Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 940: To get into the antique shop, being a lackey is no big deal!

When Li Long returned to the inn, Li Jianguo and the others had already returned.

Li Juan and Li Qiang's faces were flushed, whether from the cold or excitement, Li Long guessed it was more likely the latter. The adults were talking, and the two little ones were also talking, whispering to each other.

Everyone was in Gu Xiaoxia's room at that moment. Li Long heard the commotion and went in. Li Jianguo said to him:

"On our way back, we passed by the post office that Xiaoyu mentioned. We called the team and the purchasing station to let them know we were safe."

"That's good," Li Long said. "I've finished my business here too." He took out the property certificate for Shao Licheng's courtyard from the file folder and handed it to his older brother: "Look, brother, this is the property certificate. The courtyard we were looking at is now registered in your name. Juan and Qiangqiang can live in this courtyard when they go to school in Yanjing."

“Then we’ll need to renovate and buy some furniture.” Li Jianguo took the property certificate, his eyes lighting up. “Just an empty yard won’t do.”

"That's easy. Tomorrow we'll go to the consignment shop. They sell furniture and stuff there. We can buy some, load it up, and put it in the store."

"Aren't you going to buy a new one?" Gu Xiaoxia asked, somewhat surprised. "Shouldn't the furniture factory have some new ones?"

“No, let’s not buy it.” Li Long shook his head. “We don’t live here often, maybe only twice a year. If we buy new furniture, it’s not worth it if someone breaks in and damages it. Let’s just buy some secondhand furniture to furnish the house first. We can buy new furniture when Juan and Qiangqiang come over and need to stay for a long time.”

"Yes, yes, that's more suitable." Li Jianguo nodded as well. "Okay, that's settled then."

"We can definitely pass the exam!" Li Qiang suddenly shouted as he listened to the adults' conversation. "We want to go to the best university!"

Hearing this, the adults exchanged glances, then looked at the determined eyes of the siblings, and smiled.

Just for those two sentences, this trip was worthwhile.

"How's the yard you looked at?" Li Jianguo asked, telling Li Long to put the property certificate back into the file folder.

Both Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Xiaoyu wanted to hear it.

"One is a two-courtyard house, which is very well-maintained, clean, and nicely decorated. I'm thinking of putting some secondhand furniture in it. The other is a one-courtyard house, which is smaller than yours and a bit messy, so it needs some tidying up. I'm thinking of coming over next spring and hiring a renovation team to renovate all three courtyards then. We'll see what happens when they're done."

It's the dead of winter right now, so even if you wanted to do something good, you wouldn't be able to make any progress.

"I really didn't expect that," Gu Xiaoyu exclaimed. "My colleague bought a house for his wedding, the kind with two rooms, one inside and one outside, which is exactly what I wanted. It took him a week to complete the paperwork... Yours is really fast."

"Money makes the world go round," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "Money makes things easier."

There were many people around, so he didn't mention giving Li Long money for the courtyard. Li Jianguo also knew that the courtyard was bought in US dollars; otherwise, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly, and the paperwork wouldn't have been completed.

Just write this down.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Long, Li Jianguo, and Li Qiang returned to the next room to rest. Li Juan, having spent the day shopping, washed up and went to bed early, falling asleep almost immediately. Only then did Gu Xiaoyu whisper to Gu Xiaoxia:
"My brother-in-law and his older brother have a really good relationship..."

“Yes,” Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile. “I didn’t pay attention when I was little, but now that I think about it, it’s just like what Dad said. My older brother really raised Mingming’s dad like a son. Back then, the only people in their family who ate the fine grains were Juan, Qiangqiang, and Mingming’s dad. You can imagine, he wasn’t very sensible back then, and he would fight with Juan and Qiangqiang for food.”

If it were anyone else, wouldn't they have given them a good beating? A ten-year-old trying to compete with a three- or four-year-old? But my older brother is different; he just wants to exchange for as much fine grain as possible.

Back then, the older kids in our group envied Mingming's dad for eating well, and secretly cursed him for being immature. But I ate well at home too. Our dad graduated from university, he knew a lot, and although he wasn't the best worker in the team, he could do other things and earned more work points, so the family received a good amount of grain..."

