Chapter Twenty-Three Smuggling Goods

  The next day, early in the morning, Cheng Shigui and his two companions got into a small cart and arrived at the railway freight yard. Han Zhikui handed over the delivery note to the administrator of the freight yard, who checked it and then led them to a pile of goods, saying "These are your goods."

  "Is this all the cargo I'm supposed to take?" Liang Zi stared at the pile of goods, his eyes widening in shock. He saw that among the goods, there were thirty large cardboard boxes, each two feet square. "So much cargo, how am I going to handle it?"

  "This doesn't need you to worry about it, we will help you deal with it." Han Zhiqian said, opening the box and unpacking it for inspection.

  Liang Zi saw in a trunk, neatly stacked with thousands of electronic watches. "How much is this worth?"

  "At the lowest price on the market now, each one is sold for 80 yuan. These watches can also be sold for 30,000 to 40,000 yuan," said Cheng Shigui.

  "Ah?" shouted Liang Zidao.

  "What's all the fuss about?" Han Zhiqian pointed to another box of goods and said, "That's just a small matter. This one is worth 20 times more at market price, you tell me how much it's worth."

  Han Zhiqian explained it to him and taught him how to use it. The box was piled with miniature electronic calculators, all of which had electronic displays.

  Liang Zi was stunned, roughly calculating the value of the goods, staring at the screen with wide eyes. "This... I'm going to be rich."

  "Alright, stop yelling, there are even bigger ones below." Han Zhiqian opened another box inside which were about 20 semiconductor radios.

  Liang Zi was too weak to shout anymore.

  Han Zhiqian found the cargo yard administrator, handled the shipping procedures, and bought a return train ticket. After lunch, he also bought some food at a small store next to the train station and sent him onto the train.

  Liang Zi returned to the county town in a daze, first storing his goods at the train station. Then he ran back home quickly and called up two of his closest friends who were pulling two flatbed carts, and had them transport the goods back to his house first.

  "Hey big brother, it's been over a week since I've seen you. Where have you been? What are all these?" The thin monkey asked curiously, looking at the many large cardboard boxes.

  "Big brother will let you open your eyes." Liangzi smiled mysteriously and quickly opened a box.

  "Wow... wow... Brother, you've struck it rich!" Fatso exclaimed loudly. These kinds of things can only be seen in state-run department stores, but even there, they don't have brother's goods which are both new and look good. Usually, people can only take a glance at them, who would have thought

  "Hey fatty, you shout. Listen to big brother." The thin monkey said with a wave of his hand.

  "You guys guess where I went these past few days." Liangzi started selling a hint.

  "Alright, big brother, stop teasing us, just say it already." Fatso said anxiously.

  "Big Brother went to Goat City and took a stroll around." Liang Zi said mysteriously and proudly.

  "Ah? Goat City." The thin monkey raised his voice. "So that's what you're saying, these are all brought by Big Brother from Goat City."

  "Yeh, we've struck it rich! All these are Big Brother's goods. If we sell them for cash, we'll make a killing!" Fatso exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with RMB.

  The thin monkey was also quite happy and thought carefully "No way, brother, where did you get so much capital."

  "It's actually all goods I'm receiving on behalf of Fang Mengnan from the previous courtyard." Liang Zi said honestly.

  "Who is Fang Mo Nan?" Fatso was confused and didn't understand what he meant, while Skinny Monkey also looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  "Mother's sister's granddaughter", Liangzi explained.

  "Ah, I remember now, that little girl. If we..." The fatty's eyes rolled around.

  "Don't even think about it, if you dare to do so, I'll be the first one to make sure you pay for it." Liangzi said in great anger.

  "Hey, big brother, don't be angry, I was just thinking, can't I even daydream? " Fatso said dejectedly, hanging his head down, seeing that these people were not moved at all.

  "Alright, you guys watch me go ask her to come over." Liangzi went out and circled around half a circle, carrying Fang Mennai. The snow had thawed during the day but refroze at night, making the road somewhat muddy.

  Liang Zi and others entered the house, Fang Mo Nan saw a stranger, his eyes inquiring.

  "Oh, this is Hou Jinwen," said Liang Zi, pointing at the thin monkey.

  "Just call me Skinny Monkey." Skinny Monkey said with some embarrassment as he saw the approaching person.

  Fang Mengnan looked at him, of medium height and thin as a hemp stalk, with a patched overcoat on his body and both arms inserted into the sleeves.

  "This is Pandalai," said Liangzi, pointing to another way.

  "Just call me Fatty." Fatty was very enthusiastic and eager to please.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at Bao Zi, who was tall and sturdy. In these times, it's not easy to eat well enough to become as big and strong as him.

  "Big brother, you didn't do it, did you? These goods are all hers." The fat boy shouted loudly, pointing at Fang Mo Nan's body and gesturing with both hands, "Someone as small as her, other kids are even making snowmen and having a snowball fight!"

  "Shut up, Fatty." Liang Zidao stopped him, "These are her goods. You two go first, I'll find you tonight." Liang Zidao let Skinny Monkey and Fatty go ahead.

