Reborn in 1977

Chapter 507: Old Goods from Huaihai Road

Inside a room at the Jinjiang Hotel, Chen Fan opened his woven rattan suitcase and placed all his clothes on the bed. Once the suitcase was empty, he began to slowly pry at something on the bottom.

An Quan leaned over, curious. "What are you prying at?"

"Prying out the cards."

As soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, he placed a small copper sheet on the bed, then another, and another, for a total of four.

Finally, using another copper sheet to jam the gap in the suitcase's bottom panel, he gently pried it open.

As the wooden panel was removed, An Quan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "So much money?"

Chen Fan looked at the neatly arranged stacks of bills, and sighed softly. "A total of 50,000 yuan. All my life savings are here!"

More than 20,000 yuan in manuscript fees, more than 20,000 yuan in dividends, adding up to just over 50,000 yuan. He hadn't deposited this money in the bank, but kept it at home. This time, he brought it all with him, even making a hidden compartment in the suitcase for it.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, An Quan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "If I remember correctly, you were penniless at this time last year, right?"

Earning 50,000 yuan in just one year, and you say you're not a monster?!

Chen Fan tilted his head and thought for a moment. "That's not right. At this time, I had already sold a big pot of turtles and earned more than 100 yuan."

Although he spent most of it that day, leaving only a little change in his pocket, he wasn't exactly penniless.

An Quan paused slightly. "Didn't Lao Zhang say you only earned a few dozen yuan?"

Chen Fan blinked. Did he let something slip?

Then, while taking the money out, he naturally changed the subject. "Speaking of which, there aren't any big turtles this year, only small turtle hatchlings. When I get back, I must make a suggestion to Secretary Yang. We absolutely can't catch turtles without any limits. If it doesn't work, we should build a pond to raise them, or else in a few years, all the turtles will be eaten to extinction."

An Quan shrugged. "Actually, it's okay. There are still many places in the neighboring county that don't know how to cook turtles. They have plenty of turtles there. You can buy several big ones for one yuan. Don't worry about not having enough to eat."

Chen Fan looked up at him. It could be like that?

So, that's how the economy circulates?

He took out the money he needed, sealed the wooden panel back up, reinserted the copper sheets, and put the clothes back in place.

An Quan looked at the suitcase, which could almost fit a person, and suddenly said, "You took too little. 30,000 yuan is only enough to buy the house. You still need to buy furniture."

Chen Fan put the 30 stacks of bills into the canvas bag, slung the bag over his shoulder, patted his chest, and said, "It's okay, I still have some change here. It's enough to buy furniture."

Hearing this, An Quan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

How much furniture would it take to fill a three-story building?

And to match this house, it would definitely be high-end stuff. Even if you bought it from a second-hand store, it would still cost a lot of money.

So, he was carrying a few hundred or a few thousand yuan in "change"?

An Quan looked at his bulky cotton coat and couldn't quite estimate.

Chen Fan put the suitcase away, stood up and said, "Let's go. Hopefully, we can complete the procedures today and buy the furniture back, so we can check out tomorrow."

He looked around the room and shook his head, sighing, "Eight yuan a day. Living here for a year could buy a house. It's too expensive!"

An Quan, "…"

…

The procedures were completed quickly. Since the owner had signed a full power of attorney, under the leadership of Section Chief Wang, Chen Fan paid 30,000 yuan, and the local neighborhood office property management office completed all the procedures in just half an hour. Chen Fan became the new owner of this small Western-style house.

After coming out of the neighborhood office, Section Chief Wang took them to the second-hand store.

Chen Fan stood at the entrance of the store, looking left and right, and finally exclaimed, "It's so big!"

If it were an ordinary shopping mall, there would be many larger than this, such as the No. 1 Department Store he had visited a few days ago, which was larger in area.

But as a second-hand store, an operating area of more than 1,000 square meters could be said to be quite considerable.

The largest second-hand store in the Yunhu area was less than 500 square meters, and most of the area was empty. The counters only occupied a small part, unlike here, where the entire mall was packed full, and many of the goods inside looked desirable.

An Quan stood beside him, looking very proud, smoking a cigarette and saying, "This is the 'State-Owned Trading Trust Company Second-Hand Store'. Because it's on Huaihai Road, it's abbreviated as 'Old Goods from Huaihai Road'. The store area is more than 1,000 square meters, and the business scope is unlimited. As long as it's second-hand goods, including clothing, watches, shoes, hats, high-end tableware, musical instruments, furniture, etc., they have it all here."

He suddenly changed his tone. "And besides second-hand goods, there are also new goods here, and they are all new goods that don't require coupons."

Chen Fan turned to look at him, feeling quite strange. "New goods that don't require coupons?"

Section Chief Wang next to him said with a smile, "Actually, they are export goods produced by factories and units. The unsold ones are transferred to domestic sales, and because they are not within the production plan, they are placed here and sold as second-hand goods. However, the quantity and frequency are not high, so you have to be lucky."

