Huang Youcai stayed up until the rent over there was only one last day left before moving over, and bought two braised vegetables that night and invited Qian Yongqiang to drink. When the wine was hot, the two told each other about their life experiences and encounters in Nanjing, sighing, crying, laughing, and after a meal, they became very good friends with each other.

Huang Youcai's family is in a rural area in northern Jiangsu, and his three elder brothers all went out to work, and he went to the society before graduating from junior high school, worked as a small worker, a security guard, and posted advertisements.

After meeting that fellow villager, I learned that the so-called book wholesale business is actually to buy books and sell them in the purchasing station that specializes in buying books. Of course, there are also several bookstores that specialize in second-hand books to sell books wholesale to him. The income was okay, more than he had ever earned in his previous jobs.

Now that he is here, Huang Youcai has made up his mind to follow his fellow villagers to learn how to buy books and sell them. After studying for a short time, Huang Youcai was just getting started, but unfortunately his fellow villager had a car accident and died soon after. Since then, Huang Youcai has been going out early and returning late alone, enduring hardships and standing hard work, and finally gained a foothold in this line of work by relying on his own little cleverness.

A bottle of liquor and two bottles of beer were in their stomachs, both of them were drunk, Qian Yongqiang saw that the dishes on the table were already on the disc, and there was still some wine left, so he stood up and said, "I'll go next door and get two more dishes." ”

"No, brother, you sit down, I will have a treat today, I will go, I will go." Huang Youcai was talking in his mouth, but he didn't see his body move.

Qian Yongqiang bought three or four dishes and brought them over, Huang Youcai struggled to stand up, and said, "There are too many dishes, I can't finish eating, return two and go back!" ”

"The mixed braised vegetables are returned, how can you tell people to take them out again, and if you can't finish eating, you will eat them tomorrow. Today, our brothers can sit together and drink is a great fate, what is this order, you eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, I will buy it again if the wine is not enough! Qian Yongqiang put the dishes on the table and motioned for Huang Youcai to sit down.

"Okay, good, the world is so big, our brothers can come together, it's fate. I'm not polite to you, come, I'll respect you. Huang Youcai's already black and red face turned even redder after drinking, similar to the pork liver in the braised vegetable shop next door.

"Brother, how long have you been in Nanjing?" Qian Yongqiang asked Huang Youcai.

"Seven or eight years." Huang Youcai said.

"In the past seven or eight years, you have also stayed in many places in Nanjing, and you know many people, I asked you about someone, I don't know if you know each other."

"Tell me about it." Huang Youcai put down his chopsticks and listened carefully to Qian Yongqiang's words. It's not easy to get Huang Youcai to put down his chopsticks.

"His surname is Wang, he is not tall, he is stocky, he rides a tricycle all day long to collect scrap, copper, iron, scrap, aluminum, plastic, books and newspapers. He doesn't sell books, it's not our business. ”

"There used to be such a person, and I had the impression that I had bought books from him once or twice, and then, later, I felt that the books he received were not very good, so I never looked for him again. - Are you familiar with him? Huang Youcai opened his eyes and said nonsense, in fact, he was too picky and too low, and he found people a few times, but they didn't pay attention to him.

"Do you know where he lives now?" Qian Yongqiang suddenly became excited.

"I haven't seen him in the past few years, maybe I've gone back to my hometown, maybe I've gone somewhere else." Huang Youcai shook his head.

"Alas, this Brother Wang, I've been looking for him for several years, but I haven't found him!" Qian Yongqiang's eyes were full of tears and he choked up and said, "Three years ago, when I first arrived in Nanjing, Brother Wang lived next door to me, I didn't find a job at that time, and I didn't dare to spend the money I brought with me. At that time, I had just arrived in Nanjing, and I had no relatives, and someone I didn't know treated me like this, which really made me unforgettable for the rest of my life! ”

"Good guy, really nice guy!" Huang Youcai patted his chest and said, "Brother, don't be sad, as long as this big brother Wang is still in Nanjing, I will definitely help you find him!" ”

"Alas, maybe he went somewhere else, he just came out of the construction site, I was embarrassed to look for him, and then I went to look for him, and the landlord said he moved away, and I don't know where he moved!"

