Chapter 102: Secret Sign

  Su Cheng mainly values the quantity and quality of customs confiscated goods - rare imported products in China and high-quality export products can be bought here at a low price.

  There are not many places in the country where piles of foreign goods can be seen, although they can be imported through oil fields. However, under the current circumstances where foreign exchange is so precious, no matter how luxurious it is, it cannot use foreign exchange to give employees welfare benefits.

  At the customs, not only can you buy imported goods with RMB, but also at a very cheap price. The belt is priced at 8 yuan, and the bag is priced at 17 yuan, which is no higher than domestic products, and if others consider reselling for profit, there is no margin left.

  The country is still in the stage of solving food and clothing, and any international brand name does not have a price that comes with it. However, when giving gifts to others, two domestic leather bags are more eye-catching than one imported leather bag.

  Su Cheng didn't want to make New Year's goods into a gimmick to attract customers. So with a flourish of his brush, everything he bought was good stuff.

  Wang Ting was not sensitive to the price, but was surprised by the quantity written out by Su Cheng. 10,000 belts and 3,000 leather bags, he asked in a low voice: "Does your factory have so many people? It feels like equipping an army."

  Su Cheng explained in a low voice: "Belts and leather bags, apart from being usable, can also be given as gifts. Who doesn't have several relatives and friends? Taking out such belts is better than anything else. The light industry enterprises are all giving their factory products to the workers, we can't give out screws, can we? 10,000 belts on average, only two per person, not enough for each family member to change into."

  "I reckon not many people would be willing to give away such a good belt." Wang Ting said, leaning back in his chair and sighing: "Without making any noise, your factory has become so big."

  While they were talking, the auctioneer had already stepped onto the stage.

  The first item for auction is smuggled minerals, which are standard confiscated goods. Mainly coal, but also tungsten and molybdenum... each with its own illegality, the prices are all the same, the highest being only 10% higher than the base price, if it's any higher, people might as well buy directly from the production area.

  Later, metal ingots and clothing fabrics were also sold at a premium of no more than 15% above the base price. These are all scarce materials, but those who can come to customs to buy large quantities of goods have their own channels. They would rather not make money, nor would they take cash to make small profits.

  The host was a certain official of the customs, and the bidding went very quickly. He spoke slowly, but in two or three sentences he had reached the fifth and sixth bids.

  Su Cheng bought belts and bags at a price of over 0.5 yuan and 0.8 yuan, respectively. Not many people competed with him.

  Wang Ting worriedly said: "So many things, how are we going to transport them back?"

  "If the railway is tense, I'll just send a car from the factory to pull it over." This was the common practice of state-owned enterprises in the 80s. Every year, the oil field would send cars to various places to pull local specialties, such as Xinjiang's ham melons and Hainan's bananas, which were all brought in this way, and nobody cared about the oil price.

  Wang Ting nodded: "I forgot you bought things for the factory."

  The clothes behind were very delicate, Su Cheng had no interest at all, and the two of them waited for a while before heading to the dock in the back.

  The place where I bought the goods privately is a warehouse, and the selected goods are piled up tightly inside, leaving only a passageway for people to pass through. Whoever likes what, just remembers the number, goes to the front to pay, if it hasn't been taken away by someone else, pays the money and waits to pick up the goods, each brand is limited to 3 pieces. There are also people selling brands at the door.

  It hasn't started yet, but there are already people queuing outside.

  From a distance, Xiao Pang was seen sneaking around the entrance. Su Cheng called him over with an air of annoyance and asked, "Why aren't you lining up?"

  "I bought a few more cards." Xiaopang smiled at Wang Ting, pulled out a handful of cards from his pocket and said: "Master, take a look, with these 8 cards, we can buy 24 pieces, plus the two of yours, exactly 30 pieces, is it enough?"

  "Not bad." Su Cheng patted Xiao Pang's head and asked, "How much for a sign?"

  “20。”

  Wang Tingya took a painful breath and said: "You two master and apprentice, have you brought back the golden elixir from the Western Heaven?"

  All three of them laughed.

  Su Cheng thought for a moment and then said to Xiao Pang: "If there's a brand, let's buy a few more, we can also buy some New Year's goods for our family."

  Xiao Pang said "good" and was about to run.

  Wang Ting held him back and said: "Don't be in a hurry, 10 pieces are enough, how many do you want to buy?"

  Xiao Pang counted and said: "I'll buy a dozen or so. Send two to Director Qin's family, mail a few to Beijing, and keep a few for myself."

  Su Cheng said: "The electrical appliances in our house are enough. However, if they're cheap, I'll keep a few to give away and have a truckload sent back to my hometown."

  He heard that one car, Wang Tinghou gritted his teeth and said: "No need to buy more signs, as long as it doesn't exceed 100, I'll just go and tell them. Who would really buy 30 signs? That's 600 yuan."

  Xiao Pang repeatedly said it was good, and then asked: "Then are we lining up now?"

  "Let's go in first."

  Wang Ting led two people along one side of the warehouse and walked in, not far away, they saw an old worker standing in front of a small iron door that was temporarily opened, smoking.

  "I was introduced by Han Lao Si." Wang Ting Shang handed over a cigarette.

