Yang's father was also over fifty years old, and he became quite shy as he spoke, looking at everyone in the room with some embarrassment.
"Don't take big breaths when you speak, just say it all in one breath."
Seeing Yang's father's appearance, Uncle De was also curious about what his second condition was.
"Secondly, this item, you mustn't spread the word that I paid a certain amount for it. If you agree, then I'll buy it."
Yang's father finally stated his conditions. Upon hearing this, Uncle De, Zhuang Rui, and Boss Cheng exchanged glances and then burst into laughter.
"You old codger, you're almost 60 and you still have these thoughts, haha, fine. I promise you, and you guys, don't spread this around today."
Uncle De laughed as he spoke to the somewhat bewildered Song Xingjun and his sister, as well as Miao Feifei. The group nodded in agreement, assuming that Boss Yang must not want his wealth to be flaunted, which was why he asked them to keep it a secret.
Zhuang Rui and Uncle De knew that Yang's father's request was actually to satisfy his desire to find bargains. Over the years, he had collected quite a few items and spent a fortune, but he hadn't managed to find a single high-quality item.
Every city has its own circle of collectors. Within this circle, whoever has the most or the finest collection has the loudest voice and the most authority. Although Yang's father is a big boss outside, he has repeatedly made mistakes and paid his dues in the collecting world, so he is often ridiculed by people in the circle. His second condition is probably to use this Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup as a bargain he found to brag about in the circle, which is why Uncle De and Zhuang Rui laughed out loud.
"Hey bro, you still haven't thrown away that cabinet you had made last time, have you? After I fix this porcelain piece, you can put it in there. Hey, that would be so prestigious, haha."
Uncle De didn't care that the younger generation was present and joked with Yang's father. The cabinet he mentioned was specially made by Yang's father last year for the Xuande incense burner that he bought from the tagalong. It even had several spotlights installed on it.
Seeing the group catching up, Zhuang Rui quietly told Miao Feifei and the others about Yang's father. They smiled to themselves as they listened. Song Xingjun and her brother also smiled because the medical expenses that had been troubling them would soon be resolved.
"Alright, alright. I've already paid quite a bit of tuition, so don't embarrass me in front of the younger generation. Xiao Zhuang, ask them if they want a bank transfer or a cash check. If they want a transfer, I'll have someone go with you to do it."
Having suffered many losses, Yang's father didn't care about Uncle De's criticism and turned to ask Zhuang Rui what kind of transaction they wanted to make.
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui glanced at Song Xingjun and her brother. He said, "Let's just use cash or a check. We won't trouble you, Uncle Yang."
"Okay, next time you have something good, remember to save some for me. You're much better than my little brat. He takes out a few things from my whole house and sells them every now and then. He's such a spendthrift."
Zhuang Rui laughed at Yang's father's words. Yang Wei did indeed take out a few items from his collection room, but after Uncle De appraised them, they were all fake. Wei was so angry that he refused to enter his father's so-called treasure room again.
Zhuang Rui took the check from Yang's father, who had already written the amount, glanced at it, and handed it to Song Huan. Seeing that Song Huan was about to fold it up and put it in her pocket after looking at it for a while, Zhuang Rui quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't fold this check, otherwise the bank might refuse to accept it. Go to the Bank of China now, open an account, and then transfer the money on this check into your account."
"Zhuang Rui, thank you!"
Zhuang Rui's words startled Song Huan, who quickly handed the check to her sister. Song Xingjun took it, carefully put it in her handbag, and pulled her brother to stand up, bowing deeply to Zhuang Rui.
"No, what are you doing, Nurse Song? If you want to thank someone, I should be thanking you. If it weren't for your comforting words when I was injured, I don't know what would have happened. Let's not thank each other. You should hurry up and transfer the money to the bank, and then hurry up and get Uncle to see a doctor. I will visit Uncle in the hospital when I have time."
Zhuang Rui dared not accept the two men's courtesy and stepped aside to let them pass. It was only because he recognized Song Xingjun that he did so. Otherwise, back at the City God Temple, Zhuang Rui would have definitely taken out 300,000 to snag this bargain. It would have been worth over a million in one transaction. However, Zhuang Rui did not regret it. Helping Song Xingjun this time was also a way of fulfilling one of his own wishes.
