The author's Northeast dialect was learned from Xiao Ping, and it's definitely not standard. He's just bravely trying it out here. If any brothers from the Northeast find anything wrong, please don't blame him and show him some understanding!
SY Xing Shun Market is the largest market in SY City. During the day, it's bustling with various individual merchants, and at night, it transforms into a food street. Everyone in SY knows about this big market.
Especially now, in 2001, urban management would only be fully implemented in 2007 when the Olympic Games were approaching. So, in SY City at this time, commercial development was paramount. Minor stalls and vendors, as long as they didn't block traffic, cause major social impacts, or pose particular danger, were generally left alone.
Therefore, as long as you had a tricycle and could source some cheap goods from the south, you could immediately become a proud individual proprietor.
On October 9, 2001, on this ordinary day, a newcomer appeared at SY Xing Shun Market, pulling a tricycle loaded with boxes, seemingly carrying a lot of items.
But strangely, these boxes were not large, and they had no markings on them, only the name "Jiangnan Leather Factory" and two lines of small text; nothing else was known.
This quickly attracted the attention of many people around. Someone nearby immediately asked, "Brother, what are you selling?"
"Brother, you're new here, you might not know the rules. You can set up a stall here, but you can't take business away from the older brothers. You can't sell the same items within 50 meters." These people looked like they weren't to be trifled with.
"Oh, I'm selling blind boxes!" the newcomer said with a smile.
"Blind boxes? What are those?" several people around were stunned. Then they saw Shen Yuequn take out a wooden sign from the cart. In chalk, it read in large characters: "Leather Goods Blind Boxes, 10 yuan each. From small 20 yuan wallets to 3,000 yuan leather coats, there's everything inside. Buy one and you're guaranteed not to lose money; buy ten and you'll earn so much you'll twitch!"
Then this newcomer took out another sign with a large "10 Yuan" in the center, followed by a sentence: "Only 10 Yuan, all blind boxes, sold for only ten yuan!"
"I think I get it. Isn't this like a lottery!" Not a single one of the stall vendors was foolish. They quickly understood the meaning.
"This seems interesting. I'm tempted to buy one to try it out!" someone said eagerly.
"Tch, this is all a scam. Believe it or not, you dummy, if you buy 10, they'll all be wallets. I bet you'll cry your eyes out!"
"But 10 yuan for a wallet is pretty cheap. The guy selling wallets at the east end charges at least 15 yuan for the cheapest one."
"Damn, you say that, and it does sound profitable. I'll just buy one. Even if I get a wallet, I won't lose money!"
The few stall vendors who had gathered around surprisingly found themselves to be the first ones tempted. However, they were sellers themselves, and how could they actively buy other people's goods? It was too embarrassing.
Moreover, they were very curious about how this new thing called "blind box" would sell.
"Don't let the looks fool you, they won't sell well!" an old hand who had been selling for ten years said confidently.
"We people around here may not have many skills, but we're darn smart. If they don't see the actual product, they won't pay. If you pack these things in boxes and don't let people see them, it'll be a miracle if anyone buys his stuff!"
As expected, this old hand's experience was indeed rich. Several tens of minutes passed. Although many passersby curiously eyed the neatly packaged, mysterious boxes, and quite a few people actively asked if they could open a box to see what was inside, and if it was genuine, they would buy it.
The result was that Shen Yuequn refused them all. Using his fluent Northeast dialect, he stated that the boxes were sealed, the contents were random, and they could only be opened after purchase. If not bought, they absolutely could not be opened. Furthermore, after purchase, he would not accept returns or refunds for non-quality issues.
In short, once the box was opened, unless there was a quality problem, there was no going back.
With this attitude, many people immediately gave up on buying. After all, 10 yuan wasn't a small amount in 2001. Who would willingly buy something they couldn't see or touch?
As nearly an hour passed and he still hadn't made a single sale, Shen Yuequn hesitated, gritted his teeth, and then took out a large loudspeaker from his tricycle.
"If you feel you can't speak up when selling, or if you don't have customers coming, and business is bad, use this. Just turn on the repeat button. I've recorded an advertisement for you inside!" This large loudspeaker was distributed by Huang He to all the workers who decided to go out and sell before they departed.
It's just that when Huang He took out this loudspeaker, his expression was very hesitant and conflicted, and he looked at the loudspeaker with great pain, as if this loudspeaker contained some kind of devil.
"Remember, only use it when business is bad; otherwise, try not to use it!" Huang He said reluctantly in the end.
Shen Yuequn was an honest person. Seeing Huang He's troubled expression, he truly didn't intend to use it. But with the current difficult situation of not being able to make a sale, Shen Yuequn decided to take out this "great weapon" that Huang He claimed could instantly turn the situation around.
In fact, Shen Yuequn himself was curious about what was inside this loudspeaker that made Huang He so troubled. He also wanted to hear what was inside.
So, Shen Yuequn pressed the repeat button on the loudspeaker, and a segment of audio, etched into the DNA of many people in later generations, played.
"Zhejiang Wenzhou, Zhejiang Wenzhou, the largest leather factory, Jiangnan Leather Factory has gone bankrupt! The bastard boss Huang He gambled, whored, and drank, owing 350 million yuan, and ran away with his sister-in-law. We have no choice, so we're using the goods to pay our wages. Original prices were over a hundred, over five hundred, over a thousand for various leather goods, all 10 yuan, all 10 yuan!"
"These leather goods are seized foreign trade goods. They are mysterious blind boxes only found abroad. Each item is individually packaged with a separate seal, and we don't know what's inside. But the cheapest item inside is a 20 yuan small cowhide wallet, a 50 yuan genuine cow sinew belt, a 200 yuan first-layer cowhide leather shoes, and a 2,000 yuan foreign trade leather coat! Now they are all 10 yuan, all 10 yuan. There's everything inside, anything is possible. Huang He, you bastard, you're not human. We worked hard for you for more than half a year, and you didn't pay us wages. Give me back my blood and sweat money, give me back my money!"