Chapter 21: The Merchant's Instinct

Chang-le County Public Security Bureau residential compound.

When Xia Hongying and Lu Dawei returned home, Bai Shuang had already prepared dinner. Although the shredded potatoes were as thick as chopsticks and parts of them were still raw, the couple was deeply touched. What more could one expect from a ten-year-old child? When Lu Fan was that age, he still wet the bed occasionally.

Only after Bai Shuang finished eating and went to watch television did the two of them begin to discuss in hushed tones at the dining table.

Xia Hongying said, "I took an advance on two months' salary from our unit's finance department today, and I also borrowed 800 yuan from Sister Wang in our division. What about you? What did you manage to get today?"

Lu Dawei replied gloomily, "What could I possibly get? Unlike you, my salary is issued by our own unit; our pay is settled by the central finance department. Do you expect me to go to the finance bureau to ask for an advance?"

"Then can't you borrow from your colleagues?"

"I am the deputy director of the station. Aside from Director Wang, everyone else is lower in rank than I am. How could I possibly bring myself to ask?"

"I don't care. Our son got into university this year, and it’s a key undergraduate program at that; you mustn't hold him back. Let me calculate this for you: tuition is nearly 5,000 yuan, living expenses for a semester will be around 1,000, and dorm fees are 800. If he rents a place outside, it will be even more expensive. Bedding, daily necessities, books, plus two sets of new clothes and shoes—that will add another 1,000."

Lu Dawei nodded.

"And since the child won't be by our side, we really should buy him a mobile phone for convenience. Even a cheap one will cost over 2,000!"

"A phone isn't necessary. He's attending school right here in Jiangcheng. It's only a few dozen kilometers away; he can come back anytime. Besides, most students don't have phones yet."

"What do you mean they don't? I saw the child from Old Zhong's family in our compound—he’s also starting university this year, and he’s already wearing one on his belt. His grades aren't even as good as Xiao Fan's. Why should other people's children have one while mine doesn't?"

"Fine, we'll buy one. I'll get him a flip-style Ericsson for just over 1,000. No need to spend over 2,000."

"That brings us to about 10,000. Then there's the big expense: we have to host a celebration banquet for Xiao Fan's admission. I’ll need two tables for my close colleagues, and you’ll need two or three tables, plus one for our relatives in the county. Let's count on six tables; a cheap banquet costs at least 200 per table, plus 100 for cigarettes and alcohol. Three times six is eighteen—wait, no, that's 1,800. We also need to go back to our hometown and buy some gifts; let's call that over 2,000. Thankfully, we're just paying this upfront, and the gift money we receive should cover most of it."

"Don't count on the gift money to balance it out. Xiao Fan also said he wants to get a driver's license. I asked around; getting a permit now costs 2,000 yuan."

"Alright, let's call it 12,000. I've managed to scrape together over 3,000 so far. You can't rely on me alone; you need to think of a way."

Lu Dawei thought for a while before saying, "When my comrade-in-arms who does business visited me last time, he gave me two boxes of Moutai. I couldn't bear to drink them. I checked, and they're worth 220 yuan a bottle now; that could fetch 2,500. If you hadn't given away my Wuliangye, those two bottles alone would have been over 1,000."

"Let's not talk about the past. We're still short over 6,000. Let's think about who else we can borrow from, or if there's anything else of value at home."

Lu Dawei put down his chopsticks. "I'm not eating anymore. I'm going out for a walk."

...

Fifty kilometers away, at the Baoshan District open market.

Lu Fan and Bai Lu were already packing up their stall. "Packing up" meant untying the ropes from the trees and picking up the empty packaging bags one by one to stuff into a bundle.

Even as they packed, a crowd still lingered in front of the stall.

"Young man, are you coming back tomorrow? We waited in line for ages and didn't even get to buy anything."

"That's right. You brought too few clothes. Other people just arrived to set up their stalls, and you're already closing."

