All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

"There's an ice pop and ice water vendor next door, so they need electricity, which is supplied from nearby!"

Lei Dongbao's heart skipped a beat, and an idea immediately popped into his head: why not set up a stall himself?

As for what to sell

With my culinary skills, using a special sauce and an air fryer, I can bake crispy chicken legs and cutlets. Served with chilled chicken, wouldn't foreigners be drooling and lining up for them?

This thing has potential!

Looking at the exhibition hall, which was already several hundred meters away, Lei Dongbao fell into deep thought. "This distance is a bit far!"

We need to find a way to attract foreigners!

I'll update during the day tomorrow!

The main text of "From Love in the Courtyard" will be updated tomorrow during the day! I finished reading "The Grand Mansion Gate" and my eyes are sore. I have no inspiration today, so I'm going to sleep. I'll write it during the day tomorrow.

I've been looking at a lot of random materials lately, and I feel like there's so much I want to write about, but I don't know where to begin. Haha, let's cut out some things I can't write about first, and then I'll write about them properly in the next world.

Actually, I've always wanted to write a reincarnation story, from the reform and opening up in 78 to 2020, about how a child from an ordinary rural family becomes a capitalist tycoon. Recently, I've been researching the wealthy people of the last few decades, and it seems that to get rich, you have to abandon morality and be daring to succeed. Hahaha...

I've been lazy this month, but I haven't missed a single day of updating since starting this book, haha. Goodnight everyone.

Alright, I've had a few bottles of Erguotou, time for bed. Goodnight everyone, please forgive my rambling!

Haha!

Okay, I can't sleep, so I'll get up and say something. I did encounter some things this month that stirred up some emotions in me. For example, a high school student raped a primary school student, causing the student to bleed heavily. I eventually called the police, but the authorities chose not to disclose the incident because they wanted to protect minors.

Sometimes I find it ridiculous that two families were ruined by a single impulsive act.

Actually, there are many foot massage places in this small county town. There are four or five foot massage places just 200 meters away from the scene of the incident. So why did this young man choose this method?

This reminds me of myself back then, probably more than ten years ago in 2006, when I went to Guangzhou for the first time, having just graduated from school.

Freshmen graduating from school realize for the first time that every city's nights hold so many indescribable things. The first time of anything is always shocking, but in retrospect, it's really not that big of a deal.

Looking back now, more than ten years have passed, and high school students today are basically the same as I was back then, living in their own worlds.

Oh well, I'm going to sleep now.

Chapter 70: Oh my god, it's so delicious!

Chapter 70 of "Love in the Courtyard": Oh my god, it's so delicious! Thinking about this idea, Lei Dongbao became more and more excited. He turned around, pulled the shopkeeper who spoke Cantonese aside, and asked.

"Boss, how much do you make from this stall in a day?"

The boss looked at Lei Dongbao with a wary expression!

Seeing his boss's expression, Lei Dongbao smiled and quickly explained.

"Boss, don't be nervous, I was just asking casually. It's like this, I'm from an oven manufacturer, and I'd like to use your space to promote my business..."

Before Lei Dongbao could finish speaking, the boss on the other end interrupted.

"No way!"

Lei Dongbao was speechless for a moment, then quickly smiled and said...

"Boss, I'll pay! How about 100 yuan a day?"

"No way!"

"Huh? Not even a hundred? Selling fast food must be that profitable?"

Lei Dongbao still didn't believe it. Money can't make the devil turn the millstone. He bargained with the boss for several more minutes before the boss finally reluctantly agreed to lend Lei Dongbao a small piece of land, about half the size of a shop. The other half, the boss still had to continue selling fast food. What a rip-off!

The price was 252 yuan a day. This price wasn't actually calculated by Lei Dongbao. Lei Dongbao said 200, the boss said at least 300, and after adding and subtracting, the boss shouted 250, which Lei Dongbao immediately agreed to. Only afterward did the boss realize what had happened!

Fortunately, Lei Dongbao added two more yuan, making it two hundred and fifty-two. This time, the shopkeeper reluctantly agreed. Who said people in this era are simple and honest? Lei Dongbao would beat him to death!

After agreeing on the price, Lei Dongbao quickly paid for one day's rent. Without even having time to eat, he called his team over and asked them to set up the venue while purchasing some of the things he needed.

Lei Dongbao himself went straight to the local vegetable market.

When Lei Dongbao arrived at the market, he realized that he didn't have a ticket and couldn't buy anything even with money. Helpless, he went to a local family nearby, gave them ten yuan, and asked them to take him to the local black market, a market that didn't require tickets.

