Chapter 60 The Sixtieth Day of Not Running Away The sixtieth day of not running away...

Chapter 60 The Sixtieth Day of Not Running Away The sixtieth day of not running away...

The dragon raises its head on the second day of the second lunar month.

Chen Bozheng insisted on being discharged from the hospital. He showed Wen Chan the doctor's report, and when she saw that Chen Bozheng had fully recovered, Wen Chan said nothing more.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the sound of firecrackers crackling and popping rang out.

When the villagers returned from working in the fields, they all gathered around to watch the spectacle.

Lin Zhiyong was a little unsure. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth but hadn't lit it. He asked the monk, "Monk, do you think our business will be a hit?"

The monk retorted, "Is it appropriate for you to say this on the first day?"

Lin Zhiyong gave an awkward smile, scratched his head, but his hand touched his hat. His hand slid down to his neck. "I'm just a little nervous. Others may not know, but we ourselves are well aware that our repair shop's account is completely empty."

Lin Zhiyong supported Chen Bozheng's request to pay all the workers' wages in one lump sum, but he also had his doubts.

The monk knew about this and said, "Don't worry, we've done a lot of promotion this past month, business is sure to be good. Besides, aren't your brothers helping with the promotion too?"

Just then, a large truck drove over here.

Everyone immediately perked up.

Chen Bo waved to Lin Zhiyong, and the two of them went over together.

Four burly men jumped out of the truck, all dressed in thick cotton-padded coats. One of them, the older one, glanced at their auto repair shop and asked, "Geely Auto Repair Shop, is this for real?"

"This is legitimate, how could it be fake?" Lin Zhiyong asked, puzzled. He looked at the truck; it wasn't loaded, but it was obvious one tire was flat. "What, are you changing a tire?"

"Yes, what's your price, and how long will it take?" the old man asked.

Lin Zhiyong gestured for his two underlings to go check the situation, then estimated the cost and said, "We have new tires here. Considering this is our first order today, we won't charge you too much. The tires are 800, and the labor cost is 50. How about it, are you in or not?"

The old man glanced at them, then turned around and beckoned his companions to go aside and huddle together to discuss their plan.

The accents of the people sounded like they came from Sichuan and Chongqing, and I couldn't understand what they were saying at all.

Wen Chan walked over. "Do they want to change?"

Chen Bozheng said, "No rush. I think they're thinking of replacing them. Their tires are worn thin. If they drive any longer, they might have an accident."

The old men discussed it and came over, saying, "Alright, we'll change it. But let me make this clear: 850 means 850, not a penny more, not a penny less. If you try to rip us off, we won't take it lying down."

The old man spoke harshly, his dark face revealing small but shrewd eyes that swept over the crowd as if assessing their worth.

Lin Zhiyong chuckled, and Chen Bo was making the decision, "Alright, you give us half the money first. We'll exchange it for you now."

Both sides were willing to make a deal. The old man took out four hundred yuan, and Chen Bozheng immediately asked Lin Zhiyong's brothers to change the tires.

Changing a tire isn't difficult; two or three people can do it quickly, and it can be done in about ten minutes.

During this time, the old man, along with what appeared to be his younger brother, inquired about the origins of the auto repair shop from the monks and others. Upon learning that the repair shop was newly built and was a collaboration with the village, the old man breathed a sigh of relief, took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, and handed one to the monk.

The monk glanced at the pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and said thank you.

"Don't mention it. Oh, I was wondering why I'd never seen your auto repair shop before. We thought you were a scammer." The old man was much more at ease now and wasn't so tense anymore.

Jiang Zihan came over to pour water for everyone and said with a smile, "Grandpa, you must be joking. How could such a big factory be a scam?"

The old man's younger brother rolled his eyes at Jiang Zihan. "Young lady, you're so naive. We've traveled all over the country, we've seen it all. The whole village..."

The old man glared at his younger brother, his imposing presence evident. The younger brother pursed his lips and shut his mouth.

Jiang Zihan and Wen Chan, however, were intrigued.

Wen Chan inquired, "Please continue. What happened to the whole village?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing, it's just my brother talking nonsense." The old man waved his hand, a cigarette still tucked between his large, fan-like palm.

Jiang Zihan said, "Sir, please tell us. We'll just take it as a brief overview and won't spread rumors."

The old man hesitated for a moment before saying, "I can only tell you this, but you dare not tell anyone else, and you must not expose us."

"Go ahead and tell us," Jiang Zihan said. "We promise we won't tell anyone."

She also brought out a few chairs for everyone to sit on.

The old man, probably seeing that Jiang Zihan and the others were quite enthusiastic, started to talk, "It's nothing serious. We came from Sichuan and ran into a village of thieves. The whole village is full of swindlers. We were thinking of staying in their village for one night and having a few hot meals, but we didn't expect that they wanted our money and our lives, so we ran away as fast as we could."

"Is this whole village full of swindlers?" Wen Chan found out.

The old man said, "That's right. We originally thought they wanted to buy coal from us, and we were even thinking of giving them some leeway. Who would have thought that this whole village would be a cannibal? If we hadn't been to this village several times before and knew that the village chief was a good person, we wouldn't have dared to stay here so casually."

Just as they were talking, the truck was repaired. The old man's men came over and called him over to check it. The old man was obviously quite perceptive. After checking the repairs, he handed over the remaining money to them and even asked, "How much does it cost to replace the left headlight, the rearview mirror, and fix engine problems and brake failures?"

