Zhou Xuan wasn't too concerned about the hexagonal diamond. To him, the gold coin that sold for 3.5 million was already a great blessing from God. With the 3.5 million plus the 180,000 from the sale of Yuan Mei's manuscript, the money was enough for his whole family to live comfortably in their hometown for the rest of their lives.
"Mr. Wei is in the same line of work as you, right?" Zhou Xuan guessed that Mr. Wei must be in the same line of work as Chen Sanyan and his group, judging from his actions.
Chen Sanyan shook his head and said, "Mr. Wei is not in our line of work. Actually, I don't know his identity very well, but I vaguely know a little about him through some very influential people. Anyway, he is a very important person. He is just a hobby for antiques and does not specialize in this business."
Uncle Liu suddenly said from the back seat of the car, "Xiao Zhou, I want to ask you something. Who is your teacher?"
"Who were your teachers?" Zhou Xuan asked, puzzled. "From kindergarten to high school graduation, I've had so many teachers I can't even remember them all. Let me count..."
Uncle Liu was dumbfounded!
Chen Sanyan chuckled and said, "Little Zhou, you're quite the joker. But some experts are unwilling to reveal their origins, hehe. Since Little Zhou doesn't want to talk about it, then let's not ask. But if Little Zhou's skills are so good, why do you still hang out in amusement parks?"
"Well... hehe..." Zhou Xuan said with a wry smile, "To be honest, Mr. Chen, I got fired today and am now unemployed!"
Chen Sanyan was overjoyed and said, "Xiao Zhou, are you interested in working with me? As for the salary, we can discuss it back at the shop!"
Zhou Xuan readily agreed. He had originally intended to learn antique appraisal techniques from Chen Sanyan, and in just a few days, he had truly fallen in love with the industry. Of course, money was also a factor, but to enter this field, one must first master the basics. The icy aura in his left hand was excellent, but it was like a hexagonal diamond—it could fall from the sky or disappear at any moment. Mastering the basics would at least allow him to make a living. The scene in this industry was truly terrifying; one could end up like Old Wu, whose millions turned to ashes in an instant!
Zhou Xuan didn't want his millions to vanish into thin air. He thought to himself, "As long as I don't buy anything worth tens of thousands, my money won't run away no matter what!"
When they arrived at Jingshizhai, it was a bit late, so Chen Sanyan arranged for Zhou Xuan to rest in the apartment they had rented.
Chen Sanyan rented two three-bedroom apartments for the employees of Jingshizhai. His brother-in-law Fang Zhicheng and Li Jun lived in one apartment, and Chen Sanyan and Uncle Liu lived in the other. Originally, Li Jun lived with Uncle Liu, but after Chen Sanyan arrived, Li Jun moved in with Fang Zhicheng. Fang Zhicheng also didn't want Chen Sanyan to live with him and felt uncomfortable.
The house has three bedrooms and one living room. Uncle Liu has one room, Chen Sanyan has one room, and Zhou Xuan has one room.
The next morning, Zhou Xuan went to the hotel to pick up his suitcase, checked out, and then went to work at Jingshizhai.
As fate would have it, Chen Sanyan received a call from Yangzhou, saying there was an urgent matter that required his return. He didn't have time to make any arrangements for Zhou Xuan, so before leaving, he asked Uncle Liu to look after him for a while and hurriedly headed to the airport.
Although he could identify the authenticity of antiques by the icy sensation in his left hand, he was completely ignorant of all knowledge in the antique trade, and he didn't even know the most basic introductory skills.
Uncle Liu found it strange. Sometimes Zhou Xuan's moves were as swift and unpredictable as a fleeting glimpse of a swan, making even an old hand like him feel inferior. But most of the time, however, he was like a blind novice, even worse than a novice!
Next, Li Jun and two apprentices also came to work at the store, but Fang Zhicheng didn't arrive until almost 11 o'clock after breakfast. Uncle Liu basically ignored him, and the two had different tasks.
From morning to noon, there was basically no business. Uncle Liu sat in the shop and instructed Li Jun and two apprentices to move some of the less valuable and bulky items they had received into the small storage room in the back.
Zhou Xuan rolled up his sleeves to help, while Fang Zhicheng watched him coldly, feeling somewhat resentful. He had heard from Uncle Liu that his brother-in-law, Chen Sanyan, had instructed Zhou Xuan to do the inspection, which meant identifying the authenticity and value of the incoming goods. Zhou Xuan was the shop's second-in-command, and except for major orders where Uncle Liu personally inspected the goods, he was responsible for inspecting the general business. Li Jun had been learning from Uncle Liu for several years and was still not qualified to do the inspection, so why was this kid given the right opportunity to do it right away?
