Lingnan. Zhou Jiye said that he would go with Xu Guoqing. The two of them had been there once before, so they would know the way and could take care of each other.

There's nothing we can do about it. Although the journey is long and there are risks, it's unavoidable to take some risks and endure some hardship in order to continue this business.

It's not that I don't trust Achang, it's that Achang simply can't operate independently over there. Things are very different now than they were in the future. It's easy to send money and ship goods now. Back in 1980, all of these things were troublesome, and Achang simply couldn't handle them.

First, there's the issue of payment. Bank wire transfers are currently only available to businesses; private wire transfers are not offered at all. The only feasible way for individuals to send money now is through the post office, but post office transfers are slow, and more importantly, there's no way to transfer such a large sum!
Last time, Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing brought more than 3,000 yuan with them, but this time they plan to bring most of the money from selling the goods and buy more goods at once.

We've now collected over 17,000 yuan, and after discussion, we decided to take 15,000 yuan with us this time. How could such a large sum be wired through the post office? In an era when the average wage was only 36 yuan, would a private individual suddenly pull out such a large sum of money and go to the post office to wire it? It would be strange if the post office staff didn't immediately report it to the police.

Therefore, from this perspective, sending money through the post office is simply not feasible; the only option is to carry cash south, which is unavoidable.

Secondly, Xu Guoqing wasn't entirely at ease leaving Achang alone.

After all, they had already experienced what happened on the way out of Ma Village last time. They were just afraid of the worst-case scenario. If something happened to the money and goods, all their hard work these past few days would be for nothing. So they had to go in person.

As for the third issue, it's about shipping the goods. Once the goods are shipped, the bill of lading must be brought back immediately. Sending it by post, even by registered mail, will take longer than taking the train directly from there. Time waits for no one, so after discussing it, we decided to go to Lingnan as soon as possible.

After discussing it, the four decided to stick to their previous division of labor: Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing would take the money south to Lingnan, while Lao Wen and Lin Ying would stay in Shanghai to continue their stall.

Even though there aren't many items left, and tapes and calculators aren't selling very well, we still have to hold onto the stall at the entrance of the West Palace. We absolutely can't give up the stall that we finally managed to secure. Even if we can't make many transactions each day, the stall has to stay. Once they come back, the supply problem will be solved.

Having made the agreement, Xu Guoqing immediately prepared the letter of introduction and bought train tickets. When he returned from the train station, he ran into Awei, who had come to find him, at his own doorstep.

"When did you arrive? Why didn't you wait at home? Come on, come on up, have a seat." Upon seeing Awei, Xu Guoqing stepped forward and asked warmly, pulling him to his home for a visit.

"Let's not go in. Shall we go over there and talk?"

Ah Wei pointed to the western exit of the alley. He often visited Xu Guoqing's home when he was a student and knew that his family's living conditions were not very good. Moreover, it was not convenient for his family to know what they were going to talk about later.

Xu Guoqing nodded, and the two walked towards the west side of the alley. After walking a distance, they came to a quiet place and stood in a corner to chat.

He handed a cigarette to Xu Guoqing, who lit it for Awei with a lighter. Awei then casually pulled out a roll of banknotes from his pocket and handed it to Xu Guoqing.

"What does this mean?" Xu Guoqing was taken aback.

"The money Jiang Bin paid in compensation."

Ah Wei chuckled: "That kid's a coward. He ran away as soon as he saw things were going wrong that day. I caught him with my men yesterday, and he was so scared that he peed his pants on the spot..."

Ah Wei explained the situation to Xu Guoqing in detail. They found Jiang Bin and asked him about it. It turned out that Jiang Bin had indeed given A Mao money to cause trouble.

However, when Jiang Bin talked about this, he kept protesting his innocence, saying that he originally had no intention of causing trouble. He only said that he had a grudge against Lin Ying, and that it was A Mao who took the initiative to help him get revenge. Moreover, A Mao himself forcibly took the one yuan and three mao from him.

Although Amao confirmed this, how could the experienced Awei not see the problem? Although it was true, the real culprit was Jiang Bin. Amao, that silly boy, was unknowingly used by Jiang Bin. What was Jiang Bin thinking at the time? What was he planning? How could he hide it from Awei?

Without wasting words, Awei went straight to asking Jiang Bin how he planned to resolve the matter.

He was given two options: handle the matter officially or settle it privately with money. If he chose option one, he could report the matter directly to the police station. After all, A Mao and the others had already given statements to the Xigong Security Department, and now that the mastermind behind it had been found, Jiang Bin would naturally bear the main responsibility. Whether he would be detained or sent to a labor camp would depend on how the police station handled it.

