Of course, Gao Mingcheng had no idea about the right and wrong in the village. Even if he knew about it, he would just smile indifferently.
Now he is sitting in the car, heading all the way towards the venue where camphor trees and medicine meet.
When he attended the drug fair last year, he got up early in the morning to catch the bus, but did not arrive at Zhangshu until the evening. It was not because the two places were far apart, but because he spent a lot of time waiting for the bus.
Now that I drive myself, I don’t know how much time I can save!
Xiao Jinfeng is used to transportation. Although he has never been to Zhangshu, he has asked an experienced driver for directions before, and now he drives steadily along the way.
He specifically takes the main road. This is not because he is afraid of being intercepted by thieves when he takes the small road, but because at the moment, only main roads are repaired roads. You can walk on some so-called small roads without any problem, but heavy trucks cannot go there, otherwise you will be in trouble. car, risk of rollover.
They are not in a hurry to do anything, so they naturally have to do it safely.
After the highway was built in the previous life, it only took two hours to drive from the county where Gao Mingcheng was to Zhangshu. Including the time to get on and off the highway, it would only take three hours at most.
But now the expressway has obviously not been built yet. It is a national highway. There is a gap in speed and distance.
Xiao Jinfeng arrived at Gaojiacun to pick up Gao Mingcheng at half past eight. He set off for Zhangshu at about nine o'clock and drove for five hours without stopping before finally entering Zhangshu City.
When he was on the outskirts of the city, Xiao Jinfeng parked his car outside a hotel and decided to have a meal here first, and then drive the car to the Yaodu Hotel where the Pharmaceutical Fair was located to check in.
Along the way, the closer he got to Zhangshu City, the more Gao Mingcheng could see trucks of all sizes.
These trucks may be new or old, but they are all filled with various medicinal materials. From the facial features and clothing of the people accompanying them, it can be seen that they come from all over the world.
As a famous medicine capital since ancient times, Zhangshu has been a distribution center for medicinal materials since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After liberation, in October 1958, the first national medicinal materials exchange meeting was held. It was suspended for sixteen years and resumed in 1980. Every year it was more lively than the previous year, and the number of participants increased year by year.
The rapid development period of the camphor tree drug trade was from the early 1980s to the early 21st century. After that, it went downhill.
Because of the emergence of the Internet, drug meetings have become less important.
In the past, you had to attend a drug fair to purchase various medicinal materials at once, but with the advent of e-commerce, the transaction of medicinal materials has become more convenient.
The camphor tree medicine trade fair has entered a period of transformation and development.
Xiao Jinfeng parked the car, and the three of them got out of the car and entered a restaurant.
It is no longer the peak period for eating, but half of the customers in the store are still eating. They speak different hometown dialects, and the content of the exchange is related to medicinal materials. From time to time, Henan Baiquan, Hebei Anguo and the like appear. vocabulary.
It turns out that Henan Baiquan, Hebei Anguo and Jiangxi Zhangshu are known as the three major medicine fairs, and the times of the medicine fairs are different every year. Henan Baiquan is held in spring, Hebei Anguo is held in summer, and Zhangshu is held in autumn. .
Some specialized drug dealers will participate in drug fairs one by one, and then continue to buy and sell to earn the price difference.
Gao Mingcheng is considered a retail investor. The reason why he came up with the idea of participating in the medicine fair was mainly because of two points. First, there are medicinal materials all over the mountains and plains. Second, the camphor tree is close to where he is. If he wants to participate, it is very practical.
Gao Mingcheng understood the dialects of most places, so he kept listening attentively. Xiao Jinfeng even ordered the dishes.
Xiao Jinfeng has traveled a lot over the years, so he can understand some dialects. While waiting for the food, he listened to the conversations of the people around him.
In these conversations, the prices of some medicinal materials often appear. This is relatively important information, and you can infer which medicinal materials are more popular.
