I'm back in 1990

Chapter 28: Returning to the Stamp Market

Having found a place to stay in Shanghai, Huang Xiaochuan spent the night in his rented apartment. The next morning, he leisurely ate breakfast and went to the bank to withdraw money.

When Huang Xiaochuan arrived at Lugong Market, it was still bustling with people. Apart from stamp collectors, most of them were stamp dealers from other places buying and selling stamps, since it was the largest stamp distribution center in East China.

It was only 9:40 a.m., and the day was already unbearably hot, even though there had been a thunderstorm in the morning. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a downside once the sun came out. The scorching sun made the ground scorching hot, and all the rainwater that had gathered on the ground turned into water vapor, making people feel even more uncomfortable. They felt stuffy and hot all over, and it was as if they couldn't breathe.

Huang Xiaochuan wore a sun hat, an old white T-shirt, loose knee-length shorts, and red and white Warrior canvas shoes. As usual, his shoulder bag was slung across his chest.

Each stall had a parasol, and the stamp vendors, seeing that there was little business, sat listlessly under the parasols, idly fanning themselves. Even when they saw Huang Xiaochuan squat down to look through their stamp albums, they were too lazy to greet him.

Huang Xiaochuan strolled around leisurely, casually inquiring about the price of the 80 monkey. It was similar to the market price in today's postal bulletin, hovering around thirty.

Fortunately, a large amount of social capital has not yet flooded into the stamp market, which gives Huang Xiaochuan ample time.

What else is there to say? Let's start shopping!

I saw that the beautiful boss had a lot of 80 Year of the Monkey stamps at her shop last time, so I'll start my first order from her shop today!

The store wasn't busy today, so I asked Acheng to clean the store.

With nothing much to do, Nan Hui took the opportunity to organize the accounts while Acheng was cleaning.

Her hair fell naturally over her shoulders. Today she wore a black floral dress and black high-heeled sandals. Her fair skin was still delicate, showing no signs of aging. Instead, she gave off a gentle and graceful feeling. From her appearance, you would never guess that she was a shrewd businesswoman.

Huang Xiaochuan pushed open the door and entered the store, immediately asking Acheng, who was cleaning, about the price of the 80 Monkey stamps.

"Hello, how much are your 80 Monkey stamps today?"

Acheng casually quoted a price: "3200".

Upon hearing that it was the same as last time, Huang Xiaochuan realized that the price hadn't fluctuated much in the past few days, and now seemed like the perfect time to buy.

After Ah Cheng finished speaking, he took a special look at Huang Xiaochuan, thinking that he seemed to have seen this young man somewhere before.

Huang Xiaochuan didn't mind the shop assistant's gaze and casually asked, "Can you give me a discount if I buy a larger quantity?"

Acheng glanced at Huang Xiaochuan without saying anything, but his expression clearly showed that he didn't believe Huang Xiaochuan had the financial strength to purchase a large quantity of stamps, after all, Huang Xiaochuan looked too young.

The conversation between the two caught Nan Hui's attention. She looked up and realized that the young man was the same person who had bought a full set of 80 monkeys from her not long ago. There was no way around it; good looks always make people remember you.

Nan Hui stood up and asked, "How many do you want?"

Huang Xiaochuan held up two fingers: "I want twenty editions."

When Acheng heard the quantity Huang Xiaochuan needed, he gasped in shock; it really was a considerable deal.

Although Nan Hui was somewhat surprised, she didn't show it on her face and said calmly, "3150, plus a West German-imported stamp album."

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan took out a bundle of ten blue bills from his satchel, borrowed scissors from Acheng to open them, counted out six bundles and placed them on the counter, then opened another bundle of hundred-yuan bills, counted out three thousand and put them together with the six bundles of money.

This scene left the shop assistant, Acheng, speechless with astonishment. He never expected that this young man would actually come to buy stamps, and that he would spend 100,000 yuan on them. He had never seen anything like it before.

