An Yu finished wiping the tables and went into the kitchen to tidy up; there was no one else in the small teahouse.
Tang Wen turned toward the counter and saw Guo Panpan hiding her head behind a Novel again, so he walked over.
Guo Panpan’s attention wasn't actually on the book; she immediately put it down and said:
“Are you buying snacks again?”
Tang Wen quickly shook his head; he still had more than half of the last batch he bought.
Thanks to the pitiful state of the food industry in this era, the variety of snacks was truly meager. Besides instant noodles and sugary biscuits, there was really nothing palatable.
What was worse was that the technology and shortcuts weren't as advanced as in later generations; the Level of saccharin and additives was very poor, and they tasted awful.
Among beverages, cola was somewhat satisfactory, but other sodas were really not good either; drinking the fruit juice could even change the color of your tongue.
Although people jokingly called it "technology food" in later generations, at least there was a Safety bottom line. As for the current food factories... one should be grateful if the Employees don't defecate in the production workshop.
After trying the snacks of this era a few times, Tang Wen lost interest. Being bored all day in Big Bay Village could kill a person. Now, he was eyeing the Novel in Guo Panpan's hands.
There was a bookstore in the Town, but the selection was truly lackluster. The small picture books were printed with ghosting, and better quality books could only be bought in the city.
The Novel Guo Panpan was reading now were basically ones she brought back when she was studying in the city.
“Sister Panpan, can you sell me a few Novels? I can’t buy them in the Town.”
Guo Panpan had already finished her college entrance exams; she was one year older than Tang Wen.
As someone born in the 2000s, Tang Wen hadn't read much of Zha Liangyong’s work, but now he could read even his Chinese textbook with great relish.
“What do you want to read? I can lend them to you.”
Guo Panpan didn't intend to take his money, and Tang Wen didn't refuse when he saw this:
“Just make sure you don’t read them too often; I just want to pass the time.”
“Wait a moment.”
Guo Panpan ran into the room behind them in her sandals, and a moment later returned carrying a few books whose covers were already dusty.
When Tang Wen saw the covers, he let out a soft "Yi."
“2001: A Space Odyssey?”
Damn, Sci-Fi.
In the 90s, shouldn't people be reading Wang Xiaobo's banned books, or Mo Yan and Yu Hua? Or maybe Auntie Qiong Yao's romance novels?
Although the Space Odyssey series was written in the late 60s, it was genuine hard Science fiction novel. Da Liu, who wrote The Three-Body Problem, even claimed, "All my creations are merely clumsy imitations of Space Odyssey," showing its status in the field of Sci-Fi.
This book was written by a former Britain aerospace Engineer. Its imagination was unparalleled, and it won several International awards, but the domestic translation should be rare now, and no one should be reading it.
Seeing Tang Wen staring blankly at the cover, Guo Panpan looked as if it was As expected:
“This is the complete set of ‘Space Odyssey,’ Sci-Fi. Have you read it?”
Tang Wen nodded subconsciously:
“I’ve read The Three-Body Problem, The Wandering Earth... ah no, I haven't.”
He almost let it slip.
The Sci-Fi Tang Wen had read the most was Da Liu’s work, but the latter should currently be thinking about how to slack off at the Niangziguan Hydropower Station and wouldn't start publishing Novels for several more years.
He took the Space Odyssey series handed over by Guo Panpan and felt the World was wonderfully strange.
A girl in the 90s who liked reading Sci-Fi might also be a first-generation internet user...
“Thank you, I’ll take these.”
“Don’t damage them. I asked my Teacher to buy these from Hong Kong; you can’t buy them on the Mainland.”
Tang Wen flipped through a few pages; they were indeed in Traditional Chinese characters.
“No problem, I’ll return them once I’m done reading.”
After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and asked Guo Panpan:
“Where’s your dad? I haven’t seen Uncle Liangchen these past few days.”
