Chapter 148: The Tea Stall

Lu Cheng was still on his first time coming to the big warehouse at Beijing Station; he had only heard the Train Staff on the train talk about it before, that the warehouse at Beijing Station stores all kinds of treasures.

Aside from the items seized from Feng Zixiu, the rest are many various smuggled goods.

Socks, shoes, hats, Snowflake Ointment, scarves and other daily necessities, plus edible fruit cans and drinkable beer…

Foreign smuggled televisions, radios, watches, Magnetic Tape…

In any case, they're so numerous they dazzle the eyes; whatever's on the market is here, whatever isn't on the market is also here.

It's estimated that all previously seized smuggled goods are piled here; calling it a department store wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Lu Cheng walked in, faced the haphazardly stacked items, flipped left, looked right, feeling nothing but alarm and regret.

He didn't know how long they'd been stored; many things had already rotted.

For example, as Lu Cheng kept rummaging, he found a few unopened Marlboro‑brand cigarettes.

Such foreign goods are strictly regulated; normally they can only be bought at Friendship Stores and require Foreign Exchange Vouchers.

"What a pity, such a pity."

Of the cigarettes Lu Cheng found, two had become moldy.

"Wasting precious things, far too wasteful; no, I must take you away, they must not suffer here."

Lu Cheng stuffed the few cigarettes that weren't moldy into the inner pocket of his coat.

Including some foreign liquor, Magnetic Tape, etc.; basically anything that could be stuffed, he jammed a portion of it in.

The two Ding Yuanmin beside him were both stunned.

"Brother Yuanmin, what's he doing? Why do I feel he's about to steal something?"

Ding Yuanmin tapped him and said, "How can that be called stealing? Group Leader Lu is Train Police, the warehouse belongs to the Railway Bureau, so this is taking.

Quick, stop looking, find our stuff."

The goods they were delivering this time were Cotton‑padded Jackets, cotton gloves, cotton shoes and cotton hats; since they had just been seized a few days ago, they were piled at the entrance, making them especially easy to locate.

While the two of them moved things outward, Lu Cheng was still inside, rummaging everywhere for rare items.

After Ding Yuanmin had moved everything out, he turned back and saw Lu Cheng, wrapped in a Military Coat, not knowing how much he'd stuffed, his entire upper body bulging and swollen.

If a television could fit, Ding Yuanmin wouldn't doubt it would also be taken away.

The point is, this way it'd also be hard to carry out.

The Comrades guarding the warehouse outside were to conduct inspections, and both of them were searched when they came out.

Even though Lu Cheng is Train Police, they couldn't let him take things away; otherwise the warehouse would have been emptied by Railway workers long ago.

Obviously, some items have been stored for years, proving that even Railway workers cannot arbitrarily take things from inside.

At that moment, Lu Cheng felt he'd taken enough, though in fact it was far from enough; he wanted to take everything he saw, leaving it here would be wasteful, and his coat simply couldn't hold any more.

Seeing so many good things left to rot here made Lu Cheng feel another pang of sorrow.

Having wrapped the coat, after only two steps he suddenly felt his head spin.

"Can't go on, can't go on, it feels like there's no oxygen in here, I'm going to faint."

Lu Cheng muttered as he collapsed toward the ground, and Ding Yuanmin was terrified by the sight.

"Group Leader Lu, what's wrong with you?"

Hearing the shout, the Comrades guarding the warehouse also ran in: "Group Leader Lu, Group Leader Lu? He was fine, how did he faint?"

"What do we do now?" Ding Yuanmin was frantic.

"Quick, take him to the hospital."

"Alright." Ding Yuanmin immediately ordered Ding Shitou to carry the person.

At the moment of turning, Ding Shitou suddenly felt something; he hadn't even exerted force to lift, yet the person quickly fell onto his back.

Without caring about the doubt, he hoisted Lu Cheng onto his back and ran outward.

