Investment Life

On the land of China in the early 90s, expressways were still a dream thing.Except for the pitiful 300-kilometer Shenyang-Dalian Expressway, which is the only one in the country, most drivers have no concept of "two-way four-lane" at all.The real situation of long-distance transportation is that the road conditions are complicated, the road surface is in disrepair, and the connection between the provincial road and the national road is not smooth.Therefore, in this era, anyone with some conditions would rather take the train than smash their butts on cement or asphalt roads when traveling far.

Having just passed a section of the provincial road, Scar let out a long sigh of relief. Even if he avoids most of the unpaved country roads, the journey will not be pleasant.Every time he passed potholes or road bridges, he couldn't help turning his head to look behind him, hoping that the ropes binding the goods would be stronger and that those precious electrical appliances could be tied more firmly.It was still a sunny day, and if unfortunately it happened to be a rainy season, the awning and tarpaulin would become a bigger test, not the usual fear.

Fortunately, the driver this time was really good.Glancing at the young man beside him, Scar was finally a little convinced.Starting in the early morning, I drove the car for nearly ten hours. Except for a meal and refueling in the middle, I didn't rest for a few minutes at all.After such a high-intensity driving, the child just didn't complain about being tired, and even the expression on his face didn't change much.I don't know whether to say that he is honest, or fortunate that he has not been made smooth and sophisticated by the big social dye tank.You must know that drivers are also a popular iron rice bowl these days, and it is too late to pamper and provide for them. No one dares to make things difficult for the masters who drive tens of thousands of expensive cars.

Looking at the road signs poked on the side of the road, it is almost to the border of Chenzhou, and it should be their first delivery point.

"Xiao Chen, turn right at the next intersection, it's time to arrive."

He didn't say where he was going, and Chen Yuanming didn't care. He followed the other party's instructions and drove into a relatively flat dirt road. After about 20 minutes, a small village appeared in front of him.

"The third house on the west side of the village entrance, parked outside the door."

The playful expression along the way also gradually subsided, and Scar sat up straight, paying attention to the surrounding situation.Since this is a smuggling trade, you need to be more careful when handing over the goods. Zhuhai is not a smuggling paradise. The further you go to the mainland, the greater the crackdown on buying and selling. Both parties to the delivery should avoid densely populated large and medium-sized cities. , but also to ensure that the receiving place is not so remote, and there are credible people on both sides, so as to prevent some people from eating too badly.In their small network, Chenzhou is the appetizer.

A few minutes later, the truck stopped outside a small yard, Scar jumped out of the car, and knocked on the door panel a few times with a fairly rhythmic beat.With a squeak, the door opened.A head protruded from the inside. It was a round-headed, round-headed kid, probably less than 12 years old. He glanced left and right before opening the door. Scar beckoned to Chen Yuanming, and the big truck slowly drove into the courtyard.

This small yard is a little smaller than the yard where they loaded the goods. There is only a simple carport beside the yard, and there is no warehouse.After the truck stopped, Scar didn't call Chen Yuanming to unload the cargo, but called him out of the truck, and dragged him to the side room in the north of the courtyard with his shoulders in his arms.

This is a temporary brick house, only ten square meters in size.The furnishings in the room are quite simple, a small round table, a wooden bed, and a few toiletries.At this time, there was a bowl of steaming rice on the dining table, and two hot dishes, one meat and one vegetable, probably had been kept warm in the pot, still steaming.Scar pushed Chen Yuanming on the bench, pointed to the thermos pot beside the table with a smile, "Eat first! We only have plain water today, and we have to continue driving tomorrow, so let's stop drinking."

"I don't drink." Looking at the only pair of bowls and chopsticks on the table, Chen Yuanming only replied lightly, and sat down to eat.After ten hours of continuous driving, he was already extremely nervous, and coupled with the cold meal at noon that even dogs despise, he is really exhausted now, and it would be nice to have a mouthful of hot food.

Seeing Chen Yuanming's calm attitude, Scar grinned and patted the boy on the shoulder.Don't be curious, don't talk too much, don't mind your business, there is no more worry-free guy.

"I'm going to do some errands outside first. If you're tired later, go to bed first." Scar pointed to the simple bed board on one side, "I won't be coming back tonight, and I'll be on my way at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning."

Chen Yuanming's mouth was full of food, and he looked hungry, but he just took the time to nod his head to show that he heard it.Scar smiled slightly, patted the other person on the shoulder again, turned and walked out the door.

