Jiang Tao had calculated everything meticulously, but he never expected this shop owner to be *this* relentless!
Selling sofas at the market during the day.
And then going home at night to run a live stream to sell more, huh?
"Brother, there's another one over there in the same color, with a similar design."
"It's just slightly more worn than this one, but not by much. Let me take you to check it out."
Seeing that Jiang Tao genuinely liked the color, Li Guiying offered to show him a similar, more affordable alternative.
"Sister, I've got my heart set on this one. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the one."
"Look, could you let me have this sofa and find a similar substitute for the person who ordered it?"
"You've got so many sofas here; finding something close shouldn't be too hard."
"It's a live stream, after all—nobody can tell the exact color through a screen. A slight difference is normal, right?"
Jiang Tao wasn't about to give up 30,000 yuan so easily. He flashed a cheerful smile and tried to persuade Li Guiying further.
Li Guiying replied, "Brother, it's not like that. We run a business here, and integrity is key.
If we send customers something different from what they ordered, wouldn't that ruin our reputation? How could we keep doing business after that?"
Jiang Tao hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, Sister, how about this: whatever price you're selling this sofa for in the live stream, I'll add 100 yuan on top!
I really love this sofa and want to buy it. I don't care for anything else."
Hearing Jiang Tao offer an extra 100 yuan, Li Guiying's heart skipped a beat!
They had acquired this sofa for 100 yuan and sold it for 400 in the live stream.
With Jiang Tao's extra 100, they'd make 500—a 100% increase in profit!
Li Guiying pretended to be reluctant. "Alright, fine! I can see you really love this sofa.
And since you came here so early in the morning, I'll make an exception for you and sell it to you!"
"…"
Seeing how quickly Li Guiying agreed, Jiang Tao instantly realized he might have offered too much!
He should've tested the waters with an extra 50 yuan first!
But the thought of the hidden stash in the sofa made Jiang Tao stop caring about the 50 yuan.
You need bait to catch a fish, right?
Consider it 100 yuan spent on bait!
"Sister, how much is it in total?"
Afraid of any unexpected hiccups, Jiang Tao quickly pulled out his phone, ready to pay.
"Last night in the live stream, we sold it for 450. With the 100 you offered, just scan 550!"
As she spoke, Li Guiying pulled a double-sided QR code from under her collar.
"Alright, fine! My wife loves this kind of sofa, so I'll take the hit!"
Jiang Tao put on a pained expression, scanned Li Guiying's WeChat payment QR code with a *ding*, and promptly paid 550 yuan.
**[WeChat Payment: 550 Yuan Received!]**
Hearing the payment confirmation sound from her phone, a joyful expression spread across Li Guiying's chubby face.
With a quick bit of thinking, she'd earned an extra 50 yuan!
"Sister, I'll take the sofa now. My truck's outside; I'll go get it."
"Alright, brother, I'll give you a hand and help move it to the door."
"Thanks, Sister!"
Both of them had their own plans in mind as they worked together to carry the sofa to the shop's entrance.
After setting the sofa down, Jiang Tao jogged to the market's parking lot and drove his truck to the B25 shop.
Having earned an extra 150 yuan so early in the morning, Li Guiying was in a great mood. Smiling, she helped Jiang Tao load the sofa onto his truck.
"Thanks for the trouble, Sister. If I need any furniture in the future, I'll come back to your shop."
"Sounds good! Come back next time, and no matter what you buy, I'll give you a discount!"
"See you, Sister~"
Jiang Tao didn't waste any more words with Li Guiying. He hopped into the truck, started the engine, and drove off.
After leaving the second-hand market, Jiang Tao didn't bother looking for more work. He drove straight to Xiaosha River with the sofa.
He drove all the way to the rented tenement building, then single-handedly carried the sofa upstairs.
The sofa wasn't solid wood and weighed less than 100 pounds—child's play for Jiang Tao.
After placing the sofa in his room, Jiang Tao went back downstairs to move his truck.
The streets around the tenement were narrow, and leaving the truck there would block bicycles and electric scooters, causing a nuisance.
He parked the truck at the entrance to Xiaosha River Village, then hurriedly walked back to the tenement.
"Yo, Xiao Jiang, not working today?"
As Jiang Tao reached the building, he ran into the landlord, an old man holding a gourd-shaped object as he came out of his room.
The gourd emitted a *chirp-chirp-chirp* sound, like crickets.
Jiang Tao didn't appreciate the noise, but some people loved listening to it to fall asleep, claiming it soothed their nerves and helped them rest.
"Got a bit of a stomachache today, so I'll head to work later. Are you off to play with your crickets, Grandpa?"
Jiang Tao smiled and greeted the landlord, secretly envying the man's carefree lifestyle.
"Going to have some fun with Old Liu and the others. See ya~"
The landlord waved at Jiang Tao and strode toward the alley's exit.
"The life of a retired Beijing grandpa—so simple and unpretentious~"
Jiang Tao sighed with a chuckle, then turned and entered the building, heading straight to his second-floor room.
Back in his room, he locked the door.
Jiang Tao first ran his hands over the sofa, feeling every inch of it, but found nothing obviously unusual.
Still, he wasn't discouraged.
If it was that obvious, someone else would've already snatched it up!
"Could it be sewn inside the sofa? That must be it!"
Jiang Tao immediately grabbed a pair of scissors from a drawer and started cutting. *Snip, snip*—he began slicing open the back of the sofa, performing a "major dissection."
After cutting the back, he moved to the bottom, snipping away for seven or eight minutes until the fabric covering the sofa's wooden frame was a tattered mess.
"Got it!"
Just as Jiang Tao began to doubt the reliability of his information, he spotted the corner of a long, black wallet!
*Snip, snip*—two more cuts.
Jiang Tao reached in and yanked the rectangular black wallet out from the sofa's lining.
"Well, damn, it's hidden deep! Took me long enough to find you!"
Opening the wallet, he saw a thick stack of 100-yuan bills inside!
Swallowing hard with excitement, Jiang Tao pulled out all the cash and counted it, the bills rustling in his hands.
No more, no less—exactly 298 bills, 29,800 yuan!
"Minus the 550 I spent on the sofa, that's a net profit of 29,250!"
After doing the math, Jiang Tao's heart surged with excitement, marveling at the reliability of his intel system!
With a bit more effort today, his daily income would easily break the 30,000-yuan mark!
In his thirty years of life, Jiang Tao had never earned this much money in a single day!
He smoked three cigarettes in a row in the rental room, finally calming his excited nerves.
Jiang Tao stuffed the money back into the wallet and tucked it into the inner pocket of his down jacket.
Then, he tidied up the mangled sofa as best he could before heading downstairs.
He drove to an ICBC ATM near the Hongxing Second-Hand Furniture Market and deposited the 29,800 yuan in cash into his bank card.
After depositing the money, Jiang Tao acted as if nothing had happened and drove back to the Hongxing Second-Hand Furniture Market to look for more work.