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Chapter 23
Shen You understood.
The other party had long known about such a shop, having found this place after seeing the artifacts displayed in the museum.
This person was indeed no ordinary individual, similar to a space-time administrator.
Most importantly, he couldn’t restrict the shop – like the customers from Great Qi, he couldn’t enter her store without her consent.
This put Shen You at ease.
“So, were you also looking for that child from Great Qi that day?” Shen You pondered.
“Me looking for him?” Wen Zhi smiled lazily, “It was his wish that prayed to me. Depending on my mood, I sometimes make deals with people too, leaving behind a useful person over there.”
Unexpectedly that day, the person had entered her shop first.
Was this competition for business? Shen You thought while carrying the packaged box of lemon chicken feet back home.
“Let’s go, since you treated me to food, I’ll see you part of the way.”
Shen You looked at him with an indescribable expression, “The way you say that makes it sound like you’re going to take my life.”
She didn’t refuse, yet she didn’t drop her guard either. The two walked without conversation until they parted ways in front of the shop.
Watching his departing figure, Shen You quickly entered the password and opened the door, then locked the bolt inside.
This was something she had specially had someone install. Once locked from the inside, it could not be opened from the outside.
Shen You first checked the surveillance and her belongings, having left the living room light on tonight.
She stayed up until after four in the morning. After experiencing for the first time being followed by someone with a knife, it inevitably left her with lingering fears, causing her to be unable to sleep.
*
The next morning around ten o’clock, she was awakened again by sounds outside.
The community had arranged for people to come repair the streetlights and install surveillance cameras.
The surveillance in this alley had never worked properly, merely sitting there for show.
After last night’s incident, when police wanted to check the surveillance footage, they discovered that there was none at all, which led to today’s scene.
All the neighbors gathered around discussing yesterday’s events, while Boss Huo made a special trip to express his concern for Shen You.
“Fortunately nothing happened. You didn’t lose anything, right?”
Shen You brewed a pot of tea and poured him a cup, “Nothing was lost.”
“That’s good.” Boss Huo was about to continue speaking when his eyes suddenly caught sight of the teapot Shen You had casually placed beside her.
This… this… sweet white glaze!
Was Boss Shen serious? Using sweet white glaze to brew tea??
“This teapot of yours…” Boss Huo’s eyes went straight.
The teapot in his garden was a unique piece fired in the famous porcelain capital, bought at a friendship price of eighty-eight thousand yuan. He was reluctant to use it even for ordinary guests.
Boss Shen’s teapot looked even better than his.
“Recreated using ancient firing methods, a gift from a friend.” Shen You said calmly.
This teapot was newly fired by the Great Qi imperial kiln. The technique was flawless, but its condition didn’t look like an antique, so she had taken it out for use.
Boss Huo looked at the teapot with considerable envy.
It had to be known, that good porcelain, even modern-fired pieces, could be more expensive than gold. A single kiln firing might not produce a single treasure, and one small error could ruin everything.
Producing something good also required luck and discerning buyers.
“If your friend has more teapots of this quality next time, let me know. I’ll buy them.”
Shen You made an “no problem” gesture.
After Boss Huo left, Shen You began searching for suppliers to stock up. This time, the demand for water purification tablets was significant.
The customer had paid five hundred taels of gold – she couldn’t handle this carelessly.
Each bottle contained one hundred tablets. Last time, buying two boxes was already quite a lot for ordinary people.
Therefore, this time she didn’t contact a retailer but a local manufacturer, and there happened to be one in the industrial park.
It wasn’t the big brand from last time, but it was also a qualified factory that met regulations.
Shen You called them first, added their WeChat, then discussed inventory and timing.
She used the classic excuse: I have a friend who wants to start an outdoor camping club.
“We have the quantity you want in stock now, but for a lower price, you’ll need to take more.” The person on the other end sounded very pleased.
Of course they were pleased – business was tough in these economic times.