Gu Xiaoyu didn't grow up in the countryside, so she didn't understand these things, but she still wanted to hear them. The two sisters chatted for most of the night, with Gu Xiaoxia doing most of the talking and Gu Xiaoyu listening.

Gu Xiaoyu then understood why Li Long didn't mind at all buying a yard for his older brother's family and didn't mention money at all. Crucially, Gu Xiaoxia didn't care about that either—in her eyes, this was truly a blissful family relationship.

If even one person in this family is particularly calculating, chaos will ensue.

But thinking about it, it's normal. If one of them really jumps up and causes trouble, this family won't be able to survive.

The next day at breakfast, Gu Xiaoyu's impression of the two brothers changed. She had only ever heard of this kind of brotherly relationship before, never actually witnessed it. Gu Boyuan had mentioned it a few days ago, but it hadn't been confirmed; now that it was, Gu Xiaoyu found it very intriguing.

“Let’s go to the consignment shop to look at second-hand furniture today,” Li Long and Li Jianguo said. “Let’s get your yard set up first. My two yards are easier to deal with; the snow hasn’t been cleared yet, so there’s no rush.”

Now that I've come all this way, most of the major tasks have been taken care of; all that's left are the minor, miscellaneous things.

Li Jianguo definitely had no objections. When Gu Xiaoyu heard that they were going to a consignment shop, she said, "I know where there is one nearby. I'll take you there in a bit."

"Then the house you want to buy..." Li Long hesitated.

"It's okay, I'll stay in the dorm for now. I'm the only one in the dorm right now, the only inconvenience is the food and lodging. I'm a bit picky about where I live, so I can't rush it, I'll have to find one slowly."

Gu Xiaoyu was looking for a room that was both inside and outside the dormitory, where she could stay and cook for herself. It would be even better if it had a toilet with a flush toilet. She didn't want it to be too big, because it would feel too spacious for one person, and it couldn't be like her current dormitory, where she could only sleep and had to cook in the hallway.

And it can't be too far from the school, otherwise it will be inconvenient to get to work.

Ideally, the surrounding area should be in a good, quiet environment, as I sometimes commute late from get off work and need to feel safe on my way home.

There are many requirements, which is why it takes time to find the right one.

After dinner, they returned to the inn, tidied up, and prepared to leave. However, Shao Licheng reappeared as they were leaving the inn, disrupting their plans.

"You mean you found a foreign classmate and had him show us in?"

Li Long was somewhat surprised; Shao Licheng was quite enthusiastic and efficient.

“Yes, my classmate came here to study, and he’s going back this year,” Shao Licheng said. “I asked him for help, but I need some payment. Here’s what I’m thinking: the two of us go in with him, and if you see anything you like, you can discuss it with him directly, and then buy it in his name, and you can take it.”

"What about the compensation?" Li Long asked.

"The base salary is fifty dollars, and you get a one-dollar commission for each item purchased. How about that? He'll handle the foreign exchange certificates. After the purchase, you just give him the dollars. How does that sound?"

“That won’t do. Tell him I’ll just give him a hundred dollars. That’s enough for him to splurge for a while.” Li Long was naturally unwilling. He was thinking that there were a lot of things in the antique shop, and he wanted to buy a lot of things. If he bought several hundred items, the amount he would pay Tom would be very high, which would be a huge loss.

Li Long didn't plan to buy less. Since he was already there, he thought he should buy as much as possible, since the items in the antique shop were at least guaranteed in quality.

“That works too. I think he’ll agree,” Shao Licheng said. “Let’s go talk to him about it.”

Since Shao Licheng had already come, Li Long didn't go to the store. Gu Xiaoyu took Li Jianguo and the others there instead. Mingming and Haohao were quite excited, as they hadn't had enough of shopping yesterday. After all, this place was different from the Northern Frontier, and the two brothers were quite active at this time.

