Chapter 13: Exactly 298 Cards—Not One More, Not One Less! (Please Keep Reading!)
Jiang Tao had calculated everything, yet he never expected that the shop owner would be so competitive!
During the day, she sold sofas at the market.
At night, she even livestreamed from home to sell them, right?
“Brother, over there is another sofa with the same color and a similar design,” Li Guiying said.
“It’s just that the condition is a bit worse than this one, but not by much. I’ll take you over to have a look.”
Seeing that Jiang Tao was genuinely fond of this color, Li Guiying suggested showing him a more affordable alternative.
“Sister, I only want this one. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the one.”
“Could you let me have this sofa, and give the person who ordered it a similar alternative instead?”
“There are so many sofas here; finding a close substitute shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Besides, it’s normal for there to be some color differences when viewed through the livestream—don’t you think so?”
Jiang Tao wasn’t about to give up 30,000 yuan so easily. Smiling, he tried to negotiate a little more with Li Guiying.
Li Guiying said, “Brother, it’s not like what you’re saying. We run a business based on integrity. If the goods we give the customer don’t match, wouldn’t that ruin our reputation? How are we supposed to keep doing business then?”
Jiang Tao hesitated for a moment and said, “How about this, sister? Whatever the price of the sofa in the livestream, I’ll pay you an extra 100 yuan! I really like this sofa; I want to buy this one and nothing else.”
Hearing Jiang Tao was willing to pay 100 yuan more, Li Guiying was immediately tempted!
They had bought this sofa for 100 yuan and sold it for 400 during the livestream.
If Jiang Tao paid an extra 100, it would sell for 500, doubling the profit!
Li Guiying pretended to hesitate and said, “Alright then, I see you really like this sofa. And since you came so early, I’ll make an exception and sell it to you!”
“...”
Seeing Li Guiying so straightforward, Jiang Tao agreed instantly but realized he had offered a bit too much!
He should have tested the waters with an extra 50 yuan first!
Still, thinking about the hidden stash inside the sofa, he didn’t mind the extra 50 yuan at all!
Fishing requires bait, after all!
Consider it 100 yuan spent for fishing!
“Sister, how much in total?”
Fearing any last-minute surprises, Jiang Tao quickly took out his phone, ready to pay.
“We sold it for 450 in the livestream last night. Since you said you’d add 100, scan and pay 550,” Li Guiying said, pulling out a two-sided payment QR code from her collar.
“Alright then! My wife just loves this kind of sofa, so I’ll take it!” Jiang Tao feigned reluctance but quickly scanned the WeChat payment code and paid the 550 yuan promptly.
[WeChat payment received: 550 yuan!]
Hearing the payment notification, Li Guiying’s chubby face lit up with delight.
She had come up with a clever idea and earned an extra 50 yuan!
“Alright, I’ll move the sofa out now. My car’s outside; I’ll bring it over.”
“Okay, brother, I’ll help you carry it to the entrance.”
“Thank you, sister!”
Both were calculating in their hearts as they lifted the sofa to the main entrance.
After setting it down, Jiang Tao hurried outside to drive the truck to shop B25.
Having earned an extra 150 yuan early in the morning, Li Guiying was in a good mood and cheerfully helped Jiang Tao load the sofa onto the truck.
“Thanks for your help, sister. I’ll come to your shop again if I need furniture.”
“Sure! Next time you come, whatever you buy, I’ll give you a discount!”
“Goodbye, sister.”
Jiang Tao didn’t waste time chatting and immediately started the car and left.
Driving out of the secondhand market, Jiang Tao didn’t stop to look for more odd jobs. He headed straight to Xiao Sha River.
He drove all the way to the building where he rented a room and carried the sofa upstairs alone.
The sofa wasn’t made of solid wood and weighed less than 100 jin—easy for Jiang Tao.
After placing it inside, he went downstairs to move the truck.
The narrow streets around the building made parking the truck in front a nuisance, blocking bicycles and electric scooters.
He parked the truck at the entrance to Xiao Sha River Village, then hurried back to his rented building.
“Hey, Xiao Jiang, not working today?”
As Jiang Tao approached the building, he ran into the landlord, an elderly man, coming out holding a small gourd-shaped object.
The gourd emitted a chirping sound, like crickets.
Jiang Tao didn’t appreciate the noise, but some people liked falling asleep to it, claiming it soothed the mind and aided sleep.
“My stomach feels a bit off today. I’ll go to work later. Grandpa, are you off to cricket fighting?”
Jiang Tao smiled and greeted the landlord, admiring this simple, joyful lifestyle.
“Going to play with Old Liu and the others. See you!” the landlord waved and strode toward the alley entrance.
“The life of retired old men in the capital is just so plain and unpretentious,” Jiang Tao mused, then turned to enter, heading straight to his room on the second floor.
Once inside, he locked the door.
He ran his hands all over the sofa but found nothing unusual.
Still, he wasn’t discouraged.
If it were that obvious, there’d be no chance for him to score a bargain!
“Could it be hidden inside the sofa? It must be!”
He immediately grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer and started cutting at the back of the sofa, giving it a thorough dissection.
After cutting the back, he trimmed the bottom, spending seven or eight minutes cutting the fabric wrapped around the wooden frame into a mess.
“Got it!”
Just as he began doubting the reliability of the tip, a corner of a long, black wallet appeared.
Snip, snip—two more cuts.
Jiang Tao reached in and pulled out the rectangular black wallet from the sofa’s hidden layer.
“Wow, it’s well hidden! Took me a while to find you!”
He opened the wallet and found a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills inside!
Swallowing his excitement, Jiang Tao emptied all the cash and counted it with a clatter.
Exactly 298 bills—29,800 yuan!
“Minus the 550 spent on the sofa, a pure profit of 29,350!”
After tallying, Jiang Tao was thrilled once again, amazed at the effectiveness of the intelligence system.
If he worked hard today, his daily earnings would surely surpass the 30,000 mark!
In his thirty years of life, this was the first time he earned so much in a single day!
He smoked three cigarettes in quick succession inside the rental room, calming his excited nerves.
Jiang Tao put the money back in his wallet and tucked it into the inner pocket of his down jacket.
Then he tidied up the now mangled sofa before heading downstairs.
He first drove to an ATM outside a nearby Industrial and Commercial Bank near the Red Star secondhand furniture market to deposit the 29,800 yuan cash into his bank account.
After depositing the money, Jiang Tao nonchalantly drove back to the Red Star secondhand furniture market to look for more work.