The warehouse was full of accumulated goods with poor sales channels. Even the fortune tree at the entrance was nearly dead.
So suddenly receiving such a large order, they would naturally do everything to secure it.
“These water purification tablets have a two-year shelf life. Taking more would be cost-effective for you. Outdoor activities sometimes last ten days to half a month, so you’d use them quickly.”
Shen You pretended to consider, waiting over ten seconds before answering, “Alright, as you say. I’ll take 2,000 boxes.”
She had originally wanted to buy more anyway, which was why she had negotiated the price for so long, letting the other party suggest first that buying more would get a discount.
She took out a calculator and started computing.
Each box contained 6 bottles, so 2,000 boxes totaled 12,000 bottles.
This type of professional outdoor equipment wasn’t cheap. The wholesale price was still 28 yuan per bottle, totaling over 330,000 yuan, and because she had promised to pay immediately after inspection, they had waived the shipping fees.
Five hundred taels of gold, minus handling fees, equaled six million yuan.
This profit margin was higher than even the notoriously profitable health supplement industry.
Having completed another task, Shen You stretched at the counter.
Seeing that evening was approaching, she ordered herself a char siu rice and took out the remaining chicken feet from the refrigerator for dinner.
Simultaneously, she opened the [Great Qi] antique shop.
The weather had been changing rapidly lately, alternating between cold and hot. Just going out to feed the fish brought a hint of coolness.
Before long, someone entered the shop.
It was a young woman, about fifteen to sixteen years old, dressed simply but in clean clothing.
She clutched something in her arms timidly, observing this strange shop with wariness and confusion.
Her gaze finally settled on Shen You.
This lady’s clothing was so strange. Her arms were half-exposed, her skirt only reached her calves, and her hair hung loose.
Going out dressed like this, wouldn’t it invite criticism?
[Welcome to my shop, feel free to look around]
She had never heard such a strange speaking tone before. Luo Ziya’s shoulders trembled, and her expression became even more uneasy.
“Do you buy things here?”
Hearing the weak voice, Shen You nodded.
“An antique shop naturally buys things, but I need to see what it is first.”
She had seen many people buying things, but this was the first time someone came asking to sell something.
She took out a wooden tray padded with soft cloth, indicating that she could place her item on it.
Luo Ziya took out a hairpin from her arms hesitantly, watching Shen You’s focused expression nervously.
It was a silver hairpin shaped like a dragonfly. Overall it looked quite exquisite, but the craftsmanship was actually rather crude.
The gemstones embedded in it were also of average quality. They had impurities, lacked clarity, and the hairpin showed signs of loosening in two places.
Simply put, it wasn’t worth much. In the modern antique market, it might sell for five thousand yuan at best.
Ancient mining techniques were poor, so such gemstones were rare items among common people, but in modern times they were considered flawed goods.
“How is it?” Luo Ziya asked without much confidence. “I went to a pawn shop, but I didn’t agree to their price.”
So she had tried to find other shops, asking at two places consecutively, but they offered even lower prices than the first pawn shop.
Just when she felt desperate, she suddenly saw a shop with a door brighter than all the other shops and walked in.
Shen You said, “I can see you treasure this hairpin very much.”
Luo Ziya nodded, “This was dowry my mother secretly saved for me. Everything else was gambled away by my father. He and grandmother want to sell me so he can marry another wife. I need travel money to escape to my maternal grandfather’s house.”
Her eyes were red-rimmed as she looked at Shen You hopefully.
“Ten taels at most. Will you sell?”
This price was definitely a loss for Shen You, but she needed items to practice restoration techniques. Hunting for old objects in modern markets was time-consuming and risked encountering fakes.
Having something ready-made to buy, even if expensive, was acceptable. It would also increase her business value.
She couldn’t help with other troubles, only this much.
“Really? Ten taels?” Luo Ziya was both surprised and delighted.
Ten taels of silver wasn’t a small sum. In a family where someone worked at the county office, they might not save this much in half a year!