Take Panjiayuan, for example; it is so famous in later generations that almost everyone in all of China has heard of it.
But the Panjiayuan of the present was still like a rural market fair. While it might have some reputation in Yandu, it had not yet formed a proper scale overall.
Seeing Wang An return so quickly, Wang Li, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't help but ask
"Fourth Brother, did you find a buyer that fast?"
Wang An got into the car and closed the door, then said with a face full of helplessness
"This place won't do. It's all just stuff for making a bit of pocket change. A waste of time. Xueli, turn around and head back; let's go check out the area near Haiwang Village."
Panjiayuan was only about ten li away from Haiwang Village, so it took Mu Xueli less than ten minutes to drive near the village.
Finding a spot with few people to park, Wang An grabbed the gunny sack, got out of the car, and walked into Haiwang Village.
Truth be told, compared to the Panjiayuan market at this time, the place at Haiwang Village looked considerably more formal.
Mainly, besides the stalls selling various curios and antiques, there were many actual shops lining both sides of the street.
Regardless of the details, any place with permanent shops was definitely far more formal than a place consisting entirely of street vendors.
Here, there were shops buying and selling curios, antiques, jade, and agate; shops for old books, ancient texts, and various calligraphy and paintings; and shops for second-hand goods, furniture, and handicrafts.
Of course, besides these shops dealing in old wares, there were also bookstores, stationery shops, ceramics shops, watch shops, leather goods shops, and other stores selling daily necessities.
In short, Wang An felt that only a place like this looked the part.
Scanning the area, Wang An ignored the other shops and walked straight toward the nearest watch shop.
The moment he entered the shop, Wang An's first instinct was that he had finally fucking come to the right place.
Because this was truly a watch shop in every sense of the word.
The entire shop wasn't very large, roughly 30 square meters, but those 30 square meters were packed full of clocks and watches.
The four walls were covered with all sorts of wall clocks—Chinese, foreign, old, and new. Many of the wall clocks looked very primitive; one look was enough to know they had some real age to them.
On the counters not far from the walls, various items related to timekeeping were displayed, such as different types of hourglasses, compasses, mechanical alarm clocks, wristwatches, pocket watches, small sundials, and other oddly shaped clocks.
As for the counters, the counters in this shop were different from the common wooden ones of this era. This shop used glass as the tabletops, and there were light bulbs inside for illumination.
Such counters could be said to be very close to the commercial counters of later generations.
Inside the counters were various wristwatches, both new and old.
With a quick glance, Wang An discovered that many of the watches in the counter were the same as, or similar to, the ones in the gunny sack he was carrying.
After observing for a moment, Wang An spoke to a man whose appearance and temperament suggested he was the shop owner, using a Tianjin accent
"Hello, excuse me, does your shop buy old watches? The kind that are already broken and don't run."
The man appeared to be in his 30s. Hearing Wang An's words, he was momentarily stunned, then frowned and said
"We do, but we usually use them for spare parts. They aren't worth much."
Wang An nodded, fished out an ordinary non-running watch from the sack, placed it on the counter, and asked
"Something like this, how much could you give me?"
The man picked up the watch, examined it closely, held it to his ear to listen, and then frowned
"This watch just has water ingress, but not too much. If the water is dried out, then it's cleaned and oiled, there shouldn't be any problem. We repair watches here too; do you want me to open it up and fix it for you?"
Wang An shook his head
"No need to fix it. Just see how much it's worth."
Wang An didn't intend to keep a single one of these watches; he only wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
The man hesitated for a moment and said
"This watch was over 120 yuan when new. Selling it like this... I can give you 20 yuan at most."
Wang An nodded without hesitation, then pointed to the sack
"I have over 200 watches like this here. How about I sell them all to you at this price? No need to appraise them one by one; just give me 4,000 yuan in total."
When the three of them were picking out the watches, Wang An had noticed that among these 200-plus watches, many were cheap models with expandable bands and either no diamonds or very few.
A couple of years ago, such watches with few or no diamonds were sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives for 25 yuan, provided one had a watch coupon. This year the prices had been adjusted, seemingly to around thirty or forty yuan; in any case, they weren't worth much.
