Li Wei said with a grin, "Brother Xuan, don't worry, do you think I don't know this? Right now, even if you let Xiaoying drive, I won't let her. I can't bear to see her get hurt. I've already made arrangements. I had my dad find three transport soldiers from the army to teach you. When you're learning to drive, the easiest thing to do is break the car, so my dad also arranged three military jeeps. You can practice as much as you want, even if you crash into pieces, it's not a problem!"
After saying that, Li Wei spat a few more times and said, "What do you mean by 'collision'? I'll teach Zhou Ying myself. The three coaches I've arranged are for you, my second brother, and my uncle."
“Alright, alright, go ahead.” Zhou Xuan waved casually. Anyway, the car had already been ordered, so learning to drive was necessary. He had already gotten his driver’s license, so it was a good thing to start learning now. However, he immediately stopped Li Wei and said, “Li Wei, just have your dad send two people. I’ll have your sister-in-law teach me.”
Li nodded with a grin and left.
The whole family is busy preparing for the opening of Mingtai's antique shop. Even Yingying is working tirelessly alongside Zhou Ying, preparing flower baskets and bonsai for the shop's opening tomorrow.
Today's events were infuriating again. That celebrity, Yuan Li, was such a nuisance, making Lao Fu lose face too.
That evening, Fu Yuanshan called Zhou Xuan again, telling him not to worry about tomorrow's matter, as everything was already prepared. The call ended with just a few simple words, without mentioning Yuan Li's matter at all.
Zhou Xuan didn't bring it up either. He had originally wanted to advise Fu Yuanshan not to be upset about Yuan Li, but since he didn't say anything, it was fine if he had forgotten about it. There was no need to bring it up again.
When Fu Ying and Zhou Ying returned in the evening, they didn't bother Zhou Xuan. They were both tired and had to get up early the next day, so they went to bed early.
Going to bed early naturally leads to waking up early. Before dawn, Zhou Xuan got up. Since Fu Ying and Zhou Ying were exhausted from the previous day, he didn't wake them and took a ride to the antique shop by himself.
Zhou Xuan was already very early, but Zhou Xuan's father, Zhou Cangsong, had gotten up even earlier at the antique shop, opening the shop early and tidying it up neatly.
In the shop, Zhou Cangsong was well-liked by the employees. Although he was the boss, he never acted like one and always took on any task.
Zhou Cangsong's employees saw him as an excellent boss, but for Zhou Cangsong himself, he genuinely enjoyed working diligently. Compared to the farm work back home, these tasks were worlds apart. He was the type of person whose back ached if he didn't work for a day, so having work to do gave him a sense of purpose. Besides, these were his own responsibilities, and helping others was helping himself.
As soon as Zhou Xuan arrived, Zhou Cangsong went to the breakfast shop outside and bought two breakfasts. He put them on the table: the soy milk was still steaming, there were two fried dough sticks and two steamed buns. He said, "Son, eat the fried dough sticks and steamed buns. The soy milk is still hot. Hurry up, it won't taste good if it gets cold!"
Zhou Xuan didn't stand on ceremony. There was no need to be polite with his own father. He picked up a fried dough stick and ate it. He also took a sip of the hot soy milk, which was still burning his mouth.
Zhou Cangsong had already cleaned and arranged everything in the shop, so there was no rush. The father and son had just finished eating when the shop's employees started coming over one after another. Because it was the opening day, Zhang Jian had also instructed them to come to work early today.
Half an hour later, Fu Ying and Zhou Ying arrived, and the flower baskets and bonsai they had ordered from the flower shop were delivered. Zhou Xuan and his son, along with several shop assistants, worked together to arrange the flower baskets and bonsai.
Then Zhang Jian and Lao Wu arrived. Zhang Jian's eyes were red, obviously because he hadn't rested well these past few days.
"Zhou Xuan, have you invited all the celebrities and officials?" This was Zhang Jian's biggest concern. The store was about to open, and the most important thing was to show off its status in front of its peers so that it could do better business in the future.
Zhou Xuan nodded, patted Zhang Jian on the shoulder, and laughed, "Boss, don't be nervous, it's all done. Don't work so hard in the future, don't overwork yourself. You can never earn enough money, just have enough!"
Zhang Jian had no time to talk to Zhou Xuan about these things; he was already overwhelmed with preparations for the opening.
Today was the opening day of Zhou Zhang Antique Shop. Zhang Jian sent invitations to all the antique shop owners in Panjiayuan as a matter of courtesy, but by almost ten o'clock, not a single one had come.
Zhang Jian paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, then pulled Zhou Xuan into the inner room and whispered, "Zhou Xuan, I invited all the antique shop owners in Panjiayuan, how come none of them came?"
Zhou Xuan glanced at the time, nodded, and said, "Wait a little longer, it's still early. Besides, what difference does it make whether these people come or not? We don't depend on them for a living. If they come, we'll treat them as friends; if they don't, we won't provoke them or seek revenge. It doesn't matter!"
“But…” Zhang Jian hesitated worriedly. No matter what industry you’re in, if you don’t even have anyone to support you, you’ll lose face big time. Besides, it also means that you haven’t really entered the industry and haven’t been recognized by your peers. They might trip you up later.
