The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

Xu Qu and Huan Huan, each with mixed feelings, finally arrived at the inner courtyard to reunite with Manager Cao, Aunt Cao and others.

They didn't seem to stay still for long. The eldest aunt looked at Xie Jin, who was still in shock, and teased Shopkeeper Xiao, "Shopkeeper Xiao, your business methods are really unique and ingenious. Our journey to buy jewelry today is really thrilling."

Shopkeeper Xiao's face was filled with embarrassment. He said in a flattering and tactful manner, "Excuse me! Excuse me! I am sorry for scaring the Crown Prince's Consort and the Duke's wife. I am so sorry!"

Xie Jin said in a tone that had just calmed down but was still a little stiff, "We are fine, but our guest, Mrs. Cao, came from afar, and it is inappropriate for her to be frightened like this."

Shopkeeper Xiao quickly bowed to Shopkeeper Cao and his wife with an apologetic look on his face, saying, "I am sorry that my hospitality was not good enough and that Shopkeeper Cao and his wife were frightened. I hope you two distinguished guests will forgive me."

Manager Cao was very satisfied with his status being elevated so highly during the conversation, so as a veteran in the business world, he smiled and bowed in return, saying, "No problem, no problem. Haha, we have plenty of these things in Lingnan, they are more poisonous and more powerful than this. You can't say you're scared! Hahaha."

Xie Jin said, "Shopkeeper Xiao, Shopkeeper Cao came here because we praised your Jinqi Pavilion. After what happened, we are still sincere. Please don't let us down and show us all your good things."

These words full of flattery made Manager Xiao very comfortable. He laughed heartily and said proudly: "Our Jinqi Pavilion is the largest jeweler in Shanghuai and even the six surrounding counties. I will definitely satisfy you today. Please come in." Then he led several people into the private vault.

The private room was large, but the windows were smaller than those of ordinary houses. As it was getting dark, candles were already lit. It was a private room, and the candles were not just ordinary candles, but were painted with golden patterns. Not only that, the layout was also very generous, with a luxurious candle every five steps, which made the already exquisitely decorated room even more magnificent.

Apart from anything else, the first thing that catches your eye as you open the door is the huge jade sculpture of landscape facing the door. It is huge in size and of high quality, with people, trees and boats. It is intricately crafted, ingeniously crafted, and uses a lot of beautiful colors. Just looking at this piece, you can tell that the things in this room must be of good quality.

In the illumination of candlelight, the room full of jewels and precious stones were reflected in the shining eyes of the shopkeeper Cao and his wife. Mrs. Cao's face showed an unconcealable joy. She came to the Hetian jade counter, greedily looked at the various Hetian jade ornaments in green, white, purple, yellow, red and black colors, lingered there and refused to move.

Seeing Madam Cao like this, Shopkeeper Xiao was somewhat pleased with himself. He looked at Xu Qu beside him happily and asked casually, "Does Master Xu have anything he likes?"

But Xu Qu took a look and said, "These stones are heavy, nothing special."

These words made Shopkeeper Xiao feel deflated. The smile on his face froze in awkwardness and he looked dejected.

At this time, Xie Jin stepped forward and said in an unquestionable tone: "Shopkeeper Xiao, we don't want this. Please go get the goods from the inner cabinet for us to choose from."

Shopkeeper Xiao smiled, but hesitated and didn't want to move.

At this time, the eldest aunt half blamed and half teased, "Manager Xiao, you have been running such a big silver shop for so many years, your strength must not be limited to this. What did you say just now outside the door?"

Shopkeeper Xiao lowered his head and thought for a while, then he made up his mind and said, "Please wait." After that, he shook his head and turned to the door.

At this time, Xie Jin smiled and whispered a few words in Lingnan dialect to the Cao couple. The eldest aunt smiled and asked her, "What did Bihua say?"

Xie Jin then said to his aunt, "I said that Shopkeeper Xiao is reluctant to sell. He wants to hoard the good goods and sell them at a high price."

The eldest aunt nodded and smiled: "You are right."

After a while, Shopkeeper Xiao came back with two waiters and a bunch of keys. He used the keys to open the lock under the counter. The waiter carefully took out a stack of flat plates with rims about one foot long and placed them on the table. He then carefully laid the plates flat one by one.