Not only Fang Zhicheng disliked Zhou Xuan, but Li Jun and the two apprentices, Achang and Aguang, were also extremely dissatisfied with him. There is a first-come, first-served rule in everything. If you don't have enough seniority, you can't get promoted. But this Zhou Xuan, a mere upstart, has already started to ride on their heads. How can they tolerate this?
While moving goods, Li Jun, Achang, and Aguang secretly bossed Zhou Xuan around and made him do all the heavy work.
Zhou Xuan certainly wouldn't care; he lacked skills but had plenty of strength, moving things in and out. However, Li Jun and the others noticed a flaw in his plan.
Uncle Liu and Manager Fang had told him that Zhou Xuan was a new eye examiner, but he was completely clueless when Li Jun and the others casually used the most common and frequently used jargon!
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Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge, Chapter Seventeen: Sister, These Are Clothes You Can't Afford
On Zhou Xuan's second day at work, he inspected seven items in the morning, four of which were valuable, but none exceeded a thousand yuan in value. Zhou Xuan was the inspector, but Uncle Liu was the one who set the prices.
These seven items completely drained the ice, and Zhou Xuan was so tired that he just wanted to lie down and sleep. In the end, Uncle Liu saw that he was too tired and seemed to be unable to keep his eyes open. He thought that it must be his first time inspecting goods, which was a bit mentally taxing. Although he didn't say anything particularly remarkable, he didn't misjudge a single item, which was quite good. So he let him go back and rest early.
Zhou Xuan didn't hold back; he really couldn't hold back any longer and, unable to muster any energy, hurriedly returned to his dormitory and fell asleep immediately.
I slept from noon until six in the afternoon. When I woke up, I felt much better. I moved around a bit, but the ice hadn't returned to its usual level.
He wondered if the meditation and breathing techniques taught by the old Taoist priest in the back mountain when he was a child would help with this icy air. With a thought in mind, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to meditate.
For more than ten years, Zhou Xuan has been quite fond of this breathing exercise. Whenever he is exhausted, practicing it once will make his fatigue disappear and leave him feeling refreshed. Of course, it is not as mythical as described in novels and TV shows, such as refining qi into elixir or creating clones from elixir, but the benefits are very obvious.
Less than ten minutes into meditation, Zhou Xuan felt a warm sensation in his lower abdomen. He circulated this warmth throughout his body before attempting to mix it with the icy energy in his left hand.
When the warm current of intention reached the left wrist, the icy energy seemed to be touched, but it did not blend with the warmth. It was as if two enemy armies had met and started fighting fiercely.
Zhou Xuanli immediately felt that he couldn't move his left hand. In a great shock, he quickly withdrew his thoughts. The icy aura seemed to be like a fighting dog, squatting there panting. Although it was powerless, it was not willing to admit defeat. As long as you crossed the line again, it would fiercely pounce on you and fight you!
For a moment, Zhou Xuan was at a loss. He smiled bitterly. He didn't know what was going on with this thing, and he had no one to ask. It came about inexplicably, and he dared not tell anyone.
My phone rang.
The ringtone was "Sister searching for brother with tears in her eyes," and Zhou Xuan broke out in a cold sweat!
This Mr. Wei must be a nostalgic person from the 1960s or 70s, and his hobbies are also quite old-fashioned.
The phone works great and looks nice, but I don't know how much it costs.
Zhou Xuan answered the call, and to his surprise, it was Fang Zhicheng who called.
Of course, Fang Zhicheng is the manager, so it's not surprising that he knew Zhou Xuan's phone number on the personal profile he filled out.
"To celebrate our new employee, we're all going to party at a nightclub all night. Hurry downstairs, Li Jun and I are waiting for you down there."
Fang Zhicheng said hurriedly.
"Well... okay." Zhou Xuan didn't want to go out with them, but considering that they would have to work together in the future, and that he was the boss's brother-in-law, he figured it was better to go along with it. After all, he was just an employee.
When they got downstairs, Fang Zhicheng was already waiting in his BMW 5 Series, with Li Jun in the passenger seat. Both of them were dressed impeccably, looking like they were used to this style.
Zhou Xuan opened the back door of the car and got in. Immediately, an unpleasant smell of cologne wafted into the car!
Zhou Xuan had never liked the smell of perfume since he was a child, and he frowned.
Fang Zhicheng said eloquently, "Let's go to Heaven and Earth!"