Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter Li Jing Zhang Xikun
Old newspapers record what the "today" of history looked like.
In Jinan, Li Guorong, 60, has a "newspaper library." From 2004, Li Guorong began to collect old newspapers and sell "Sheng Daily". In the past 18 years, Li Guorong has collected more than 10 million old newspapers. When the market is good, it can sell more than 500 copies of the "Sheng Daily" a day at most.
Li Guorong also became an expert in selling old newspapers in the new era.
From selling flowers to selling old newspapers, I have a lingering fragrance in my hand
In an office building in Jinan's high-tech zone, there is a "newspaper library" full of old newspapers, like a small museum. Old newspapers smell of ink, dry grass and the smell of age.
The owner of the "newspaper library" is Li Guorong, who is 60 years old. She's been dealing with old newspapers for 18 years.
In 2004, Li Guorong, who was in his 40s, was laid off from a state-owned enterprise and "embarked on the road of entrepreneurship in a vacuum." "Women forty years old to start a business, I have nowhere to start for a while." Li Guorong searched for money-making projects on the Internet, looking for a small business.
"In those years, online shopping gradually began to become popular." Li Guorong looked at the business opportunities, opened an online store, and sold flowers. But she gradually found that flowers are not easy to manage, and the online business is also tepid.
By chance, Li Guorong searched for information on the Internet and found that someone was selling "Sheng Daily". What is "Sheng Daily"? Li Guorong was curious, "It turned out to be the original old newspaper on the day you were born." "The price of the yellowed old newspaper is not cheap, more than ten dollars a copy.
In 2005, when a customer was buying flowers in her online store, she kept asking, "Are there any other gifts?" Li Guorong suddenly remembered the "Sheng Daily", so he selected a newspaper according to the customer's birthday and sent it casually.
Unexpectedly, Li Guorong received a call from a customer, and the customer was full of emotions. Since then, Li Guorong has begun to collect old newspapers, selling flowers and selling "Sheng Daily".
Li Guorong was not the first person to "eat crabs", and she gradually learned the origin of "Sheng Daily".
In 2001, at the 112th IOC meeting held in Moscow, China's bid for the Olympic Games was successful, and Beijing became the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games. He Zhenliang, then honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and a bid presenter, received a gift from the International Olympic Committee, the original newspaper of the British Newspaper Times on the day of his birth.
Later, many businessmen found business opportunities in it. They specialize in collecting old newspapers to sell as "Sheng Daily".
"Flowers can easily wither, but newspapers can always be kept here." Li Guorong found that for a person, an ordinary newspaper recorded the extraordinary day of her birth, so there were always people willing to pay for this newspaper.
In 2008, Li Guorong decided not to sell flowers anymore, but only "Sheng Daily".
The most expensive old newspaper sold for more than twenty thousand
Here in Li Guorong, she is not afraid of old newspapers smashed in her hands. Li Guorong said: "Time is not value, time is value." Old newspapers are like old wine, and the older they are, the more precious they are. ”
Li Guorong told reporters that among the newspapers she collected, the earliest printing time was in the 1930s, and the newspapers had both original and photocopies. In terms of types, in addition to the national circulation of "People's Daily", "Guangming Daily" and other large newspapers, there are also local newspapers that record local people's livelihood and humanities.
When the market is good, she can sell 500 old newspapers a day.
People who buy old newspapers come from all over the country. Li Guorong found that her customer base is mainly divided into two categories. One category is that young people buy "Sheng Daily" as a gift. The other category is scholars who are engaged in research.
After Li Guorong's husband was laid off, he also came to help Li Guorong. "The prices of newspapers published on major holidays and special days are relatively high." Over the years, Li Qingzhen has also explored the law.
Five or six years ago, an old scholar in his 70s bought all the newspapers in the store about the party congress and the CPPCC meeting.
Finally, the old scholar also consulted whether there was a newspaper published on October 1, 1949. Li Guorong said that she happened to have a copy in her hand, or she had bought it from a collector for more than 20,000 yuan earlier, and she had been collecting it as a treasure. "If you put it now, you won't find a hundred thousand." Li Guorong said.