Shopkeeper Xiao opened the dustproof silk on the tray one by one. The tray was filled with high-quality pearls and jades, which made Shopkeeper Cao and his wife astonished and stunned. After a moment of silence, Mrs. Cao couldn't help but exclaimed: "Wow!"

Shopkeeper Xiao introduced with a smile: "These will definitely satisfy you. I have accumulated them for many years. They are absolutely top-notch products. Look at this duck egg green, which is delicate without any texture. This green and yellow Kou Qie Mo material has many impurities and it is very rare to achieve this quality. Look at this lotus root powder and this smoke purple, both of which are rare and good materials halfway up the mountain and half way up the water."

Shopkeeper Xiao was speaking on this side, and Xie Jin was translating for Shopkeeper Cao and his wife in Lingnan dialect.

Mrs. Cao grabbed a Hetian white jade beauty bracelet and rubbed it repeatedly in her hands, unable to let it go.

Shopkeeper Xiao smiled and said, "Madam, you have a good eye! This bracelet has two pieces of sugar, with a touch of jade in the middle. The material is warm, delicate and thick. You can tell it's a good thing just by listening to the sound."

As he spoke, Shopkeeper Xiao picked up the other imperial concubine bracelet and gently touched the beauty bar that Madam Cao was holding twice. The two bracelets collided with each other and immediately made an extremely crisp sound, and there seemed to be an echo lingering in the ears, making everyone present unable to help but be intoxicated by it.

Madam Cao held the beauty strip in her hand very tenderly, and stared at the imperial concubine bracelet in Shopkeeper Xiao's hand, with a greedy look like a child craving for candy.

Shopkeeper Cao waved his arm and said, "We want them all."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Cao immediately smiled and ran to the next counter happily.

Similarly, Shopkeeper Xiao ordered his clerk to take out a silk-covered flat plate from the locked cabinet, which contained the red and juicy red southern red agate. Madam Cao picked up an agate bead bracelet, and Shopkeeper Xiao introduced it with a smile: "Madam, look at this plate of red jade, all of which are authentic south red, ranging from brocade red to persimmon red and cherry red. The diameter of the beads in your bracelet is more than half an inch, and the flesh is thick. Each bead is full of color and flesh. From size to color to flesh, they are all rare and precious things."

Mrs. Cao nodded repeatedly in approval, clutching the bracelet in her hand, and looked at Manager Cao with anticipation.

Shopkeeper Xiao also said: "This kind of high-quality goods is worth collecting. The price will increase if you resell it. You will make a profit if you buy it."

After hearing this, Shopkeeper Cao's eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "Buy them all."

Mrs. Cao happily went to the next counter, which was for pearls.

Shopkeeper Xiao picked up a flat plate, lifted the shiny white silk, and revealed the equally shiny pearls. The plate was full of round beads, rolling back and forth on the plate. Madam Cao placed her palm on the beads and smiled from ear to ear.

Shopkeeper Xiao smiled and said, "This dish is farmed."

"Farmed? Is it possible to farm?" Manager Cao and Mrs. Cao were very surprised.

Shopkeeper Xiao said, "Yes, in the Han Dynasty's Book of Rites, Monthly Ordinances, there is a record of 'raising them in a deep pond and watching the pearls grow with your eyes.' To cultivate them, you need to plant the nucleus into the pearl oyster, choose a deep pond of suitable depth, tie up the clams and fix them on wooden stakes to promote the growth of the pearls. It takes at least two years for them to become pearls."

After saying that, Shopkeeper Xiao took out a box and slowly opened the lid. A round pearl with a diameter of nearly half an inch appeared in front of everyone. Everyone held their breath and watched the brilliance flowing on the pearl under the flickering candlelight.

Shopkeeper Xiao was very proud and said, "This pearl is at least ten years old and is nearly half an inch in diameter. Only clams that open in March and April every year can have this kind of pearly luster. This pearl is white with no lines, bright and flawless. It is rare to find one among ten thousand. This one is worth more than gold."

Upon hearing the price, Shopkeeper Cao pulled Mrs. Cao forward. Although Mrs. Cao was reluctant, she still followed Shopkeeper Cao's steps, and then a group of people followed.

