CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 15: MEN, WOMEN, AND VICE (2)

Su Ziceng’s Ruyi Abacus was skillfully employed, and Shang Yin was also quite efficient. Upon learning that Su Ziceng had resolved all the troublesome matters, he indeed sent over several bottles of "Royal Salute" and "Black Spade K" series wines.

After checking all the accounts left by the unscrupulous previous owner, Zhou Dagen posed another challenging question, "How to put up the fallen signboard again." After spending a weekend in the Wine Shop, like guarding rabbits, Su Ziceng also realized, despite being in the busiest part of Zone 3, and the constant stream of passers-by nearby, no one would stop in front of the Wine Shop.

The utility bills in the commercial area were surprisingly high. Over the past few months, the Wine Shop’s livelihood had only been supported by wines used for weddings and funerals, in limited quantities, barely sustaining the shop’s utility expenses.

Fortunately, the renovation of the Wine Shop needed a month, giving Su Ziceng some time to consider how to improve the bad reputation left by the Wine Shop during this period.

Su Ziceng felt like she was creating a noose for her own neck; she had personally ruined the Wine Shop’s signboard, and now she wanted to restore its reputation. She shared this with the chubby Qiu Zhi, who admired her actions profoundly, almost bowing to the ground, "Ziceng, that’s a masterstroke, truly a classic maneuver in the stock market—smashing one to buy low and sell high with great fanfare."

Qiu Zhi’s untimely remark immediately earned him a hard knock from Su Ziceng. After hitting him, Su Ziceng felt something was off. The several chunks of flesh on Qiu Zhi’s face seemed to have shrunk. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t an illusion, "Qiu Zhi, you’ve lost weight."

Earlier, the sentence Qiu Zhi most enjoyed hearing, aside from talking with Wen Maixue, was hearing others say, "You’ve lost weight." However, recently, family troubles at home made it hard for him to smile.

"What’s wrong with you?" Su Ziceng and Qiu Zhi sat in the teahouse at Daoquan University, revisiting old haunts, relieved by not having to see Deng Jiani’s annoying face, Su Ziceng’s mood was indescribably good.

"Qiu Sheng Jewelry has run into some trouble recently," Qiu Zhi’s family only had him as a single child, and his parents were often abroad. Seeing that Wen Maixue could handle things herself, he made a firm decision to start taking over family affairs earlier.

The old lady of the Qiu Family was also kind-hearted, giving Qiu Zhi an easy and pleasing job, which was to manage the main store of Qiu Sheng Jewelry, the very store Su Ziceng had visited multiple times. This jewelry store in Zone 3 had a history longer than the Wine Shop Su Ziceng had taken over, originally a highly lucrative business. Qiu Zhi’s job was thus comfortable; he only needed to wear a smile like Maitreya Buddha to maintain the golden daily income.

However, the good times didn’t last long. Last month, conflicts erupted in several major diamond-producing countries in Africa, including Namibia and Botswana. Meanwhile, diamonds from South Africa were primarily controlled by European sellers, keeping prices steep. Additionally, a large quantity of high-quality artificial diamonds began appearing in domestic markets, including in other cities of Z country, significantly impacting Qiu Sheng Jewelry’s diamond trade, to the point where not a single diamond had been sold recently.

"Artificial diamonds?" Su Ziceng listened to this term once again, thinking about how it’s again about that transparent glass stuff, fit for making pots but certainly too subpar for collectible jewelry.

"They are highly realistic artificial diamonds, indistinguishable in color or cut from real diamonds, even the patterns can compete with real diamonds; our appraisers haven’t yet figured out a way to explain the authenticity to customers," Qiu Zhi had also gone through a lot of trouble over this issue.

"I’ve thought about some solutions, tried to get some information from foreign buyers, but diamonds are a peculiar product. Aside from those big sellers who operate incognito, smaller diamond-producing countries are also under local armed control, making it difficult to access these conflict diamonds," Qiu Zhi, still only eighteen, might have risen again through stock market moves after the downfall of his family’s business, becoming a new God of Stocks, but he was still just a straightforward young man without experience in fierce commercial battles or understanding of navigating such murky waters."

"Your grandma doesn’t have a solution either? Maybe after some time, once the conflicts settle, the diamond prices will stabilize," Su Ziceng couldn’t provide any concrete advice, only offering some tepid consolation.

"Ah, I really am as useless as Mai Mai said," Qiu Zhi had confessed his feelings to Wen Maixue back in kindergarten. Although Wen Maixue was still young at the time, she was already quite skilled at crushing someone’s spirit with just a statement that caught Qiu Zhi off-guard: "I don’t like useless men."

"You should ignore Wen Maixue’s nonsense. What would a youth truly know of troubles? Isn’t she what she is today because of her family’s backing?" Su Ziceng unconsciously adopted the tone of someone with more life experience at thirty-five, thinking if Su Qing also let her handle family affairs fully, she wouldn’t have been merely decorative until now.

"That’s not true, everything Mai Mai has now; she has worked hard to achieve. When Mai Mai’s older sister had an accident back then, she was only fourteen and had to learn these responsibilities out of necessity," Qiu Zhi defended, as the Qiu and Wen families were close and knew many of the bitter details inside each other’s households.

Reluctant to disclose more about Wen Maixue’s private matters, Qiu Zhi shifted the topic, "Let’s not talk about this. I heard that the Su Family is also starting to develop new businesses. You should focus on the new auction house the Su Family has acquired, not just the Wine Shop. I heard Uncle Su plans to hand that business over to Secretary Chang."

"Auction House?" Hearing this, Su Ziceng’s previously relaxed brows furrowed. Could it be Su Bi Auction House? Wasn’t Su Bi Auction House supposed to be founded by Su Qing alone five years later? (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)