Knowing that the old scholar was going to do research, Li Guorong sold it to him at the original price. Li Guorong has her own insistence on selling old newspapers, and she also wants to leave a unique gesture for the "newspaper library".
Later, after the old scholar published the book, he sent a copy to Li Guorong. "It's covered with pictures of old newspapers, which are historical materials." Li Guorong proudly seemed to have participated in the compilation of books.
Li Guorong's "Business Economy"
Collecting old newspapers and selling old newspapers, Li Guorong has his own set of "business classics."
Initially, Li Guorong found the source of goods through the Internet. Someone replied to the message, and she took the train with her husband Li Qingzhen to collect the newspaper. Li Qingzhen said: "In order to collect newspapers, we have traveled almost all over the country. ”
"It was difficult to start in the beginning, there was no channel, no money to collect, no place to put it." Every time he goes to a new city, in addition to talking about cooperation, Li Guorong will also go to the local library and reference room to see the local best-selling newspapers and also look for new sources of goods.
After the first communication, Li Guorong was able to fix the channels for receiving old newspapers. After that, Li Guorong only needs to provide the other party with the required old newspaper entries, and the other party can mail it.
Later, Li Guorong collected old newspapers from the library, the reference room, and the school through his friends. Every once in a while, she moved old newspapers to her house in boxes.
Soon, hundreds of thousands of newspapers were piled up in Li Guorong's home. For more than a decade, Mr. Li's bedroom and living room have often been filled with old yellowed newspapers. Later, the home could not fit, and Li Guorong rented a warehouse. The warehouse was full, and she rented her current office.
All four rooms in the Newspaper Library are now filled with bookshelves. The room closest to the door, there are 10 bookshelves, each with 8 floors. The bookshelves are divided into categories with the names of newspapers, and the newspapers on each floor are wrapped in paper shells, and the names and times of the newspapers are marked with sticky notes.
Mr. Lee estimates that more than 10 million old newspapers have been collected over the years. However, the number of copies collected by each newspaper is limited, "sold out, then there is no more". More than 3 million old newspapers are stored in the current warehouse.
After each order came, Li Guorong inquired about the newspapers needed by customers from the computer's retrieval system. Then, based on the retrieval information, she went to the bookshelf to find which layer of the newspaper was on, and then rummaged through the label to find out which newspaper it was.
This professional information retrieval system, Li Guorong from this line of work to find someone to design.
It turned out that Li Guorong studied industrial automation in school when he was young, and later studied computer science. Her husband, Li Qingzhen, commented on her, "She has a big brain and has innovative ideas. ”
Li Guorong's business is getting more and more prosperous, and he has recruited five or six employees and formed a customer service, packaging and delivery team. Her sales channels have also expanded from e-commerce to short video platforms.
Travel through the ages and collect history
Li Guorong's "Sheng Daily" shop survived. In recent years, Li Guorong and his wife have continuously optimized the packaging, designing zodiac bookmarks, greeting cards, envelopes, and gift boxes. Now, my son, who graduated from college, has joined the business.
Customers plus friends, one after another, Li Guorong and them became acquainted. She also often picks up a lot of emotions and sends them a lot of feelings.
"Recently, a grandfather contacted me to send a daily birthday to my granddaughter who was born in 1989. Coincidentally, another granddaughter ordered a newspaper published "Who is the Cutest Person" in 1951 and gave it to her grandfather, who had participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Li Guorong found the two newspapers, carefully packaged them, and sent them out.
In the Internet era, it is inevitable that the newspaper industry will bring challenges. Li Guorong witnessed the glorious period of the newspaper industry and also saw the suspension of some newspapers. Her old newspaper business was not affected, "there are always people who need old newspapers".
"No matter how fast the network is, pay attention to timeliness, the past has passed." As a newspaper, it leaves history and culture behind through the real thing. Li Qingzhen said.
Every day in the old newspaper, Li Guorong is also touching the heavy words and heavy history.