Ding Yuanmin supported from behind; after exiting the warehouse Grand Courtyard, Lu Cheng slowly came to his senses.

"First, take me to the Tea Stall."

Hearing the voice, Ding Yuanmin was surprised: "Group Leader Lu, you're awake, what happened? You just fainted, we have to take you to the hospital."

Lu Cheng weakly waved his hand, feeble: "No need, I'm fine, take me to the Tea Stall, a bowl of tea will fix me."

Seeing Lu Cheng refuse the hospital, Ding Yuanmin had to comply, while being extremely puzzled inside.

He'd just fainted suddenly, looking quite serious—can a bowl of tea really cure that?

But when they arrived at the Tea Stall, before even entering, Lu Cheng leapt down.

"Alright, I'm fine now, you two hurry back and move the goods over."

Seeing Lu Cheng act like nothing happened, Ding Yuanmin blinked and instantly understood.

So he was faking the faint? Just now he was wondering how Lu Cheng would get the items out.

I have to admit, this method really worked, diverting the Comrades guarding the warehouse's attention and successfully getting them out.

Ding Yuanmin chuckled and shook his head.

Zhao Bin, who came out, noticed the abnormality on Lu Cheng's body.

"Yo, your belly's so big, you're pregnant, huh? Whose, probably not mine."

"To your grandpa!"

Zhao Bin reached out to feel, realizing something good was hidden inside.

"By the way, Lu Cheng, what exactly went wrong with the goods we're delivering to the Tea Stall?"

Lu Cheng didn't intend to reveal the truth; although it was Fan Dashan's unilateral decision, spreading it would disgrace the entire Train Police Unit and invite gossip.

"A minor unexpected incident occurred, nothing serious; I've already brought it back to you."

Zhao Bin stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder: "Sure enough, with you handling it, nothing's impossible. Let's have lunch together at noon."

"No, I have to go to my Master at noon."

Zhao Bin instantly became displeased: "Now that you're a Train Police, your airs are getting bigger, asking you out for a meal is such a hassle."

"No such thing, it's not snowing; I want to hurry and send a skin mat over."

"Fine, fine, you tell me how many things you handled for our Tea Stall; it's just the brothers feeling guilty."

Lu Cheng laughed and pounded his chest: "Don't mention it."

Ding Yuanmin and the other person carried the goods over and immediately placed them at the Tea Stall entrance.

Because they didn't require any tickets, they attracted many tourists.

Near the train station, the foot traffic is huge; they rely on volume, so the prices aren't high, thin profit, high turnover.

What no one expected was that within a morning they sold a third, earning a profit of several hundred yuan.

It amazed Zhao Bin, but Lu Cheng didn't feel much at all.

The storefront at the train station entrance has always been prime real estate; in later times its annual turnover easily reaches a few million.

Of course, the rent is sky‑high.

So selling a third of the goods is not surprising at all.

Lu Ying decided on the spot to send Ding Yuanmin back, and have the production team increase output, doubling the amount again beyond what this time brought.

Ding Yuanmin was thrilled; the reason he supplied the Tea Stall was purely out of gratitude toward Lu Cheng.

As for how much could be sold, Ding Yuanmin didn't care.

But he had been watching in front of the Tea Stall all morning; this unassuming little Tea Stall's selling power turned out to be so strong.

If it continues like this, a small Tea Stall can sustain their production team without issue.

Thus when Lu Ying spoke, she demanded twice the amount, and Ding Yuanmin raised no objection at all.

Originally they wanted to treat Lu Cheng to a meal, but Lu Cheng gave their whole production team a bowl of rice; such a favor can't be repaid with a single meal.

Lu Cheng politely declined, urging them to catch the train back as soon as possible.

They were supposed to finish delivering the goods and return to Guangcheng a few days ago, but the delay of several days made their families understandably anxious.

Lu Cheng rode his bicycle home, slung the rolled Wolf Skin onto his back, and went to Xu Erye's shantytown.