Chapter 27: Huge Profits (Part One)

Looking at this dilapidated place, Ye Dongping felt a bit of regret in his heart. If he had known the environment in the County Town was like this, he would rather have taken Ye Tian back to Beijing. No matter what, he still had the Old Residence his father left him there.

Also, some time ago, Ye Dongping had written to his classmates to inquire. It seemed that the educated youths who had been left behind in various places could all return to Beijing to settle their household registrations, though the state would no longer help assign jobs.

Ye Dongping was not too worried about this point. No matter what, he had studied mechanical engineering at Huaqing for several years. Even if he hadn’t touched the related field for many years, he could still work as a technician in a small factory, right?

Taking a step back, the hardships of these years were not for nothing. Ye Dongping was no longer that frail student from back then. With his strength, he could go back to Beijing and work as a laborer, and that would be enough to support Ye Tian.

Seeing that Ye Dongping’s expression did not look good, Feng Kuang moved closer. He glanced left and right, lowered his voice, and said, “Uncle Ye, don’t look down on this scrap collection station. It can make a lot of money, and… you can also do antique business here…”

“What are you sneaking around for? In this broken place, even if you shout at the top of your lungs, no one will come.”

Ye Dongping couldn’t stand the smell of smoke on Feng Kuang’s breath and pushed him away slightly. He asked with some disbelief, “Collecting scrap can make money? And you can do antique business? Do you think Uncle Ye is a child?”

In Ye Dongping’s impression, those old established Antique Shops in Beijing were all ancient-style buildings with gray bricks and red tiles, carved beams and painted rafters. Inside, the sound of zither music lingered, and the environment was elegant. How could it be anything like this place?

“Uncle Ye, don’t you believe me? I’ve worked for half a month. Do you know how much money I made?”

Seeing that Ye Dongping did not believe him, Feng Kuang raised his voice. Excitedly, he pulled a Key from his waist, opened the gate of the Recycling Station, and ushered Ye Dongping and his son inside. Then he pulled out an account book and said, “Uncle Ye, look for yourself. I, Feng Zi, am not someone who boasts!”

“What kind of messy stuff is recorded here?” Ye Dongping opened the account book and immediately felt a headache coming on.

On this paper, which looked like it should be from a child’s exercise book, crooked and densely packed characters and various numbers were written. “Red Tong (Red Copper) one hundred forty-eight jin, Xi (Tin) thirty-five jin, Shu Liao (Plastic) five hundred fifty-five jin, Iron three hundred forty-two jin…”

When Ye Dongping saw the summary at the very bottom of the account book, he was even more confused. He pulled Feng Kuang over and pointed at the words, asking, “Feng Zi, this is red copper, right? But what is this ‘Xi’ thing? And this… ‘Shu Liao,’ is that plastic?”

Feng Kuang scratched his head and nodded, saying, “Right, it’s red copper. Yeah, that’s plastic. Xi is just Xi. Don’t you know, Uncle Ye?”

“Nonsense. What ‘Xi’? Is there a metal called ‘West’?” Ye Dongping was almost speechless. “With this level, you still think about making money? You can’t even keep proper accounts. You’ll be lucky not to lose all your capital.”

Feng Kuang, looking somewhat wronged, rummaged in a corner of the room and pulled out a kettle. He handed it to Ye Dongping and said, “Uncle Ye, it’s this. They all call it ‘Xi.’”

Taking the item Feng Kuang handed over, Ye Dongping saw it was a tin kettle. He couldn’t help but feel torn between laughter and tears. He said, “This… this is called ‘tin.’ But it’s not the ‘west’ meaning a direction…”

“Calling it ‘Xi’ is fine, isn’t it? Who cares what ‘Xi’ it is. Uncle Ye, look, in just half a month, I made over two hundred and eighty yuan.”

Feng Kuang was not interested in how the character “Xi” was written. After Ye Dongping finished speaking, he pointed with his finger to the numbers at the very bottom, signaling Ye Dongping to look.

“Shu Liao three fen per jin, selling for four point five fen. Red Tong XXX yuan per jin, selling for XXX yuan. Iron…”

Ye Dongping originally didn’t pay much attention, but looking at these detailed accounts one by one, an expression of surprise gradually appeared on his face. After a long while, he closed the notebook in his hand, looked at Feng Kuang, and asked, “Feng Zi, you didn’t get these prices wrong, did you? Are the buying and selling prices really this much?”

Ye Dongping couldn’t help but be shocked. He never imagined that items costing just a few fen per jin could have such huge profits?

Not to mention anything else, the plastic collected for a little over three fen per jin could be sold for half again more than the purchase price. This… this was simply a huge profit.

“Uncle Ye, what… what do you mean by that?”

Feng Kuang didn’t understand Ye Dongping’s meaning. He thought Ye Dongping meant he was making money for himself in the middle. He quickly spoke up, “How would I dare trick you? You’re the big… big shareholder, aren’t you? If I tricked you, wouldn’t my uncle beat me to death?”

Feng Kuang was someone who could endure hardship. Although his education level wasn’t high, he understood one thing: if a country kid like him wanted to gain a foothold in the city, he had to be able to endure hardships that city people couldn’t.

So, during this more than half a month, Feng Kuang pulled a Handcart, starting early and returning late, going door to door. He had practically covered the entire County Town. The things in the yard and the house now were what remained after he sold the rest to the state-owned collection station.

“Is this true?” After hearing Feng Kuang’s words, Ye Dongping fell into deep thought, the shocked expression on his face never fading.

It had to be known that last year, the average annual income of those workers in the County Town was just over nine hundred yuan. That is to say, most people only had a salary of a few dozen yuan per month.

Even in Beijing, the average income last year was just over two thousand yuan, which didn’t even come to two hundred yuan a month. And in provinces like Hebei and Henan, the average annual income didn’t even reach seven hundred yuan, at most five or six hundred.

Even Ye Dongping’s old classmate who taught at a university, when everything was added up each month, only made about one hundred fifty or sixty yuan. And according to what he said, their department head’s monthly salary was only around one hundred eighty yuan.

Ye Dongping simply could not imagine that this usually looked-down-upon scrap collecting could earn more in half a month than a professor teaching at a university. This stark contrast made it hard for Ye Dongping to accept for a moment.

“Uncle Ye, here, this is the one thousand yuan you gave me at the start. This two hundred and some is what we earned. My uncle said all the money should be managed by you, so I’m handing it over to you.”

Seeing that Ye Dongping was silent, Feng Kuang pulled a plastic bag from a worn-out sack in an inconspicuous corner of the room. Inside, bulging, were all notes of a few jiao and one yuan, along with many one-fen, two-fen, and five-fen coins.

Holding this real silver and copper coins in both hands, Ye Dongping finally reacted. For now, he couldn’t care about the dust all over the room. He walked to the table, opened that exercise book, and started recording the accounts right there.

“What is this here? What is this number?” While asking Feng Kuang, Ye Dongping started drawing grids and making a new account book.

Although he wasn’t a graduate of an accounting program, this simple income and expenditure accounting was no difficulty for Ye Dongping. The accounts that Feng Kuang had drawn up like a heavenly book soon became clear in Ye Dongping’s hands.

After sorting out the accounts, Ye Dongping asked, “Feng Zi, how much is the monthly contract fee for this Recycling Station?”

“We have to hand over sixty yuan to them every month…”

As if afraid Ye Dongping would think it was too much, Feng Kuang continued, “This sixty yuan includes the water and electricity bills. They cover it…”