The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 9 Big and small "yellow croakers"

The next day
  When Wei Yuan woke up early in the morning, he first had breakfast at the Peace Hotel. The breakfast was a buffet style, with a wide variety of cold dishes, hot stir-fries, Chinese and Western dishes. Of course, the price was not cheap, with 1 French currency or 1 yuan per person.

In the early days of the Republic of China, the legal currency was still relatively strong. One yuan of legal currency could basically be exchanged for an ocean. It was not until 1 that the legal currency began to be pegged to the US dollar, and the legal currency began to depreciate. At the lowest point, it reached 1936 to 1 million, and the legal currency became completely useless paper.

Just outside the hotel door is Nanjing Road, the famous commercial street of the "Magic City".

Although time and space have changed, the direction of the "Magic City" in this era is easier to identify than the skyscrapers of later generations. Generally, there are mostly five or six-story foreign-style buildings, which bring together buildings from different periods, different styles, and different countries. Later generations call it Wan Guo. Expo group.

Wei Yuan observed carefully as he walked. He walked in a grand manner and soon came to a shop "Changqi Yangxing" that specialized in the watch business.

Stepping into the store, the entire hall is at least more than 100 square meters, very spacious and grand. There are more than a dozen counters arranged in a concave shape facing the wide store door. The counters are all made of glass, and there are all kinds of watches inside. , Omega, Longines, Plum Blossom, Rome, and Rolex are all available, as well as some unnamed watches from Weiyuan. Floor clocks and wall clocks are placed on both sides of the counter and on the walls.

There is a mahogany escalator behind the counter that winds up to the second floor. The salesperson is dressed in standard Western style, and her hair is combed with oil. When the waiter in suits and leather shoes saw Wei Yuan walking through the door, he stepped forward and bowed slightly, "Welcome, sir, are you here to buy a watch?"

"I'm here to discuss business, please ask your boss to come out." Wei Yuan said stabbingly.

The salesperson was slightly startled and a little surprised, but did not dare to neglect him. He immediately led Wei Yuan to sit on the sofa aside.

He went to the second floor to inform the manager. A clerk brought a cup of green tea. Wei Yuan sat on the sofa and drank tea. He put one foot on the carpet and crossed his legs, trying to look more experienced.

After a while, a middle-aged stout man dressed in the same Western style came out. He cupped his hands and said, "Sir, I'm here to welcome you. It's disrespectful to greet you from afar, and I'm disrespectful. I wonder what business you can do with me, sir?"

Wei Yuan put down the tea cup in his hand, stood up and returned the gift with his hands. When the guests and hosts were seated, he said: "My surname is Wei, but my name is a distant character. I wonder what your boss's surname is?"

My surname is Sun, and I have a good reputation. I am the manager of this foreign company."

Manager Sun, I used to be in the watch business in the United States. Recently, I was ordered by my father to return to China to start a business. I came today to sell my watches produced in the United States to your store.

"Oh, sir, did you bring samples?" Sun Dewang asked.

"This is natural. After that, Wei Yuan opened the leather bag he carried with him."

Opening the leather bag, he took out the five samples one by one and placed them on the mahogany coffee table in front of him, "Boss Sun, please take a look.

Sun Dewang opened each gift box of watches one by one. The more he looked at them, the more surprised he became. He had been working on watches all his life and had never seen any style before, but the styles and workmanship in front of him made him speechless for a moment.

I have never seen such a novel style before. The case is hollowed out, revealing the metal gear movement inside. The dial is plated black or red, and even the silver metal bracelet is too delicate, making it shine under the lights in the store. Hui, what’s even more novel is that each watch also comes with small accessories such as separate disassembly tools.

Putting on his gold-rimmed glasses, Sun Dewang played with them carefully for a moment and then said: "Mr. Wei, please come with me to the second floor for a detailed discussion." Sun Dewang raised his hand to signal.

He turned back to the equally surprised salesperson standing aside and said: Go to the back hall and invite Master Qian. Then he turned to Wei Yuan and said, "Master Qian is an old watchmaker in my shop. I asked him to help me control my eyes."

"But please," Wei Yuan smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

So Wei Yuan followed him to the second floor. After some tea, Master Qian also followed him to the VIP room on the second floor after getting the news.

“A great watch, with exquisite craftsmanship and an unprecedented style.”

Later, Master Qian was an old watchmaker. When he was young, he worked as an apprentice at Hengdeli in England. After he returned to China, he was hired by Sun Dewang at a large price. After looking at it in surprise for a long time, he only said this sentence talk.

After hearing what Master Qian said, Sun Dewang had some idea in his mind and said, "Master Qian, please go and do your work first. Mr. Wei and I still have business to discuss."

Master Qian nodded and excused himself.

After a moment of silence, Sun Dewang said, "I wonder how much Mr. Wei's watches cost?

"I brought a total of 200 watches on this trip, mainly to explore the domestic market. If Boss Sun sincerely wants 280 yuan for one watch, just treat it as making friends with Boss Sun.

"But it needs to be paid in gold according to market exchange conditions, and then Weiyuan made another payment request."

Sun Dewang thought about it secretly for a moment, then raised his head and said to Wei Yuan: "Mr. Wei, sit down for a moment. This is a big deal. I need to make a call with my boss."

"Excuse me, Boss Sun." Wei Yuan smiled slightly, picked up the tea cup and tasted it carefully. The tea in the store was really good. Even though Wei Yuan was a layman, he could still feel the rich fragrance in his mouth.