“He was here this morning, but now he’s probably gone off with some bad friends again.”
Guo Panpan frowned when she mentioned her father, clearly unwilling to talk about him much.
Tang Wen was a bit surprised. Given Guo Liangchen’s personality, he would definitely come over to chat with him; it was rare for him to be out of sight.
He didn't think too much about it and sat back down at the table with the books.
Not long after, Wu Lao Er returned with paper and a pen, then wrote out a simple consignment Contract, purchasing a 25 Horsepower Tractor from Tang Wen for 6,000 yuan. He was the only one in Goose City who could sell it.
There were no standard Contract templates in those days, and this Contract was actually full of Loophole; it was hard to say whether it had any legal binding force.
After all, strictly speaking, the Gaijin Shipyard wasn't even an operating Entity, and this transaction wasn't taxed; whether it was followed depended purely on the credit between the two parties.
But in the countryside, anything written in black and white on paper had to be honored, otherwise, people would point fingers, and one would never be able to get by again.
A copy of the handwritten Contract was made using carbon paper, and after both signed and affixed their fingerprints, it was considered effective.
Wu Lao Er was extremely excited after receiving the Contract:
“Brother Tang, Big Bay Town is too small. I’ll go into the city tomorrow to sell them. You prepare ten units first, and then we can expand.
Oh right, how much inventory does that Gai Jin Factory have?”
“Inventory... maybe a few hundred units?”
The low-grade goods costing 8 Silver Coins had no difficulty, so Tang Wen vaguely stated a number.
“A few hundred units?”
Wu Lao Er exclaimed in shock.
What kind of factory has hundreds of units in stock? Was this a bankrupt factory?
He thought there would be at most a few dozen units, which could be easily absorbed by the surrounding Townships.
A quantity of several hundred units, and they were high-Horsepower Diesel Engines—only Goose City could consume them all, and it would take some effort.
But the moment he thought of the purchase price of only six thousand yuan, he became energized again, and his surprise immediately turned into excitement.
“I knew Brother Xiao Tang was capable; truly, a tiger father begets no dog son, haha...
Here’s the deal: I’ll raise the money tomorrow and go promote them in the city. You just wait to collect the money!”
Although he was certain he could sell them quickly, sixty thousand yuan for ten Diesel Engines was still an astronomical figure for Wu Lao Er, almost all his life savings, which he only managed to gather after today's large deposit.
After speaking, he quickly left, his steps almost floating.
Just as Wu Lao Er walked out of the shop door, the Village Chief appeared again, bringing a middle-aged man with him.
...
“Come, come, Director Yang, this is our Village’s Xiao Tang, Old Tang’s son.”
The Village Head wore a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses; he was already balding, with only the hair on the sides combed back, making him look more like a Teacher.
Chen Yonggui enthusiastically invited him to sit down, then said to Tang Wen:
“This is our Township Head, Yang Tai. He used to be the principal of the Village Primary School back when your father hadn't even moved here yet.”
Yang Tai sat down and sized up Tang Wen, speaking with a smile:
“Xiao Tang is very young. I saw you selling Diesel Engines a few days ago; I heard you plan to start a small Shipyard?”
Tang Wen Nodded, surprised that the Township Head had also seen him:
“Yes, I plan to acquire some new Equipment so the Shipyard can build steel ships of several tens of tons.
It’s too rudimentary now; we can’t do much.”
“Several tens of tons is not small. If you work hard, a hundred tons can even go to the Deep sea!”
Yang Tai did not look down on Tang Wen because of his words. As long as it was a Fishing Boat over 20 tons, one that could be built counted as a proper Shipyard, requiring all the necessary facilities.
And steel ships are not cheap. Nowadays, let alone steel ships, many people can’t even afford Fishing Boats and are still using Cement Ships!
A Steel Ship with a Full Load of several tens of tons would cost at least over one hundred thousand yuan at the cheapest price.