60s: I have a store

Chapter 646 Old Man Li Comes to the Door

Hearing this, the old man breathed a sigh of relief. Many of the things in his house were calligraphy and paintings, and mentioning them this time was partly a test.

If Zhou Yimin likes it, we can add some antiques of this kind later.

The two quickly began to finalize the details of their collaboration.

During their conversation, Zhou Yimin learned that the old man in front of him was named Jin Buhuan.

Just as the group was talking, Dapeng asked, "Uncle Jin, I wonder if the old pocket watch you mentioned can still keep time?"

Jin Buhuan had a good impression of the three of them, so he didn't hide anything: "The timekeeping isn't very accurate, but for everyday use, the time difference isn't big, so you can roughly know what time it is."

Upon hearing this, Da Peng was immediately disappointed. If he had left on time, he would have asked Zhou Yimin to provide the grain first, and he could pay him back later.

He now works under Zhou Yimin, so he's not worried about not being able to pay it back.

Zhou Yimin knew that Li Youde and Dapeng had always wanted a tool to tell time, so he took this opportunity to say, "Dapeng, if you want a watch, you can go to the trust store and see if you're lucky enough to find one for sale."

Upon hearing this, Li Youde and Dapeng were already disappointed, not expecting such a solution. However, they knew this was not the time to discuss such matters, so they did not continue the conversation.

They quickly got back to the main topic and finalized a deal to be made tomorrow at an abandoned courtyard house nearby.

Now that everything has been agreed upon and the roast duck has been finished, it's getting late, so it's time to head back.

The four of them walked out of Quanjude and came to where the motorcycles were parked. Jin Buhuan was shocked when he saw the motorcycles.

You have to understand that in this day and age, even bicycles were extremely rare, let alone motorcycles, which were far more precious than bicycles.

It seems we underestimated Zhou Yimin's "strength"!

The three of them got on the motorcycle, and before leaving, they said goodbye to Jin Buhuan.

Zhou Yimin then drove away on his motorcycle.

There was a knock on Zhou Yimin's door.

Zhou Yimin was a little annoyed. Who was knocking on the door so early? He got up and opened the door, only to see Dapeng and Li Youde.

I immediately felt something was off. There was still some time before the transaction, so there was no need to get up so early!
"You two, is there something you need so early?"

Da Peng said directly, "Didn't you say yesterday that we could buy watches at the trust store?"

"We're not familiar with watches, so we wanted to ask you for help."

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Yimin with a nervous expression.

Having no other choice, Zhou Yimin couldn't very well refuse: "Alright! Wait for me a moment!"

After saying that, I quickly washed up.

I'll also buy today's flash sale items.

There are 100 jin of wheat flour, 100 jin of White Rabbit milk candy, 100 jin of durian, and 100 jin of peaches.

Zhou Yimin saw durians; it seemed like he was having good luck today!

It surpassed the king of fruits of later generations, and even in later generations, he couldn't stand the smell of durian. He just couldn't understand why so many people would like to eat something that smelled so bad.

Moreover, durians are not cheap at all, easily costing one or two hundred yuan.

After washing up, he drove his motorcycle, carrying Li Youde and Dapeng, towards the nearest trust store.

They soon arrived at the trust store. Li Youde and Dapeng got out of the car and went inside without hesitation.

After Zhou Yimin parked his car, he followed him inside.

Once inside, a waiter rushed forward: "Comrade, what would you like to see?"

Da Peng asked impatiently, "Comrade, do you have a watch?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter's eyes lit up instantly; he hadn't expected such a big customer.

"Of course, just a moment."

After saying that, he went inside.

Li Youde and Da Peng began to wait patiently.

A moment later, the waiter came out with a tray in his hand.

"These are all the watches in the store, gentlemen."

Zhou Yimin looked at them and found that the watches were not in good condition. If they kept accurate time, you could still use them.

I just don't know if Li Youde and Dapeng have high standards.

Then I took a look at it and compared it with my own watch, and found that it was not keeping accurate time.

"Comrade, these watches aren't very good. Do you have any others?"

The waiter was surprised by Zhou Yimin's pickiness: "I'm sorry to inform you, but these are all the watches we have. There are no extras."

Upon hearing this, Li Youde and Dapeng were immediately disappointed. Fortunately, they had called Zhou Yimin over; otherwise, since neither of them was familiar with watches, they might have been tricked and it would have been troublesome.

