Da Xiong, who was with his girlfriend, remained relatively calm. However, Monkey was so shocked that he could hardly speak. Although Pengcheng had developed several decent housing projects in recent years, firstly, Monkey and his friends had never been to any of them, and secondly, in terms of planning and landscaping, Pengcheng's housing projects were far inferior to those in Beijing.
"Look at you, so pathetic! Hey, honey, pinch me, is this for real?"
Da Xiong's joke made everyone laugh, and they took the elevator to the eighth floor.
Since the model apartment was mortgaged to Ouyang Jun, the furniture, air conditioner, television, and other items that were originally placed inside as a display were left inside. After changing the bedding with newly purchased items, it was ready to live in immediately.
Zhuang Rui walked around the house for a while, then said, "Daxiong, this is your first time in Beijing. Spend a few days exploring the city and getting familiar with the surroundings. Then go to the supermarket to buy the kitchen supplies. I'll take you to your workplace in a few days..."
"Brother Zhuang, you don't need to play anymore, you can go to work tomorrow..."
Da Xiong and the monkey quickly expressed their determination. What a joke! Living in a place like this, how could they sleep at night if they didn't work their butts off for Zhuang Rui?
Along the way, they had gotten to know Zhuang Rui quite well. Da Xiong's girlfriend, Xiao Jing, chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Zhuang, you've had a long holiday over the New Year. I can go back to work tomorrow..."
"No, you guys should enjoy your time in Beijing for a few days first. Here's 10,000 yuan for your living expenses this month. We can talk about work later..."
Zhuang Rui has really been busy these past few days. Qin Xuanbing is coming to Beijing tomorrow, and his own little corner of the world needs some attention too.
Chapter 553 Qin Shi Arrives in Beijing
"Uncle Qin, Aunt Fang, hello! Grandpa Qin, you're here too? This is my mother..."
Zhuang Rui, who had been waiting at the Capital Airport since around 10 a.m., immediately saw Qin Xuanbing helping an elderly person out of the airport exit and rushed over to greet them.
Zhuang Rui was surprised that Grandpa Qin had also come to Beijing. Fortunately, his mother had come with him to welcome his in-laws today; otherwise, it would have been quite impolite.
Although Grandpa Qin was nearly eighty years old, he was in excellent spirits. After exchanging a few polite words with Ouyang Wan, he turned to Zhuang Rui and said with a smile, "Hehe, Bing'er is my favorite granddaughter. Of course, this old man had to come to her engagement..."
The old man spoke in a loud and clear voice, attracting the attention of people coming and going in the airport terminal.
Zhuang Rui's group consisted of men with extraordinary bearing and women who were slender, tall, and beautiful, making it hard not to take a second look. Of course, the most attention was naturally focused on Qin Xuanbing.
"Grandpa Qin, let's go to the hotel first..."
Zhuang Rui walked to the side of Old Master Qin, reached out to support him, and together with Qin Xuanbing, helped the old man out of the airport, one on each side.
The weather in Beijing has been good this year. After a heavy snowfall before the Lunar New Year, the weather has been fine from New Year's Eve until now, and the temperature has also risen. However, after Mr. Qin walked out of the airport, he still shivered. Having lived in Hong Kong for a long time, he was really not used to the weather in the north.
Hao Long and Peng Fei, each in a car, were already waiting at the airport entrance. After everyone got into their cars, they headed to the hotel that Zhuang Rui had booked.
Zhuang Rui booked more than twenty rooms at a five-star hotel not far from his courtyard house, because many of his classmates and friends from other places would be coming for his engagement.
People like Wei Ge from Zhonghai, Lao San from Shaanxi, and Lao Si from Guangdong, not to mention Yue Jing from Beijing, will all be attending Zhuang Rui's engagement ceremony. In addition, Zhuang Rui sent out invitations to Uncle De and Fatty Ma from Shanxi before the new year, and they are expected to arrive in Beijing within the next day or two.
Zheng Hua of Zheng's Jewelry in Hong Kong, along with the Bai siblings, have also clearly stated their intention to attend Zhuang Rui's engagement ceremony. Hong Kong was formerly a British colony, and in Western culture, engagement is considered no less important than marriage. ...
"Honey, have you missed me?"
