Chapter 7: Buyers Come Calling

"Wait, I'll call the village right away to have someone bring the passbook so you can withdraw the money."

Li Dafu had originally just come to the market to join the fun, but he never expected to see diesel engines for sale.

Especially high-horsepower diesel engines; they are usually unavailable at rural agricultural machinery shops and must be ordered from the city with a deposit first.

For fishermen, small fishing boats are generally around ten tons, with a typical cruising speed of about 10 knots, which is roughly 18 kilometers per hour.

Besides being the most fuel-efficient speed, this is also because the limit of small diesel engines is about right there.

If two diesel engines output 50 horsepower, they can not only instantly boost the boat's speed to 12 to 15 knots but also drive the generator more stably.

A 50-horsepower diesel engine is sufficient for a fishing boat up to 20 tons, which counts as a medium-sized vessel and is basically the upper limit an ordinary family can afford.

Li Dafu happened to own a boat of similar tonnage; his original two 15-horsepower diesel engines had always been insufficient, and he had long wanted to replace them.

For five thousand yuan, you can't even get a new 25-horsepower diesel engine, and a new 15-horsepower unit wouldn't be much cheaper than this one.

If you sell the old ones you take off, can you upgrade to 50 horsepower for just a few thousand yuan?

Facing such high cost-performance, minor after-sales flaws are almost negligible; who can't fix this thing anyway?

Moreover, judging by his years of experience, the "Gaijin" brand looks high-quality just by sight; over a third of the material is aluminum, which is much more expensive than cast iron.

Li Dafu hurriedly took his granddaughter and went to make a phone call, while the remaining people grew even more curious; one of them recognized Tang Wen and shouted,

"Isn't this Tang Wu's son? Why are your diesel engines so cheap?"

Tang Wen didn't recognize the speaker either, so he simply started making things up, spouting lies effortlessly:

"Isn't the Gaijin Shipyard in An... Dandong? Northeast enterprises are struggling to survive now; these are unsold inventory items I brought back to sell cheaply to the villagers, which is why there's no after-sales service.

If anyone else wants them, I'll contact them; first come, first served, or they'll be gone!"

The 1990s, the Northeast, layoffs, and inventory.

As these keywords popped up, everyone from the elderly to the young nodded as if they understood, seemingly grasping why the prices were so low.

Although five thousand yuan is a lot, it's not expensive relative to its value; nowadays, even a second-hand large tractor costs at least seven or eight thousand to start with, so buying it and reselling it wouldn't result in a loss, and you might even make a small profit.

The person who had just spoken stepped forward, touched the diesel engine, and then looked up, saying:

"I want one, but I'll pay only after inspecting the goods."

Tang Wen nodded, took out a pen, and pointed to the price board:

"Write your name here and pay a one-hundred-yuan deposit; I'll bring it back here the day after tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, another person approached and stood directly in front of Tang Wen, asking:

"How many units do you have left? How much cheaper can you go if I buy in bulk?"

Tang Wen glanced at him and recognized him as Wu Lao Er, the owner of the agricultural machinery shop in town.

But isn't selling diesel engines competing with his business? Why is he asking the price so proactively?

Tang Wen thought for a moment and then answered seriously:

"If you want a discount, you must buy at least five units; I'll give you two hundred yuan off per unit."

Wu Lao Er stroked his chin, didn't counteroffer immediately, but turned around to look at the eager crowd and said in a low voice:

"You silly kid, how much money can you make just selling engines? Once installed on a tractor, they sell for twenty thousand!

I have a few scrapped tractors I've taken back; if you can offer credit, I'll take three to refurbish first. How about we split the profits fifty-fifty?"

Fifty-fifty split?

Tang Wen was instantly tempted; Wu Lao Er was right, a complete tractor is worth far more than just a diesel engine.

Even if it's refurbished used goods, replacing the engine allows it to be sold at seventy percent of the new price without any problem.

With this arrangement, he could earn several thousand more per diesel engine, and naturally, more people would buy them.

Three tractors aren't many, and they would sell quickly.

Seeing Tang Wen nod in agreement, Wu Lao Er pressed his advantage:

"Do you have other models of diesel engines? Why not put them in my shop to sell? I won't take any commission."

