Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 330 - 50 The ’Enthusiastic’ Person Who Made a Huge Loss_1

Chapter 330: Chapter 50 The ’Enthusiastic’ Person Who Made a Huge Loss_1

The streets of Provincial City were quiet in the wee hours, only the street cleaners were busy at work. Few others were about.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the street lamps hadn’t yet been turned off. Yan Fei, under Miss Xu Xiaoyan’s ’severe torture,’ finally managed to peddle his bicycle to the entrance of the antique market.

Despite it being early, the place was already bustling with activity.

When they had dinner with Xu Xiaoyan’s two older sisters last night, the young lady had already asked about the antique market. She knew it opened very early, and customers came even at this hour. What they saw now was even livelier than they had imagined!

The two parked their bicycles, carrying their bag, and walked a full circle in the area for hawkers at the side gate. After a while, they finally found an empty spot in a quiet corner.

Opening the bag revealed pieces of ’scrap metal’ so rusty they were unrecognisable.

Yes, this was indeed the ’scrap metal’ an old sly fox had brought when buying medicinal wine at the beginning of the summer. The items were so severely rusted and covered in dirt that it was hard to distinguish whether they were iron or copper. Yan Fei had to burn and smash them with a hammer before he found out that they were copper-containing items.

After placing these items on the snake-skin bag, Yan Fei took out a shiny object from his backpack - silver coins.

Initially obtained in exchange for a jar of medicinal wine, these coins were originally viewed as useless trinkets. However, the two were surprised to find yesterday that these ’useless items’ were very popular here, and also sold at quite high prices.

Xu Xiaoyan was somewhat nervous; she poked Yan Fei and said, "Xiao Fei, do you think the ones we’re wearing could be more valuable? These silver coins are worth tens, even hundreds, of dollars a piece. Our two pieces might be gold and definitely worth more."

Just as she finished speaking, she noticed Yan Fei’s neck and looked puzzled. "Hey, you didn’t lose it, did you? Why aren’t you wearing it?"

Yan Fei, forever changing his mind, found wearing something around his neck bothersome and usually stored it in Vegetable Garden Island’s cave. When the young lady mentioned it now, he quickly pretended to rummage through his bag, retrieved it, casually hung it around his neck, and grinned at her.

Seeing his silly grin, she rolled her eyes at him as expected. She was not as nervous as before. She asked him, "Should we sell these two as well?"

Yan Fei gave her a look, "We’re already wearing them and you want to sell them? Are we really that poor?"

The young lady blushed at his glare, "I knew you wouldn’t sell!"

Knowing that he won’t sell and still asking about it; what kind of intention was the young lady harbouring!

They had arrived late, and the only vacant spots they could find were predictably out of the way, hardly attracting any attention. The two weren’t in a hurry. Zhoulingbai sat there chatting nonchalantly for a while, staring at each other intently, muttering on and on without end.

Until a young man wearing a red armband, who was eating fried dough sticks and drinking soy milk, walked by. At first, he thought the two were just chatting idly and went straight past. Probably because he had a second glance at the young lady, he then noticed the small stall.

He turned around, examined the items on the stall, then addressed Yan Fei, "Hey, buddy, are you guys selling these stuff?"

Yan Fei nodded, took note of his red armband and wondered, "Yeah! They’re here to be sold. Are we doing something against the rules by setting up a stall here?"

The young man looked even more puzzled, "The problem is, you guys are hidden in this corner, when will anyone come by? Everyone probably thinks you two are hiding here for a date! The morning market is about to close, there are vacancies over there now, why don’t you go there to set up shop?"

These two were rather amusing, they were so focused on selling stuff to make money but got sidetracked by their endless chatter and forgot about their business. Upon hearing the young man’s words, they both felt a bit embarrassed. They looked around and only then did they realise that the crowd had thinned dramatically. Many stalls which were full to the brim just now had already packed up a great deal.

"Oh right, you two haven’t paid the administrative fee yet! Nevermind, I’ll collect it after you start your business! Regulars pay two dollars, and as you guys are irregulars, three dollars. Those spots are registered ones, everyone knows, they’re much cheaper. What are you waiting for? Pack up your things and come with me. I’ll find a spot for you." The tone of the young man wasn’t very friendly but he sure meant well.

There wasn’t much to pack up at their stall. Yan Fei picked up the silver coins and put them in his bag, grabbed the bag and followed the young man to where the crowd was dense. The young man called out, "Come on, here. Someone else’s spot, if they come in the morning, you have to move. You guys can occupy it now."

After Yan Fei set up his stall, the young man didn’t leave, he asked, "Is this your first time selling here? Do you understand these things?"

Yan Fei wasn’t wary of him and replied directly, "No, I don’t. However, I did hear some prices yesterday."

The young man was very enthusiastic, "Your silver coins are in good condition, they will sell well. As for the knife coins, they have severe rust and might not fetch a good price. How about this! I help you sell, and you give me a cut, ok? I’m not using my position as a market manager to pressure you, I’m off duty now. I’m proposing this to you. If you don’t want it, it’s fine. You think about it? Don’t worry, I’ll help you sell and you can listen to the price. If it’s not suitable, if you don’t nod, no one can take this stuff."

It seems that the young man’s enthusiasm comes at a price. But Yan Fei wasn’t surprised. There’s no such thing as a free lunch! The young man must have realised that they weren’t good at selling these things, and hence thought of this idea.

Seeing that the young man took his job seriously and even took off his red armband, Yan Fei nodded and asked him, "How do you take the cut?"

"One percent, if you sell for a hundred, you give me one," the young man raised a greasy finger after eating the fried dough stick. "This price is very reasonable, I’m from the market management office. Sneaking off to earn some extra cash is okay, but I can’t disgrace our management office, right? There are people who specialise in this, they take seven or eight out of a hundred. If it’s for big ticket items, it’s even higher! How about getting a cut of ten to twenty, believe it or not?"

Yan Fei wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth, but taking only one out of a hundred was indeed not expensive. He had heard the price of these items and also learnt a little about their knowledge, precisely because of what he had heard, he understood the complexity of it. Just take the silver coins for example, there were so many different types. He certainly couldn’t learn a whole range of antique identification for these few items, could he?

Right then, he agreed, "Alright! It’s a deal. Please help us then!"

The young man was overjoyed and grinned, "Don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer. Let’s not rush to sell, let me see what things you have first!"

He then reached out and picked up a few silver coins. Just a glance and his face changed, filled with regret and disappointment, "Damn! I’ve missed such a big opportunity!"