Chapter 76

Yangcheng is the terminus of the Beijing-Guangzhou line, the main artery of China's railway, so there are many mechanical repair plants, supporting factories, and vehicle plants around the railway.

These units are large in scale, and their family quarters are in large blocks, filled with staff, descendants, and family members related to the railway system.

These people see each other every day, and although they may not be able to explain the situation of each other's three generations, if there is any news or joke, it is guaranteed to spread through several large courtyards within a few days.

Just in the past few days, a few country folk from the north came to this family quarter and started selling malt sugar and collecting scrap.

Although they couldn't sell much sugar or collect much scrap every day, they persisted, while occasionally asking if there were any fellow northerners in this family quarter.

These country folk were, of course, Hao Jian and the others who were "carrying a pig's head to find the temple door."

Hao Jian sent a telegram to Li Ye for help, but Li Ye was no god who could wave his hand to solve their suffering; he could only point them toward a feasible line of thought.

Li Ye told them to find locals to help, but they couldn't just find anyone; in this day and age, there were already vagrants looking for "business opportunities," and getting scammed was a matter of minutes.

But people in the unit's family quarters didn't have such complicated backgrounds; everyone had a unit, and if they scammed money today, it would spread everywhere tomorrow. That wasn't just a matter of losing face; they would be dragged away by the security department and tortured to death.

Of course, people with units definitely wouldn't look favorably on small peddlers like Hao Jian who were only slightly better than vagrants, so the specific group of "fellow northerners" was very important.

Such large state-owned units couldn't be all locals; the fathers' generation might have "come from all corners of the country."

So as long as there was one fellow countryman who showed a willingness to help, Hao Jian would definitely not be stingy with money and would give the person a satisfactory answer.

This was like Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng solving his wife's job problem; you're only afraid of not finding someone who can get things done. Once you really find them, there's no problem that money can't solve.

Perhaps people in later generations don't understand the meaning and power of "fellow northerners," but Li Ye actually saw it once when he was quite young in his past life on a train.

It was a green-skinned train from Island City to Yangcheng, basically all standing-room tickets; whoever grabbed a seat got it.

A Dongshan man met three people grabbing seats halfway through the journey.

A man as tall as a giant was forced to turn red in the face, and having no choice, he stood up and said some "ridiculous" things.

"I am from Dongshan XX. Today, I encountered this damn thing while traveling. I don't ask everyone to help me fight, I just hope the fellow countrymen from Dongshan will help me be a witness that they were the ones who started this damn fight."

Then the man prepared to roll up his sleeves to fight.

However, the fight didn't happen.

Because after he finished speaking, more than half of the people in the carriage stood up.

Everyone didn't shout or yell; they just watched coldly.

Those three thugs didn't dare to make a move in the end.

Li Ye was stunned at the time; this was already the end of the nineties! The sense of righteousness and blockheadedness of the Dongshan people hadn't completely dissipated yet!

So he estimated that in the era of 1982, there were still a few warm-hearted fellow countrymen; as long as Hao Jian was willing to put in the effort, the success rate should be high.

But what Li Ye worried about most was that Hao Jian already had the idea of withdrawing at this time.

Smart people in the eighties were like crucian carp crossing the river, and how many of them ended up being just like everyone else?

Why? Many were just satisfied with small wealth, solving poverty and hunger, having a wife and children, and being satisfied.

When the malt sugar business at home was booming, wasn't earning a thousand yuan a month good enough?

Why insist on going thousands of miles away to do this kind of business that could lose all your capital at any time, or even lead to prison?

So that sentence about "someone who is unwilling to submit to fate" was actually written more for Hao Jian to see.

However, Li Ye underestimated Hao Jian's ambition; it took him less than a week to lock onto two feasible candidates.

"Old Hao, it's about time. I think that Wu Kezhang Bai is not bad; his hometown is only two hundred miles away from ours.

Although his wife looks down on us, as long as we go to his door, it's eight or nine out of ten. As long as we can solve the shipping problem, we can make money no matter what."

"We've been out for almost a month; if we don't go back, the business at home will have problems."

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng missed home; the key was that he missed his wife, and he just wanted to go back quickly.

If the merchants in the clothing wholesale market were hard to deal with, then just buy at a high price. Even if they went back, there would be a hundred percent profit, what else did they want?

But Hao Jian always felt something was missing, only saying: "Wait a little longer, look around for a few more days. If there's no one more suitable, we'll find Wu Kezhang Bai."

A few days later, there really was no one more suitable, so Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and the others arrived at the family quarters of the mechanical repair plant early, wanting to wait for Wu Kezhang Bai to get off work and pay a visit.

Today was a workday, and Hao Jian and the others arrived a bit early; the family quarters were quiet and empty.

The four of them found a corner and squatted together to smoke.

And just at this time, a wheelchair slid out from a building not far from them and stopped directly in a sunny spot against the wall.

A young man in his twenties sat in the wheelchair, squinting at the sun, probably feeling the sunlight was dazzling,

but then he closed his eyes comfortably, as if he were enjoying the feeling of the sun shining on him very much.

Hao Jian's eyes lit up.

The young man's clothes were very clean; he wasn't the kind of disabled person who had no one to take care of him.

His hair was very fresh, and his face was very rosy; clearly, his life was going quite well.