If you have popular medicinal materials in hand, you can naturally sell them faster and make more money.
Among the three people, only Gao Mingli was a newbie in the world. It was his first time traveling far away, so he couldn't understand the dialects at all. They all said that the winds were different in ten miles, and the pronunciation was different in hundreds of miles, even in the slightly remote villages and towns in their county. , the dialect will also be somewhat different from Gaojiacun.
Unable to understand, he opened a pair of stupid eyes and looked around curiously.
The decoration of this hotel is quite good, it can be considered a mid-range hotel. For Xiao Jinfeng, it is a place where he often eats, but for Gao Mingli, it is the first high-end hotel he has set foot in.
Not long after, the waiter of the hotel brought out the meal Xiao Jinfeng ordered. The dishes were very rich, including meat, fish, vegetables, and a large plate of white rice.
After driving for a long time, Xiao Jinfeng was very hungry. As soon as the food came, he started to serve the food and greeted the two of them to eat.
It was already past noon, and Gao Mingcheng and Gao Mingli were naturally hungry, so they were not polite and started eating like a storm.
The three men all had big appetites. After finishing the meal, they ordered a few more meat buns to eat. By the end of the meal, Gao Mingli was so full that he burped.
He felt that he had never eaten as much as this meal in his life!
It wasn't that he was short-sighted, but seeing how fast Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingcheng were cooking, he unknowingly ate too much.
"Hiccup." A burp came out uncontrollably, causing Gao Mingcheng and Xiao Jinfeng to laugh kindly.
"We've arrived at Zhangshu, so there's no rush now. Let's take a walk here to eat before leaving." Gao Mingcheng suggested.
Xiao Jinfeng naturally had nothing to object to. It was his first time back at Zhangshu and he planned to get familiar with the road.
So the three of them left the hotel and started walking nearby. However, both Gao Mingcheng and Xiao Jinfeng were collecting information, and only Gao Mingli was just walking.
After about half an hour, his stomach was finally no longer so bloated, which made Gao Mingli breath a sigh of relief, because he felt a little embarrassed when he burped.
He was obviously the one who ate the least among the three people, but he acted like he ate the most.
It's almost time. The three of them are ready to get in the car. This time they will drive to the Yaodu Hotel in one go.
People stay in hotels and the goods are sold at the medicinal materials trading market.
"Let me drive, I'm familiar with the road." This time, Gao Mingcheng proposed to drive himself.
Xiao Jinfeng had no objection and gave up the driving seat to Gao Mingcheng. After all, Gao Mingcheng had been here before. After entering the city, it would be difficult to leave if he was not familiar with the roads.
Relying on the memory of last year, Gao Mingcheng drove the car smoothly to the Yaodu Hotel. There was a large open space for parking near the hotel.
Many people who come to participate in the medicine fair will conduct large-scale transactions. Whether they are sellers or buyers, they will drive big trucks. After the transaction, the medicinal materials can be transported away in time.
Driving a big truck is very convenient, but it is not convenient enough because there are too many goods and cannot be unloaded at any time. They have to be loaded on the truck, so one person has to be left to guard the medicinal materials. Otherwise, if the medicinal materials are stolen, there will be no crying. A place to cry.
At this time, surveillance was not strong enough, and many theft cases ended up being ignored.
After parking the car, Gao Mingcheng said to Gao Mingli: "You stay here and guard the car. I will take Brother Xiao to check in first."
Gao Mingli was a little timid about unfamiliar places, but he didn't show it, instead he nodded in agreement.
The reason why Gao Mingcheng brought him here was not to guard the medicinal materials! Gao Mingcheng has already said this before.
"Don't worry, as long as you stay here, nothing will happen." Seeing Gao Mingli's hidden worries, Gao Mingcheng patted him on the shoulder and reassured him.
Although there are petty thefts and carjackings in remote areas these days, this is already an urban area and a place where people come and go. In addition, Zhangshu locals attach great importance to drug exchanges, and there are people from time to time. Police officers patrol the area.
