Chapter 679: The Black Market of Guangzhou!

The next morning!

When Li Yi woke up in his father-in-law’s small villa, it was already past nine o’clock.

Coming downstairs, he saw Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others chatting in the living room on the first floor, but his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, was nowhere to be seen; he must have gone to work.

Seeing Li Yi come downstairs, Zhang Ziqiang and the others immediately stood up from their seats.

“Sit down, everyone. There’s no need to be so formal here at home!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Brother Yi, we have millet porridge and meat buns, plus soy milk and fried dough sticks. What would you like?” Zhang Ziqiang asked.

“Soy milk and fried dough sticks, please!”

“Sure thing!”

While Zhang Ziqiang went to the kitchen to fetch breakfast, Li Yi turned to Zhou Wen, who was standing nearby, and asked, “Comrade Zhou Wen, I hear you’re a native of Guangzhou. I imagine you’re quite familiar with the city, right?”

“I’m not entirely unfamiliar with it, but Guangzhou has changed quite a bit over the years. Since I haven’t been here for a long time, I can’t really say I’m familiar with some places anymore!” Zhou Wen replied.

“No problem. I just wanted to take a stroll around town and pick up some gifts while I’m at it!” Li Yi said.

“No problem. I know most of the places where things are sold in the city. The official ones include big stores like Friendship Store, Yangcheng Department Store, Red Flag Store, and Dongfanghong Store, among others. I also know about the black market, but it’s a bit chaotic over there, so I wouldn’t recommend you go!” Zhou Wen said.

“You know about the black markets around here?” Zhou Yang asked, somewhat surprised.

“Actually, the black market isn’t as mysterious as you might think. Back when free trade wasn’t allowed, the small markets that ordinary people organized on their own were called black markets. At that time, there were a lot of them around Yangcheng—we even had one right outside our front door!”

Zhou Wen continued, “But over the past couple of years, as the government has gradually relaxed restrictions, the number of black markets has dropped significantly. There are still quite a few, though—it’s just that the goods they sell are different now.”

“What’s different about them?”

“In the past, the black markets mainly sold food—rice, flour, cooking oil, and poultry, fish, and meat made up the bulk of it. But now, they mostly sell smuggled goods, primarily home appliances and small electronics!”

Hearing this, Li Yi’s mind stirred, and he recalled something.

“Are there a lot of people dealing in gray-market goods around here?”

“It’s not just a lot—it’s an enormous amount. It’s mainly because it’s so profitable; the margins are often several times higher. Selling just one or two items can make as much as a factory worker earns in a year or two!” Zhou Wen said.

“Huh, so if people know there’s smuggling going on, does that mean no one’s doing anything about it?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“Of course someone’s on it, but it’s really hard to crack down on. Those guys are slick—if you can’t cut off the source and just arrest a few small-time dealers, it won’t solve anything!” Zhou Wen said.

“Got it. Take me to check it out in a bit!”

“Brother Yi, are you really going to the black market? It’s a real mess over there!” Zhou Wen said.

“It’s fine. We’re just going to take a look—we’re not going to cause any trouble!”

Then, Li Yi looked at Zhou Wen’s face and said, “Are you related to Zhou Chu? I think you two look quite alike.”

Zhou Wen paused briefly, then replied, “He’s my uncle… my biological uncle!”

Hearing this answer, Li Yi was somewhat surprised.

After all, being assigned to work under him was dangerous enough, and the job itself involved serving others—it offered little in the way of prospects. He truly hadn’t expected Zhou Rui to send his own nephew to work under him.

Could it be that Zhou Rui didn’t quite trust him, so he wanted his own nephew to keep an eye on him?

Just then, Zhou Wen spoke up to explain, “Actually, before I was assigned to you, Brother Yi, I was supposed to be transferred to the capital!”

“Then why didn’t you go?”

“My uncle told me you’re a capable guy, and that staying by your side would offer better career prospects, so I came!”

“You trust your uncle that much?”

“My uncle showed me your file, Yi Ge, and I agree you’re a capable guy. Following you is better than going to Beijing!” Zhou Wen said.

“That’s music to my ears…”

Just then, Zhang Ziqiang walked out carrying a cup of soy milk and two fried dough sticks that looked a bit stale.

While Li Yi was eating, Zhang Ziqiang asked, “Brother Yi, where are we going this morning?”

“Let’s take a stroll around downtown, buy some gifts, and then pay a visit to Old Huang’s place!” Li Yi said.

When he returned this time, Old Huang had asked him to check on his home once he arrived in Guangzhou.

Old Huang also mentioned that once Jiang Xue and the kids arrived, he should help bring his wife and daughter over to Hong Kong as well.

