Chapter 21: Dreaming of returning to the peak of wealth
"Okay, these furniture are finished. Wait for the paint to dry and let it dry for a while, then you can replace them."
Liu Hongchang and Liu Zi spent another week off work and a day off to finish the furniture.
"Brother, what should we do next?"
"Next, we will start making money. Liuzi, do you see what this is?"
Liu Hongchang patted the radio at home and asked.
The radio in Liu Hongchang's home is a Red Lantern 711, which he has used for almost ten years. In the 1970s, this radio was considered an Internet celebrity model.
With a production volume of nearly two million units, it can be said to be an arcade machine.
"Isn't this just a radio? It's not a rare thing. Brother, you don't just want to make money from this, do you?"
In the 1980s, radios may still be a little rare in rural areas, but in cities, the popularity rate is really not low.
"Yes, you are right, this is how you make money."
In this era, the safest and most legitimate way is to make money through crafts.
Because there were a huge number of workers in this era, such as carpenters, cooks, fitters and other skilled craftsmen.
If there are too many people who know how to do it, there will be involution, so the times are the same and the craftsmanship cannot be sold at a high price.
A radio is an electronic product in size and requires some knowledge of circuits.
In an era when residents were generally less well-educated, electronic knowledge was a relatively natural threshold for the industry.
"Brother, how can you make money from this? This thing is very easy to buy now. Even if you have a way, it is impossible to make money by doing this."
Although radios still require tickets, in the era of planned economy, all kinds of tickets were issued based on production volume.
The output of radios is not small, so radio tickets have the largest number of tickets.
Even if you get a ticket on the black market, it will cost less than ten yuan.
Moreover, radio tickets are really easy to buy. There is no such thing as going to the black market and trying to buy but not being able to get it.
Therefore, there is not much profit margin if there is no radio.
"We don't make money by reselling. I know how to repair radios. You didn't know that, right?"
Radios are said to be durable. Some big-name brands produce large-volume radios with mature technology, and some can be used for decades without problems.
But to say they are not durable is not to say they are not durable. Many miscellaneous brand and experimental radios have problems with their original parts or designs. Problems will occur within a short period of time.
It can be said that there are only a few people like Liu Hongchang's family who have used it safely for ten years.
If the radio is broken, it is different from the house or furniture at home. If something goes wrong, you can easily fix it by yourself or by calling a bricklayer or carpenter.
Therefore, repairing radios is considered a lucrative skill.
Depending on the grade, a new radio costs forty, fifty, seventy, eighty, or more than one hundred yuan.
It's not too much to charge ten or eight yuan for a repair.
"Brother, I've heard people say that you didn't even understand junior high school, how can you still repair a radio?"
Liu Hongchang said that he knew carpentry, and Liu Zi was willing to believe it.
After all, Liu Hongchang is indeed very capable and is good at all kinds of hands-on activities. Whether it is hands-on work or fighting, Liu Hongchang can handle it.
But repairing a radio requires electronic knowledge.
This thing is just like mathematics, if you say you can't do it, you can't do it.
In terms of culture, Liu Hongchang could not convince Liu Zi.
"Bold, you dare to question your master now. You don't have to choose a time. It's today. Now, go out to the scrap yard and see if there are any broken radios. If so, pick out the ones in good condition.
, buy a few and see how I can fix them for you."
A radio is somewhat of a valuable item, but even if it breaks down and cannot be found to be repaired, or even repaired it is not repaired, ordinary families will be reluctant to sell it for scrap.
It's not worth much if you sell it as scrap, so it's better to keep it at home as a decoration.
This is also proof that the family's conditions were quite good.
But after the population increases, there will still be some people who don't care about this and will sell broken radios.
It will definitely be difficult to find too much quantity, but there will definitely be some.
"Okay, I'm going to the scrap station to buy scraps. Brother, why don't you go with me?"
"I'm going to the department store to buy tools and parts, otherwise I can fix things just by talking nonsense?"
The two of them split up, Liuzi went to the scrap collection station, and Liu Hongchang went to the department store.
After buying electricity meters, soldering irons, various types of resistors and capacitors, and battery speakers, Liu Hongchang was completely destitute.
Before wages are paid, if you want to buy a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of soda, you have to count on signing in to the system every day.
