Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Seeing Ye Qingyi Again (A Update to Congratulate the Alliance Leader Lv Yao)
Liang Haiqing had figured it out; the guy was a complete blockhead, and he couldn’t help but chime in.
“Gold is regulated by the government, and the banks belong to the state. It’s okay to sell by the kilogram, but even so, the buyer has to register, and for a private company like us, it’s not easy to come up with ten kilograms of gold; the key issue is the risk is too high.”
Feng Jun could understand this rationale; in fact, he could still buy gold bars from the bank after receiving the RMB. At most, he would pay 330 per gram. How much more could it cost?
The focus was still on the risk. If he bought a large amount of gold, he would definitely attract the government’s attention. Once he moved the gold to the Otherworld, if the state started inquiring about the whereabouts of the gold and he couldn’t explain, then he would be suspected of smuggling.
So he shook his head persistently, sticking to his own rhetoric, “I definitely want to exchange for gold; otherwise, I’d rather not sell at all.”
“Come on,” Young Master Yuan clicked his tongue in frustration, “aren’t you making things difficult for people?”
“I never make things difficult for people,” Feng Jun said gravely, “How about this, if you folks are willing to trade with gold, I also have Jade. I can bring it over for you to take a look.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Liang Haiqing made his stance clear on the spot, “As long as it’s worth our while, the gold… hmm, I might be able to introduce some channels to you.”
Feng Jun packed the jade back into his backpack and turned to leave, “Don’t worry, it’ll definitely be worth your while. It’s Mutton-Fat Jade.”
Everyone exchanged complex glances at his words, and for a moment, no one spoke.
A trace of greed flashed through Young Master Yuan’s eyes, “Boss Liang, what’s this guy’s background?”
“Don’t know,” Liang Haiqing shook his head, “The man is very vigilant, not easy to mess with.”
After leaving Henglong, Feng Jun switched through several taxis and finally arrived at Li Dafu.
Ye Qingyi was arranging jewelry at the counter when she abruptly felt that something was off. As she looked up, she saw him and couldn’t help but her eyes light up, exclaiming softly, “Is that you?”
“Longtime no see,” greeted Feng Jun with a smile, “I was telling you about who… last time.”
He even forgot Xia Xiaoyu’s name for a moment, which showed he really didn’t care too much.
“Alright, it’s all in the past. I won’t mind,” Ye Qingyi smiled and shookher head, interrupting him. She didn’t seem to care much, “What have you been up to lately?”
Feng Jun stared into her eyes until her cheeks began to blush slightly before speaking with a smile, “The Mobile Phone I bought for you last time, I’ve never used it. I’ve brought it for you this time.”
“I’ve bought a Mobile Phone,” Ye Qingyi smiled faintly, showing off a phone,
“but thank you for your kindness.”
There you have it, the lady had a famous ‘kidney’ machine; the prestige of the Mobile Phone he had just wasn’t enough.
Feng Jun’s face darkened, “No, you have to take it.”
“You’re really strange,” Ye Qingyi chuckled lightly, not minding his words,
“Give me a reason why I must take it.”
Feng Jun broke into a smile and winked at her, “I’ve got quite a few jade pieces, would you like to have a look?”
“Of course, I do,” Ye Qingyi still chuckled softly, “But if you’re letting me feast my eyes, I should be the one giving you a gift, right?”
Feng Jun caught on; she actually wasn’t averse to him. However, it was clear that, after the awkward encounter last time, she needed a way out. So he tried to be cheeky, “If you don’t take it, I won’t take you to see the jade.”
Ye Qingyi watched him for a while, then shook her head slightly, speaking with a gentle yet very firm voice, “If you don’t want me to see it, then let’s leave it at that.”
Huh? Quite decisive, Feng Jun was a little surprised.
But as someone who frequented bars, he was good at being shameless. So he laughed, “Actually, I meant that I’d like you to help assess the value, and this Mobile Phone… let’s say it’s compensation.”
Ye Qingyi regarded him for a moment, then asked, “Are you sure it’s just compensation?”
“Even if it doesn’t count as compensation,” Feng Jun replied with a playful grin, “compensation could be given as cash; this is a favor… sound good?”
He knew how to charm; he was well aware that if he truly counted the Mobile Phone as compensation, she might be unhappy.
“You really…” Ye Qingyi shook her head helplessly, “Never mind, I still won’t go. I just like large pieces of Mutton-Fat Jade.”
“There’s also Mutton-Fat Jade this time, big pieces, even better quality than the last,” Feng Jun immediately retorted.
Ye Qingyi was momentarily stunned. In her impression, the Mutton-Fat Jade of last time was already a rare find. How could it appear again so soon, and even bigger and better?
So she looked at him again before asking, “You’re not lying to me, right?”
“If I’m lying to you, the Mobile Phone’s yours for free,” Feng Jun spoke halfway and realized saying it this way did sound suspicious, so he had to switch gears, “Nevermind, if I’m lying, I’m not giving you the phone at all… Hey, why does that sound so awkward?”
