In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 299 Buying Brother Duan's Original Courtyard
“Brother, you know I’ve made some money from this courtyard, and you want five thousand? That’s really putting me in a difficult position.” Yu Dawei frowned, then finally said, “How about this, we’ll take the price from the place next door, round it down, and make it twenty thousand?”

“The housing prices in town are rising very fast these days. Even a small courtyard of a little over 100 square meters costs four or five thousand, not to mention your big courtyard,” Yu Dawei added.

A few years ago, Yu Dawei's second brother-in-law, the one who worked at the grain depot, also bought a house with a yard in the town. However, the yard was very small, only about the size of two parking spaces after the gate was opened. The house had four small rooms in total, resembling a grid-like layout.

There are two east rooms and two west rooms. The east room, which is closer to the north, is the kitchen, used for cooking and tending the stove. The west room, which is closer to the north, is a small storage room used to store rice, flour, cooking oil, and other grains.

This very compact house, seven or eight years ago, sold for a little over three thousand yuan.

“Twenty thousand is too much. Before you repaired the wall, the yard was in such a dilapidated state. The wooden door was almost rotten. In the end, you were the one who replaced the door.” Duan Dahai insisted on the five thousand yuan and refused to budge.

Ultimately, the strange scene of the buyer trying to negotiate a higher price and the seller trying to negotiate a lower price was interrupted by Boss Liang.

There's no other reason than that I simply couldn't bear to watch anymore.

"If you ask me, even close brothers should keep clear accounts." Boss Liang took out a pack of cigarette paper from the dustpan that Duan Dahai usually smoked from behind him, found a pencil, and then began to write and draw.

“Let’s talk about the yard first. You couldn’t find five thousand yuan for Lao Duan’s four and a half acres of land in Luhe Town. Don’t underestimate this place. If you want to buy anything, the prices are incomparable to those in the village.” Boss Liang drew a small square on the paper. “So the five thousand yuan you gave me, Lao Duan, is indeed unreasonable.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Dawei smiled at Duan Dahai, who shook his head helplessly and took a sip of baijiu.

However, the two of them were well aware of the prices in the town.

Not to mention anything far away, some things are much cheaper to buy at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Of course, with so many villages under Luhe Town, and so many people wanting to settle down in the town, it's understandable that the prices aren't cheap.

“Besides the yard, at least we have a house, right? Don’t let its small size fool you, it’s fully equipped with tables, cabinets, and all the utensils for eating. Considering all of that, 20,000 yuan is actually quite reasonable.” Boss Liang said, but seeing that Duan Dahai was about to object, he quickly added, “However, I think that since we’re all acquaintances, it wouldn’t be like Old Duan if we didn’t offer a discount.”

Boss Liang moved his pen cap to his lips before finally speaking, "How about this, we set the price at 15,000, and then Dawei will send Lao Duan another 50 jin of Dragon Soul Wine. We don't know how difficult it is to brew, so there's no rush. We'll give it to you whenever it's ready."

"Hmm, I think it's good. I can't get enough of this wine." Duan Dahai looked at Yu Dawei with some hope in his eyes. To be honest, Dragon Soul Wine still holds a very high place in his heart.

"Well, alright. But I have to say first, it's hard to say when this wine will be brewed. I only have less than ten jin left at home. I'll bring it over to you later, Brother Duan." Yu Dawei smiled wryly. He thought this would be a very serious business transaction, but it turned out to be about liquor again.

Then Yu Dawei produced the sales contract, in triplicate, with Boss Liang serving as a witness. After that, they went to the government office to complete the transfer of ownership.

"Old Duan, I've helped you mediate, so aren't you going to offer me something in return? You should at least give me twenty or thirty catties of that wine later, right?" Boss Liang said, picking at his food while eyeing Old Duan's future Dragon Soul Wine.

"No! I'll give you five jin at most." Duan Dahai wasn't going to listen to their nonsense. Baijiu was his lifeblood, and he was very stingy about it.

"Boring." Boss Liang rolled his eyes, then started talking about some new friends he had recently made in the auto parts industry.

Boss Liang is very good at expanding his network. He has friends all over Harbin, Qiqihar, and other oil cities.

However, it's hard to say what kind of friends these are.

"By the way, have you heard that the flour mill next door is going to be privatized recently?" Brother Duan emptied the first bottle of liquor, turned around and placed it on the windowsill, then looked at the two of them, his face slightly flushed and slightly drunk, and said: "I heard that it can't keep operating. It's an old factory that's been around for thirty or forty years, and it's going to be gone soon."

"The flour mill in our town?" Boss Liang looked surprised. "No way, it has government backing, how can it just disappear like that? And it's been through so many ups and downs over the years, and it hasn't been affected at all."

“This time is different. Do you remember that little brother surnamed Tian that Dawei brought back to the village last time?” Old Duan asked rhetorically.

