Literary Master 1978

After leaving the Friendship Store, Lin Chaoyang prepared to take Tao Yushu and A Mao to the furniture factory in the name of buying some furniture for the courtyard.

When he walked to the bicycle, a tall and thin young man suddenly jumped out, looked around for a few times, and then lowered his voice and asked Lin Chaoyang: "Brother, do you want to exchange foreign exchange coupons? I will buy them at a high price."

Lin Chaoyang immediately realized that he had encountered a ticket scalper. There was a foreigner in their group of three, and he knew at a glance that they would definitely not be short of foreign exchange coupons, so the other party said "buy" at the beginning.

"What price?"

"One dollar and two dollars for one dollar."

"Others buy one dollar and four dollars." Lin Chaoyang said.

"Nonsense! I only buy one dollar and four dollars when I go out. Brother, you have to let me earn some, right? Who would take this risk if it wasn't for making money!"

"Okay, when I'm short of money, I'll find you to exchange some."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, the tall and thin man was not very happy. Why are you teasing me if I don't want to exchange tickets?

Foreign exchange certificates are something that has only been around for the past two years. The purpose of issuing them is mainly to facilitate foreign guests, overseas Chinese and foreign staff to buy goods and pay expenses in China.

Foreign exchange certificates need to be exchanged for foreign exchange and can only be used in specific places, such as foreign-related hotels, friendship stores, duty-free shops and other places. If you can't spend them all, you can exchange them back for foreign exchange when you leave the country. Of course, you can also keep them for your next visit to China.

The circulation is not restricted, and it is not restricted by the ticket system. This has created a popular demand for foreign exchange certificates. Since the date of its issuance, it has become a "hard currency" that is widely welcomed by the people.

Because of this popularity, smart people in the private sector soon came up with the idea of ​​this thing, and gradually formed the business of reselling foreign exchange certificates.

On the black market, the exchange ratio of foreign exchange certificates to RMB is 1:1.4~1.5, which means that one foreign exchange certificate can be exchanged for 1.4~1.5 RMB.

The foreign exchange certificates in Lin Chaoyang's hand were exchanged for Hong Kong dollars by Li Hanxiang using his Hong Kong identity. Originally, it was 9,000 yuan, but it was exchanged for the equivalent foreign exchange certificates. If it was exchanged for RMB, it would immediately become 13,500 yuan, and the value would skyrocket.

However, Lin Chaoyang naturally couldn't exchange the foreign exchange certificates in his hand back into RMB. He had finally got such a small amount of foreign exchange certificates, and he had to "pick up bargains".

In this era, he didn't need to pick up bargains. As long as he had foreign exchange or foreign exchange certificates, he wouldn't be afraid of not being able to buy good things.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country gradually realized a new model of comprehensive public-private partnership in capitalist industry and commerce. The antique industry as a private form no longer existed, and a monopoly state-owned cultural relic store system emerged instead.

These cultural relic stores can carry out unified purchase and sales according to the instructions of the superiors, and like to sell cultural relic commodities to foreign countries under the instructions of the planned economy.

And one of the important reasons for the rise of cultural relic stores is to earn foreign exchange.

Affected by the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the Cold War, China's international trade was greatly interfered with and hit, and foreign exchange was in short supply.

Therefore, in order to earn foreign exchange, state-owned cultural relic stores, arts and crafts stores and other institutions were established in various places in China to sell some "duplicate and average value" cultural relics and artworks purchased from the private sector to foreign guests in exchange for foreign exchange.

In Yanjing, there are six cultural relic stores that have been approved by relevant departments to buy and sell antiques and cultural relics, namely the Cultural Relics Store, Rongbaozhai, Trust Company, Friendship Store, China Bookstore and Yanjing Furniture Factory.

The six stores have different focuses. The Cultural Relics Store has the most comprehensive categories, including inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings, stone inscriptions, pottery, porcelain, four treasures of the study, and miscellaneous cultural relics, which almost cover the entire category of the antique industry;

Rongbaozhai sells inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings and their reproductions, four treasures of the study, etc.;

Trust Company mainly sells second-hand goods and miscellaneous items;

Friendship Store sells modern and contemporary calligraphy and paintings and inscriptions;

China Bookstore mainly sells old books and inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings.

The Yanjing Furniture Factory sells old furniture, of course, and also sells new furniture.

It is worth mentioning that a considerable part of the goods in these stores have foreign exchange earning tasks, so these cultural relics cannot be bought by Chinese people because there is no foreign exchange.

