"Pah, so vain!" Fu Ying blushed and grumbled, but finally managed to ask, "Have you seen Xiao Qing?" It turned out she was still jealous!
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "I don't even know where Xiaoqing is. I haven't seen her. Have you seen her?"
Fu Ying immediately felt relieved. Although Zhou Xuan liked to joke around with her now, he wouldn't lie to her. Besides, she had already called him, and he had even gone to the shop. Judging from his tone, he was very busy and probably didn't have time for anything else. Furthermore, Fu Ying understood Zhou Xuan's feelings for her; he wouldn't have any ulterior motives. And Xiao Qing's status was also something she couldn't afford to mess with. Seeing Fu Ying's relaxed expression, Zhou Xuan said again, "No face kiss, fine, just a quick kiss on the lips!"
To be honest, Fu Ying still wanted to wait shyly for Zhou Shi to take the initiative, but downstairs Zhou Ying seemed to shout loudly: "Sister-in-law!" Fu Ying immediately ran out the door like a startled bird.
Zhou Xuan shook his head with a wry smile. His wife was so shy, and she had annoyed his sister-in-law again. This girl, it's fine to call her "sister-in-law" when there's time, why does she have to call her "sister-in-law" now!
Despite his annoyance, Zhou Xuan closed the door, took a shower, lay down on the bed, practiced his ice-qi technique for a while, and then picked up a book to read. These had become two things Zhou Xuan did every night before going to sleep.
The benefits of practicing ice qi are self-evident. Now, we can do almost everything without ice qi, and we use it with great ease, as if it were our hands and feet. If we don't use it, we feel uncomfortable.
Reading books about antiques and related knowledge does have its benefits. At least now I can chat and joke with people in the industry, unlike before when people would immediately know I was a complete novice after just one sentence.
Because Zhou Xuan had already arranged a time with Xu Juncheng, he got up quite early in the morning. Since he went to bed early the night before and was in good spirits, Aunt Liu had already prepared breakfast.
After breakfast, Zhou Xuan checked the time; it was only a little past eight. Fu Ying brought over a fruit platter and looked at him, saying, "How about we go for a walk together today? It's been so boring staying at home for so long!"
Zhou Xuan glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Zhou Ying and her mother were both in the restaurant helping to tidy up. He reached out and pinched Fu Ying's cheek, smiling, "Yingying, did you miss your husband?"
But as fate would have it, Old Lady Jin Xiumei happened to walk into the hall, smiling broadly, and said, "Stop flirting in front of your mother, let's get serious and hurry up and give Zhou Xuan a big, fat grandson!"
Fu Ying blushed and ran out, covering her face. Zhou Xuan shrugged and said, "Mom, see? You know Yingying is shy, so she ran away!"
Jin Xiumei said nonchalantly, "Why run? You'll get used to it. Women are all meant to get married and have children. Hurry up and go. Say some sweet words to your wife. I'll find someone to choose an auspicious date these next few days!" Zhou Xuan walked out with a smile. Let's do it then. He wanted to do it too, to be honest.
Upon reaching the door, Li Wei was seen leaning against his jeep, staring blankly at Fu Ying. As soon as Zhou Xuan came out, he asked, "Brother Xuan, who is this...?" "She's my wife!" Zhou Xuan replied casually.
Li Wei slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing, "No wonder, no wonder you're not so fond of Mingyue, Brother Xuan! No wonder you have a fairy hidden in your house!" To be continued... For more chapters and to support the author, please visit our website and read the original version!
Volume 1, Chapter 209: Twenty Million Yuan Cut from Four Broken Stones
When Fu Ying came out, she saw Li Wei staring blankly at her and was already a little annoyed. When she heard what he said, her face immediately darkened and she asked Zhou Xuan, "Who is Mingyue?"
Zhou Xuan was taken aback. Originally, there was nothing wrong with it, but now it seemed as if he had some kind of connection with Shangguan Mingyue. He quickly said to Li Wei, "Li Laosan, behave yourself. Shangguan Mingyue is your girlfriend. What does she have to do with me?"
Li Wei was taken aback, then realized he had gotten himself into trouble. He quickly nodded and said, "Sister-in-law, yes, yes, Mingyue is my girlfriend. She usually thinks she's very pretty and is quite vain. Yesterday, when Xuan-ge said that you are much prettier than her, she was unconvinced, and so was I. But after seeing you just now, I'm convinced!"
Fu Ying listened to Li Wei's rambling and found it both amusing and exasperating, but she also put aside what she had been concerned about, because she still believed that Zhou Xuan could not possibly like another girl, otherwise he wouldn't have treated Xiao Qing that way.
Li Wei was quick-witted; he immediately opened the back door and said, "Brother Xuan, sister-in-law, please get in the car!"
Fu Ying thought for a moment and got into the car anyway. That Bugatti Veyron was too eye-catching. Now she just wanted to keep a low profile and be a proper wife to Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan got into the car and sat next to Fu Ying, then closed the car door. He waited until Li Wei drove the car out of Hongcheng Garden before asking, "Li Wei, you're here really early!"
Li Wei said with a grin, "Brother Xuan, your words carry more weight than my father's, more weight than a pass. When I went back and told Grandpa, both Grandpa and my father surprisingly agreed immediately. They said that as long as I'm with you, they won't restrict my movements, and I can do whatever I want. Isn't that a good thing? I was just locked up for a week, and I was so bored!"
Zhou Xuan smiled and introduced him to Fu Ying, "Yingying, this kid is Li Wei. He's the grandson of that old man Li I met at Brother Hong's house. His father is Li Lei, the deputy commander who sent two guards to accompany me to Yunnan last time. He's a typical playboy and spoiled brat!" Li Wei immediately looked miserable and said, "Brother Xuan, is my impression of him really that bad?" "What do you think?" Zhou Xuan said bluntly. He wanted to give Li Wei a strong blow and not let his arrogance grow. "Fine, I admit it. After all, you're the Guanyin Bodhisattva who saved me from this sea of suffering!" Li Wei sighed and replied, then asked, "Where are we going now?"