When Scar's figure disappeared outside the door, Chen Yuanming slowed down his chewing speed, narrowed his eyes slightly and scanned the whole room.It was still early at this time, probably only around 5 or 6 o'clock, but the room was quite dark, and the only window was opened under the beam of the house, which was only a foot wide, and there was not much light at all.The door is facing the courtyard wall, and it is impossible to spy on anything in the courtyard.Along the way, Chen Yuanming also chatted with Scar intermittently for a few days. Although this person seemed to be open-mouthed and likes to brag, he never talked nonsense when he was really tight. He tried a few times carefully but couldn't find any clues.

However, after these two days of observation, the smuggling gang is not the same as what I heard from the Hokkien in my previous life.In his vague impression, now is not the prime time for TV smuggling, the consumption tax reform on TV sales in the late 80s, and the upcoming abolition of the dual-track price system in the early 90s to liberalize the market economy.The former TV reselling industry fell into a trough. He remembered that there was a related introduction in a book he read in his previous life, saying that a well-known entrepreneur wanted to make a fortune by reselling TVs, but he lost his pants.I think that in the past two years, major changes will take place in the TV-related industries.

At this time, the Ma Lei brothers only had three trucks in total.Like their car, there are only 2 sets of color TVs and dozens of sets of stereos installed in the car, all of which are Nissan products, and each set is worth a few hundred yuan in profit. The whole car is sold out smoothly. The sky-breaking profit is only 300 yuan.I heard that the return journey is also in the color TV business, but it is a well-known domestic brand, relying on the dual-track system to make money from the price difference, and evading TV tax or something.

However, smuggling and reselling both require costs.Doing things up and down, building lines and paving roads, a lot of money will be invested in maintaining interpersonal relationships. If you continue to do it for many years, it is no problem to earn four to five million yuan a year, but you can make crazy money here, and the southeast coast is full of rich and upstarts. In terms of land boundaries, they are far away from "someone".After two years, the TV industry will go downhill, and it will be even more difficult to develop.This is not like the group of powerful guys who trade with Russia in the north can eat this bowl of rice for a long time. The pressure of competition in the south is so great that it is not easy to get ahead.

But in the mouth of the Fujian foreman, these two people are quite good. By the time he was imprisoned in 1996, the business had expanded to Nanjing. Because the stall was too big, his kind of small shrimp had a chance to slip through the net and was not involved in the case. inside.

Today, following Scar all the way, Chen Yuanming found that their business is far from this scale.There may be two reasons: one is that they have just started and have not yet found the way to make money, and the other is that the real business has not been exposed on the surface.As far as Chen Yuanming thought, it might be a combination of the two.

But... Swallowing what was in his mouth, he looked away and smiled self-deprecatingly.No matter what kind of business they are in, it is the best choice for him not to contact or go deep.Now the city of Zhuhai is just a stepping stone for him to start, and if he falls into the water too hard, the loss outweighs the gain.It's better to focus on your own plan.

After figuring this out, Chen Yuanming didn't delay, and threw himself on the bed after eating dinner. This time, the drowsiness came very quickly. Maybe he was numb after driving during the day, and he didn't even come to him with nightmares. I slept till dawn.

Early the next morning, when he got up from the bed, the smell of rice was already wafting outside.Walking out of the house door, I saw a small table set up in the courtyard, Scar was holding his forehead in pain, bickering with the furry child beside him.Seeing Chen Yuanming come out, he wailed.

"Hurry up and eat! I was force-fed and vomited twice yesterday. You see, this unlucky kid is making more trouble..." He waved his hand at the kid like chasing flies, "Hurry up and get out! Otherwise, your father will beat you!"

Although he looked like he was suffering from a hangover, the man looked calm, as if nothing happened last night. It was obvious that a piece of cargo was missing from the truck in the distance, and it was probably transported away overnight.Chen Yuanming glanced away, then looked away, nodded, sat down and began to eat.

Half an hour later, the blue New Jiefang drove out of the small courtyard and headed to the next location.

They stopped twice along the way, one time was in such a small village, and the other time they simply slept in the car for one night. After tossing and tossing until the third day, they drove to the terminal this time, Wuhan.At this time, the goods on the car had already run out, so instead of stopping in a small remote village as usual, they chose to stay in a hotel on the outskirts of Wuhan.

"A Ming, you just stay here for two days and take a good rest. I'll go to the city to get some goods first, and we'll go on the road when the goods are all ready." After a few days of getting along day and night, Scar had already changed his address. He greeted him very appropriately, "If you want to play, you can go out to play. Here is the overtime pay for your sports car. Let's play with it first. Young people, don't stay in the house all the time."

The 200 yuan was stuffed into his pocket, Scar blinked at Chen Yuanming, and swaggered out of the hotel, shaking the car keys.With no one to accompany him and no extra tasks, Chen Yuanming exhaled, it was time to go shopping.