The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

"I'll say it again, take as much as you can! When you find a source, I can have Li Xiao pay you a deposit first."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Shen! Thank you, Mr. Shen!" Huang and Luo kept thanking him.

"I have only one request: no text whatsoever, and it must be a genuine original product," Shen Lian said, holding up one finger.

"Don't worry, we've been in this business for a long time, so we know exactly what we're doing! We absolutely guarantee the quality," Huang Yong said, nodding earnestly.

Shen Lian declined their invitation to a late-night snack and had Li Xiao see them off. He hoped they would succeed! It was troublesome to keep taking cigarettes back to disassemble and cut the cigarette holders. He also didn't have time to go to the manufacturers. This Huang Yong seemed to have some connections.

After the others left, Shen Lian turned off the lights in the warehouse. Then he stored all the cigarettes in his spatial storage and locked the door.

Shen Lian asked Li Xiao to drive him back to the hotel and told him to come back tomorrow to meet with several clients.

Shen Lian spent most of the night researching before going to bed.

The next morning, while Shen Lian was still asleep, he received a call from Wang Xiaoyuan informing him that they had entered downtown Shanghai.

Shen Lian quickly got up and called Li Xiao to come over. He hadn't expected the young man to be waiting in the lobby for so long.

Shen Lian shook his head, got up, washed up, changed his clothes, and went down to the lobby.

Wang Xiaoyuan and her group arrived shortly afterward. Three cars came this time, indicating they had indeed prepared a considerable amount of pearls.

After greeting them, Shen Lian and Li Xiao drove ahead to lead the way to the warehouse.

Seeing that the warehouse was empty, Li Xiao didn't ask any further questions. Of course, the sooner that kind of stuff was moved away, the better.

"Uncle Wang, I didn't expect you to be here so early. You must have had a long journey!" Shen Lian took out cigarettes and offered them to the group.

"Haha! We didn't want to come so early, but some people couldn't wait! They kept urging us, wishing they could have come last night!" Wang Cheng said, glancing at his daughter.

"Dad, what are you saying! Who wanted to come last night?" Wang Xiaoyuan blushed and stomped her foot angrily.

Several uncles and aunts burst into laughter, making Wang Xiaoyuan so embarrassed that she lowered her head and wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

"Hehe! Let's get down to business first!" Shen Lian quickly changed the subject to avoid embarrassing Wang Xiaoyuan.

"Alright! Let's get down to business first." Wang Cheng called to his men to unload the truck. Soon, dozens of plastic crates were unloaded.

It was only then that Li Xiao realized these people had actually given him pearls. The box was filled with boxes of pearls, each as big as a finger. How much would all of these cost?

Wang Cheng and his team were well-prepared, bringing a scale. Counting so many pearls individually would take forever, so weighing them would be much simpler. Besides, they had already sorted them by grade.

Shen Lian checked Li Xiao's knowledge while teaching her about pearls. He quickly finished the task.

"Uncle Wang, let me transfer the money to you first!" Shen Lian said directly after everyone finished calculating the accounts.

"Okay, then I'll trouble you!" Wang Cheng didn't stand on ceremony; this wasn't just his goods to begin with.

Shen Lian opened his mobile banking app and immediately transferred over 24 million yuan in payment for the goods.

"Alright! You've finished your business. Brother Shen should take a look at my jewelry now!" Wang Xiaoyuan said as she walked over. Her complexion had returned to normal.

"Alright! Let's see what jewelry our little genius has designed!" Shen Lian smiled.

Wang Xiaoyuan unloaded a box from the car, opened it, and took out some flat boxes.

"Brother Shen, what do you think of this one?" Wang Xiaoyuan picked up a relatively large box and handed it to Shen Lian.

Seeing Wang Xiaoyuan's smug expression, Shen Lian wanted to laugh inwardly. He nodded and accepted it.

"So beautiful!" Shen Lian's eyes lit up as he opened the box. Inside lay a heart-shaped necklace. It had a gold mesh structure, adorned with pearls the size of a fingertip.

The pendant below uses several colorful diamonds, which must be synthetic. Otherwise, these diamonds would cost an unimaginable amount of money.

The necklace struck Shen Lian as magnificent and opulent. It was no less beautiful than any royal jewel he had ever seen, perhaps even more so. This one necklace alone would be priceless.

Seeing Shen Lian's satisfaction, Wang Xiaoyuan proudly raised her chin. "And these too, Brother Shen, take a look."

Wang Xiaoyuan opened the boxes one by one; they were all filled with various kinds of jewelry. They were made according to Shen Lian's instructions, modeled after ancient styles, only with more materials and more elaborate designs.

"Great! Absolutely gorgeous! Xiaoyuan, I'll take all these jewels. Just name your price!" Shen Lian said happily. He was getting married soon and needed jewelry anyway. That necklace alone, if Nie Xiaoqian wore it to the wedding, would surely cause a sensation.

"Hmm! My costs were only about 800,000. It's not unreasonable for Brother Shen to ask for 1.5 million, is it?" Wang Xiaoyuan said confidently.

Shen Lian shook his head; "That's too little, I'll give you two million!"

"Brother Shen, this is too much!" Wang Xiaoyuan quickly waved her hand and said.

"I know whether it's a lot or not!" Shen Lian transferred two million without waiting for a reply.

This was the first time Wang Xiaoyuan had received so much money, especially money she had earned herself. She was so excited that tears streamed down her face.

"Alright, no crying allowed. I don't like crybabies. Hehe!" Shen Lian called to everyone as they walked outside.

"Li Xiao, you and everyone wait outside for a bit. I need to make a call!" Shen Lian waved his phone.

After they left, Shen Lian quickly stored all the pearls in his spatial storage. He then waited a few minutes before closing the door and leaving.

"Come on, Uncle Wang, Xiaoyuan! Now that you've come to Shanghai, I must do my best to be a good host and have a couple of drinks with you later."

"No need to trouble yourself, Shen Lian! My brothers and I have already made plans to visit an old friend. We're really sorry to bother you." Wang Cheng waved his hand.

"Yuanyuan doesn't want to go out with us old men, so you can help me look after her. Hehe!"

Is this an ally? Does a father really exist? Entrusting his daughter to a young man! Isn't he afraid he might do something to her?

"Alright! Since you've already made the appointment, I won't force you. Don't worry, I'll take good care of Xiaoyuan and make sure she doesn't lose a single hair."

As Shen Lian spoke, he took out a few cigarettes and offered them to Wang Cheng.

“Yuanyuan, there’s nothing much going on at home anyway. Why don’t you stay in Shanghai for a few more days? Let Shen Lian show you around.” Wang Cheng said, turning back before getting into the car.

"Oh! Dad, you talk too much, let's go!" Wang Xiaoyuan urged angrily.

"Alright, alright! I'm off. Sigh! A daughter is like a tree that grows up and leaves home!" Wang Cheng sighed and got into the driver's seat.