PNB Chapter 6 The Embarrassing Classmate
Chapter 6 The Embarrassing Classmate
People these days are afraid of being scammed, but their thinking is actually quite simple; they deeply understand that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
To allay her concerns, Jiang Cheng simply placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and said with a smile, "It really is yours. You can take it home."
The older woman really took it and left.
The onlookers immediately became interested.
"Young man, look at this ticket of mine, can I cash it in?" The middle-aged man who had just said he bought a leather coat asked Jiang Cheng, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
The staff who had just been assisting Jiang Cheng with setting up his stall at the mall entrance were a little stunned by the scene.
He followed Jiang Cheng shopping in the mall and knew that Jiang Cheng had paid for all these things himself.
It's not that the mall pays for his goods, but now he's setting up a stall here. You can go there with your mall receipt and play a ring toss game. You can actually take what you win.
"What is he doing? He bought the goods with his own money and is giving them away for free?"
This left the staff member completely bewildered.
But back in Jiangcheng, the middle-aged man with the cigarette in his mouth had already received his own plastic ring.
He had a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes half-closed, and he was aiming a ring in his hand.
"This mall's promotion is pretty good. The toy that person just snatched could probably be bought for ten or twenty yuan, right?"
"Did you see those leather shoes? They're probably over 100 yuan, but you'd need at least 70 or 80 yuan, right?"
People coming out of the mall and those going to the mall saw the large crowd gathered there and came over to join in the fun.
As for the toys they mentioned that cost tens of yuan, Jiang Cheng only spent three or four yuan to buy them from upstairs.
The information gap is just that big in this era.
This is normal, though. Even 20 years later, the wholesale price of this toy is still very cheap, but it's normal for it to sell for tens of dollars at night market stalls.
Hearing the people around him talking, Jiang Cheng said, "Those leather shoes you're talking about cost more than 100 yuan. They'd cost 800 yuan a pair in a department store, and they're made of top-grain cowhide!"
What's strange is that money was worth a lot back then, but leather shoes that cost tens or hundreds of dollars in later generations could sell for tens or even thousands of dollars in this era.
“Is it so expensive?”
"Is it really top-grain skin?"
"If it's top-grain leather, then this price isn't surprising!"
"Yonghui Mall is really powerful, they've put on such a big promotion. It's a pity I can't buy that much stuff today."
"Hey, you guys wait a minute, I'm just about to buy a pot. I'm seeing if I can scrape together 100 yuan. If I do, I'll come over and play the ring toss game."
"Oh dear, I only have a little over 60 yuan. Should I go buy another 40 yuan worth of stuff?"
What started as a small stall with only three or four onlookers has now attracted about ten people.
Some idle people, seeing someone coming out of the mall, would enthusiastically go over and shout: "Hey, young lady, look at your receipt, how much did you buy? If you buy 100 yuan worth of stuff, you can come here to play the ring toss game. It's a mall promotion, someone won, it's not a scam!"
"Is it true? Let me see?"
...
Yancheng is a fifth-tier city. Although it only takes a little over an hour to get to Shanghai, the average monthly salary in this small county is only around 700 yuan.
For example, the staff managing Yonghui Mall earn this price per month.
So, not many people spend hundreds of yuan on shopping at the mall at once, but there are also quite a few.
Half an hour later, Jiangcheng had lost a wallet, five balloons, and two plastic toys.
That guy was really lucky; the wallet was on the ground, and the entire loop had to be wrapped around it to be considered a successful loop.
The plastic ring is elastic, so it's difficult.
As for the balloons and toys, tie the balloon string to the brick, and place half a brick on top of the toy to secure it.
The bricks are hard, so even if the plastic ring bounces up and hits the bricks, it's not easy for it to bounce off, making it relatively easy to slip over.
Jiangcheng uses balloon toys and leather goods for a simple reason: if there's no data, then test the data; it appeals to all ages.
Look at this shopping mall entrance, is it the wallets that attract adults, or the balloons and toys that attract children?
"Young man, I can only exchange one loop on this receipt. It's hard to get one loop right. Could you give me a few more?"
More and more people are making this request, and many people don't leave after they've already bought the product; they just stand by and watch the spectacle. But in reality, there are even more people just watching the spectacle.
Chinese people have a gambling instinct; even if they don't participate themselves, they're happy to watch others gamble.
The thrill of falling into a trap is something many people could watch all day without getting tired of.
So when this person made the request, many people around him chimed in, "Young man, I'm not buying anything today, but could you give me a ring to play with?"
"I don't have to take what I've acquired!"
Jiang Cheng said, "You don't necessarily have to buy something to play the ring toss; you can buy rings to play too!"
"Paying money to buy a ring?"
Those watching the spectacle immediately realized that ring toss wasn't anything new, and there were plenty of stalls selling it on the street.
How much does one ring cost?
“Five rings for five yuan,” Jiang Cheng said.
"So expensive!"
"You can buy those balloons on the street for only one yuan each!"
"These leather shoes are a bit expensive, but they're really hard to slip on!"
"Yes, it's expensive, young man."
Jiang Cheng chuckled lightly, shook his head, and offered no explanation.
This was all within his expectations.
A few minutes later, Jiang Cheng took out some money from his pocket; it was loose change he had specially exchanged for money when he bought things earlier.
There are still nearly 200 yuan left, including several 10-yuan notes and one 100-yuan note.
Jiang Cheng folded each bill in half, then unfurled the balloon that had been in the open space, placed the bill underneath, and weighed it down with a pebble.
"Wow, can I take the prize from the 100-yuan lottery too?"
After Jiang Cheng put the money away, he looked up at the onlookers and said, "That's right, you can take the money if you win it, and there will be more and more surprises."
"I want to loop it, give me 5 loops!"
Someone who was just dissatisfied with the one-yuan price of a ring suddenly became tempted when they saw a 100-yuan ring on the ground in front of them!
Whether it's a wallet or a toy, the most attractive thing is still counting money!
Moreover, the 100 yuan was not placed far away; it looked like it would be easy to slip it under a pebble!
Jiang Cheng accepted the first 5 yuan and then gave 5 rings to the middle-aged man who had spoken.
"Wait here, I'm going to buy some things first. When I come downstairs, I'll have 100 yuan worth of condoms, which will make up for the money I spent at the mall!"
Some shoppers hurried towards the mall, hoping that the free ring toss stall would still be there when they finished shopping.
"Huh? Isn't that Jiangcheng?"
While Jiangcheng was busy, a young woman who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old came out of the mall with her parents, carrying some things.
"Ha, is this some kind of street vending? How embarrassing..."
The girl's mother saw her looking around and asked, "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing," the girl immediately turned her head and said. She felt that telling her mother that the person who did such a shameful thing as setting up a stall was her classmate, and that she had even written love letters to this classmate before, was something she didn't want to do.
That would be incredibly embarrassing!