The next morning, after Zhao Lao Er got up, he woke Zhou Xuan up and muttered, "No electricity, no air conditioning, nothing! What kind of hotel is this?!"
Zhou Xuan naturally couldn't reveal that he was the one behind it all and that the hotel had nothing to do with it. After washing up, he had breakfast with Zheng Bing and the others. By noon, the money on the check had been cashed. Zhao Lao Er was now incredibly smug; after all, he was a multi-millionaire now!
According to Zhao Lao Er's idea, he just wanted to go to a carefree place to relax, otherwise it wouldn't be enough to express his joy!
But with Zhong Qin around, he couldn't bring himself to say it. And Zhou Xuan didn't seem to have that kind of feeling either; he could only suppress it deep inside.
Zhong Qin arrived in the morning, but Zhou Xuan and Zhao Lao Er waited until noon when the check was due before going to Lin Shitu's place.
The hotel electrician discovered the cause: copper wires in the power lines of over twenty rooms had mysteriously disappeared. Both the security camera footage and the wiring inspection yielded no clues. Crucially, the power outage occurred in an instant; even if someone had stolen the wires, it would be impossible for them to act so quickly, especially with people in the rooms. How could they have stolen the wires without anyone noticing?
Furthermore, the wiring in the room is all concealed, hidden inside the walls, and the outer sheath of the copper wires is completely undamaged; only the copper wires in the middle are missing. Only a god or ghost could have this ability; otherwise, it would be impossible for anyone to steal it!
The hotel electrician attributed the minor issue to aging wiring, possibly due to excessive current burning out the wire core. However, this explanation didn't hold water, as there were no signs of melting on the wire. There were no other explanations, so the matter was left unresolved.
Rewiring more than twenty rooms is no easy task. The hotel changed Zhou Xuan and his group's rooms, and it wasn't until after noon that the five of them drove to Lin Shitu's factory.
Lin Shitu had already received the check from Zhou Xuan, but of course he didn't care about it at all. He had also investigated Zhou Xuan's affairs through connections, and he had a thorough understanding of Jin Pangzi's situation. He had some connections with the highest-ranking officials in the prison, and Lin Shitu had also learned some things through these connections. Although he didn't fully understand Zhou Xuan's background, he was certain that Zhou Xuan was someone with a very powerful background in the capital, which further strengthened his determination to cultivate a good relationship with Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan's raw materials were all loaded onto the truck and sealed properly; even Zhou Bo's truckload had been brought over. They were just waiting for Zhou Xuan to prepare the truck, but Zhou Xuan was considering whether to go to Myanmar, as he wasn't familiar with the area or the raw material procurement process. He needed help from someone he knew.
Furthermore, Zhou Xuan took over all of Lin Shitu's goods. The vast majority of what remained was scrap, but that was only from Zhou Xuan's perspective; for Lin Shitu and the other merchants, it was still a treasure!
Volume 1, Chapter 170: Identifying Jade
Both Zhao Lao Er and the young stall owner were taken aback.
Zhou Xuan picked up the fragment of the Guanyin statue and held it out to the shopkeeper, saying, "Take a look for yourself. Glass base, coated with a layer of green varnish. Is this top-quality? Even if it is, it's still decent. But this isn't jade at all; it's water glass. It's so cheap it couldn't be cheaper. The cost is probably less than five yuan!"
Zhao Lao Er paused for a moment, then asked, "What are you talking about comparing goods?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "The 'comparison of goods' refers to the three technical standards established by the State Bureau of Technical Supervision based on the jadeite jewelry currently sold on the market. These standards are essentially 'goods,' but they don't represent the grade of jadeite. They simply categorize jadeite into three types based on its quality. The first type is made from natural jadeite raw materials, where the texture and color haven't been artificially altered, maintaining its natural essence. This type of jadeite jewelry is called 'goods.' High-end jadeite sold in stores doesn't need to be labeled 'natural' or 'goods,' but it is definitely 'goods.'"