After having lunch with Grandpa Qin and the others, Zhuang Rui went to Qin Xuanbing's room, put his arms around her slender waist, lowered his head slightly, and greedily inhaled the fragrance of her hair.
Although Qin Xuanbing was wearing a knee-length coat today, Zhuang Rui's hand went deep under the coat hem and the first thing he touched was her incredibly elastic buttocks. Qin Xuanbing's slender waist was so delicate that it could be grasped in one hand and felt as soft as if it had no bones.
Smelling the fragrance emanating from Qin Xuanbing's body, Zhuang Rui's hands immediately became restless. After giving her incredibly elastic buttocks a squeeze, he reached inside Qin Xuanbing's underwear and began to roam upwards.
Once the unspoken understanding between a man and a woman is broken, the expression of feelings is often done through the most primal forms of human communication. Those scenes in movies where they spend hours talking about love after meeting are all bullshit. At least right now, what Zhuang Rui wants most is physical intimacy.
"No, it's broad daylight..."
Qin Xuanbing blushed at Zhuang Rui's actions and pushed him away with both hands. However, as Zhuang Rui's large hand moved from her waist to her chest, Qin Xuanbing's body went limp, her breathing became rapid, her eyes became hazy, her pretty face lifted up, her lips met his, and her small hands wrapped around Zhuang Rui's neck.
The room seemed to heat up instantly. Zhuang Rui kissed Qin Xuanbing's lips for two or three minutes before separating. For a moment, only two heavy breaths could be heard in the room.
Zhuang Rui's trousers also created a small tent, which he vigorously rubbed against Qin Xuanbing's high, upturned buttocks. As a result, their desire intensified, and their clothes became somewhat superfluous, with both of their hands frantically tearing at each other's clothes.
"Damn it, winter is such a hassle, why do you have to wear so many layers..."
Zhuang Rui spent ages unbuttoning the seven or eight buttons on Qin Xuanbing's coat. If it hadn't been so securely sewn, he probably would have ripped it open long ago. Summer is so much more convenient; you can just lift up the skirt and... well, you know...
"Why are you in such a hurry..."
Seeing Zhuang Rui's anxious look, Qin Xuanbing couldn't help but giggle. She pushed Zhuang Rui away, unbuttoned her coat, and took it off, revealing a close-fitting gray sweater and black leggings underneath, showing off her graceful figure.
"Ding-dong... ding-dong..."
Who is it?
Just as Zhuang Rui picked Qin Xuanbing up in his arms, the doorbell suddenly rang, making Zhuang Rui so angry that he almost lost his temper. He asked loudly and irritably.
"Xiao Rui, I'm your Uncle Qin. Come to my room, I need to talk to you about something..."
The reply from outside made Zhuang Rui stick out his tongue, and his lust instantly subsided. Qin Xuanbing in his arms blushed deeply, her little fists pounding against Zhuang Rui's body.
Zhuang Rui's impatient tone was so obvious that even a deaf person could tell what was going on. In broad daylight, Qin Xuanbing's blush deepened.
Zhuang Rui put Qin Xuanbing down, gently tucked her slightly disheveled hair behind her ear, and then asked, "Xuanbing, are you coming along?"
"How am I supposed to get there? It's all your fault, you're so mean..."
Qin Xuanbing's face was full of lust, which anyone could see. How could she be so embarrassed to go out? She just kept pinching Zhuang Rui's waist with one small hand to vent her anger. She was a perfectly normal girl, so why did she not know what to do when she saw this nemesis?
"Hehe, I'll let you punish me as you see fit, okay? You go and get some sleep first, I'll see what Uncle Qin wants with me..."
Zhuang Rui lowered his head and kissed Qin Xuanbing on the cheek, carried her to the bed, straightened his clothes, and then opened the door and went out. When he arrived at Qin Haoran's room, he found that Old Master Qin was also sitting in the living room of the suite. Zhuang Rui originally thought that he had gone to rest.
"Xiao Rui, come, sit down..."
Qin Haoran and the old man were both experienced people, and they could guess with their bare hands what the young couple had been doing in the room. So they didn't mention it at all and invited Zhuang Rui to sit down.
"Grandpa Qin, Uncle Qin, what can I do for you? By the way, where's Aunt Fang?"
Zhuang Rui first took the teacups from the room, rinsed them clean, and then brewed a cup of hot tea for both Grandpa Qin and Qin Haoran before sitting down on the sofa opposite Grandpa Qin.
