Zhou Xuan smiled faintly. These conditions were harsh for the rich, but not much for ordinary people. Most people still valued life most and survival was their ultimate goal. However, this woman had chosen the wrong target, wanting to flaunt her wealth. In the past, Zhou Xuan wouldn't have dared to say anything, but now, not to mention the wealth of the Fu family's shares, his own assets were close to 10 billion. And this was because Zhou Xuan wasn't proactive at all. He never had grand ambitions for doing bigger business or making more money, and overly complicated problems would only give him headaches and annoyance.
In life, earning enough money is enough. Then, spend your life with your loved ones, living a pastoral life and traveling the world freely. That's the true meaning of life. Zhou Xuan doesn't envy those powerful figures who command respect and wield influence in the business and political arenas. Those people actually live too hard a life, toiling away their entire lives without a single moment of leisure. And who knows, they might just capsize one day and be back to square one.
“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” Zhou Xuan said, then took out the two diamonds Fu Ying had given him from his pocket, gently placed them on the counter, and said to Lu Yanping, “You have technicians in your shop who do maintenance and repairs, right? Ask them to examine them and see how much these are worth.”
As soon as Zhou Xuan took them out, several female shop assistants, the supervisor, and the female customer all stared at the diamonds. The female customer didn't know much about diamonds, but she saw that the two diamonds were big and bright, and under the strong lights in the store, their rhomboid shape reflected colorful light.
Lu Yanping, the supervisor Xiao Ye, and the female shop assistants were all people who were used to seeing diamonds. These two diamonds were pure white and so big that they were probably over twenty carats. If they were real diamonds, their value would be unimaginable. How could this person afford them?
Judging from the casual way he pulled it out of his pocket, it was probably glass.
Before Lu Yanping and the others could say anything, the woman spoke first: "Hmph, trying to scare people with two pieces of glass?"
Zhou Xuan said calmly, "Distinguishing between glass and diamond is actually quite simple. There's a basic fact about diamonds: their hardness. Diamonds are the hardest substance in the world."
As Zhou Xuan spoke, he held a diamond in one hand and then forcefully scratched it against the glass counter. After a piercing sound, two deep cracks appeared on the glass.
This display case is made of extra-thick glass, 20 millimeters thick. No matter how hard you try, with your fist or your hand, you can't break it. If Zhou Xuan's two diamonds were truly glass, they certainly wouldn't be able to scratch the glass display case.
The female shop assistants and the manager were all stunned. Zhou Xuan pushed the diamond in front of Lu Yanping again and said, "Have your technician examine it again to see if it's real or fake."
Lu Yanping panicked for a moment, startled by Zhou Xuan's diamond. She quickly and carefully picked it up and handed it to the only man inside the counter.
Those are the technicians in their shop, who are responsible for product maintenance and after-sales repair. As technicians, they have much more experience and skills than the rest of us, and they have a very high level of knowledge about diamonds and jade.
Lu Yanping placed the two diamonds on his workbench. The technician was stunned at first glance. Based on his experience and eye, he could tell at a glance that these were two real natural diamonds. However, he was somewhat unwilling to believe it. Diamonds of such size are rare treasures in the world. How could two of them be taken out so casually, as ordinary as buttons?
The technician didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly took one diamond and examined it carefully under a microscope, checking its brilliance, color, transparency, and hardness. After several minutes, the technician, his face filled with astonishment, carefully took both diamonds into his hands, stood up, and placed them on the counter. After thinking for a moment, he took a small brocade box, put the diamonds inside, licked his lips, and said with a mixture of surprise and envy, "These... these are diamonds. Whether it's color, transparency, or size, these two diamonds are top-quality, and they're natural diamonds. Natural diamonds this size, with such good quality, each of these two diamonds must weigh at least twenty carats! Those... those are priceless treasures!"
Almost everyone was stunned by what the technician said.
Lu Yanping and the female shop assistants all understood that the value of a diamond is determined by its quality and size. The better the quality and the larger the size, the higher the value. However, the price of a diamond doesn't double with size. If a one-carat diamond sells for one million, a two-carat diamond might sell for four or five million. It's not calculated that the price doubles with size. The larger the diamond, the rarer it is, and high-quality, large diamonds are becoming increasingly scarce in the world.
Unlike plants and animals, which can regenerate and grow, diamonds, like oil and jade, have a limited reserve that diminishes with mining.
Zhou Xuan didn't know much about diamond prices either. Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, he asked the technician, "Then tell me, what price are these two diamonds worth?"
The technician hesitated for a moment, then replied, "There's no certainty. Besides, these two diamonds are too valuable for me to be sure of. Moreover, in today's international market, the price of such fine and large diamonds is never certain. However..."
The technician then pointed to the display case and said, "However, we do have a three-carat diamond ring in our shop, which costs 4.68 million RMB."
Although the technician didn't say exactly how much the two diamonds were worth, their size and weight were at least ten times that of the diamond ring in the display case. Not to mention that larger diamonds have different values, even if we calculate based on ten times the value of this diamond ring, that would still be 40 million yuan, and the two diamonds would be worth 80 million yuan. But their true value is definitely more than that.
The woman paused, glanced at Zhou Xuan's mocking gaze, then suddenly became angry again. She stuffed the jewelry into her bag and said, "With so many robberies and thefts these days, it's obvious this stuff isn't something an ordinary person could have. It's probably stolen."
Zhou Xuan was truly speechless about this woman. Initially, he only disliked the work attitude of his shop's employees, but this woman joined in the jeering, clearly thinking he wasn't wealthy and deliberately belittling him to elevate herself. Despite her somewhat attractive appearance, she was fundamentally a shallow and vulgar woman; he just didn't know if she was a rich second-generation heiress or a gold digger.
