The next day. Early morning!
When Li Yi woke up from his father-in-law's small villa, it was already past nine o'clock.
Coming down from upstairs, I saw Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen and others chatting in the living room on the first floor, but I didn't see my father-in-law Jiang Shiying, who must have gone to work.
Seeing Li Yi coming down, Zhang Ziqiang and others immediately stood up from their positions.
"Sit down, you don't have to be so reserved at home!" Li Yi said with a smile.
"Brother Yi, there are millet porridge, meat buns, and soy milk and fried dough sticks. What do you want to eat?" Zhang Ziqiang asked.
"Soy milk and fried dough sticks!"
"okay!"
While Zhang Ziqiang went to the kitchen to get breakfast, Li Yi looked at Zhou Wen aside, and then asked: "Comrade Zhou Wen, I heard that you are a native of Yangcheng. You must be familiar with the situation in the city, right?"
"It's not unfamiliar, but Yangcheng has changed a lot in recent years, and I haven't been here for a long time, so some places are not familiar anymore!" Zhou Wen replied.
"It doesn't matter, I just want to walk around the city and buy some gifts!" Li Yi said.
"That's no problem. I know most of the places that sell things in the city. There are regular big stores such as Youyi Store, Yangcheng Department Store, Hongqi Store, Dongfanghong Store, etc. I also know the black market, but it's a bit messy there. No. I suggest you go there!" Zhou Wen said.
"Do you still know about the black market here?" Zhou Yang asked in surprise.
"Actually, the black market is not as mysterious as you think. In the past, free trade was not allowed, so the small markets organized by the people voluntarily were called black markets. At that time, there were many black markets in Yangcheng, and there was one at our doorstep!"
Then Zhou Wen said again: "But in the past two years, due to the gradual liberalization from the above, the black market has become much smaller, but there are still many, but the things sold are different."
"What's different?"
“In the past, the black market mainly sold food, with rice, flour, grains, oils, and chicken, duck, and fish being the main items. But now, the main items sold in the black market are smuggled parallel imports, mainly home appliances and small electrical appliances!”
Hearing this, Li Yi's heart moved and he remembered something.
"Are there many people doing parallel import business here?"
"It's not a lot, but a lot. The main reason is that it's so profitable. The profit can be several times that of selling one or two pieces, which can equal the income of working in the factory for one or two years!" Zhou Wendao.
"Hey, since we know that someone is selling smuggled goods, no one will care about it?" Li Yi asked curiously.
"No one cares about it, but this matter is really difficult to control. Those people are very slippery. If you can't block the source, just arresting a few minions won't solve the problem!" Zhou Wen said.
"I understand, take me to see you later!"
"Brother Yi, you really want to go to the black market, it's so chaotic there!" Zhou Wen said.
"It doesn't matter, we just go and have a look, and we don't want to cause any trouble!"
Then, Li Yi looked at Zhou Wen's face and said, "Are you related to Zhou Chu? I think you look quite similar?"
Zhou Wen was silent for a moment, and then said: "He is my uncle...his biological uncle!"
Li Yi was somewhat surprised when he heard this answer.
Not only was it dangerous to be transferred to him, but he was also doing a job of serving people. It could be said that there was no future. He really didn't expect that Zhou Rui would send his nephew to him.
Is it because Zhou Rui doesn't trust him and wants his nephew to keep an eye on him?
At this moment, Zhou Wen explained: "Actually, before I was transferred to Brother Yi, I was originally going to be transferred to the capital!"
"Then why didn't you go?"
"My uncle told me that Brother Yi, you are a capable person and I will have more development prospects if I stay with you, so I came!"
"Do you really believe in your uncle?"
"My uncle showed me your information, Brother Yi. I also think you are a capable person. It is better to follow you than to go to the capital!" Zhou Wen said.
"I like to hear this..."
Just as he was talking, Zhang Ziqiang came out with a glass of soy milk and two obviously wilted fried dough sticks.
While Li Yi was eating, Zhang Ziqiang asked: "Brother Yi, where are we going this morning?"
"Go to the city, buy some gifts, and then go to Lao Huang's house!" Li Yi said.
When he came back this time, Lao Huang told him to help him visit his home when he arrived in Yangcheng.
Lao Huang also said that if Jiang Xue and the children arrive, he will help him bring his wife and daughter to Hong Kong Island.
