Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 203 Interception (Seeking donations, haha)

Chen Peng looked at Xiao Wei, who thought for a moment and said, "Let's go with Changhong for the TV, that's what we were talking about before. As for the refrigerator, how about Rongsheng? For the washing machine, let's listen to Gang Ge, the Little Swan 'Love Wife' model. We need three TVs, two refrigerators, and two washing machines. Also, get a few electric fans, five of them."

Chen Peng looked at Gangzi again, and Gangzi glanced at him and said, "I'm going inside to get a pack of cigarettes. You two can discuss it some more." He turned and went inside, pulling Chen Peng aside. Chen Peng followed him in, and Gangzi said, "Who's buying it anyway? Didn't you say your sister was buying it?"

Chen Peng nodded and said, "Yeah, if my brother-in-law and his family buy it, then my sister buys it too, right? What the hell do you mean? If it weren't related to us, would I have brought you here?" Gangzi scratched his head and said, "Nonsense, if it were really your sister, I'd give it to her. I was just asking. So, what price do you want?"

Chen Peng said, "You might not even accept it as a gift. They earned 160,000 yuan yesterday alone. Why would they want something like this? I only feel that since we have this connection, it would be a waste for them to go to the mall to buy it."

Gangzi said, "Not bragging?"

Chen Peng nodded and said, "Really? My sister can still fool me? That Xiao Wei, she's the strategist for the three of them. She's incredibly smart. In just half a month, she went from Fengtian to Longcheng and made a bunch of money-making deals. In two years, you'll see, people like us might not even want to associate with us."

Gangzi said, "By the way, when did you get a brother-in-law? I've never heard you mention it."

Chen Peng said, "We dated for about a month, but it's basically settled. We met when she came to my place to buy something. She lives next door, and we started dating after a while. My sister's father-in-law works for the power industry." He leaned closer to Gangzi and lowered his voice, saying, "He's the head of the Northeast Bureau, a vice-ministerial level."

Gangzi's eyes widened as he said, "Damn, now you're getting cocky."

Chen Peng tugged at Gangzi and said, "Stop dawdling and hurry up and get this done."

The two went outside, and Gangzi asked with a smile, "Have you come to an agreement?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's fine, just these few items. How much do you want? And then I'll need you to deliver them to Er Ma Lu. Do you have a car? We'll cover the fare."

Gangzi thought for a moment and said, "I'll give you 1200 for a Changhong fan, 900 for a Rongsheng fan, and 300 for a washing machine, okay? I don't have any fans, but I'll go get you five. I'll get you Great Wall fans, they're better than Chrysanthemum fans, 100 each."

This price is almost half of what it costs in a shopping mall.

Xiao Wei did a quick mental calculation and said, "6500, Hui Zi, give Gang Ge 7000, and the rest is our treat for you to dinner. We'll also need you to deliver it to Er Ma Lu, as our Hiace can't carry it."

Gangzi glanced at Chen Peng and said, "Okay, I'll get you a truck to take it over there. Which part of Second Road should we take it to?"

Xiao Wei said, "The owner of Guanyuan Additives on Ermalu is called Han San. I'll write down his phone number for you. Just give it to him and say that I bought it." Gangzi had a pen and notebook on him, so Xiao Wei took them and wrote down Guanyuan's phone number.

Chen Hui was carrying a bag of money on his back. He took out a stack of money from it, counted out 7000 yuan, and handed it to Gangzi.

Gangzi took the money and stuffed it into his pocket. He then took out cigarettes and offered one to each person, saying, "Why don't you just take it home?"

Chen Hui said, "We need to send it to Longcheng. We have a courtyard there, and the things we use are all from that place."

Chen Peng said, "Alright, we'll head over once this is over. I need to go back to my unit to meet you for drinks sometime."

The group said goodbye to Gangzi and returned to the car via the same route.

After getting in the car and turning back, Chen Hui asked Chen Peng, "Brother, where did Gangzi and his team get their goods? How come they're so cheap?"

Chen Peng said, "They come from all over the place. Most of them are directly transported by the manufacturers, but some are intercepted along the way. Anyway, as long as the manufacturers get the money back after the goods are delivered, they don't care about anything else."

Chen Xiao asked, "How do we intercept it? By robbing it?"

Chen Peng laughed and said, "That's illegal, you can't go in, right? You just pay money to buy it. The goods for the mall are unloaded here and then they block the way. You just need to give the manufacturers who are holding the goods a little money, and once the payment is made, they take the goods away. If you live nearby and have good connections, you can get a truck to go directly to the manufacturer to pick it up."

Chen Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "You can do that? What would the shopping mall do then?"

Chen Peng laughed and said, "Of course not. Do you think people would be happy to rob people and goods? But there's nothing we can do. Gangzi's family works on the railway, so they know in advance when the goods will arrive. They just intercept them, but they don't take all of them. They usually leave half for the shopping mall. This has nothing to do with the factory. The shopping mall can't reach the factory either. They can only send more next time. They don't lose anything."

Xia Maosheng said, "Wouldn't that lead to a fight? Surely Gangzi isn't the only one who knows this route, is he?"

Chen Peng nodded and said, "That's for sure. Don't even mention Gangzi's situation; sometimes I have to fight too. It's only been stable these last two years. Before, I used to frequently have people intercept goods, but we've gotten to know everyone. Now, some people who need goods just ask me directly, and I just add a little. Back then, we were fighting every other day. Gangzi's reputation comes from fighting too. You see him all smiles, but he's incredibly ruthless. Gangzi and I met through fighting while intercepting goods. That bald guy in the room, look at that fat bear, he's a real fighter, and he even served two years for Gangzi."

Chen Xiao said, "My family has never dealt in computer parts. It's just that the competition is fierce, the profits are too high, and we can't afford to go through that."

Xiaowei said, "Xiaoxiao, you can't talk like that anymore. You have to say 'my home,' 'my mom's home,' and 'my in-laws' home,' otherwise we'll get confused."

Everyone laughed. Chen Xiao blushed and pinched Xiao Wei, making him wince. It really hurt. How did Chen Hui manage to get through each day?

Chen Hui, who was ahead, asked, "Xiao Wei, where are we going after we drop my brother off?"

Xiao Wei glanced at Xia Maosheng, who seemed to be alright, and after thinking for a moment, said, "How about we go to the riverbank?"

Chen Xiao said, "After dropping my brother off, I have to go to Er Ma Road. You have to tell Han San in person, right? Besides, you have to leave a share of the TV, washing machine, refrigerator, and fan for Xiao Hong, right? Aren't you going to bring them back?"

Chen Hui said, "Yeah, why don't I just go back to the office and get a different car to take the stuff back?"

Xiao Wei said, "I wonder when Gangzi will be able to deliver it. Should we just go over and wait?"

Chen Xiao nodded and said, "That's true. So what should we do? We should still go and tell him to leave these things here separately, and we'll go pick them up tomorrow."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, let's go then."

Back then, the post and telecommunications bureau was officially called the Post and Telecommunications Administration Bureau. Like the power industry, it was directly managed by the central government and was also divided into regional bureaus, provincial bureaus, and county bureaus.

The State Post and Telecommunications Administration had four subordinate bureaus: Postal Construction, Postal Services, Long-Distance Telecommunications, and Local Telephone. These were collectively referred to as the Post and Telecommunications Administration by the public. In 95, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was abolished and the State Post Bureau was established, with two subordinate bureaus: Telecommunications and Postal Services. In 98, the administration was further separated, with telecommunications services being spun off into a separate telecommunications company. Shortly after, telecommunications was split in two again, becoming the current China Telecom and China Netcom.

(End of this chapter)