At this time, the one walking at the end slowly stopped here and stared at the pearl silently. Xu Qu looked at her and asked, "Do you like it?"

Slowly shaking his head, he said, "I am just looking at this glittering soft light, which seems to be radiated from the whole pearl body, elegant and restrained. In fact, the core is the painful torment that the clam will encounter due to fate. However, the clam has transformed the torment of fate into such a brilliant light after years of silent endurance. It is really amazing."

Xu Qu looked at Huan Huan and the pearl silently for a while, and said, "They look great and suit you. I'll buy them for you."

Huanhuan shook his head and was about to say something when he heard a loud voice coming from the front. Huanhuan and Xu Qu hurriedly followed.

It was Shopkeeper Xiao. His tone was obviously much higher than before. He tried his best to suppress his excitement, but still said with obvious dissatisfaction: "These are all high-quality goods. This Hetian jade is seed material, not mountain material! This Nanhong can only be made of small seed slurry material. It is river material, a good thing that I would never take out even if others come. It doesn't matter if this customer comes from far away, and it doesn't matter if he buys a lot, not to mention it's not a lot. This price is impossible. I have never sold it at this price!"

Manager Cao and Mrs. Cao were embarrassed and angry, and their faces looked very bad.

Shopkeeper Xiao picked up another bracelet and added, "Look at this. You can buy this at the price you mentioned. Why don't you take this?"

At this time, Xie Jin pushed away Shopkeeper Xiao's hand and said, "Shopkeeper Xiao, people from our Xie and Xu families buy jewelry from you, right?"

Shopkeeper Xiao was stunned when he heard this.

Xie Jin added at the right time: "I have invited you to Beijing many times and introduced customers from Beijing to buy high-end jewelry from you, right?"

After hearing this, Shopkeeper Xiao was all smiles again, with a little sweat on his forehead, and he kept nodding yes.

Xie Jin said calmly, "I have some girlfriends coming over in a few days, and some of them are planning to buy dowries. I'm still considering whether to introduce them here."

Shopkeeper Xiao began to look embarrassed.

Xie Jin took advantage of the victory and said, "The strength of our Jinqi Pavilion doesn't care about this. We are doing long-term business, right?"

Shopkeeper Xiao struggled for a long time, but finally lost his temper, waved his hand helplessly, and said, "That's it, just do what the customer asked. But you must not tell anyone about this price. If my peers find out that I'm setting a random price, I'll be ridiculed, but I'll be boycotted and banned, which will be troublesome!"

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Cao and Madam Cao's eyes lit up and they looked at Xie Jin with gratitude.

Xie Jin smiled and said, "Manager Xiao, we have a long way to go."

Shopkeeper Xiao put on a smile that was hard to tell whether it was genuine or fake, and said, "Yes, yes, you are right."

At this time, Madam Cao pointed at Xie Jin's twisted wire bracelet and said a few words in Lingnan dialect. Xie Jin grasped his bracelet and turned it around his wrist a few times, then stretched his wrist in front of Shopkeeper Xiao and asked, "Shopkeeper Xiao, Madam Cao wants to buy this. Do you have any?"

Shopkeeper Xiao took a look and said, "No."

Xie Jin said doubtfully, "Really?"

At this time Xu Qu stepped forward and said, "If there is one, we want one too."

These words made Xie Jin's expression change slightly, and she turned her head and looked at her aunt.

Shopkeeper Xiao took a close look at the twisted wire bracelet on Xie Jin's hand and said seriously, "It's oily, moist, white, sticky, fine, moist, and thick. If the craftsman's skills are not good enough to make a twisted wire bracelet with such good material, the material will be ruined if he is not careful. I really don't have it. Do you know where I can get it? Tell me and I'll buy it at a high price."

After hearing what Shopkeeper Xiao said, the others stopped talking, and the group paid the money. Shopkeeper Xiao personally escorted them to the door of Jinqi Pavilion. After a few polite words, Shopkeeper Xiao hurried away.

At this time, Shopkeeper Cao sighed, "I have really broadened my horizons and benefited a lot today. I finally understand that you are truly capable and there is definitely a future for me to follow you. Mr. Xu, let's settle the Xiangyunsha matter. Everything will be done according to what Madam Xu said yesterday. If you are willing, we will go back and sign the contract!"