Chapter 15: Shopping

Skilled people are valued wherever they go. He could write and calculate, socialize, and understood how business worked, so he was put in charge of external commercial dealings. Over the past few years, as Pingfeng Stronghold completely transformed, Chu Jianli's contributions could not be overlooked.

Chatting up to this point, Cao Chuan had no choice but to revise his opinion of these bandits yet again. The traditional mountain bandits of his imagination — crude, filthy, heading down the mountain to pull a job whenever they felt like it, drinking from big bowls and dividing gold by the scale — seemed to have very little to do with Pingfeng Stronghold.

He had the feeling of going back to work at a Company. Yes, a Company — that one o'clock kind, with an Old Chief, security guards, an accountant, and a professional Factory Manager.

Seeing the True Man appear to enter some kind of cultivation mode, Zhou Tong and the others stopped talking and held their tongues, until the man came back to his senses. Only then did Zhou Tong ask curiously, "Sir, were you in meditation just now?"

Cao Chuan caught on and immediately took the out given: "Just now I was communicating with the Sect. I need to return to my room to do my homework. The stone material must also be sent back to the Sect. Please sit for a while; when I come out of seclusion, I will drink tea with you all."

Zhou Tong hurriedly called over Zhao Si, who was playing with pebbles nearby, to escort the gentleman back to his room. Cao Chuan returned to his doorway, reminded Zhao Si of the old rule — no disturbances — then turned around, bolted the door, paced a few circles in the room, and after thinking it over and finding no more oversights, gave a hehe smile. With a wipe of his right hand, he was already standing in the living room of the Jade Green Garden apartment.

After looking around in a circle, he pulled out his phone to check the time: one in the afternoon. He first gave Li Douzhan a phone call, then rushed into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and began enjoying the pleasures of modern civilization.

Pingfeng Stronghold was fine in every way except that bathing was inconvenient — the mountain spring water was too cold.

After finishing his bath, he came out, dug a jacket and trousers out of the wardrobe and changed into them. Cao Chuan opened the innermost door of the apartment, swung his hand, and released all the stones from the Ring, piling them right on the floor. He turned around, went back to the living room, dug out his old Lenovo laptop, and started looking things up online. Not long after, he heard a knock at the door.

Li Douzhan stepped one foot inside and immediately started shouting: "Cao Zong, still in good health? That's good. I really thought someone had planted lotus flowers with you. Your phone was out of the service area — who procures goods like you do?"

Cao Chuan didn't answer. He shoved Li Douzhan into the room from behind, pulled the door shut, and went back to browsing the internet himself.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Cao Chuan suddenly sensed someone breathing heavily beside him. He twisted his head and saw Li Douzhan's big round face staring intently at him from up close, a stone cradled in his arms.

The man was instantly startled wide awake. He shoved Li Douzhan hard: "Bro, get away from me!"

Hugging the stone, Li Douzhan leaned his face in again, the fat on his jowls quivering, and asked slowly: "Old Pit goods have long been extinct. Where did you get so many? Do you know ancient people?"

Cao Chuan hadn't expected to be hit with the crucial point so directly. His heart tightened, and he shot back aggressively: "What damn Old Pit, ancient people — can you speak some human language?"

Li Douzhan gave a hehe smile and held the stone in his arms up in front of Cao Chuan: "See this side? Know why it's so black? It's from smoke. The older generation didn't have electric hammers; they had to burn it with fire first, then splash cold water on the stone. You understand thermal expansion and contraction, right? Old Pit goods are all like this — one face of the stone material is blackened by smoke. So, where did you get so many Old Pit goods?"

Hearing this, Cao Chuan felt much more at ease. Earlier, when Li Douzhan had inadvertently spooked him with the mention of ancient people, he'd thought the guy had guessed something. So it was just this matter.

