Chapter 6 The Birth of the Mystery Box

"Are we really going back to our hometown?"
"You’re already on the train, so why ask such nonsense!" Annoyed by his wife’s relentless questioning, Shen Yuequn replied testily. After all, anyone would lose patience with nagging all the way.

"So, are we just giving up on our wages?" his wife pressed, unwilling to let it go.

"Of course not. We’ll get it. In three months, we’ll return to Wenzhou, and the chairman promised he’ll pay us then!" Shen Yuequn explained for the tenth time, exasperated. "And this time, we’re not just going back on our own—we’re bringing thirty thousand yuan worth of goods."

"You don’t understand how much the chairman trusts us. Others can only take ten thousand yuan worth of goods at most, but only I, Shen Yuequn, can take thirty thousand. That’s his trust in us!"

"Pah! Thirty thousand in goods? I bet you couldn’t even sell three thousand. You’ve definitely been swindled. The chairman just gave you these goods to settle his debt, then tricked you into going back to the Northeast, so he can disappear!" his wife retorted angrily.

"Shut up! Don’t speak ill of the chairman!" Shen Yuequn erupted in fury. "He’s a good man. How could he deceive us? You don’t know—he even mortgaged his sister-in-law’s house to borrow a million yuan. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have the money to buy us train tickets home!"

"And the chairman taught us a foolproof selling technique. It’s called blind... blind... something... Anyway, it’s a secret weapon for selling goods. He said if we work hard, we’ll sell out all thirty thousand yuan worth of goods in at most a month!"

"Nonsense! If he had such a foolproof technique, he’d have sold the goods himself. Why would he need you?" His wife’s resentment remained, but Shen Yuequn no longer bothered to argue. He gazed silently out the window, watching the scenery shift from the delicate charm of the South to the stately elegance of the North, and finally to the rugged, untamed Northeast.

On their first day home, they reunited with his long-lost parents, shared a tearful family meal, and entrusted their three children to his parents’ care. Then Shen Yuequn plunged into the familiar streets, borrowing a tricycle from an old neighbor.

The tricycle had seen better days—it was bought years ago for reselling goods, but was now shabby and worn. That didn’t faze a resourceful Northeasterner with skilled hands. He spent a day refurbishing it until it looked nearly new.

He not only fixed the wheels and oiled it, but also repainted several words onto it and fashioned some boards for signs. When time was nearly up, he rode to the freight depot, hauling back boxes load after load.

There was a mountain of stuff. Shen Yuequn made five trips with the tricycle to bring everything home, then mobilized his parents, idling children, and his wife to help.

"Hurry up, help me fold boxes!" Shen Yuequn took out stacks of cardboard boxes for them to assemble.

"My goodness, how many boxes are there?" Seeing the flattened boxes piled twenty stacks high, nearly reaching the ceiling, his wife exclaimed in astonishment.

"Not many, just about three thousand," Shen Yuequn replied. "Didn’t I say? The boss gave me thirty thousand yuan worth of goods. These boxes are for packing them!"

He pointed to another pile—unlike the unfolded boxes, these were finished products already packed: small wallets, belts about the same size, larger boxes for shoes and leather coats—the entire range of Jiangnan Leather Factory’s flagship products.

"Thirty thousand yuan worth of goods packed in three thousand boxes? Is your boss putting only ten yuan worth of goods in each box?" his wife said, shocked.

"You’re exactly right—each box contains goods worth ten yuan... No, it sells for ten yuan!" With that, Shen Yuequn assembled a box, placed a wallet inside, then sealed it with tape.

"Dear, even with three thousand boxes, you shouldn’t waste them—each box could fit thirty wallets. Why only pack one? Isn’t that wasteful?" his wife asked, distressed.

"I feel bad too, but the boss said no matter how much you put in a box, it sells for ten yuan each. Would you really want to put two wallets inside?" Shen Yuequn chuckled.

"Absolutely not!" She shook her head firmly. Even selling one wallet for ten yuan was a loss, let alone two.

"Alright, follow my lead and help pack. We need to pack at least two hundred boxes today. Tomorrow we’ll take them to the market. If we sell even half, we’ll strike it rich!" Shen Yuequn said, full of anticipation.

"You think you can sell a hundred of these in a day?" his wife doubted, picking up a packed box. The box was clean and simple, bearing only the words Jiangnan Leather Factory on the front.

Nothing else—not a single extra word.

But on the back, she saw two startling stamps: WZ Leather Association · Seal, and WZ Migrant Worker Protection Plan · Approved.

"Whoa, dear, is this box from some government organization? We can’t just use it—what if it’s illegal?"

"Nonsense. The WZ Leather Association is just a private group. As for the Migrant Worker Protection Plan, it’s a factory initiative. Don’t worry—there’s no legal risk here!" Shen Yuequn replied.

"Then why put these scary words on the box?" she wondered.

"Well, actually I don’t quite get it either. But our chairman said it’s like those special supply words on Maotai labels—it looks useless, but actually has a big effect!" Shen Yuequn laughed.

His wife nodded in vague understanding, then complained, "This box is strange—besides those two odd lines, there’s nothing on it. You can’t even tell what’s inside. How are you supposed to sell it? What if someone grabs the wrong box?"

"The chairman said that not knowing what’s inside makes people want to buy it. Like a blind person, they’re curious about every box because they don’t know what’s inside."

"Smack!" Shen Yuequn slapped his thigh. "I remember now—the chairman called these boxes ‘blind boxes’!"

"Oh!" His wife nodded, not really understanding, but feeling it sounded impressive.