Zhou Xuan immediately said casually, "If you can't handle losing, fine, just disappear. Remember not to look down on farmers with your dog eyes in the future, and remember that you've already lost to the farmers today."
The woman stopped in her tracks, unable to swallow her anger. She already knew she had inexplicably lost her contest with Zhou Xuan, and it was one thing for her to want to get back at him, but she truly hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to produce two such valuable diamonds. Even for her, spending over four million yuan at once was a bit of a strain. She was only doing it because she didn't want to lose face. If she were to buy two diamonds like Zhou Xuan's, she simply didn't have the financial means.
So she wanted to just let it go and slip away quietly, but Zhou Xuan provoked her again, making her stop angrily.
Just then, her phone rang again. She quickly took it out of her bag, her face lighting up with delight. She answered, then snapped, "Why did it take you so long? I've been bullied to death! Hurry up and get here! I'm at the Zhou's Jewelry branch on the fourth floor of the jewelry store!"
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly, knowing that this woman had a powerful backer, but he didn't know who that person was.
Just then, the store's phone rang. The supervisor, Xiao Ye, quickly went in to answer it, uttered a few "uh-huhs," and after hanging up, ran back and whispered in Lu Yanping's ear, "Manager Lu, please get rid of this person quickly. The company's Vice President Zhou and the newly appointed Vice President Li are inspecting the flagship store today and will be here soon."
This sudden turn of events startled Lu Yanping, her face paling. If her superiors at head office saw this, things would be disastrous. Although it was two vice presidents who had come, they both understood that Zhou's Jewelry now belonged to the Zhou family, not the former owner, Xu Juncheng. While Xu Juncheng was still the general manager, he was very disciplined, focusing solely on the company's development and not handling personnel or finances—that was managed by Zhou Xuan's own people. The vice president who had come was Zhou Xuan's younger brother, and the other newly appointed vice president, Li, was rumored to be Zhou Xuan's brother-in-law.
These two vice presidents are the true power figures at the heart of Zhou's Jewelry. Even General Manager Xu Juncheng wouldn't dare to clash with them. After all, he's just working for Zhou Xuan, and they both know that Zhou Xuan is Xu Juncheng's savior.
However, they also knew that Vice President Zhou was a very kind and easy-going person. He had been here several times before, and it would be easier to talk to him about things like today's incident. This young Vice President Zhou was very considerate of them.
Volume 1, Chapter 409: A Small Witch Meets a Great Witch
That's the natural thought, but Lu Yanping also understands that no boss would want to see such a mess in their store.
We should get rid of this person as soon as possible. It's not good for the boss to see this; it would leave a bad impression on him.
“Sir, you should leave. We need to do business in our shop, so it’s inconvenient,” Lu Yanping said to Zhou Xuan immediately. The two priceless diamonds had changed their opinion of Zhou Xuan somewhat. After all, he was a man with a great fortune.
Zhou Xuan understood what Lu Yanping was thinking, because she had clearly heard what the foreman, Xiao Ye, had whispered to her; they just didn't know it.
Zhou Xuan knew immediately that Zhou Tao and Li Wei were coming. He just didn't know if Li Li and Zhou Ying would come together. Li Wei had become much more well-behaved now, and for Zhou Ying's sake, he was behaving honestly.
Zhou Xuan had a pretty good opinion of Li Wei. Although Li Wei was somewhat cynical due to his family background, he was kind-hearted by nature. He met Zhou Xuan, who happened to be someone he respected. Once Li Wei respected someone, he would treat him like his own father. If you angered him, he would even dare to talk back to his own father. But with Zhou Xuan, Li Wei was truly and completely obedient.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then said to Lu Yanping, "I'll talk to your vice president later; your work attitude needs serious improvement."
Lu Yanping was taken aback, while the other female shop assistants grumbled. This person was too shameless; they couldn't be driven away. The two vice presidents would be arriving soon, and this was going to embarrass them.
Lu Yanping was surprised. How did this person know their company's vice president was coming? Xiao Ye had spoken to her in a very soft voice; there was no way he could have heard her.
But Zhou Xuan stubbornly refused to leave, which put them in a difficult position. They were considering whether to call security, but his two diamonds were still on the glass display case. With such valuable items, how could they be sure that Zhou Xuan wasn't a real customer?
At first, Zhou Xuan did ask them to bring out the jewelry to look at, and it seemed like he really wanted it. However, Xiao Ye and the others thought that he was just the kind of person who didn't have money to look at the jewelry. There was no rule that customers had to buy it just because they looked at it. There were plenty of customers who looked but didn't buy. That's why they specifically trained the shop assistants to have a good eye for customers who had money and really wanted to buy. This was an essential course for them.
However, it seems they misjudged the situation today.
Just as Lu Yanping and the others were in a difficult position, the pretty woman who had been arguing with Zhou Xuan waved towards the elevator and called out, "Over here, over here."
Zhou Xuan, Lu Yanping, and several female shop assistants all looked over and saw four or five young men walking hurriedly towards the elevator, all of them looking very arrogant.
Zhou Xuan could tell at a glance that these guys weren't thugs, but rather children from well-off families—either rich kids or sons of officials. These kinds of people were much more troublesome than thugs. Thugs could only deal with ordinary people; against the powerful and influential, they would only suffer losses. But these rich kids were feared by everyone. Rich kids were unafraid to cause trouble. As the saying goes, even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. Behind these rich kids stood their wealthy and powerful fathers. If you messed with them, they would probably be the kind of people who would shout, "My dad is so-and-so!" and not be afraid of anything.
The woman waved and said, "Brother Jianhua, Xiaochuan, come over here quickly, this is really upsetting. This person is cursing me out, calling me a mistress, a gold digger, a prostitute, it's infuriating!"