"Let's go, let's continue shopping."
After Song Xingjun and her brother left, Zhuang Rui saw the three old men chatting happily to themselves, so he took Miao Feifei and left.
Although Zhuang Rui had been in Zhonghai for five or six years, he had only ever been to school and worked, so he hadn't been to many places, let alone nearby Suzhou and other places. The next morning, he picked up Miao Feifei, and the two drove to Zhouzhuang in Suzhou. They had a great day there, and after two days, Miao Feifei had come to regard Zhuang Rui as a close friend.
After a pleasant weekend, Zhuang Rui returned to his work at the pawnshop. His responsibilities had grown considerably; he not only had to oversee the overall management but also manage the pawnshop's investment strategies and the auction house's business. These responsibilities were largely delegated to Wang Yiding and Lai Jingdong.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. During these two months, Wang Yiding and his partner successfully auctioned off several items from their inventory, achieving remarkable results. As for the authenticity of the auctioned items, Zhuang Rui didn't inquire. He had already explicitly suggested to the investment company that the two men handle all auction-related business, and that they bear all the rights and responsibilities. ...
"Uncle De, take a look at the unredeemed items we've collected recently. Something seems off about them."
After get off work one day, Zhuang Rui kept Uncle De behind and handed him a piece of paper. The paper recorded the pawned items that Wang Yiding had collected over the past month. The amount and items on the paper were quite suspicious.
Chapter 157 Scam
The paper Zhuang Rui handed to Uncle De recorded the number and value of the unredeemed luxury goods that Wang Yiding had received from the pawnshop over the past year. The total number of items was 98, involving 9.72 million RMB. Among them, four items were items that Wang Yiding had mistakenly accepted, resulting in a loss of 290,000 RMB.
Of the remaining 94 jewelry and luxury goods items, 88 were sold through auctions and self-sales, generating RMB 13.6 million. Overall, the results were quite good. Apart from the antiques project and forfeited real estate mortgages managed by Uncle De, Wang Yiding's luxury goods business was one of the more important profit points within the pawnshop.
However, since Zhuang Rui took over as manager of the pawnshop, in just two months, Wang Yiding has accepted thirty-two luxury items as pawned goods. Fifteen of these were short-term pawns with a term of one or two weeks, and now that the term has long passed, they are unpawned. Yesterday, Lai Jingdong came to Zhuang Rui's office, claiming that twelve of these fifteen luxury items were counterfeit, and submitted a list of the items to Zhuang Rui.
After careful examination, Zhuang Rui discovered that among these fake luxury items, eight were jewelry pieces and three were luxury watches. Yesterday afternoon, Zhuang Rui and Lai Jingdong went to the bank to have these eleven items re-appraised and found that they were indeed all counterfeit.
Wang didn't mention any of the eleven counterfeit jewelry and watches, only reporting that a laptop was a fake pawn. According to Wang, he saw that the labels and data on the computer matched the invoice, so he gave it 5,000 yuan as collateral. However, a week later, after the pawn period ended and the computer became unclaimed, he installed system software and discovered that the computer had been technically disguised, with its specifications updated to a new model.
The pawnshop spent a total of 550,000 yuan on this, which means that in just two months, the number of counterfeit items received by the pawnshop has far exceeded the total amount of counterfeit items received in the entire previous year. Why did Wang Yi conceal this? Lai Jingdong could tell that they were fake, so how could he not? This made Zhuang Rui, who was naturally quite perceptive, immediately sense the shady dealings involved.
To be honest, Zhuang Rui spent most of his time learning about antique appraisal from Uncle De over the past two months. He examined all the valuable traditional Chinese jade jewelry in the collection, as well as authentic paintings and calligraphy by famous artists such as Li Keran and Sun Yuntian. Under Uncle De's guidance, he also saw many collections from renowned collectors in China, which broadened his horizons considerably. His understanding of antiques, both theoretically and practically, is now vastly different from what it was two months ago.
Qin Xuanbing and Lei Lei also came to Zhonghai a month ago, but for only three days. Zhuang Rui even put aside his work to accompany them the whole time, which made Miss Qin very satisfied. It was just a pity that Liu Chuan was not there and could not lure away Lei Lei, the third wheel, so Zhuang Rui's idea of getting close to her failed.