Two hours later, Liu Hongchang and Liu Zi met at Lao Liu's house.
Liuzi spent six yuan to get two radios that looked like eight-story new.
The shell of this thing is basically made of wood, so it won't be worth anything if you sell it as scrap.
Many people call it a radio box because it looks like a wooden box.
Now that the things had been taken back, Liu Hongchang didn't hesitate and started working immediately.
After taking it apart and measuring it, I found that several capacitors were burned.
It's such a simple problem, but many people in this era don't know how to fix it.
In just a few minutes, Liu Hongchang took things apart and reassembled them.
Plug it in, receive the signal and listen:
"Speaking of that day..." it talks about storytelling.
"There's sound, hey!" Liuzi was surprised.
"How's it going? Do you understand?"
Liu Hongchang looked plain. For Liu Hongchang, this thing was too simple and not difficult. It was not as fulfilling as carpentry work.
"I don't understand, but brother, you are really good at it, you really know how to fix this." Liuzi shook his head first, then nodded.
"It's okay. Watch more and learn more. Master's skills are enough for you to learn in eight lifetimes."
When he was studying the second one, Liu Hongchang started teaching.
Liu Hongchang came from junior high school, and the sixth son was actually about the same, not much better.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! My studies in junior high school were not very good, but after several years, all the knowledge has been returned to the teacher.
Starting from junior high school physics, I helped Liu Zi explain it bit by bit.
In fact, the electronic components of this era are very large due to technical reasons, so they are not very difficult to repair.
General radios are more than thirty centimeters long, about ten centimeters wide and high, and large models can be twice as big.
For such a large volume, there are only hundreds of components inside, and a capacitor and resistor are as big as a grain of rice, which is normal.
When I was repairing the second station, I helped Liu Zi explain it while repairing it.
But it didn't take long. In less than half an hour, the radio was repaired the next day.
"Can you take these two radios away?" After the repairs were completed, Liu Hongchang said to Liu Zi.
The cost of these two radios came from Liuzi.
It's not that Liu Hongchang didn't think of giving money, it was just that he didn't have much money and had to purchase tool parts. Liu Zi wanted to advance the money, but Liu Hongchang didn't insist on it.
"I'll take them all away. I can't finish listening to this?" Liuzi was hehehehe again.
"Who asked you to listen to it yourself? Don't you all have one at home? Find an opportunity and sell these two radios."
Liu Hongchang doesn't need to teach Liu Zi how to sell things.
If we compare the original body and the Sixth Son alone, the Sixth Son is much more lively than Liu Hongchang.
Whether it is selling it to acquaintances such as neighbors or trading on the black market, it is not difficult for Liuzi.
The cheapest radio on the market now costs forty or fifty yuan, and it is the simplest and lowest-end model.
The two machines Liuzi bought back are considered mid-range models, and new ones cost 70 to 80 yuan.
According to the value retention rate of various things in this era, these two radios are 80% new.
It's not difficult to sell for thirty to thirty-five yuan. If you have a little patience, there is hope of selling it for forty yuan.
In terms of cost, it cost Liuzi six yuan, Liu Hongchang one hour of time, and the components cost less than a dime.
In terms of profit, if you make thirty yuan per radio, it won't be a big problem.
"Brother, what else do we need to do to repair radios? We just buy used radios, and after repairing them, we can just take them out."
Liu Zi is actually very smart and can calculate business very quickly.
"We can do anything, but in order not to draw attention to others, we still have to say that our main business is maintenance."
Recycling used radios and then selling them would of course make the most profit.
But many people don't want to sell their old radios.
The scrapyard has a limited number of old radios.
If you want those who are reluctant to sell radios, you must raise the price to sell radios.
Another thing is that not all radios, even second-hand ones, are worth the price.
Liuzi went to the junkyard to buy, and of course he wanted to buy something with the best appearance and model.
Some old models from the 1960s, or low-end radios.
If you take it back and resell it yourself, you might as well earn ten or eight yuan in maintenance fees for each unit.
"Brother, I understand this." Liuzi replied with a wink.
Liu Hongchang was worried about policy issues and wondered what Liu Zi understood.
Collecting scraps, repairing them, and then selling them is certainly not speculation.