Li Yi had agreed to this, so he went over early to let Chen Chuhong know so she could make the necessary preparations.

“Alright, we’ll get ready and then we can head out!”

“Okay…”

……..

Zhuhai Middle Road, Yangcheng City Center!

After the car stopped at the intersection, Li Yi looked around at the relatively empty streets and turned to Zhou Wen with a puzzled expression.

“Is this the black market you were talking about? I don’t see anyone selling anything.”

Zhou Wen smiled and said, “If it were that easy to find, it wouldn’t be called a black market. They’re all hidden away in the back alleys and narrow lanes—it’s hard for anyone unfamiliar with the area to find them!”

“If they’re hidden so deep, how do people find them to do business?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“They usually only do business with people they know. They generally don’t deal with strangers, especially when it comes to transactions involving hundreds or even thousands of dollars.”

“So what should we do?” Li Yi asked.

“Leave the car here. I’ll take you there!” Zhou Wen said.

“Can’t we drive there?” Zhang Ziqiang asked, frowning.

“No, the alley is too narrow—the car can’t even get in!”

Zhou Wen added, “Besides, this car looks like a government vehicle at a glance—it’ll scare people away the moment we pull up!”

Zhang Ziqiang immediately turned to Yang Zhiwen beside him and said, “Big Yang, you stay here and watch the car. The rest of you follow Brother Yi!”

After assigning the tasks, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and Wu Jianjun escorted Li Yi out of the car. Then, guided by Zhou Wen, they walked into the alley beside the main road.

The reason Li Yi had asked Zhou Wen to bring him here wasn’t to buy gifts.

After all, Chen Chuhong was a native of Hong Kong herself. Having lived in such a cosmopolitan metropolis for so many years—not to mention being the woman of Huang Lixing, that “Water Rat”—she’d seen every kind of luxury item imaginable. There was no way she’d be interested in these black-market contraband goods.

He had come to the black market simply to see if the scale of the parallel import business here was truly as massive and rampant as people claimed.

Li Yi wasn’t particularly interested in getting involved in this business; it was simply because an incident was about to unfold that could affect his father-in-law’s career, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.

As soon as he turned into the alley, Li Yi felt a sense of familiarity. Upon closer inspection, wasn’t this the famous Tian Guang Xu Ghost Market of Yangcheng from later times?

Li Yi was certainly no stranger to this place. As the saying goes, “In the north, there’s Panjiayuan; in the south, there’s Tianguang Market”—a testament to just how renowned it was.

In his previous life, he’d been here several times, though that was all after the turn of the millennium.

He had originally thought that Tianguang Market was a “ghost market” that had emerged later, but he never expected this place to actually be one of Guangzhou’s earliest black markets.

After walking just a few steps, the group spotted several teenage boys squatting at the entrance of a narrow alley, smoking and chatting, while occasionally casting scrutinizing glances at Li Yi and his companions.

Just then, Zhou Wen suddenly waved at the young men, motioning for them to come over.

Seeing Zhou Wen’s gesture, one of the teenagers immediately walked over.

After Zhou Wen exchanged a few words with him in Cantonese, the young man nodded and led them deeper into the alley.

After winding through the streets for over ten minutes, the group was led into an alley lined with street-facing houses on all sides.

Once they entered, the atmosphere instantly became lively.

The narrow alley was lined with stalls on both sides—some vendors carried goods on shoulder poles, others pushed handcarts, and still others simply laid their wares on the ground for customers to browse.

These small vendors sold everything from rice and flour to salted fish, as well as tea, cloth, clothes, and shoes.

However, just as Zhou Wen had said, there wasn’t a single vendor selling household appliances to be seen!

“Zhou Wen, didn’t you say this place mainly deals in gray-market (smuggled) electronics? Why haven’t I seen a single one?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

Zhou Wen pointed to the houses lining both sides of the alley and said, “Of course they wouldn’t dare display their goods openly—they’re all inside the houses!”

“Let’s go take a look inside!”

Following Zhou Wen’s lead, the group entered a small shop.

The “shop” was tiny, barely ten square meters. Aside from a middle-aged man in slippers, there wasn’t a single decent-looking appliance in sight—it was hard to believe this was a place that sold smuggled electronics.

After exchanging a few words with the middle-aged man, Zhou Wen pulled a notebook from under a nearby bed and handed it to Li Yi.

At the same time, he said in somewhat broken Mandarin, “Pick whatever you want!”

With a hint of confusion, Li Yi opened the booklet.

When the booklet opened, Li Yi was immediately stunned by the array of household appliances inside…banbanhaobang

………