233: Chapter 228 Forced Sale at Your Doorstep

As for Mi Fan, Cao Xiao found it difficult to define her status in his heart at this moment. She was like a younger sister, a confidante, and yet there was a different kind of sentiment lingering. Facing someone who was willing to give everything for him, Cao Xiao was naturally moved beyond words, but he also felt a bit uneasy about how to handle the relationship.

“Ah! It’s not your fault. It’s just me being silly and not thinking about those things. You don’t need to worry about me, I’m not tired. I haven’t done jewelry design before, so I don’t know how many of these plans can be used. You pick out the ones that work, and if there aren't enough, I’ll make some more.” Mi Fan blamed herself a little, while also feeling a bit worried.

Cao Xiao let go of Mi Fan’s hand and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. Looking at her seriously, he said softly, “You silly girl, you haven't even realized how incredible your talent is. No matter how much inspiration others have, they couldn't possibly achieve the level of mass-producing designs like you have. You’re a genius designer! Although not all of these designs can be called top-tier, every single one is quite novel, and there are plenty of outstanding designs among them. You’ve already formed your own unique stylistic system; there isn't a single one that can't be used. Don't keep yourself busy anymore; finish the incomplete ones slowly later. What you need to do now is relax and have a good rest for a while. Be good!”

At this moment, Mi Fan felt as if she were about to be melted by Cao Xiao’s tenderness. She nodded blankly and said, “Oh! Okay then!”

Cao Xiao picked up the wooden box containing the jade relief carving and handed it to Mi Fan, saying, “By the way, you’ve been such a big help. This is a gift I specially prepared for you. Open it and see if you like it.”

“Ah! A gift? Mmm! Thank you, brother. This is such a surprise! I’ll like anything as long as it’s from you!” Hearing that Cao Xiao had specially prepared it for her, Mi Fan was inexplicably delighted. She didn't refuse, immediately taking it and hugging it to her chest. She didn't open it right away, feeling a bit dazed for a moment. “It’s so heavy, what is it? But, brother, let’s agree on one thing first: I can’t accept anything too precious.”

Cao Xiao said with a smile, “Don’t calculate the value of things I give you, or I’ll get angry! Hurry up and open it.”

“Ah! It’s... it’s incredible! Is this me? A relief carving can have such a three-dimensional feel... and this is jade, ice species at that! No... okay! Thank you, brother!”

Mi Fan placed the wooden box on the table and carefully opened the lid. When the magnificent relief carving appeared before her eyes, she could hardly believe it. Her eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. Once she recognized the material, she instinctively wanted to refuse despite her reluctance to let go. However, Cao Xiao was looking at her with an expression that brooked no refusal. She could only swallow her rejection and leaned in to give Cao Xiao a forceful kiss on the cheek.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Cao Xiao froze for a moment. Then, he awkwardly wiped the spot where he had been kissed and laughed sheepishly, “Haha! You girl, you got saliva all over my face. By the way, you might not know what these works of yours mean or how staggering their value is. I won't take advantage of you. I’ve decided to hire you as the Chief Jewelry Designer of my jewelry company. In the future, for every piece of jewelry sold that uses your design, you’ll receive a ten percent commission on the sale price. So, you’re about to become a real 'rich, beautiful woman' soon! Don’t say anything yet. Other jewelry companies also pay usage fees or sales commissions for designers' plans, so this is what you deserve. Besides, you can't refuse what I’ve decided! Don't worry, the profit margins on jewelry are very high, and your designs are excellent, adding a lot of value. Not only will I not lose money, but I’ll also make a huge profit. Furthermore, I’m planning to help you set up a design company and recruit a large number of designers from various industries. My company will be outsourcing a large volume of design business to your company in the near future, so you won't have to work so hard on designs anymore. You’ll only be responsible for providing creativity and guiding the design direction, leaving the actual drafting to the designers under you. You’ll be the boss of this design company. You can pick the name; just tell me when you’ve thought of one, and I’ll have someone help you with the registration and setup. However, you’ll have to oversee the recruitment yourself. If Liu Chang and the other girls have nothing to do, let them go to your company to handle daily management and business development. That way, things will be much easier for you.”

“Okay! But having all that money is useless to me anyway, so you keep it for me for now.” Mi Fan couldn't win against Cao Xiao and could only let him make the arrangements.

