Large-scale purchases

Zhao Dongchuan rode his bicycle, enduring a bumpy journey, until he arrived at the black market he had visited before.

The market hadn't changed much; it was still the same as before, just a little livelier.

After paying the 'entrance fee,' Zhao Dongchuan entered and began to browse the market.

Before coming, he had directly put all the bulky items into a room in the backyard of his 'secret base.'

This was so he would have more space when he came here to buy goods.

He had considered transporting goods like other vendors, using trucks, transport teams, or covertly on trains, but he didn't have the connections. Hu Jianjun was a team leader in a transport company, but Zhao Dongchuan didn't want him involved in risky, nationwide smuggling.

The storage ring space was the safest, but 10 cubic meters was still too small. He wished it could be larger so he could carry more items and be a qualified 'delivery man'!

Upon observation, he noticed many more products in the market, such as electric fans, electronic calculators, tape recorders, radios, and many more sellers of electronic watches.

It seemed that after a year of development, the volume of goods coming through Yuen Long was increasing.

He even saw someone selling pagers.

Beginning in the 1970s, Hong Kong already had pagers. Because the earliest alert sound was a 'BB' sound, everyone gradually started calling them 'BB machines' (pagers).

After receiving a call, the owner needed to call the paging center to reply to the message.

Pagers were very expensive at this time; in Hong Kong, they sold for over a thousand Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to a month's salary for an ordinary citizen in Hong Kong.

In the mainland, this item hadn't become popular yet; to be precise, there wasn't even one, because there were no paging stations, so it couldn't be used even if one wanted to.

Current pagers were still first-generation models that couldn't display text; they only served as a remote alert tool—if it rang, someone was looking for you and you needed to call back.

Zhao Dongchuan kept these items in mind, thinking of getting them from Li Dadan later. Since he had channels in Hong Kong, getting these things would surely be no problem. Before, he didn't have enough funds, but now he had a lot more, so he could get a bit of everything.

He went to Li Dadan's usual stall but didn't see him; it seemed he wasn't there today.

Zhao Dongchuan remained calm, looked around, and seeing nothing unusual, he left the black market directly and rode his bicycle towards the courtyard Li Dadan had taken him to last time.

Before long, he arrived at the courtyard.

Zhao Dongchuan put on his glasses and put away his bicycle when he was almost at the courtyard, walking the rest of the way.

He went to the corner of the courtyard and first listened for any movement inside the house.

Hmm, the courtyard was very quiet!

He walked to the door, knocked, and waited for a while.

Uh, no one came to open the door!

'Damn it, he's not here, is he?' Zhao Dongchuan muttered to himself.

Not at his stall and not here, he most likely went to pick up goods. He would have to wait until tomorrow, Thursday, to try his luck at the market.

Zhao Dongchuan had originally planned to turn around and leave, but unwilling to give up, he knocked one last time, this time much louder.

Just as he was about to prepare to go to the market again tomorrow, footsteps approached.

“……”

Zhao Dongchuan was speechless; someone was inside, but they hadn't opened the door when he knocked earlier.

'Creak!' The door opened.

A young man with bell-bottoms, a sailor's shirt, and messy hair, yawning, opened the door.

This person was none other than the long-unseen Li Dadan!

'Which bastard is knocking on the door so early in the morning? Can't a man get some sleep!!!'

……

Zhao Dongchuan stood at the door with an expressionless, indifferent face, looking at Li Dadan.

Li Dadan rubbed his eyes, looked at Zhao Dongchuan, paused for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise: 'Oh, you're that Xiao Han? Boss Han?'

Seeing Zhao Dongchuan's expression, Li Dadan realized he had said the wrong thing, quickly put on a smiling face, and chuckled: 'Oh dear, it turns out to be a distinguished guest! No wonder the magpies by the window kept chirping. Please come in, come in!'

Zhao Dongchuan naturally wouldn't bother arguing with him. He was here for business, so he wouldn't fall out with someone over such a small matter.

Following Li Dadan's invitation, Zhao Dongchuan entered the house and said indifferently, 'Boss Li, business has been very good lately, hasn't it? It seems you must have been very busy last night!'

'Hahaha, Boss Han... Brother Han... well... I was indeed quite busy last night!' Li Dadan rubbed his waist, chuckling awkwardly.

……

Zhao Dongchuan looked at Li Dadan's frivolous steps and knew exactly what he meant by 'busy.'

Really, are young people nowadays so wild!?!

'Boss Li, how's business lately?'

'It's okay, but there's more competition lately, so prices aren't as good. Thankfully, I have a lot of old customers!' Li Dadan said, half-truthfully.

'Brother Han, you're here to buy goods this time, right? How much are you planning to get this time? Let me see if I have enough stock!' Li Dadan motioned for Zhao Dongchuan to sit, picked up a teapot from the table, poured a cup for each of them, took a sip, and then spoke.

'This time, I don't just want watches; I also want to get some other things. Here's the list, take a look first!' Zhao Dongchuan then handed over a white paper filled with procurement requests.

'Electronic watches, flashlights, calculators, radios... cameras?'

'I have no problem with the others; I have all the goods, and if not enough, I can gather them. But as for cameras, I've never sold them before, so if you want them, we need to arrange it in advance!'

'And you're asking for quite a lot of quantity. If I have to gather them, what about transportation? Where will you put them? This isn't a small amount!' Li Dadan said, frowning as he looked at the list.

As expected of an experienced businessman, he was seasoned and pointed out some key issues.

'I've also thought about this. I was just about to ask you if there are any other courtyards nearby. I'd like to rent one as a warehouse. Of course, it would be even better if I could buy one!' Zhao Dongchuan raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Li Dadan was a local here, so he certainly knew the market better than Zhao Dongchuan.

'Hmm, I can't guarantee anything about that. Renting should be fine, but as for buying, there are very few houses available for sale right now. I'll help you ask around. Anyway, the goods will take a few days to arrive. Of course, if you trust me, you can store them here temporarily!' Li Dadan narrowed his eyes and chuckled.

'I don't believe a word you say! You're a cunning one!'

Zhao Dongchuan vaguely remembered that last time it was clearly agreed he would treat, but Li Dadan ended up getting dead drunk, and Zhao Dongchuan had to pay the bill.

Thinking of this, Zhao Dongchuan felt a surge of anger.

'The quantity of goods you're ordering this time is a bit large. I'll need to communicate with my brother about sourcing them, so, well, I'll need a deposit!'

'How much?'

'It's usually 30%, but since it's Brother Han, and an old customer, just give a 1000 yuan deposit!' Li Dadan chuckled.

Zhao Dongchuan silently pondered, seemingly considering the risks.

Li Dadan didn't rush him, simply drinking his tea.