Zhou Xuan placed several fragments on the stall and said, "Some low-grade jadeite raw materials or semi-finished products are dirty, grayish-black, have poor water content, and are relatively dry, but have green or dark colors. After artificial chemical and physical treatment, their transparency can be increased, and the color can be made more attractive. However, this kind of strong artificial corrosion treatment will destroy the original structure of the jadeite, making it soft. Therefore, organic glue is filled in to fix it, which reduces its quality. Moreover, the filler is organic, which will age over time, slowly turn yellow, and produce many cracks. The bright color will also fade. At this point, it is worthless. This is the kind of goods, also known as 'new jadeite small pieces' in the market. After being made into finished products, they are almost indistinguishable from real high-quality jadeite. However, there are still ways to identify them!"
"Look at this!" Zhou Xuan said, picking up a fragment of Guanyin and pointing to the glass mirror. "This piece has several drawbacks. First, it's fragile and easily broken; when it bumps into each other, the sound is short and unclear. Second, it will age and discolor, but this process takes a while, generally three to five years, at most five years. After the color fades, it's worthless. Third, the 'enhancing' process requires the use of highly corrosive chemicals like aqua regia. Wearing it is harmful and offers no benefit. And now, the market has seen the use of water glass and silicone as fillers, replacing resin, making it even harder to identify. Like this Guanyin statue, it's made of water glass in the middle; it's not even a genuine product, just something coated with a layer of green varnish!"
"Inferior jadeite or organic matter has low hardness. Jadeite, both domestically and internationally, is divided into two main categories: nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite is the type of jade produced in China, which has low hardness. Jadeite, on the other hand, is called jadeite or corundum. It has the highest hardness among jade types, reaching Mohs scale 7, while ordinary glass only has a Mohs scale of about 5.5. If you take a knife and scratch real jadeite, you won't be able to leave any marks. But if it's fake, its hardness will definitely not reach that level. You can tell the difference between real and fake by scratching it against glass!"
Zhou Xuan smiled and looked at Zhao Lao Er, who then suddenly realized and pointed at the Guanyin fragments, saying, "Oh, I understand. It means that if it's fake, it will shatter like glass when it hits something hard. If it's real, then it's like glass breaking, and there's nothing wrong with it itself. This Guanyin statue is broken, so it's fake!"
The Guanyin image is very obvious because real jade, regardless of its grade, has the same color inside and out. It is impossible for the inside to be one color while the outer layer is another color.
Zhao Lao Er muttered to himself, "But this method is a bit too much. If you don't break it, you won't be able to recognize it."
The young stall owner's face turned extremely ugly for a moment. After listening to Zhou Xuan's words, he suddenly slammed his hand on the stall and shouted, "What are you doing, acting all high and mighty? You've damaged my jade Guanyin statue. Pay me three thousand yuan right now, or you'll be in big trouble!"
Zhao Lao Er was furious. He took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and threw it on the stall, angrily saying, "You want three thousand yuan for fake stuff? Here's a hundred yuan, take it and buy twenty more to cheat people!"
He couldn't help but be angry. The price he initially agreed on was 1200, but it had jumped to 3000 in the blink of an eye. However, Zhao Lao Er wasn't afraid of the stall owner's ruthless tactics; he was backed by four thugs: Zheng Bing, Jiang Jin, Zhang Shan, and Wu Feng! Zhou Xuan, naturally, wasn't worried either, and said calmly, "Boss, this thing is obviously fake. If it were real, its value would be far more than 3000 yuan. It would be at least 5 million yuan. Do you think 3000 yuan is worth it?"
The boss, hands on his hips, yelled, "Damn it, trying to renege on your debt? Are you trying to take advantage of having more people?" He then shouted towards the outside of his stall, "Brothers, come out! Someone's trying to renege on their payment!"
His shout immediately drew more than a dozen young men from other stalls, all rushing over menacingly. It's clear these stall owners were all in cahoots, working together beforehand. Whenever someone caused trouble at any stall, a shout was all it took for them to come running. Usually, these were tourists from out of town, and the transactions were likely only a few tens or hundreds of yuan. Locals would probably just accept their bad luck; they certainly wouldn't buy jade from these roadside stalls.
"Zhang Jiang. What's up?"
"Break his hand if he tries to renege on his debt."
A dozen or so people surrounded Zhou Xuan and his group of six. The group with more people were shouting and gesturing wildly.
To be honest, Zhou Xuan really didn't want to get into a fight with this young street vendor named Zhang Jiang. He was just a small-time vendor struggling to survive at the very bottom of society, and even though he was a liar, what tourist wouldn't know it was fake? They were just after cheap goods; what ordinary tourist wouldn't buy some inexpensive items to take back as gifts for family and friends?