So for the past two months, Zhuang Rui really hasn't been very attentive to the work at the pawnshop. Apart from producing a real estate investment proposal, he's delegated all the other work to Wang Yiding and Lai Jingdong. Now it seems that his concessions have made Wang Yiding restless and increasingly outrageous.
Uncle De looked at the data on the paper, his expression gradually becoming serious. After a while, he put the paper on the coffee table and unconsciously tapped it with his middle finger.
“Uncle De, in the past, pawnshops had clerks and tellers. The teller was usually the head manager of the pawnshop. In larger pawnshops, there were even second and third managers. If you wanted to pawn an item, it would probably have to go through several people. But here, the appraisal of luxury goods is decided by Wang Yi. Uncle De, there’s probably something fishy going on here.”
Zhuang Rui's words interrupted the sound of Uncle De's fingers tapping on the coffee table. He naturally knew a hundred times more about the situation inside the pawnshop than Zhuang Rui did. And what was happening in the pawnshop now made the appraisers less constrained.
"A scam!"
Uncle De's face was contorted with rage, and he forced out two words. He grabbed the paper on the coffee table with his right hand and crumpled it into a ball. In his experience, if he couldn't see through these clues, then he had wasted decades of his life.
"Uncle De, please don't get agitated. We don't have any evidence. If we confront him directly, Wang will definitely deny it to the death, and there's nothing we can do about it. At most, he'll resign and leave. We need to study this matter carefully and see how we can find something to hold against him so that he can get the money he swindled from the pawnshop back. That way, we can minimize our losses."
Uncle De's expression softened upon hearing this. He had been working as a waiter in the pawnshop since he was a teenager, and he valued the duties of this profession above all else. Therefore, he deeply resented Wang Yiding's actions. It was clear that Wang Yiding colluded with outsiders to exchange fake jewelry and watches for pawn money. After the items became unredeemed, he then colluded with people in the auction house to sell these counterfeit jewelry items under the guise of unredeemed items from the pawnshop. In this way, the items were sold. And on the surface, the pawnshop didn't suffer any losses. However, if this matter got out, the pawnshop's reputation would be ruined.
Wang Yiding could make money in two ways during this process. First, he could swindle money from the pawnshop. Second, he could get a substantial commission after the fake unredeemed items were auctioned off at the auction house. Judging from the current amount of money involved, it is more than 500,000 yuan, which is enough to make Wang Yiding take the risk.
"Xiao Zhuang, how do you think we should handle this? If this were in the past, a traitor like this would either be beaten to death or thrown into a pig cage and drowned in the Huangpu River. These young people nowadays, sigh..."
Uncle De was really angry at his son's lack of ambition. This Wang must have been an appraiser introduced by an old friend of his. He did a pretty good job last year, but as soon as he got power this year, he started to do crooked things. This made Uncle De lose face.
Zhuang Rui smiled and said, "Uncle De, this is actually all my fault. If the previous system hadn't been changed and they didn't have the right to contact the auction house, Wang certainly wouldn't have dared to do this. After this matter is resolved, I will submit a written report to the investment company and offer my resignation."
When Uncle De saw that Zhuang Rui was about to resign, he quickly said, "Little Zhuang, this won't do. I, this old man, will have to bear the consequences. At worst, I'll quit being a consultant and go home to enjoy my retirement. You're still young. It will be beneficial for you to gain more experience in this position for a few more years."
"No, Uncle De, you've been wise all your life, don't ruin your reputation in your later years. This isn't a big deal, I promise to handle it properly. Besides, Uncle De, you know that my family's businesses are doing quite well, and they've called me several times to urge me to come back, but the leaders of the investment company have treated me well. I'm just using this as an excuse to resign."
Zhuang Rui's words were half true and half an excuse. His brother-in-law Zhao Guodong's repair shop business was booming. In the past two months, after deducting expenses such as wages and factory premises, the monthly net profit was 80,000 to 90,000 yuan. Zhuang Rui's investment had basically been recovered.