Shao Licheng's classmate was named Tom. He wasn't the blond handsome guy he had imagined, but a thirty-year-old white man with a prominent bulbous nose, gray hair, and a somewhat listless demeanor.

Li Long and Shao Licheng waited for Tom outside a hotel catering to foreigners. It wasn't far from the antique shop. Shao Licheng explained to Li Long that Tom hadn't gone back to school yesterday and had stayed at the hotel, which made things easier for them.

It took a full half hour for Tom to come out, accompanied by a girl. The girl initially snuggled up to Tom, but moved away slightly after seeing Li Long and the others. When they reached the hotel entrance, the girl whispered a few words to Tom and then left.

The girl was very pretty and dressed like a lady. In later generations, people would generally label such a girl as innocent and pure.

"Hey Tom, you've gone too far! We agreed on 10 o'clock yesterday, and it's already 10:30!" Shao Licheng, who seemed to have a good relationship with Tom, immediately scolded him upon seeing him. Tom chuckled and pointed to the girl who had walked away, saying:
"There's nothing I can do. Mrs. Tang is too enthusiastic. She wants me to help her with her plans to go abroad, but what can I do? I almost failed to get your situation sorted out..."

"Don't brag to me!" Shao Licheng was a little unhappy. Although this matter was practically public knowledge now, it involved issues of dignity, and he didn't want to hear about it or ask about it. "That problem of mine wasn't solved; I bought it with money..."

"Alright, alright, come here, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Li, who bought my yard."

Li Long was surprised to find that Tom's Mandarin was so standard that it would be almost impossible to tell he was a foreigner if he closed his eyes.

"Hello, Tom." Li Long reached out and shook his hand. "I'll have to trouble you this time."

"No trouble at all, as long as you have money." Tom rubbed his fingers together and said with a smile, "Shall we go now? I can't wait for you to buy more goods."

The implication was clear: the more products Li Long selected, the more commission he would receive.

"No, no, no, Tom, Lee has a suggestion. He'll give you a hundred-dollar commission directly. As for how much you buy, that's his business, not yours. He'll give you the equivalent amount in US dollars for the foreign exchange certificates you spend. How about that?"

"Of course, no problem." Tom thought it was a good deal. He didn't think Li Long could sell more than fifty items. Wasn't that just giving him money for free?

"Then let's go." Li Long didn't want to wait any longer. This Tom was obviously quite savvy, but he didn't want to get close to someone who had just had intimate contact with a Chinese girl and then belittled her old coat—it was better to just get what you wanted directly.

Several people were outside the antique shop. Seeing Li Long and his group approach, they immediately gathered around. Shao Licheng spoke somewhat impatiently:
"No need to mention it, we buy things for our own use."

Then these people dispersed, and they seemed quite well-behaved.

“These people are thinking that we will buy some things from the antique shops and then they will buy them at a higher price. However, these people do not have foreign exchange, and some of them are swindlers with low credibility.”

Li Long nodded, understanding that these people shared similar thoughts. Everything in the antique shop was genuine and had been authenticated. At that time, the country was short of foreign exchange, so to obtain it, the items were only sold to foreigners and could only be purchased with foreign exchange certificates.

Although it's only the 1980s, the collecting industry has existed since ancient times. As the country prospers and develops, this industry flourishes. Nowadays, some people go to the countryside to dig up land, while others keep an eye on what's readily available here; it's quite normal.

Once inside the store and their identities were verified, the store clerks didn't seem to mind that Tom had two "lackeys" with him. As long as you paid, it didn't matter who paid; they weren't that strict at this point.

The items are really cheap.

A large bowl from the imperial kilns during the Jiaqing period costs only two yuan! Even earlier ones only cost a few yuan or a dozen yuan.

Anything from later periods, including those from the Republic of China era, wouldn't qualify to be displayed here.

Of course, gold and silver items are more expensive, ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars.

There were also some calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, each costing only a few yuan, and there were many of them piled up.

Clearly, the Chinese painting style is not very popular with foreigners, since it is not a separate school of thought.

Li Long's eyes lit up like a mouse entering a rice jar. Those porcelain and jade pieces might fetch tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan later, but these paintings are different.

