Listening to Li Zhi’s calculations, Gu’er was a bit dumbfounded. ’Is it really that much?’ Becoming a ten-thousand-yuan-household had once been an extravagant dream of hers. If this was true, wouldn’t she beco one after this trip?
Dingzi’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t want to think about the demobilization pay he’d received from the army when he ca back. After returning to his hotown, he had tried to pass the exam to join the Public Security Bureau on his own rits, but he hadn’t made it. The family’s finances had been left unsettled.
When Li Zhi sought him out, he knew Li Zhi wanted to help him, but also that he valued his skills. Li Zhi had asked him to go into business together. He had no money to invest as a partner, but Li Zhi promised him a share. He’d figured he might make a few hundred, which would be enough to support his grandmother. But now, it seed he had been thinking too small. Even if Li Zhi only gave him a ten percent cut, that would still be several thousand.
Li Zhi was still pacing excitedly, chattering nonstop.
Gu’er felt as if she were in a fog, overco by a sense of unreality.
Only Dingzi remained expressionless. He bent down, picked up the bottles from the floor, and started to head out.
"What are you going to do?"
Li Zhi called out hastily.
"Wash them clean, fill them with liquor, and sell them for money."
Dingzi finished coolly and went to wash the bottles without a backward glance.
Gu’er was stunned. ’Is this the sa Dingzi?’
But a Dingzi like this was even more endearing. The corners of Gu’er’s lips curved upward.
"I’m going too."
Li Zhi followed him.
Once they finished washing the bottles, Gu’er dried them one by one and set them out to air. She would fill them with the liquor early the next morning.
"Isn’t one Ruble per bottle too little? Even a piece of bubble gum costs one Ruble."
Li Zhi said, eyeing the large barrel of white liquor.
"Then tomorrow, let’s see if we can sell them for ten Rubles a bottle. If not, we’ll try five."
Gu’er didn’t have a good grasp of the local prices either, but no one wants to sell for less if they can earn more. Besides, a whole bottle of white liquor for the sa price as a piece of bubble gum certainly felt like a ripoff.
After talking for a little while longer, Li Zhi and Dingzi went back to their room.
Gu’er locked the door and wedged a table against it. It wasn’t likely that anything would happen, but it never hurt to be careful.
Gu’er was buzzing with excitent that night. On their very first night in a foreign land, they had already made money. Even though they’d run into the police, Gu’er wasn’t scared. On the contrary, she felt a sense of thrill.
’Maybe this was the right path for after all.’
Gu’er slowly drifted off to sleep. She woke up very early the next day and filled all the bottles with the white liquor.
By the ti Li Zhi and Dingzi ca knocking, she had already filled all of them.
"You’re really efficient."
Li Zhi praised Gu’er with a smile.
The three of them shared a large loaf of bread and drank so water.
Qu Shui ca knocking.
"Oh! Are you using these bottles for white liquor?"
Qu Shui’s eyes widened.
Gu’er nodded.
"I thought about bringing so white liquor myself, but the stuff is too heavy, and pre-bottled liquor is fragile and hard to transport. You guys are really sothing else, bringing such a great product on your first trip. A bottle like this can sell for ten Rubles! These Old Russians love the stuff, but not many people bring it over because it’s so heavy."
His eyes filled with envy. The goods he brought were profitable too, but compared to them, he felt he’d brought far too little. ’Next ti,’ he thought, ’I’ll bring a couple more people to help carry more stock.’
Gu’er and Li Zhi exchanged a glance. So it could sell for ten Rubles. Now they had a price point.
"Let’s go. I’ll take you to a street today where the people absolutely love things from back ho. The mont they see us setting up our stalls, they swarm us. But there are a lot of cops, too. If they spot you, you have to pay them off. Sotis several will hit you up at once, which is a real pain."
As they walked, Qu Shui explained the situation to them.
’If several cops show up, and you have to give each of them a little sothing, you could lose a hundred Rubles just like that. That would really sting.’
