1994: Starting with unpaid leave

The gate of Dong Jianguo's house is not far from the main road. The distance is less than 200 meters along the alley, which is just a matter of stepping on the gas.

But Erzhuzi didn't expect that stepping on the gas would cost Jianguo 20 yuan.

So he kept a somber face after getting on the bus.

But Dong Jianguo didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

In his past life, he went south to Shenzhen to start a business, and he encountered many people and things there.

When I went to register my first small supermarket with the business administration department, I was rejected twice by the clerk in the lobby because my materials were incomplete.

It was a kind lady next to him who reminded him to slip a shopping card under the document when he handed it over for the third time.

The result was that the materials that had been returned twice were miraculously all complete all at once.

It was around that time that Dong Jianguo finally understood.

Offering small favors can really save you a lot of unnecessary trouble.

For example, Dong Jianguo felt that the 20 yuan was well spent.

The driver not only parked the truck in front of his house, but also jumped onto the truck bed to help unload the goods.

With him and Erzhuzi carrying the eggs back and forth, Dong Jianguo only needed to use paper and notes to record the number of egg cartons delivered by each farm.

After everything was moved, the driver didn't forget to pull Dong Jianguo aside and give him some instructions:

"The egg cartons from different farms are different colors. The four farms have red, yellow, blue, and green egg cartons respectively, which makes them easy to distinguish. You can count the cartons and tell which farm sent how many..."

"A carton of eggs weighs 40 jin (20 catties). If this carton isn't heavy enough, other cartons will make up the difference, so you don't need to worry about that."

"This delivery is for two days, a total of 1200 jin (600 catties) of eggs in 30 boxes. That's the number, but the weight is definitely more."

"I checked today, and about ten pounds of eggs were broken. The main problem is that the road to the railway bureau canteen is too bumpy. If it's convenient for you, I'll deliver your goods next time. I'll arrive at 9 a.m. and unload them in half an hour. That way, far fewer eggs will be broken..."

The driver was sweating profusely and was even a little out of breath when he spoke.

Dong Jianguo took out another pack of cigarettes, kept one for himself, gave one to Erzhuzi, and stuffed the rest into the driver's hand: "Thank you for your hard work, driver."

"Oh my, look at this... Mr. Dong, I've delivered goods to many people in the city, and it's rare to see someone as generous as you!"

"I have nothing more to say, I wish you great wealth!"

The driver was about to leave after saying that.

Dong Jianguo stopped him, saying, "Have a smoke before you go. I see you've unloaded all the cargo from your truck. You shouldn't have anything else to do."

The driver couldn't refuse, so he stood next to Dong Jianguo and had a cigarette with him.

Seeing the two men start smoking, Erzhuzi, with a cigarette in his mouth, went into the yard without saying a word to clean up the eggs that had just been broken.

The driver, who was in his thirties, glanced at the back of Erzhuzi's head and couldn't help but snort.

"Don't mind, this is my colleague from the factory. He just came from the factory, so he's still a little out of sorts."

"Oh, I see. Sometimes looking at him feels like looking at myself a few years ago, so damn naive."

After getting to know each other a little better, Dong Jianguo and the driver started talking more about each other:

"Boss Dong, I think you're a good person, but unfortunately you haven't landed any good business."

"The cut-up chickens produced by the Hongqi Farm processing plant are famously in high demand, but unfortunately they've all been snapped up by others. If you sold these, you would definitely make more money than trading eggs."

Dong Jianguo smiled and said, "I can only do as much business as I can. My family connections aren't as strong as others, so I'm already doing well if I can sell eggs."

The driver took a drag of his cigarette: "But I don't think the farm gave you all the eggs. I bet they only allocated half at most. The rest were wholesaled to small vendors. This morning when I came out, I even saw vendors hauling eggs out of the farm on carts."

Dong Jianguo blinked but didn't say anything.

After all, the goods were obtained through the "comradeship" between my second uncle and a few farm secretaries. It's already quite good that they can distribute half of them to me and not charge me for the time being.

If the first batch of eggs sells well, we can try to increase production later.

These things can't be rushed, and besides, no one can become fat overnight.

We chatted for a few more minutes before seeing the driver off.

Back in the courtyard, Dong Jianguo let Erzhuzi rest for a while before asking him to ride his tricycle to deliver eggs to the small restaurant that had placed the order.

Erzhuzi was still a bit indignant: "Brother Jianguo, why are you giving him money! My monthly salary is only a little over a hundred, don't you feel bad giving him so much?"