Keep in mind that watches are considered big-ticket items and are not cheap at all. Even with a receipt, they would still cost over a hundred yuan. On the black market, a single watch receipt could fetch tens of yuan.

Zhou Yimin took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and handed it over: "Comrade, could you please let us know if you have any watches of decent quality later?"

The waiter looked around and, finding no one paying attention, quickly put away the cigarette Zhou Yimin had offered.

"Comrade, that's no problem. May I ask where you live?"

He hadn't expected Zhou Yimin to be so good at handling things, and that such a small matter could earn him a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes—it seemed like a worthwhile deal no matter how you looked at it.

Da Peng quickly gave out the address, and the waiter wrote it down.

The two walked out of the trust store dejectedly. They couldn't understand why it was so difficult to buy a watch.

Zhou Yimin glanced at his watch; it was almost time to complete the transaction with Jin Buhuan. He then said, "Wait a moment, I'll go get something!"

Li Youde and Dapeng nodded, seemingly still reeling from the "blow" they had just received.

They knew what Zhou Yimin was going to do, so they didn't ask any further questions.

After all, knowing more isn't always a good thing.

Zhou Yimin drove his motorcycle away, heading towards a secluded place, and soon arrived at a sparsely populated area.

After looking around and finding that there was no one else, he bought more than 200 catties of flour and 10 catties of pork from the store.

These are not entirely the goods traded with Jin Buhuan; they also include the rewards Zhou Yimin mentioned earlier for Li Youde and his group.

We quickly drove towards our destination, and after about ten minutes, we arrived.

Outside, they could hear Li Youde and Jin Buhuan talking to each other, and they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation.

Upon hearing the sound of the motorcycle engine, Li Youde and his companion immediately came out. Sure enough, they saw Zhou Yimin had just parked the motorcycle, and seeing two large bags on the back seat, the two men skillfully unloaded the items without Zhou Yimin even having to say a word.

The three of them worked together to move the things inside, and Jin Buhuan's eyes lit up when he saw them.

I rushed over to help and checked it myself, and found there was no problem.

Jin Buhuan then handed over the items he had brought to Zhou Yimin.

After Zhou Yimin took the item, he carefully examined it and found no problems.

"Uncle Jin, if you need to trade anything in the future, go to the black market and find those two. They will let me know."

Upon hearing this, Jin Buhuan quickly replied, "No problem!"

After saying that, he carried more than 200 pounds of flour and 2 pounds of pork and left.

The remaining items were transported back to Zhou Yimin's house by the three of them.

After arriving at Zhou Yimin's house, Zhou Yimin said, "You two can divide the rest of these things."

Li Youde and Dapeng were initially puzzled as to why Zhou Yimin had brought so many things; they hadn't expected that they would receive some as well.

The two accepted the bag without hesitation and thanked him.

The three of them were chatting at Zhou Yimin's house when a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the gate, which startled Zhou Yimin.

Normally, the other people in the courtyard wouldn't come to see Zhou Yimin unless there was something wrong.

"I'll go open the door and see." Zhou Yimin got up and walked to the door.

As soon as he opened the door, Zhou Yimin saw Grandpa Li and quickly said, "Grandpa Li, what brings you here? Please come in and sit down!"

Grandpa Li followed Zhou Yimin inside, and as soon as he entered, he saw Li Youde and Dapeng.

The two men quickly stood up to greet him: "Hello, Uncle Li!"

Grandpa Li paused for a moment, and the words he was about to say suddenly stopped.

"Youde and Dapeng, you two are both here!"

Zhou Yimin saw this and immediately understood that Grandpa Li must have something private to discuss with him and didn't want others to hear it.

He quickly said to Li Youde and Dapeng, "Youde, Dapeng, you two go back first!"

Li Youde and Dapeng knew that Grandpa Li must have something he wanted to talk to Zhou Yimin about alone, otherwise he wouldn't have remained silent after coming in.

"Ok."

After saying that, the two left with the things Zhou Yimin had given them.

Soon only Grandpa Li and Zhou Yimin were left. Zhou Yimin even went to close the door before speaking, "Grandpa Li, did you come all this way to see me? Is there something you need?"

Grandpa Li spoke up, "Yimin, do you want a house?"

