234: Chapter 229 A Stunning Debut

He Yueyou was somewhat worried. She knew her fiancé had some mysterious skills and could often obtain high-quality gemstones. However, no matter how good the quality of the gems Cao Xiao collected, the quantity would not be large. Compared to the sales volume of a jewelry company, it was just a drop in the bucket. Furthermore, with so many types of raw materials, collecting enough of just one kind was not easy. The bulk gemstone raw material trade in this province was controlled by the people before her eyes, and these people had already formed an industry circle. If they were offended too deeply and collectively spread the word to stop peers from selling raw materials to Xingchen, she believed many would give them face. Coupled with the negative influence of the Jade King, Xingchen Jewelry would not only have to endure a raw material supply crisis but would also face targeted, fierce competition from peers in the future. A simple price war would be enough to make it impossible for Xingchen to move an inch.

"Cao Xiao, let it go. Let's go find Elder Chen. With his prestige and connections, I'm sure we can find suitable raw material supply channels."

Cao Xiao had a look of having everything under control. He smiled and whispered to He Yueyou, "Haha! Don't worry, I'm not boasting. Just wait and watch their eyes pop out! I'll be responsible for the raw material supply from now on. I can guarantee that our Xingchen's materials will be the best and the cheapest. You won't have to worry about this aspect anymore. Here, help me hold the little one. Our little treasure has gained a lot of weight recently, she's over twenty pounds now. She'll definitely be a big chubby girl when she grows up."

He Yueyou took Guoer, gave her a loud peck on her little face, and gently pinched her cheek. With a look of enjoyment, she chided playfully, "You're really something. How can you say that about your own daughter? Guoer is at the age where her weight grows the fastest; in a few months, she'll start thinning out and getting taller. The chubbier she is now, the taller she'll be later. She'll definitely be a tall beauty when she grows up. You'd better feed her more during this time. Children are only cute when they're pudgy. If she doesn't grow up to be as tall as me, see if I don't deal with you every day."

Hearing this bizarre theory, Cao Xiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Uh! Give me a break! Your height of 1.75 meters makes you a rare, standout presence anywhere. Not everyone grows taller by eating more. Some are like Xiao Chang—no matter how much they eat, they don't grow an inch. Others just grow sideways. So there's a lot of risk involved; let's not gamble with our precious daughter's future."

"Hmph, I'd like to see where this kid gets his confidence from."

"Relying on the backing of Hongdu Group to look down on everyone. A frog at the bottom of a well, with a narrow view of the world."

"Haha! He probably just got some good goods from somewhere and dares to show off in front of us, trying to intimidate us. What big scenes haven't we seen? He's just making himself a laughingstock. Since he's so seriously trying to entertain us, we have to cooperate with his performance, don't we?"

Seeing Cao Xiao ignore them and flirt with He Yueyou after making his big boast, as if he didn't care about them at all, the group stood there mocking the two of them to the extreme.

Cao Xiao naturally heard their words but ignored them. Instead, he explained to He Yueyou, "Yueyou, I recently acquired a large sum of money. Once this store opens and is operating steadily, we'll cover the entire provincial market in one go. The supply I've prepared is very abundant. Specifically, the gold, platinum, silver, crystal, emerald, ruby, sapphire, chicken blood stone, jadeite, diamond, pearl, and antique jewelry raw materials in my hands are enough to crash the entire Chinese jewelry market. They can support large-scale national sales for ten years without a problem. When the time comes, we'll have a full-scale price reduction promotion for low-to-mid-end jewelry, using one year to establish our position as the leader of the domestic jewelry sales industry. I'll take you to see my raw material reserves another day; we have enough confidence to challenge the entire industry!"

"I'll go visit Teacher in a bit. With him speaking up, Jiang Hezheng won't be able to stir up any trouble. In two days, I also need to make a trip to Yunnan Province. I've surveyed a large jadeite mine in Xishuangbanna, so I'll stop by to give that old fellow something to remember me by. Don't worry about nephrite jade either. If there's no supply, we just won't put it on the shelves for now. I'll make a trip there when I'm free. I heard Teacher is very close with that old gentleman. This time, there's likely some problem over there; otherwise, nephrite would be the least of our worries. Perhaps everyone else will come today, but that Yili definitely won't have the guts to go against that old gentleman's will and get mixed up with these guys."