Liu Chuan's Tibetan Mastiff kennel project was completed long ago. He and Zhou Rui made another trip to Tibet and brought back two male Tibetan Mastiffs and four female Tibetan Mastiffs. However, the mating season for Tibetan Mastiffs is in December each year. Now Liu Chuan is preparing for the Shanxi International Tibetan Mastiff Expo at the end of June, aiming to make Pengcheng Tibetan Mastiff Kennel a household name. He called Zhuang Rui several times to urge him to come along.
What truly made Zhuang Rui decide to resign from his pawnshop job was a phone call from Song Jun. In the call, Song Jun invited Zhuang Rui to attend a jade trade fair held in Pingzhou in early June. Zhuang Rui still vividly remembers the scene that happened at the Nanjing Jade and Jewelry Exhibition and wanted to see a larger jade trading market, so he agreed on the phone.
However, when Zhuang Rui calculated the time, he had to go to Pingzhou, Guangdong in early June and then to Shanxi to participate in the Tibetan Mastiff Expo at the end of the month. This meant that he could not stay in Zhonghai for the entire month of June. Rather than taking a long leave after only a few months of work, Zhuang Rui simply had the idea of resigning. In any case, he had crammed a lot of theoretical knowledge of antique appreciation in the past two months, so he would not be embarrassed in some situations.
"So how do you plan to handle this?"
Uncle De knew that Zhuang Rui's ambitions had long since shifted, so he didn't try to persuade him to stay. In the past two months, Uncle De had already shared his decades of experience and insights into antiques with Zhuang Rui. The rest was up to Zhuang Rui to learn more about various antique objects in the future, as he had nothing more to teach him.
"Uncle De, please take a look at these videos first."
Zhuang Rui sat down at his desk and turned the computer screen slightly toward Uncle De.
"This woman appeared a total of fifteen times. Eleven of those times were in the pawnshop's reception room. Uncle De, look, she's holding a watch. In other shots, she's holding fake pawned items. The other four times were captured by the camera at the pawnshop's entrance. Uncle De, look at this shot again. Isn't the man next to this woman Wang Yiding? Actually, this is enough to prove the problem. Wang Yiding colluded with outsiders to defraud the pawnshop of its pawn money with counterfeit jewelry. This has already broken the law, and we can definitely call the police."
Zhuang Rui pointed to the footage transferred from the camera on the computer and showed it to Uncle De one by one. He wanted to resolve this issue through legal means. Wang Yiding's actions constituted fraud. Although these videos could not be used as evidence, they could be used as evidence to report the crime.
"Call the police?"
After pondering for a while, Uncle De slowly shook his head.
Chapter 158 Call the Police When in Trouble
"Officer Miao, don't just focus on eating. I called you here today to report a situation to the police."
Zhuang Rui looked at Miao Feifei across the table, who was eating and drinking heartily, and couldn't help but feel a little helpless. He just couldn't understand why this girl could eat so much every time and still have such a good figure.
For the past two months, Miao Feifei has been treating Zhuang Rui's house like a canteen, coming over for a meal every now and then. However, Miao Feifei is also very generous, and she will treat Zhuang Rui to a nice meal every now and then. The two really get along like buddies, which makes Wei Ge exclaim that there is something going on between them every time he sees the two of them together.
After Zhuang Rui helped Song Xingjun sell the chicken cup and she had money, her father's condition was brought under control and is gradually improving. This made Song Xingjun very grateful to Zhuang Rui. When she had free time, she would often buy groceries and cook for him at his house. Over time, she and Miao Feifei also became friends, and the two would occasionally visit Zhuang Rui's house together. However, Song Xingjun wasn't there today; Zhuang Rui had invited Miao Feifei alone.
"Why did you call me instead of following the proper channels to report the crime? I'm just a junior traffic cop."
After Miao Feifei finished eating and drinking, she wiped her mouth with satisfaction, patted her tummy, and looked at Zhuang Rui with a teasing expression.
"Alright, tell me whether you'll help or not. If you don't, I'll call 110 right now and tell them that a rude guest has come to our house to eat and drink for free."
"Little Zhuangzi, not bad, you've learned to threaten people."
Miao Feifei waved her little fist, but still didn't dare to hit Zhuang Rui. The reason was that when she joked with Zhuang Rui last time, the dress she was wearing was torn into a cheongsam by Bai Shi, which gave Zhuang Rui quite a feast for the eyes.
"Where are you looking? I'll gouge your eyes out if you're not careful."
