National Tide 1980

Like Gu Si'er, Sun Wufu has now upgraded his weapons and is now completely different from before.

His shop in Panjiayuan was also very formal.

There is a storefront with a horizontal glass counter and three large antique display shelves on three walls.

The glass counter is filled with exquisite small items such as Han Dynasty jade pendants, ivory carvings, soft-colored embroidery, and peerless ancient porcelain. On the antique shelves are bells, tripods, jugs, Qin bricks and Han tiles, Tang Dynasty tri-color figurines, and Ming Dynasty Xuande furnaces, all of which are full of ancient charm.

Even an expert like Ning Weimin felt confused when he saw some of the items inside and was not sure whether they were real or fake.

I'm afraid you have to take a closer look at it yourself to be able to tell it apart.

When Ning Weimin entered the room, Sun Wufu was wiping a small jar vigorously with a piece of silk.

He was very surprised at Ning Weimin's arrival, but also very enthusiastic. He pulled out a chair from somewhere, pulled it and asked Ning Weimin to sit on it, and kept asking if he was hot or thirsty.

Then he was busy fanning Ning Weimin, making tea and pouring water, and called five or six shop assistants to come and recognize him.

He introduced Ning Weimin in person as the big boss of Pierre Caton Company and also the boss of this market, and then asked the guys to call him "Mr. Ning" one by one.

Then he asked someone to go outside and buy a watermelon.

Ning Weimin just smiled when he saw him busying around, and he also knew that he was using himself as a big shot to show off to his subordinates, so he decided to help him this time.

After the guy selling watermelons left the door and the other guys went back to work, Ning Weimin and Sun Wufu sat down alone and teased him.

"Haha, you're living a pretty good life. I see you have more employees in your shop than Gu Si'er. He only has three people, and you have twice as many. It seems your business is better."

However, Sun Wufu said, "No, no, you can't compare them like that. I am different from him. His business really needs help. He needs help to take care of the fish, fetch water, change water, watch the shop, feed the fish, and keep watch. But I am not like that. These guys are all young and inexperienced people from my hometown. They are from the same village and were sent here by someone for a favor. They have no other strengths except strength. I have no choice but to let them do odd jobs with me, so that they can broaden their horizons and learn some knowledge. Otherwise, they don't even know what to collect and what not to collect among the rags..."

As the saying goes, one cannot talk too much about one's main business. As he was talking, Sun Wufu started to talk about his main business again.

But after he finished speaking, he felt a little embarrassed.

Perhaps he felt it was a bit of a downer, or perhaps he felt that Ning Weimin was already a big boss now, and it seemed inappropriate to mention this business in front of Ning Weimin.

So Sun Wufu coughed and quickly changed the subject, "Hey, President Ning. You came by chance. I got a few good things these days. The oldest one is more than 2,000 years old, but I can't tell it's real. You have to make a judgment."

As he was talking, he was about to take the item for Ning Weimin to examine, but he didn't expect that the trick that had always worked in the past didn't work this time and failed.

Not only did Ning Weimin not agree, but he also called him for the first time.

Only then did Sun Wufu realize that Ning Weimin was not joking, so he changed his perfunctory attitude and became serious.

After thinking about it, he explained the general situation as detailed as possible.

"Now may be the time when junk is the most expensive. Except for waste paper, which is three cents a pound, the prices of other things are quite high. Scrap iron is 20 cents a pound, yellow copper is 10 yuan a pound, red copper is 15 yuan a pound, scrap aluminum is 3 yuan a pound, waste plastic is 50 cents a pound, and waste glass is 20 cents a pound. So even if you don't count the profit from second-hand goods, you can still make money doing this in Beijing."

"I now have more than 30 people under my command, not counting the ones in the store, and more than 20 people who run around the streets to collect goods for me. A total of three groups of people, one team is led by the village chief's nephew Sun Liuwu, one team is led by my sister-in-law's nephew Han Dazhuang, and another team is led by Sun Changshun, the son of Sun Shuanlu from the same village. Except for my disappointing nephew, these three guys who came out with me the earliest have all been trained and can now handle things on their own."

"As for their income, it's all tied to what they collect. If they just rely on sweeping the streets, it's pretty much the same. These guys can earn three to five hundred yuan a month, and each of them can pay me about the same amount, so each person can earn about a thousand yuan a month. But this is not the big chunk of the money. The real chunk is the rags they contract..."