However, the majority were watches worth over 100 yuan—the 17-diamond variety. Such watches were the price point of the "three rounds and one sound" mentioned during weddings in this era.
Of course, there were also quite a few 19-diamond watches worth two or three hundred, or even three or four hundred yuan, but unfortunately, they had all suffered water damage and become defective, so the three of them hadn't specifically picked them out.
In short, if this man took all 200-plus watches at 20 yuan each, then repaired and resold them, he could sell them for at least 10,000 yuan.
Without considering the risk, this man would definitely make a huge profit!
As soon as Wang An spoke, the man's expression tightened. He glanced toward the door and lowered his voice
"These watches of yours... they weren't obtained through 'dishonorable' means, were they?"
Actually, there was no need to ask. In this era, how could an ordinary person possibly have so many watches?
Wang An nodded very calmly
"I can only say they weren't stolen or robbed; they were all picked up. These watches all have water damage; I'm not sure exactly what happened. Just tell me if you'll take them or not."
At this moment, Wang An's face was made up, and a corner of his cotton hat draped down, obscuring much of his eyes. Therefore, he wasn't worried at all about his image being remembered by the owner.
The man struggled with the decision for a long time before finally saying
"Fifteen yuan. Fifteen yuan a piece, and I'll take them all."
It must be said that people who dared to do business in this era had plenty of courage, or rather, confidence. Even knowing the goods were likely stolen, they didn't have too many qualms.
But this was normal. One had to remember that "speculation and profiteering" was still a crime at this time. If one didn't have enough strength or a bold enough heart, how could they possibly dare to trade in watches?
Wang An felt that the watches in this room alone were worth at least several hundred thousand.
Hearing this, Wang An shook his head without hesitation
"If you give me that price, I'd rather repair and sell them myself. Once these watches are fixed, one would sell for at least sixty or seventy yuan; it's just a matter of a bit more effort."
Pausing, Wang An added with a very firm attitude
"4,000. I won't sell for a cent less. If you can take them, take them; if not, we'll part ways, and I'll go ask other shops."
The man swallowed hard several times and hesitated for a while longer before saying
"Let's step aside to talk. How about we chat in the back?"
As he spoke, the man pointed to the back door and glanced toward the front entrance again.
It was clear that the man had become interested in the watches, but he was afraid of being seen.
Wang An nodded and said casually
"A quiet place is fine. Lead the way."
Wang An was bold because of his skills, and with a Type 54 pistol on him, he wasn't afraid to go anywhere.
And so, carrying the sack, Wang An followed the man to the backyard.
It had to be said that this man truly had some means, as the shop combined with the backyard house was clearly a two-entry siheyuan.
As for the shop, it was actually a converted side-room.
Upon entering a room in the backyard, the man enthusiastically wanted to brew tea for Wang An, but Wang An stopped him, saying
"I won't drink water. I won't be staying long here, so let's just get down to business."
Seeing this, the man stopped the pleasantries and asked
"Can I check the quality of the goods first?"
Hearing this, Wang An without hesitation rolled up the mouth of the sack. While rolling it, Wang An said
"This stuff, feel free to check. Check however you want. Since I dare to come and sell, I'm not afraid of you checking."
After rolling up the sack, Wang An took out the small cloth bag containing the 24 expensive watches.
Consequently, the man began picking watches at random to inspect.
As the saying goes, "Once an expert makes a move, it's known whether the goods are real." In just a few minutes, the man said with a hint of excitement
"Alright, alright. You're sure you'll let me have the whole lot for 4,000 yuan?"
Wang An continued in his imperfect Tianjin dialect
"When a man speaks, his word is his bond. 4,000 means 4,000, no regrets."
The man said with a face full of smiles
"Straightforward! Hahaha... I'll get the money for you right now."
Regardless of Wang An being in the room, the man pulled open a drawer and took out four stacks of "Big Unity" bills.
Wang An pushed the sack toward the man and reached out to take the 4,000 yuan into his hand.
Only then did Wang An open the small cloth bag, taking out the Patek Philippe, the Rolex, and a very new-looking Radar, and said
"Boss, are you interested in these high-end watches?"