Chapter 187 (1/2)

Chapter 187: Ghost Market I

My name is Lu Qiao and I'm the boss of a ghost market .

There are many kinds of bosses around here since a ghost market isn't a company but a marketplace .

There are a lot of definitions of a ghost market but it generally refers to a type of marketplace similar to that in Old Beijing .

There are over 80 ghost markets spread around four cities in Old Beijing . The market within the Western Imperial City is the biggest .

It is also the place where I work .

Ghost markets started with sales of second-hand clothes and at times, new clothes refined from raw materials .

There were only these items in the old ghost markets but later on, other sorts of old goods started appearing in the ghost market .

Some of these old goods were authentic while others were not . Really, they were mostly not .

There were items with unknown origins and also precious treasures .

Many pa.s.s off fish eyes for pearls so people see ghost markets as fake marketplaces .

Ever since the introduction of old goods into the market, you could find practically anything in there .

There weren't just buying and selling in the market, but they also make goods exchange .

Some said that you could even get guns from there .

While 80% of the items in the market were fake, the other 20% were usually extremely valuable .

A story's been spreading in recent years about a fellow who sells porcelains from Jingdezhen street . He would carry exactly 128 pieces in two baskets hung by a pole over his shoulders . His goods were real but seem used . Nevertheless, they looked perfect and flawless . It was said that the original owner used them really carefully . It might be someone from a rich family . The fellow sells them at really cheap prices and even give up to 50% discounts . People who managed to get a few pieces from him were lucky because, upon closer inspection, the pieces were all good stuff . They said that the fellow was a repairman in a well-to-do family who steals the pieces to sell them for urgent money .

There were actually many stories like that going around .

It was also said that in older years, one could get officials' uniforms, army stamps, and even jade seals . Even the twelve zodiac copper statues have appeared in ghost markets .

Aside from non-living objects, live creatures could also be found easily .

Ghost markets sound interesting and new so they attract a lot of youngsters .

Anyone could be a boss in ghost markets as long as they have things to sell and a mat to sell them on .

In fact, they could even sell things they had just purchased from the very same market moments ago .

There were many bosses in ghost markets but only a few truly earn some profit .

I'm in the minority group who's actually earning .

As its name implies, the ghost market brings different interpretations .

There were all sorts of ghost markets now, even fake ones .

Borrowing the market's name, people would start appearing at night to sell their items .

The real ghost market opens every Thursdays from four in the morning and for only an hour .

So basically, I'm working only an hour a week .

The rest of the days of the week, I prepare diligently for the upcoming s.h.i.+ft at the market .

There's a set of rules within the ghost market: No shouting, no greeting, no s.n.a.t.c.hing of business . All must be left to the consumers themselves .

I earn my own money this way .

The items I sell are different from other sellers; I make voodoo dolls during my off days .