Dragging my suitcase into the market from the north gate, the first thing I saw was the greenhouse area. Oh dear, it happened to be a weekday, so it would be an understatement to say there were so many people.
Rudraksha, beeswax turquoise, miscellaneous porcelain, jade and jewelry, bronze weapons, stone carving rubbings, embroidery, calligraphy and painting, there is really everything. It opened my eyes and was dazzled.
Of course, most of them are fake, and there are very few genuine products on the stalls in the greenhouses.
I was so happy that I thought: "These are all fakes. All my things are collected by myself. They are real old things. They should be sold out soon."
I saw an empty stall in the shed, so I prepared to take out the things to set up a stall.
"Hey, what are you doing?" A bald stall owner next to me stopped me.
"Let's set up a stall," I said.
"Set up a stall? Is this your stall? You just set up a stall? Let's go, let's get out of here, little brat."
I gritted my teeth and said, "I want to set up a stall. Is this your stall? I will give you money, how much do you want?"
The bald man's eyes rolled, and he immediately smiled and said: "One hundred yuan, if you give me one hundred yuan, you can do it."
"What! One hundred dollars!"
“Why is it so expensive!”
He squinted and said, "That's the price. If you don't give it, leave as soon as possible. Don't stop me from doing business."
There was less than one hundred left in my pocket, so I gritted my teeth and bargained, and gave him ninety.
Now, I only have three dollars left in my body.
The bald man took the money and kept laughing.
Unexpectedly, I had just laid out the stall and half of the things were put out, when the loudspeaker from the antique market started to sound.
"Dear tourists and merchants, the Panjiayuan Flea Market has closed. Please take your belongings with you and leave the market in an orderly manner. I wish you a happy shopping and a prosperous business."
As soon as the horn sounded, the stall owners all around began to close their stalls.
I was so stupid at that time that I hadn’t even decided yet...
I angrily said to the bald man: "Give me your money back. The market is about to close now, and I haven't started selling it yet."
"Bah!" the bald man spat and scolded me with a cold face: "You are so numb, why didn't you show it off! Your cloth is already stretched out! It's a show-off! It's impossible to get the money back!"
My eyes turned red and I became anxious. I grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go, yelling at him to pay me back the money.
"Fuck you little brat!" He kicked me hard in the stomach.
I was only 16 at the time. I had never beaten this man. The pain was so severe that I couldn’t even straighten my back.
There were fewer and fewer people around. Everyone packed up their stalls and took their tricycles away. The bald man who kicked me also left.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, although Beijing is not as good as Mohe, it is also very cold at night.
The market security guard led the big dog. Seeing that I was slow to close the stall, he kept urging me, saying that if I was late, I would be fined.
The days were short and the nights were long. By the time I dragged my box out of the market, it was already dark, I was cold and hungry, and I only had three dollars with me.
After sitting on a bench by the roadside for half an hour, I found out that there was an Internet cafe on the west side of Warwick Bridge, about two kilometers away.
I dragged the suitcase over there again, but when I asked about it at the Internet cafe, the cheapest machine cost ten yuan. I didn't have enough money.
The idea of staying in an Internet cafe was also shattered.
It was so cold outside that I couldn't bear it, so I took my suitcase and hid in an ATM self-service bank.
From time to time, people come in to withdraw money, and they all look at me strangely.
The ground was very cold, and I was too uncomfortable to sleep, so I put on my cotton-padded hat and curled up against the wall.
Two or three hours later, in a daze, someone patted me.
I looked up and saw that it was an aunt in her fifties. She was holding a small white dog in her hand. She was probably a resident of a community near Jinsong.
"Young man, why are you sleeping here in such a cold weather?"
"I just bought two sesame seed cakes, they are still warm. If you don't mind, just eat them. I'll leave this here for you." The aunt shook her head and put the plastic bag on the red iron box containing the fire extinguisher.
The aunt left the things and left. My stomach growled with hunger, and I finally went to get the plastic bag.
Shaobing is a dry shaobing with sesame seeds, which is crispy and fragrant.
As I ate, I cried.
"Are we going to give up just like that?"
"Wouldn't others look down on our family even more when we go back?"
"No, it won't happen," I encouraged myself over and over again, "Xiang Yunfeng, you will definitely become a rich man."
In the morning, I came to Panjiayuan this time. Because I didn’t have money to pay the stall fee, I could only hold the box and keep walking around. When I saw someone looking at the porcelain, I would go up and ask: "Brother, do you want to see my porcelain?"
The porcelain is old and can be sold at a reasonable price."
At this time, the loudspeaker in the market sounded again.
"Dear tourists, please be careful of unscrupulous traders following you, and please take care of your belongings to avoid being deceived."
As soon as the loudspeaker was played like this, the man's eyes changed when he looked at me, and he ran away quickly.
I asked several people in succession, but they all thought I was a criminal and a scammer.
Then I went into an antique shop with the mentality of giving it a try, and asked the shop owner if he would accept porcelain.
The shop owner said calmly: "What is it? Take it out and have a look."
Feeling happy, I straightened the trolley case and opened it.
"Well, these things are not very good. They are all old. How much do you plan to sell these pairs of bottles?" The boss pointed at a pair of late Qing Dynasty blue gall bottles in the box.
After swallowing my saliva, I said cautiously: "In the late Qing Dynasty, can I give a couple...a hundred?"
"What the hell? Hundred!" The boss glared: "I'll give you a hundred and fifty at most. Do you want to sell it?"
"....Only one hundred and fifty for a pair?" My heart felt cold.
I brought it here from a mountainous area, endured cold and hunger and rode a hard-seat train for more than 2,000 kilometers, and it cost 100 to bring it back!
Only made fifty yuan?
My face turned red with anger and I packed the box immediately. When the boss saw that I was leaving, he immediately said, "Hey, don't panic. If it doesn't work, I will give you an extra twenty. How about one hundred and seventy?"
"
I tried not to have an attack. I thought my price was reasonable, but I didn't expect to be so insulted.
"Keep your twenty dollars for yourself!"
People don't listen when they are angry. The young man was even more angry, so I ignored him and just pulled the box out of the store.
I haven't given up yet. I was going to put it up outside the market, but when I went out, I saw that the urban management was confiscating things. Several people who were guerrillas selling fake goods had their things confiscated.
I was so frightened that I immediately gave up the idea.
But there is no perfect path.
Just when I was desperate, I met an old man. The old man said: "Boy, there are a lot of people in Panjiayuan and the stalls are very expensive. You can try it at Baoguo Temple. I heard that the stalls there are free."
When I heard the good news, I was immediately overjoyed and rushed to Guang'anmen Baoguo Temple with my suitcase in hand.
The free stall at Baoguo Temple was my last chance.