"What's there to feel bad about?" Dong Jianguo smiled and pointed to the door next door.

"See that? If that driver just wanted to, he could deliberately drive on bricks next time he came here. Guess how many eggs would break?"

"This..." Erzhuzi was stunned, then tried to coax Hongwen, "He wouldn't dare! I'll strangle him to death!"

"Alright, alright, mind your manners! We're doing business, not a gang! Besides, what gang sells eggs?"

"If I give him some money now, he can have the goods delivered to his door, and he'll be more careful on the road if he encounters bumps or potholes. What's wrong with that?"

"This..." Erzhuzi was stunned; he really hadn't expected this.

After he figured it out, he couldn't help but glance at Dong Jianguo a few more times.

What are you worried about?

"Brother Jianguo, I used to only think you were handsome, but now I also think you're quite capable!"

"That means you were blind before!" Dong Jianguo laughed and kicked Erzhuzi, urging him to load goods onto the tricycle.

Several small restaurants originally ordered 200 jin of eggs, which would have been enough to share in five boxes.

Dong Jianguo specifically asked Erzhuzi to pack five more boxes.

"Brother Jianguo, what are you doing? Trying to block the traffic?"

"Some restaurant owners didn't order before, probably because they were afraid of being misled by us. Now that fresh eggs are being delivered to their door, they might remember to order some."

"When you weigh them, you'd better calculate the total weight to see if it's enough, and give me an accurate count when you get back, so I don't have to weigh each box individually."

"Oh, Jianguo, I'm not good with words, so please don't blame me if I can't sell them!"

"Being bad at talking is good for you; you can practice more. Nobody is born knowing how to do business."

Dong Jianguo patted him on the shoulder: "Don't approach this with the mindset of working for me. You'll be selling eggs yourself eventually, won't you? Right now, I'm here to pay you a salary and give you a break. Why don't you give it a try?"

After listening to Dong Jianguo's words, Erzhuzi nodded thoughtfully, stood up, and pedaled away on his tricycle...

Just as I watched Erzhuzi leave, a woman's voice came from the side:

"Hey~ what's the fourth brother up to? Trucks and tricycles, making such a fuss!"

Dong Jianguo frowned slightly, and when he turned his head, he saw a woman's head peeking out from behind the not-so-high courtyard wall.

The woman was quite beautiful, with her hair styled in exaggerated waves, and her almond-shaped eyes were constantly peering at the egg carton.

The woman's name was Wang Cuiqing, and she was Dong Jianguo's neighbor.

She was a saleswoman at a fine knitting and weaving factory, known for her excellent "social skills." Her husband, Zhou Tong, was a loader at the factory, and his interpersonal skills were "average."

Dong Jianguo didn't have a good impression of his neighbors.

Because he was incredibly pathetic in his past life, this couple, who were his neighbors, often gossiped about him behind his back.

If it's just about talking badly about oneself, that's one thing.

They also said that Xiuyun's money for supporting her family came from illegitimate sources.

The real reason was that after being laid off, the couple opened a hair salon in Jianhua District, specializing in a certain kind of special service.

After repeatedly trying to drag Xiuyun into the mess, he was resolutely rejected by Xiuyun and then turned the tables on her, throwing dirty water on her first.

At that time, Dong Jianguo was either playing cards or drinking, and he didn't care about these trivial matters.

Without any powerful backing, Xiuyun could only swallow all her grievances and silently endure them.

Even these things were only mentioned by Dong Jianguo overheard by neighbors who came to pay their respects at Xiuyun's funeral.

Dong Jianguo didn't care much about how a person made a living, since he only got his eggs through his second uncle's connections.

But he couldn't even forgive himself for betraying Xiuyun, let alone forgive those who threw dirty water on Xiuyun.

So he simply nodded coldly to Wang Cuiqing and replied:

"It's nothing. I was punished by the factory and had no source of income, so I trade eggs."

"That's great, it will be much easier for us to eat eggs from now on."

As Wang Cuiqing spoke, she handed a basket over the wall:

"Jianguo, pack some eggs for your sister-in-law to try. If she likes them, I'll help you promote them later, and I guarantee they'll sell like hotcakes!"

As she spoke, she tossed her hair at Dong Jianguo, her manner quite alluring and practiced.

Dong Jianguo raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Wang Cuiqing:

"Sister-in-law Cuiqing, do you want to eat my egg?"