Super-rich: Spending money is just a job!

Chapter 284 Investment 8

Because Mengzhixuan's crystal products were selling so well, Xiaomeng had to lead a team to Xiaoping's factory to oversee their operations.

Xiaoping and her family took Xiaomeng and her team on a tour of several relatives' factories in their town, where they inspected their raw material inventory and processing equipment.

I discovered they've already upgraded their equipment; many fully automated machines are being tested in their factory. They say that after some time, they can further increase production.

Looking at the inventory of raw crystals, the sudden surge in sales made the stock appear precarious. Faced with the skeptical gazes of Xiaomeng's team, Xiaoping's sister-in-law repeatedly assured them that her family had found a powerful mine owner in Christalina City, and the nearest ship of crystals was already at sea.

A ship full of crystal ore? Xiao Meng's eyes widened in surprise, and she blurted out, "What? You have three or four hundred thousand tons of cargo at sea right now? You're really powerful."

Xiaoping and her sister-in-law were sweating profusely, waving their hands repeatedly, "No, no, it's not one of those Panamax-class cargo ships, it's a small ocean liner, only 50,000 tons."

"Ah~ I thought you guys were stockpiling this much at once." Hearing it was only 50,000 tons, Xiaomeng didn't think it was a lot; it should sell out in a few months. She was also worried that her friend's stockpile was too heavy, affecting their cash flow. "Xiaoping, 50,000 tons of raw ore, won't that put too much pressure on your factory's finances?"

Xiaoping waved her hand, "No, no, as long as you settle the payment on time, we'll be fine."

Seeing that her sister-in-law had a good relationship with the big boss, Xiaoping's sister-in-law felt much more at ease.

Actually, it was a bit of a strain for them to buy so much stock at once, but this time the quality and price of the goods were excellent, and they had just made a big profit from Mengzhixuan earlier, so they had some cash on hand. After several family meetings, her in-laws gritted their teeth and leveraged their money to buy the entire batch of goods.

Their family had essentially tied themselves to the Mengzhixuan crystal quarry, taking a gamble. If they won, they would achieve upward social mobility. If they lost, they would be back to square one, returning to the local crystal market, tending to tens of thousands of tons of ore, slowly processing and slowly shipping it out.

Now, Xiaoping's husband's family has gathered a bunch of processing plants of all sizes, sourcing goods from all over the place and operating at full capacity.

There's basically no need for careful selection anymore. Just send over any piece of ore, do a simple evaluation, use a CT scanner to check for cracks and inclusions, cut the material, and then start cutting and polishing the crystal balls.

The small scraps left over from cutting the crystal ball were used to make crystal pendants (half of which were polished) and crystal bracelets (half of which were made).

There are two types of bracelets: one type is meticulously polished into bead shape, while the other type is made to follow the natural shape of the mineral, polished smooth, and then strung together with holes. This type of naturally shaped bracelet also has its fans. People under immense pressure in big cities have a high demand for these kinds of natural items.

The remaining, even smaller scraps were simply polished and sent to a specialized factory to be made into crystal nests.

The ore stocks from other factories finally helped them get through a period of raw material shortage, and various crystal products were loaded into containers and continuously sent to the China-Europe freight train.

When Xiaoping's family's cargo boat docked, half of the crystal processing factories in the town breathed a sigh of relief. During this time, they had been searching everywhere for goods, causing the price of raw materials in the market to rise.

Fortunately, the cargo ship sailed for a good thirty days and finally arrived. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for everyone in their town to start work.

Seeing that Xiaoping's raw materials had arrived and the factory was operating normally, Xiaomeng felt relieved and planned to stay at Xiaoping's house for another day before returning to Beijing. She and her people had been staying in this crystal-producing region for almost half a month.

……

To host a farewell banquet for Xiaomeng's team, Xiaoping's parents-in-law booked a large private room at a big hotel in their town.

Many factory owners who had helped with the processing came to the table; they had all gotten to know each other quite well over the past few months. When Xiaomeng and her group mentioned they were leaving, everyone said they wanted to come and see them off.

Amidst the clinking of glasses and the lively atmosphere, a young married woman pulled her husband to Xiaoping's mother-in-law's house. After a few flattering words, she began to complain, "Oh, Auntie, you must help your nephew!"

He got the job from who-knows-where and spent half a year on everything from finding the ore to processing it, thinking he could make a fortune. But the owner of the goods doesn't want it anymore. He only paid a deposit of 50,000 yuan, which isn't even enough to cover the cost of the raw ore.

If this batch of goods gets stuck with us, we'll have worked for nothing all year.

Please, please help me find someone who can take our goods.

Although Xiaoping's mother-in-law was a little hesitant, she still called Xiaoping over and asked if she could help introduce someone. These days, the younger generation is in charge in this family.

Xiaoping noticed that her younger sister-in-law was usually quite friendly to her; they lived nearby and would see each other often. They were both in the crystal business, and there was plenty of time for them to help each other out. So, she took her to Xiaomeng's place.

Xiaomeng looked at the pictures she brought, "Twenty-centimeter natural crystal balls, and you even made five at once, you guys are really brave. Five crystal balls, five colors, oh my, are you summoning a dragon?"

"Who ordered it? The demand for this kind of thing isn't high. Ordering it and then not wanting it is a real pain." Honestly, even in Europe, apart from a tiny elite group of mediums, ordinary people can't afford it, and nobody has the desire to buy it. A 20-centimeter crystal ball is incredibly heavy. Even for storage, you need a large room to put it in.

The young woman looked pitiful and said, "That's right. It took us a long time to find such a big ore. We even brought out the large crystals we'd kept at home for many years. Who knew that person would just say they didn't want it anymore?"

Xiaomeng led her team to their warehouse to see the actual items, confirming that they were genuine natural crystals and assessing their quality.

"Your crystal ball has quite a few inclusions. The clarity is okay, but there are a lot of cotton-like inclusions and cracks inside. What price are you planning to offer?"

The young woman held her hands, looking them over from left to right, then nudged her husband. Her husband frowned, "I told the customer who placed the order that such a crystal ball would cost 5 yuan."

"Fifty thousand? US dollars?" Xiaomeng frowned. "Then the purchase price is a bit expensive."

The young woman's husband said, "No, they're pink coins. We just want to sell these crystal balls. 20, I'll sell them all for 20. What do you think, boss?"

Xiao Meng opened her mouth slightly. It really wasn't expensive; in fact, it was excessively cheap.

The young wife knew the price was too low, and she seemed hesitant to speak.

Xiaomeng quickly nodded, "Okay, let's sign the contract, and I'll transfer the money to you right away."

As a result, the Dream Pavilion Museum added five more significant items to its collection. Once displayed, they attracted countless crystal enthusiasts to come and admire them.