eurekapd Chapter 404 One Yuan Treasury Bond Exchanged for 7 Mao
Chapter 404 One Yuan Treasury Bond Exchanged for 7 Mao
"Chaoying, I felt something was off about what Ada was saying earlier. What brother-in-law? He was clearly talking about Tu Nan, how did he bring up Engineer Lin? And what did you mean by asking me? Tu Nan is Ada's brother-in-law, what about Xiaoting and Dongzhe?"
Zhuang Chaoying quickly helped Ah Ling up and propped up a pillow for her to lean on.
"Ah Ling, take a deep breath, don't rush, I'll explain it to you slowly." He was afraid that Ah Ling would get too emotional.
Huang Ling waved her hand excitedly. It was only because her belly was so big that she really wanted to jump around on the ground.
She was thinking to herself that Xiaoting was studying in Shanghai, and she was always afraid that Xiaoting would find someone from out of town, far away from them, and that she wouldn't know anything about his family or background.
But it's different if she becomes friends with Dongzhe. She knows him well, she knows Song Ying and Engineer Lin, and Dongzhe is someone she's watched grow up. This kid is definitely right.
She and Song Ying were best friends, so this meant they were in-laws, making them even closer and truly family. She was overjoyed. Seeing Chao Ying's nervous expression, she thought she had disagreed.
Xiaoting is a very sensible child. She had talked to Xiaoting about dating before. As long as it's a normal relationship and nothing goes wrong, neither of them objected.
......
Huang Ling asked impatiently, "I know what you're going to say, Xiaoting and Dongzhe are dating, right?"
"Ah Ling, you know how worried I was?"
Zhuang Chaoying breathed a sigh of relief, the tension on her face instantly disappearing. "You scared me to death, I was afraid you'd get too excited."
Huang Ling pointed to her stomach. "Keep applying it."
Zhuang Chaoying responded, her hands continuing to gently apply pregnancy oil to Huang Ling's belly, while chatting with Ling about Xiao Ting and Dong Zhe.
"Chaoying, do you still remember the first time you met Dongzhe?"
"How could I not remember? That mischievous monkey was so friendly. He said a few words to Xiaoting and Tunan, and then he refused to leave our house. He was wearing ripped pants with words on them."
Huang Ling was amused and laughed, her stomach moving with each laugh.
"The nitrogen content is no more than 46 percent, and he always gets beaten by Song Ying for being disobedient. He copies homework, reads picture books, and copies Tu Nan's essays. My dad is a high school math teacher. Chao Ying, you've really become Dong Zhe's dad this time."
After wiping Ah Ling's stomach, Zhuang Chaoying straightened up and hummed softly. "You have no idea what Ah Ling called me just now."
Huang Ling's eyes lit up. "Given Dong Zhe's personality, he probably won't just change his mind."
"You guessed right, I'm going to wash my hands."
.......
Pengfei called Dongzhe and Ada over, and the four of them sat around in the living room discussing pricing strategies.
"Brother, I've already covered all the surrounding towns and villages!"
Pengfei pulled a map from his pocket, covered with dense markings. "Tomorrow we'll head this way. Those towns over there sell tape recorders for a lot of money! I've gone along these routes three times with Uncle Qian, I know them pretty well. We'll use guerrilla tactics, hit and run, and catch them completely off guard!"
Lin Dongzhe looked at the route on the map. "What about the price? How much should we sell it for?"
"After you called me, I went to Suzhou Department Store. The same type of tape recorder was selling for 505 yuan."
Lin Dongzhe's fingers flew across the calculator.
He tugged at the collar of his sweat-dampened shirt. "It sells for 505 at Suzhou Department Store, so our costs aren't low."
He spread out the receipts with a clatter. "We've incurred a lot of toll fees along the way, nearly two thousand just for tolls, plus gas, lodging, food... My uncle gave us a factory price of three hundred and twenty, we can't break even without selling it for at least four hundred."
Zhuang Tunan stared at the numbers on the calculator and looked up.