However, it wasn’t until they followed Qu Shui to the street he’d ntioned that Gu’er truly understood what he ant by a frenzy.
They had barely put their things on the ground when a crowd gathered. By the ti they finished laying out their wares, people were already clamoring for prices.
People were picking up items from their stall and asking for prices all at once. The language barrier forced Gu’er to communicate with hand gestures.
Soon, she didn’t even need to gesture. She could barely collect the money fast enough. It was then that Gu’er realized people weren’t just paying with Rubles, but also with US Dollars. She’d already taken in a good amount of Arican currency.
"Cops are here!"
Qu Shui yelled, but it was too late for Gu’er’s group to run. This ti, two policen were approaching. Custors were still holding their rchandise, and Gu’er was in the middle of taking money. It was too late to pack up and flee.
Gu’er sighed internally. ’Looks like we have to pay our respects.’
’Two of them... how much of a "respect paynt" will they want?’ Suddenly, Gu’er’s eyes fell on the white liquor on the ground, and an idea struck her. ’Didn’t people say the locals loved this stuff? We haven’t even started selling it yet. What if I give the policen a bottle? I wouldn’t mind giving away a bottle, but handing over Rubles or US Dollars... now that would hurt.’
Li Zhi felt helpless. It was just as Qu Shui had said: business was great, but the police were incredibly fast.
As Li Zhi tried to gesture with the policen, Gu’er picked up a bottle of white liquor and offered it to one of the Old Russians.
The Old Russian noticed the bottle Gu’er was offering. It was a local bottle, but the clear liquid inside was not.
Seeing that she had his attention, Gu’er quickly unscrewed the cap, poured a little of the liquor into it, and offered it to the policeman.
The Old Russian policeman took it, sniffed it, and then downed it in one gulp.
Gu’er winced internally. ’That’s gotta burn.’ This was high-proof white liquor, nearly 60% alcohol by volu.
The Old Russian clearly hadn’t expected it to be so potent. The bottled liquor other Chinese rchants sold was only around 40% alcohol, and its flavor was a far cry from this.
The Old Russian policeman nodded, very satisfied. This stuff had a real kick to it.
The Old Russian pointed to her stock on the ground, signaling for her to give him a new, unopened bottle.
’One bottle it is, then.’ Gu’er took another bottle and handed it to him.
He took it, then also grabbed the first bottle she had poured from. He pointed to their spot on the ground, and then he and his partner left.
"He said we can keep selling here,"
Dingzi said after they were gone.
’As long as we can keep selling, that’s all that matters.’ Gu’er went back to happily collecting money.
"I got a free pass thanks to you guys! They didn’t even ask for money," Qu Shui said. "Gu’er, that white liquor of yours was a masterstroke. Otherwise, between our two stalls, we would’ve been out a few hundred."
Qu Shui watched the scene unfold, astonished that two bottles of white liquor had been enough to deal with the Old Russian policen. After all, the cost of those two bottles was next to nothing, whereas normally they would demand tens of Rubles or US Dollars.
Li Zhi gave Gu’er a thumbs-up. ’She’s incredibly sharp,’ he thought. ’The products she picks are all bestsellers, and she even has a way of handling the police, saving us a ton of money. I was absolutely right to bring her along. She really is the one I saw potential in from the very beginning. It’s just a sha her heart belongs to Sun Jiaming. Otherwise, if we were a couple, we’d be the perfect pair to run a business together.’
"It’s all the sa, really. We could have sold those two for twenty Rubles,"
Gu’er muttered, but she didn’t dwell on it. Compared to their earnings, the loss was too small to ntion. As for the Old Russian police, she was no longer afraid of them like she was at first. They just wanted money; once you paid them, you were fine.
——————————
Third update is here. I was a bit busy, so the update is a little late. Xue is going to go cool down for a bit. It’s too hot, and there’s no fan at ho. I feel like I’m going crazy from the heat.
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