The male homeowner was an educated man who wore glasses. For the sake of the ten yuan, he offered to give Lei Dongbao a ride on his bicycle. The two of them wandered around for more than two hours before Lei Dongbao finally bought everything he needed.

Guangzhou truly lives up to its reputation as a metropolis. The black market here sells chicken legs and chicken meat by the box, all of it frozen. Looking at all the "smuggled" goods, Lei Dongbao couldn't help but marvel at how amazing this era is!

How could it not be amazing?

Nowadays, you need receipts to buy vegetables at regular farmers' markets, but you can find all sorts of things in this alley. This is truly undermining socialism!

Lei Dongbao bought a whole bunch of seasonings, and then borrowed someone's kitchen and a pot to stir-fry for most of the day. Finally, he spent most of the day grinding and mixing the ingredients. After all that was done, it was time to prepare dinner.

When Lei Dongbao arrived at the Canton Fair with two buckets of marinated chicken legs and cutlets, it was already 4:50 pm. Seeing Lei Dongbao's late arrival, the group of people who had been waiting for a long time looked anxious!

How can I not be anxious?

There's only one hour left before the exhibition closes. The group has been busy all day but it's all for naught. The leaders from Jinzhou have gone to Lei Dongbao's booth several times, but on the first day, Lei Dongbao wasn't there at all. This made the leaders feel a little bad!

When the fast food vendor, Guangpu, saw Lei Dongbao carrying two buckets of chicken legs and chicken cutlets, he grinned, revealing his yellow teeth, and said in a teasing tone.

"Boss Lei, I'm not refunding the money for this shop space today!"

Lei Dongbao rolled his eyes at him. Seeing that Boss Guangpu's dinner was already on sale, Lei Dongbao realized that his stomach was empty. He hadn't eaten all day. But he couldn't care less about that now. He quickly called out to everyone, rolled up his sleeves, and started getting busy.

This booth is actually no longer next to the exhibition hall; it's separated by an exit plaza and a road, at least a kilometer away from the exhibition hall. The foot traffic around it is obviously not as high as in the plaza. Fortunately, it was almost closing time, and many foreigners were strolling around nearby.

Lei Dongbao couldn't care less about anything else at this point. He was confident that his ingredients would definitely attract foreigners, as this was a lost seasoning passed down from their ancestors.

Four air fryers were placed in a row on two tables. Lei Dongbao took out cooking oil and started brushing it on. After brushing on a simple layer, he picked up the tongs and started putting the chicken legs and chicken cutlets into the fryer. He then set the temperature and the indicator light started working.

Several people were watching curiously from the side. Lei Dongbao looked up and glanced at them while he was busy working.

Seeing Yang Xun among them, Lei Dongbao asked Yang Xun while he was busy working.

How was the situation inside the exhibition hall this afternoon?

When Yang Xun heard Lei Dongbao ask this question, his face stiffened, and he stammered.

"We haven't opened for business yet, but two foreign businessmen came in this afternoon to inquire about the batch of used Thunder brand fans. You originally instructed us to quote thirty US dollars, and the two businessmen were about to place an order when they heard such a low price, but in the end Li Jin said that they were refurbished used electric fans, so they took a look and left!"

Lei Dongbao remained silent as he worked. This year, the export electric fans in the exhibition halls were mostly priced above forty US dollars, with the highest being seventy-eight US dollars. At that time, the official exchange rate was still one yuan to one-tenth of a US dollar. If the price was based on this, even if it was quoted at fifty US dollars, it would still be cheaper than the domestic selling price.

In reality, this is just a price quote. In the end, foreign buyers will still have to negotiate with you. Moreover, the closer it gets to the end of the Canton Fair, the more aggressively they negotiate. In order to open up the market, many manufacturers even offer prices lower than their production costs.

During that era, the exchange rate of the US dollar was strictly controlled, and there was a huge difference between the official exchange rate and the actual exchange rate outside. However, if you actually earned US dollars, you could exchange one US dollar for eight or even ten Chinese yuan through certain channels. This huge price difference also gave rise to a huge gray industry.

In reality, even if Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory could generate several million in foreign exchange this time, it wouldn't receive that much US dollars. The relevant departments would convert it into Chinese yuan and then settle the accounts with Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory. Of course, if you have strong foreign exchange generation capabilities, you can also retain a portion of US dollars. Lei Dongbao also had a headache over the intricacies involved!

Of course, if you have a strong ability to earn foreign exchange, the country will not treat you unfairly. There are preferential policies and tax breaks, which can be converted into real money. In short, as long as you can get US dollars from foreigners, whatever equipment and raw materials you want, the relevant departments will give you priority in supplying them.