Cao Xiao nodded with satisfaction, stood up, and picked up the computer. “Mhm, I still have things to do. You go take a shower and get some sleep. I’m taking the computer with me. Go out and have some fun these next few days; no more designing allowed.”

“Oh! Okay! Goodbye, brother.” Mi Fan held the picture frame, reluctantly watching Cao Xiao leave.

After leaving Mi Fan’s room, he had the bodyguards go out and rent a small box truck. An hour later, Cao Xiao directed the bodyguards to move large pine boxes from the basement onto the truck until the cargo hold was packed full, yet more than half the boxes still remained in the basement. Holding little Guoer, he got into his stretched Mercedes bulletproof car and sped toward the city center with the truck following behind.

Cao Xiao’s jewelry company was named “Star Jewelry and Art Co., Ltd.,” a first-tier subsidiary under Tianxing Group. Its primary business was the sale of jewelry and artwork. In reality, it was entirely a channel for Cao Xiao to liquidate goods and a cash cow. All the various gemstones he dug up from around the world and the antique artworks he acquired by chance would be sold through here, converting into a continuous stream of cash flow. While satisfying his own expansion, it also provided the parent company with the funds needed to develop other subsidiaries. Tianxing Group was currently just a shell and hadn't established a headquarters yet. Under its name were Tianxing Garden, Tianxing Security, and the newly formed Xingchen Jewelry. The shares of Tiandu Company in South Africa were also under its jurisdiction.

Cao Xiao had left Tianxing Group for He Yueyou to manage, and Xingchen Jewelry was just for her to practice with. Looking at it now, the results were quite good. The storefront design and exterior decoration were very grand and eye-catching, making it easy to leave a deep impression. The interior decoration likely wasn't bad either; He Yueyou must have put a lot of heart into it, otherwise those decoration and design companies wouldn't have exerted so much effort to achieve the best effect.

Although it hadn't opened yet, the employees were already on duty. There was a dedicated greeter at the door. Cao Xiao walked up to the main entrance holding Guoer and said politely, “Hello, could you please take me to see your Manager He?”

The greeter saw that Cao Xiao was dressed decently, but arriving with a child seemed a bit out of place. Plenty of well-dressed men often looked for various excuses to get close to General Manager He, but she had never seen one like this. Fearing he might actually be a friend of Manager He and that driving him away would cause a misunderstanding, she asked patiently, “Sir, I’m sorry, but our Manager He generally doesn't see visitors. May I ask who you are? Do you have an appointment?”

Cao Xiao hadn't expected He Yueyou to give the staff such instructions; there were probably quite a few annoying flies around her.

“Uh! Never mind, I’ll give her a call.”

The call went through, and Cao Xiao waited patiently at the door. Before long, the greeter walked up to Cao Xiao with a beaming smile and said respectfully, “Mr. Cao, I’m sorry I didn't recognize you earlier. Manager He is currently seeing guests in her office and asked me to bring you up.”

Seeing guests? Didn't she say she doesn't easily see visitors? Who was this so-called guest? Full of doubt, Cao Xiao followed the greeter to the third-floor office area. The third and fourth floors were originally residential apartments, but He Yueyou later felt there was no place to work, so she bought out the entire third and fourth floors at a high price from the residents. The third floor was the office area, and the fourth floor was the staff dormitory.

Arriving at the general manager’s office, he found the door wide open, with two of He Yueyou’s female bodyguards standing guard. At that moment, He Yueyou was discussing something with six people in the office. Although He Yueyou was smiling, Cao Xiao could tell she was suppressed her anger.

“Manager He, the price we’ve given is already very fair. If it weren't for the fact that you’re a director of Hongdu Group, we wouldn't even risk offending the Jade King to sell to you. You should know that your fiancé has deeply offended the Jade King. Knowing he wants to open a jewelry company, the Jade King has already spread the word in the circle that anyone who buys or sells raw materials to Xingchen Jewelry shouldn't expect to stay in this industry. Compared to the consequences of not being able to buy raw materials, a thirty percent price difference isn't unacceptable! Stop hesitating and give us a straight answer now; we don't have time to waste here with you.”

