Everything returned to a familiar place, and Zhou Xuan felt a surge of emotion. The time was short, but it felt like hundreds of years had passed.
The car wasn't going fast. While waiting at a red light intersection, a yellow Lotus convertible pulled up and stopped next to us. Inside were two young men with very unusual hairstyles, clearly typical rich kids.
The two young men glanced sideways and saw Fu Ying sitting next to Zhou Xuan. They couldn't help but exclaim "Oh!" in amazement, thinking her an extraordinary beauty, and then started whistling.
Zhou Xuan couldn't help but smile slightly at the teasing of the two hot-headed young men who looked like petty thugs. He really had returned. In the past, he would have made the people who were teasing Fu Ying look foolish, or at least destroyed their car. But now Zhou Xuan was much calmer and felt more at ease.
Fu Ying also noticed that Zhou Xuan had changed a lot. He still loved her as much as before, but he was far less impulsive than before. The two young men chuckled and one of them teased, "Miss, you are so beautiful. It's a shame that you're sitting in a car like that. Why don't you come and ride in our car? This car is so cool. A beautiful car and a beautiful woman, right? With a beautiful woman, the car naturally has to be good and classy."
Fu Ying said calmly, "Oh, really? I'd also like to ride in your nice car, but what if my boyfriend doesn't want to?"
The young man chuckled and said, "Does this even have anything to do with whether he wants to or not? Doesn't our society advocate freedom of love and equality for all? What right does he have to tell you what to do?"
Listening to the young man's nonsense, Zhou Xuan was both amused and annoyed. The red light turned green in the blink of an eye, and Zhou Xuan stretched out his hand and pointed to the bottom of the young man's car, saying, "Little brother, you need to drive a good car to pick up girls, but you need to drive a complete car, right? Your car has broken tires, how can you drive it?" As he spoke, he chuckled and slowly started driving.
The young man was startled. He leaned out of the car door and looked down. He was shocked to see that the outer layer of the front tire had broken into several pieces. It was a high-end tubeless tire made of special material that could withstand a steel nail, but even the best and strongest tire couldn't withstand being cut in half. It was flat, and the car body was firmly pressed against the rim. Without changing the tire, it would be impossible to drive anymore.
But there was no time to wait. The drivers in the cars behind were shouting loudly, and the two young men were immediately in a sorry state. Looking at the car carrying the beautiful woman, it had long since sped away and disappeared.
Zhou Xuan drove quite a distance before shaking his head slightly, glancing at Fu Ying, and then chuckling sheepishly, "Yingying, it's all because you're too beautiful. I don't even know how many luxury cars I've ruined because of that."
"Stop taking pictures...stop taking pictures...hmph," Fu Ying bit her lip and immediately replied with a hmph, but when she thought about saying the word "flattery," which would actually mean calling herself a horse, she managed to hold back from saying it.
Although Fu Ying puts on a different expression in front of his parents and siblings, Zhou Xuan still knows that Fu Ying has not completely untied the knot in his heart. If he had only been living with Wei Xiaoyu, he wouldn't be so heartbroken. But the key is that Wei Xiaoyu is pregnant, which makes it impossible for Fu Ying to get rid of this shadow.
Zhou Xuan quickly focused on driving until he reached a parking lot near Panjiayuan, then got out of the car and walked into the store.
In this shop, Zhang Jian and Zhou Cangsong are the ones who are usually seen. Everyone knows that Zhou Cangsong is the father of the big boss and Zhang Jian is the small boss. But after the real big boss, Zhou Xuan, came, the people in the neighboring shops basically didn't recognize him.
The shop assistants naturally recognized Zhou Xuan, and Fu Ying, the angelic proprietress, certainly wouldn't forget him. As soon as they saw the two of them arrive, she quickly invited them into the shop, serving them tea and other dishes.
Zhou Xuan smiled and waved his hand, indicating that they should go about their own business and not worry about the two of them.
Zhang Jian wasn't there, and the only person in charge of the shop was the appraiser, Old Wu. When the old professor saw Zhou Xuan, he couldn't help but give him a warm hug, and then sat down to chat with Zhou Xuan.
Although Zhou Cangsong was able to represent the big boss, he usually only did the work of a waiter and helped out. He never touched anything that involved real technical work.
Old Wu and Zhou Xuan naturally talked about some interesting business anecdotes. He basically didn't talk about the business situation in the store, because Zhou Xuan had no interest in listening. Zhou Xuan would only step in when the store encountered difficulties or troubles in operation. Business matters were almost entirely left to Zhang Jian and Old Wu, so Old Wu was quite comfortable in his work, had absolute say, and was extremely dedicated to the business.
Because he may never meet another boss like Zhou Xuan in his life. It is rare to find a businessman as generous as Zhou Xuan and so casual about money. Even if you do meet one, you may not have his luck. Look at how quickly Old Wu has watched Zhou Xuan grow from a few million to over 10 billion in assets. This cannot be simply explained by luck.
Therefore, Lao Wu did not regret following Zhou Xuan. With his abilities, the compensation he received was indeed very high in the industry, but what Zhou Xuan gave him was far higher than what he would normally receive. Although he did not care about money, Zhou Xuan's sincerity clearly moved him. Zhang Jian never restricted him in any way. Zhang Jian only handled external business dealings, and Lao Wu made all the decisions regarding the store's income and sales.
Whether they make a profit or a loss, Lao Wu will not be held responsible. This is a rule set by Zhou Xuan. But to be honest, Lao Wu rarely makes technical mistakes in this shop.
The shop has grown from a few million to billions in assets. Lao Wu and Zhang Jian both understand that although their contributions were not bad, it was Zhou Xuan himself who truly made the shop grow. Although Zhou Xuan did not manage the shop's affairs, he would bring in business from time to time. Any business he brought in could earn the shop tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in profit. Take that micro-carving business, for example.