Jiang Bin would never choose this path, otherwise he would be completely finished. So Jiang Bin chose the second path without hesitation, which was to lose money.

In this way, Jiang Bin finally scraped together 150 yuan to pay off the debt. Awei brought all of this money today and tried to give it directly to Xu Guoqing. "It's too much."

"What's extra? I already asked Amao. The stuff they stole was only worth a little over a hundred. And after something like this, they should at least have a feast to apologize, right? I know your temper, so I didn't bring Amao to see you. Consider this extra money as compensation for you to buy cigarettes."

Xu Guoqing smiled and shook his head, took the money, counted out one hundred yuan, and stuffed the remaining fifty yuan back to Awei.

"Not that much. We got back the watch, lighter, and other things. It's just that three pairs of glasses were broken. Besides, we can't charge our own brothers based on the selling price. We can just calculate the cost price. We just gave the security department some benefits, and that's enough."

"Aqing, this..."

"Alright! It's not nice for your own brothers to keep passing the buck like this. Take these extras back. But I told you last time that you need to keep a close eye on Ah Mao from now on. With his lousy brain..." Xu Guoqing shook his head, laughing and crying at the same time, thinking that the other party's intelligence was really worrying.

Ah Wei hesitated for a moment, clutching the money, but ultimately accepted it. He put the money back in his pocket and asked Xu Guoqing when he was free these next few days. They hadn't had a proper get-together last time, but now that the matter was resolved, they should arrange a time to meet.

"Let's wait a few days. I really can't find the time these next few days. I have to go out of town soon. Let's make an appointment when I get back?"

"Going to another city?" Awei was slightly taken aback, and asked hesitantly, "Are you going to another city to buy goods?"

Xu Guoqing smiled but did not answer. Although he and Awei had a good relationship, they had not seen each other for seven or eight years. After such a long time, he could not guarantee that Awei was still the same Awei he remembered. Besides, the business they were doing was already skirting the law. Moreover, he, Xu Guoqing, was only one of the four partners.

"Brother, I need to talk to you about something." Knowing Xu Guoqing's temperament, Awei understood his concerns and didn't press for details, but still said, "I mean, if... if you could take more goods, could you share some with me later?"

"What? You want to get into this business too?"

Ah Wei nodded: "I won't lie to you, it's not easy for us to make a living in this line of work these days. People who have been in the ticket business for a long time have more connections than us. We started late and can only make a living by taking what's left over from other people. As for reselling movie tickets, it all depends on luck. If you're unlucky and come across a bad movie, you might end up with a ticket that's stuck with you."

“It’s not just me now; there are several other educated youths who came back with me. We’ve all been thinking about doing something else these days. Ever since we met last time and went back, I’ve been thinking about this. If I could get some good products to sell like you, it would be better than messing around like this now.”

At this point, Awei said sincerely, "We've been friends for many years. I don't expect to directly use your supply channels. I just hope that after you get the goods, you can resell some to me. You can set the price. I'll do cash transactions and never extend credit. Is that alright?"

Seeing Ah Wei's expectant gaze, Xu Guoqing was momentarily at a loss for words.

He thought for a moment and then frankly told Awei, "I can't answer that for now, because this business isn't just mine; I'm also partnering with a friend..."

Hearing this, Awei's eager expression dimmed, but Xu Guoqing's next words gave him hope again.

"But you are my brother after all, and I will definitely help if I can. I will go back and discuss this matter and try my best to get everyone to agree. But I have to say something beforehand: I can't guarantee how much or what kind of goods I can give you, and I can't give you the cost price either. Of course, I will definitely leave you some profit compared to the selling price. As long as you can sell them, these profits will definitely be much better than what you are doing now."

Ah Wei immediately perked up, nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Okay, okay! Absolutely no problem! I'll sell whatever goods you give me. I'm counting on you for this."

Patting Awei on the shoulder, Xu Guoqing didn't say anything more, telling Awei to go back and raise the money first, and to wait patiently.

After thanking Xu Guoqing repeatedly, Awei left excitedly. Watching his departing figure, Xu Guoqing couldn't help but sigh inwardly before turning and walking towards his own home.

The following afternoon, Xu Guoqing and Zhou Jiye left Shanghai by train, just like last time, and headed south to Lingnan.

This time, they took away a huge sum of 15,000 yuan. They had put a lot of thought into hiding the money on their person. You have to understand that the largest denomination banknote at the time was only 10 yuan. 15,000 yuan was a full 1,570 banknotes, which would make up 15 thick stacks. It would be really unsafe not to hide so much money properly.

(End of this chapter)