"I think you should set a rule that one person can only buy three items. Several people walked away with over a dozen pieces each! Isn't that just greedy?"

As people chimed in one after another, Lu Fan could only clasp his hands and apologize, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. We're completely out of stock today. If you still want to buy some, please wait until tomorrow. I'll apply to the company for more stock for tomorrow."

With that, he beckoned toward an ice cream stand not far away.

A young girl who had been watching them ran over excitedly. "Do you want more ice cream?"

"Yes. Count the number of people here and bring back that many."

The girl was efficient and soon came jogging back with a bag of ice cream.

The onlookers felt a bit embarrassed. "It's not that we wanted your ice cream, it's just that we felt the way you handled this wasn't quite right. You should have figured out when you'd sell out and warned us to stop queuing."

"Yes, yes! You are absolutely right, thank you for the feedback!"

Lu Fan hadn't expected that while things started off with everyone buying three items and the order was excellent, later on, people started grabbing six, and the most greedy one took eighteen—he didn't know if they were wholesale buyers or just planning to give them away as gifts. By the end, he had lost track of the count and failed to manage the queue properly, causing some people to wait in vain.

"How about this? To express my apologies, when you come back to buy tomorrow, I'll give each of you a ten-yuan discount."

He immediately tore a long strip from a cardboard box on the ground and began tearing it into small pieces.

"Everyone, pay one yuan now, and I'll give you a numbered tag. We will make purchases tomorrow based on the order of today's queue."

Lu Fan took a pen from his pocket, wrote numbers on the paper slips, and collected one yuan from each person as he handed them out. There were 13 people in total.

"Tomorrow at seven, right?"

"Yes, the event starts promptly at seven."

After the crowd dispersed, the girl selling ice cream helped them clean up the trash on the ground and waited to settle the bill.

Lu Fan asked, "How much?"

"16 ice creams in total, four yuan and eighty cents!"

"There were only thirteen people, why are there sixteen ice creams?"

"Three people were just watching, but I counted them too."

"I don't care about that. I'm only giving you three yuan and ninety cents."

The girl, who wasn't very old, looked like she was about to cry.

Bai Lu smiled and said, "He's just joking with you."

Lu Fan said, "Your ice cream is too expensive. Tomorrow, stock up on some cheaper ones, the ones that cost one or two dimes."

"No wonder you can make money—you're so stingy." The girl took the money, threw that remark back, and walked away with a grievance-stricken look.

Lu Fan looked at Bai Lu and said, "Bai Lu, you're still too young. I wasn't joking just now. If you hadn't interrupted, I was fully prepared to give her only three yuan and ninety cents."

"Huh?"

Bai Lu covered her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson. In our daily lives, it doesn't matter if something is a little cheaper or more expensive; I accept that, because money is meant to be spent once earned."

"But we are in business now. In business, sometimes you have to pursue low costs and high profit to maximize gains."

"The ice cream today can be seen as our operating cost. Saving costs and pursuing the extreme—this is the instinct of a merchant. If you don't possess this quality, you'd better not do business."

"You cannot be wasteful or act as if everything is fine just because you've made some money. That is a very dangerous mindset."

Bai Lu bit her lip and nodded, a hint of moisture in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't consider that."

"It's okay. If you want to do business, you must have this quality, but you must distinguish between work and life. If you want to spend money on yourself, go ahead, but when it comes to business, you must be meticulous."

"I understand!"

"Good. Now, take my shirt off your waist. With this much money, look at the way the passersby are looking at you."

"Oh, right!"

Lu Fan helped Bai Lu untie the shirt from behind. All the money was stuffed inside the shirt he had originally been wearing, which was wrapped around Bai Lu's waist, making it look bulky.

Lu Fan casually stuffed the money into the large bundle and patted it twice.

"Let's go. We're going home."

Just then, the young female stall owner next to them walked over, swaying her hips. "Don't go yet, little brother. This big sister wants to learn a thing or two from you."