In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

After seeing off Lian Sheng, who was a little drunk, Wang Xingguo went to help with the work.

Wang Xingguo was quite moved. Who would have thought that his childhood friend, whom he hadn't seen for several years and had only corresponded with a few times, would be doing so well now?

He's not stupid. Although Lian Sheng can't say many things due to confidentiality, he can guess what level Uncle Lian is at now.

Those heavily guarded compounds aren't places just anyone can live in!

That's great. Wang Xingguo is happy for his friend that he's doing so well.

The yellow croaker trade was booming again tonight, which surprised Wang Xingguo. There were just too many people buying meat. The several hundred kilograms of beef and mutton that Gan Ping brought in were sold out before 8:30 p.m.

The pork was about the same; by nine o'clock, only some lean meat was left, which was over a thousand pounds, and it sold out so quickly.

Tonight, because Gan Ping mobilized more meat, eggs, poultry and aquatic products to sell, the money for the small yellow croaker was only paid to Wang Xingguo in advance, which was a little over 500 yuan.

After deducting costs and money handed over, there was still a net profit of four hundred yuan left.

Wang Xingguo said with a smile, "Director Gan, could you please exchange the money we advanced for Erguotou and Daqianmen liquor to settle the debt?"

Gan Ping nodded and said, "No problem, leave it to me. I'll definitely deliver the goods to you tomorrow."

Wang Xingguo wasn't worried about having too much tobacco and alcohol. He could simply store it in storage until next year. As long as he wasn't constantly being forced to spend all his money, a virtuous cycle could be formed, and his money and tobacco and alcohol, which were considered hard currency next year, would only increase.

Gan Ping asked, "Director Wang, Director Wu's business starts tomorrow night, and he wants to exchange goods with you for live fish and eels. What do you think of this?"

"Which Director Wu?"

"It's Director Wu Er."

Wang Xingguo laughed and said, "Oh, it's him! I often forget his real name is Wu Er because his nickname is Er Gouzi. It's not that we can't trade, but if we trade his supplies with him, we can't trade them according to the selling price."

Gan Ping nodded and said, "We don't get involved in this. If you think it's possible to exchange, then exchange with him; if not, then forget it. I'll bring over a batch of ribbonfish tomorrow. What do you think is a suitable price per pound for ribbonfish?"

Wang Xingguo asked, "Is the market stocking the fish now? If the market is stocking the fish, you won't be able to sell your ribbonfish at a high price, since everyone still has quotas to buy seafood."

Gan Ping said with a bit of a headache, "I really don't know. I'll ask around tomorrow and see what I can do."

Wang Xingguo nodded and said, "I estimate that frozen ribbonfish won't sell for much, maybe one yuan per jin. Don't think that the price of fish is good just because my fish is expensive. In fact, both my fish and the yellow croaker you got are commodities with special significance."

Yellow croaker is a traditional fish used in wedding banquets. In the past, wealthy people insisted on using yellow croaker at their wedding banquets, so they were willing to spend a lot of money to buy it. However, their quota for purchasing aquatic products was limited, and they couldn't buy enough yellow croaker to support their wedding banquets.

The reason my live fish are so expensive is because of the word "live." Take the best-selling crucian carp, for example. People who care about the auspiciousness of the word "live" are drawn to it. People who don't care won't come to buy this expensive stuff, since frozen crucian carp are readily available at seafood stalls.

Gan Ping nodded repeatedly, realizing he had never considered these things before. He never imagined that crucian carp, which were worthless in his hometown, had become valuable for such a reason.

He asked, "Director Wang, what else do you think would be more suitable for me to sell?"

Wang Xingguo chuckled and said, "Actually, I think you can sell these four big items. You just need to communicate with the relevant departments and get the stamped certificates from here to get people to complete the registration procedures. For example, a Shanghai brand watch. Your purchase price will definitely be lower than the selling price, and you can sell it at double the price, exclusively to wealthy people who can't get tickets. Who would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy this stuff? This is a perfect way to target your audience, make money off them with the goods, and then use that money to buy back their hidden cash. It's a perfect business loop."

Upon hearing this, Gan Ping couldn't help but praise, "Great idea! Director Wang, you have a brilliant mind! I'll report to the leadership tomorrow and see if we can transfer a batch of the four major appliances over to sell."

Wang Xingguo instructed, "Director Gan, you can ask other departments. Any scarce or hard-to-buy items can be brought here to sell at a high price. Anyway, no matter how much money we make, it's not for our own enrichment, but to help recycle gold. What difference does it make what we sell?"

After the accounting was finished, everyone went to rest.

The next day, Wang Xingguo set off for Gaobeidian.

He later traded ten pigs with the Second Brewery for over 3,000 jin of japonica rice, over 6,000 jin each of corn and barley. Including what he had left over, he had a total of 6,300 jin of japonica rice and regular rice, 3,800 jin of wheat flour, and about 1,000 jin of millet.

Wang Xingguo kept the millet, a thousand catties of wheat flour, and a thousand catties of rice, and released the rest, then had Wang Changshun take the grain back.

Wang Changshun arranged for people to haul away the grain, while he summoned other clansmen who were in charge and held a meeting at his home.

Wang Xingguo expressed his concerns and told them to hide as much grain as possible to avoid it being transferred away.

The clansmen had no objections; storing grain to protect themselves during a year of famine was their inevitable choice.

After settling the matter, Wang Changshun said to everyone, "Xingguo's contributions to the clan are evident to all. According to the rules, a portion of the family's assets should be used to compensate for his losses. Does anyone have any objections?"

"I have no objection; this is the proper thing to do."

"Yes, it is only right and proper to take a sum of compensation from the clan's public account to give to Xingguo."

Everyone readily agreed, which surprised Wang Xingguo, as he hadn't expected any compensation.

Wang Changshun said to Wang Xingguo, "There are rules in the clan. If everyone just gives things to the clan members for free, who will be willing to work for the clan in the future?"

Wang Xingguo smiled and nodded, saying, "I didn't expect any compensation for this, but since the clan has this rule, let's follow it. I can't break the rules, can I?"

Everyone smiled. Once the rules are set, everyone should abide by them, otherwise the order of the clan will be in chaos.

Wang Changshun took out a box containing ten small yellow croakers, one hundred silver dollars, and a Guanyin pendant made of mutton fat jade.

Wang Changshun explained, "Our clan is different from others. Back then, the bandit surnamed Chang tried to use gold yuan notes to exchange for real gold and silver, but our clan didn't fall for it, so our assets are still intact, and we didn't suffer any losses because of that stuff. I know that grain is hard to come by, but according to the clan's rules, I can't give you more money. This piece of mutton-fat jade pendant is an exception I'm making as compensation for you. Don't complain that the clan is giving you less money; the rule is that this is all we'll give."