"Come and drink, brother, you have come thousands of miles to meet, brother, you are really a man of temperament. Brother, I'm not wrong to make you a friend! ”

The two drank for a while, chatted, and gradually walked out of the sad atmosphere.

"Brother, I see that you often sell books in foreign languages, can you understand them? I can't, I don't understand it at all, and I don't dare to buy it when I see it. After taking a sip of wine, Huang Youcai asked.

"I can't speak foreign languages, and many books are guessed when I get them in my hand." It's not that Qian Yongqiang is modest, his English level is really not good, three years in junior high school, three years in vocational high school, he has never learned English seriously, at most he knows some elementary words. However, Qian Yongqiang worked hard and studied hard, although he couldn't understand the content of foreign books, he could distinguish what kind of books were good to sell.

"I know there is an acquisition station, in Gulou District, there are a large number of foreign books, I will take you to see it tomorrow?"

"Okay, thank you, brother!" There is money to be made, and of course Qian Yongqiang is happy.

When they were full of wine and food, they went back to their rooms to rest. Early the next morning, the two of them finished washing, had a simple breakfast, and one person and one tricycle went to the acquisition station that Huang Youcai said.

"The boss of this house is surnamed Qi, and he is not very easy to speak, so when the time comes, you just have to buy books, and I will bargain with him. No one wants foreign books here, the price can be lowered, in short, I won't let you suffer, brother. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the acquisition station, Huang Youcai instructed Qian Yongqiang.

Qian Yongqiang nodded.

After entering the acquisition station, the two found a place to park the tricycle and walked into the warehouse side by side.

"Here we are." A tall, thin, dark-faced middle-aged man greeted Huang Youcai and glanced at Qian Yongqiang.

"Boss Qi, this is my buddy, and he also picks books." Huang Youcai pointed at Qian Yongqiang and said.

Qian Yongqiang nodded at Boss Qi. Boss Qi also nodded at Qian Yongqiang and said, "Okay, the book is in the warehouse, you can read it yourself." After speaking, he took care of himself and got busy.

Huang Youcai took Qian Yongqiang to a big pile of books and said, "It's these books, you can see if it's useful." ”

Qian Yongqiang looked at the pile of books in front of him, and it was estimated that there were more than ten tons of books, scattered together. He picked up a book, flipped through it, and his eyes lit up, the original edition of The Merchant of Venice, published in 1926. Although the quality is a little worse, it is only enough for eight products, but it is easy to sell for 100 yuan. I took a few more books and found that they were all books on literary history.

Qian Yongqiang estimated that there should be a lot of good books in this pile of books, so he squatted down and prepared to do a big job.

"What's the matter, brother, is this pile okay?" Huang Youcai asked.

"Yes, there should be a few thousand pounds of good books in this pile. Which library moved in its entirety! Qian Yongqiang was joking, in a good mood.

"Brother, you can pick up books here with peace of mind, and I'll go out for a walk. I'll come back in the evening to help you haul the goods. With that, Huang Youcai was about to leave.

"Hey, where are you going? You don't pick so many goods, what are you running around, and there are no goods outside recently! Qian Yongqiang grabbed Huang Youcai and motioned for him to squat down and pick up the book.

Huang Youcai was a little embarrassed and said, "Brother, I can't pick it, I've been here for more than a dozen times, and I don't know where to start." They know me, but I don't know them! ”

"It's okay, it's okay, you sit down, I'll tell you how to choose these kinds of books." Qian Yongqiang found a few representative books, opened them and pointed them to him, and said:

"You see that there are illustrations in this book, and they are illustrations of characters and landscapes, most of these books are humanities, you just have to pick them out, and they will sell well!"

"Like this," Qian Yongqiang opened another book and pointed to the contents, "There are a lot of character dialogues in this book, most of which are novels, and they sell very well!" ”

"There is also this kind of book," Qian Yongqiang opened an older book and said, "Books before 1949, that is, before liberation, you don't care about any content of it, you can accept it, some people like to buy it!" ”

"Don't accept books like this, there are numbers and tables in it, and at first glance it is a book of science and engineering, and this kind of book has few buyers and is not easy to sell."