  Liangzi opened his mouth to drive people away, and the thin monkey didn't want to stay either. The fat boy muttered as he walked away: "So many goods... money..."

  "Alright, let's meet at our usual place tonight." Liangzi said hastily.

  Liang Zi watched them leave, turned around and saw Fang Mo Nan sitting at the door with a small stool, he went back to the house to get his clothes and money.

  "Yes, this is the clothes and remaining money that Cheng Shigui bought for me. I only bought a one-way ticket, and they bought the return ticket and handled the luggage transportation. There are still 288 yuan left."

  "Bring a stool and sit down." Fang Mo Nan heard Yu Qian say, "Then how did you solve the problem of food on the train?"

  Liáng zǐ cóng wū lǐ ná le xiǎo bǎn dèng zuò le xià lái, yī fú hé qián fàng zài tuǐ shàng.

  Translation:

  Liangzi took a small stool from the house and sat down, putting his clothes and money on his legs.

  Liang Zi complained that the food on the train was hard to eat and expensive. I didn't eat. My body can go hungry for a day or two, no big deal. Besides, didn't you give me some food before we left?

  "Never mind, let's not mention it again. You haven't been in Yang City for a few days, go and have some fun." Fang Mo Nan looked at him with a sudden realization.

  The rare warm sunshine on a winter day, Fang Mo Nan sat at the door, the sun shone on her body, and she had a relaxed and contented expression.

  "I didn't dare stay long, I just stayed overnight and left."

  "Oh, I see him, he's quite tall." Fang Mo Nan asked curiously.

  Liángzi described him as having a head similar to his own, extremely handsome, and unable to be described in words. At first glance, he looks like a superior person.

  Fang Mo Nan couldn't help but think of Liang Zi's description, and now he couldn't meet him in person. He stood up straight, looked at him solemnly and said: "Liang Zi, what do you plan to do from now on? Are you going to continue being a rascal, fighting and brawling? You're not young anymore, it's time to think about your future."

  Liang Zi listened to these heartfelt words, but they sounded strange coming from her mouth. Thinking about it, she even dared to treat his knife wounds, and there were many other strange things. Looking at the two of them now, discussing their future with such seriousness, was so similar to when he first met Cheng Shi Gui.

  "Actually, I've been thinking a lot on the train too. These goods need to be sold to turn into cash, and with your figure... it's not possible for you to do it yourself. I was thinking we could help you sell them, just give us some wages, about the same as what my mother gets." Liangzi expressed his thoughts from the past few days on the train, looking at her weakly, waiting for her response.

  Liang Zi looked at Fang Mo Nan's contemplative face and said, "Can't you? Your family has a lot of people, your parents can also be sold."

  "Hehe... it seems you're also thinking deeply, I was thinking that the salary is too low. The plan isn't thorough enough." Fang Monan said with a smile, thinking there's still hope for rescue.

  "We'll first rent a storefront on West Street in the county town's 'Business Street', put all our goods out, and then call your two friends over. We can't just wait for customers to come to us, we need to go out and promote sales." Fang Mo Nan paused for a moment, "We'll get a private business license, with your name on it, and as for salary? After deducting costs, I'll give you 30%."

  "Ah... this... is too much, I don't want that many." Liang Zi stuttered and politely declined.

  "It's settled then. I'm off, it's getting late and those two are probably waiting anxiously too." Fang Mo Nan stood up, stamped his feet, and said, "You take the remaining money to handle the license and rent a storefront. If anything comes up, we'll discuss it again later."

  "Oh, right! Cheng Shigui specifically asked me to hand this small box over to you personally." Liang Zijin brought the small box out of the house.

  Fang Mo Nan took a look at the picture on the box and it turned out to be a Sony Walkman. They really did have their hearts in the right place.

  Liang Zisu rushed home with Fang Mosou in his arms and hastily went to meet up with Shouhuan and the others.

  The thin monkey and the fat boy paced back and forth under the big pagoda tree without leaves, throwing away several cigarette butts. They saw Liangzi running over and hastily went forward to ask him questions.

  Liangzi recounted the situation at home, and Pangzi jumped up excitedly, "We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich! I'm going to be rich too, our ancestors are smiling upon us. From now on, Nannan is my ancestor!" He was so excited that he was almost incoherent.

  "So, the more we sell, the more we get." The thin monkey analyzed with his head down.

  "This is what it means, Nannan said so, she gave 30%, if you want to come and help, we'll each take 10%." Liangzi was delighted, they went all out, determined to do a good job.

  "We two take one share each, it's a bit high, we two together take one share is good." said the thin monkey.

  "Don't give me any lip, I said what I said." Liangzi kicked Skinny Monkey with his foot. "You guys have it tougher than me, Skinny Monkey's family has several younger brothers in school, and they can barely make ends meet with just his parents working as farmers. And Fatso has a mother who is always sick and taking medicine, that's another bottomless pit. As for me, I have a light family burden, my mother works at Aunt Mo's steamed bun shop, making 15 yuan a month, Aunt Mo is kind and sometimes gives us some meat to eat. Besides, when I went in, you guys didn't neglect my mother." Liangzi said with his hands on his hips.

