Chapter 191 A waste of money
Chapter 191 A waste of money
Their homes were close to Li Jia's home, but except for a few people who were closer, the others were a little far away from the place where things were sold.
But it’s not much far, because the current imperial capitals are not very big.
Guo Detie had to walk a lot further, as the Shichahai Cinema was less than one kilometer away from Houhai.
Now it is at least two kilometers from Li Jia's home to the Shichahai Cinema. This is a good thing, as it allows this guy to lose some weight.
"Fatty, are you okay?" Li Jiayi asked.
"What's wrong with me? It's just a matter of walking a few more steps! There's no problem at all."
"Yes! There is one more thing. From now on, when you are at home, there will no longer be a limit of twice a day. As long as you can sell them, you can take them as many times as you want."
"Really?"
"of course."
"That's great. This way we can make a lot more money in a day!" someone said excitedly.
"Okay, everyone go back! Tomorrow morning you and Fatty go and look around first. Our house is easy to find."
After everyone left, Li Jiayi also drove his tricycle home.
Similarly, I brought home several pieces of ice. As for why I brought home ice even though I had an electric fan, it was mainly because electric fans only blow hot air.
When he returned home, dinner had already been finished and the family was sitting in the living room enjoying the fan.
Even Liao Kai came over to rub against the fan, which made Li Jiayi speechless. It was just a fan, was it necessary to be like this?
He knew that the eldest sister probably hadn't given the fan to Liao Kai yet, because in the eldest sister's opinion, when he brought the fan back, even if it was for Liao Kai, he should be the one to give it to him.
"My son is back?"
"came back!"
After saying that, he looked around the room and asked, "Dad, what are you doing?"
"Blow the fan!"
"There's no need for so many people to gather around a fan! Aren't there more?"
"Kid, if you turn on one more machine, it will waste more electricity!"
Hearing what his father said, Li Jiayi said helplessly: "You can't stay here and blow it all the time without sleeping, right?"
"Go to sleep! But we'll talk about it when you sleep."
Li Jiayi shook his head when he heard this, then turned around and said, "Mom, have you looked at the washing machine? Have you tried it?"
"No, but son, did you also exchange these things with others?"
"It's not an exchange, it's a purchase!"
"Bought? Son, where did you get these tickets?"
If it was a three-turn, one-ring ticket, Ye Xin would never ask this question, because ordinary people could also get those tickets.
But tickets for electric fans and washing machines are not so easy to get. Even among those who live in large compounds, few have washing machines at home.
"Mom, you don't need a ticket to buy these things."
"Don't want a ticket?"
"Yes! These are all imported products I bought. No tickets are needed, but they must be purchased with US dollars."
Li Aimin then asked, "Son, did you buy these things in a foreign-related store?"
"Huh!" Li Jia was stunned for a moment, looked at Li Aimin in surprise and asked, "Dad, do you know any foreign-related stores?"
"Nonsense, everyone knows about foreign-related shops! They just don't allow people to enter. Only foreigners and a very small number of people can enter."
Of course Li Jiayi knew who Li Aimin was talking about as a small group of people!
Privileged people.
"But son, how did you get in? And how can you buy anything from there?"
"Yes! Jiayi, how did you get in? The last time I went there, I was kicked out as soon as I walked out of the stairs." Liao Kai said.
"Dad, Uncle Liao, it's actually very easy to get in. All you need is US dollars. You don't need any special privileges."
"US dollars? Where do ordinary people get US dollars?" After saying this, Li Aimin reacted and quickly looked at Li Jiayi and asked, "Son, you went in with US dollars and bought these things."
"That's right." Li Jia nodded.
"Where did you get the US dollars?"
Li Jiayi spread his hands and said, "I exchanged it with the foreigners."
"What did you use to exchange the US dollars from the foreigners?"
If you say you can exchange it with money, I guess no one would believe it. If it were so easy, there would be no shortage of foreign exchange.
Foreigners are very smart. If you want to exchange US dollars with them, you can only use gold, antiques, or at least silver.
Otherwise, people won’t exchange with you at all. This is also why countries collect gold.
The country does not allow gold to circulate in the market. If you want to cash in gold, you can only go to a bank to exchange it.
In fact, it is to concentrate gold and use it to exchange for foreign exchange.
In addition, the country has also opened some antique trust stores that are specifically used to collect antiques. Among these antiques, those with research value will be kept, and some of those with little research value will also be exchanged for foreign currency.
"Jia Yi! You won't exchange it with those little gadgets I gave you, right? Although those little gadgets are not worth much, they are all left by our ancestors!" Liao Kai said.
"Uncle Liao, what are you talking about? How could I possibly exchange those for US dollars? I made some juice, the kind with ice, and sold it at the embassy family quarters. No, I went to exchange it."
