Fu Ying didn't understand Jin Xiumei's meaning; she just didn't want to be separated from Zhou Xuan again.
Zhou Xuan understood Fu Ying's meaning, but previously, Fu Ying had accompanied him because she was worried about his safety, since it was a dangerous trip to Yangzhou. However, this trip was uneventful and just a peaceful journey. Seeing Fu Ying's reluctant expression, Zhou Xuan smiled and suddenly had an idea. He chuckled, "Mom, Yingying, I need to get some goods from Zhang Laoda so our shop can open. I was originally planning to prepare for my wedding with Yingying at home, but we can't skip it. I think I'll trouble you, Mom, to help Fu Ying..."
Fu Ying's face turned red instantly!
Jin Xiumei paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alright, alright, let my wife stay home. I don't have anything else to do anyway, so I'll help her with the wedding preparations."
Zhou Xuan went upstairs with a grin. He had Fu Ying's weaknesses firmly under his control. Although he couldn't beat her in a fight, Fu Ying couldn't beat him in other aspects. Of course, even if Fu Ying was skilled in martial arts, she wouldn't use it on him.
After lying in bed for a while and practicing my ice qi again, my ice qi has recovered to its optimal level after resting for the past few days. I looked at my left hand; the skin color was normal, without the color of gold.
Then he thought, since the ice energy can transform the molecules of matter and turn them into gold, why can't it be permanently turned into gold?
If it could be converted into permanent gold, then there would be no need to think about making money anymore. Everything in the world would be gold and money!
But nothing in this world is perfect. Perhaps it's normal that it can't be converted into permanent gold!
"Don't be greedy!" Zhou Xuan cursed himself inwardly. "Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. I've made a fortune that ordinary people can't even imagine with this ice energy ability, but I'm still not satisfied. You can imagine how strong human greed is!"
After all the matters in the store were settled, Zhou Ying was put in charge of the store's finances, Zhou Tao assisted Lao Wu to learn the experience and techniques of appraisers, and Zeng Qiang and Chen Shuhua did odd jobs and handled the store's inventory.
Zhou Xuan's father, Zhou Cangsong, was like a general manager, always there when needed, a country man used to hard labor. Even when moving goods, he didn't put on any airs of a shop owner, working alongside his two employees and second son. Zeng Qiang and Chen Shuhua liked this family; none of them had the domineering attitude of a boss.
The total expenses for renting the Zhou Zhang Antique Shop, purchasing some utensils and furniture, and decorating were less than one million, leaving nineteen million in the account. Five million was left as disposable funds for Lao Wu as temporary working capital. In case of emergencies, he could directly contact Zhou Ying to raise the remaining cash.
Zhou Xuan, however, didn't care and was happy to be carefree, which suited his tastes perfectly.
At 10:30 the next day, ** and Zhou Xuan boarded a flight to Yangzhou.
Fu Ying didn't show any excessive emotion. After all, it seemed there was no danger this time, and Zhou Xuan had instructed her to prepare for the wedding with Jin Xiumei. Although shy, she was still looking forward to this day, when she could be with Zhou Xuan openly and legitimately.
Yangzhou, located in central Jiangsu Province, on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and at the southern end of the Jianghuai Plain, is a key city in both the Shanghai Economic Circle and the Nanjing Metropolitan Area. It receives economic influence from southern Jiangsu and Shanghai to the south, and serves as a frontier and transmission area for opening up northern Jiangsu to the north, earning it the reputation of "Gateway to Northern Jiangsu."
Zhou Xuan's familiarity with Yangzhou actually stemmed from Jin Yong's novel "The Deer and the Cauldron." He had read the novel when he was very young. He didn't know much else, but he did know that Yangzhou was the most famous place for prostitution in ancient times. There is even an ancient poem that says "In the third month of spring, amidst the fireworks, one goes down to Yangzhou," although the fireworks in this poem are not the same as those in the novel.
I had contacted his friend in Yangzhou beforehand, but we hadn't confirmed when he would arrive.
This was a deliberate precaution. As the saying goes, "You can know a person's face but not their heart." If he had told his friend when he would arrive, he couldn't guarantee that his friend wouldn't try to fool him with counterfeit goods. After all, he had learned his lesson from He Laosan, and he always kept some leeway with people. If he didn't say when he would arrive, his friend certainly wouldn't be sure if he was coming or not, and therefore wouldn't bother to set a trap.
After getting off the plane, Zhou Xuan hailed a taxi outside Jiangdu Airport. In the car, Zhou Xuan laughed and said, "Boss, you're in charge of everything! You're the manager, and I'm just your follower!"