"There's a big problem at the jadeite source, so that Manager Zhang from Yunnan Province will soon be too busy to look after himself. He might even come begging us in a while, and then we'll humiliate him thoroughly. Those two guys from the Northeast and that man named Ma can be completely ignored. I have so much gold and platinum I could use it as cement to build a several-thousand-square-meter villa. Diamonds can be used for flooring, and various gems can be set into the walls as wallpaper—I won't be able to use them all. As for that pearl farm owner, his farm is at Liang Lake, right? I'll make sure he hits a streak of bad luck in two days! In short, from now on, we don't have to look at anyone's face. Whoever is blind enough to cross us, we'll crush them with sheer resources."

"It's my fault for not telling you all this beforehand, which caused you to be wronged today. Next time someone bothers you, don't waste words with them—just throw them out. Tell you what, I'll have Cheng Xiaodao and Niu Zhen stay by your side from now on. Sister Xiao and the others are just ordinary bodyguards after all; they inevitably have concerns sometimes. You have a gentle personality and would endure it when meeting people who push their luck. Niu Zhen and the others are active-duty officers and belong to a special classified department. They can use automatic weapons and special privileges when necessary. Without you having to give orders, they will proactively solve any trouble or danger that appears around you. If the two of them were here today, these people wouldn't even have been able to enter the door. If they dared to pester you, they'd have gotten a few good slaps across the face."

He Yueyou listened quietly, the smile on her face becoming brighter and brighter. She said knowingly, "Mm, I understand. I don't like talking much to others either. These people are too shameless; their behavior is too unsightly. It's so disgusting I wanted to slap them myself."

Cao Xiao took Guoer back into his arms, glanced at the six people still talking and laughing freely, and said to He Yueyou with a teasing smile, "Let's go. They should be almost done moving everything. Let's head down! They're all treating us like a joke; I hope they can still laugh in a bit."

"Hmph, let's go see together what kind of tricks he's trying to pull."

"Bastard, so arrogant!"

"Doesn't know the rules!"

Seeing Cao Xiao ignore them again, Manager Zhang and the others followed him downstairs, grumbling all the way.

...

The group arrived on the first floor one after another. In the main aisle between the display cases in front of the entrance, a long row of identical wooden boxes had been placed. Several of Cao Xiao's bodyguards stood to the side with live ammunition, while on the other side stood more than twenty saleswomen from the store.

"Hello, Mr. Cao! Hello, President He! Hello, Little Guoer!"

These saleswomen, carefully selected by He Yueyou, had undergone half a month of etiquette training. Their appearance and behavior were dignified and elegant, their standing posture was uniform, and they wore smiles. Seeing the bosses appear, they immediately greeted them in unison.

"Haha, hello everyone! Guoer, come say hi to the big sisters." This flattering greeting from the employees made Cao Xiao beam with joy. He held Little Guoer's hand and nodded in response to the staff with a laugh, then turned to Duan Hong and the other bodyguards. "Brother Duan, please open all the boxes."

Seeing these plain pine boxes without any decoration, Manager Zhang's mockery was plain to see. He sneered and shouted toward Cao Xiao's side, "Putting on an act! What good things could be inside pine boxes? You didn't go abroad and buy a bunch of so-called high-grade rough stones to make a fool of yourself, did you?"

Cao Xiao laughed loudly. "Haha! I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you next. You'd better keep your eyes wide open and look clearly. You've probably never seen so many good things in your life! Don't be so quick to talk nonsense, or your face will hurt a lot later."

The box lids were opened, revealing a full array of uniform mahogany boxes of various sizes inside. These small wooden boxes were made of precious Myanmar rosewood. Aside from the gold-stamped Xingchen Jewelry logo, they hadn't undergone any processing, but the simple aura unique to the natural wood grain of mahogany was enough to attract countless gazes. The cost of just one such small jewelry box was no less than several hundred yuan, which hinted at the value of the jewelry inside. No jewelry company would be so extravagant as to spend so much on packaging; it might make sense for high-end jewelry, but for low-to-mid-end jewelry, such packaging would likely lead to a loss. If the cost of the packaging was factored in, customers wouldn't be willing to accept it, thereby affecting sales.

Of course, Cao Xiao couldn't possibly do that across the board, or he wouldn't be able to sustain it. This packaging was only for mid-to-high-end jewelry. The top-tier items used bogwood, while the low-end ones naturally used cheaper wood, though the cost was still around a hundred yuan. This wouldn't be calculated into the total value of the jewelry because his jewelry costs were only the raw materials; the processing was all done within his Space, incurring no fees at all. Moreover, the wood and jewelry raw materials cost him nothing. So, excluding the expenses generated during the sales process and the ten percent commission given to Mi Fan, everything else was net profit. Calculated this way, the customers actually got a bargain. He wasn't a petty person and didn't care about taking a loss; instead, it would enhance Xingchen Jewelry's competitiveness in the industry.