It's almost June now, and the weather is getting hot. Miao Feifei is wearing only a tight and short t-shirt on top and low-waisted jeans on the bottom. When she stretches, her fair and flat stomach is completely exposed, making it visible to Zhuang Rui sitting opposite her.
"Cough...cough cough, it's not like I haven't seen it before."
"What did you say? Say it again!"
"Oh, I didn't say anything. I just said you have good teeth and a good appetite. You finished all the food on my table."
When Zhuang Rui was a child, his mother often tutored students overtime. He and his sister both developed excellent cooking skills. The time when Wei Ge got his driver's license back from Miao Feifei, Zhuang Rui personally cooked a few dishes. Ever since Miao Feifei ate Zhuang Rui's cooking that time, she often bought good ingredients for Zhuang Rui to cook, and Wei Ge also ate there many times.
"Here, take a good look and give me some professional advice later. Stop bragging about your criminal investigation background all the time. Show me some real skills."
Zhuang Rui handed Miao Feifei a document and got up to clear the dishes. Zhuang Rui had only entertained four people here before: Miao Feifei and Wei Ge, who were both foodies, and Uncle De. So, the task of washing the dishes after the meal naturally fell to him.
"Zhuang Rui, you have detailed information on this woman named Li Xia. Since she has had multiple contacts with the target, why not just take her down and use some methods? You should ask the Criminal Investigation Division to handle this."
Miao Feifei frowned as she looked at the information Zhuang Rui had given her. Judging from the multiple contacts between this woman named Li Xia and the suspect, it should be a case of collusion between insiders and outsiders to defraud pawnbrokers. Such a case should be handed over to an experienced criminal investigator, and the truth should be revealed in less than three days.
"Hey, Gege, if I could just call the police, why would I need to come to you? I want you to handle this privately, to subdue this woman, or to get evidence out of her. Hmm, that's a bit much for you, but that's how you'll demonstrate your abilities."
While flattering him, Zhuang Rui brought out the washed grapes and other fruits. You need both spiritual and material encouragement to get someone to do a favor.
Initially, Zhuang Rui was inclined to call the police, believing the matter should be handled by professionals. However, after some consideration, Uncle De decided to handle it internally first, because if the matter were to get out, the impact would be too great. Not only would it cause consumers to distrust pawnshops, but the auction house would also be held responsible. In that case, Zhuang Rui, Uncle De, and their pawnshop would become public enemies of the industry.
So Uncle De and Zhuang Rui discussed it and decided to start with the woman whose signature was Li Xia. Once they had evidence that Wang Yiding was colluding with outsiders to commit fraud, they wouldn't have to worry about him denying it. Presumably, he would make a smart choice between returning the stolen goods and going to jail. And with Uncle De's connections, once this matter spread throughout the industry, Wang Yiding would probably have no choice but to go abroad to make a living. No matter what industry, no one would hire someone like him who betrays his own people.
"That's not difficult, but Little Zhuangzi, if I help you, how will you thank me?"
Miao Feifei could tell from Zhuang Rui's information that neither of the perpetrators were experienced; there were flaws everywhere. Starting with this woman would likely be an easy way to find a breakthrough.
"You've been eating my food for over two months, so it's time you helped me with some work. You won't have the chance to help me anymore. After this matter is resolved, I will voluntarily resign from the company."
Zhuang Rui's voice was a little low. This was the longest job he had held since graduation. Although he had made up his mind, he was still a little reluctant to leave, especially since his close friend Uncle De had benefited him greatly.
"What? You want to resign! This has nothing to do with you, why do you want to resign? I'll handle it for you and that'll be fine."
Miao Feifei's reaction was stronger than Zhuang Rui had expected; it was as if she had made a mistake and was about to resign.
"I've had the idea of resigning for a while now. This is just an excuse. My mother is getting old, so I'll probably spend more time in Pengcheng in the future. Of course, I also have a home here in Zhonghai. I'll come here often in the future."
Zhuang Rui's words were unclear; he wasn't sure if he was explaining to Miao Feifei or comforting himself. According to his previous plan, he intended to work at the pawnshop for a year or two before starting his own business. He hadn't expected to leave after only two months. If he had known this would happen, Zhuang Rui wouldn't have bought this house.