Li Wei picked up another chopstickful of the side dish stir-fried with the crab meat, ate it, and asked, "Uncle Yang, this dish seems to be pickled vegetables, it's sour, and the combination with the flavor of the moonflower is really delicious!"
"By the way, this is pickled cabbage, but it's not the kind sold in the market; it's homemade." Yang Zhi introduced, "Back when I was in the army, I worked in the mess hall for a year. The mess hall squad leader was from Sichuan and was the best at making pickled cabbage from his hometown. I learned how to make pickled cabbage from him. Stir-fried pickled cabbage with crab is a famous dish from Sichuan, and it's the perfect accompaniment to 'Wangyuelong' (a type of Sichuanese fish dish)!"
Little Yang Yang stayed close to Zhou Xuan. After Zhou Xuan magically conjured a rabbit for her, she became particularly attached to him. At this moment, she stood to the side and tugged at Zhou Xuan's sleeve, saying in a coquettish voice, "Uncle Zhou, have you all forgotten about me?"
Zhou Xuan turned his head and saw that Xiao Yangyang was holding a small bowl and chopsticks, looking pitiful, with a pair of bright black eyes staring at him.
Zhou Xuan and Fu Ying both laughed. Zhou Xuan quickly took her small bowl, filled it halfway with minced meat, and said with a smile, "Yes, we've all forgotten about our little darling!"
The group of people ate and praised the food. In a hotel or nightclub, the dishes are usually not too expensive; the expensive items are the drinks.
If we're only talking about the ingredients, then this "Moon-Gazing Crab" dish is truly an exorbitantly priced dish.
However, it is worth the price. This dish is indeed a delicious one that I have never tasted before. Of course, only rich people can afford to eat this dish. Just think about it, it would cost tens of thousands of yuan for one meal. Can ordinary people afford it?
As Zhou Xuan was feeling sentimental, his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket. He took it out and saw that the name was Xu Juncheng. He smiled and said, "Two old men, Brother Yang and Brother Hong, I'll take this call."
The old man waved his hand and said, "Jie Jie, don't be so polite with us."
Zhou Xuan pressed the answer button, and Xu Juncheng's voice came through: "Is this Chairman Zhou?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "It's Ran Xuan, but not Jay Chou!"
That was a bit funny, and Fu Ying couldn't help but laugh too. She hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to have a sense of humor now. "Stop joking, something's happened, trouble has struck!"
"What happened? Don't rush, tell me slowly!" Zhou Xuan heard that Xu Juncheng's tone was still quite anxious, so he calmly told him to speak slowly.
"Of our 31 branches in Beijing, 17 were inspected by the jewelry regulatory authorities. Being inspected is actually quite common, but these 17 stores are our flagship stores in Beijing. It's problematic that they were inspected at the same time."
Xu Juncheng said hurriedly, "During the inspection, the regulatory authorities found some minor issues with us, and as a result, each store that was inspected was fined 100,000 yuan, which adds up to a huge sum of 1.7 million yuan. After the regulatory authorities left, the industry and commerce bureau and the tax bureau came one after another. I think someone must be behind this!"
Even without Xu Juncheng's explanation, Zhou Xuan was well aware of this. Simultaneously dispatching manpower to inspect seventeen of the best shops in the capital was no ordinary feat. This person's influence was absolutely immense. Being punished by one police station was a minor issue, but if he were punished by all the police stations in the capital, no one would believe it was just a station chief behind him!
And then there's the business and tax authorities, which presents an even bigger problem, as obvious as a louse on a bald man's head.
Zhou Xuan only said one sentence: "I'm coming right away!" and then hung up the phone and looked up.
Those around him heard every word he said on the phone, and it was clear that something had happened.
The old man frowned and said, "You can't even let people have a peaceful meal, Xiao Zhou. What's wrong? Let Hai Hong handle it for you. You can just enjoy your meal today."
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then said gently, "Grandpa, something happened to the jewelry store I bought, and I really need to go check it out. Grandpa, I've finished eating. You and Brother Li Hong can continue your meal here. I'll head back for a bit!"
The old man's face darkened, and he slammed his chopsticks on the table. After a pause, he said, "I'm not going to worry about anything else, and I'm not even going to eat. Let's go take a look!"
Zhou Xuan was at a loss for words. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Grandpa, if you and Old Li both go, then I can't go to see what's going on. It's fine to have Brother Hong and Li Wei come with me, but I absolutely cannot agree to trouble you two!"
Zhou Xuan understood that it was inappropriate for someone of the old man's or Old Li's status to accompany him to that kind of event. If nothing went wrong, it would be fine, but if something did, no one could bear the responsibility. Moreover, if word got out, it wouldn't be good either. If it were Brother Hong or Li Wei, then it wouldn't matter. The young master wasn't afraid of gossip.
The old man had already stood up and waved for the guards to go outside and prepare to drive. Old Li also stood up and said as he walked, "Xiao Zhou, let's go take a look together. Don't worry, we two old guys aren't naive. Over the years, we've seen all kinds of traps and schemes. We won't be easily fooled."
This is only natural. People like the old man and Old Li can shake the capital with a single stomp of their foot. In fact, no one would dare to scheme against them, as it would involve many power struggles and affect everything. No one would be foolish enough to offend both the old man and Old Li at the same time.
Zhou Xuan simply didn't want them to get involved. If the old man asked Brother Hong to handle the matter, he wouldn't object. In dealing with this matter, Zhou Xuan understood that, judging from the situation, the other party was clearly backed by a very powerful opponent, and having Brother Hong handle it might be a wise choice.
