Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 202 If You're Slow to React, Don't Make a Scene (Please Subscribe)

Chen Peng turned his head and peered out the window, asking, "Which Director Li?" The car window was covered in frost in the winter, making it impossible to see outside.

Chen Xiao said, "The Sanhao Street Management Committee, what's up?"

Chen Peng sat up by the window and said, "That works. If those guys from the market management office come showing off again, just call for backup. Hehe, that'll save us a lot of trouble."

Chen Hui asked from the front, "What are they so smug about? Are they telling us not to work anymore?"

Chen Xiao turned his head and said, "Drive your car, this is none of your business."

Chen Peng said, "Now that we can make money in the market, my dad's influence isn't enough anymore. I came early and took up a lot of space. I have counters on the first and third floors, so they've been trying to get me to give up some space, but they haven't said they're kicking me out."

Chen Hui said, "Why should I give way to him? It's not like it's free."

Chen Xiao said, "I guess we won't be able to do it in the future. It's okay. I wanted to sell computer parts before but I didn't dare. Bro, if you want to do it, just do it. Let's see what they dare to do now."

Chen Peng thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Let me think about it." He was older and thought things through more, which meant he was more inclined to play it safe—an inevitable consequence of his age.

When the car arrived at Huaiyuan Gate, Chen Peng directed us to turn into a hutong (alleyway). Here, old buildings and new houses were crammed together, with both single-story and multi-story buildings, making it look a bit chaotic.

The car stopped in an open area, and everyone got out. Chen Peng led a few of the younger children further in. Cars couldn't get in here anymore; frankly, places like this where cars can't enter are rare in Fengtian. The main reason is the explosive population growth and the abundance of illegal constructions; it's chaotic.

Keep walking in, and you'll eventually enter a small courtyard. The courtyard wall is three meters high, with broken glass stuck in it and a section of barbed wire added. There are four or five rooms in the courtyard, which is about 120 square meters. The entire courtyard is covered with a shed made of iron pipes and corrugated steel, and the shed is piled with goods: TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, freezers, VCRs, basically all kinds of household appliances can be found here.

As soon as Chen Peng entered the hospital, he called out, "Gangzi, Gangzi!"

The door to the middle room opened, and a chubby, bald man poked his head out: "This room."

An old lady opened the door of the first room, and Chen Peng said with a smile, "Have you eaten, Auntie? I'm looking for Gangzi."

The old lady was in good spirits, with gray hair and a thin face. She smiled and pointed to the middle: "They're all in that room, go ahead."

Chen Peng led Xiao Wei and the others into the middle room. As soon as they entered, a smell of smoke mixed with heat hit them.

There were four or five people sitting inside, playing cards. The one in the middle, wearing a sweater, with a buzz cut and a beard, glanced at Chen Peng and said, "What brings you here today? What's up?"

Chen Peng asked, "How much should I order from you?"

Gangzi said, "How big of a fight can we have? Well, we can't compare to you, Boss Chen. What do you want to buy? Just take whichever one you like, and pay for it." He looked up at Chen Peng with a smile.

Chen Peng tugged at his collar, took a cigarette from a pack that someone had left nearby, lit it, and said, "My sister and her family want to buy some. This is my sister, Chen Xiao, and this is my brother-in-law, Chen Hui. You can call him Brother Gang. These two are my brother-in-law's friends."

Chen Xiao and Chen Hui called out, and Gangzi looked over, smiled, and said, "Wait a minute, okay? I'll finish this round, then you guys find a place to sit. Come on, who's next? Salad."

The bald, fat man who opened the door said, "Whose turn is it? It's your turn. Do you want 7, 8, and 9?" This is a game called "Fanglong," a popular game in Northeast China back then. You can play three cards in a row. There are no Kings, 2 is the highest, and there are no mixed cards or bombs. It can be played by two people or seven or eight people.

After they finished the game, Gangzi stood up, grabbed the leather jacket that was lying to the side, put it on, and asked Chen Xiong, "What do you want to buy?"

The fat man grabbed Gangzi's collar and said, "Don't run, pay the money first." He turned to Chen Peng and said, "This kid owes about fifty yuan. If you come, he'll have a chance to run away."

Everyone laughed. Gangzi pulled a fifty-yuan note from his pocket, threw it on the table, and cursed, "Fuck you, Fatty Li! When have I ever owed anyone money while gambling?"

The bald, fat man loosened Gangzi's clothes, picked up the fifty yuan, and said with a smile, "I don't care if you owe me anything or not, as long as you don't." The man next to him said, "Give me twenty yuan in change, and you've already taken it all? Even if you're shameless, you can't use this kind of money, can you?"

The fat man glared at him and said, "Why are you giving me twenty? He has to come up with fifty-four, I only have thirty-four. I'll give you sixteen in change, you can ask him for the other four." He pulled out a handful of change from his pocket and counted sixteen to the person next to him.

The man, holding the change, said, "Why should you take every single penny?"

The fat man chuckled and said, "I was quick, that's why you didn't take the fifty first. If you're slow, don't make a fuss."

Everyone laughed again. Gangzi reached out and patted the fat man's bald head, saying, "Take it easy. You guys have fun, I'm going to go with Dapeng to look at some things. Hey, Xiaoguang, has that shipment been delivered yet? Damn, this fat man's head is covered in oil, it got all over my hand." He disgustedly wiped his hand on the fat man's military cotton-padded jacket, back then it was fashionable to wear military cotton-padded jackets without an outer coat.

The young man on the outermost edge, who was about the same age as Xiaowei and the others, said, "I had Song Laosan's tricycle deliver it to Gang Ge."

As Gangzi walked out, he instructed Xiaoguang, "Keep an eye on things these next couple of days. It's almost Chinese New Year, so the goods need to be shipped out quickly, understand? If you don't deliver them, someone else will." Xiaoguang nodded in agreement.

Gangzi, Chen Peng, Xiao Wei, and their group left the house and immediately felt that they could breathe more easily; the air inside was terrible.

Gangzi said, "We can't let them smoke in the house tomorrow. What do you all want? The common stuff piled up in the yard, the imported high-end stuff in this room." He pointed to the two innermost rooms.

The group exchanged glances; none of them seemed to know anything about these things. Chen Peng smiled and asked, "What brands are good now?"

Gangzi said, "For refrigerators, domestic brands like Qingdao Liebherr, Yangzi, Xinfei, Rongsheng, and Meiling are all fine. Liebherr uses German technology, while the rest use Japanese technology. There are many imported brands, such as Siemens, Panasonic, and Mitsubishi. I don't own a Siemens."

There are many brands of washing machines: Shanghai's Narcissus, Kyoto's Magnolia, Jiangcheng's Lotus, Xi'an's Shuangou, Yingkou's Friendship, Qingdao's Venus, and others like Clivia, Lotus, Blue Sky, Three Gorges, Ocean, and Baiyunquan. However, I suggest you buy Little Swan washing machines, the Aiqihao. It's no different from Japanese products, half the price, and fully automatic.

Most TVs were Japanese-made. Among the domestic brands, Changhong was decent. The rest, like Panda, Venus, Peony, Golden Phoenix, Konka, and TCL, didn't sell as well as Changhong, and they weren't much different from the Japanese brands, just with a huge price difference. Back then, Hisense was still called Qingdao brand, and it wasn't well-known.

(End of this chapter)