"Of course!" he said smugly. In front of Zhou Xuan's father, Zhou Cangsong, he was still well-behaved, but in front of Zhou Xuan, he became smug. If he didn't show off in front of Zhou Xuan, he wouldn't be able to demonstrate his status and authority as a manager.
Zhang Laoda was a repressed pervert since childhood, and Zhou Xuan knew it very well. This time, it was just the two brothers again, which felt like going back to their elementary school days more than ten years ago. In the car, their eyes met, and they both remembered peeping at Erniu taking a bath, and couldn't help but chuckle.
Zhou Xuan chuckled and cursed, "Beast!"
"Worse than a beast." He retorted without backing down.
The driver's Mandarin was mixed with Yangzhou dialect, with some of the intonations found in southern Jiangxi operas on television.
The two first found a hotel to stay in. The idea was to first check out the antique market in Yangzhou before going to his friend's place. Firstly, it would be better to know the details of the market, and secondly, a surprise visit would make it less likely that his friend would be prepared. This was actually the best approach.
After taking a shower and changing their clothes at the hotel, the two of them left the hotel laughing and joking. According to **, today they wouldn't talk about serious business, but rather go shopping, see the girls in Yangzhou, and enjoy the city's vibrant atmosphere—that was the important thing.
However, after walking around for an hour or two, their legs were almost giving out, and they still hadn't found anything worthwhile. They did see plenty of hotels and restaurants, as well as saunas and nightclubs, but Zhou Xuan didn't want to go. So Zhou Xuan cursed, "Little brother, you're really putting on airs now. You used to be a beast, now you're worse than a beast."
Zhou Xuan remembered the story his brothers had told about being "worse than a beast." He smiled but remained silent. It was back in the first year of junior high. There was a girl named Hu Lianhua in Class 2 who developed very quickly and had a particularly full bust, making Zhou Xuan and Zhao Lao Er drool over her. Zhou Xuan and Zhao Junjie would often deliberately bump into Hu Lianhua's breasts when there were many people leaving the school after class, sometimes even pinching them. Hu Lianhua would usually glare at them but wouldn't make a scene, which only emboldened the brothers. Later, when it was Zhou Xuan's turn to be called, Zhou Xuan was so enraged that he ambushed them several times, but he couldn't quite get the chance to act. Instead, Zhou Xuan and Zhao Lao Er cursed him, calling him "worse than a beast!"
Zhao Lao Er, having heard a story somewhere, was telling it among the three brothers on their way home from school. Zhao Lao Er blurted it out: A young couple who had just met spent the day sightseeing. To save money, they booked a double room in a hotel. Before going to bed that night:
Girl: How are we going to sleep tonight?
Boy: Yeah? What do you think? Look how tired we are! We can't let one of us go to sleep first!
Girl: That's right! How about this, we put the pillow in the middle of the bed, and whoever crosses it is a beast.
Boy: Okay!
A lonely night, a young heart.
Both the boy and the girl had difficulty falling asleep, tossing and turning alone in their own half of the world.
The long night
Finally, the rooster's crow broke the silence of the night and ushered in a pale dawn.
The girl is sitting looking angry.
The boy sat up, smiled, and said, "I'm not a beast, am I?"
The girl raised her hand and slapped the boy hard across the face, saying, "You're not even as good as an animal!"
To emphasize that Zhou Xuan did not sexually assault Hu Lianhua, Zhao Lao Er and ** labeled Zhou Xuan as "worse than a beast."
Since Zhou Xuan was determined to be a beast, he could only mutter curses as he strolled through the streets. It was normal for Zhou Xuan to look down on ordinary women now that he had Fu Ying, but he had finally escaped and come to this colorful world, and he was really unwilling not to be a beast!
Before I knew it, I had wandered into Yangzhou Old Street. Because of its long history and rich culture, Yangzhou Old Street has been preserved as a cultural relic.
Yangzhou Old Street has been vigorously developed as a tourist attraction, drawing a large number of visitors. Yangzhou itself has also established sister city relationships with many foreign cities, including Kent, Sihanoukville, Yangon, Offenbach, Rimini, Breda, Karatsu, Nara, and Gyeongju, South Korea, among others, thus attracting many international tourists.
One of the biggest characteristics of tourist cities is that ornaments, pendants, and antiques are particularly popular. This is a way for every tourist city to earn money from tourists.
There are many stalls like this in the old streets of Yangzhou.
Having come this far, I patiently waited. I work in the antique business, and these stalls had quite a few jade and gemstone pieces, even some porcelain. My interest was immediately piqued!
After looking at the jade artifacts on the stall, he stopped and picked up a red and yellow Qilin carving to examine it, and then picked up a white jade Guanyin statue to look at it.