“Hehe,” Ye Qingyi covered her mouth and chuckled. She found his way of speaking quite amusing.
“Let’s wait for lunchtime, then I’ll come with you to see the jade. You don’t have it in your backpack now, do you?”
“There’s a piece of Green Jade in my backpack,” Feng Jun had to clarify, “If your store doesn’t mind, I can take it out for you to see right now.”
Ye Qingyi looked at his backpack in astonishment, “There’s only a jade stone in the backpack?”
She could tell that the backpack wasn’t small, and what was crucial was that it was definitely heavy.
Li Dafu had always been quite polite to jade suppliers, and although Ye Qingyi was just a clerk with limited authority, as soon as she reported the news of Feng Jun having jade, the on-duty store manager immediately opened the VIP room and called in an expert.
Feng Jun’s green jade dazzled the expert, who appraised it for quite some time before finally asking, “Do you want to sell this green jade, and for how much?”
“Not selling, only exchanging for gold,” Feng Jun shook his head, “I need gold right now.”
The store manager hesitated, “This would require quite a lot of gold. Gold may be over three hundred per gram now, but to buy this jade, you’ll need a lot.”
Feng Jun quickly made his position clear, “I must point out that I am looking for the industry price for gold, with such a large amount, I can’t go by retail price.”
To his request, no one objected. They all worked in the same industry and understood the proper measures.
Indeed, even those who weren’t in the profession knew the principle of “bulk discounts.”
Strangely, they didn’t find his request excessive; instead, they clung to the price of the jade, “How much gold are you looking to exchange for?”
Feng Jun replied with an almost smile, “Shouldn’t it be up to you to make the offer?”
Though the store manager was a middle-aged woman, she took charge, “If we make the offer, you’ll definitely find it too low. You state your target price, and we’ll negotiate slowly from there.”
Feng Jun shook his head, “If I were to set the price, it would be a fixed, non- negotiable amount.”
“Young man, that’s not the attitude for doing business,” an expert, now dissatisfied, even glanced over at Ye Qingyi, “Xiao Ye, your friend… isn’t very sincere.”
But Ye Qingyi wasn’t influenced and surprisingly spoke out righteously, “Such a rare piece of jade is actually a seller’s market.”
Upon hearing this, the expert glared at her fiercely but could not blame her. He could only grumble reluctantly, “If that’s the case, you should have just named your price, why bother asking us to offer first?”
Feng Jun replied cheerfully, “That won’t do. What if you offer more? Wouldn’t I be at a loss then?”
“How could that be?” The expert huffed angrily, wondering if this young man had any idea about market conditions, “Gold has a price, jade is priceless. You can sell it for an infinite price, but when we buy, we have to estimate based on what is quantifiable.”
The store manager couldn’t wait to speak up, “No matter what, please state your asking price.”
“Twelve kilograms of gold,” Feng Jun stated seriously.
“How could that be?” A female deputy manager exclaimed, “That’s almost four million! This is just green jade of average appearance.”
Feng Jun gave her a look and solemnly reminded her, “The price of gold I’m asking for is the industry price.”
The store manager gave a bitter smile, “Even considering the industry- regulated price, that’s still several million… What does Master Qi think?”
Master Qi was the appraisal expert; he paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and shook his head, “You really are… aiming for the priceless range.”
Feng Jun did not respond. The female deputy manager, however, huffed in exasperation, “Young man, you don’t really want to sell, do you?”
Feng Jun looked at her, “The jade has already been sold for ten kilograms of gold. To break that agreement, it would take a higher offer from you… In fact, I took out the jade because I wanted Xiao Yezi to take a look.”
This was indeed the case, and the store manager knew too that the young man hadn’t mentioned wanting to sell the jade at the beginning.
She turned to Master Qi, “Ten kilograms of gold… What do you think of this price, is it reasonable?”
“Ten kilograms…” Master Qi pondered a moment before shaking his head again, “It’s still sold as priceless, but at this price, those interested may consider buying.”
Upon hearing that, Feng Jun gave him a look, “Twelve kilograms of gold and those interested could still consider it, otherwise how can we speak of something being priceless?”
Master Qi had no answer; in fact, he felt there was some logic to the other’s words.
What a pity that Li Dafu was not the final consumer. When they purchased jade, it was intended for processing before selling for a profit.
The female deputy manager spoke up abruptly, “Who did you sell this jade to? There are not many who could produce ten kilograms of gold.”
This wasn’t to say that other houses didn’t have such gold reserves, but exchanging gold for jade typically implied a black market deal, making accounting difficult and bringing a series of risks.
However, as soon as she spoke, Master Qi and the store manager both rolled their eyes simultaneously.
Just asking was enough; why add the latter part? This wasn’t superfluous but actually a blunder!
Even if the young man had been willing to reveal the buyer, now it would certainly not happen.
And sure enough, Feng Jun shook his head with a smile, “Sorry, I really can’t say.”
(First update, congratulations to the beautiful alliance leader Lv Yao Luo Luo, also pleading for base monthly votes.)