There was another sentence he didn't say. If you encounter rare and popular goods with a small quantity, they won't even make it to the counter. They will be divided up "along the way", and ordinary consumers will hardly have the opportunity to see the goods.

Chen Fan suddenly understood that they were export tail orders.

I wonder if he could encounter any today.

What made him even more curious was what else could be exported besides agricultural products, mineral raw materials, and oil in this era?

You know, since 1976, the policy of "revitalizing the economy internally and opening up to the outside world" had been implemented. Since then, the volume of foreign trade exports had increased year by year, but he was clueless about the types of products.

After all, he didn't study foreign trade, so it was normal not to know.

An Quan added from the side, "In addition to export goods transferred to domestic sales, there are also many defective products from local factories that are also treated as second-hand goods."

Chen Fan didn't feel anything after hearing this. He didn't buy defective products anyway.

After finishing his cigarette, Section Chief Wang led them into the store.

As soon as they entered the store, Section Chief Wang said, "You can take a look around first. Buy whatever you want first. I'll go find someone and meet you over there later. If you're still missing something, I'll take you to see it in the warehouse."

Chen Fan looked at the direction he was pointing, and found it was an open space in the corner, so he nodded. "Got it."

Saying that, he took out two packs of cigarettes and stuffed them into Section Chief Wang's hand, smiling, "Don't misunderstand, this is to ask that friend for help. You can't let you suffer for finding someone to help."

Section Chief Wang smiled and didn't refuse, took the cigarettes and left.

Chen Fan and An Quan then started shopping together.

As An Quan said, this place was really diverse, with all kinds of things.

But that wasn't the point. He actually saw many slogans similar to "Enthusiastic Service" in the store, which was really gratifying.

(Interior of Old Goods from Huaihai Road, enthusiastic introduction)

Chen Fan first stood in place, using his height advantage to look around. Compared to the crowded watch and electrical appliance counters, there were far fewer people at the musical instrument counter, so he walked there.

An Quan followed beside him, curiously asking, "What musical instrument do you want to buy?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "That depends on what musical instruments they have."

An Quan, "So cocky?"

Chen Fan approached the musical instrument counter. Looking inside, there were really a lot of musical instruments, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign.

At this time, an old man was bending over and looking inside. "Comrade, can you please introduce that accordion?"

The salesperson sat on the stool without moving. "Okay, 80% new, 120 yuan."

The old man was satisfied. "Thank you, please issue a receipt. I'll take this one."

The salesperson then reluctantly stood up and lazily pulled out the invoice book to write a receipt.

There was no legendary "flying receipt" here; the person responsible for selling goods also collected the money, directly writing the receipt, paying, and taking the goods at the counter.

The old man walked away happily with his accordion. The instrument was 80% new but only cost 120 yuan. What a steal!

Perhaps it was because Chen Fan was tall, or perhaps it was because handsome guys are attractive. When the saleswoman looked up, she saw Chen Fan's face, and her eyes immediately lit up. She took the initiative to greet him, "Young man, what kind of musical instrument are you looking for?"

Although Chen Fan didn't look at her, he automatically matched the voice to the person, turned his face, and smiled, "Auntie, do you have a grand piano here?"

The saleswoman nodded and smiled, "This is Huaiguo Old Goods Market, the largest second-hand market in the country, even in Asia. How could we not have a piano? Not only do we have one, but we have several."

She pointed to the back of the building and smiled, "The best one is an American-imported Steinway grand piano inside. It's too big to bring out, but the style is very good. The assessment is that it's 80% new, and the tone is also good. The listed price is 220 yuan. Do you want it?"

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly, "Yes."

As for inspecting the goods, it was not necessary at all. There was no such thing as inferior goods being passed off as good ones now. If it was a defective product, it would be clearly stated. There was no bargaining here either, so of course, it was better to be straightforward.

The saleswoman was delighted to see Chen Fan so straightforward and clapped her hands, "Oh my, you don't even inspect the goods. You have a very forthright personality."

Then she called for someone, "Hey, someone, bring out the piano that was collected the day before yesterday."

Chen Fan blinked, thinking that it was okay to bring it out first and leave it in the corner to be dealt with later.

Then he looked around and suddenly noticed something.

Where was An Quan?

He immediately turned around to look, but unfortunately, there were too many people, and they were all wrapped up tightly in the cold winter, so he couldn't see anyone at all.

At this time, another salesperson said, "Are you looking for your companion? I saw him go to the daily necessities area. There was a batch of defective products that arrived today, and someone was shouting over there just now. He heard it and ran over. He's probably fighting for goods in the crowd right now."

Chen Fan could only twitch his lips slightly and cursed him in his heart for being a friend who forgets righteousness for profit.

Forget it, I'd better rely on myself.

