Chapter 123: The Camera in Hand

As soon as Chen Liang stepped through the doors of the trust store, he headed straight for the furniture section. A vast space was densely packed with tables, chairs, and stools, dazzling his eyes.

All of these were fine pieces! Enthusiasts of incense generally have some understanding of wood, and Chen Liang was no exception. Seeing the room filled with furniture made from huanghuali, sandalwood, and redwood, he felt as happy as a mouse that had fallen into a granary.

However, most of the furniture was missing limbs, which was truly regrettable. The last time Chen Liang managed to snag a complete chaise lounge in good condition, it was pure luck, like stumbling upon a dead rat by chance—his luck was just insanely good.

Suddenly, Chen Liang’s sharp eyes caught sight of a small square storage box made entirely of golden nanmu wood. His heart immediately ignited with excitement—this was a treasure!

He quickly called over a salesman who was standing at the entrance, chatting boastfully with a reseller. “Comrade, comrade, come here for a moment. How much is this box?”

Interrupted from his banter, the salesman was clearly displeased. But upon noticing Chen Liang, he quickly evaluated the difference in their statuses internally, then genuinely walked over and glanced at the box in Chen Liang’s hands. “Fifty cents. Want it? If so, I can issue the receipt right now!”

Fifty cents? That was practically giving it away! Once again, Chen Liang had successfully found a bargain. He nodded eagerly, “I’ll take it now, please issue the receipt.”

After getting the receipt, Chen Liang paid and happily examined the box in his hands—golden nanmu wood! In ancient times, this was a material reserved for the royalty. Now, Chen Liang had bought it for just fifty cents, and he was over the moon.

He carefully stroked the box a few times, then left the trust store. Finding a quiet alley, he slipped inside and tucked the treasure away into his supermarket storage.

Striding back to the trust store, he saw the salesman he had just bought from chatting again with the reseller.

Normally, the resellers hanging around the trust store’s entrance would be at odds with the sales staff, trying to poach business from them.

But in these times, trust store employees had secure jobs with steady pay regardless of sales volume, so they didn’t care much about losing sales. They preferred to spend their workdays idly drinking tea and reading newspapers, rather than tussling with resellers.

Besides, these resellers circled the trust store all day long. If there was no shady business between them and the salesmen, no one would believe it!

None of this concerned Chen Liang. He wasn’t the type to be outraged by such things—if there was trickery, so be it, as long as it didn’t affect his buying.

He kept walking until he reached the camera counter. Cameras at this time were truly luxury items; very few individuals could afford one.

There were only seven or eight cameras on display, mostly bulky, heavy, simple boxy models.

The only relatively fine ones were a Kodak from the States and a Leica from Germany, the latter sporting a small mustache-shaped logo.

Leaning on the counter and peering through the glass for a while, Chen Liang’s indecisiveness kicked in.

“Comrade, is this Leica camera any good? Does it work?”

Eventually, the more refined Leica won out.

“It’s good. This Leica is about ninety percent new, almost like brand new. German products are famously reliable,” the salesman said knowingly, casually taking the Leica out of the cabinet and handing it to Chen Liang.

“Try holding it—it’s surprisingly heavy!” At this time, the common belief was that weight equaled quality, though no one really knew why they thought that.

Chen Liang took it, studied it carefully, pressed the shutter a few times—it was exactly as described, truly like new!

Satisfied, he nodded. “Comrade, I’ll take it. How much?”

“It’s a bit pricey. This camera was consigned by the owner, and the price is fixed. It’s sold for two small yellow fishes, no less!”

Chen Liang immediately understood the camera’s origin—it was undoubtedly from those impoverished remnants of the old regime selling off their belongings.

These remnants were a peculiar group in the city. Even after the founding of the new state, most of them still lived in the dreams of the Qing dynasty’s glory.

They clung to ancestral prestige, idling their days away, yet remained stubbornly frugal.

Their households were so poor they could barely make ends meet—before going out, they would wipe their mouths with pigskin to save on napkins!

This group, aside from a few who did business and received dividends from state-private joint ventures, were mostly destitute, living off pawning their belongings.

These remnants had peculiar customs about selling things.

They wouldn’t sell during the day—being seen selling would be tantamount to admitting their family’s destitution, a blow to their pride.

So, sales had to be conducted late at night, wrapped up in scarves to conceal their faces, bundled up tightly.

In the heat of summer! Yet, they endured it to maintain their dignity.

When the trust store eventually closed, these remnants had to get up in the dead of night to set up stalls. The city’s famous ghost market was born out of this necessity.

But that’s a tangent.

“I don’t have small yellow fishes,” said Chen Liang. “How about this: I’ll pay you the market price in cash. Will that work?”

The salesman looked awkward. Chen Liang didn’t want to make things difficult—after all, this salesman was unusually warm to customers, a rare find.

“I’ll pay you an extra fifty cents as a service fee to explain this to the owner. If it works, issue the receipt now!”

“No problem at all! Just wait a moment!” The salesman’s enthusiasm surged at the prospect of a free extra dollar.

At current gold prices, one small yellow fish was worth 150 yuan, so two equaled 300 yuan. Chen Liang, being wealthy, didn’t mind the sum, but outwardly he winced and muttered,

“This thing’s really expensive—almost equal to three months of my wife and my combined salary!”

As the saying goes, no matter how wealthy you are, you must never flaunt it—there’s always a time to put on a show.