Chapter 9 – Reality is too Thin, While Ideals are too Plump
Lin Jiu spoke as he opened the paper box, revealing the black pearls inside. He knew from experience that the actual item was more convincing than words.
The staff accompanying him all had stiff expressions.
They were already overwhelmed by pearls. The rival company Kerry Jewelry, which had copied the pearl series from Country R, was doing booming business.
Kerry Jewelry’s performance has been rising rapidly, but Blue Duke’s performance has been falling sharply.
The two companies have always been in a competitive relationship. The cake is big, but if Kerry Jewelry takes a big piece of the cake, the cakes of other companies will naturally be smaller. They are worried to the point of baldness but have no good solution. Even Mr. Ji has been attracted here, so you can imagine how big the performance problem is.
Ji Anchen did not expect that this person actually came to sell pearls to him on the street. Generally speaking, in this situation, it is obvious that he is a liar.
If Blue Duke wants pearls, would he be afraid of not having them?
There are many good pearls, but not many outstanding ones. The quality does not meet the requirements. Blue Duke would rather not sell pearl jewelry. Now all major jewelry stores are following the trend to sell pearls, Blue Duke remains unmoved and is wholeheartedly going its own way.
Apart from not finding the right pearls, the chief designer was too picky. His inspiration came from jewellery. The better the jewellery, the better the inspiration.
In addition, regarding the spokesperson for the pearl series of Kerry Jewelry, the original intended spokesperson was TVB Best Actress Hua Xian, but in the end, it was the popular young actress Han Shiqing who signed the contract. In an interview, Han Shiqing was asked about snatching resources from her predecessors, and she answered innocently and naively, “Kerry’s new series is positioned for younger people, and I guess Kerry has also considered this issue.”
This one sentence set the entire internet on fire, with all major media outlets reporting that Han Shiqing was hinting that Hua Xian was too old.
The chief designer has been pursuing goddess Hua Xian for so many years. Seeing the goddess was mocked by the whole network, he was furious and swore that he would never design pearls in his life!
Ji Anchen was helpless. No matter how picky the chief designer was, he couldn’t fire him. After all, he was his uncle.
Ji Anchen didn’t expect to meet any decent pearls on the street. He glanced at the pearls casually and couldn’t take his eyes off them.
These pearls are all large in size. The three largest ones are estimated to be over 20mm in size, which makes them worth collecting. Other pearls are hard to find on the market, and even the smallest ones are larger than common pearls.
The key is that these pearls are very round, very round.
Ji Anchen couldn’t help but picked one up to observe carefully. There was no sign of growth on the surface of the pearl. It was round and lustrous. The pearl had a strong sense of light, and the reflected sunlight was dazzling. The surrounding environment was projected on the surface of the pearl, clear and bright, with uniform and sharp image quality without any deformation.
The pearl body color is pure black, with a slightly blue secondary color, and there seems to be golden starlight in the halo. Ji Anchen thought he was seeing things, so he took it closer. The golden dots were still there in the halo, like a black planet surrounded by an indelible galaxy.
He picked up the pearl and looked at it in the sunlight. The pearl was translucent and soft in color. The halo color had turned into seven colors. The golden starlight was still there, floating slowly in the halo.
The Ji family has been jewelers for generations and has seen countless treasures, but Ji Anchen has never seen such beautiful pearls.
Ji Anchen was in great turmoil, but he showed no sign of it on his face. He put the pearls back into the box and asked Lin Jiu to go to inside the store to talk.
Mr. Xiao Ji, who was originally preparing to leave, turned back halfway and went straight to the reception room with someone.
Standing at the door of Kerry Jewelry, Li Na asked her colleague in disbelief, “Did you see that? He was invited in by the Blue Duke Jewelry people.”
There were many familiar faces among that group of people, including the sales manager and store manager of Blue Duke. They were competitors and lived next door to each other, so they saw each other often and it was impossible for them not to know each other.
The colleague asked hesitantly, “Did you see the pearls he wanted to sell?”
Li Na’s heart was beating fast. “No, he said he wanted to sell pearls, and I just… just went to entertain other customers.”
The colleague stared at her for a while without saying anything.
While Li Na went to serve customers, her colleague went to find the store manager and told him the matter quietly.
The store manager heard that Mr. Ji from Blue Duke would come to inspect the store today. If the person selling the pearls was really invited to the store by Mr. Ji, it meant that the pearls were definitely not simple.
The store manager did not dare to delay and immediately called the sales manager to explain the matter.
Zhao Weiqi hurried into the store and saw the manager standing at the door.
Zhao Weiqi asked in a low voice: “Has anyone come out?”
The store manager shook his head, “No, I’ve been watching, and he hasn’t come out yet.”
Seeing the store manager and the sales manager standing at the door looking at the other side, Li Na felt a little guilty and stayed away from them, not daring to get close.
*
There were only Ji Anchen and Lin Jiu in the reception room.
Ji Anchen said calmly, “How many pearls like this do you have?”
“That’s all there is for now.” There might be more in the future, but he hasn’t had any yet.
Ji Anchen said bluntly: “What I mean is, do you have a stable supply channel? The price of selling once and supplying for a long time will be different.”
Long-term supply is equivalent to long-term cooperation, and the price will definitely be the best.
Lin Jiu understood what he meant, “I’m sorry, I’m not a professional pearl fisherman.”
Ji Anchen thought for a moment and said, “What about providing it occasionally?”
Lin Jiu shook his head, indicating that he could not guarantee it.
“What price can Mr. Ji offer for these pearls?”
