This year, just in time for the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, and although there have been a series of previous incidents, such as riots in Tibet and boycotts of the Olympic flame overseas, this has not had much impact on people across the country who are welcoming the Olympics. Seeing that the flame will come to the city where our school is located on May 12th, business opportunities are everywhere in this once-in-a-century grand occasion, and it is up to anyone to grasp it.

Faced with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I suddenly thought of the idea of selling the national flag and the flag of the Beijing Olympic Games. Although the flag is small, it is an indispensable piece of equipment for everyone in the days before and after the torch relay, and the wholesale price of a flag is only 4 cents.

In this way, if you wholesale 1,000 flags, you will need a total of 400 yuan, which means that if you can sell 200 flags during the torch relay, you will be able to recover the cost. I did a rough calculation, if I was lucky enough to sell all the flags, I could make a net profit of 1,600 yuan, which was a big temptation for us students. But I can't take out the cost of 400 yuan at once, and it seems that I have to find another partner.

I quickly posted a message in the class group, and in less than a minute, Xiao Kai from the dormitory next door sent me a reply, asking to join. I suddenly remembered that when I was in junior high school, I also sold roses on Valentine's Day with my classmates, but I lost money for two consecutive years, and then I naturally lost my enthusiasm for continuing it, but I don't know what the result will be this time.

When Xiao Kai and I discussed all the details, we suddenly found that today is already May 9th, which means that the flags must arrive before the 11th, otherwise it will be difficult for us to sell all 1,000 flags on the 12th. It wasn't until then that we realized that the wise saying "time is money" was so correct that it couldn't be delayed any longer, so I hurriedly went online and logged on to Taobao.

During the Olympic Torch Relay, many shops selling Olympic flags sprung up overnight, and the pros and cons were uneven. After some screening, we found a store with a three-diamond reputation. The boss was a warm-hearted person, and when he heard that we were students, he immediately offered that if it was too late, he could personally take the train to deliver the goods to us, and the fare would be shared equally between the two parties. I discussed it with Xiao Kai and felt that this budget was too large, and even if the train came over the time, it might not be enough, so we proposed to the boss to increase the postage and direct air delivery. The boss agreed without saying a word and promised to give priority to delivery.

The two days before the goods arrived, for us can be described as a year, in case of the 12th, then we will really lose everything. Fortunately, by noon on the 11th, the goods were finally delivered.

Without further ado, we decided to go immediately.

The shuttle bus was too slow, so in order to hurry up, we chartered a small van at the intersection of Student Street and rushed to the city. After entering the city, we asked the driver to park the car next to a very lively pedestrian bridge, and then picked up the delivery box that had not yet had time to unpack, and jumped out of the car with a hint of apprehension.

People come and go, standing on the street, we don't know what to do, think about it for a long time, and finally decide to open the package first. Unexpectedly, just after opening a corner of the box, a sudden gust of wind blew the flag in the box into the sky. In a hurry, we can only use this word to describe our embarrassment at that time, but fortunately, the passers-by around were very enthusiastic, and everyone stopped to help us pick up the flags scattered everywhere. It was a blessing in disguise, and it was this gust of wind that brought us an unexpected publicity effect, and we were quickly surrounded by more than a dozen customers.

A middle-aged woman passing by bent down, picked up the flag, looked up and asked, "How do you sell this flag?"

"Buy 3 yuan for a single unit, and 5 yuan for a pair. We told her the price we had agreed upon.

"Well, it's too expensive! Can you sell it for a pair of 4 yuan?" the middle-aged woman frowned, and casually waved the two flags in her hand to bargain with us.

"That'...... All right. "After all, it's the first customer, 4 yuan is 4 yuan.

Because the time was too rushed, the flags had not yet been planted on the flagpole, so we had to sell them while inserting, and the efficiency was really low. Finally sending off the first group of customers, we took advantage of this free time, we changed directions, blocked the wind blowing from the corner with our bodies, and then crouched in front of the box and hurriedly planted the flagpole on the flag.

After a busy day, the gaps around the box were gradually filled with red and white flags, and from a distance, it finally looked like something was being sold. Xiao Kai even took out a medium-sized national flag from his backpack and hung it on the clothes rack that was removed from the dormitory.

"It's still this national flag handsome, let's watch the torch relay tomorrow, and it's cool to shake it!" Xiao Kai patted his ass and stood up, waving the national flag with a complacent look.