"A house?" Zhou Yimin was stunned.

He originally thought that Grandpa Li had come to borrow some grain or something else, but he never expected it to be about the house.

Zhou Yimin was thinking that he was about to marry Zhang Yan. The current house was just right for the two of them, but if they had children and the family grew, plus the need to buy a three-wheeled vehicle and a radio for the wedding, the space would feel cramped.

If we could buy Mr. Li's house, it would solve our future housing and storage problems. This would be a rare opportunity.

Zhou Yimin was a little puzzled: "Uncle Li, is there some difficulty you're facing at home? Tell me and see if I can help?"

"There's no need to go to the point of selling the house."

He was worried that Grandpa Li was selling the house because he had no other choice.

Grandpa Li quickly waved his hand, a smile appearing on his face, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out: "It's not that I'm having any difficulties, it's just that my son just had a big, healthy grandson, and he wants me to come over and help take care of him."

"As you know, Tianjin is not close to Beijing, and I don't think I'll have many opportunities to come back in the future, so I'm thinking of selling the house."

Hearing this, Zhou Yimin finally felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was genuinely worried that Grandpa Li was selling the house because he urgently needed money; if that were the case, he wouldn't feel at ease buying it.

Now that I hear that the reason for selling the house is to go to my son's house to take care of his grandson, I feel much more at ease and have started to seriously consider buying a house.

Zhou Yimin then asked, "Uncle Li, how much are you looking to sell it for?"

He plans to buy the house as long as the price isn't too outrageous. He plans to renovate it and open up the space, making the house much larger.

However, we cannot allow ourselves to be treated like "easy prey" and get ripped off.

Mr. Li was pondering what price to set.
After thinking for a few minutes, he asked, "Yimin, is three hundred yuan acceptable?"

His house had been renovated not long ago, which cost several tens of dollars, so he felt that three hundred dollars was not expensive at all.

If they weren't in a rush, people would still buy it even at a higher price.

Upon hearing the price, Zhou Yimin thought three hundred yuan wasn't expensive and immediately said, "Uncle Li, this price isn't expensive, let's go with this price!"

After saying that, he was about to get up and go inside to get the money when Grandpa Li suddenly reached out and stopped him, his voice tinged with urgency: "Yimin, wait! I don't want the money!"

"No money?" Zhou Yimin stopped in his tracks, stunned. His smile froze, and he looked at Grandpa Li with a puzzled expression.

"Uncle Li, what do you mean by that? If you're not going to sell it for money, what do you want to exchange it for?"

Zhou Yimin was a little confused. Didn't they just agree on three hundred yuan? Why are they saying it's free now? Are there other requirements?
Mr. Li could only explain, "Yimin, my wife doesn't have enough breast milk, and she's not eating well, so I'd like to exchange 300 yuan for some flour and milk powder from you. I wonder if that's possible?"

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Yimin with a nervous expression.

He knew that this request was a bit excessive. Many people could afford three hundred yuan, but not everyone could afford flour and milk powder.

Among the people Mr. Li knew, only Zhou Yimin had this ability, which is why he went to Zhou Yimin's door immediately to talk to him.

Zhou Yimin then realized that it was all for his newborn grandson.

If it were anything else, and someone asked him to pay with goods, he probably wouldn't agree, since flour and milk powder are more precious than money these days.

But this time it was about buying a house, and Mr. Li was already at a disadvantage in terms of the price. Plus, it was for his grandson, so he really couldn't refuse.

Zhou Yimin pondered for a few seconds: "Alright! Since you've asked, Uncle Li, I'll agree. But I need to make it clear to you that the prices of flour and milk powder are quite high right now, so three hundred yuan won't buy much."

These things definitely need to be clarified beforehand, otherwise when we get it back, Grandpa Li will complain that it's not enough and will ask for more money.

Upon hearing Zhou Yimin's agreement, Grandpa Li's face instantly lit up with a delighted smile. He quickly waved his hand, saying, "It's not too little! It's not too little! Yimin, I know that! These days, it's not easy to get flour and milk powder, how could it be too little!"

He was initially worried that Zhou Yimin wouldn't agree, but things went so smoothly that he finally felt relieved.

It seems Zhou Yimin is kind-hearted; even if Zhou Yimin doesn't agree, there's nothing Grandpa Li can do.

(End of this chapter)