Zhong Qin shook hands with Zheng Bing and Jiang Jin and then immediately let go. She didn't say much, but Zhao Junjie held her hand tightly and didn't let go. He immediately smiled and said, "It's not a matter of special treatment. I'm just a tour guide. Mr. Zhao, you're too kind!"
He tried to pull his hand away, but couldn't. Zhao Lao Er gripped it tightly, his face flushed, and he pulled hard again before finally managing to pull his hand back.
Zhao Lao Er was rather embarrassed, his eyes fixed on Zhong Qin. Zhong Qin walked unnoticed to Zhou Xuan's side, right in front of him. Zhao Lao Er felt awkward about trying to strike up a conversation with her again.
When Zhou Xuan reached the hotel entrance, he saw Fujimoto Kan and his two companions following behind. He also noticed Zhang Shan and Wu Feng waiting outside in Audi 6s, and found it somewhat amusing. This Zheng Bing had actually brought two Audis; while not top-of-the-line luxury cars, they were still quite respectable for this area.
Although Tengchong is a small place, there are many big-name business owners and luxury cars. But these two cars were not borrowed from private individuals, but obtained from the Baoshan Municipal Bureau. Being given these two cars is considered the best treatment. It is estimated that they obtained the cars of leaders. As for the license plates, they can definitely change them at will. The traffic management department is full of their own people, so changing a license plate is a piece of cake for them.
Zhou Xuan turned to Fujimoto and said, "Mr. Fujimoto, we're going to..." Then he turned to look at Zhong Qin.
Zhong Qin realized what was happening and quickly said, "Let's go to Qingshui Township first!"
“Yes, we’ll go to Qingshui first,” Zhou Xuan said with a smile. “But we only have two cars. If you want to see our Da Cai, hehe, you’ll have to take a taxi yourselves!”
Zhou Xuan and Zhong Qin made a total of seven people. Four people sat in one car, and three people sat in another.
Zhang Shan and Wu Feng had already changed into plain clothes and each drove a car. Zhou Xuan got into Zhang Shan's car, and Zhong Qin followed closely behind him. After all, Zhou Xuan had paid her to be there.
Zhao Lao Er was quick-witted and hurriedly followed, while Zhong Qin stood by the car door without getting in. Seeing Zhao Junjie beside her, waiting for her to get in before getting in herself, intending to squeeze her in the middle, she immediately stepped aside and said, "Mr. Zhao, you go first!"
Zhao Lao Er looked at Zhong Qin's pretty face and couldn't resist the urge to sit in the middle. He got into the car with a smile.
Zhong Qin didn't get in the car. She reached out and slammed the car door shut, then walked to the front and sat in the passenger seat.
Zhao Lao Er was dumbfounded. He looked at Zhong Qin sitting in front of him, opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
A slight smile appeared on Zhou Xuan's lips. He knew all about Zhao Lao Er's thoughts. "When we were kids, we all knew how many feathers each of us had. This guy gets all itchy when he sees a pretty girl."
Last night, Zhao Lao Er whispered to Zhou Xuan for a while, saying that he had completely given up on Wei Xiao Qing. When Zhou Xuan asked him why he said "completely", Zhao Lao Er replied, "Look at Xiao Qing and the way you look at her. She is clearly full of affection. No matter how beautiful a woman is, he can't be bothered with her anymore if he likes someone else!"
Zhou Xuan chuckled, relieved that his second son had given up on the idea. His second son's feelings for Xiao Qing were destined to lead to heartbreak, but thankfully he gave up on his own. Now, he's fallen for Zhong Qin at first sight. Who knows what will happen next?
Thinking of the name Zhong Qin again, I couldn't help but smile slightly.
Zhong Qin turned around and said to Zhou Xuan, "Brother Zhou, the first place we're going to is Qingshui Township. The raw material market in Qingshui Township isn't the largest among the towns in Tengchong, but precisely because it's not the largest, I think it's more suitable for newcomers like you, Brother Zhou. The raw material market in Qingshui Township is smaller, so customers can choose more, and the quantity can be smaller."
Zhou Xuan thought to himself that Zhong Qin was indeed a clever and resourceful girl. Not only was she a tour guide, but she also put herself in his shoes, and she was a college student. If possible in the future, he would like to get her to work for him.
Zhou Xuan smiled and instructed, "You make the arrangements. You're my guide, so you're in charge of everything."
Zhong Qin said with a smile, "Alright, Brother Zhou. We'll go to Qingshui Township first, then Jietou Township, Mingguang Township, Beihai Township, and finally the biggest market, Tengyue Town, in Tengchong."
,
Zhong Qin pointed out the car window and said, "Tengchong is a beautiful place. Historically, it was a famous part of the ancient Southwest Silk Road. In the middle of Dali, it was established as Tengchong Prefecture. In the Ming Dynasty, a stone city was built, known as the 'First Family on the Frontier'. If you have time, I will take you to see the most beautiful places in Tengchong!"