Then, under the enthusiastic introduction of the saleswoman, Chen Fan spent another 80 yuan to buy a violin, 60 yuan to buy an accordion, 10 yuan for a bright red erhu, 50 yuan for a guqin, 55 yuan for a guzheng, 30 yuan for a guitar…

Basically, Western musical instruments were imported goods, and folk instruments were domestic goods.

In fact, those Western musical instruments were all old, but they were well maintained, and both the inside and outside were very new. Otherwise, where would there be so many imported musical instruments these days?!

Although there were many people visiting Huaiguo Old Goods Market, most of them were there to "join in the fun" and "seek cheap deals." Some people could run back and forth a dozen times with a small notebook just to find the "lowest price" for a bicycle. In comparison, how many people had seen a generous customer like Chen Fan who "spends money like water"?

Now that they finally saw one, they couldn't help but be stunned. They didn't even buy anything and just surrounded him to watch the excitement.

Seeing this situation, Chen Fan had no choice but to give up the idea of continuing to sweep the goods. He asked the salesperson to pack up the things and put them together with the piano before going to look for other things.

All the counters were crowded with people, and he could only move horizontally between the counters.

(Interior of Huaiguo Old Goods Market, many people)

Fortunately, with his height advantage, even if he stood behind the crowd, he could see what was in the counter.

No watches, a mantel clock? I can get one.

Hmm, and a wall clock for the second floor.

Oh, there are also people selling tape recorders?

Chen Fan squeezed into the crowd, looked around at the "high-end appliances," hesitated for a while, and still didn't make a move. He decided to wait for a while, and there would be more fashionable dual-cassette tape recorders at that time. There was no need to waste money on this now.

Continuing to wander around, after wandering for a long time, he finally saw someone selling furniture.

Chen Fan picked and chose for a long time, and finally only chose a Ming Dynasty rosewood table, which could be used as a display table or a desk, priced at 60 yuan.

He really wanted to ask if there was a complete set of furniture for this rosewood table, but unfortunately, the salesperson was a male comrade, and his charm effect failed. He could only wait for the results from Director Wang.

Finally, he returned to the agreed-upon corner to stay. The musical instruments he had bought earlier had already been placed here, ready to be loaded onto the truck and transported away at any time.

Chen Fan squatted in front of the piano, and before long, he saw An Quan moving towards him with a huge cardboard box.

An Quan was already sweating profusely. He finally saw Chen Fan and couldn't help but shout for help, "Hurry up and help me, I can't move it."

Chen Fan stepped forward to help him move the cardboard box to the ground. When he saw clearly what was inside, he couldn't help but be stunned. He turned to look at him, "You bought a new house, so you're buying these junk to move in?"

"What junk? These are all good things, okay!"

An Quan was very indignant, "I even bought a copy for you, otherwise, it would be a hassle just to collect the tickets for these things."

He waved his hand, "Wasn't that saleswoman who sold musical instruments very fond of you just now? Go ask her for a cardboard box, and we'll divide it."

Chen Fan glanced at him with a dark face, "Anyway, you're going to live with me before you move, why don't we go back and divide it?"

An Quan patted his head, "That's right."

Then he squatted down and excitedly counted, "Look, see, this is a brand new stainless steel lunch box, even better than an aluminum lunch box. It's just that the corners are a little dented. I'll knock it back, and it'll be as good as new."

As he spoke, he lowered his voice, as if he had picked up some treasure, and laughed, "It's only 50 cents. If you go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a new one, it will cost 1.5 yuan, and you still need a ticket. Do you think it's worth it?!"

Chen Fan was slightly stunned, "So cheap?"

He looked down at the things in the cardboard box, "That's really worth it."

Then he squatted down and rummaged through it.

An Quan said triumphantly, "Of course, the pricing of defective products here is regulated. Generally, it's one-third of the new product price, plus you don't need a ticket. Every time there's a shipment, everyone fights for it. If I hadn't been quick-witted just now, I wouldn't have been able to get it!"

Chen Fan gave him a thumbs up perfunctorily and rummaged through it to see what was inside.

There were all kinds of pots, bowls, and pans, and there were also 4 large red phoenix enamel basins and 2 enamel spittoons with the same pattern…

Looking at the spittoons, Chen Fan couldn't help but fall into contemplation, "Lao An, my house has 3 toilets, why did you buy me spittoons?"

An Quan was stunned and looked up at him, "That's right, my house also needs to install toilets, why did I buy spittoons?"

He grabbed 4 spittoons with both hands, his brows furrowed tightly, "Can I return them?"

Chen Fan shrugged, "Forget it, we can use them as trash cans at worst, they're not completely useless."

An Quan chuckled dryly twice, threw the spittoons aside, and pointed to a pile of things in the box, "Look at the others, they're all useful."

Just at this awkward moment, Director Wang finally walked over with a man in his thirties.

An Quan quickly tugged at Chen Fan, "Let's go, let's go, let's go choose furniture for you."