National Tide 1980

In the early hours of the morning, Ning Weimin, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by a hand.

He opened his eyes and saw a shadowy figure beside the bed in the darkness.

But the voice coming from his ears was extremely familiar.

"Weimin, it's time. Get up, keep your voice down, don't wake up the neighbors..."

This person is Kang Shude, his master.

After hearing the old man's instructions, Ning Weimin quickly went to the ground to get dressed without saying a word.

He didn't even need to turn on the light to clean himself up quietly.

These are all skills developed while picking up rags.

But when he saw the fluorescent alarm hand, he was a little confused.

It's not even five o'clock in the morning, it's only four-thirty.

For this reason, he couldn't help but ask while yawning.

"Old man, aren't we going to the Temple of Heaven? Why are we getting up so early? Are you sure we are not going to catch scorpions?"

Unexpectedly, the old man was a little impatient.

"You are sincere, right? Don't talk nonsense, be quick. Wash your face quickly and go to the cart. Don't go if it's later."

No choice, Ning Weimin had no choice but to obey orders honestly.

I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth, then pushed the 28-year-old Yan brand bicycle I just bought yesterday and quietly left the small courtyard.

However, the moment Mr. Kang, who was holding a handbag, followed him and got into the back seat of the car.

Maybe it's the cool morning air.

Ning Weimin, who was waiting for his master to get on the bus, suddenly felt blessed and thought of another possibility.

"Hey, old man, then...under the altar...is there a ghost market?"

As a result, Kang Shude was stunned by this sudden sentence.

After a long while, the old man patted his apprentice on the back and said in disbelief.

"Okay, boy, you've impressed me again. It seems you know something about the past, so you guessed it. But let's not delay here, time waits for no one. I'll tell you slowly on the way. …”

"Hey! Sit tight and be yours!"

With the little knowledge I gained from the information society in my previous life, I earned Master's praise.

Ning Weimin immediately felt no sleepiness at all and felt refreshed.

All of a sudden, I felt that my whole body was full of strength, and I felt extremely light when I started pedaling.

Thinking about the fact that these days, there are many treasures everywhere but no one cares about them, he is almost excited!

To be honest, he had been thinking about such a day since he worshiped this master.

The reason why I have never been embarrassed to talk to the old man.

The main one is that the policy is particularly strict on second-hand goods such as calligraphy, painting and porcelain.

These days, there is no official market or store where ordinary people can buy antiques.

Officially, the government, through trust stores and cultural relics stores, only accepts but does not sell such items.

Regardless of cultural relics stores or friendship stores, they are only responsible for earning foreign exchange through export sales.

Secondly, Ning Weimin was also afraid of bringing it up voluntarily, violating Master's taboo, and arousing Kang Shude's unpleasant memories.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of well ropes for ten years.

Ning Weimin is experiencing this society firsthand, which is completely different from what he imagined in the past.

He reads newspapers every day and feels the people and things around him.

I can already understand that these days, people are walking on thin ice and are overly cautious.

So originally, he planned to just go all out to apply for monkey tickets this year.

After all, funds are limited, and cheap chips can only be purchased now.

There are still opportunities for other gadgets, so it’s not too urgent.

But he didn't expect that now the master would actually take him to go shopping for missing items!

This is a great thing that is both affordable and eye-opening.

How can we not be positive?

Not to mention, as a master, Kang Shude was really competent in teaching his disciples.

Along the way, the old man never stopped talking.

From the past to the present, he explained to Ning Weimin very patiently and thoroughly what was going on in this ghost market.

Many of them were things Ning Weimin had never heard of, which made him really knowledgeable.

what's up?

The so-called ghost market is also called a small market or a dawn market.

This is a unique antique and secondhand market in the capital.

As the name suggests, it is a market where used goods are traded before dawn or at night.

Whether the transaction between the two parties is a good deal depends essentially on the dim light of the sky, and the bet is on eyesight and the use of the ecstasy palm.

As the saying goes, "A sky lantern illuminates goods but not people", what is needed is a dim environment.

The seller neither shouted nor hawked, leaving it to the buyer to see for himself.

However, the voices of both parties involved in the transaction were very low, and there was no loud noise.

This is to ensure the confidentiality of the market and the privacy of both parties to the transaction.

Therefore, when people in the capital go to the ghost market, they can neither say that they are going to the ghost market, nor can they say that they are going there, let alone strolling around. They have to say "visit the ghost market."

As for the specific transaction situation, take Xiaoshi, which specializes in trading in the early morning, as an example.

Usually, at the end of the fourth watch, sellers have set up their stalls with lanterns and are waiting for people to make deals.

Sometimes, under the black light, I buy some cool stuff and cheap stuff.

Although there are no certain boundaries for setting up stalls in ghost markets, they generally have their own scope.

There are always those selling small pieces of jewelry as the center, with stalls set up around them, and delivery is also included.

At five o'clock in the morning, those who caught the goods went to the market, each carrying a glass lamp, and went straight to the place where everyone remembered to ship the goods every day.

When I see a few items available for purchase, I gather them together and then slowly negotiate the price.

The one who bargained the most held hands in his sleeves and counted them with his hands.

If you press two fingers for a large number, and then press three fingers for a zero number, that is twenty-three yuan, or a two-yuan triangle.

If it's just a few cents, you don't need to use the handle. You can say "code words", which are "jargon", also known as "black words", also known as "spring code".

For example, "Mo, press, search, smell, crooked, material, Qiao, stupid, foot, spoon", using these ten pronunciations, one to ten can be expressed respectively.

Before the buyer agrees on the price and declares that he will not buy, other buyers cannot go ahead and buy another item, which is called "not finished buying."

This is why when buying, you should collect it first and negotiate the price later.

The most important point is to catch the goods as early as possible and not be afraid of hard work.

The earlier the goods on the street stalls go, the "fresher" they are.

If you go there late, maybe there will only be a bunch of "rotten cabbage gangsters" left there, and there will be no "treasure" to speak of.

"The early bird gets fed" is the truth.

The reason why this informal market with a mysterious atmosphere has existed from the Ming Dynasty to the present day.

The reason is of course that such operating characteristics adapt to certain special needs of people.

For example, since the Republic of China, the Manchu and Qing governments were overthrown.

Some royal relatives and nobles lost the monthly supply of royal food from the royal family.

But he didn’t have any skills, so he had to make a living by selling old things.

But these people are not just brainless "yangzi" who are coaxed into running around by a few good words.

Some people feel that selling things to "drummers" who collect used items is not worth it, and they always feel at a loss.

But if you sell it on the street and bargain in public, you can't afford to embarrass that person.

So after thinking about it for a while, I went to the ghost market to sell it.

The picture shows this form of transaction in which buyers and sellers cannot see each other's faces.

Not only does it save face, but it can also be sold at a relatively good price.

Furthermore, such a market also facilitates the sale of some items of unknown origin.

Because the transactions are all done in secret, both the buyer and the seller can have a tacit understanding, regardless of where they come from.

It also eliminates the worry of being sued for committing a crime, and both of us can feel at ease.

There are also people who have formal jobs during the day, and they can also make some extra money here.

Whether it's early or late, whether you're buying or selling.

When the time comes, you can do whatever you have to do without affecting your work at all.