Ning Weimin couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, "That's great. You've become the ragtag king. The team is not small, and you can manage so many people under you, and you can also make money with them. It seems that your management ability is not bad. At least you are a platoon leader."

How could Sun Wufu dare to show off in front of Ning Weimin? He was very humble and said, "You think too highly of me. A platoon leader has more than a hundred people to support. What's the point of me? Besides, it's not my ability, it's yours..."

"Me?" Ning Weimin was somewhat surprised.

He felt that he had not been of much help and that he often stayed in Japan.

He didn't understand where this came from.

"Really." Sun Wufu explained solemnly, "Didn't I just say that? The big boss of scrap collection depends on fixed docking units. Without your care, we would be like a tiger trying to eat the sky but nowhere to start. You know, the current Beijing is not the same as it was in the first two years. In the past, there were fewer people doing this business, and most people cared about their reputation. As long as you are not afraid of losing face and are willing to bend down, you can make money. Now it's not possible. In addition to sticking together, you also need to have certain social connections."

"Why? Because everyone wants to come here to make money. What do the most non-locals do in Beijing now? One is cotton-flitting, two is babysitters, and three is rag pickers. Rural people, one, have no skills, and two, no money, so how can they make money here? Isn't it just by selling their labor? And when more people come here to do this, naturally there are more wolves and less meat, and it's hard to do business."

"To be honest, there are more and more outsiders picking up rags in Beijing now, and those who make money by picking up rags have formed a class. This class is complex, similar to the East Suburbs garbage dump in the past. They live scattered in the urban and rural fringe areas in the east, west, south and north. Although there is no strict organization, there are complete sets of rules, forming their own territories and several types of people on the territories."

"The first ones to arrive are the fourth class. The fourth class is pitiful. They can only carry snakeskin bags and iron hooks and rummage through garbage cans along the street or go to the garbage dump in the suburbs. They are lonely ghosts. They are definitely hungry, but they are lucky if they don't starve to death."

"The third level is the entry. This requires introduction and placement. You can pull a cart or ride a tricycle to travel the streets. Buy whatever you see, just like what the three guys under my command do. But each of them roams in a fixed area, and the locusts cannot cross the border."

"The second class is bigger. They can basically be responsible for a large construction site or the scraps of a large unit. They can also accommodate the third and fourth class and ask them to pay tribute regularly. With these fixed incomes, they can be regarded as the top figures among the scrap collectors. At least they can become a millionaire."

"As for the top-level people, they must have a number of such fixed docking units. Thanks to you, I am such a role now. The docking units for collecting cardboard boxes include Tangong Restaurant, Temple of Heaven Park, and several street factories. In addition, my people are also responsible for the waste materials from the construction site of Pierre Cardon Building. How can I not make money?"

"But it's not enough to just make money, because some people will be jealous, do bad things, and trip us up. The police will investigate, the street will manage, and almost anyone with a red band has the power to manage us and punish us. So people in my position have to be able to deal with things and settle things. You know me, I'm not good at speaking, how can I do that?"

"If it weren't for your reputation, the streets and police stations around the Temple of Heaven all knew you and wouldn't bother with us. We wouldn't be able to continue. Some people even hired ruffians to blackmail us, and the police station took the initiative to help us settle the matter. As a result, I became a so-called 'big shot'. In fact, I know my own business very well. I just relied on you to bully others."

Sun Wufu's words were very detailed and realistic, and Ning Weimin couldn't help laughing after hearing them.

He couldn't help but praise him again and again, "Well, Wu Fu, your greatest strength is self-knowledge. However, don't underestimate yourself. I didn't expect that you could understand this industry so clearly and talk about it so coherently. Just because you have such a clear mind and can make good use of the resources around you, it's no wonder that you are in the situation today. I may be of some help to you, but the more critical factor in making this business flourish and prosper lies in you."

Sun Wufu was so flattered by Ning Weimin's praise that he was about to say a few more humble words, but unexpectedly Ning Weimin changed the subject.

"Okay, I wasn't just talking nonsense. I was actually testing you. Now I'm relieved. You should be able to handle the new task I assign to you. I just don't know if you are willing to temporarily give up this store in Beijing and this business and let someone you trust take care of it for a while. How about it? Are you willing to go to Japan with me for a few years?"