“Mr. Zhang, the maximum we can accept is ten percent, otherwise there’s simply no profit to speak of. With such a large investment, low profit means we’re losing money, and if the pricing is too high, we won't be able to sell anything. I don't believe the Jade King has that much influence, and you shouldn't use him as an excuse, otherwise you wouldn't be here today, and certainly not all together. This might even be something he arranged, right? Gentlemen, let’s stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point! Ten percent is our bottom line. Otherwise, don't waste your breath and please leave!”

“Manager He, that’s where you’re wrong. We’ve shown our sincerity, yet you refuse to add even a penny. If we leave today, it means your company won't be able to get a single scrap of raw material from now on. How will you open or do business then? You’d be better off taking a batch of raw materials from us first, then having that arrogant fiancé of yours go and apologize to Elder Jiang in person. Perhaps Elder Jiang will be magnanimous and forgive you, which would make things easier for us, and the price you pay for goods could be cheaper.”

“Are you all ganging up to bully me? I know better than any of you what kind of man my man is. That old fogey deserved what he got. I don’t believe the supply channels for gemstone materials in China are entirely in your hands, otherwise jewelry wouldn't be priced the way it is now. Jiang Hezheng fancies himself a big shot, but do you think our Hongdu Group is a pushover? Or are you treating Old Chen like he doesn't exist? At worst, we’ll delay the opening. Once we’ve dealt with Jiang Hezheng, I’ll see if you still dare to be so arrogant in front of me! Sister Xiao, show them out!”

“Manager He, why are you being so ungrateful! Even if Hongdu has the ability to settle things with Elder Jiang, so what? When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves; acting like this will only offend every big player in the industry. By then, even if you double the price, no one will be willing to sell you raw materials. It’s not too late to apologize to us now, but the price goes up another ten points. We won't spread what you said today, but Manager He, you’d better think it through!”

“You people are simply too... Cao Xiao?”

Cao Xiao had stopped at the door for a while, taking in the ugly faces of these people. Seeing He Yueyou fuming, Cao Xiao couldn't stand it any longer and immediately walked into the office. With a beaming smile, he said, “So lively! Who are all these people? Yueyou, introduce them to me!”

“Mr. Zhang, a jade raw material supplier from Yunnan Province; Yili, a hetian jade supplier from Xinjiang; Mr. Huang from a precious metal trading company in the Northeast; Mr. Mao, a diamond supplier; Mr. Chen, the owner of the city's largest freshwater pearl farm; and Mr. Ma, an organic gemstone wholesaler from the capital.”

He Yueyou was overjoyed to see Cao Xiao appear. she introduced them to Cao Xiao one by one in a flat tone, without a single wasted word.

Cao Xiao squinted at the six of them and mocked with a light laugh, “Heh, did you all make an appointment? You’re certainly all here! From the way you talk, it seems you’re quite familiar with that old man Jiang Hezheng! It looks like the lesson I gave that old fogey last time wasn't enough! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am the Cao Xiao you mentioned, the one who supposedly doesn't know the height of the heavens and offended the Jade King. From your tone, it sounds like our company has to close down if we don't buy from you or apologize to that old man, right? Forcing my woman to buy at a high price! And thirty percent at that—aren't you afraid of choking? Or do you really think I don't exist! Originally, we could have minded our own business and lived in peace, but since you’ve come to my door today, I’ll tell you clearly: from now on, Xingchen Jewelry not only doesn't need to buy stock from outside, but we will also be doing large-scale gemstone wholesaling. I’ve remembered you all today. I hope you can hold out when I enter the market. You’d better pray you never have to come begging to me, because I’ll raise the prices too—at least double—and I’ll put the word out that you can only buy from me!”

“You wet-behind-the-ears brat, what a boast! Aren't you afraid the wind will catch your tongue! Just based on those words, you won't get any raw materials even if you double the price. Just wait for your business to fail!”

“Hmph! To think you can monopolize the entire jewelry raw material market—it’s simply a pipe dream. So many industry titans haven't dared to say they could do it in their entire lives, let alone an obscure little pretty boy like you!”

...

As soon as Cao Xiao finished speaking, he was met with cold irony and burning satire from the six men. He wasn't angry; just because others couldn't do it didn't mean he couldn't, and he had already taken the first step—the boundless jade in his space was proof of that. But since these people had treated He Yueyou this way today, Cao Xiao decided to show them what he was made of and make them start feeling fear from this moment on.

“Yueyou, have the employees help move the goods from the truck downstairs into the showroom. Today, I’m going to let them see exactly where my confidence comes from!”