Yanjing Furniture Factory, to be precise, is called Long Shuncheng Furniture Factory. In 1956, the public-private partnership was formed, and 35 furniture factories in Yanjing were merged into one, retaining the name of the old brand Long Shuncheng, becoming the only furniture factory in Yanjing.

However, the partnership is a partnership, but production and store sales are still scattered.

It was not until 1963 that in order to develop hardwood furniture, Long Shuncheng Furniture Factory decided to move to a wide area on the east side of Yongdingmenwai Street, which concentrated the production sites together, and furniture sales were in state-owned furniture stores in various districts.

Lin Chaoyang brought Tao Yushu and Amao to the Long Shuncheng General Factory on Yongdingmenwai Street, because the state-owned furniture stores in various districts sold new furniture, and only the general factory had old furniture for sale.

Long Shuncheng's painted archway and the towering city wall in the distance complement each other, and you can vaguely see some of the old scenery outside the South City.

Long Shuncheng and most of the woodworking shops in Yanjing City in the early years started from Luban Hutong. They were all handicraft workshops with shops in front and fields in the back, and it is still the same today.

In addition to the two furniture shops side by side on the street, Long Shuncheng's inner courtyard is surrounded by a patio, which is full of production workshops.

Walking into Long Shuncheng's shop, there are a wide variety of furniture inside, most of which are hardwood furniture, such as eight-immortal tables, six-immortal tables, two-drawer tables, racks, cabinets, square stools, benches, official hat chairs, and round chairs.

"How about the furniture?"

Long Shuncheng's salesmen were all apprentices in the factory. When they saw the three people entering the door, they came forward and asked.

"Yes, I need to buy furniture for my family." Lin Chaoyang said.

The salesperson was in his twenties and had a simple and honest face. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang and others were all young people, he kindly said: "We sell all Jingzuo furniture and old furniture. If you are buying furniture for a newlywed, you can go to the furniture store to have a look. ”

“We wanted to see old furniture.”

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, the salesperson looked at Amao, a foreigner, thinking that Lin Chaoyang and Amao were accompanying Amao, a foreigner, to buy furniture.

"Then you guys, look over here!"

The salesperson led the three people to the area where there was a second-hand store. Long Shuncheng had a special second-hand department that collected old furniture from the private sector, renovated and maintained it, and then sold it to the outside world. Its main customers were overseas Chinese.

The furniture is a large piece of furniture, and ordinary foreign guests are not interested in it. Only overseas Chinese with the same culture and race are interested in this thing.

Although the old furniture displayed in the second-hand goods department has been carefully maintained, many of them still have a quaint sense of age.

"This is a Ming Dynasty huanghuali wood pedestal with a clay support. On it is carved a tornado. The body and tail of the chi dragon are in the shape of a combination of grass blade patterns and kidnapper patterns. The two chi dragons face each other, with an elephant trunk and a head that has evolved into flowers and plants. The trend is like a square fold with the curly grass pattern in the middle.

This kind of decoration mainly appeared on porcelain, jade and furniture during the Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi and Chongzhen periods of the Ming Dynasty.

Look at the top, which is similar to a square platform, with concave walls and two embossed Chis holding longevity sticks, which are connected with the generous tables below using tenons. This generous table seems to be divided into two parts, but in fact the two parts are connected. The four legs are all made of one piece of wood. The craftsmanship is extremely exquisite and it is a rare piece of work. "

The salesperson was very skilled in her business. She introduced these old furniture and quoted classics in a clear and logical manner, which made Tao Yushu and Amao, a little foreigner, stunned for a moment.

"The craftsmanship is quite exquisite, but it's a pity that it's a bit bloated." Lin Chaoyang said.

The salesman was slightly startled when he heard this. With just this sentence, he knew that he had met an expert today.

He usually comes into contact with customers, most of whom are laymen. As long as they listen to his introduction, they will basically have a feeling of incomprehension.

But Lin Chaoyang's reaction was very indifferent, and he hit on the shortcomings of this piece of furniture in one sentence.

This Ming-made square table is made of solid materials, exquisite craftsmanship, and is well preserved. The only drawback is that it is bulky.

"You have such a good eye! This pedestal is good everywhere, but its only drawback is that it is clumsy and bloated. The old master in our factory also said so."

Tao Yushu looked delighted when he heard the salesman's praise of Lin Chaoyang, and asked him quietly: "Do you know anything about furniture?"

"I don't understand. I read a few books and I'm just talking nonsense."

Tao Yushu glanced at him with her beautiful eyes, which said that he was falsely modest.