Cao Xiao said to He Yueyou, "Yueyou, have everyone take out all the boxes from the first six crates and arrange them on the display cases on both sides."

He Yueyou casually called over a sales manager and directed the saleswomen to carefully lay out the wooden boxes neatly on the glass display cases. Before long, the nearly twenty-meter-long display cases on both sides of the main aisle were covered with wooden boxes.

"Everyone, help out and open all the boxes!"

At Cao Xiao's command, everyone except He Yueyou and himself moved into action. Within a few minutes, the jewelry inside the wooden boxes on the display cases revealed its true face one after another.

Making a gesture of invitation toward the display cases on both sides, Cao Xiao sneered at the six people. "Gentlemen, go ahead and take a look! But don't touch anything, or you won't be able to afford the compensation!"

Manager Zhang didn't move. Without even a glance, he said disdainfully, "Such a small amount of jewelry isn't even enough to fill one store. What's there to see? I thought you might have some skill to dare put on airs in front of us, but I didn't expect just this little bit of stock! Other jewelry companies have ten times more than this in their display cases alone. Any one of our warehouses has stock piled as high as a small mountain. This is truly disappointing! Hahaha!"

Manager Ma said with contempt, "Showing off your slight skill before a master. It's because you haven't seen the world that you've made such a big joke. With your limited knowledge, you dare to open a jewelry company? You'll lose everything!"

Yili said in his strangely accented voice, "Opening a jewelry store without even having the National Jade. You're probably using high-quality imitations purchased from some wholesale market to keep up appearances and defraud customers."

The other Manager Ma from the Northeast said domineeringly, "Precious metals are restricted for large private transactions by the state. There are only a few sources in the country, and except for me, no one will sell to you. You didn't get some gold-plated lead to fool customers, did you? That's commercial fraud and is punishable by imprisonment."

Mr. Mao said lazily, "What's there to see? At most, it's some diamond chips and defective small diamonds that we all wholesale at low prices. If you have the guts to get some blood diamonds, I'll just wait to see you meet your downfall."

Manager Chen, the pearl farm owner, said, "I reckon his pearl accessories are also some deformed goods that have been polished a second time. He even went through the trouble of designing the packaging with a mahogany grain. Pearls aren't expensive nowadays; if these were real, why sell pearls at all? Are you going to have the customers play out the scene of 'buying the casket and returning the pearl'? Just doing useless things. Let's go, don't stay here watching a fool act crazy. Don't bother coming back either; I'm afraid if I sell him raw materials, he'll go bankrupt in a few days and we won't even be able to collect the payment!"

From the beginning, the group didn't believe Cao Xiao could produce anything good, so when they saw that the quantity of goods he brought out wasn't large, they stuck to their initial judgment. However, while they were still immersed in their own imaginations, they didn't notice that everyone else present—besides Cao Xiao—was no longer paying attention to them.

"Wow!"

"Ah~"

The scene was silent for a moment, and then came the exclamations that the employees tried their best to suppress. If they weren't currently on duty, they would likely have been unable to hold back from chattering and discussing.

He Yueyou also walked over and took a few casual looks. After returning, she said to Cao Xiao somewhat speechlessly, "Cao Xiao, isn't this too exaggerated? In smaller jewelry stores, many of these could serve as the shop's centerpiece. Jewelry isn't easier to sell just because the quality is higher. Top-tier items are used to build a reputation and attract foot traffic, but profit mainly comes from mid-to-low-end jewelry. Otherwise, no matter how good the items are, if they can't be sold, you're still losing money."

Cao Xiao smiled. "Haha! These are just a portion of the mid-range goods I prepared. The top-tier ones will be brought over to hold the fort before the opening, though I brought some today as well. The low-end ones are packed in those other boxes, but they don't have packaging. You'll have to handle the cleaning and packaging yourselves. There are no appraisal certificates either; I'll go to Teacher's house in a bit and ask him to help find a few senior brothers to help out. They're all real anyway, so it won't be much trouble."

"Hmm? Manager Ma, something's not right! They seem to be all real?"

"Impossible! Mr. Mao, come over and take a look. See if these are all real!"

"Manager Chen, if I'm not mistaken, these are natural freshwater pearls, right?"

"Where did he get so much platinum! It's real! And it's solid. But who designed this bracelet? Is there a need to be so extravagant!"

The group saw that no one was paying attention to them again and heard the employees' exclamations. Yili was the first to notice the anomaly. Once he turned his gaze, he couldn't look away. He rushed to the display case in a few strides and, upon closer inspection, immediately began calling the others over.