Qin Haoran smiled and said, "Your Aunt Fang and your mother went shopping. They didn't need anything, they just wanted to talk to you about the jade they gambled away in Myanmar..."
Zhuang Rui looked astonished upon hearing this and asked, "What happened to those materials? Did the gamble fail? Uncle Qin, I told you before, I can't guarantee that they'll all yield jade..."
Zhuang Rui's expression at this moment was quite interesting, and his tone even revealed a hint of grievance, which made Old Master Qin and Qin Haoran chuckle, and also made the last bit of doubt in their hearts disappear.
"Hehe, it's not that we gambled away money, it's that we gambled big. Of all the rough stones we bought, except for three or four pieces that didn't contain any jade or were of extremely poor quality, the ones you asked us to bid on have basically all been profitable. For the next 10 years, Qin Ruilin will never have to worry about jadeite raw materials again..."
When Qin Haoran talked about the batch of raw stones, his eyebrows immediately lit up with excitement, and he seemed to be pointing out the flaws in the landscape with great confidence.
After leaving Myanmar, Qin Haoran immediately organized the company's top stone-cutting experts. Even during the Chinese New Year, they didn't rest. They spent more than 20 days cutting open all the jadeite rough stones they had bought in Myanmar. The result, of course, made him and his grandfather extremely happy.
Excluding the red jadeite piece unearthed in Myanmar, the nearly 100 million euros spent on the raw materials yielded nearly a thousand kilograms of rough jadeite containing glass-type, ice-type, and golden silk hibiscus-type jadeite. Although there were no top-grade imperial green varieties, the jadeite jewelry carved from these raw materials were the highest-end products on the market.
According to relevant assessments, the value of these jadeite raw materials is approximately over 3 billion yuan. If they were carved into jade ornaments, the value should not be less than 5 billion yuan. In other words, the profit from Qin's Jewelry's trip to Myanmar is as high as 50 times the investment.
It's important to understand that this is calculated in the hundreds of millions. The value of these jadeite pieces won in the gamble alone is already higher than the total assets of Qin's Jewelry. As a result, the rise of Qin's Jewelry is unstoppable.
It's important to understand that while the jewelry industry is highly profitable, it's still not as lucrative as the securities and finance industry. However, this industry is more stable and doesn't carry the same risks of dramatic ups and downs.
With these jadeite raw materials, even though Qin's Jewelry's foundation is not as strong as Hong Kong's Cheng's Jewelry, it is only a matter of time before it surpasses Cheng's Jewelry in terms of jadeite products alone.
Qin Haoran has already instructed several jade factories of Qin's Jewelry to rush production and stockpile a batch of high-end jadeite ornaments, waiting for the right opportunity to launch a major battle in the jadeite jewelry sales market across China and Hong Kong.
Zhuang Rui scratched his head and said with a smile, "Uncle Qin, you startled me. It's good that it's gone up..."
"Xiao Rui, this jade gambling venture was all thanks to you. Otherwise, the Qin family would have suffered huge losses, especially with those pieces that Haoran had his eye on..."
Qin Haoran, sitting to the side, blushed a little at what Old Master Qin said. However, it was the truth. Without the raw stone information provided by Zhuang Rui, his trip to Myanmar would probably have ended in failure again.
Chapter 554 A Towering Mountain to Admire
"Grandpa Qin, please don't say that. I was just lucky. There were also scraps that didn't yield any jade..."
Upon hearing Grandpa Qin's words, Zhuang Rui waved his hands repeatedly. Anyway, he had done many good deeds without leaving his name in the spirit of Lei Feng, so Zhuang Rui didn't care anymore. The main thing was... the key was that he couldn't explain this matter clearly.
"Xiao Rui, we're aware of these things. Without your help in selecting the rough stones, we wouldn't have had so many successful gambles. We've discussed it, and for the next two years, all the mid-to-high-end jadeite jewelry needed by this jewelry store in Beijing will be provided free of charge by the head office. It's just a small token of our appreciation..."
Qin Haoran's words surprised Zhuang Rui. Their small token of appreciation was quite valuable.