The salesperson introduced the three of them for a long time. The old furniture here was basically from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and many of them were exquisite.

Lin Chaoyang pointed to a pair of mahogany dragon-carved Duobao Pavilions from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and asked: "How much does this Duobao Pavilion cost?"

"This is a pair, it costs 600 yuan, and it must be a foreign exchange certificate." the salesperson replied.

Tao Yushu was surprised when he heard the price, "It's so expensive!"

These days, an ordinary piece of furniture costs dozens of yuan. No matter how good the materials are, it costs more than a hundred yuan. But this Duobao Pavilion costs 600 yuan, and it also requires foreign exchange coupons. At the price of this era, It's almost a sky-high price.

The salesperson smiled a little shyly and said, "It is indeed a bit expensive. The used goods here are usually sold to overseas Chinese."

Tao Yushu nodded without saying anything and looked at Lin Chaoyang.

"I want this!" Lin Chaoyang said.

Then he pointed to the two pieces of furniture next to him. Both pieces of furniture were Ming huanghuali chairs, but they were made in different styles. One was an official hat chair, and the other had a backrest and a headrest.

These three pieces of furniture are in the best condition in the second-hand goods area. If they were put in an auction house in later generations, they would basically start at 20 million yuan.

The three pieces of furniture cost Lin Chaoyang a total of 1,150 yuan in foreign exchange coupons. After paying the money, he felt like he had found a treasure.

Tao Yushu and Amao couldn't understand his happiness.

After spending one-eighth of the foreign exchange certificates in his hand, Tao Yushu felt a little pained and asked, "Can you use the furniture you bought?"

"These are antiques, so of course they can't be used. Wouldn't it be over if we just buy something else?"

Tao Yushu had been coming to the furniture store for a while, and after being introduced by the salesperson, Tao Yushu also knew that Long Shuncheng's furniture, whether it was old or new, had the task of earning foreign exchange. A very small number of furniture that did not require foreign exchange coupons also required tickets.

"Do you have a ticket? You can't use foreign exchange vouchers to buy new furniture, right?" Tao Yushu said distressedly.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Isn't it enough to just get a few tickets?"

As he spoke, he asked the salesperson: "Little brother, we are going to buy some new furniture. Do you employees have any furniture tickets?"

These days, every unit has its own benefits. If you work in a soy sauce factory, you won't have to worry about eating soy sauce. If you work in a bicycle factory, you won't have to worry about bicycle tickets.

The same is true in the furniture factory. Long Shuncheng's employees can receive furniture tickets once every six months. For workers who don’t need furniture at home, this is equivalent to paying money.

Lin Chaoyang just spent more than a thousand yuan in foreign exchange coupons in their store without blinking an eye. This is a rare big customer nowadays.

"Last month, our factory just issued a batch of furniture tickets, but I don't know if they still have them. What tickets do you need? I'll ask my colleagues for you."

"All the tickets that can be used at home are needed."

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's tone, the salesperson happily went to the factory behind to ask around, and then brought back a message to Lin Chaoyang.

"Just a bed ticket and a wardrobe ticket."

Furniture tickets are a necessity for marriage, and they have always been in short supply. Moreover, tickets are time-limited, and it is not easy to have two tickets.

After some communication, Lin Chaoyang spent 20 yuan plus 5 foreign exchange coupons to exchange for two furniture tickets, and paid 74 yuan to buy furniture.

Including three old furniture, Lin Chaoyang bought a total of five pieces of furniture. He asked the manager of the furniture factory's sales department to deliver the goods to his door, and the other party agreed immediately.

Before leaving, Lin Chaoyang asked the honest salesman, "Little brother, what's your last name?"

"You're welcome. My last name is Zhang, and my name is Zhang Guihe."

"What's your last name?" Lin Chaoyang praised him and said, "Please keep an eye out for me later. If your factory gets any good furniture, please let me know."

He then quietly handed a five-yuan foreign exchange certificate to Zhang Guihe.

Zhang Guihe quickly pushed his hand away and said, "Please leave me your address and I'll let you know later."

Seeing that he didn't want to accept the foreign exchange certificate, Lin Chaoyang didn't force it. He nodded and said, "Please keep an eye out for the furniture tickets for me. We still need a lot of furniture."

"No problem."

Zhang Guihe responded happily. Lin Chaoyang was generous and had foreign exchange certificates. Anyone who had tickets would be eager to exchange them with him.

By helping Lin Chaoyang get in touch, he would also have face among his colleagues.