Chapter 35 Go to the black market Zhou Yimin returned to the courtyard, and when he passed the front yard, an old man called him. "Yimin, I've already processed the antlers for you. Take them back and make some wine. Be careful..." An old man told Zhou Yimin the precautions for soaking wine, such as how much cut deer antlers should be put into one pound of wine, how many days it should be soaked, etc. "Okay! Uncle, thank you!" Zhou Yimin took the cut antlers. "You kid, you're being polite to an old man. Come on, go back now!" The uncle was a doctor in the steel plant's medical room, so he naturally knew what Zhou Yimin did in the factory. He was satisfied and proud of the most promising young man in the hospital. Zhou Yimin brought honor to their courtyard house. On his way home from get off work, he met an official from the sub-district office, who not only praised Zhou Yimin, but also verbally praised their No. 56 courtyard.
Besides, for helping to process the deer antlers, Zhou Yimin also gave his family two big apples. The last time their family ate apples was several years ago. After saying goodbye to the old man and returning to his house in the middle courtyard, Zhou Yimin casually put the cut antlers into his store backpack. Then, he took out the remaining dried meat, about 40 kilograms, and 60 kilograms of brown sugar, and planned to let Li Youde and Dapeng go to the black market tonight to test the waters. He doesn't eat dried meat very much, so isn't it better to eat fresh meat? So he just asked Dapeng and the others to take it out and sell it. As for brown sugar, he couldn't eat that much, 100 kilograms! In addition to taking 2 kilograms back to his grandmother and giving 1 kilogram each to Li Youde and Dapeng, the rest was still there. Not long after, Dapeng and Li Youde came over in the dark, looking so sneaky that if you didn't know, you would think they were having an affair. "Each of you takes half. You can find out the market price and then decide how much it is. As I said before, if you encounter an emergency, you can throw things away." Zhou Yimin reminded them again. Li Youde and Dapeng were unable to react for a moment when they saw so much dried meat and brown sugar. "What are you doing standing still?" The two of them came to their senses at this point, feeling a little nervous and a little excited. They quickly divided it up, each taking 20 kilograms of dried meat and 30 kilograms of brown sugar. "Don't worry! I'm familiar with the black market, you don't have to worry." Dapeng said immediately. Zhou Yimin glanced at him and said, "You are the one I am most worried about. In business, we should make money by being harmonious. Don't be so eager to start a fight." It would be funny if the goods were not sold and he came back limping. Li Youde is a tolerant character, so Zhou Yimin is more at ease with him. They stopped talking nonsense and set off with the dried meat and brown sugar. There was more than one black market in the capital, so the two of them went to different black markets to avoid forming a competitive relationship. Dapeng knew the rules and paid 1 yuan when he entered. Therefore, if there is little or no value in something, it is better not to go to the black market. Otherwise, it will be like the news in later generations, where an old man only sells bamboo shoots for 8 yuan, but has to pay a management fee of 10 yuan.
However, the money collected on the black market is not for free. First, it provides everyone with a place and platform for transactions; second, it serves as a watchdog for everyone. Once people from relevant departments come to check, they can give timely warnings and notify everyone to evacuate. After Dapeng entered, he did not rush to set up his stall, but took a walk around first to understand today's "prices". After getting a clear understanding of the market situation and having a good idea of the situation, I started looking for a location to set up my stall. As soon as he put it up, someone came up to take a look. Because everyone was covering themselves tightly, Dapeng couldn't see the other person's appearance clearly, but judging from the voice, it should be an old man. "have what?" Dapeng lowered his voice: "Beef jerky and brown sugar, do you want any?" When the other party found out that it was dried meat and brown sugar, he was slightly surprised and asked quickly: "How much is it?" Dapeng lifted the cloth slightly to let the other person see the dried meat and brown sugar inside. "Jerky is 5 yuan a pound, and brown sugar is 1 yuan a pound." "So expensive? Fresh meat in the butcher shop is less than one dollar, and brown sugar is less than fifty cents..." Dapeng covered the cloth and waved his hand: "Okay! Go to the butcher shop and buy it!" Why would you refer to the prices at the butcher shop when you are already in the black market? You need a ticket to buy meat at the butcher shop! And even if you have a ticket, you may not be able to buy it. You have to line up early. "Cheaper!" Dapeng shook his head: "It won't be cheap." He was not in a hurry. As long as it was food, he was not afraid of no one wanting it. The man gritted his teeth, took out 12 yuan and 4 cents, and said, "Give me two kilograms of dried meat and two kilograms of brown sugar." The transaction was completed so easily. Li Youde's business was also going smoothly. As soon as he put the dried meat and brown sugar on the shelves, people started to like them. However, his brown sugar was only 1 yuan per catty, which was 2 cents cheaper. Before midnight, they both came back one after the other. Carrying a huge amount of money on them, they did not dare to be careless and were suspicious all the way. 20 kilograms of dried meat were sold for 100 yuan, and 30 kilograms of brown sugar were sold for 36 yuan by Dapeng, while Li Youde got 6 yuan less. Each of them had more than 100 yuan on them. When had they ever taken so much money? Dapeng tiptoed to Zhou Yimin's door and imitated a cat's meow. "Meow……" "Meow! Why are you imitating a cat's meow? Are you sick? It sounds so ugly." When Zhou Yimin heard the noise, he knew they were back, which was almost as he expected. After all, both dried meat and brown sugar are scarce commodities and should be easy to sell. Dapeng smiled awkwardly: "Didn't you say not to alarm the people in the courtyard?"
"Then there's no need to learn to meow! There are no cats in our yard. If you hear cats meowing in the middle of the night, everyone in the yard will think it's haunted!" Zhou Yimin was impressed by this guy. "That's right! What about the rooster's crow?" There are chickens in the yard. Zhou Yimin feels that this guy is hopeless, is that funny? "Please! Chickens also need to sleep. Do you have to pay me at night? Can't you give it to me during the day? You can pay me when you get the goods the second time." Zhou Yimin had to wake him up. "How can I sleep well with so much money?" Then, Dapeng told Zhou Yimin what had happened. Zhou Yimin took the money, counted it, and according to the previously agreed commission plan, gave Dapeng 4 yuan. "Forget about 8 cents. Let's go! Go back to sleep." Dapeng only took 4 yuan. He is already quite satisfied, earning 4 yuan a day, something he never dared to dream of before. After a while, Li Youde also came back stealthily. He was not as nervous as Dapeng, so he knocked on the door twice: "Yimin, are you asleep?" "After you sell the goods, you can keep the money first." Zhou Yimin opened the door and let Li Youde in. If it happens every time, how can I still sleep? One of the reasons I came to you for help is that I don’t want to be a night owl. "it is good!" Li Youde nodded, mainly because it was the first time he had to deal with so much money and he was really worried and afraid of losing it. Zhou Yimin took the 130 yuan from Li Youde and gave him 3 yuan. Li Youde took the 3 yuan and was quite excited, not as calm as he appeared. He returned home and just opened the door when he heard his father's voice. "I'm home?" Li Youde looked and saw that his mother was not asleep either. The couple probably had been waiting for him to come back. It seems that some brothers don’t like the black market plot, so I will just briefly mention it and not write about it in detail, and mainly write about the life plot. (End of this chapter)