"Let's set the price at four hundred! But we'll use the treasury bond exchange as a pretext. Everyone's holding treasury bonds with nowhere to spend them. Even if we only make a 15-cent profit per dollar, we can still increase sales volume with small profits!"
Ada yawned, rubbing his aching lower back. He had been curled up in the truck for three days and two nights, his bones felt like they were about to fall apart, and he was so sleepy that his eyes felt like they were glued shut.
"Okay, it's settled then."
He struggled to his feet, using the sofa for support. "I'm going back to get some rest; if I keep going like this, I'll definitely end up in the hospital."
Pengfei quickly grabbed a bottle of medicinal wine he had bought beforehand for them. "Brother Ada, Dongzhe, rub this on your backs, it'll help."
Lin Dongzhe took it, patted his arm, and returned to the other side with Ada.
Tu Nan first called Wan Shu to let her know he was safe.
On the other end of the phone, Wan Shu's gentle voice reminded him to take care of his health, get plenty of rest, and prioritize safety over making money.
Tu Nan felt a warmth in his heart as he listened to Wan Shu's words, but his back, arms, and legs were really sore from being curled up in the gaps of the truck bed for three days and two nights.
After hanging up the phone, Pengfei walked over with a bottle of medicinal wine in his hand. "Brother, does your back hurt? My back was also very sore after driving with Uncle Qian all day. Rubbing this on it will make it better."
Zhuang Tunan lay sprawled on the sofa, his chin resting on his arm. "Pengfei, be gentle, be gentle."
The two men, shirtless, rubbed each other's backs, finally relieving some of the soreness.
After rubbing each other with medicated wine, they lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep, preparing for the busy day ahead.
Early in the morning, trucks from the new factory were driven over by drivers.
The driver, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, watched Pengfei's actions intently—clutching, shifting gears, turning the steering wheel—all executed flawlessly in one fluid motion.
He confirmed that Pengfei was a skilled driver before handing the car over to them with peace of mind.
Pengfei climbed down from the driver's seat, and the driver patted the front of the truck with satisfaction: "Good job, kid! Much better than those greenhorns at our factory!"
Pengfei drove his truck, hawking his wares in the nearby towns. Every time he arrived at a new place, Lin Dongzhe would start hawking his wares, putting batteries in his tape recorder and inserting cassette tapes of popular songs.
Lin Dongzhe then shouted at the top of his lungs, playing Fei Xiang's rendition of "A Fire in Winter" from the 1987 Spring Festival Gala: "You are like that fire, the blazing flames burning in my heart..."
"The clouds of my hometown, a fire in winter, stories of a small town, a little girl under a street lamp, and a disco that can be played at home."
Many people came to watch the spectacle, and they even put up a sign that said one yuan of treasury bonds could be exchanged for seven mao (0.7 yuan). Although the exchange rate was low, with one yuan only getting seven mao, the information gap was too big to ignore. Some people in remote towns really didn't know that treasury bonds could be exchanged, and even those who did know...
The exchange rate at local banks in Ontario is only 0.95, which is less than the original face value, and even less than the 1.04 exchange rate in Shanghai.
The three of them hadn't wasted their year selling plastic bags; they were all very smooth talkers, praising the older woman and the auntie so much that they happily pulled money out of their pockets.
When one or two people saw that they could actually buy tape recorders, clothes, and watches with treasury bonds, they all went home to get their worthless treasury bonds.
Ada and Pengfei sat in the truck bed, busy watching and carrying goods, their feet pounding against their heads.
Just then, a middle-aged woman walked over and asked, "Young man, do you sell sneakers here? My son mentioned something called Diadona, do you have any?"
Lin Dongzhe immediately smiled warmly. "Big sister, we don't have any right now, but we can write it down and bring you a pair next time we come. What size do you need?"
The older woman quickly replied, "Size 41, young man, you must remember that."
Lin Dongzhe quickly nodded and turned to call out, "Brother, please write this down for this lady. She wears size 41 Diadona sneakers."