After a while, Sun Dewang returned to the room with a smile on his face, raised his hand to Wei Yuan, and said, "Mr. Wei, the boss has agreed to the deal. If this batch of goods sells well, we will have to rely on Mr. Wei a lot later."

Easy to say, easy to say

Wei Yuan said excitedly and excitedly: "Then please wait a moment, Boss Sun. When I get the remaining watches, we will pay and deliver the goods."

After walking out of the store, Wei Yuan found a secluded place not far away from anyone, summoned the "system", and took out the remaining watches that were in the "system". Since he had already thought about the transportation problem before traveling, Wei Yuan specifically found two watches without any markings. Large suitcase for storage.

When Wei Yuan returned to the store pushing a suitcase with one hand, Sun Dewang and the other clerks were amazed again when they saw the well-made box with pulleys in Wei Yuan's hand.

Even Boss Sun couldn't help but ask Wei Yuan, "Where are these boxes with mixed wheels produced? Can I sell one or two to them?"

In his previous life, a box worth one or two hundred yuan was not a pain in the ass. Wei Yuan simply waved his hand to express it as a gift to him, which in turn earned Sun Dewang a lot of thanks.

After the clerk finished inspecting the goods and there were no problems, Sun Dewang said again:
  Please wait a moment, Mr. Wei. What you want is gold. I need to send someone to the bank to exchange it. You can drink tea slowly here. I will be the host tonight. There is a Huaiyang cuisine restaurant nearby. The master chef there is said to have ancestors. He is the royal chef in the palace, and we talked while eating.

After saying that, Sun Dewang smiled and greeted Wei Yuan with tea.

Wei Yuan was drinking tea while calculating. According to the current situation, the watch business is still good. He can increase the purchase amount on his next trip, but he doesn't know if the diamonds he carries "Changqi Yangxing" are needed. After all, he is currently looking at the other party. It's just a watch business.

During the chat, Wei Yuan revealed to Sun Dewang, "I still have a batch of diamonds to sell, and I don't know if he is interested or if he has any connections in this area."

Seeing that Weiyuan was actually involved in the diamond business, Boss Sun was surprised. He secretly sighed that Weiyuan had an extraordinary background. He just said that his company was only involved in the import and export of watches and clocks and had no need for diamonds for the time being.

But he said that he could help Weiyuan introduce him to the person in charge of Kimberly-Clark's "Magic City". After all, he was specialized in the diamond business.

(Note: Kimberly-Clark is the parent company of Kimberly-Clark Diamonds, and its famous advertising slogan: Diamonds are forever, a diamond lasts forever, was made by this company)
  Wei Yuan was overjoyed after hearing this and quickly stood up and thanked him.

After finishing a cup of tea, Boss Sun served another cup to Wei Yuan, and the two parties chatted while waiting;
  After some chatting, Wei Yuan had a clearer understanding of the situation in China in this time and space, as well as various experiences in the "Magic City", unlike the text and video records that followed.

When the second cup was almost finished, the man who went to the bank to exchange money pushed the door open with two suitcases and bowed: "Manager, Mr. Wei, the matter is settled, here is the gold exchanged.

After saying that, he reached out and put the suitcase on the table in front of them, and then opened the suitcase.

Looking at the golden gold bars in front of him, Wei Yuan was quite surprised. He saw two unlocked small suitcases filled with large and small "yellow croakers". You must know that in the Republic of China, the standard "large yellow croaker" and "Small yellow croaker" weighs 312.5 grams and 31.25 grams respectively.

The so-called antiques from prosperous times refer to the recent war-torn Republic period. Generally, families with some background would exchange a few gold bars for emergencies.

But later on, gold was expensive and silver was cheap (the legal currency of the Republic of China was silver-based, and the earliest legal currency of one yuan was priced according to one silver dollar). Ordinary people also wanted to buy gold, and the "big yellow croaker" was obviously too expensive to afford. So the gold shop cast 1 tael of "little yellow croaker" worth about 31.25 grams.

Today was an eye-opener for Wei Yuan. In addition to the various gold jewelry displayed in the gold shop behind him, it was the first time for him to see so many gold bars in front of him. At the same time, he also lamented the amount of gold among the people these days, and the "Changqi" The "Foreign Bank" has great magical powers, and in less than two cups of tea, it was able to exchange so much gold.

"Sure enough, a man is not rich without windfall, and a horse is not fat without night grass. I never expected that my first business in this time and space could go so smoothly. When I return to the future, I can upgrade my small factory according to the needs of the market in this time and space, and realize While becoming economically independent, in this time and space, we can realize our dream of saving the country through industry.

"Mr. Wei, you sold this batch of watches for a total of 5 silver dollars. This is 6 large yellow croakers, plus 39 small yellow croakers."

(During the Republic of China: the official silver dollar to gold exchange rate was 4.5 yuan per gram)
  After counting, Wei Yuan said: "Okay, the gold bars are no problem. Let's cooperate again if we have the opportunity in the future.

Facing Sun Dewang's invitation, Wei Yuan had to decline, saying that he had something to do in the evening. He also said that he would be the host the day after tomorrow and asked Boss Sun to help introduce the manager of Kimberly Clark's "Magic City".

Sun Dewang understood. After all, such powerful bosses usually have a lot of entertainment, so he didn't insist. He just offered to make a reservation for Wei Yuan in Kimberley. Then Wei Yuan left his room number at the Peace Hotel and waited for Sun Dewang. Call yourself anytime you have news so you can prepare in advance.

After bidding farewell to Boss Sun, Wei Yuan returned to the Peace Hotel carrying two suitcases filled with gold.

(End of this chapter)