As Zhou Xuan stepped off the elevator, he saw several Hong Kong-funded jewelry stores, all bearing the same name as his own, with the surname "Zhou," such as Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Fook. Hong Kong jewelry has a very high market share in China, even surpassing that of major international brands, and domestic jewelers are not as wealthy as Hong Kong businessmen.
However, in the capital, Zhou Xuan's Zhou's Jewelry has emerged as a dark horse. The novel designs are secondary; the key is that there are too many high-quality jadeite items. For a store, it's good if there are one or two pieces of such high-quality jadeite to mark the store. But Zhou Xuan's store has a continuous stream of goods. Nobody knows where all these goods come from.
These people, of course, did not know that Zhou Xuan had brought back jade stones from Yunnan through gambling. This trip not only provided him with a sufficient supply of goods for more than half a year, but also almost swept up all the goods in the jade market. Although the gambling on stones was still ongoing, the rough stones he brought back in the short term could not be mined into jadeite. It can be said that Zhou Xuan had damaged the jadeite market, and no matter how he mined them, it would be difficult to find good materials.
To be a long-lasting and successful jewelry company, one must have a sufficient supply of goods, high-quality materials, and world-class designers. None of these can be lacking. Zhou Xuan's company certainly has enough financial resources at present, but for the time being, its supply of goods is only sufficient for jadeite. Other types of goods are not much different from other stores, and may even be weaker, such as diamond jewelry.
There's no way around it, because there aren't many diamond mines in China. And unlike jade, which is transported in as raw material, diamonds can be seen with the naked eye as soon as they're mined. Zhou Xuan's special ability isn't an advantage. If anything, he'd have to go to the mining area to explore the source of the ore. Maybe with his special ability, he could even detect the diamond veins underground.
Upon thinking of this, Zhou Xuan had a sudden thought: Should he go to the diamond-producing countries and invest in building a mining line there, using his special ability to find mineral veins?
Zhou Xuan quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea. He wasn't short of money; he had earned enough. Why take any risks and cause trouble?
Every time he went out, he caused life-or-death situations in those places. Now, all because of those trips, he's ended up in this kind of relationship with Fu Ying. He can't even cry anymore.
Zhou Xuan's clothes were quite ordinary, and he was young. He was not accompanied by any female companions. The employees of the jewelry store were all trained to estimate a person's wealth by looking at their face and appearance before deciding whether to give them special treatment.
The female employees in each store wore different uniforms, but they all looked very good in them, and many of them were quite beautiful. Zhou Xuan specifically looked at the diamond section of each store.
Even with onlookers, the female employees still came forward to greet him politely, asking, "Sir, what style would you like?"
Zhou Xuan casually replied, "Let's take a look first."
Seeing Zhou Xuan's appearance, they knew he wasn't a real buyer. These female employees loved seeing middle-aged and elderly men bring their beautiful mistresses. Once a woman acted coquettishly, she'd buy whatever she wanted. The female employees would then frantically recommend diamond rings and jade to them, as selling these two items was the only way to earn more money and get more commission. What they disliked selling the most was gold jewelry. However, those who bought gold jewelry were the ones they looked down on the most. They promoted the idea that the current trend was different, and that buying gold jewelry meant being a nouveau riche or a tacky person.
They deal with all kinds of people in a different way, accepting everyone regardless of their background. However, their attitude towards ordinary people is quite different, and their snobbishness is very evident in them.
Zhou Xuan looked very ordinary and didn't seem wealthy, yet he went straight to the diamond counters, lingering at each store's diamond counter for a while to look at the designs.
At first, female staff members greeted him and asked him questions, but Zhou Xuan just looked without asking the price or saying he wanted anything. It seemed he was just satisfying his spiritual needs and was short of money. Since the shops were all next to each other, they were all looking at each other. After Zhou Xuan turned around, no one came to greet him anymore.
Zhou Xuan was naturally happy that no one was there to serve him, so he started looking around on his own. There were quite a few styles, but none of them suited his taste. When he came to a counter in another shop, Zhou Xuan looked at each item in the glass display case. A female employee bowed and stepped forward, looking at the diamond jewelry in the display case and saying, "Sir, this one is 28,880, this one is 36,000... and this one is 126,800..."
Zhou Xuan nodded casually, not paying any attention to her. In fact, the female employee was deliberately saying that to him. For those who couldn't afford it but liked to watch it, they would deliberately quote prices that were enough to drive people away.
How could ordinary people afford to buy or consume such luxury goods?
But Zhou Xuan seemed oblivious, still looking at the jewelry in the display case. He did take a liking to a few pieces, and then said to the female clerk behind the counter, "Miss, may I take a look at them?"
The female employee snorted and said, "Excuse me, sir, please move aside. This lady wants to look at these models."
Zhou Xuan was taken aback. He looked up and saw three pretty girls at the counter. One of them was talking to him, and then he looked to his side. On his right, there was a pretty woman in her twenties who was also looking at the jewelry in the counter.
Zhou Xuan was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Am I not a guest? This place is so spacious, and it's just her and me. Do you need me to leave?"
