Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

The next morning.

Shahra drove Zhang Jian to an old street in southern Tehran.

The car was parked in front of a shop facing the street.

The roller shutter door was covered in messy graffiti, and next to it was a naan stall, the smell of cooking oil wafting far and wide.

Zhang Jian got out of the car, leaning on his cane, and looked around.

"Right here?"

Shahra stepped forward, took out her key, unlocked the roller shutter door, and pushed it upwards forcefully.

The door opened.

Zhang Jian went inside, looked around, and showed a satisfied expression.

The shop looks dilapidated from the outside, but it's surprisingly spacious and interesting inside.

The space is 30 square meters, and the walls have all been thickened, so they sound dull when you tap them.

The load-bearing columns are a whole circle thicker than those in ordinary shops.

There was a small warehouse at the very back. Shahra walked over, pushed open the partition at the bottom of the warehouse, and revealed a concrete staircase leading down.

"The area below is an air-raid shelter."

Shahra spoke in a flat tone.

"It has an independent ventilation system and an emergency exit that leads directly to the sewers on the next street."

Zhang Jian nodded in satisfaction.

The military is indeed reliable; the security level is at its maximum.

He leaned his cane against the wall and took a measuring tape out of his pocket.

With a "rip," the measuring tape was pulled open.

Zhang Jian squatted down and began measuring the corner of the wall.

"You could put a double-layer shelf here; it could hold at least thirty more bags of salt."

"We need to leave a spot near the door over there to put a freezer and sell cold food; those things have a high profit margin."

He was muttering to himself, and he was also scribbling in a small notebook.

Shahra leaned against the doorframe, looking at the man.

Yesterday, this man was sitting in the General Staff's interrogation room, facing the interrogation and the general without changing his expression.

Today, however, he was squatting on the dusty ground, haggling over how many more bags of salt could be placed on a shelf.

Are all Chinese people so multifaceted?

After taking the measurements, Zhang Jian patted the dust off his hands.

He pulled out his beat-up phone, found a number, and dialed it.

The phone rang seven or eight times before it was answered.

"Feed?"

A rough Persian male voice came from the other end, accompanied by a noisy background.

"Aziz, it's me, Zhang."

There was an instant silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a series of clanging and rattling sounds from the receiver.

Then, the background fell silent, leaving only Aziz panting heavily.

"O God!"

Aziz's voice suddenly rose, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Zhang! You're still alive?"

Zhang Jian held his phone a little further away and rubbed his ear.

"I heard your shop was blown up and left a crater!"

"Half the street is gone too! I thought you weren't even ashes left!"

Zhang Jian smiled.

"You old bastard, are you hoping I die?"

"Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm lucky; apart from a few minor injuries, I'm fine."

"God bless! God bless!"

Aziz exclaimed repeatedly.

"Alright, stop praying, get the goods ready for me."

Zhang Jian recited a long list of items with practiced ease.

"Give me some copper pots and copper cups first. You can try to fool me with those machine-pressed ones."

"Twenty pounds of rock candy sticks, and five boxes of dates, please."

"We'll also be giving away 100 bottles of rose essential oil and rose hydrosol each."

"And those cheap Persian carpets in your storeroom, pick out a few small ones for me."

"I'll send you the location in a bit."

"Okay, no problem, I'll go prepare the goods right away!"

After hanging up with him, Zhang Jian dialed the number of his supplier in China, Wang Cheng.

"Old Wang, it's me, Zhang Jian."

"Holy crap! You're still alive?"

Wang Cheng's reaction was exactly the same as Aziz's.

"Nonsense, don't you know who we are!"

"Alright, I don't have time to waste with your nonsense, hurry up and ship the goods."

"Your situation is a complete mess, and you still want the goods?"

Wang Cheng was shocked.

"Things sell better at times like this."

Zhang Jian leaned against the wall.

"Lao Gan Ma, please get me a lot more this time, a ton each of rice and flour."

"Pack me up with loose-leaf black tea, cheap cigarettes, and discounted toilet paper."