Huang Youcai nodded, as if he had an understanding.

Qian Yongqiang threw aside a book in his hand and said, "Put the books we picked together and make five or five points of money." ”

"Five-five points, I took advantage of you too much, how can this work?" Huang Youcai was a little embarrassed and said, "You just taught me so much knowledge of picking books, I can't be grateful, we can pick books together, but we have to open three seven, I three you seven!" ”

"Look, you're starting to be polite to me again, and you said we were good friends, good buddies, don't be polite in the future. Besides, you brought me these goods too, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make any money here. Don't talk nonsense, just five or five! ”

"Well, I'll listen to you!" Huang Youcai stopped talking nonsense, quickly squatted down, and began to pick up the book according to the method that Qian Yongqiang had just taught.

After a busy day, the two of them picked out about 600 catties of books and packed more than a dozen bags. When the door was being weighed, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of Qian Yongqiang's eyes.

"Brother Qian, are you here too?" It was the Boss Li who was at Boss Gao in Qingshi Village a few days ago, and the gift box was filled with soil.

It turned out that after Boss Gao found that the gift box was full of dirt that day, he rushed out like a hungry wolf, grabbed Boss Li's neckline, and slapped him several times on his face.

"Where did you come from, little cub, dare to pit your uncle!" Boss Gao scolded, rested for a while and slapped a few more times, one hand still grabbed Boss Li's collar and didn't let go, like an eagle catching a chicken.

Boss Li didn't say a word, he didn't move, he just glared at Boss Gao fiercely with his two eyes, his cheeks suddenly swollen, and a trace of blood slowly oozed from the corner of his mouth.

Xiao Li, a worker who was still busy working in it just now, also ran over at this time and kicked Boss Li twice in the leg. Boss Li was still motionless, and he also glared at Xiao Li viciously with two eyes. Xiao Li looked at Boss Li's two blood-red eyes, felt a little scared, muttered something in his mouth, and walked back to the warehouse stupidly.

Qian Yongqiang didn't want to meddle in matters because he despised Boss Li's personality, but when he saw Boss Li's thin body, trembling under the dirty sportswear, he remembered how similar the situation was when he just came out of the construction site and rode a tricycle to receive the goods, and compassion arose.

At this time, Boss Gao seemed to be tired, his hand had already loosened Boss Li's collar, his mouth was still scolding, and his two eyes were looking around, planning to find a guy to take advantage of and continue to teach Boss Li a lesson.

"Boss Gao, Boss Gao, you can't fight anymore, do you think he's still a half-grown child?" Qian Yongqiang grabbed Boss Gao and handed a cigarette to Boss Gao.

Boss Gao straightened out his slightly messy back, put the cigarette to his ear, and kept scolding: "If I don't beat this little rabbit cub to death today, I won't be surnamed Gao!" ”

Boss Gao found half a wooden stick not far away, held it in his hand, and kept beating the palm of his hand, ruthlessly.

Qian Yongqiang hurriedly stopped Boss Gao and persuaded: "I said Boss Gao, you beat and scolded just now, and you scolded and scolded, and the anger that should be out is also out, and if you beat people with a stick again, you will break people, and then you are afraid that you will have to lose money and go to jail!" ”

"I lost money and went to jail, are you mistaken? It was he who tricked me with clay and paper! Boss Gao was angry and said hatefully.

"It's not right for him to use clay to fill books and paper, but at most thirty or forty pounds, even if you call the police, it's not enough to file a case, at most criticize and educate. But if you hurt someone, it's not that simple! ”

Boss Gao thought for a moment and said, "Boss Qian, I'll give you a face today, and I'll let this kid go once!" ”

Boss Gao threw the stick to the ground, pointed at Boss Li and yelled, "Get out, you get out of here!" ”

"Then you give me the money, and I'll go!" Boss Li wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and whispered.

"What? You still want money, I 。。。。。。 Boss Qian, look。。。。。。 Boss Gao angrily skewered up again, and was about to pick up the half of the wooden stick he had just thrown away.