Leaning back, his eyes gazing upward, Cao Zong said leisurely: "Didn't I tell you not to ask about the source? You mind your own business how I got them. Can these stones be sold or not? Give me an answer. If not, I'll send them back."

Li Douzhan slapped his thigh: "Why couldn't they be sold? Those several dozen pieces can be moved anytime. You know the market too — these are all top-quality goods, worth at least tens of millions! Bro!"

Cao Chuan snorted twice: "What about those big pieces? How do we handle those?"

Li Douzhan gently placed the stone in his arms onto his lap, then said: "The few big pieces are a bit more trouble. I'll need to use tools to cut the material first, polish them up before selling. How much clear jade can be extracted depends on luck."

Cao Chuan nodded: "Since you know what to do, why aren't you off working? What are you hanging around me for?"

"Right now there are two things we brothers need to discuss together," Li Douzhan said, stroking his chin.

Seeing Cao Chuan's inquiring look, Li Douzhan continued: "The first is the sales issue. Hell knows where you got so many Old Pit goods. If I were to dump them all openly tomorrow, with our quality, the market would just explode. There'd be no way to cover it up, and the price would drop too. I plan to fly to several cities, from south to north, releasing a few pieces per market. That way the impact is smaller, so you'll need to give me some time."

Hearing this, Cao Chuan nodded in agreement: "No rush. Take your time moving them. We're not in a hurry."

"That's best. The second issue — right now we need a shop front."

Seeing Cao Chuan look a bit puzzled, Li Douzhan hurriedly explained: "Look, first of all, stone cutting needs a place, right? Table saws and stuff — can't do that in an apartment complex. So much valuable jade material can't be taken to someone else's place to cut either. Besides, for sales I'll always need a storefront. I can't keep inviting people to my home. Keeping the goods at my place isn't safe either; we'd need a large insurance vault for that."

Cao Chuan thought it over and found it made sense. They really should have a base. He knew his own situation — the supply of goods would only increase from now on. Going on like this wasn't reliable.

Thinking of this, he nodded: "We approve. Go look for a shop front. Buy one outright. Hmm, the money will come out of the future payments for goods. Register a company yourself, keep the books straight, and we'll slowly deduct it from your commission later."

"Really? Cao Zong, you're too classy! Then your brother here will be a mortgage slave for you for once. Uh, will the cash flow hold up?"

"I'm telling you, don't annoy me anymore, okay? Stay out of money matters. What do you know about advanced operations? Can't you just ask fewer questions?"

"Alright, alright. Society Brother Cao, ruthless and of few words. I'll start looking at shop fronts in the next couple of days."

Checking his phone — three in the afternoon — Cao Chuan stood up and walked into the bathroom. When he came out, he was carrying a large leather suitcase. He took Li Douzhan along and went out to hail a cab.

He had the driver take them straight to Yintai Department Store. At the phone shop by the entrance, they first swapped both their crappy phones for the latest kidney phones. Next, they headed directly to the high-end menswear section of the mall.

Li Douzhan saw at a glance that Cao Zong was in the rhythm of a major spending spree and stuck to him like glue. The two of them went full local tyrant at the Burberry boutique, swapping out their entire outfits inside and out, then buying two spare sets each. Six suits cost forty-eight thousand. The salesgirl was so happy she kept praising Cao Chuan's sturdy physique, which pissed Li Douzhan off to no end.

Leaving the menswear department, they walked into a watch shop. Country bumpkins just love matching watches; bros are all like that. They spotted a Rolex Submariner model they liked for sixty thousand — one for each. Then, amid the salesgirls' snickering, they strode out of the commercial building in their Western suits and leather shoes, full of vigor.

Seeing the man hail another cab to a 4S dealership, Li Douzhan was utterly shocked: "Boss, are you buying a car? How many are you thinking of buying today? Seeing as it's almost year-end, I should be getting a year-end bonus too."

"Yeah, just buying one today. That's all the money there is — you saw it yourself. After you sell off the goods later, buy your own."