However, Zhou Xuan also estimated that the other party was basically unaware that he had powerful backers like the Wei and Li families. Therefore, if Brother Hong were to come forward, it would be best not to do so publicly first. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Right now, they did not know what kind of opponent was targeting them!
Volume 1, Chapter 231: No Way Out
The jewelry store on the fourth floor of the Dongcheng Baihua Building is the most popular among the pedestrians. It ranks among the top in terms of scale, location, and foot traffic. Xu Juncheng is also waiting here because there are people from the jewelry regulatory department here as well.
On the way, Zhou Xuan had already spoken with Xu Juncheng on the phone to clarify the basic situation. As Zhou Xuan suspected, Xu Juncheng's actions were likely orchestrated by competitors in the same industry, with the three companies threatening to acquire his rival. However, Xu's Jewelry was not ultimately sold to them. It wasn't swallowed up by these companies, and Xu Juncheng miraculously recovered.
This infuriated Xu's Jewelry's rivals. Their prize had slipped through their fingers, and they were furious. However, not knowing the background of the new owner of Xu's Jewelry, they dared not act rashly. Instead, they secretly investigated before making any plans. They learned that it was a young man named Zhou Xuan who had made the acquisition. Moreover, Zhou Xuan was a newcomer who had moved from the countryside of Hubei to the capital. None of his family members had any background; they were just nouveau riche.
The company that made the move was a jeweler from Shi Zhou Daxing, a powerful and well-established Hong Kong business. In recent years, it has made great strides in the domestic market and ranks among the top three in the jewelry industry in Beijing. This attempt to acquire Xu's Jewelry was made with him as the driving force.
The top domestic manager of Zhou Daxing is Zhou Kailun, the most outstanding member of the second generation of the Zhou family. Despite his young age, not yet thirty, he is extremely talented and has made the Zhou family business in China incredibly successful.
But youth breeds arrogance. When Xu Juncheng was on the verge of bankruptcy, Zhou Kailun approached him, but at that time Xu Juncheng was in dire straits. Zhou Kailun's tone was naturally unfriendly, and he assumed that Xu Juncheng had no way out and that selling the company to him might be one of the best solutions.
But somehow Xu Juncheng found Zhou Xuan's way out, which also annoyed Zhou Kailun. He had put in a lot of effort, but someone else got the benefit. How could he accept that?
Zhou Kailun immediately conspired with a high-ranking official in Beijing with whom he had close ties, asking him to secretly intervene and promising him a 10% stake. This was no small sum; 10% was equivalent to 10% of the shares. Although Xu's Jewelry was currently in trouble, it was actually a high-performing business. If Xu's were restructured, it would be a high-quality business worth nearly a billion. Giving 10% was equivalent to giving him a billion-dollar business. This generous offer was certainly tempting enough.
As a result, jewelry regulatory departments, industry and commerce bureaus, and tax bureaus came one after another. Jun Cheng didn't have much of a background, and after his downfall over the past six months, most of his connections had avoided him.
Although Zhou Xuan wasn't in business, he still had experience and knew that higher-ups were like a choke point; if they wanted to investigate you, they could find fault even with nothing to show for it. Even if there was nothing to show for it, they could fabricate something out of nothing. Besides, in the jewelry industry, no company was truly clean when investigated.
There are several common tricks. One is that jewelers usually only issue a quality certificate, also known as a birth certificate, for the jewelry they sell. However, this will confuse most buyers and consumers. Consumers think it is a receipt, but it is not a receipt at all.
Without receipts, merchants evade taxes, which is one method. Secondly, they often tamper with the goods they sell, passing off inferior or substandard products as superior ones.
Zhou Xuan had witnessed this before. In the jadeite industry, inferior jade was often passed off as high-quality. After being refined through countless techniques, it appeared indistinguishable from top-grade jade. This was one example of the practice of not clearly distinguishing between genuine and inferior jade. Similarly, diamond jewelry often conceals hidden secrets. If a diamond is set in a fixed setting, such as a bezel setting, it cannot be removed for inspection. In such cases, the diamond might be flawed, with one side dazzling while the other is incomplete. Because it's a fixed setting and cannot be opened, consumers are unaware of this and lack the knowledge to discern the difference.
Naturally, Xu Juncheng's goods also included such items. This is common practice among jewelers, and how could a jewelry appraisal department not know about it? Things in the industry cannot be generalized; some things are optional and depend on who says what.
In the car, Zhou Xuan had already clarified most of the situation with Xu Juncheng. Of course, he only guessed that it was Zhou Kailun of Zhou Daxing who did it, and he wasn't 100% sure.
After asking Zhou Xuan for details, the old man frowned and pondered.
Upon arriving at the department store, the security guard parked the car and then accompanied us to the jewelry section on the fourth floor.
The group of seven, including the old man, Li Wei, Zhou Xuan, Wei Haihong, Fu Ying, Li Wei, and the guards, arrived at the fourth-floor sales area. Xu Juncheng, who had been waiting for a long time, was overjoyed to see Xuan arrive and quickly went to greet him. The now-renamed Zhou's storefront occupied about 80 square meters, which was considered a very large storefront in the huge fourth-floor jewelry sales area. However, there were six or seven law enforcement officers wearing badges inspecting the store, and a female law enforcement officer was taking notes.
The eight female shop assistants were standing in the corner of the store, watching and whispering to each other.
They weren't afraid. In this kind of situation, only the boss was affected, not the employees. The only impact was on their work. If the store couldn't do business, and they were constantly being investigated, the most direct impact on them would be their wages.