National Tide 1980

Friday, May 28, 1982.

It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon.

In order to occupy a good place, Ning Weimin deliberately led Luo Guangliang and his brothers to the south entrance of a small street on the north side of the road outside Jianguomen in Dongcheng District early.

They arrived very early indeed. The place was deserted and deserted, with no vendors doing business at all.

So that six of them and six tricycles casually occupied the best position at the street corner.

They could split up and guard both ends of the intersection, line up three cars on each side, and set up a position to sell goods.

But just because it was my first time here, I waited until I saw the environment clearly.

Except for Luo Guangliang, who admired Ning Weimin's abilities and still maintained confidence in him.

The others were all greatly frustrated, even quite disappointed.

Because none of them understood that this small street below them was not on the map, with a total length of 500 meters and a width of 8 meters.

What is there that deserves Ning Weimin's attention, and why he deserves to organize everyone to come here to do business.

You know, this is the eastern suburbs outside the Second Ring Road.

These days, once you cross the Jianguomen Bridge, you are out of the city. There are few cars and few people.

Although the place where they were staying was right in front of Jianwai Street, there weren't really many people.

Moreover, besides the acacias on both sides of this small street, there are walls.

People passing by here, whether walking or riding bicycles, were not interested at all and took a second look at the street entrance or inside.

Instead, he was facing the unobstructed view of the Chaotian Avenue, traveling at a fast speed, with his eyes focused forward.

It seems that everyone has something to be busy with, as if they are nothing.

This situation cannot be compared with the downtown areas of Beijing, such as Qianmen, Xidan, Dashilan and Wangfujing.

Compared with the Friendship Store on the west side of this street and the Jianguo Hotel on the east side, it's not as good as an old one.

No matter how you look at it, it is definitely not a good place to do business.

Why do you have to come here? This is illogical.

To be honest, Luo Guangliang's prestige is here, and he took the initiative to lay out the goods silently.

His brothers didn't dare to say anything and just started working.

Otherwise, this guy's dissatisfaction and doubts would have been expressed long ago.

I'm afraid I have to ask Ning Weimin in person.

Time was wasted silently in the indifference of no one and smoking.

Half an hour passed, but something positive happened.

That is, after everyone laid out the goods, many small merchants and hawkers came to this small street one after another, and it gradually became much more lively.

It can be said that there is indeed a certain market prototype here.

It's a pity that the confidence of Luo Guangliang and his brothers was not restored much.

Because the companions who got together with them were all carrying burdens to sell fruits and vegetables.

Or there are people selling eggs or salted duck eggs with a basket.

There are also people pushing bicycles with hanging baskets selling soy tofu and pickles.

Or they might use a cart to push a few sacks to sell mung beans, red beans, and millet.

To put it bluntly, these vendors are just like going to a rural market. They mainly sell agricultural products, turning this place into a free farmer's market.

So this situation made Luo Guangliang's brothers feel even more embarrassed.

From the incomprehensible and strange looks in the eyes of this gang of vendors, it seemed like they were the weirdos who shouldn't be here.

Even soon, the subsequent development of facts fully verified this point.

When the sun sets in the west and the clouds in the sky begin to turn golden.

The south entrance of this small street finally ushered in its first burst of crowds and peak passenger flow.

The reason is that almost all the workers in the Dabeiyao factory area have come off work.

As long as workers who don't live in the factory come to the city, most of them have to pass through here.

Needless to say, the most favorite thing for any businessman in the world is probably the flow of people.

Because having traffic means business opportunities, which means making money.

However, today is an exception for Luo Guangliang's brothers.

Because of these hard-earned customer flows, it only proves that the business logic of those vendors is correct.

In turn, it made their group look even more stupid.

In fact, the reason why these off-duty workers stayed here was just to save trouble and for convenience.

Buy some useful rice, noodles and vegetables to take home for dinner.

This is their fundamental purpose.

So when men or older people buy rice and vegetables,

Like other hawkers, he would look at them with strange eyes, looking at Ning Weimin and Luo Guangliang's six tricycles loaded with high-end goods.

To put it bluntly, it's like a visitor to the zoo who suddenly discovers six Arabian baboons among the monkeys in the Monkey Mountain that shouldn't be there at all.

Even young female workers, who account for a quarter of the workforce, can hardly resist the temptation.

I am always attracted by the novel styles and brightly colored clothes on the car.

But it's a pity that no matter how much these girls like it, it's over once they ask the price.

Because Ning Weimin's sales price for this batch of clothing with cut labels is only equivalent to 40% off the original price, but each piece costs at least 80 yuan.

Almost no ordinary female union is willing to spend more than one month's salary to buy clothes.

The girls who came to see these clothes were all frightened and turned pale, complaining again and again.

"Oh my god, are these clothes of yours made of gold thread? Who can afford them?"

"I know you are a famous brand, but why don't you cut off your trademarks? Are there any brands here?"

"It looks good, and the materials are really good, but it's too expensive. I'm not saying it, the price is too out of line with the masses..."

In short, the scene they encountered here was extremely inconsistent with the booming business of other vendors.

No matter how you look at it, it looks weird and funny.

So after the crowd receded, Luo Guangliang's five brothers were almost desperate when faced with the looks of laughter in the eyes of other colleagues.

Finally, when Ning Weimin walked to the main road outside the small street to smoke alone, they couldn't help but complained privately.

"I mean, you guys are all dumbfounded, right? You didn't sell any of them, and people took them as a joke. Look at how embarrassing this is."

"That's right, when you came here, you said you're here to eat meat. Just follow the orders and do it. It's definitely better than riding a three-wheeler! I think it's a mess today. Are there any foreigners? Everyone came here for nothing. ah."

"Okay, okay, let's stop talking! Who are we targeting? Or for the sake of Third Brother! Even if I don't give you even a penny, let you help me today, don't you still Why don’t you do it?”

"Damn it, it just shows that you are active. Are you sensible? If you don't care about the third brother's face, why should I stand here and talk to you? Why are you pretending to be a big-tailed wolf?"

"Hey, what are you talking about? You're so awesome, just throw away your job and leave now. Don't show off to me!"

"Hey, I have such a bad temper. Are you trying to make me unhappy?"

"Grandson, I'm also warning you, don't bring any odds and ends in your mouth. Who is this? You!"

"Derla, we started to do it first! Let's be less angry. Who are you talking about? Brother Du..."

"Yes, that's serious. I think we should let the third brother ask the man named Ning. What should we do next? Should we continue poking or withdraw?"

"Look, look, look... Hey, look, isn't it over now for the third brother? He really went to look for that kid on the street outside! Just wait, let's wait for the third brother to come back and listen to what he has to say..."