"What? Japan!" Ning Weimin's words shocked Sun Wufu.

This is not surprising.

With his knowledge and intelligence, he certainly would never have dreamed that a rag collector like him could have any relationship with that Oriental island country.

He even thought at one point that either Ning Weimin was wrong or he had heard it wrong.

But the problem is that such an unreal thing actually happened.

Ning Weimin kept looking at him patiently, waiting for his reply.

Finally, Sun Wufu swallowed his saliva with a "gulp" sound and asked the question that puzzled him for a long time, "No... No kidding, let me go to Japan? But... what can I do in Japan?"

"Collecting junk. I'll make you a transnational junk king. I'll open a junk recycling company and build a junk recycling factory. If you do this in Japan, you don't have to run around. You just have to drive to the garbage dump to pick up the goods. Not to mention that people give you junk for free. They even have to pay you. And the Japanese are rich, and you can often buy good things by accident, such as old TVs, radios, sofas, bed frames, and half-worn clothes. If they don't like them anymore, they will throw them away. How about it? Do you want to go? Come with me to Japan to make a fortune? And not just you, but your fellow villagers, pick out 20 people to go with you."

Of course, what Ning Weimin said was true, and there was no exaggeration at all.

But to Sun Wufu, all this sounded like a joke.

He just couldn't believe that there was such a good thing. This was ridiculous...

So Ning Weimin explained for a long time helplessly. Only when he explained the situation of Japan's waste recycling industry and even Japan's special laws did Sun Wufu finally believe it.

It turns out that there really is a nation in this world as extravagant, wasteful and stupid as the Japanese.

In particular, Ning Weimin told him why he wanted to collect waste in Japan and his original intention of opening a company and factory moved him.

When I think about the fact that there are still many good things from China floating around in Japan’s flea market, I feel happy that they were all stolen by the Japanese soldiers.

When he thought about how the Japanese dared to use scrap metal to raise the price and blackmail our country, Sun Wufu became uncontrollably excited.

Who says that rag collectors are unpatriotic? At this moment, Sun Wufu showed the spirit of a descendant of the Chinese nation.

Although he was somewhat afraid of the country full of Japanese invaders, and even though he couldn't speak the language, he was inevitably a little confused.

But in order to do the right thing, I can also help Ning Weimin and repay his kindness.

Sun Wufu still patted his chest.

"Boss Ning, don't say any more, I understand. I will definitely go. As long as you think I can be useful, I will go with you. As for this place, it's just a store, it's okay, I'll find someone to help me look after it. As long as I can serve the country, as long as I can make the Japanese devils uncomfortable, it's worth it. Don't worry, my people and I will definitely do our best. I'm going to break out of the capital and go to the world! I'm going to Japan, I'm going to eat sushi in Japan! After eating sushi, I'm going to kill them..."

In this way, Sun Wufu and his fellow villagers joined the team going abroad and were about to be introduced to Japan as special talents.

And within ten days, Sun Wufu got his own passport.

Next it's time to prepare your luggage.

But before leaving, he thought he had to say hello to Gu Si'er.

After all, the two of them have always been companions in the Temple of Heaven, and they will probably be neighbors in the Panjiayuan Market for a long time in the future. It would be embarrassing not to tell them.

As a result, the most interesting thing happened. When Sun Wufu was about to find Gu Sier to say goodbye, Gu Sier came to his door himself, holding something to show off.

"Wu Fu, you've never seen a passport before? Come and have a look, brother, I'm going abroad now..."

Sun Wufu took Gu Sier's passport in surprise and looked at it again and again, and was even more surprised.

Because when I opened it and looked inside, I found that the other party's content was the same as mine.

"I say, Lao Si, why are you going to Japan too?"

"Hey, what do you mean by 'also'? Could it be that..."

"Yes, because I'm going too."

As he spoke, Sun Wufu also took out an identical passport.

Almost at the same time, the two of them stared at each other and shouted in unison.

"What are you going to do?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to see the aquarium in Japan. President Ning wants to do something big in Longtan Lake Park, so he asked me to go with Director Chen of Longtan Lake Park to learn and gain experience..."

"I went to Japan to collect scraps, but what I want to do is more important than what you are doing. It will benefit the country and the people..."

"What? Collecting junk? You're so smart! I don't believe it..."

"Really? President Ning wants me to take 20 people with me..."