"I remember, I remember. I forgot his exact name, but that kid was a good judge of right and wrong. He gave his parents a good scolding in front of everyone." Boss Liang couldn't forget the incident at the end of last year when Fourth Master was almost wrongly accused and killed.

"He's the one who told me." Duan Dahai stretched out his right hand, pinched a few peanuts with three fingers, and then ate a few peanuts while saying, "A few days ago, he brought some old goods from his home to sell, as well as some tools and things from the factory that he used to repair equipment. I felt something was wrong then." "It's no wonder that when I asked, I found out that Xiao Tian had been laid off from the flour mill, along with many other employees. The factory, which used to have forty or fifty people, now only has about ten left." Duan Dahai stared at the pork stew on the plate, his eyes narrowing into slits. "I wonder how much longer this flour mill can hold on."

"So, the old flour mill is really finished! This... this is unbelievable!" Boss Liang sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), took a sip of wine, and then slapped his thigh hard with his right hand.

It's no wonder he was so shocked; many of the villagers in the surrounding villages had grown up on the charity of the old flour mill.

Having a relative who works at the old flour mill is a real advantage! During holidays and festivals, you can always get some scraps from the flour mill from your relative.

A small amount of wheat flour, paired with cornmeal that we usually eat at home—ah, being able to eat noodles like this is already a luxury.

You could say that the old flour mill is like the Weilong brand you ate when you were a child. If one day you are told that Weilong is closing down, you might feel a bit of complicated emotions, as if those feelings are crawling out from that dead memory.

"Could it be that the company is undergoing reforms or has introduced advanced equipment, so they no longer need so many people?" Yu Dawei, after a long silence, suddenly interrupted Duan Dahai's thoughts.

After he finished speaking, he didn't forget to open another bottle of liquor from the side, fill the bottles for his two older brothers, and then fill his own bottle last.

“Yes, Dawei is right! I think many factories have changed their strategies. Before, you'd see a factory with seventy or eighty workers, some even with one or two hundred. Now, with all sorts of machines, they don't need so many people. The old flour mill is probably undergoing a transformation.” Boss Liang decisively sided with Yu Dawei, after all, he had an emotional attachment to the old flour mill and subconsciously didn't want to think the worst.

Upon hearing this, Duan Dahai first nodded, then frowned even more: "Actually, I still think I can't continue working at the old flour mill."

“As you’ve seen over the years, although every household can afford rice and noodles now, people in Northeast China actually prefer rice,” Duan Dahai explained further to the two. “In the past, rice yields were low, and it was difficult to even fill one’s stomach, so of course everyone felt that being able to eat noodles was an incredibly happy thing.”

"But things are different now. Rice has inadvertently taken away market share from wheat flour. In addition, the old flour mill has always supplied flour to nearby counties, and at most, it can cover the surrounding cities. In the current situation, can it open up the market?" Old Duan shifted his gaze to Boss Liang and asked jokingly, "Do you know what sales is?"

"Nonsense! It's just about buying things." Of course, Boss Liang knew about salespeople. Sometimes when he went to the Oil City Department Store, there were tons of them.

“Who would have thought that flour also needs to be marketed? From the time the old flour mill was built until now, it has always been a matter of whoever knows about it comes to buy it. It doesn’t matter if they don’t know about it, after all, they get paid by the higher-ups, and they don’t care about a few pennies.” Duan Dahai said, his eyes gleaming as he stared intently at his glass of baijiu. “But it’s different now, times have changed.”

When Duan Dahai visited Dingcheng last time, he noticed that there were some well-dressed people on the street going door to door selling a colorful little paper box.

He was inquisitive, and after asking around, he found out that the person in question specialized in selling soap.

He'd seen that stuff too; it was finer, smelled better, and had a more appealing color than soap.

So he bought three: one for Yu Dawei, one for himself, and one for Lao Liang. The product wasn't cheap compared to soap, but after the salesperson's various sales pitches, he didn't know why, but he ended up buying them anyway.

From then on, Duan Dahai paid close attention to sales, and even went home and looked through many old books on the subject.

"Old Duan, you're something else. You're talking so logically, like the flour mill is about to go bankrupt." Boss Liang clinked glasses with Old Duan, downed a mouthful of baijiu, and looked completely calm.

In the eyes of the two bosses, how could the largest enterprise in Luhe Town collapse so easily?

That's absolutely impossible.

Meanwhile, Yu Dawei across from him was eating his food while deep in thought.

The old flour mill was actually quite large by the standards of the townspeople, but it wasn't that no one wanted it when it was forced to sell off its assets.

At the very least, Yu Dawei doubted that Brother Duan still had the means and could afford it!

P.S.: One more chapter, at 12 o'clock.

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(End of this chapter)