Having experienced more and gained more experience, Zhou Xuan's mindset had become much calmer. He sighed and said to Zhang Jiang, "Boss, you always have to leave yourself a way out. You don't earn money easily. To be honest, if you were capable, you wouldn't be setting up a street stall here, would you? There are some people you can't afford to offend. What you're doing isn't exactly good either. Although it's not a major evil, it's still cheating people, isn't it? Let's just forget about it. Zhao Er, let's go!"
Zhao Lao Er was already a little angry, and when he saw Zheng Bing, Jiang Jin, and the other two blocking his and Zhou Xuan's way from all sides, ready to strike as soon as they made a move, he was taken aback when he heard Zhou Xuan say in a low-key manner that they should just leave.
Zhang chuckled coldly:
"Handsome. He'll be old if he doesn't lose money." Fan Jing thought to himself. He'd use half of the 1,000 yuan to go drinking and eating with his brothers, making a pure profit of 1,600 yuan.
Zhou Xuan felt pity for Zhang Jiang. After all, Zhang Jiang was not like Fatty Jin. Fatty Jin was a great villain, and Zhou Xuan did not pity him for what he did. But Zhang Jiang was just a street vendor trying to make a living. If Jiang Jin and his group made a move, they would lose their hands and feet. If it got out of hand and reached the authorities, these people would be fined and detained. Zhou Xuan really couldn't bear to see them suffer.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xuan took out his wallet. He counted out thirty bills from a stack of cash, placed them on Zhang Jiang's stall, and said calmly, "Fine, here's the money. Don't cause any trouble!" Although he spoke fiercely, Zhang Jiang backed down. With the money given, there was no need for Zhang Jiang and his gang to cause any more trouble. They could handle small skirmishes, but they wouldn't dare to cause any major incidents. They wouldn't be lenient with small matters, such as a few hundred or a thousand yuan, but anything tens of thousands or more would be considered robbery or extortion, which they still wouldn't dare to do.
Zhou Xuan gave the money, signaled Zheng Bing and the other three not to mess with him, and dragged Zhao Lao Er forward.
Zhao Lao Er still sensed the pity in Zhou Xuan's eyes. He thought that Zhou Xuan had more money than he could ever spend, so he might as well let this little thing go. He hadn't lost anything anyway. No matter how wicked Zhang Jiang was, he wasn't as wicked as Fatty Jin. So he didn't say anything more and obediently followed Zhou Xuan away.
Seeing that Zhou Xuan had not indicated that he would take action and there was no danger, Zheng Bing and the other three did not make a move and quietly followed behind the two.
After taking a few steps, Zhao Lao Er stopped talking about that matter and started talking about jade again!
"Oh, I remember now. You didn't say what the goods were earlier. They're fake too, right?"
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said as they walked, "This 'enhanced jade' involves artificially dyeing colorless or pale jade to create vibrant colors, such as red and green, on top of the existing treatment. However, there are clear national regulations that require the words 'enhanced jade' to be clearly stated on the product description; otherwise, it's considered fraudulent selling of inferior goods!"
Zhao Lao Er chuckled and said, "These goods from Zhangjiang don't have any comparison tags, do they?"
"Hehe, you rascal!" Zhou Xuan laughed. "Of course he's lying, but it's a roadside stall. Think about it, no matter what they're selling, who would buy it if a roadside stall sold it at a high price?"
"That's true." Zhao Lao Er said with great interest, "Little brother, I only realized today that your knowledge is a little bit higher than mine. Tell me more about the fake jade, so I won't be fooled in the future!"
Zhao Lao Er really wanted to enter this industry. He thought to himself that if he didn't master this knowledge, he would definitely be fooled. Just now, if it weren't for Zhou Xuan, he might have spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy a few things that were only worth a few yuan.
Zhou Xuan smiled. His knowledge was all memorized from books, but his real skill was the ability to manipulate ice energy, which of course could not be passed on.
"Second brother, there are countless ways to fake things, and I only know a little bit about it. Compared to the experts, I'm far behind!" Zhou Xuan said with a smile. This was not modesty; it was the truth.