I looked up at Xiao Kai, casually stuffed all the contents of the bag into Xiao Kai, and left a bag empty to hold money. Not to mention, the location we chose is really good, close to the road, there are many pedestrians, and our national flag is conspicuous enough, and business is always very hot. In addition to passers-by, there are also taxi drivers, Mercedes-Benz owners, and elderly people who pick up and drop off their children on bicycles. Before it was time for dinner, we had already recouped our costs.

"Boss, this flag is good, can you sell it to me?" Just as we were busy, a woman's voice suddenly came from behind us. When we looked back, it turned out to be a young couple under the age of thirty, and the woman was holding the medium-sized national flag that Xiao Kai hung out as a signboard, and she was unwilling to let go for a long time.

"Well, this flag is our own use tomorrow, and we won't sell it. Xiao Kai hurriedly stood up and explained with a smile on his face.

"Boss, just sell it to us, you say how much it is. I didn't expect the woman to play a scoundrel like a child, "I want this flag!" No matter how good we talked, the woman had only one sentence.

"If people don't sell it, let's go......" The man took the woman's hand and played a round for us with an apologetic face.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the woman took advantage of Xiao Kai's unpreparedness, suddenly snatched the national flag, and then grabbed the man's hand, and trotted forward.

"Ah...... Hey...... "Faced with the sudden situation, Xiao Kai didn't know what to do, and hurriedly chased after him.

The man turned his face a little helplessly, took out a twenty yuan from his pocket, and stuffed it to Xiao Kai. Seeing that the wood has been completed, although it is reluctant, it is helpless.

Xiao Kai's roommate Ah Rong happened to be in the city, so we called him over on the phone.

"Brother Rong, let's go have a meal and help look at the stalls for a while!" we pushed the box in front of Ah Rong with a smirk on our faces.

"Well, let's go eat it. Ah Rong was very kind, and agreed without saying a word.

We just made money, and we went straight to a KFC not far away, probably because it was the first time we spent our own money, and today's dinner was extraordinarily delicious.

It is the turn of spring and summer in May, which is hot in the morning and cold in the evening. When we returned to the stall after we had a full meal, we felt that the temperature had plummeted quite a bit. Poor me, wearing only a pair of basketball shorts, was blown by the wind, and couldn't help but shiver. Fortunately, there is a sleeveless sweatshirt over the top half of the short-sleeved T-shirt, which is finally a little warmer.

It was boring and cold, so we decided to walk around and maybe sell more. Picking up the box, the three of us walked along the overpass in the direction of Zhongshan Street, selling as we went, but there was never such a good business as in the afternoon.

"It's all to blame on that hateful woman who stole our flag!" Xiao Kai seemed to find the root of the problem......

At around nine o'clock, Ah Rong met up with a few other people in their dormitory, and then took the bus back to school, while Xiao Kai and I continued to stay in the city, and the two of us walked slowly all the way until we came to an intersection in front of the bus station, where there were many vendors selling Olympics-related goods.

"I'm tired, let's set up a stall here. "Once I crossed the bridge, I didn't want to go any further.

Xiao Kai looked around and felt that the flow of people was okay, so he found an open space and put the box down. Next to us was a stall selling Olympic costumes, and in our casual conversation with the stall owner, we were surprised to learn that the group had followed the torch relay and chased it all the way from the first stop in Sanya.

It's really hard to make money these days, just today one afternoon almost didn't tire me down, but they have already run most of China, which also makes me admire their perseverance.

It was almost 11 o'clock, but there were still nearly 500 flags that had not been sold, and we were all a little tired of it.

"Wholesale all the flags you can't sell!" the stall owner next to him asked tentatively, as if he had read our thoughts.

I hurriedly pulled Xiao Kai, and the two of them discussed it in a whisper, there must be no place to sleep tonight, and it is still a big question whether there is energy to continue to sell tomorrow morning, plus I have to watch the torch relay, so it is better to be a favor: "Okay, count you 5 cents on one side, and make up the whole number to give you 400 noodles." ”

After a moment of thought, the stall owner agreed to our price, paid the money with one hand and delivered the goods with the other, and we left the box to him, and only packed the remaining dozens of flags in plastic bags.

His hands were empty all of a sudden, and he felt a lot more relaxed, Xiao Kai said that his friends in the club sang at KTV, and he could go over and hang out with them for an evening. I thought about it, and it seemed that there was nowhere else to go except there, so Xiao Kai led the way, and we went straight to KTV......

(2010.10.13 This chapter has been revised)