I can travel back and forth in 1986

Chapter 46 Initial Victory

September 12, 1986, Beichuan Department Store.

Before dawn, Zhang Beichuan got out of bed.

Zhang Dequan got up even earlier than him and had already loaded two buckets of eels and two chickens into the tricycle.

Hearing the door open, he tightened the bucket with a rope while glancing at the sky; it was pitch black.

"Youngest brother, since Baoqiang and the others are coming today anyway, how about I go to the city with you?"

Zhang Beichuan yawned and shook his head.

"Third Brother, no need, I can manage on my own. There are plenty of people going to the city to do business right now, so I'll definitely have someone to keep me company on the way."

Seeing his insistence, Zhang Dequan didn't say anything more, only telling him to prioritize safety on the road and to be careful in everything he did.

"Don't worry, Third Brother." After saying that, Zhang Beichuan got on his tricycle, turned around and waved. "I'm off."

"Hey, drive carefully."

As the tricycle gradually disappeared into the night, Zhang Dequan finally closed the back door again.

After riding forward a few steps, Zhang Beichuan confirmed that no one was behind him, and returned to the basement of the 2026 residential area with his bike.

After loading the items into the bread cart and locking the tricycle, he went upstairs to get his phone.

Afterwards, I went downstairs to the printing shop and got a QR code for payment and a sign printed with images of local eels and free-range chickens.

I arrived at the vegetable market near my neighborhood at just 8:30 in the morning.

It's peak shopping time right now, and the market is already bustling with activity.

Zhang Beichuan found a suitable spot on the street outside the vegetable market, parked his car, and unloaded the two buckets of eels and free-range chickens.

"Wow, this eel looks pretty good!"

A vendor displaying crayfish nearby peeked over and couldn't help but praise it.

"Brother has a good eye; these are all genuine wild-caught goods," Zhang Beichuan replied with a smile, his hands still busy.

By nine o'clock in the morning, Zhang Beichuan was getting a little anxious.

The crayfish stall owner next to him, who was scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), looked at him and asked with a smile, "You're not sitting or standing properly."

"Young man, is this your first time setting up a stall?"

"ah?"

As Zhang Beichuan was pondering how he figured it out, the crayfish stall owner chuckled and shared his experience.

The seafood vendors are different from the vegetable vendors. Most of the people who go out early in the morning to buy vegetables are elderly, and the elderly are less interested in seafood.

Those who need to buy seafood are mostly young or middle-aged people, and these people tend to leave home later, after nine o'clock.

After hearing his elder brother's explanation, Zhang Beichuan felt much more at ease.

"No wonder, I was wondering why so many people walked by on the street but not a single one of them came to take a look."

"Just wait, more people should ask between 9:30 and 11:00."

Just as the man said, once it reached 9:30, many curious middle-aged people came to Zhang Beichuan's stall to watch the excitement.

"Young man, is that really a mud eel?"

Zhang Beichuan fished one out and began introducing it to the people.

The difference between artificially bred and locally sourced products can be judged from three aspects: body shape, head, and color.

In terms of body shape, farmed eels are shorter and not as slender as wild eels; the difference in head shape is that farmed eels are wide and flat, while wild eels are long and pointed, resembling cones.

The difference in color is even greater.

Farmed eels are generally lighter in color and more yellow, while wild eels are darker and more vibrant, often appearing as deep yellow, greenish-yellow, or earthy red.

After listening to Zhang Beichuan's explanation, everyone looked at the eels in the bucket and found they matched his description.

"Young man, these mud eels are hard to find these days. Where did you get them?"

Zhang Beichuan wiped his hands with a towel and said with a smile.

"I drove to the surrounding villages last night to get all of this, so there isn't much, only about 30 kilograms."

"Can you lower the price?" a middle-aged man in his forties asked.

"Brother, go ask at any of the seafood shops inside, they're all charging 40 yuan per jin (500g), and that's for farmed eels. I'll sell you my local yellow eels for 40 yuan per jin, isn't that reasonable?"

The middle-aged man squatted down and examined it carefully. Based on his years of experience buying eels, he determined that it was indeed a genuine wild product.

"Okay, give me three catties."

"Alright!" Zhang Beichuan deftly scooped up several plump eels, weighed them, and said, "Three catties and two ounces, 128 yuan!"

"Okay, pack it up. If it's good, I'll buy it from you again next time."

"Brother, take it home and eat it without worry. If you don't like it, come find me anytime! I'll be selling it here again tomorrow!"

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

Just then, an old man walked over and looked straight at the two chickens whose feet were tied on the ground.

"Young man, how much is this chicken?"

"Grandpa, 50 yuan per jin. It's a genuine Jianmenguan native chicken breed, all fed with grain. I bought it from the village, and I had to say a lot of nice things to the old lady before she agreed to sell it to me."

The old man squatted down, examined the chicken feet carefully, picked them up and looked at them again, and weighed them in his hand.

"Can you guarantee that they are fed entirely on grains?"

"Sir, this chicken is raised by someone for their family to eat, so it's definitely fed with grain. If you don't believe me, buy it and stew it right away, then you'll know whether it's true or not."

The old man nodded; the chicken did indeed look just like the ones he used to raise back in his hometown.

"Okay, I'll take one."

"4.86 jin, totaling 243 yuan."

The old man took out his money from his pocket and counted out 240.

"Is 240 okay?"

"Alright, alright, here you go." Zhang Beichuan smiled.

I had just received the money when someone came up to ask about eels.

"Eels are 40 yuan per jin?"

"Yes, genuine wild eels, how many pounds do you want?"

"Give me three jin."

One after another, customers came to buy things, and soon a lot of people came to Zhang Beichuan's stall to watch the fun or to buy things.

By 11 a.m., about 30 kilograms of eels and two free-range chickens had been sold out, for a total of 1740 yuan.

The acquisition cost was only thirty yuan in 1986. According to Zhang Beichuan's cost system, this thirty yuan was the cost of two piezoelectric lighters.

Costs can be completely disregarded by factors such as purchasing power and inflation.

The crayfish vendor standing nearby, seeing Zhang Beichuan had already closed his stall and then looking at his own dozens of kilograms of crayfish, realized that only a small portion had been sold, and walked over.

"Young man, my surname is Huang. Do you have any extra eels for tomorrow?"

Zhang Beichuan looked at the cigarettes he was offered and probably understood what he meant: he wanted to share some of his stock with the crayfish.

"Brother Huang, I had my family catch these themselves. It's not very efficient; we only get a few a day."

The crayfish vendor, thinking he was worried about the price, chuckled and offered the cigarette forward again.

"Young man, the price is negotiable. I just think your eels look good, and I'd like to share some with the crayfish so my crayfish will sell faster."

Seeing that he had accepted the cigarette, the crayfish vendor handed him a lighter and lit it for Zhang Beichuan.

"Could you give me a little less? Let's just set the price at 36 yuan per jin. You won't lose out, and you can sell more goods."

Zhang Beichuan thought about it; this older brother had shared a lot of experience with him that morning.

For example, when there are fewer people, weigh the items more slowly and talk more about their advantages. If passersby see or hear this, they will stop to take a look, which helps to attract customers.

If you want to give him some, then so be it. Since the local eels and chickens are selling well, you can just have Grandpa talk to Sun Dahu and the others when he gets home tonight and ask them to catch more eels.

After selling for a few days and gaining experience, you can roughly estimate how many eels you need per day.

"Okay, but we'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow. Let's catch more tomorrow."

"Okay, okay, the day after tomorrow is fine too. Thanks in advance!"

"fine."