Some paintings are more valuable than that courtyard house!
The problem is that these paintings are really cheap right now!
"Can we buy all of these?" Li Long's voice trembled with excitement.

"Green, take it easy." Shao Licheng noticed Li Long's expression and sensed something was wrong, so he quickly called out his code name to remind him, "These paintings aren't worth much. They're only a dozen or so yuan a foot outside, so each one is only thirty or fifty yuan."

Shao Licheng was referring to RMB, but here are these calligraphy and paintings, all with seals and signatures, including works by later masters such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Wang Xuetao, Wang Binhong, and Li Keran.

The calligraphy and paintings by these people are displayed here, priced at a few to a dozen foreign exchange certificates. According to Shao Licheng, they are extremely worthless—it would be cheaper to buy them from real people outside.

Li Long, however, thought differently. He directly told Tom:

"Ask how many of these paintings and calligraphy works there are; I want them all!"

I have over ten thousand US dollars on hand, so buying a few hundred paintings shouldn't be a problem.

He vaguely remembered that a collector in later generations spent 200,000 yuan to buy 9,000 paintings by famous artists of this kind in an antique shop, which shows that these paintings could not be sold in antique shops at that time.

Later generations valued these paintings at 40 billion!
This is much more profitable than storing anything else—of course, it is said that the descendants of some famous painters in later generations would take their seals and stamp them directly on some paintings, so do you think those paintings are genuine?
Li Long naturally didn't plan to keep buying the paintings for that long. He thought that if he could buy them, he could hold onto them and gradually sell them off around the 2010s to recoup his investment.

Tom went over and asked the people at the antique shop about it.

"There are fifty-nine items displayed here." The person at the antique shop knew this very well. "There are quite a few more in the warehouse. If you want them all, we can give you a package price."

These paintings have been sitting here for so long, practically untouched, and the shopkeepers are getting impatient. They'd be quite happy if someone bought them all at once.

"How many can there be?" Li Long asked Tom.

"Let me check." The staff member, a woman in her thirties, said politely. She then checked the ledger and said, "There are a total of 1,107 items, including those in the warehouse. If purchased with foreign exchange certificates, let me see the total price... it's more than 7,800 yuan."

"I don't have that many foreign exchange certificates!" Tom waved his hand instinctively upon hearing this. "I can't afford it!"

Li Long realized this guy had given himself away, so he said, "Can I pay in US dollars directly?"

"Payment in US dollars?" The staff member seemed surprised, hesitated for a moment, and said, "In principle, it's not possible, but let me ask my supervisor..."

"Could you give me a discount? I'm buying so many things at once, you should at least give me a discount, right? After all, so many paintings and calligraphy are sitting here unsold, taking up space, and storing them is also a hassle, isn't it?"

Li Long's words surprised the staff again. She smiled wryly and said, "I really can't make this decision. I can only talk to the leader about it."

The woman handed the work over to another staff member, then hurriedly left through the back door, presumably to report to her supervisor.

“Green, are you out of your mind? Over a thousand items, you’re going to buy them all? At least buy something valuable!” Shao Licheng was genuinely concerned for Li Long. “We can’t just do whatever comes to mind. This money… that’s still money.”

Tom looked regretful: "Li, if I had known you were so rich, I wouldn't have agreed to the previous conditions. I admit I underestimated you; I didn't expect you to have such great courage... However, I don't think you're doing well with this investment. I think Shao is right; you need to reconsider."

Li Long smiled but didn't say anything.

More people came in to buy things. One of them knew Tom, and the two chatted in a foreign language for a while. Then the person bought an exquisite porcelain tea set, paid with foreign exchange certificates, and the staff carefully packaged it for him before he left.

Some people came alone, some came with family and friends, and some, like Li Long and his group, came with friends from China. Li Long saw two groups of people with female companions, all of whom were young and beautiful girls.

Both Li Long and Shao Licheng felt a little awkward.

Soon, the female staff member from before arrived, accompanied by a man in his fifties.

"Manager Xu, these are the guests," the female staff member said.

(End of this chapter)