Wang Cheng gave a wry smile on the other end of the line.

"Old Zhang, it's not that I don't want to send it to you, but all civil aviation has stopped, and we don't dare to ship by sea either."

"Then let's try to travel by land."

"Don't worry, we're on good terms now. As long as you send it over, I can receive it."

"As for shipping costs, I'll reimburse you for whatever you spend."

Wang Cheng remained silent for a while.

"Okay, I'll arrange it for you, but it might take a while."

"As soon as possible."

With everything arranged, Zhang Jian finally found his mother's phone number.

After a moment of silence, I dialed the number anyway.

The phone was answered before it had even finished ringing once, and my mother's anxious voice rang in my ears.

"Little Sword! Is that you?"

Zhang Jian's throat bobbed.

"Mom, it's me."

My mother's voice choked up instantly.

"You brat! I've been seeing on the news these past few days that Tehran was bombed, and I couldn't get through to you on the phone. Were you trying to drive me crazy?!"

Zhang Jian took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness in his heart.

"Mom, I'm really fine. My phone broke, but I just got it fixed and called you right away."

"It's alright, it's alright."

My mother was sobbing.

"Xiao Jian, you should contact the embassy and go back to China right away. It's too dangerous over there. It doesn't matter if you earn less money, as long as you're safe."

Zhang Jian turned around and glanced at Shahra helplessly.

Returning to China?

He probably can't even leave Tehran now.

Do you really think the military sending a special forces soldier to accompany you is just for protection?

"Mom, I really can't go back now."

Zhang Jian softened his tone.

"Business is booming here, everyone is stocking up on goods, it would be too much of a loss to close down now."

"Why are you so obsessed with money, kid!"

"Mom, it's not dangerous at all. My area is perfectly safe. Didn't I tell you before that I know people in the military?"

"Yes, that Karami!"

"He's a captain in the air defense battalion. Their camp is right in front of my shop. With them protecting me, isn't it much safer than anywhere else?"

"That won't do either!"

My mom's tone was firm on the other end of the line: "I'm the one who decides this!"

"You're the only son in our Zhang family. If you're gone, how am I supposed to live?"

Zhang Jian pursed his lips, feeling suffocated inside, but he couldn't show it.

Suppressing his inner turmoil, he offered a few words of comfort to his mother before quickly finding an excuse.

"Oh dear, Mom, we have customers at the shop! I have to go now, I'll call you later!"

After saying that, he quickly pressed the hang-up button.

The thought of home missing him while he was away from home made him feel uneasy.

But now, he has no other choice.

Once you're on this shabby ship of the Revolutionary Guard, getting off won't be so easy.

He rubbed his face vigorously to calm himself down before continuing to think about his shop.

3 PM.

A dilapidated pickup truck was parked in front of the shop.

The exhaust pipe was belching black smoke, and the engine was making a tractor-like noise.

The car door opened, and a chubby middle-aged man with a full beard jumped out.

It was Aziz.

"Zhang!" Aziz opened his arms and gave Zhang Jian a tight hug.

"You're incredibly lucky, kid!"

Zhang Jian patted him on the back.

"Hurry up and unload the goods, I'm eager to open for business."

Aziz released his grip and was about to move his things from the carriage when he caught a glimpse of Shahra standing in the shop out of the corner of his eye.

He was dressed in military uniform, with a black headscarf, his posture was upright, and his features were delicate.

Aziz's eyes widened immediately.

He leaned close to Zhang Jian's ear, winked, and teased him in a low voice in Persian.

"Brother, that's impressive! You survived a terrible ordeal and even found such a beautiful Persian wife?"

Zhang Jian raised an eyebrow, went along with it, and chuckled twice without denying it.

Seeing Zhang Jian's reaction, Aziz became even more enthusiastic and was just about to say a few more words of praise.

Shahra's gaze swept over them.

Immediately afterwards, her hand rested very naturally on the holster at her waist.

His thumb had even unhooked the holster's buckle.

Aziz's voice abruptly stopped.