Zhou Xuan's words made the pretty woman next to him frown. She placed her LV bag on the counter and pointed to a necklace inside, saying, "Miss, let me take a look at this one."
The female employee quickly opened the counter with a smile, took out the necklace from underneath, and respectfully placed it in front of the girl.
When Zhou Xuan saw that the woman wanted the same one he had just picked out to buy for his sister, he immediately became angry and said, "Are you in business? I wanted to see these first, how can you show them to her and not me?"
Zhou Xuan's words were certainly not directed at the woman who wanted to look at this necklace, but rather at the female employee of the jewelry store.
The female employee said calmly, "Sir, do you know what this necklace is all about? It was designed by a famous Italian designer and set with eleven South African diamonds..."
The woman glanced at Zhou Xuan, noticing his furrowed brows and seemingly unconvinced expression, then pointed to the necklace and asked, "How much is this necklace?"
The woman's hand, which was pointing at the necklace, was fair and smooth, and the nails on her five fingers were multicolored, making it quite beautiful.
The saleswoman smiled ingratiatingly at the pretty woman and quickly said, "Miss, this necklace costs 368,000 yuan."
Although the necklace is set with eleven diamonds, Zhou Xuan could tell that the diamonds were small, but the quality was still good. If it cost 360,000, the profit would be at least 150,000.
However, Zhou Xuan didn't care about the money. He had finally found a few items that he liked, and he thought he should give his sister and mother some gifts. The female shop assistant and the pretty female customer worked together very well.
Zhou Xuan was annoyed, but after thinking for a moment, he held back and pointed to the other two models, saying, "Then let me take a look at these two."
The saleswoman was startled when she saw them. Those two items were brand new goods that had just been air-freighted from France to her store. They were ultra-luxury luxury items. One of the diamond rings was worth 2.66 million, and the other was a crystal diamond necklace worth 1.98 million. This Zhou Xuan was so careless with his words that he didn't seem to care about scaring people. Judging from his appearance, if he were to damage or injure them, could he afford to pay for it? Even they themselves were extremely careful when receiving and handling goods on their way to and from get off work.
"Sir, this isn't something you can look at; it's very expensive," the saleswoman replied directly to Zhou Xuan, not wanting to deal with him anymore. She then turned to the pretty female customer and said, "Miss, would you like this one?"
The female customer hesitated for a moment, but before she could speak, Zhou Xuan slammed his hand heavily on the glass counter with a "smack," startling everyone, even the employees and customers of the neighboring store. Countless eyes turned to look.
Zhou Xuan said angrily, "What are you saying? How can you talk like that in business?"
Zhou Xuan's anger immediately attracted the attention of the other employees and supervisors in the store. They were all tall women, about 1.7 meters tall, dressed in uniforms, which were quite eye-catching.
The supervisor came over and immediately asked Zhou Xuan, "Sir, please be mindful that this is a business establishment; you cannot interfere with our business."
Seeing that the supervisor had spoken rudely to him without asking any questions, Zhou Xuan was really annoyed. After thinking about it, he felt that there was no need to argue with these snobbish women. He snorted and was about to walk away, but when he looked up, he saw the words "Zhou's Jewelry" on the signboard at the entrance of the store. Looking inside the store, he saw the words "Zhou's Jewelry" in big letters.
Zhou Xuan stopped and casually took another business card from the box on the counter. It read "Zhou's Jewelry Co., Ltd. International Building Branch, Head Office Address," etc. Looking at the head office address, it was indeed his company. So, this store was his all along.
Zhou Xuan stopped walking. If it were someone else's shop, he wouldn't care. That's human nature; there's no need to argue with these women. But his own shop is different. He has to manage it properly. How can his employees treat customers with such an attitude and perspective?
Zhou Xuan, his face grim, sat down on a high stool that could rotate 360 degrees, pointed at the supervisor and the female shop assistant, and said, "Call your manager here."
The supervisor replied calmly, "Sir, I'm sorry, we still have business to conduct, and I regret that we cannot meet your request."
Zhou Xuan chuckled coldly. It seemed that these shop assistants and supervisors were going against him. They really needed to be managed to treat customers like this.
The pretty female customer next to her, seeing how respectful the saleswoman had been to her, and seeing Zhou Xuan arguing with her over the jewelry—and knowing that Zhou Xuan clearly hadn't grasped his place and that this wasn't how one should act—thought for a moment, then immediately took out her wallet from her bag, opened it, and pulled out a bank card, saying, "I want this necklace, and also..."
Then, turning to Zhou Xuan, she said, "And you, sir, some things can't be bought with words or saving face. You can't afford this. If you want to buy something, go to that counter and buy gold."
Zhou Xuan was so annoyed that he laughed instead of getting angry, but he wasn't going to lose his temper with her. With his current temperament, he was long past the time when he was competitive with ordinary women. But since it happened in his own shop, he still had to manage things. In any case, he still had to care about his business. He couldn't accept the attitude of his employees.
But this pretty female customer was really too arrogant. The female shop assistants had this kind of attitude, yet they still encountered this kind of customer. Zhou Xuan snorted and said, "Miss, are you showing off how much money you have? Well, I've also taken a liking to these few items. Do you want to buy them all? Do you have that much money?"