However, the system in this era is not so well-established, and the scale is actually determined by the local area.
Sometimes, it actually means that you count, you count, and you don’t count.
If you say it doesn't count, it doesn't count.
No matter what, if you are short of money, you will definitely have to make money.
The two of them started a maintenance business.
Liuzi Sheniu has a character that makes him acquainted with many people, especially women. He knows many housewives, young ladies and young wives.
We can call in every day and handle one to three maintenance orders.
The two of them also went to the scrapyard and collected all the scraps that the scrapyard could see that were valuable for renovation.
It's not eye-catching, but it's actually cheap to get back, and there are some usable parts inside.
At the end of a week, the two of them had received a dividend of 500 yuan each, and Liu Hongchang returned to the peak of his wealth.
Of course, this is because the scrap collection station has accumulated goods from the past.
The Chengdong scrap station closest to Old Liu's house has now been emptied. After all the scrap depots in the city are emptied, the main thing in the future may be a repair money.
After word of mouth spreads, there will definitely be more people doing repairs.
There were four or five orders a day, so Liu Hongchang and Liu Zi could divide more than ten or twenty yuan each day, which was not too small.
"Hong Chang, what are you bringing back?"
"TV, can't you see such big words?"
After getting rich, Liu Hongchang still went to Yao Guofa to fulfill his promise, asked for a TV ticket, and went to buy a TV set.
"I saw this is a TV. How come you are so rich now? You just made a new set of furniture and now you have bought a TV?"
It had been half a month since he returned from the provincial capital, and Liu Yunchang had finally recovered from his depression.
No matter what, the trip to the provincial capital was not in vain.
After being prescribed a lot of medicine, Liu Yunchang's functions were actually still normal.
Taking aphrodisiacs will definitely have an effect. After working hard, at least from the bottom of his heart, Liu Yunchang will definitely feel that his hope of having a child will be greater.
"What do you think I've been busy with during this time? I'm so busy that I don't even have time for a date. Aren't I just trying to make money?"
This week, Liu Hongchang didn't go out with Yang Maixiang.
Wanting to make money is one aspect, and the other aspect is that He Wenhui's affairs have not been settled, so it's hard to tell Yang Maixiang.
"So, you've made a lot of money messing around with all that junk during this time. If you have money, you deserve the two hundred yuan, and I won't pay you back for now."
Liu Yunchang is actually not a generous person, and he still values money quite a bit.
Although he is not to the point where he thinks money is more important than anything else and is sick, and asking for money is life-threatening, but treating money like dirt is definitely not Liu Yunchang.
"I didn't expect you to return it soon. Do you have the foresight to empty out the TV cabinet for me? Didn't I tell you that this is a TV cabinet? Why did my mother still put the vase?
Go up."
After all, Liu Yunchang was robbed and suffered financial losses because of Liu Hongchang's instigation to the provincial capital.
Liu Hongchang actually didn't plan to ask for the two hundred yuan, so he treated it as a sponsorship and gave it to Liu Yunchang.
I just didn't want Liu Yunchang to develop any greedy habits, so I didn't directly say no.
The TV cabinet is a new product, and there was nothing like it before.
It was only after the switch was turned on that televisions entered ordinary people's homes.
But now the size of TV sets is not large, 12 inches or 14 inches. You can just make some space on the table or find a chair and put the TV on it.
There is no need for any TV cabinets, but Liu Hongchang knows that TVs are developing rapidly.
In a few years there will be more than 20-inch color TVs, and the TVs at this time will use picture tube technology.
There is a big butt at the back, which occupies a large area, and it is used to make a turn-of-the-century style TV cabinet.
"It'll be ready soon."
Hearing that there was no need to worry about paying back the money, Liu Yunchang felt better.
Liu Hongchang also unpacked it and waited for Liu Yunchang to clear the place and start adjusting the channels.
In this era, TVs actually had their own antennas, which were divided into two sections and needed to be pulled out.
However, the receiving ability of this built-in antenna is not very strong, and the signal is not very good.
It requires manual rotation and manual help to receive signals.
I couldn't receive many programs to begin with, and it was very possible that the direction of the antennas of the Central Station and the Provincial Station were conflicting.
When he has some free time, Liu Hongchang can make an external antenna by himself.