"Uh!"
When the family members, including Liao Kai, heard him say this, they looked at him in surprise.
Li Aimin asked in surprise: "Is this the way to change it?"
"Yes! What else?" "Son, is this considered speculation?" Ye Xin asked hurriedly.
"Speculation? This is not speculation. I didn't buy low and sell high. I just made something myself and exchanged it for some dollars from the foreigners."
"Is this possible?" Liao Kai asked in surprise.
"Why not?" Li Jiayi asked.
"Okay! It doesn't seem to be a problem."
"Of course it's no problem. When I was exchanging US dollars with a foreigner, a police patrol passed by and gave me a look of praise!"
Li Jiayi was not talking nonsense. When he was selling juice to foreigners, the police who were patrolling by would smile and nod at him every time.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to sell it for so long! You know, that's the embassy district!
I don’t know how many police officers are patrolling there every day.
"Is this true?" Li Aimin asked in surprise.
"of course."
"Son, where are the US dollars you exchanged? Take them out and show them to Dad. I have never seen what a US dollar looks like!"
"That's all." Li Jiayi spread his hands.
"Gone?"
"Yes! I spent all my money on buying a washing machine and an electric fan."
"You little brat, you should at least keep one!" After saying this, he then asked, "Son, how much did you spend on these things?"
"One thousand and fifty-seven dollars."
"Pfft! How much...more?" Li Aimin asked in shock.
Not only Li Aimin, but also Ye Xin and Liao Kai looked at him in shock.
"One thousand and fifty-seven dollars! What's the matter?"
"Son, you...you're a loser. One thousand and fifty-seven US dollars, do you know how much that is in RMB?"
"I know! I don't know how I can buy these things."
How could Li Jiayi not know? He knew the exchange rate at that time better than anyone else.
Not only do you know the current exchange rate, you also know what it will be in the future.
"You're such a spendthrift! The money you spent on these things is equivalent to two or three years' salary for your mother and I! Wouldn't it be better for you to keep the money?"
"Why keep it? The longer you keep it, the less valuable it will be."
"Uh! What do you mean?" Li Aimin asked in confusion.
"Dad, the US dollar seems to be very valuable now, but in a few years, it will become worthless. Now one US dollar can be exchanged for more than 2.40 yuan, but in a few years, it may not even be exchanged for 1.5 yuan."
Of course, what Li Jiayi was talking about was the exchange rate in 1979, but that was only that year. Starting from 1980, the exchange rate exceeded 1.5 yuan, and then became higher every year.
"Oh no!"
"Dad, why not? Just wait and see. In ten years at most, the US dollar will depreciate."
The US dollar began to depreciate in 1970, and its exchange rate against RMB became lower every year, reaching its lowest point in 1979.
"Isn't that still about ten years away?"
"Uh! All right!"
Although my dad kept saying that he was a spendthrift, the smile on his face showed that he was quite happy.
Whether it is a washing machine or an electric fan, they are all new things to him, especially the electric fan. It is so comfortable to have an electric fan on such a hot day.
"By the way, I bought four electric fans. Three are enough for our family, and the remaining one is for Uncle Liao."
"Give it to me?" Liao Kai pointed at himself and asked.
"Yeah! I had planned it when I bought it."
"Oh, plus one! Thank you so much, Uncle Liao! I didn't expect you were still thinking about Uncle Liao."
"What you said is wrong. Besides, it's just an electric fan. It doesn't cost much!"
Although Li Jiayi said it was not much, Liao Kai knew that this electric fan was definitely not cheap, it was an imported product!
The price of domestic products is much lower, but domestic products require tickets, and you can’t buy them without tickets.
Otherwise, with his family background, he would have bought it long ago.
"Anyway, Uncle Liao wants to thank you. You don't know, I actually wanted to buy it a long time ago, but I didn't have a ticket."
"Yeah! I went to exchange US dollars with the foreigners because I didn't get the ticket for the electric fan."
It’s so hard to get tickets for electric fans, especially in this season when the demand is even greater.
Not to mention that they don’t have them, even if they do, people would use them themselves and would never sell them.
At this moment, Li Jiayi slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot the ice. Dad, come and help me bring it in."
"No, son. We have a fan now. Why are you still making ice cubes?" Li Aimin asked in confusion.
"Dad, the fan blows hot air. If you put a piece of ice behind the fan, the air it blows will be cool."
"Uh, really?"
"Of course, we'll know after we try it."
"Oh! Yes."
With the help of Li Aimin and Liao Kai, six large blocks of ice were quickly moved into the house.
Suddenly the whole room became much cooler, and I guess you wouldn't feel hot even without a fan.
Looking at the ice cubes in the wooden basin, Liao Kai asked, "Can this ice be eaten?"
(End of this chapter)