Ji Anchen picked up a pearl and held it in his hand. It felt soft and smooth. “For these pearls, I can only offer a maximum of 5 million.”
Lin Jiu was mentally prepared. This price sounded not low, but it was still far from the estimated price given by the system.
Lin Jiu said: “The black star pearls has a very good nourishing effect on the wearer’s body.”
Ji Anchen: “I know. I also know that wearing pearls for a long time is good for the body.”
Lin Jiu: “…”
He knew that no one would believe his empty words.
Lin Jiu is in urgent need of money, and Xiao Ji can always give this price, which makes him a conscientious businessman.
Lin Jiu agreed to sell it.
“Also, I want to sign an agreement with you. If you want to sell this kind of pearls in the future, please give priority to our Blue Duke Jewelry. If possible, I would like to get the exclusive sales rights of this kind of pearls.”
Ji Anchen said: “If you agree, I can add another 10 million.”
Lin Jiu shook his head, “That won’t work.”
Ji Anchen: “20 million.”
Lin Jiu still shook his head.
Ji Anchen: “Don’t you want to consider it?”
“Don’t think about it. I’ll sell it to you for 5 million this time. You may not be able to buy these pearls next time even if you spend 50 million. If you have elderly people at home, I suggest you save some for them. It will help them sleep better and relieve fatigue. If you miss this opportunity, you may not be able to find this kind of pearls next time.”
Ji Anchen stared into Lin Jiu’s eyes and saw that he didn’t seem to be joking.
“Can I ask why you don’t want to sign exclusive sales rights? Do you have a favorite partner?”
“No, I just don’t want to put shackles on myself.”
He has not yet broken free from the shackles of “Creation Star”, so it is impossible for him to put another layer on himself. He is now instinctively alert when he hears about agreements and contracts. The routines are too complicated and he can’t handle them, so he simply doesn’t play with them.
Ji Anchen no longer forced him, bought some pearls, and personally sent Lin Jiu out.
From beginning to end, Ji Anchen never saw what Lin Jiu looked like.
The sales manager and store manager of “Kerry” waited until Lin Jiu left. The sales manager followed and stopped Lin Jiu at a corner.
“Hello, I’m Zhao Weiqi, the sales manager of Kerry. I wasn’t there when you went to the store to sell pearls. Can I see the pearls?”
“I’m sorry, the pearl has been sold.”
Lin Jiu wanted to leave, but Zhao Weiqi stopped him again, “When did you get the pearl in your hand? I want to see it first.”
Lin Jiu: “It’s hard to say. If you want to see it, you can wait and see Black Duke’s pearl jewelry.”
Zhao Weiqi: “…”
With the pride of Blue Duke, they will launch pearl jewelry. What quality of pearls will they be?
He didn’t buy it in a hurry, but thought it was a good thing after the opponent bought it. Lin Jiu could guess his thoughts to some extent, but unfortunately good things can’t wait.
Lin Jiu went to the agency and transferred the remaining balance of the house to the old couple. He then went to the decoration company to discuss the decoration of the first floor. Then he took his documents to apply for a business license.
*
In the evening, Ji Anchen just arrived at the old house and Ji Nanzhou arrived soon after.
“Achen, where’s the pearl? Let me see it quickly.”
After Ji Anchen bought the black star pearl, he sent a video to his uncle to let him see the pearl he bought.
As soon as Ji Nanzhou saw the size and quality of the pearls, he could not sit still and wanted to take them. Ji Anchen said he was busy and had to inspect other stores and told him to wait until the evening. He kept Ji Nanzhou hanging for the whole afternoon.
Ji Nanzhou was so anxious that he chased after the pearls to see them.
“I heard that someone swore not to design pearl jewelry, so why bother looking at pearls?” Old Lady Ji came down from upstairs.
Ji Nanzhou was choked. “Because before I didn’t see any good stuff, did I?”
Turning around, he asked for the pearls again, “I’ve got an idea. Let’s hurry up and make it. Maybe we can make it to the Golden Drama Awards. This time, I must let Ah Xian trample that little star into the mud.”
Ji Anchen handed the wooden box in his hand to Ji Nanzhou. The box was covered with soft velvet and was full of black pearls.
Ji Nanzhou had been thinking about it for the whole afternoon and finally saw the real thing. He picked one up and observed it carefully, marveling at it.
When he discovered the golden starlight in the halo, he exclaimed, “What is this? Starlight? The Milky Way? This is so beautiful!”
Ji Nanzhou couldn’t let go of them. He looked at each one carefully, and then found that the number was wrong.
“Aren’t there 33? Why are there only 30?”
Ji Anchen said: “The three largest ones are over 20mm in diameter, so I kept them.”
Ji Nanzhou: “…”
Ji Nanzhou: “Why are you staying here? Do you want to wear pearls?”
Ji Anchen took out another small box and handed it to Madam Ji. “I heard from the people who sell pearls that this kind of pearls can deepen sleep and eliminate fatigue. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Grandma has been suffering from insomnia recently. Why not give it a try?”
Regardless of whether what Lin Jiu said was true or not, Ji Anchen was reluctant to sell such beautiful pearls and planned to leave them to his family.
Madam Ji looked at the three large pearls in the box and sighed, “It’s not my health problem, I’m just worried about your aunt. How could she have this disease with only this one grandson?
I saw your great-aunt yesterday. She has lost a lot of weight in just a few days and couldn’t sleep all night. Your grandfather asks people to find famous doctors every day. If it were possible to find one, the Si family would have found it long ago.”
Ji Anchen comforted the old lady and made an appointment to go to the hospital together tomorrow.
Thanks for the chapter!
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