His smile froze instantly, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Merchants who have been in the southern part of the city for years have a good eye for things.

Those movements, that stance—they were definitely ruthless characters who had seen blood.

"Unload...unload! Unload now!"

Aziz turned and ran to the pickup truck, quickly unloading boxes without even daring to breathe.

Half an hour later, the goods were unloaded.

Aziz wiped his sweat and took out a crumpled sheet.

"Zhang, a total of four and a half million Tuman."

Zhang Jian didn't accept the order. Instead, he walked to the pile of goods and casually pried open a cardboard box.

It contains canned meat.

Zhang Jian picked up a box and looked at the bottom of the jar.

His face immediately darkened.

"Aziz, that's not fair."

"What's wrong, bro?" Aziz asked with a broad smile.

Zhang Jian shoved the can of food right in front of him.

"This only has one month left on the shelf! Are you trying to fool me with this nearly expired product?"

"Oh dear, there's a war going on everywhere, so supplies are tight..."

Don't give me that!

Zhang Jian interrupted him directly, "You're going to charge me the original price for this piece of junk?"

"20% off! If not, I'll take it with me!" Aziz gritted his teeth.

"50% off!" Zhang Jian refused to back down.

"God! Even at half price, I can't break even! 30% off is the lowest I can go!"

"40% off! Or you can pack your things and get out of here right now!"

The two stood on the street and started arguing, spitting as they spoke.

The bargaining lasted a full ten minutes.

Zhang Jian didn't give an inch and almost exposed Aziz's true colors.

In the end, Aziz was defeated.

"Fine, fine! 60% off! I give up!"

They managed to cut the price of this batch of canned goods by 40%.

Only then did Zhang Jian take out cash with satisfaction, pointing out a thick wad and slapping it into Aziz's hand.

Aziz counted his money, his face contorted with regret, and drove off in his beat-up pickup truck.

By evening, the goods in the shop were basically sorted out.

Zhang Jian sat behind the counter, calculating tomorrow's pricing.

Shahra walked to the entrance of the air-raid shelter in the inner room, and after confirming that Zhang Jian could not hear her, she pressed the miniature communicator under her collar.

The encrypted channel is connected.

"Report."

Shahra lowered her voice.

"speak."

A deep male voice came through the headphones.

"Target's activity record for today: went to the new shop in the south of the city to measure the dimensions of the shelves."

"We then contacted Aziz, a wholesaler in the south of the city, and Wang Cheng, a Chinese supplier."

"The purchase list includes: black tea, white sugar, rice, flour, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, low-quality cigarettes, and other daily necessities."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communicator.

"Have you noticed any use of code words in conversation? Or any signs of secret agent rendezvous?"

Shahra glanced at Zhang Jian outside, who was wiping the glass with a rag.

The image of him arguing heatedly with a street vendor over a few cans of food that were about to expire flashed through my mind.

"no."

Shahra's tone was somewhat complicated.

"In order to reduce procurement costs, the target person had a heated argument with the vendor for ten minutes, and finally cut the price by forty percent."

"This perfectly matches the behavioral characteristics of a stingy, low-level businessman."

Silence fell again on the other end of the communicator.

A full ten seconds passed before a reply came.

"Continue to observe."

"Yes."

Shahra cut off the communication and went out of the inner room.

Zhang Jian had just finished wiping the glass and turned to look at her.

"Shahra, can you even do math?"

Shahra paused for a moment.

"Won't."

"Alright, from now on you'll stand at the door like a lucky cat, and also keep out thieves."

Zhang Jian stretched and looked at the room full of goods, feeling much more at ease.

He tossed the rag aside and patted the dust off his hands with satisfaction.

"Our general store will officially open for business tomorrow morning!"

Just then, a clear mechanical voice suddenly rang in his mind.

【Ding! 】

[The system has detected that a host identity cover point has been established, and the intelligence network node has been activated.]

[A new high-value intelligence watchlist has been added. This round of high-value intelligence has been updated. Do you want to view it?]