Besides, in this era, these foreign exchange earning enterprises were all state-owned enterprises. If you can earn US dollars for the country, isn't that a huge political achievement?

Who doesn't like getting promoted and making money?

However, Lei Dongbao wasn't very interested in that aspect; he only wanted to realize his ambitions through the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory!

Anyway, Lei Dongbao never thought of turning Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory into an export-oriented enterprise, but what's wrong with taking some profits from foreigners every year?

Just then, a faint fragrance began to waft from the air vent at the bottom of the air fryer, and this unique aroma gradually spread around the area over time.

Lei Dongbao glanced at his watch, then turned on the air fryer. An indescribable aroma wafted out, drawing the attention of everyone around him.

Yang Xun, who was standing to the side, swallowed hard and asked.

"Brother Lei, so fast? Can we eat now?"

Lei Dongbao quickly flipped the chicken leg in the pot and said.

"Wait a few more minutes, it's not fully fried yet. The chicken cutlet will be ready soon, I'll let you taste it in a bit!"

As he spoke, Lei Dongbao swallowed hard, his stomach rumbling. He hadn't eaten lunch and was indeed very hungry!

Lei Dongbao looked around and saw that several foreigners had stopped and were looking in his direction. Lei Dongbao chuckled and continued what he was doing.

Flip the chicken leg over to cook it more evenly, but the chicken cutlet doesn't need to be flipped. Lei Dongbao flipped it over and, taking advantage of the few minutes of free time, walked over to the few foreigners who were watching nearby.

"Hello! Friend, our fried chicken is almost ready. Would you like to come and taste it for me?"

Lei Dongbao used fluent English to call over the five or six foreigners who were watching the excitement. The foreigners were clearly curious about the oval-shaped machine. They stood in front of the air fryer and started pointing and gesturing, but they were still quite curious.

Seeing that it was almost time, Lei Dongbao opened the fryer for the chicken cutlets. The unique aroma of the golden-brown chicken cutlets made everyone sniff. Lei Dongbao picked up a piece of chicken cutlet, wrapped it simply with brown paper, and handed the chicken leg to an old white man.

From the very beginning, the old man's eyes were fixed on the air fryer. Lei Dongbao could tell at a glance that this was probably the customer who really intended to buy the air fryer.

The customer is God, so Lei Dongbao had to make sure the customer was well-fed and watered first. The white old man smiled, took the chicken cutlet, smelled it, and then took a big bite!

After taking a bite of the large piece of chicken and chewing it just a couple of times, the old white man seemed to be electrocuted. His eyes widened, his body straightened, and he froze on the spot!

The other foreigners, seeing this, all took a step back. Was this thing poisonous?

Lei Dongbao was also stunned when he saw the old white man. Was this thing so addictive?

He then picked up a piece of chicken cutlet, and without even using the paper wrapper, he simply used tongs to put it in his mouth and began to chew it carefully!

Whether it was because he was too hungry or because the taste was really good, Lei Dongbao felt as if his taste buds had been instantly awakened, and his mouth watered uncontrollably. He quickly chewed and ate the whole chicken cutlet in a few bites!

Just as Lei Dongbao finished eating, the old white man opposite him also realized what was happening. He continued chewing, tears streaming down his face. Suddenly, he stepped forward and, to everyone's astonishment, grabbed Lei Dongbao's shoulder with one hand, chewing while tears still flowed, and sobbing as he spoke.

"My God! This is amazing! This is the most delicious food I've ever eaten in my life! Oh my God! Thank God that I met you in this faraway East!"

The old white man's behavior was so exaggerated, like he was acting in a play. Everyone present looked at the two of them with suspicion. Their acting was terrible!

Lei Dongbao looked around and saw the suspicion in everyone's eyes, including Yang Xun, who was also surprised. However, there was obvious embarrassment in his eyes, as he was also wondering if this foreigner was an actor hired by Lei Dongbao. His acting skills were obviously those of a supporting character who wouldn't survive the first episode!

At this moment, Lei Dongbao was being gripped tightly by the white old man's shoulder, and he wished he could swear to the heavens that he really hadn't hired any actors!

Damn, you black guy over there, why are you looking at me with such contempt?

I really didn't hire any actors!

Do not believe

Come and try it yourselves!

Chapter 71: Chicken Legs and Beer

Chapter 71 of "Love in the Courtyard": Chicken Legs and Beer. To prove his innocence, Lei Dongbao quickly shook off the white old man's hand, picked up the remaining two chicken cutlets, wrapped them up casually, and handed them to the other two foreigners!

These two were the same two people who had just looked at Lei Dongbao with disdain: a black man and a white woman who looked somewhat adorned with jewelry!