Tang Wen was somewhat surprised; if he takes no commission, does he mean he's just helping him advertise for free?

Wu Lao Er chuckled:

"You can't just buy the engine, can you? Tools, spare parts, belts, and the modified brackets needed for installation; wouldn't it be great to handle all of that here?"

Tang Wen suddenly realized; these peripheral items are also profitable and carry no risk.

In fact, agricultural machinery shops rarely sell high-horsepower diesel engines; the customer bases don't overlap, so it poses no threat to Wu Lao Er but rather expands his business.

After making a simple agreement with Wu Lao Er, the latter stepped forward to vouch for Tang Wen, and those who had been hesitating immediately made up their minds.

Unlike the young Tang Wen, who could run away at any time, everyone knew Wu Lao Er; his shop was in town, so he couldn't disappear.

By the time Li Dafu brought the passbook to transfer the money, five diesel engines had already been reserved.

Adding the three Wu Lao Er wanted and the two already sold, that made ten orders in total.

Tang Wen did a quick calculation and realized he had just netted one thousand silver coins; upgrading the shipyard was right around the corner!

At the town's credit union, Li Dafu brought his relatives along to transfer ten thousand yuan to Tang Wen.

After the two diesel engines were started and tested on the spot with no issues, Li Dafu happily towed them home.

Having successfully completed his first transaction, Tang Wen went to the tea house and convenience store to buy a huge pile of snacks; this time he didn't see Guo Chenliang, but he was once again severely looked down upon by Guo Panpan's disdainful "rice bug" gaze.

The town market held little attraction for him; the "rare goods" sold there were mostly obsolete items that couldn't even be sold in the city, so Tang Wen browsed casually and drove the "four-not-like" vehicle back to the village in the afternoon, parked it in the village head's yard, and walked back to the shipyard.

However, before he even arrived, Tang Wen saw from afar that the iron gate of the shipyard was open, and a white van was parked inside.

Tang Wen's heart skipped a beat; as he walked in slowly, he indeed saw Zheng Hai again.

The latter was squatting in front of the newly built "Tax-Free No. 1"; hearing the noise, he turned around and flashed an exaggerated smile at Tang Wen:

"Good kid, you really are Tang Lao San's offspring; your father's craftsmanship wasn't even this good."

Zheng Hai had originally just come to take a casual look and deliver the engine to adapt the installation interface, but he never expected Tang Wen to have already built a boat.

Previously, Tang Wu's speed wasn't this fast, not to mention that the finished "Tax-Free No. 1" was much more finely crafted.

This made him feel the five thousand yuan was well spent, and he grew even more appreciative of Tang Wen.

"Come on, help me install the motor right now!"

This time he didn't drive that flashy Santana, but a van.

Tang Wen immediately recognized what it was: a Toyota Hiace H50, commonly called the Guangdong-Guangxi Light Infantry Vehicle.

This vehicle had two features:

First, it could carry many people—rated for seven seats, but actually able to cram in twenty big men, and everyone loved rolling up newspapers;

Second, its air conditioning was excellent—often, as soon as the vehicle stopped, passengers would leap out frantically, shouting, "My hands are frozen! My hands are frozen!"

But today, it wasn't packed with twenty hoodlums, but two gasoline motors wrapped in cloth.

"Be careful! If you drop and break it, you can't fix it!"

When the two underlings carried down the motors, Zheng Hai hurriedly told them to be careful.

After the wooden frame outside was kicked open and the oil paper torn away, Tang Wen saw a boat-mounted outboard motor nearly as tall as a man, emblazoned with "YAMAHA"—its sheer size radiated brute force.

Tang Wen had never seen one before; he widened his eyes, eager to examine it closely.

Zheng Hai said proudly:

"This is a motor I went through great trouble to get from Japan—eighteen hundred horsepower, one unit alone is more expensive than your five boats combined. You can lose a boat, but you can't lose this."

Only 180 horsepower?

Four such motors would total just 720 horsepower, falling short of the shipyard's original target of 1000 horsepower from twenty-five 250-horsepower engines.

But in this era, 180 horsepower was still powerful, and due to boundary effects, the actual speed wouldn't be much slower—fifty knots was still achievable.