"West Suburbs." Zhou Xuan pointed in the direction. The quarry area is relatively remote. It would be better to drive a military jeep for Li Wuyun. That Bugatti Veyron gets so dirty on this road after just one trip that you can't even see its nose and eyes anymore. It's really a bit heartbreaking.
"Zhou Xuan," Fu Ying suddenly said, "Let's go to the car market and buy a car when we get back. A regular car would be more convenient. We'll also look into buying a car for my younger brother, sister, and father."
Zhou Xuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a wry smile, "Yingying, your younger siblings and your father can't drive, what are you going to do with the car?"
Fu Ying smiled and said, "If you don't know how, just learn! Look how busy your younger siblings are these days. Having a car would be much more convenient. Besides, it's not like we're short of money!"
"That works too. I'll sign up for a driving course tomorrow, get a driver's license, and buy a car myself!" Zhou Xuan thought about it and agreed. With his current wealth, buying a car wouldn't be difficult; it would be strange if he didn't.
Li Wei turned around and smiled, then said, "Brother Xuan, you want to get your driver's license? Leave it to me, I'll get it for you right away."
Zhou Xuan shook his head. "Li Laosan, aren't you just fooling yourself? At the very least, you're being irresponsible with your own life. You need to improve your driving skills; this is not something you can be fooled about!"
Li Wei shook his head. "Brother Xuan, you've misunderstood. I'm not saying you can't learn, I'm just saying I'll help you get the certificate. You don't need to go through all those complicated procedures. Learning a skill is easy enough. I'll have my father, a first-class driver from the army, come and teach you how to drive. The driver and the car are ready!"
That makes sense, but Zhou Xuan didn't want to bother his father. Enrolling in a driving school and practicing for a month or two wouldn't be a problem. These were minor matters, and it was definitely not good to bother his father with every little thing.
It was only 8:30 when Li Wei arrived at the stone-cutting factory. The gatekeeper didn't recognize Li Wei and poked his head out to ask, "What are you doing here?"
Zhou Xuan stuck his head out of the rear window of the car and waved to him. The gatekeeper, of course, recognized Zhou Xuan; he had been here before and was now the big boss who rented the factory. He immediately ran out with a smile and opened the gate, then closed it again after Li Wei drove the car in.
Zhou Ying arrived even earlier than Zhou Xuan. Knowing that Zhou Xuan was coming this morning, Zhou Tao, Zhao Lao Er, and Master Chen and his nephew all got up early, along with three experienced stone-cutting masters that Master Chen had called over.
Zhou Tao opened the door of the factory where the raw materials were locked up again. Zhou Xuan went in and took a look. The several truckloads of raw materials that had been brought back were all neatly piled up in the factory. He checked the time and there was still half an hour before nine o'clock. After thinking for a moment, he picked out four pieces of raw materials.
These four pieces are the best jadeite rough stones with glassy texture. Among the rough stones transported back from Yunnan, there are as many as seven or eight pieces of old-type glassy jadeite, and countless others of slightly lower quality ice and water types. There are also a few pieces of clear water type, a few pieces of violet type, and one piece of red-green type.
Based on the prices Zhou Xuan had previously won in gambling, the jadeite he obtained after cutting through these truckloads of rough stones would be worth at least 500 million yuan. Of course, this is just the price of the raw material; if it were carved into finished products, the price would at least double. This is the most conservative estimate.
Because Zhou Xuan didn't understand the buying and selling prices of jade artifacts, he wasn't sure of their exact value, but he was confident that the base price would be several hundred million. Making money was indeed not a difficult thing for Zhou Xuan.
Old Master Chen stepped forward and introduced a few others to Zhou Xuan: "Young Boss Zhou, these are all my former colleagues, though not from this factory. Their skills are no worse than mine, but the work of quarrying in the north is not good, and now they are all unemployed at home. I just made a phone call and they came over!"
Zhou Xuan smiled and warmly shook hands with the three old men, greeting them one by one. He said, "With Master Chen's guarantee, I won't ask about the technical aspects. I'll just get straight to the point: the salary is a base salary of four thousand plus commission. Do the three masters have any objections?"
Zhou Xuan had a purpose in giving this base salary. He put Master Chen in charge of the stone-cutting business. Of course, the manager should earn more than the other masters. Master Chen's base salary was five thousand, which was one thousand more than the other masters.
Although they weren't sure how Zhou Xuan's factory would do, the base salary of four thousand yuan that Zhou Xuan offered was quite a lot for the old men. They didn't dare to think about commissions, because those were tied to the business. Who knew how the business would turn out in the future? Judging from Old Chen's factory, those who were involved in stone cutting and gambling in the north generally didn't make it big or last long. But with a base salary of four thousand yuan, they'd take whatever they could get.
Besides, Old Chen assured them that he would pay them monthly, and if they couldn't keep up, they could just leave; they wouldn't lose anything anyway.
Zhou Xuan asked his younger brother to get him a pen, then drew a few strokes on the four pieces of rough jade he had just picked out. He then said to Master Chen and the others, "Master Chen, I think you can officially start work today. Let's start by cutting this piece of rough jade that I picked out."
It just so happened that each of the four old men got a stone. Of course, Zhou Xuan had specifically chosen one for each of them, and all four of them began to cut the stone.
There are five stone-cutting machines in this workshop. Four people work on them, and there is one machine left over. Old Master Chen's nephew, Chen Ermao, is not skilled enough to cut stones on his own, so he can only help out.