I can travel back and forth in 1986

Chapter 52 1 Sweeped Away

The sounds in the Baijia wholesale market gradually became clearer: the vibrations of wheels rolling over the concrete and the clanging of goods being moved by early-morning vendors.

Zhang Beichuan rubbed his eyes, took out his phone and glanced at the time—2:30 a.m.!

He stood up nimbly and first checked the eels in the adoption box.

After being temporarily kept overnight, these wild eels, caught from the rice paddies in 1986, appeared exceptionally lively in the circulating water system.

Thick, slippery strands darted nimbly through the water splashed up by the oxygen pump.

Zhang Beichuan nodded in satisfaction, turned around and opened the roller shutter door, placing the eels and free-range chickens out, and then took out the prepared electronic scale and other tools.

Price tags were attached to the fish tanks: wild eels 42 yuan/jin and Jianmenguan native chickens 48 yuan/jin.

He put up the price tags and tidied up the shop a bit.

Although the shop has just been rented and the merchandise is still relatively limited, it is kept clean and tidy, which can leave a good impression on customers.

Just after three o'clock, the number of people in the market increased significantly.

Purchasing staff wearing rubber boots pushed carts between stalls, their shrewd and experienced eyes scanning every item.

Zhang Beichuan's shop was in a good location, and people quickly stopped to look at it.

A dark-skinned man in his forties stopped in front of the stall, attracted by the free-range chickens displayed at the entrance, but he squatted down and carefully looked at the eels in the fish tank.

"Boss, is this eel really wild?"

"Absolutely wild." Zhang Beichuan quickly scooped one up. "Look at its shape, long and slender, right? Its head is pointed, and its color is dark, completely different from farmed ones. You're an expert, so I shouldn't need to explain further, right?"

Those who come to buy things so early in the morning are all elites in the catering or seafood industries, so their discerning eye is naturally beyond question.

The man took the eel, weighed it in his hand, and glanced at it a few times.

How much?

"42 yuan per jin (0.5 catties)"

"Can I get a discount if I buy a lot?"

Zhang Beichuan paused for a moment. He had spent two days in the market yesterday and the day before, and it was indeed as the shopkeeper had said at the beginning: wild eels were a rare commodity.

"What's your surname, boss? My surname is Zhang, Zhang Beichuan."

"My surname is Wang, Wang Ping, but everyone usually calls me Lao Wang."

Zhang Beichuan quickly took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to the person.

"Brother Wang, I believe you must be a regular customer of this market. You should know how rare wild eels are. 42 yuan per catty is already a very reasonable price."

Old Wang nodded slightly, agreeing with what he said.

His family owns a restaurant, and he comes here every day to pick up goods, so he is very familiar with the market situation.

He mainly thought that Beichuan Seafood was a newly opened stall and wanted to try to negotiate a lower price, but he didn't expect that this young man, despite his young age, was so knowledgeable.

"Alright, give me sixty jin to try." Old Wang readily agreed, then glanced at the free-range chicken beside him, "Is this chicken also yours?"

Zhang Beichuan, who was preparing to put the eels in someone's basket, paused and nodded.

"Yes, these are genuine Jianmen Pass free-range chickens, all raised on grain. There are only eleven of them in total. Why don't you take some back and try them?"

Old Wang smiled, having his own judgment, but still somewhat unsure.

After all, there are too many chickens that claim to be free-range these days, but they are not actually free-range chickens at all.

"Grain-fed chickens? I doubt it."

"Brother Wang, these are truly genuine grain-fed chickens. If they were free-range or factory-farmed, they wouldn't be selling for such a small price, would they?"

Zhang Beichuan leaned closer and chuckled as he began his usual refrain.

"To be honest, these chickens were raised by my elders in the countryside for my children to eat during the Lunar New Year. How could they not need to be fed?"

After hearing what he said, Old Wang was indeed somewhat tempted.

Free-range chickens do look a bit different, but the difference isn't that obvious; you only know if they are the same after you taste them.

But when he passed by Beichuan Aquatic Products, the first thing he saw was this chicken. He was still somewhat confident, and saying this was just a way to lower the price.

If it's cheaper, who would want to buy the expensive one?

"Brother Xiaochuan, how about this?"

"Brother Wang, please speak."

Old Wang flicked his cigarette ash. "I won't haggle over the eel, but you can lower the price of the chicken to the same amount as the eel, and I'll take them all! If it's really a genuine free-range chicken like you say, I'll need at least ten chickens every day from now on. My family runs a restaurant, and we need quite a lot of chickens every year."

Zhang Beichuan thought about it and decided that the price was the same as that of eels. It was cheaper, but it would be good if he could get a regular customer.

After a moment's hesitation, he finally spoke.

"Since Brother Wang has said so, I'll do as you say, hoping for a prosperous opening. From now on, Brother Wang, please take good care of me."

"No problem, no problem."

Immediately afterwards, Old Wang watched as Zhang Beichuan deftly scooped up the eels.

He deliberately controlled the moisture content; although the eel wasn't very wet, this action made him nod in satisfaction.

He thought to himself, "This kid knows how to do business."

"Brother Wang, it's 126.3 jin in total. I'll round it down for you, so just give me 5290."

Old Wang took out his phone and scanned the QR code to pay.

With the first deal going smoothly, Zhang Beichuan felt much more at ease.

Immediately afterwards, two more young men came over to ask about the price. One wanted thirty catties of eel, and the other wanted fifty catties.

More than half of the 250-pound eels were sold in less than half an hour.

But then, as Zhang Beichuan watched several customers carrying eels and fish pass by his stall, he felt a little regretful.

Currently, the variety of products at the stalls is still too limited. Many customers who come to the market to buy fish or other seafood at other familiar seafood stores also buy eels on the side.

Of course, there were also buyers who had already purchased eels and stopped at Beichuan Aquatic Products Market.

Zhang Beichuan quickly went to greet him, "Brother, how about some eel?"

The young man glanced at the price, pointed at the eels, and said, "Try to catch one for me."

"Okay."

This time, Zhang Beichuan didn't explain the difference between wild eels and farmed eels in detail, letting him see for himself.

After all, the other person just bought farmed goods. If we bring it up now, what's the difference between that and saying to their face that they are blind?

In addition, he is a young man, and he finds it particularly annoying when someone keeps nagging in his ear about how good the product is when he is shopping.

Young people who really want to buy don't need an introduction; if they like something, they'll buy it naturally.

"The stuff looks good, give me five pounds to try."

Zhang Beichuan didn't expect him to actually buy it, after all, the man's cart had quite a few eels, probably weighing over a hundred pounds.

But he quickly realized that he must have bought it to test the product, otherwise he wouldn't have only bought this much.

"No problem, please wait a moment." Zhang Beichuan roughly estimated, scooped up some eels, weighed them, and said, "It's 5.3 liang in total, just forget about the change."

"Okay." After saying that, the man took advantage of Zhang Beichuan's oxygen supply to scan the code and pay 210 yuan.

As more and more people came to buy things, the number of eels in Zhang Beichuan's shop rapidly decreased.

Before 4 a.m., all 250 jin of eels and 10 free-range chickens were sold out.

Having sold out and having not slept well at all the night before, Zhang Beichuan didn't linger for a moment. He quickly tidied up his stall, closed it, and ran away.

This left the owner of the seafood shop next door dumbfounded. He watched Zhang Beichuan's departing figure and smiled helplessly.

"That's really capricious, isn't it? They're not selling anymore after less than two hours?"