  "We're just taking care of Auntie, it's just helping her fetch water and plant the land." Fatso thinks these are all trivial matters.

  "Alright, big brother won't say anymore, you all remember it in your hearts. While the sky is still not dark, let's first find a place to stay." The thin monkey suppressed the warmth in his heart and spoke with expectation for the future.

  After Fang Mo Nan, the people at home saw what she was holding in her hand and curiously asked this and that. Fang Mo Nan thought it would be good to introduce and demonstrate how to use it.

  Little aunt was listening with great enthusiasm, and grandma asked where it came from.

  "Whispering close to Grandma's ear, 'It was sent from the south.' She also gestured with her hand as if describing clothing."

  "Ah-ha!" Grandma suddenly realized, seeing Little Auntie being completely absorbed in listening, pulled her clothes and reminded her that Xiao Yan should not indulge in playing and neglect her studies.

  Young aunt took off her headphones, "I know, I will never delay learning."

  Fang Mo Nan was busy writing a letter to Cheng Shi Gui at home while others were admiring the portable audio player she brought, and also drew some more pictures of goods worth tens of thousands. He really didn't mind spending money, and she couldn't let people look down on her either.

  Afterwards, Liang Zi explained to her again the origin of the goods, only saying that he was selling on behalf of someone else, without mentioning who the specific person was, thus fooling the old lady a bit. Seeing that there was something proper going on and not wanting to go out and cause trouble, the elderly woman happily didn't ask any more questions.

  Before finding a storefront, Xiao Hou carried canvas bags of goods and hawked them on the street, selling some.

  Finally, before New Year's Day, Liang Zi managed to rent the license and storefront. The facade was not large, only about ten square meters. After tidying up, the store name was given a common and easy-to-call name, "Jia Jia Le Commercial Store". Fang Mo Nan painted a poster with the words "Authentic Hong Kong goods, no deception of old or young".

  Li Zai and Fang Mo Nan were discussing business when he mentioned that the goods were brought by Cheng Shigui from Hong Kong, authentic Hong Kong products. Even in Guangzhou, where smuggled goods are available, it would be difficult to purchase them even with money, and the prices would be much higher than theirs. In the future, when going to Guangzhou to purchase goods, it was rare to see such large quantities of goods being transported, as most people would only carry one or two large canvas bags, not entire boxes of goods back and forth.

  The grand opening was scheduled for New Year's Day, and Liangzi and his friends even bought a string of 10,000 firecrackers to attract customers. The three of them also specially studied the instruction manuals for electronic watches and calculators so that they could use them before selling them.

  The New Year's Day arrived, Fang Mo Nan didn't care about the sales of their goods. The home suddenly became lively, and his mother also had a holiday off, but his father was still studying and stayed away from home.

  Mom brought back a lot of things, including melon seeds, sugar, fabric, thick woolen cloth, velvet, and coal, all loaded onto the cart.

  When Fang Mengnan saw the flour, he remembered that his grandmother needed a large amount of flour to steam buns. The cheap flour was not easy to buy, so after thinking for half a day, his grandmother finally came up with an idea: let Dachengzi purchase surplus wheat from their village and grind it into flour. If one family couldn't do it, they could find several more, which would also serve as cover. They couldn't always see the steamed buns but not the raw materials, so who wouldn't suspect that Grandmother was using a lot of flour to steam buns? Every few days, Dachengzi would deliver some wheat.

  After a lively and bustling New Year's Day, Fang Mo Nan looked at the fabrics laid out on the bed, took out the drawings of men's and women's woolen coats, handed them to his mother and asked her to make them according to the patterns, just in time for Chinese New Year.

  Mom was most happy this time is to hear her little daughter finally learned, opened mouth called "mom", hugging Xiao Bei excitedly.

  Mom self-studied cutting, looking at the drawings, simple and elegant shape, beautiful lines, thinking while watching also understood roughly. Heart moved but not acted, picked up the fabric and started cutting. Unfortunately, it wasn't finished before returning to the city, after all, it's not the Spring Festival holiday, short-lived, only two days.

  At that time, Fang Mo Nan brought his mother some dried fruit, pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut, cured meat, smoked meat and canned fish from the space. Oh my goodness, fortunately it was cold, otherwise they would have gone bad. Grandma also specially gave her 100 yuan to buy some fabric in the city.

  Originally, my mother didn't want to take it, but my aunt smiled and said, "Now our mom is a wealthy farmer, if we don't take it, it's a waste." In the past, during Chinese New Year, Grandma's family was poor, and Da Yan and the others didn't even have new clothes, they couldn't bear to buy them, always feeling sorry for the kids. Now that they have the ability, of course, they want to make up for it.

  Fang Mo Nan took the mischievous Mo Bei to Old Man Lin's house to practice writing and drawing. At the beginning of class, Fang Mo Nan drew out the commonly used characters and taught Mo Bei to recognize and remember them.

  Is it?