In addition, he only had one leg, but he was wearing a brand-new pair of pants, a pair of shiny leather shoes, and even his socks were new.

The cigarette in Hao Jian's mouth fell to the ground at some point, and then he suddenly stood up and walked over with big strides.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and the others saw this and hurriedly followed.

The young man in the wheelchair was closing his eyes enjoying the sun, and only after hearing footsteps did he discover that the four people had formed a wedge formation and were already close to him.

He quickly pulled a crutch from under the wheelchair and casually performed a "thrusting spear flower."

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng, who had practiced for a few days with Li Zhongfa, secretly praised him; this thrust alone was enough to deal with wild dogs and cats.

Hao Jian hurriedly waved his hands in front of his chest and said apologetically: "Brother, don't misunderstand, we are not bad people.

We are honest people from the north, now selling some malt sugar and collecting some scrap. Many people in your unit know us."

The young man's crutch was held very steadily, unmoved.

Hao Jian had no choice but to continue explaining: "We are really not bad people. Look, we have introduction letters. We came to Guangdong Province originally wanting to do clothing business, but unfortunately..."

Hao Jian didn't beat around the bush and frankly stated his difficulties, and expressed his willingness to "pay for help."

Since people were so vigilant, would you still try to build a relationship or get close to them?

Nonsense, just lay out the cards and talk in detail.

But Hao Jian babbled for a long time, and the lame young man didn't say a word.

How could they talk like this?

Hao Jian was dry-mouthed and had no choice but to turn and look at Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng smiled and took out a pack of Daqian Sect, offering one.

"Brother, do you smoke?"

The young man didn't make a sound or move.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng was also a bit worried; he saw the faint marks on the young man's right middle finger, he should be someone with a heavy smoking addiction, at least he used to smoke,

but since the person didn't take the bait, he had no choice.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng pointed to the young man's crutch and asked with a smile: "Brother, is this a bayonet technique?"

"I also practiced for a few days with a grandfather before, but later my family wouldn't let me join the army..."

According to Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng's judgment, this lame man was very likely from the southern battlefield; that spirited crew cut and cold, sharp eyes all carried that unique temperament.

But no matter how much Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng babbled for a long time, the lame man just wouldn't respond.

The helpless Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng spread his hands and said to Hao Jian: "Forget it! Our Mandarin is not good, he can't understand us."

Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng both had heavy accents, and they relied on the fact that their northern accent was the "basis" for Mandarin. Even so, sometimes when talking to Guangdong people, they had to guess and gesture.

This was still good; if the situation were reversed, that would be a real blind spot.

If you don't believe it, try having a Hubei/Hunan person speak their hometown dialect in the north; if a northerner can understand it, they're a genius.

Seeing that communication was completely impossible, Hao Jian had no choice but to agree with Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng's opinion and go find Wu Kezhang Bai.

However, when leaving, he took out a bag of malt sugar and carefully placed it on the young man's wheelchair.

"Sorry, brother, we are all rough people, seeking medical advice in a hurry, scaring you, sorry, sorry."

Hao Jian and the others turned and left.

And the young man sitting in the wheelchair looked at the backs of Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng, and a mocking smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, why do you think I can help you?"

Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng had already walked far away before they heard the young man's question.

Very standard Mandarin.

Hao Jian turned back and walked over, looking at the lame man, and after brewing for a while, said: "Because I think... you might be someone who is unwilling to submit to fate."

The lame man's head tilted to the left, looked at Hao Jian for a moment, and then tilted to the right.

Then he shook his head and said: "You didn't say that sentence."

Hao Jian was very embarrassed, but braced himself and said: "Why didn't I say it?"

The lame man sneered and said: "Because you said it without any confidence."

"........."

The lame man added: "And when you said this sentence, the friend behind you was laughing."

Hao Jian turned his head suddenly and glared at Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng.

【Is it easy for me to pretend to be cool? Are you messing around on the side?】

Hao Jian turned back and said to the lame young man: "May I ask how to address you, brother?"

The lame man didn't speak, but asked directly: "Do you want to get train cars? How many sections?"

Hao Jian nearly grinned; twenty thousand yuan worth of goods wouldn't even need half a train car!

"Ahem~"

Hao Jian coughed and said: "We mainly hope to solve the transportation problem. In addition, if we can find a connection in the clothing wholesale market, that would be even better...

The merchants there are too exclusionary. For a jacket, they give me four yuan, but they give others two point two or three..."

The lame man interrupted: "Two yuan."

Hao Jian: "What?"

The lame man: "Two yuan, I can get it down to two yuan per piece for you, but what can you give me?"

"........."

Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng looked at each other, a bit skeptical, but felt it was worth a try.

Hao Jian quickly calculated in his mind, and finally remembered the scene when Li Ye was fooling him at the beginning.

"This brother, do you want a reward? Or... a commission?"

The lame man looked at Hao Jian quietly for a few seconds and said: "I want to buy into the shares."

"........."

Hao Jian was surprised again; although the young man in front of him was lame, his brain was good.

He continued to ask: "Then brother, how much money are you prepared to invest?"

"Heh~"

The young man chuckled and said: "I won't invest money, I'll just take the shares, a fifty-fifty split."

【Damn, you're even more ruthless than that dog second-generation Li Ye!】