Chapter 62: A Dark Heart

Qin Hongfei frowned, silently chiding herself for her oversight. There would be a great demand for secondhand goods in the future, but clearly, in this era, the market was not nearly as large. Still, she quickly regained her composure—few did not mean none.

“Boss, do you know of any other shops on this street that sell secondhand parts?” she asked.

“There are quite a few…” The shopkeeper answered honestly, “What, you planning to make the rounds? There are many, and they’re not all in one place. If you want to visit them all, it’ll take a lot of time, and even then, you might not be able to gather everything you need. Besides, these shops don’t always sell the secondhand parts they acquire. Still, if you want to know, I can write down the addresses for you.”

“That would be very helpful, thank you,” Qin Hongfei replied.

The shopkeeper fetched a piece of paper and a pen, jotting down the addresses.

Xia Shangxu couldn’t help but sigh, “This boss is a decent person.”

Qin Hongfei nodded. Yes, he was indeed.

When the shopkeeper returned, he handed them a list of more than twenty stores—a considerable number.

With the addresses noted, it was time to discuss the parts themselves.

There were four motherboards, a decent number of memory sticks—five or six—and the rest of the parts were scattered.

Qin Hongfei inspected them all; they were satisfactory. The shopkeeper hadn’t tried to pass off inferior goods.

Once they were sure there were no issues, Xia Shangxu inquired about the price.

The shopkeeper replied with sincerity, “There aren’t many buyers for these secondhand parts. It doesn’t really matter if they sell or not. As for the price, well, they’re not brand new, so I’ll give you a better deal. The motherboards—how about eighteen hundred each? The memory sticks, six hundred apiece. Brand new, I sell them for two thousand five and nine hundred, but since these are used, they’re obviously cheaper. You can ask around; no other shop here offers better prices. And by the way, from your accent, you’re from Qinhuai Street, aren’t you? My brother-in-law’s from there too… We’re all from the same place, after all. I couldn’t possibly cheat you.”

Qin Hongfei raised an eyebrow, but Xia Shangxu shot her a look, signaling her not to speak. His cousin was too naive, inexperienced in the ways of the world, unaware of how businessmen could wear a smile on their face while harboring dark intentions.

Xia Shangxu was a businessman himself and didn’t believe a word of it. Sincerity? Sincerity was worth nothing in business. It was all about profit, and those with the brightest smiles were often the most ruthless.

“Boss, let’s be realistic—what’s your lowest price?”

“…That really is the lowest. I’m barely making anything.” The shopkeeper managed a pained, sincere smile. “I paid sixteen hundred and five hundred for them myself. I have to make a little profit.”

“Heh, boss, I’ve been in business too—let’s not play these games. Just give me your best price. You seem like a smart man; business should be about long-term relationships, not just one-off deals, don’t you think?” Xia Shangxu grinned slyly. “This is just the parts for now. I’ll be back for a monitor later…”

At the mention of buying a new monitor, the shopkeeper hesitated, his face contorting in anguish. “Alright, cost price—sixteen hundred for the motherboards! Five hundred for the memory sticks. That’s nine thousand four hundred total. I’ll round it down for you—nine thousand. That’s the absolute lowest.”

Xia Shangxu set his teacup down with a look of regret. “Well, how about this—we’ll take a look around first…”

The shopkeeper forced a bitter smile and hurried to stop them: “Wait, Mr. Xia, that’s really the lowest I can go. Any lower and I’m losing money. How about this, just to make friends—thirteen hundred for the motherboards. Any lower and I can’t do it.”

Thirteen hundred. Four hundred less.

Five hundred less than before!

So, the smile was just a mask; his heart was as black as coal!

A true profiteer!

Xia Shangxu congratulated himself on his cunning—he’d saved five hundred on just one item, a substantial sum. He was just about to agree when Qin Hongfei’s voice rang out, “Boss, eight hundred for the motherboards and three hundred for the memory sticks! Four motherboards and six memory sticks, five thousand in total—will you sell?”