Li Yi agreed to this, so he went over to talk to Chen Chuhong in advance and asked her to prepare in advance.
"Okay, let's get ready and set off!"
"good..."
........
Yangcheng City District. Zhuhai Middle Road!
When the car stopped at the intersection, Li Yi looked at the relatively empty streets around him and looked at Zhou Wen with some confusion.
"This is the black market you were talking about. Why don't I see anyone selling anything?"
Zhou Wen smiled and said: "If it's so easy to find, why would it be called a black market? They are all hidden in the alleys and alleys, and it is difficult for unfamiliar people to find them!"
"How can others do business with them if they are hidden so deeply?" Li Yi asked curiously.
"They generally only do business with acquaintances, and they generally don't do business with strangers, especially those that cost hundreds or even thousands."
"Then what should we do?" Li Yi said.
"Put the car here and I'll take you there!" Zhou Wen said.
"Can't you drive?" Zhang Ziqiang asked with a frown.
"No, the alley is too narrow and the car can't get in at all!"
Then Zhou Wen said again: "Besides, this car looks like a government car, and it scares people away as soon as it passes by!"
Zhang Ziqiang immediately said to Yang Zhiwen next to him: "Dayang, you stay and watch the car, the others follow Brother Yi!"
After assigning tasks, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen and Wu Jianjun protected Li Yi from getting out of the car, and then under Zhou Wen's guidance, they walked into the alley next to the main road.
The reason why Li Yi asked Zhou Wen to bring him here was not because he wanted to buy gifts here.
After all, Chen Chuhong herself is from Hong Kong and has lived in such an international metropolis for so many years. In addition, she is still a "water rat" woman like Huang Lixing. She has never seen any good things, so how can she be interested in these black market smuggled goods.
He came to the black market just to see if the scale of the parallel import business here was really as big and rampant as the outside world said.
Li Yi didn't want to take care of this matter, but because something was about to happen that would affect his father-in-law's official title, he couldn't be careless.
As soon as he turned into the alley, Li Yi felt that this place seemed familiar. If he took a closer look, wasn't it the Tianguang Xu, the famous ghost market in Yangcheng in later generations?
Li Yi is no stranger to this place. They all say that "there is Panjiayuan in the north and Tianguang Xu in the south", which shows how famous this place is.
He had been here several times in his previous life, but they were all after the millennium.
I originally thought that Tianguang Market was a "ghost market" that was formed later, but I didn't expect that this place turned out to be one of the earliest black markets in Yangcheng.
After walking a few steps, a few people saw a few half-grown men squatting in front of an alley, smoking cigarettes and chatting, but they looked at Li Yi and others with scrutinizing eyes from time to time.
At this moment, Zhou Wen suddenly waved to these young people and motioned for them to come over.
Seeing Zhou Wen waving, one of the young men came over immediately.
After Zhou Wen exchanged a few words with him in Cantonese, the young man nodded and led them towards the alley further inside.
After walking around for more than ten minutes, they were led to an alley surrounded by houses facing the street.
After entering here, the atmosphere suddenly became lively.
I saw that both sides of the narrow alley were filled with stalls. Some were carrying burdens, some were pushing carts, and some simply put things on the ground for people to choose from.
Some of these vendors sell rice, noodles and salted fish, as well as tea, cloth, clothes and shoes.
But like Zhou Wen said, none of the vendors selling electrical appliances were seen!
"Zhou Wen, didn't you say that this place mainly sells parallel-imported (smuggled) electrical appliances? Why don't I see any of them?" Li Yi asked in a low voice.
Zhou Wen pointed to the houses on both sides of the alley and said: "Of course they don't dare to put things out blatantly, they are all in the house!"
"Let's go in and take a look!"
Later, under Zhou Wen's guidance, several people walked into a small shop.
The "store" is very small, only about ten square meters. Except for a middle-aged man wearing slippers, there is not even a decent electrical appliance in the room. It is hard to imagine that this is a place selling smuggled electrical appliances.
After Zhou Wen exchanged a few words with the middle-aged man, the man took out a booklet from under the bed next to him and handed it to Li Yi.
At the same time, he said in less than standard Mandarin: "Choose whatever you want!"
With a trace of doubt, Li Yi opened the booklet.
When the booklet was opened and he saw the various household appliances inside, Li Yi was immediately shocked...
.........
