Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

The market Xu Bei went to this time was larger than the one he went to buy jeans from last time.

Before we even arrived at our destination, we could hear the sounds of bargaining, shouting, and bicycle bells all mixed together, creating a lively atmosphere like a pot of boiling porridge.

Once inside the open-air market with stalls lining the street, Xu Bei discovered that in addition to frozen goods like frozen pears and persimmons displayed in flower baskets, there were also pig heads, pork, beef, mutton, and other meats hanging on iron hooks.

There are also quite a few breakfast stalls and food vendors.

Fried dough sticks, fried cakes, twisted dough sticks, steamed buns, wontons, sesame flatbreads, and mutton offal soup—the crisp air was filled with the aromas of various foods.

If Xu Bei weren't already stuffed with food, he would probably be tempted to eat it too.

People coming and going wore thick cotton-padded coats, hats, and gloves, but they were still much lighter and thinner than the sheepskin coats and dog-skin hats worn in the forest areas of my hometown.

Many people were carrying shopping baskets or net bags; almost no one was empty-handed.

Xu Beixian followed the flow of people and wandered around the whole place, also looking for a place to sell wooden stools and a suitable spot for him to set up a stall.

The provincial capital is bustling and crowded, and the price of wooden products is much higher than in the forest area.

After all, this place doesn't have the abundant timber resources of my hometown, and costs and other factors have to be taken into account, so the selling price naturally goes up.

After inquiring about the prices, Xu Bei had a better idea of ​​what to expect and found an empty spot near the stalls selling frozen pears and frozen fish.

He left the market quickly.

When Xu Bei reappeared, he was no longer dressed as before. He had changed his coat and hat and was pulling a sled and a wooden stool.

Fifty or sixty wooden stools were neatly stacked on the sled, piled up quite high.

Many people who passed by stared at him.

Xu Bei ignored the stares of others for the moment and quickened his pace toward the empty seat.

He was also worried that if he arrived too late, someone else would get there first, and then he would have to find another place.

Fortunately, even though it took a while, no one set up a stall at the empty spot he had chosen, and Xu Bei breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately pulled the sled in and began to quickly untie the ropes.

An old man selling frozen pears nearby, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, turned and glanced at him, smiling as he said, "Young man, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time here? Will these stools sell well in this freezing weather?"

"Sir, this is indeed my first time here. But it's so cold, it's fine. I can just buy some and sit at home. It won't affect anything. Especially since the New Year is coming soon, we'll have a lot of guests coming over. What if someone needs a chair?"

Xu Bei had already untied the rope and picked up a wooden stool. "Look at this mortise and tenon joint. It doesn't need nails. It relies entirely on the interlocking of the wood. The more you sit on it, the tighter it gets."

And I sell them very cheaply, only one dollar and fifty cents. You won't regret it; they're all made with the real deal.

The old man selling frozen pears immediately widened his eyes, almost dropping the cigarette butt from his mouth. "Young man, how much do you want?"

Xu Bei had expected the other party's reaction, so he calmly smiled and said, "One yuan and fifty cents. Much cheaper than the state-run ones."

The old man selling frozen pears threw away his cigarette butt and immediately came over, saying, "That's really cheap. Let me check out the quality first."

The stall owner selling frozen fish next door saw this and came over to study it with him.

While the two were knocking and trying out the seats, Xu Bei laid out a layer of burlap sacks on the open ground and then placed several wooden stools on them.

Just then, an elderly woman carrying a woven bag stopped in her tracks as she walked past the stall. She even touched the seat of the stool and asked, "Young man, how much is this stool?"

Xu Bei said with a smile, "Auntie, it's one yuan and fifty cents each. You can use them for ten or eight years without any problem, I guarantee they won't wobble."

Upon hearing that it was so cheap, the old lady didn't care even if the guarantee couldn't last that long.

She immediately sat down and wobbled around, finding it quite stable. A satisfied smile appeared on her face. "Hmm, it's quite comfortable to sit on. Give me two."

"Great!" Xu Bei was naturally pleased to have made his first sale so smoothly after only a short time there, and casually asked, "How are you going to take this?"

The old woman immediately said, "I came by bike, so I can take it with me. Young man, can you help me tie it up with something?"

Xu Bei smiled and agreed, "Okay, I happen to have a small rope here."

After receiving the three yuan and seeing the old lady off, the old man selling frozen pears and the man selling frozen fish also spoke up.

"This stool is really well-made and of good quality, but could you give me a discount if I buy more?"

"Yes, we want more than that old lady."

Xu Bei glanced at the two of them without showing any emotion. "How much more do you want to buy?"

The fishmonger quickly replied, "Four or five, I guess."

The frozen pear vendor followed closely behind, saying, "Then I'll have about the same."

Xu Bei lowered his voice slightly and said, "I'm new here too, so I'll give you a discount of one cent per person, just to make friends."

After all, the quality of the stool speaks for itself, and the two of them were the type to know when to stop, so they didn't continue to haggle and quickly completed the transaction by exchanging money for goods.

Thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations from the vendors, the remaining dozens of stools sold exceptionally well.

More than eighty yuan went into Xu Bei's pocket so easily.

However, instead of being greedy and making another trip to sell it, he chose to leave first.

It wasn't just because he was worried about being targeted by someone with ulterior motives and being accused of speculation; he also needed to find Chen Jianguo, who sold jeans, otherwise he was afraid he wouldn't be able to find him if he arrived too late.

After all, communication is inconvenient in this era. The two had only dealt with each other for the first time and hadn't really talked much. Apart from the place where Boss Zhang wholesaled goods, he didn't know where Chen Jianguo lived or how to contact him.

Later, when Xu Bei arrived at the market, he saw Chen Jianguo packing up his stall and couldn't help but think to himself that it was fortunate he had come early, otherwise he would have missed him.

He could go to Boss Zhang's place and try to find the person through him, but it's not as convenient as this method.

"Brother Chen, are you closing up shop so early?"

Chen Jianguo subconsciously turned around and saw that it was Xu Bei, and immediately showed a bright smile.

"Hey bro, you must have sold out."

"Yeah, that's why we rushed over to buy some goods from you, Brother Chen."

As Xu Bei spoke, he glanced at the goods on the other person's stall again and found that in addition to jeans, there were also some shirts.

Chen Jianguo had already tasted the sweetness of wholesaling goods, so he naturally liked this kind of customer very much.

The two chatted like brothers for a while, then packed up their stall and left the market together.

This time, Xu Bei increased the quantity of goods he purchased significantly and also pushed the price down as much as possible.

However, from their own perspectives, both of them felt they hadn't lost out.

Furthermore, Xu Bei also reached a cooperation agreement with Chen Jianguo.

In the future, if someone wants to order goods, they don't necessarily have to come in person. They can just send a telegram to make the payment, and Chen Jianguo will take care of shipping the goods to them. As for small general merchandise items, the other party will earn a small fee for their hard work.

Xu Bei was quite satisfied with this; it was great to be able to spend some money without having to make the arduous journey back and forth. However, whether the subsequent cooperation would go smoothly remained to be seen...