Xu Hui Commercial Street, a mahjong parlor.
Murong Ba, tired from playing cards, sat on the sofa. Two beauties immediately approached him, one rubbing his shoulders, the other massaging his legs.
Murong Ba felt uneasy, living a life like a local emperor.
At this moment.
Strategist Qiu Zhen walked over and said with a smile, "The spy we just planted in the Xiao family has sent news that the Xiao family has reached an agreement with the Jiang family to jointly create 'Triumphant Jewelry,' officially entering the jewelry industry."
Murong Ba heard this and chuckled.
He said, "The jewelry industry is the foundation of my Murong family in Modu. How can they get their hands on it? What about that black technology, how have you dealt with it?"
Qiu Zhen replied, "It has been handled. The so-called black technology is fake. That foolish donkey Xiao Zhan has already fallen into our trap and doesn't even know it. If there were really such advanced black technology, would we still need to gamble on raw stones? All the raw stone merchants would be sent home to take care of their children. It's hilarious."
It turned out that the so-called black technology didn't exist at all.
It was all the Murong family's scheme.
They did this to lull the Xiao family into thinking they were buying high-value raw stones at very low prices, when in reality, they were worthless.
If they had truly used that ring to identify and purchase raw stones, they would have lost everything.
...
At noon, after lunch, Xiao Zhan drove Jiang Mengxin and the others to Modu's largest raw stone procurement point – Shangyuan Street.
What was called a street was actually a large area.
Originally, there was only one street selling raw stones, with a few scattered shops. However, with the development of Modu, the jewelry industry flourished, and raw stones became scarce.
Eventually, what was once a street developed into an area, with thousands of raw stone shops, large and small, gathered here.
However, even though the area expanded, the name remained the same: Shangyuan Street.
After parking the car, Jiang Mengxin and the others walked towards Shangyuan Street, hearing shouts all around, with shopkeepers constantly beckoning them.
Jiang Mengxin looked around as they walked.
Their purpose for this trip was singular: to test the black technology.
Although Xiao Zhan was confident in the black technology his company had developed and had tested it multiple times internally without any issues,
testing was still testing. Its practical usability was uncertain.
With a rigorous attitude, Jiang Mengxin insisted on coming to Shangyuan Street for a 'real-world test' to see if the ring was truly effective.
Xiao Zhan said confidently, "President Jiang, feel free to pick any shop to buy from. I guarantee we can acquire the best raw stones at an extremely low price!"
Jiang Mengxin surveyed the area. Just as she was contemplating, she heard a passionate shout from a nearby raw stone shop owner, "Sirs and madams, are you looking to buy raw stones? I have fresh raw stones just procured from Yun and Gui. Are you interested in taking a look?"
"Let's go with his shop," Jiang Mengxin said, leading the way.
At the entrance, raw stones of various sizes were displayed, and there was a large pile in a nearby basket. However, judging by their appearance, they were all of very poor quality. One could tell they were rubbish with the naked eye, without even using the ring.
"Do you have any good raw stones?" Jiang Mengxin asked.
"Yes!" The owner waved his hand, and a helper pulled aside a curtain. Behind the curtain was a shelf displaying raw stones of various styles and sizes.
The owner said, "These are fresh raw stones that just arrived this morning. I've selected the best batch and displayed them on the shelf. Please take a look?"
Jiang Mengxin scanned them. Indeed, their appearance was extremely superior.
At Jiang Mengxin's level, she could no longer discern the true value of this batch of raw stones.
Xiao Zhan walked over, picked one up, and weighed it in his hand. He then observed it closely and said excitedly, "Alright, boss, the quality of this batch is truly remarkable, very high."
The owner chuckled, "Esteemed customers, how many would you like to buy?"
Xiao Zhan and Jiang Mengxin exchanged glances, nodded, and began their official action: testing the black technology.
Xiao Zhan pretended to be playing with the raw stone, but in reality, he circled the raw stone with the ring, collecting its various data, and then transmitted it to the detector.
Xiao Yao stood behind Jiang Mengxin with the detector, observing carefully.
After more than ten seconds of analysis, the final evaluation result was: Four Stars!
Four stars was a very high rating.
Xiao Yao excitedly whispered in Jiang Mengxin's ear, "Four stars, a very good raw stone, it's worth buying."
Jiang Mengxin gave Xiao Zhan an affirmative look.
Xiao Zhan understood, holding the raw stone, he said, "This one looks good, boss. How much are you selling it for?"
The owner gave a thumbs-up, "This customer clearly knows quality! How about this, for the first sale of the day, I'll give you a discount, 150,000."
150,000?
For a four-star raw stone, its value was around 400,000. Buying it for 150,000 would definitely be a profit.
However...
Xiao Zhan deliberately frowned and said, "Boss, you're ripping me off a bit. Although this raw stone is of good quality, it's quite small, and not much can be produced from it. 150,000 is too expensive, I can only offer 80,000."
The owner laughed heartily, "Fine, 80,000 it is. I'm a straightforward person, no haggling!"
Thus, a raw stone with a true value of 400,000 was bought by Xiao Zhan for only 80,000!
A massive profit!
If every raw stone could be acquired at one-fifth of its price like this, the cost of Triumphant Jewelry would be kept at an extremely low level.
Jiang Mengxin, Xiao Yao, Xu Qin, and Xiao Zhan all showed joyful smiles.
Except for Lu Ming.
Lu Ming stared at the raw stone for a long time, then abruptly said, "80,000 for a piece of rock to build a latrine? Are you crazy?"
Huh?
Everyone turned to look at Lu Ming.
Xiao Zhan asked, "Lu Ming, what do you mean?"
Lu Ming pointed at the raw stone and said, "This raw stone is entirely rock inside. It's not even good enough to build a latrine, and it's worth less than 8 mao. You want to buy it for 80,000, aren't you crazy?"
His words stunned everyone present.
The raw stone shop owner froze for a few seconds and asked with a forced smile, "Oh, is this customer a raw stone expert? How do you know this raw stone isn't worth anything?"
Xiao Zhan also asked, "Yeah, Lu Ming, have you worked in this industry before?"
Lu Ming shook his head, "Never, I just have a feeling."
"A feeling?" Xiao Zhan burst into laughter, "Are you kidding me? Do you think you're a Saint Seiya, capable of conquering everything with your seventh or eighth sense? A feeling, that's hilarious."
Lu Ming insisted, "My feelings are very accurate, believe me."
"Believe your ass!" Xu Qin cursed, "Can you, an outsider, stop stirring up trouble here? Get lost, and don't come back."
Jiang Mengxin also rolled her eyes at him.
Clearly, the words of an outsider like Lu Ming were completely untrustworthy, and no one was willing to believe him.