Chen Bo was fully aware of these accounts and reported them one by one. He also handed a business card to the old man: "Master, if you think our skills are good, please help us spread the word. We'll give you a discount in the future."

"Let's not wait until later, let's do it now." The old man looked at the business card, took it, and looked up at Chen Bozheng, saying, "You guys can fix anything now, right?"

Lin Zhiyong smiled and said, "Uncle, don't worry, our skills are top-notch. If we can't fix it, we won't charge you."

“You said it yourself,” the old man said, then gestured to his younger brother beside him, “Second brother, go call the third brother and the others to drive over.”

His younger brother agreed, opened the car door, climbed in, took out a mobile phone, and started making a call.

Chen Bozheng and the others were completely confused when suddenly someone shouted, "Several trucks are coming! Look!"

Everyone looked toward the road not far away and saw several large, dusty trucks that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. They were covered in dust and had many malfunctions. Some had obviously lost their windshields, and others had their bumpers dragging on the ground, sparks flying everywhere.

Chen Bo patted Lin Zhiyong on the shoulder. Lin Zhiyong, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, stared in disbelief, the cigarette butt stuck to his lips.

"Brother Yong, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and get some people out to take orders!"

Jiang Zihan and Wen Chan exchanged a glance.

Jiang Zihan asked Wen Chan in a low voice, "Sister Wen, could it be that they were recently scammed by that village of swindlers?"

"Most likely," Wen Chan said thoughtfully. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so vigilant. She hadn't thought much about it before, but now that she thought about it carefully, the two people were initially very wary, but they came over to talk to them. Perhaps they were trying to get information out of them.

As soon as several trucks arrived, the auto repair shop became busy.

Perhaps this was a good start, because business was booming all afternoon.

Village Chief Guang took a look, his face full of satisfaction. He patted Chen Bozheng on the shoulder with a smile, "Little Chen, keep up the good work. If your auto repair shop does well, we can also benefit. How long until our hotel can reopen?"

Chen Bozheng said, "It'll be soon. Once we earn some money this month, we'll get the equipment we need. Village chief, don't be so stubborn. Even if the hotel isn't open, we can still eat. Why don't you try to get some people in your village to join us?"

After thinking about it, the village chief realized that Chen Bozheng's words made sense.

Their village is a bit far from the main road, and usually only long-distance drivers come to the village to stay overnight. The villagers only earn money two or three times a month. But once the auto repair shop opened and cars started coming, the situation changed. At mealtimes, there were no restaurants around, and even if they brought their own food, in the dead of winter, who wouldn't want to eat some hot dishes?

The village chief gave Chen Bozheng a thumbs up, "You're the smartest, little Chen. I'll go and get the people right away."

The auto repair shop's booming business was unexpected. From day one, for half a month straight, business was booming every day.

Xiao He's previous orders were not enough, and Lin Zhiyong urged him to place orders with the factory as soon as possible. They needed everything from tires and glass to various hardware parts and engine oil.

Everyone has clearly underestimated the huge market for auto repair shops and how closely connected drivers are.

It can be said that in this era, the number of drivers was not as large as in later generations, but they were definitely well-informed.

In less than half a month, taxi drivers in Beijing all knew about a Geely auto repair shop in the suburbs that offered fast, good, and cheap repairs.

Taxi drivers are known for being wealthy. While the average person earns only two or three hundred yuan a month, they can earn forty or fifty thousand yuan. Therefore, these people are very generous when it comes to spending money on their cars. As long as the car can be repaired as soon as possible, they are willing to pay double.

Seeing that Chen Bozheng's situation had stabilized, Wen Chan stopped going there to help collect money and took Jiang Zihan home to rest.

Jiang Zihan reported the situation in Shanghai to her, "This morning it dropped to just over 200, that's really outrageous, Sister Wen."

"Did your uncle sell his stocks?" Wen Chan asked.

Jiang Zihan spread her hands: "I haven't sold yet. I just found out that my dad actually went to persuade my uncle. If you ask me, it's best not to get involved in this kind of thing. Now that the price has fallen like this, how could he be willing to sell? I heard that he bet his entire fortune on it, thinking of taking a gamble to get rich."

"If we don't sell now, we might become shareholders," Wen Chan joked.

Jiang Zihan didn't understand at first, but after thinking it through, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Of course, becoming a shareholder is a good thing, isn't it?"

Wen Chan said, "It's hard to say. Think about it. There are only eight stocks in Shanghai now, but so many people are flocking in to speculate on stocks. Sooner or later, the authorities will have to issue more stocks. The stock of Electric Vacuum has no value to begin with and has completely lost its investment value."

"They're going to issue more shares?" Jiang Zihan's heart skipped a beat. "Sister Wen, will we still be trading stocks then?"

Wen Chan looked at her, her fingers tapping on the armrest. "Are you interested?"

Jiang Zihan nodded: "Yes, I think this big drop will scare most people away. As a result, when new stocks are listed, everyone will definitely hesitate. According to what you taught us, isn't this the best time to enter the market?"

Wen Chan looked at Jiang Zihan with appreciation and nodded slightly: "Not bad, Xiao Jiang, you've got the hang of it. You've already learned how to buy. In that case, you should save your money and wait for this opportunity."

"That's for sure," Jiang Zihan said. "Sister Wen, I plan to buy a house once I've earned some money."

She finally understood: what her parents, her second sister, and her brother-in-law had belonged to them, but what she had was truly hers.