Old Wu simply asked a friend to sell the goods, and the store ended up making hundreds of millions in net profit. Even someone as experienced as him couldn't have imagined such a thing.
As they were talking, a few customers came into the shop. Several shop assistants quickly went to greet them. Three people came in one after the other, and they didn't seem to be together. One was a young man in his twenties, a fashionable and well-off woman in her thirties, and an old man in his sixties.
The young man and the plump woman were carrying bags, while the old man was empty-handed. Although Zhou Xuan and Lao Wu did not go up to greet them, they both kept an eye on the three of them.
Old Wu chuckled and said, "Little Zhou, let's guess what these three people are up to. Hehe, shall we go first?"
Seeing Fu Ying idly looking at the jade artifacts by the shelf, Zhou Xuan smiled, turned to Old Wu, and said, "Old Wu, you're the elder, you go first."
Old Wu smiled and nodded without being polite. He said softly, "That young man was carrying a bulging bag. Looking at his clothes, although they were brand-name, there was dirt on the edges and corners. He looked very well-off on the surface, but he was probably actually down on his luck. Looking at his bag, I guess he came here to sell something."
Zhou Xuan used his supernatural abilities to detect that the young man's bag contained a piece of yellow cloth wrapping a porcelain bowl. The bowl was very shiny and bore the mark of the Qing Dynasty imperial kiln, but Zhou Xuan could tell that it was just a replica. However, the cloth was...
Just as Zhou Xuan was pondering, Old Wu said again, "That rich-looking woman, hehe, has several platinum diamond rings on her fingers. From a distance, the luster of the diamonds doesn't look very pure. I guess she doesn't really understand it herself. Look at the piles of money on her hands and neck. She's the complete nouveau riche or a mistress kept by a tycoon. Her face is passable, but she's obviously a country girl with no substance. However, for sellers and shops, such people are the best customers because they're willing to spend a lot of money to buy things."
Zhou Xuan detected that the woman's bag contained not only a large stack of cash but also several bank cards, indicating that Lao Wu's guess was somewhat accurate.
Then look at the last old man. His forehead is covered in wrinkles, and his fingers look like old tree bark. He looks like a country old man who does rough work, and he is quite comparable to Zhou Cangsong, who has just arrived in Beijing.
Old Wu pondered for a moment before saying, "This old man is a bit hard to guess. If it were an ordinary person, they would think that this old man has come to the wrong place, but I think that no one would come to the temple without a reason. He must have his reasons for coming. What do you think, Xiao Zhou?"
Zhou Xuan's supernatural abilities allowed him to clearly detect that, apart from a slightly different opinion regarding the contents of the young man's bag mentioned by Lao Wu, the other two people basically shared the same view. Of course, Lao Wu's insight was already quite remarkable; if Zhou Xuan himself didn't have supernatural abilities, he would certainly be far inferior to Lao Wu.
Old Wu asked Zhou Xuan with a smile, and Zhou Xuan smiled back and said, "Old Wu, when it comes to this, I dare not compare myself to you. You've already said it first, so if you ask me, I'll just repeat what you said, haha."
Old Wu chuckled and then looked at the group of people with Zhou Xuan. The three of them had very different expressions and actions. The young man, after entering the store, was carrying his bag and just looked around at people, without glancing at the items and goods in the store. The woman, on the other hand, was only staring at the jade ornaments and didn't even glance at the antiques and porcelain.
The old man, however, was only focused on the porcelain, jade, and antique items on the shelf. It seems that Old Wu's observation skills are truly exceptional and accurate.
The young man looked around for a while, and then the waiter stepped forward and asked, "Sir, is there anything you need?"
Na Qing hesitated for a moment, but then spoke up: "I...I have something, take a look..."
“Alright, that’s our business. We buy and sell. As long as it’s valuable and you’re willing to sell, we’ll buy it,” the shopkeeper readily agreed, then read from the book, “Sir, please show us your items first.”
The young man walked closer, carefully placed the bag on the coffee table, unzipped it, and took out something wrapped in a wad of cloth. The cloth was tan. Old Wu stared at it intently, but he didn't care about the cloth; he was only watching the young man's actions.
The young man gently untied the yellow cloth, revealing a small bowl with purple-blue patterned edges and white background with purple flowers; it looked quite nice.
The waiter naturally didn't understand. He glanced at Old Wu, who smiled faintly, reached out and took the bowl, turning it over and over to examine it. The bottom of the bowl had the words "Made in the 18th year of the Kangxi reign of the Great Qing Dynasty." Then he gently tapped the rim of the bowl with his finger and listened to it. The sound wasn't very crisp; it had some scattered noise.
Old Wu has to rely on real skills and experience to make a judgment, unlike Zhou Xuan who can use his supernatural ability to know immediately. Zhou Xuan already knew that the bowl was fake when the young man entered the door, but he would not show it to Old Wu. This is definitely not a problem for Old Wu. I just wonder if Old Wu will notice the piece of yellowish-brown cloth.
However, it's very difficult. Old Wu doesn't have any special abilities and can't detect the fundamental nature of all things like him.
Old Wu smiled faintly, gently pushed the bowl towards the young man, and said, "I'm sorry, sir, we can't accept your porcelain piece. You should try your luck at another shop."
Although Old Wu didn't explicitly say that his porcelain bowl was fake, the implication was clear. The young man wasn't stupid; he understood immediately. His face showed great disappointment as he murmured, "This...this...is a family heirloom passed down through generations...how could it be...fake..."
"Hehe," Old Wu chuckled and said, "I never said it was fake, young man. Maybe another shop has taken a liking to your porcelain piece."