Volume 1, Chapter 152: The Crazy Stone Gambling (2)
Zhao Lao Er immediately accepted Er Qin's invitation! "Great! I've been wanting to see the place. It's wonderful that Miss Zhong has this idea!"
"Great, bullshit!" Zhou Xuan thought to himself with a laugh. But Zhao Lao Er was several years older than him. It was normal for him to be lovesick without a wife. After all, what man in his late twenties doesn't have romantic thoughts? Besides, they were from the countryside. In the countryside, men their age usually had sons already in elementary school.
Zhong Qin is strange. She can talk to Zhou Xuan just fine, but as soon as Zhao Lao Er interrupts, she immediately shuts up and has nothing to say?
Qingshui Township has "Qingshui" in its name, but there's no clear river. There is a river, but the water is rather dark. It seems that no region with booming economy can escape environmental pollution.
The first wool merchant that Zhong Qin took them to was surnamed Zhou and named Zhou Bo. He was related to Zhou Xuan, but he was much older than Zhou Bo, and looked to be at least forty years old.
Zhou Xuan found Zhou Bo's house quite interesting. It had a wall about ten feet high, and inside the gate was a large square. To the left was a three-story villa; the ground floor was Zhou Bo's office. The lobby was set up like a small company, with several desks, computers, and a few girls. They weren't dressed as formally as in a company, but they were all Zhou Bo's employees. There were also a few customers who seemed to have come to gamble on jade, settling their payments.
On the right and front of the square, there was a row of single-story factory buildings covering thousands of square meters. On one side of the square, there were six or seven extended container trucks parked, and on the other side, there were more than ten cars of various kinds. They were all luxury brands, and compared to these cars, Zhou Xuan and his companion's two Audis were the most inconspicuous.
Fujimoto Kagami, Ito Kinji, and a female tour guide got out of the taxi and followed Zhou Xuan and his group. A clerk from Zhou Bo's office led them into the factory.
Zhou Xuan knew that Zhong Qin's uncle was also in the rough stone business. But Zhong Qin didn't take them to her uncle's place first. That girl really knew how to handle things. Actually, Zhou Xuan didn't really care; it was all business anyway. Whether he bought from her uncle or someone else, it didn't matter. He only bought rough stones containing jadeite using his ice-qi detection method; it didn't matter whose stones they were.
Upon entering Zhou Bo's factory, one finds stone-cutting machines throughout the spacious workshop, where twenty to thirty workers are employed.
This is the smaller jadeite dealer Zhong Qin mentioned? The factory piled high with raw stones is more than Zhou Xuan saw in Shenzhen and Lingzhuang, Yangzhou combined. It truly lives up to its reputation as a jadeite raw material distribution center. However, Zhou Xuan is puzzled: why are there only workers in identical work clothes in the factory, but no customers? Looking at the cars in the square outside, there should be quite a few customers, right? Where have they all gone?
Looking at the factory full of stones, Zhao Lao Er muttered to himself, "These stones can actually be sold for money? We have as many as we want back home."
Just as Zhou Xuan was about to ask if they were picking stones from the factory, the female clerk walked forward again, saying as she went, "Please come with me."
Where do we go next?
Zhou Xuan found it rather strange, but remained silent and simply followed behind her. Zhong Qin, on the other hand, did not show any strange expression and followed naturally.
The female clerk walked to the other side of the factory building, pushed open a door, and turned around to say, "Please!"
Zhou Xuan was very surprised. He had come into the factory and was now going out again. What was he going to do?
But the ding, the surprise, vanished the moment he stepped out of the factory. Of course, another kind of surprise followed.
Behind the factory building was an even larger area, several thousand square meters in size, containing only a long driveway for vehicles. On both sides of the driveway were mountains of piled-up stones!
Zhou Xuan was stunned for a long time. This was the small-scale raw material wholesaler in Tengchong that Zhong Qin had mentioned? What about the large and even larger ones?
There were many people in the market, each selecting stones. However, unlike what Zhou Xuan had seen before, they weren't buying stones one by one; instead, they were pointing and specifying stones one by one?
The clerk and Zhong Qin went over to speak with Zhou Bo, the owner of the stone factory. Then Zhou Bo walked over with a smile, shook hands with Zhou Xuan, and said, "Mr. Zhou, hello, hello. I heard from Xiao Zhong that you're from Beijing?"
"Hehe, yes, Mr. Zhou, this is quite a big one!" Zhou Xuan shook hands with him and gave a genuine compliment. Comparing the jade gambling scenes he'd witnessed in Shenzhen and Yangzhou to this was like comparing a bustling market in a big city to a small shop in the countryside—it was incomparable.
Zhou Bo blushed and said awkwardly, "Mr. Zhou, you flatter me. It's just a small business, nothing more!"
In the Tengchong area, Zhou Bo's business was indeed small-scale, as Zhong Qin just mentioned. Zhou Xuan was a businessman from Beijing. There were indeed Beijing merchants in Tengchong, but Zhou Bo hadn't received any; they all went to the larger market in Tengyue, to work with the merchants from Tengyue.