  The old worker didn't say a word, tucked his cigarette behind his ear and opened the door.

  There are already people inside who have been sneaking around, these belong to the kind of backdoor that is a backdoor.

  Xiao Pang excitedly said: "Master Uncle really has a way."

  This title makes Wang Ting very helpless, and he explained: "When I went to school, I came to the customs with my family. At that time, I spent 200 yuan to buy a Peony brand TV, and three people were happy to move it back home. Now they are all in use. How can you be like this?"

  Between words, full of memories.

  Su Cheng suddenly felt a little sentimental and said softly: "It's New Year's, send something home."

  They say it's hard to go back home. Although Su Cheng inherited his body and memories, his feelings towards the mountains and his hometown people were ultimately incomplete, so sending money and things became a better choice.

  Wang Ting knew the situation at home and patted Su Cheng's shoulder.

  The three men stopped talking and began to dig furiously with their heads down.

  Color TVs, refrigerators, Wanbao Road and 35 cigarettes are the best-selling items in the warehouse. Many people write down the numbers and go to pay, without any hesitation, buying thousands of yuan worth of things with a happy and excited tone.

  In this era, embezzlement is extremely rare. The greatest privilege of cadres is to buy good things at a low price. A couple saves their salary for two years and buys something worth 2000 yuan with 1000 yuan, which is the best thing ever. As a collective unit, they are also accustomed to creating such opportunities.

  Su City can't help but feel emotional about the purchasing power of urban residents in this era. Due to the country's comprehensive coverage of birth, aging, illness, and death, everyone's savings are usually used for major events - getting married, buying furniture, and buying appliances, all of which fall under the category of major events.

  Saving for old age or preparing for illness was not a popular concept at this time.

  Within 10 minutes, the three of them had picked out what they wanted. In fact, there wasn't much room for selection; the most affordable items were snapped up by customs employees first, and then another batch was sent to various affiliated units, leaving very few cheap and good products in the warehouse, almost a case of one grab and it's empty.

  Wang Ting and Xiao Pang bought relatively few, and after a few trips back and forth, they settled on the most expensive items. The Sanyo refrigerators were snatched up, but there were still some Mitsubishi ones left; the Japanese goods were gone, but there were still American ones...

  This time's big purchase used up two and a half bags of cash, but the goods at the exit were indeed plentiful.

  "I'll take mine back myself, you guys just watch." Wang Ting pulled out his own refrigerator and found someone to help him take it home.

  At this time, people queuing outside had not yet entered the warehouse.

  Su Cheng also looked worried at the electrical appliances scattered all over the ground, rubbing his head and saying: "Huang Ping, take the car back and bring back the few duplicate items I bought."

  "No problem." Huang Ping patted his chest and went off to take care of things.

  Su Cheng looked at the remaining pile and was at a loss for a while.

  Wang Ting still remembered this matter, and soon found someone to come over. "This is our customs transportation department's Director Zhou, he is in charge of water and land transportation. You write down the address for him, and he will guarantee delivery to your home."

  Su Cheng was startled and laughed: "The road is a bit far."

  "It's nothing, just serving the leader, afraid of not showing our enthusiasm." Director Zhou smiled all over his face, most of which was directed at Wang Ting. To them, Wang Ting's boss was their real leader.

  "Thanks a lot." Su Cheng said as he handed out three packs of Chinese cigarettes from his bag.

  For a customs with a big tone, these three explosive packages can only be considered as getting rid of the fire, not a free service.

  The mood has improved a lot everywhere, looking at Su Cheng writing down the address and calling the driver over to instruct him.

  Su Cheng handed a newly bought Wrigley's chewing gum to the driver who had just returned and said, "Take care on the road, it's for refreshment."

  Drivers in the 1980s were a pretty cool profession. The income was about five times that of a Peking University professor, and ten times that of a government department-level cadre. Customs drivers' incomes were naturally higher, but even so, the entire Wanbao Road was still suppressed like Wuzhi Mountain.

  The driver held an iron rod in one hand to check the tires, and patted Su Cheng's shoulder with the other, assuring him: "Brother, don't worry, I've driven on the Qinghai-Tibet line before, I'll notify you as soon as the goods arrive."

  The time it took to arrange transportation was much longer than buying goods, and it wasn't until almost dinner time that everything was finally settled.

  Everywhere they took advantage of the opportunity to invite guests, a few people sat in a circle, eating caviar, drinking authentic foreign wine and freshly exported shrimp.

  "Look at that pair of shrimp, there are two outcomes for studying abroad. One is to be eaten by foreigners, the other is if you don't succeed abroad, you'll be eaten by us Chinese with soy sauce... No choice, after wasting two days at customs, they're not so fresh anymore."

  Su Cheng laughed and suddenly thought of Jinan Power Machinery Factory, so he smiled and said: "Nowadays, there are fishing boats everywhere along the coast. Are your patrol boats enough?"

  "How can that be? Now there is a shortage of ships everywhere." Director Zhou was a clever person, and he smiled as he asked, "Director Su, are you in the shipbuilding business?"

  "Almost there, we're making progress on the engine." Su Cheng raised his glass and lightly clinked it.

  ……(。。

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