Chapter 104: Buying a Bed

Yang Qing's consolation was effective.

Chen Hong found the incident a bit too sudden, and Director Wang still stopped her from alarming the old lady.

So even now she still thinks things are a mess.

Now Yang Qing told her everything was arranged, and her heart eased.

The storage room, originally meant for storing things, is rather simple.

So Yang Qing needs to go to the second-hand market tomorrow, which is also called the Trust Company, to have a look and buy some furniture.

He isn't going to Taobao, because it's unnecessary; even if there were treasures worth money, it's already the 80s or 90s.

Now there are too many old items; in the future, during the destruction of the Four Olds, they could easily become a source of disaster.

Moreover, Sun Hongqi also gave him a heads-up.

If he stays in Jingcheng, over ten years he might find it hard to avoid.

So he decided to do his utmost to find a way to leave Jingcheng.

Best if he could go to Xianggang; if not, he should be transferred elsewhere, the farther from Jingcheng the better.

Failing that, he would go to the countryside.

Anyway, the farther away from here the better, and ideally no one who knows his background.

The next day.

Chen Hong went to the old lady's place to prepare for the move.

Yang Qing went to the Xin tuo shang dian.

The Xin tuo shang dian had everything, from needles and thread, old shoes and clothes, up to bicycles, cars, tricycles, tape recorders, and various foreign goods.

Yang Qing's goal was clear: to find cheap, usable second-hand furniture.

It wasn't that he didn't want to stroll and look; many things were simply too tempting.

For example, bicycles, radios, sewing machines, various precious ceramics, jade items, calligraphy and paintings………

Many of these items are high-end now, and in the future they'll be priceless.

Once you see them, you can't get them out of your mind; they constantly intrude on your thoughts, making you unable to forget, day and night.

So out of sight, out of mind; he walked on.

Behind was a large warehouse, mainly selling bulky items.

Elm and poplar furniture (the main timber of the Beifang plain) was piled to one side; rosewood furniture (used by the wealthy in the city) was placed to one side; nanmu furniture (called imperial timber) stood out most prominently in the center; pine, oak, and water willow furniture (Beifang timber mainly from the northeast) were the most numerous (actually at that time pine furniture was relatively scarce because processing was troublesome, requiring degreasing); they were stacked in a heap.

Among them, elm and poplar furniture were cheapest; oak and water willow etc. were medium-priced; rosewood and nanmu were most expensive.

(The furniture industry in our country has always been very advanced, so information there is quite transparent; those who say rosewood furniture is sold as trash can go wash up and sleep, because good things are never cheap, and the Xin tuo shang dian isn't stupid—how could it give you trash.)

(That is, during the ten-year period, these items became a bit cheap only because they were somewhat hot to handle.)

Yang Qing went inside, poking here and there, and after a long time hadn't bought anything, looking like a country bumpkin.

This made the salespeople who didn't want to bother with him a bit impatient.

His dawdling here made them stay alert; they couldn't just slack off.

"Hey, you there—are you buying or not? If not, get out; don't come here just to wander."

Yang Qing, who was carefully examining a bed, was startled by this person's shout.

He looked up and happened to see a pair of contemptuous eyes.

If it were the former Yang Qing, he would likely have tucked his tail and run.

But the present Yang Qing had been holding in his anger; being rebuffed by the salesperson, he couldn't hold back.

"Comrade, since I came in, haven't I bothered you?"

The salesperson gave him a disdainful glance.

"Don't say so much—if you're buying, buy quickly; if not, get out. Do you think this is your home? These are other people's things; if you break them, can you afford to pay?"

Yang Qing patted the furniture beneath his hand.

"This is furniture; if you touch it once it breaks—you putting it up for sale is negligence."

The salesperson hadn't expected Yang Qing to dare put a hat on them.

"What nonsense are you spouting? I tell you, if you keep spouting nonsense here, you won't walk out this door today."

Yang Qing's face darkened and he shouted loudly.

"Call your manager out to judge; since you've done your duty, why can't I just touch things?"

"You'll kick me out just for touching? Is this how you serve the masses?"

"Do you still have any faith in your heart?"

Yang Qing's voice rose a bit high this time; even the salesperson, used to showing off, was a little frightened by his shout.

"You…"

Before he could finish, the manager came over.

The manager glared fiercely at the salesperson, secretly resenting this connection-holder who was looking for trouble for no reason.

"Comrade, sorry, Xiao Chang is new and not yet proficient; if there are any problems, please bear with him."

This isn't an ordinary quarrel; a normal fight, even beating Yang Qing up, would be no problem, but this has risen to a matter of faith—if it escalates further, even this manager wouldn't be able to keep his job.

That salesperson still wasn't convinced.

"Manager, he came in without saying what he wanted, what does he want to buy? He poked east and glanced west—I suspect he's up to no good."

Yang Qing's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again.

"I'm choosing my own stuff; I didn't ask east or west."

"That's because I don't want to cause trouble for the organization."

"And as a salesperson you're supposed to serve the masses; when I wasn't disrupting the store's normal operation, you scold the masses like this—what are you trying to do?"

"You think this store is yours, this store is public property, I have the right to inspect goods like this."

"Now it's not the old society, you can act high-handedly."

Upon hearing this, the manager said, "Another big hat."

He was really angry; he turned his head and scolded Chang Jiezhou.

"Chang Jiezhou, shut up; if you're wrong, admit it, apologize immediately, otherwise I'll report it truthfully."

"Your work attitude has a problem."

The situation here has also attracted many customers; they have long been dissatisfied with the sales clerks' high-and-mighty attitude and foul tempers.

Who knows how many people have suffered losses and been angered at their hands.

Today someone educated them, and they were pleased to see it.

"Good, well said, little brother, you're right."

"Just look at you, you drive people away, worse than a bad shop."

"How many years has the company been jointly operated, and yet there are still such bad shop assistants."

Seeing so many people causing a commotion, the manager feared the situation would escalate and angrily scolded Chang Jiezhou.

"Apologize immediately."

Chang Jiezhou felt terrible inside; he never expected that someone he usually ordered around would today give him no face.

But the circumstances were stronger than him; he could only suppress his anger and say to Yang Qing:

"Sorry, comrade, my tone was bad; please forgive me."

Yang Qing knew this was the most he could do.

He waved his hand.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered to argue with you."

Afterwards he looked toward the manager.

"Manager, how much is this bed?"

The bed was placed in the elm wood section, and it looked like elm, but Yang Qing knew it was walnut wood.

(People don't understand walnut wood, but they should know what huangtao wood is; there's not much difference.)

Perhaps due to age and maintenance, the bed looks dark and somewhat unattractive, no wonder it was mistaken for elm.

Seeing that Yang Qing did not continue to press the matter, out of gratitude the manager directly quoted a low price. (Don't doubt it, even trust allows room for negotiation.)

"This elm bed, aside from being a bit old and the finish damaged, is otherwise not bad."

"If you want it, I'll deliver it to your home for 25."