Currently, Qin Ruilin's monthly sales of jade jewelry in Beijing are around four million RMB, and they can be higher during holidays. If all the mid-to-high-end jade jewelry sold in the Beijing store within the next two years were supplied by Hong Kong, that would amount to more than one hundred million RMB.
This sum of money may seem substantial, but compared to Qin's Jewelry's gains at the Myanmar jade auction, it is insignificant, amounting to only a fraction of Qin's Jewelry's winnings in jade gambling.
Originally, Old Master Qin intended to give Zhuang Rui some shares of Qin's Jewelry, but fearing conflict among his sons, he compromised by supplying Qin Ruilin in Beijing for two years, which could be considered another helping Zhuang Rui.
However, with Qin's Jewelry doing this, it seems that the rough stones Zhuang Rui gambled on don't need to be cut open, which coincides with Zhuang Rui's idea of hoarding jadeite rough stones.
The rough stones gambled in Myanmar were sent to the Pengcheng villa long ago. Zhao Guodong was the one who received them. A few days ago, when Zhuang Rui was in Pengcheng, he took some time to cut out two high-grade icy jade stones.
From those two rough stones, Zhuang Rui extracted about 100 jin (50 kg) of jade, which he handed over to Zhao Guodong. This should be enough for Luo Jiang and his apprentices to carve for about a year. In other words, Zhuang Rui wouldn't have to worry about jade ornaments for the next three to five years.
As for the piece of yellow jade, it had already been sent to Beijing before Zhuang Rui returned, and it is now hidden in the basement of Zhuang Rui's courtyard house. Zhuang Rui has not yet figured out what to do with this piece of jade.
The solution definitely needs to be found, but this top-quality yellow jade is too precious. Zhuang Rui needs to sound out Old Master Gu's opinion on who should carve it. If Old Master Gu is willing to make a comeback, Zhuang Rui will immediately go and retrieve the material.
Given the rarity of that piece of yellow jade, if it could be carved into an object, it would definitely be the crown jewel of Qin Ruilin's shop in Beijing. Zhuang Rui dared to guarantee that no piece of yellow jade that had ever appeared in the domestic jade market could compare with his own yellow jade rough in terms of quality and size.
"this……"
"Alright, let's do as Haoran says. Come to think of it, we're the ones who benefited from you..."
When Old Master Qin saw Zhuang Rui about to decline, he waved his hand and settled the matter. Zhuang Rui had won so many rough stones this time, and there was no guarantee that he could do it again next time. If he was too stingy, he would be embarrassed to ask Zhuang Rui to help him gamble on stones again in the future.
"Then thank you, Grandpa Qin..."
Seeing the old man's resolute attitude, Zhuang Rui stopped being coy. He knew perfectly well how much the rough stone he had Qin Haoran bid for was worth.
"Well, Xiao Zhuang, do you think it would be possible for me to visit General Ouyang and Mr. Ouyang Zhenhua sometime?"
After discussing the jade, Old Master Qin made a request to Zhuang Rui. After Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, the wealthy businessmen in Hong Kong had become increasingly close to the mainland's high-ranking officials. The level of people one could associate with on the mainland had implicitly become a symbol of one's status and position in Hong Kong.
The Ouyang family is currently at the height of its power in mainland politics. The older generation has Ouyang Gang, who is as powerful as Hu Jintao, and Ouyang Zhenhua, who has entered the central power structure. Even if one could meet these two, it would be enough to make many people look at Qin's Jewelry with new respect, even without any substantial results.
Zhuang Rui hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, and said, "Seeing my maternal grandfather is no problem, I can arrange it tomorrow, but seeing my maternal uncle... I might need to ask first, I don't even know if he's in Beijing..."
"It's alright, let's meet General Ouyang first. I've admired him for a long time, but I've never had the chance to meet him..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Old Master Qin stood up happily, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, go keep Xuan Bing company. This old man has disturbed you young people's intimacy; Xuan Bing will complain again later..."
The old man's words made Zhuang Rui's face turn red, a rare occurrence for him.
After leaving Qin Haoran's room, Zhuang Rui returned to Qin Xuanbing's guest room. Upon entering, he found Qin Xuanbing already asleep, a sweet smile on her sleeping face.
"The phone's ringing, the phone's ringing..."
Just as Zhuang Rui took off his coat and was about to crawl into the fragrant quilt, his phone suddenly rang, waking Qin Xuanbing from her sleep.