PDLP Chapter 29: Containing the Code to Wealth
Chapter 29: Containing the Code to Wealth
Huang Xiaochuan, who was strolling around the market carrying stamp albums, was always mistaken by the stamp dealers in the market as a spendthrift son who had stolen stamps from home to sell. These dealers were not enthusiastic about selling their goods, but they were very enthusiastic about finding a bargain.
So Huang Xiaochuan was constantly greeted by people along the way.
"Friend, is there anything you want to sell? Let me take a look, the price is negotiable."
"Young man, I offer the fairest prices for goods. Let me see what you have, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
"Friend, don't run around in this heat, sit down and let's talk."
"I specialize in collecting sheet stamps here. What kind of sheet stamps do you have?"
When Huang Xiaochuan heard the stamp dealer boasting that he specialized in collecting sheet stamps, he stopped and asked, "Do you have sheet stamps?"
The stamp dealer then realized that the young man in front of him was there to buy stamps, not to sell them, and his interest immediately waned.
After all, the profit from selling stamps is so small, but if you're lucky enough to strike it rich and make a killing, the profit can be equivalent to selling stamps for a week.
But since he'd already asked, the dealer replied, "I have plenty of sheet stamps. Which one do you want?"
Huang Xiaochuan squatted in front of the postal vendor's stall, smiling, and asked, "Do you have a full sheet of '80 Monkeys' prints?"
The peddler rolled his eyes inwardly. Was this young man trying to make fun of him? How could a small-time stamp dealer like me have a full sheet of 80 Year of the Monkey stamps? Business is all about quick turnover, how could I possibly have so much money tied up in a full sheet of 80 Year of the Monkey stamps? Besides, very few people buy a full sheet of 80 Year of the Monkey stamps.
"No, we have everything except the 80 monkeys. Take a look at the chickens, dogs, pigs, and rats." The vendor took out a catalog of stamps and showed it to Huang Xiaochuan. Since they were already chatting, he figured he might as well make a sale; it was better than nothing.
Huang Xiaochuan shook his head: "Nothing else is needed."
The dealer's eyes darted around as he asked, "Do you want a block of 80 monkey stamps or a single stamp? A full sheet has 80 stamps, and even if I collect the individual stamps, I can get more than 80. It's about the same price as buying a sheet."
The stamp dealers started trying to persuade Huang Xiaochuan, thinking they could sell some. The owner of the full-page 80 Monkey stamp might actually be a potential buyer, so it was always good to promote it.
When the stall owner mentioned that he had loose stamps, Huang Xiaochuan smiled and asked him to take them out for a look. He said he wouldn't take single stamps, but he could take some blocks of four or eight stamps if the price was right. The main problem was that checking the condition and authenticity of each stamp individually was too time-consuming, so even if he did collect some loose stamps, he would mainly focus on blocks of four or eight stamps.
The postman found a small booklet and handed it to Huang Xiaochuan, along with a small stool, saying, "Young man, come in a little, get out of the sun."
Huang Xiaochuan smiled and thanked him, "Thank you, boss. You're a good person. You'll definitely make a fortune in the future."
The mail seller chuckled: "Young man, you're quite the smooth talker. Thank you for your kind words."
Huang Xiaochuan smiled, sat down, and opened the miniature sheet booklet, which was full of 80 monkey stamps. It seemed that this stamp dealer had some skills.
Taking out the tweezers and high-powered magnifying glass he had just bought at the market, Huang Xiaochuan pulled out the four-panel blocks and examined them one by one. After looking at several blocks, Huang Xiaochuan asked, "Boss, what's the price for a four-panel or eight-panel block?"
"A four-stamped set is 180, an eight-stamped set is 360," the stamp dealer quoted a high price.
Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan immediately put the several square couplets he had pulled out back into their original places, muttering with dissatisfaction, "Boss, you're not being sincere. It seems you don't want to do business with me?"
Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan thought it was too expensive and didn't want to buy it anymore, the postman started to panic and said, "Young man, if you really want it, just name your price!"
Huang Xiaochuan said shrewdly, "I'll pay whatever the market price is today. If you're trying to rip me off, boss, I might as well go look elsewhere. You're not the only place that sells 80-yuan monkeys, are you?"
Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan was knowledgeable, the stamp dealer stopped asking exorbitant prices and instead asked, "How many do you want to buy?"
Huang Xiaochuan pointed to the small booklet containing 80 monkeys and said, "As long as the condition is fine, I'll take all the four-panel and eight-panel sheets inside."
Upon hearing this, the mail seller immediately perked up; it seemed he had encountered a big spender today.
He then readily revised his quote, saying, "Today's market price is 155 for a four-piece bundle and 310 for an eight-piece bundle."
Huang Xiaochuan then picked up the miniature booklet again: "That's more like it. Let me check the condition first, and then we'll see how many there are in total before settling the bill."