There may be some for thieves, but not for open robberies.
After arranging for Gao Mingli to stay and guard the car, Gao Mingcheng took Xiao Jinfeng to the Yaodu Hotel to check in. In addition to checking in, their trip also had another purpose, which was to break into the drug dealer and obtain more medicinal materials. and price information.
Gao Mingcheng and Xiao Jinfeng had written down their goods on a piece of paper long ago. If they encountered large-scale transactions of medicinal materials, they could sell both of them at once.
The medicinal materials produced in the suburban villages of the county are actually similar to those produced in Gaojia Village. However, Gao Mingcheng's goods are much more Ganoderma lucidum and Poria cocos than Xiao Jinfeng's goods, and Gao Mingcheng's goods are still very miscellaneous, because Xiao Jinfeng doesn't accept small quantities. He doesn't like scattered items and is too lazy to sell them.
"Brother Xiao, let's go separately." Gao Mingcheng suggested, scanning the crowd with his eyes, and luckily he saw a few familiar faces.
At last year's drug fair, he relied on his excellent communication skills to develop friendships with many people. Although we haven't met each other for a year, when we meet again, it is better than strangers.
If you have a V letter now, you can make good connections and connections in time.
Xiao Jinfeng naturally agreed to separate. If the two of them separated, they would be able to obtain more information, and they could sort out the information by night.
Xiao Jinfeng had served as a soldier. He had a heroic temperament and a unique temperament in his words and deeds. As soon as he appeared on the scene, he quickly attracted some fellow veterans.
As long as they have served in the military, they are comrades-in-arms. The comrade-in-arms relationship is not comparable to ordinary love. Even if the two of them do not serve in the same military camp, let alone at the same time period, it does not affect the emotional closeness.
With these, Xiao Jinfeng quickly broke into a small circle, talking about his past experiences as a soldier and business matters.
In the evening, Gao Mingcheng and Xiao Jinfeng summarized the information they had learned. After dinner, Gao Mingcheng said: "Brother Xiao, I will caboose tonight, and you and Mingli will sleep."
Because one person wanted to caboose, we only booked one room.
Xiao Jinfeng originally wanted to caboose by himself, but Gao Mingcheng refused.
He originally planned to rent Xiao Jinfeng's truck, but Xiao Jinfeng was unwilling to collect rent. Gao Guobing also agreed.
In this case, all the gas and food money spent along the way will be paid by Gao Mingcheng.
On this first night of vigil, Gao Mingcheng also planned to attend it himself.
Tonight was the time when the medicinal materials were most abundant. Two-thirds of the medicinal materials in the car belonged to him. He didn't feel at ease letting others guard them.
Therefore, it is safest to guard it yourself.
Xiao Jinfeng saw Gao Mingcheng's intention and knew Gao Mingcheng's skills. He felt relieved that Gao Mingcheng would be the caboose, so he agreed.
Not long after, Gao Mingcheng and Xiao Jinfeng went to the parking lot together.
Gao Mingli was sitting in the car, looking a little drowsy.
It's really boring to stay here alone and not understand the words.
"Mingli." Gao Mingcheng woke up Gao Mingli. Gao Mingli woke up immediately. When he saw his second brother, he felt very friendly.
After staying in this strange place for most of the day, Gao Mingli was frightened.
He couldn't wait to jump out of the car.
Gao Mingcheng said with a smile: "Are you hungry? I left some food for you. You and Brother Xiao will sleep in the hotel tonight and I will caboose."
As soon as Gao Mingli heard this arrangement, he finally let go of what he had been thinking about.
It's okay to let him watch during the day, but he is really scared to ask him to watch at night.
So Gao Mingcheng stayed, while Xiao Jinfeng took Gao Mingli back to Yaodu Hotel and brought the reserved meals to Gao Mingli.
(End of chapter)