In fact, Huang Xiaochuan's move was out of necessity. With the admission notice coming soon and him returning to Qingjiang, he didn't have time to buy the 200,000 1980 Monkey stamps one by one. He could only find a few big buyers to buy the stamps as soon as possible and then figure things out when it came time to sell them. Anyway, he would have plenty of time to sell them while he was studying.

Nan Hui was also taken aback. She was a worldly woman, having seen countless sums of hundreds of thousands, and her own net worth was already well over ten times that amount. But this was the first time she had encountered a young man like this who bought things without batting an eye. It was the same last time; he hadn't even haggled over the price before buying, as casually as if he were buying a cabbage. This time he was a little better, knowing how to bargain, but he still casually pulled out a wad of cash to buy the 20th edition of the 1980 Monkey logo. This was even more extravagant.

However, what puzzled Nan Hui was why she bought only 80 monkeys?

If they are stamp dealers from other places, then their purchases are usually diversified, and they will not just buy a single type of stamp.

Out of curiosity, while the clerk went to get the stamps, Nan Hui began to study Huang Xiaochuan's methods.

"Young man, what's your surname?"

"No need for formalities, it's the yellow of the grass radical."

"You look younger than me, so is it okay if I presume to call you Little Huang?"

"It doesn't matter, a name is just for others to call you."

"Hehe, if I may ask, where are you from? Do you run your own business?"

"Not far, next to Shanghai. He doesn't do business; he just likes collecting stamps." Huang Xiaochuan's answer was impeccable.

This left Nan Hui with no useful information. She couldn't help but glance at Huang Xiaochuan a few more times. Such a young man with such shrewdness at such a young age, this young man surnamed Huang is quite interesting.

She had seen many stamp collectors, but none of them would buy dozens of sheets at once like him, unless they were big stamp dealers. However, she had never seen such a young big stamp dealer before. This sudden appearance of Huang Xiaochuan aroused Nan Hui's curiosity.

At this moment, Acheng, wearing gloves, placed the 20th edition of the 1980 Monkey in front of Huang Xiaochuan, and Nan Hui had no choice but to stop questioning him.

Huang Xiaochuan put on gloves, picked up the high-powered magnifying glass handed to him by the shop assistant Acheng, and casually pulled out a sheet of 80 monkeys to check its condition and authenticity.

The 80 Monkey print uses a photogravure engraving method, making each black monkey hair stand out prominently and have a glossy sheen, creating a strong three-dimensional effect.

Moreover, the special printing method makes the strokes of the six characters of "Huaxia People's Post Office" hollow. These details can be observed under a high-powered magnifying glass. Furthermore, due to the ink, the backs of the stamps stacked together are stained with the ink of the next stamp. This is also an important feature for distinguishing genuine 80 Year of the Monkey stamps from counterfeits.

It took Huang Xiaochuan more than half an hour to check each sheet of 80 Monkeys. After confirming that there were no problems with the stamps, he nodded and agreed that there were no issues. Only then did the shop assistant help put each sheet of 80 Monkeys into a protective stamp bag. Then, he brought a high-quality large album and put all the sheets of 80 Monkeys into it.

With the stamps in hand, nearly a third of today's plan is complete. We'll continue, but this time we'll switch to a different store. As the saying goes, you can't put all your eggs in one basket, and you can't always buy things from the same store.

The shop assistant, Acheng, thoughtfully gave Huang Xiaochuan a cloth bag to hold the ticket booklet. Huang Xiaochuan thanked him politely, paid the money, and left.

After Huang Xiaochuan left, Nan Hui continued to ponder this strange business deal. This was Nan Hui's habit; she never overlooked any unusual information, because it often meant a business opportunity.

"Acheng, go and see what that person is going to do next. Find out and come back to me." Nan Hui made the decision quickly, based on her years of experience. She felt that something was unusual about what happened today.