50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 480 Friendship Shop
Sun Zhiwei couldn't help but sigh, at that time, sandalwood was really worthless. These boxes would be worth at least hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan decades later, but now they are just ordinary boxes used to store calligraphy and paintings.

He casually opened a few boxes, randomly picked out a few pictures, looked at them, and then opened his backpack on the table next to him.

"This is 200,000 foreign exchange certificates that I just exchanged at the Beijing Hotel. Please count them, and then we can begin the transaction."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment." The person in charge waved his hand, and several accountants from the finance department who had been waiting nearby came forward to count the foreign exchange certificates.

Even if all the foreign exchange certificates were worth 100 yuan each, 200,000 yuan would only amount to 2000 certificates.

The three accountants took turns counting the money; their fingers spun like wheels, quickly counting stacks of foreign exchange certificates in their hands.

Five minutes later, the three accountants had finished counting all 200,000 foreign exchange certificates.

"20 yuan is correct." "20 yuan is correct." "20 yuan is correct."

After the three confirmed that the amount of money was correct, the staff brought over a list of calligraphy and paintings, which listed the names and descriptions of all the calligraphy and paintings.

The eighteen large boxes contained a total of 9105 paintings and calligraphy works, with a total value of 207,452 yuan, averaging just over 22 yuan per painting.

Because Sun Zhiwei still had a deposit of 9915 yuan yesterday, the museum still needs to give him 2463 yuan back.

The accountants quickly pointed out 2463 foreign exchange certificates and handed them to Sun Zhiwei, who casually put them into his backpack, and the transaction was completed.

Everyone present couldn't help but applaud, celebrating the success of the deal.

The head of the foreign guests service department was beaming with joy. He had done a great service, solving the museum's financial difficulties that had plagued it for years.

Sun Zhiwei was also very pleased. He watched as the staff sealed all the boxes before saying to the person in charge:

"I'll call a car to come and transport the boxes now. I'll need your help moving them later."

"That's only right. Please rest assured, I'll personally watch over the items here and make sure there won't be any problems."

Although the items have been sold and the money has been received, the service is not over yet.

The head of the foreign guests service department is a responsible person; he will complete this transaction perfectly and leave no room for regret.

Sun Zhiwei nodded and left the museum. An hour later, he drove a Dongfeng EQ140 alone and parked it at the back gate of the museum.

He borrowed the car from Beihai Kindergarten. Tong Jiajia now has a lot of influence at the kindergarten, so it wouldn't be difficult for her to borrow a truck to do some smuggling.

Of course, he wasn't the type to take advantage of others. He would pay the kindergarten in full for all the expenses, such as fuel costs, to avoid any problems.

At this point, he couldn't help but express his continued gratitude for the unwavering favor shown to him by Beihai Kindergarten.

New trucks like the Dongfeng 140 have only been around for two or three years, and there aren't enough of them anywhere.

And Beihai actually got one to replace their old truck. Isn't that like a favored child or grandchild?

Images involuntarily flashed through his mind: powerful figures distributing supplies, always muttering, "Leave some for the children."

Today, he drove the truck he had reserved for the children into the museum's backyard.

Afterwards, the museum staff worked in groups of several to lift the eighteen sealed sandalwood boxes onto the truck.

Sun Zhiwei only glanced at them briefly with his spatial ability before waving goodbye. On the way, he secretly put the boxes into his spatial storage. By the time he drove the truck back to the kindergarten, the truck bed was completely empty.

At the kindergarten, Sun Zhiwei paid a few yuan for gas, said goodbye to Tong Jiajia, and then returned to the Beijing Hotel.

One should finish what one starts. He still lives here, so one can't just disappear and cause trouble for others.

As I passed through the lobby, I ran into the manager, who seemed familiar with the restaurant, and casually asked him, "Did you manage to buy the calligraphy and paintings?"

"I bought them. The items are really nice, but there are too many to carry around. I'll leave them at my friend's house for now and ship them back when I have time."

He explained the situation in a few simple words, then went back to his room to get his suitcase and came down to check out.

Before noon, he boarded the hotel's car and went directly to the airport, where he walked through the airport gates as the driver watched him go.

After confirming that the driver had taken the passengers away, he changed back to his original appearance in the airport restroom and then rode his bicycle back to the city.

After returning to the city, Sun Zhiwei did not go home, but continued to stay in the diplomatic building to pass the time until the end of the workday, when he went home with his colleagues.

That evening, a row of wooden crates was piled up in a corner of the basement.

Thus, the purchase of the calligraphy and paintings came to an end, and a large number of them lay quietly in the sandalwood box, waiting for their value to soar.

The next day was another weekend. The two younger children had activities at school this week, so they stayed at school instead of going home. Sun Zhiwei took Tong Jiajia shopping at the Friendship Store.

After having breakfast, the two changed into new clothes and rode their bicycles out of the house.

They rode east along Wenjin Street, through Jingshanqian Street behind the Forbidden City, all the way to Chaoyangmen, and then turned south towards Jianguomen.

There is only one Friendship Store, located at No. 17 Waidajie, a few hundred meters east of Jianguomen.

A row of iron railings separates the two worlds in front of the shop, and a gatekeeper keeps unauthorized people out.

This new building was put into use in 73. The store has sales halls for food, general merchandise, and handicrafts, as well as comprehensive service facilities such as banks, shipping, and laundry.

At that time, the slogan of "Friendship" was: "We must have the best of the goods available on the market; we must have the goods that are lacking on the market; and we must have the things that are popular abroad!"

Previously, only those with passports, overseas Chinese certificates, or foreign work permits could enter this place; ordinary citizens could only stand and look around.

After they arrived at the gate, Sun Zhiwei led Tong Jiajia directly across the gate, rode the bicycle inside the fence, and then parked it.

Seeing their composed demeanor, the gatekeeper didn't dare to forcefully stop them, but simply asked, "Are you foreign guests?"

Sun Zhiwei didn't say much, but took out a stack of foreign exchange certificates from his pocket and waved them at the gatekeeper.

Since the issuance of foreign exchange certificates last year, these certificates have become the pass to Friendship Store; as long as you have foreign exchange certificates, you can come in and make purchases.

The gatekeeper saw the foreign exchange certificates in his hand, but said nothing more and retreated back into the gatehouse.

This situation is not obvious now, but in a few years, more and more foreigners and overseas Chinese will come to China for business, study, tourism, and other purposes.

Foreign exchange certificates also began to flow into the hands of ordinary people, and more and more ordinary people would walk into this foreign-exclusive store that they couldn't enter before.

(End of this chapter)