There's a rule in the antique world: antiques don't fight counterfeits. It's all about cash on delivery, a clean transaction with no promises made afterward. Whether it's a fake or not, if you buy a fake, you can only blame yourself for having poor eyesight and lacking the necessary skills. This industry is all about the thrill, the excitement, and your discerning eye.
Many players have bought counterfeit goods, but even if they know it, they keep quiet and never tell outsiders, because they would lose face if they did.
Upon hearing Zhou Xuan's words, Zhang Jian hesitated to speak. Zhou Xuan was indeed lucky, capable, and had a strong background, but in the industry, if one didn't have good interpersonal relationships and was isolated, it would be difficult to survive.
Some time ago, Gu Laosan's troubles were resolved with the help of Wei Haihong, but Wei Haihong didn't want too many people to know. The police handled the matter discreetly, and Gu Laosan was arrested. However, outsiders didn't know the real reason. They thought Gu Laosan was just involved in smuggling and private antique transactions, and tax evasion, but they didn't know that it was all caused by Zhou Xuan's antique shop.
So to this day, the antique shop owners in Panjiayuan are still unaware of the truth. Zhang Jian had boasted before, saying he had powerful connections, but nowadays, everyone knows that everyone is just bragging. The more they brag, the better. Whether you believe it or not, everyone knows perfectly well.
In fact, the owners of these thousand antique shops all made a private agreement to be hostile to every new shop owner unless you have a very strong backing. Although Zhang Jian had invited them, it's not that easy.
We've all agreed to watch them fail today. When they open, none of their competitors will come, and then we'll squeeze their business dry. They won't last two months before they go bankrupt on their own.
Zhang Jian was really anxious. It was almost eleven o'clock, and still not a single antique shop owner had come over.
Zhang Jian went to the shop next door to ask, and the shop assistants there all said that the boss was not there, that he had something to do, and that he wouldn't be coming to the shop today. Wasn't this obviously making things difficult for them? Everyone has things to do, but it's impossible for everyone to have something to do at any given time. Many shop owners are in the shop almost every day, but they just happened to be absent today. Even a blind person could figure this out.
However, although the shop owners didn't come, other people did.
The first person to deliver the flower manure and gifts was Wei Haihe. The message on the flower basket banner was that Wei Haihe wished Zhou Zhangdian a prosperous business and abundant wealth. Wei Haihe was Wei Haihong's second brother and the secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee. He was the top person in Beijing, and Zhou Xuan was surprised that he was the first to deliver the gifts.
However, no one else knew who Wei Haihe was, and even if they did, they wouldn't believe it. They probably thought it was just someone with the same name, or a charade by Zhou Xuan and Zhang Jian to glorify themselves.
Zhang Jian had no idea how far he was from the highest-ranking figures in the capital, nor did he even think of it. But seeing the name reminded him of Wei Haihong, who was probably his brother.
Wei Haihe himself did not come; instead, he sent his secretary to deliver the gift. After the gift arrived, Zhou Xuan arranged for someone to deliver it to the hotel, as he had booked the entire hotel restaurant for the day.
Next came the Li family's gifts, from Li Lei and his two sons. Since his third son had married Zhou Ying, the two families were now relatives, so they had to come. If we're just talking about personal relationships, Li Lei would definitely be there, but his two sons might not be, since they were both officials in other places, one in a local government and the other in the military.
However, the flower baskets and gifts that came in only had names written on them, without any name of the organization or unit. Later, it was Wei Haihong's older brother, and then himself. Fu Yuanshan's gift, however, clearly stated Dongcheng Public Security Bureau. More and more people came.
Zhang Jian also noticed that many employees of antique shops had sneaked over to peek, probably to test the waters.
When Wei Haihong and Li Wei arrived, they didn't treat themselves as guests, but instead helped greet the guests. Naturally, the people in these antique shops didn't recognize them, but just because ordinary people didn't recognize them didn't mean that others didn't.
At exactly 11 o'clock, Yang Zhongjun arrived with seven or eight people, men and women. The men were handsome and the women were beautiful. The key point was that everyone knew them because they were celebrities, people that everyone saw on TV every day!
Besides Wang Ziqing and Lan Yin, Yang Zhongjun brought some of his most renowned veteran artists today, but Yuan Li was not among them.
Volume 1, Chapter 321: Blind to the Truth
To be honest, the celebrities that Yang Zhongjun brought today, according to Yang Zhongjun, were there to celebrate a friend's birthday and join in the fun. But when they arrived, they found out it was just an antique shop. They were a little puzzled. What could be so special about an ordinary antique shop that would attract so many big names?
But when these celebrities, including Yang Zhongjun, saw Wei Haihong and Li Wei, they were all taken aback!
Wei Haihong and Li Weiwei knew each other, especially Wei Haihong. Not to mention his status, Wei Haihong had many connections with business tycoons like Yang Zhongjun in Beijing's business circles. Who didn't know this heir with a net worth of hundreds of millions?
But today, they're here, in this ordinary antique shop, helping to greet customers. Is this something they would do? Where else are they treated like royalty, treated like royalty? Just being there is a huge favor to them. This is the first time they've ever seen someone doing manual labor for someone else!