The mail vendor nodded in agreement.
As Huang Xiaochuan inspected the stamps one by one, he also tried to persuade the stamp dealer: "Boss, I'm helping you clear out your inventory. With the money freed up, you can buy some other popular items to sell, right?"
The mail seller smiled ingratiatingly, thinking to himself, "I don't believe you for a second, but it's always good to have more working capital on hand."
Finally, after checking the numbers, there were 17 four-way combinations and 6 eight-way combinations, for a total price of 4495.
The stamp seller generously rounded down the price by five yuan and even gave Huang Xiaochuan a new souvenir booklet to store the stamps.
Huang Xiaochuan took out his money, counted out 4500, handed it to the postal vendor, took the change from the postal vendor, packed up the souvenir booklet, stood up and said goodbye to the postal vendor: "Boss, the money and goods are settled, see you next time."
"Take care, young man. Come back to me if you need any stamps in the future."
Huang Xiaochuan smiled and agreed, then continued strolling around. It seemed the stamp vendors at the stalls weren't very capable! Only big collectors had the stamps.
Huang Xiaochuan checked the time; it was almost eleven o'clock. He decided to hurry up and head to the next place.
I randomly picked a storefront that looked decent, went inside and asked. Sure enough, they had a whole sheet of 80 Monkey stamps, but not many, only a dozen or so. I quickly negotiated a price and bought them all. By the time the transaction was completed, it was almost one o'clock.
The shop owner made a big sale and warmly invited Huang Xiaochuan to a luxurious fast food meal, a boxed lunch with three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.
All of this was observed by Acheng, a shop assistant sent by Nan Hui. While Huang Xiaochuan was buying a full sheet of 80 monkeys, Acheng ran back to his shop to inform Nan Hui of the situation, and then had lunch. He planned to continue shopping at the market with Huang Xiaochuan in the afternoon.
While eating, Acheng told Nanhui what he had seen.
"Sister, I followed that guy surnamed Huang all the way and found that he specifically bought the 80 Monkeys. He bought a lot of four-panel and eight-panel blocks from Jiang Genfa. Later, he stopped browsing the street stalls and went directly to Pan Yongji's house across the street and bought more than a dozen versions of the 80 Monkeys."
Nan Hui pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't you buy anything else?"
Ah Cheng seemed hungry. He stuffed a big mouthful of rice into his mouth and swallowed it in a few bites before replying, "No, it's all 80 monkeys." After saying that, he picked up a big mouthful of vegetables and stuffed them into his mouth.
Nan Hui pushed a glass of cool boiled water in front of Acheng: "Eat slowly, drink some water."
Acheng is the grandson of the family's nanny. The nanny, Qiao Yindi, served three generations of the Nan family and had a special relationship with them. Her grandson, Acheng, dropped out of junior high school to make a living. By chance, Nan Hui took him with her to travel all over the country to resell treasury bonds. Eventually, they opened a shop and started a stamp business. Acheng has always been Nan Hui's indispensable right-hand man.
He only buys 80 monkey stamps, and mainly sheet stamps? Nan Hui discovered that Huang Xiaochuan's behavior was very strange based on Acheng's description.
Having ventured out into the world for so many years, Nan Hui is always very sensitive to unusual information, because it may contain the key to wealth. Back then, she discovered the secret of treasury bonds by analyzing news reports in newspapers about the pilot cities for treasury bond trading, which indeed earned her her first pot of gold.
Later, she abandoned treasury bonds and started a stamp business. This was because she keenly discovered that stamps contained unlimited business opportunities. Stamps are also valuable securities backed by national credit. Moreover, the early stamps were issued in small quantities and the number of surviving stamps was also small, making it easy to manipulate the market and drive up prices.
Huang Xiaochuan's actions indicate that he is bullish on the 80 Monkeys and is currently building up his stock. Thinking of this, Nan Hui immediately said to Acheng, "Acheng, don't sell the 80 Monkeys for now. If anyone asks, just say you're out of stock. Just put out some loose ones to make a show of it."
Ah Cheng, who was drinking water, put down his teacup and replied, "Understood, Sister."
Then Nan Hui instructed Acheng, "Acheng, you don't need to go with them this afternoon. You keep an eye on the shop, I'll go outside and take a look."
Ah Cheng nodded and said, "I understand, Sister."
Nan Hui had already made up her mind. She would also enter the market to collect 80 monkeys, focusing on full-page sets of 80 monkeys like Huang Xiaochuan, and buy a batch of them. Anyway, she had plenty of working capital right now.
Huang Xiaochuan, who was not far from her, never expected that a woman would guess his thoughts and prepare to quietly build her own position. Unintentionally, Huang Xiaochuan triggered the prelude to the 91 stamp market frenzy and fired the first shot in the rapid rise of the 80 Year of the Monkey stamps.