I Got Together With the Fake Heiress - Chapter 36

Wen Yimeng looked at the leather-satchel man before them with great vigilance. “Why? If you want to buy stones, there are plenty of shops right in front of us. Why are you looking for us?”

The man, holding the satchel, hastily explained, “The rough materials in those shops are all very expensive, and the quality is usually mediocre. What I need is high-quality goods! Since the two of you managed to cut an Ice Jade, there will definitely be a second piece!”

This reasoning failed to convince Wen Yimeng. After all, gambling on stones was not entirely reliant on luck; it required significant experience and skill. She and Wen Yunqing clearly looked like people who knew nothing and were just trying their luck, so why would anyone place their hopes on them?

“Have you run into some kind of trouble?” Remembering the last time she was treated as a source of help at a banquet, Wen Yimeng already had a guess. If this man wasn’t after the stones, he was probably after them.

The satchel man froze. He hadn’t expected his true intention to be seen through before he had even begun his maneuver.

Since his disguise had been shattered, he saw no point in continuing the pretense and nodded in admission. “I operate jewelry stores. I’ve encountered some difficulties recently, and I need some higher-quality jadeite and capital to get through this rough patch.”

“You want to raise an investment?” Wen Yunqing raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t even warmed up the ten-plus million yuan yet, and someone was already targeting it?

“I have three shops in Xinshi City. If I can weather this period, the annual profit is about ten million yuan. If you two are willing to help me, I am willing to concede a 10% annual dividend!” the satchel man offered.

Wen Yunqing and Wen Yimeng exchanged glances. Money was capital, but dividends could also be counted as capital.

“How much money do you need?” Wen Yimeng asked. “Is your shop a joint-stock company?”

“Yes, it is joint-stock. I can transfer my own shares,” the satchel man replied. “I don’t need too much, just… eight million will be enough!”

“We can invest the money, but we want 16% of the shares,” Wen Yimeng stated. Although her dream was to become a lawyer, she had been influenced by the Wen family for so many years and understood a bit about business. She had just checked the Yu Huang Pavilion, and its performance in previous years had been decent.

“16%?” The satchel man hesitated. This percentage of shares was right on his bottom line.

“If that’s not acceptable, please don’t bother us anymore,” Wen Yimeng said, pulling Wen Yunqing’s hand to walk forward without giving the satchel man a second glance.

Three minutes later, the satchel man rushed up, breathless. “Alright, I agree. However, I have one small request: I hope the two of you will give priority to the Yu Huang Pavilion when you acquire good jadeite.”

Wen Yimeng nodded. “That’s natural. Good things are, of course, reserved for one’s own shop. If we get good jadeite later, we will contact you.”

“Regarding production, you handle it. For the profit, after removing costs, it’s seven for us and three for you,” Wen Yimeng added.

The satchel man calculated in his mind. Since it was the profit after removing costs, he should still profit even if he only received thirty percent. “Good. When can the money be…”

“In a few days,” Wen Yimeng said. “At the very least, you need to draw up the contract.” She intended to find a reliable proxy lawyer to look over the agreement in the next few days.

After exchanging contact details and confirming that the other party wouldn’t back out, the satchel man stopped following them and quickly left to look for good jadeite.

“How was it? Was my negotiation alright?” After the satchel man left, Wen Yimeng eagerly sought reassurance. This was her first time doing business and negotiating with someone.

“Absolutely brilliant! This means we now own a jadeite shop!” Wen Yunqing said, clapping her hands to applaud Wen Yimeng. “Wait, aren’t we still under eighteen? Can the shares be legally held by us?”

“Yes, we just can’t serve as the legal representative or directly participate in buying and selling. Owning some shares is not a problem,” Wen Yimeng explained. “Besides, we are about to come of age soon, so this won’t be an issue for long.”

“Excellent! It’s a good thing you were with me this time, otherwise, I wouldn’t understand these things. Yimeng, you are amazing,” Wen Yunqing said, offering generous and continuous praise.

No one disliked hearing compliments, and the curve of Wen Yimeng’s lips rose higher and higher. Her mood improved greatly, and upon seeing a relatively large shop, she confidently led the way in.

“Boss, we want to look at rough jadeite stones—the kind with higher quality!” Wen Yimeng’s interest in stone gambling was now thoroughly piqued.

Facts proved that stone gambling was indeed a risky business. Wen Yimeng’s confidence was wavering after consecutively losing on two rough stones.

“Yunqing, what if this last stone is also a bust?” Wen Yimeng was nervous, immediately wrapping both her hands around Wen Yunqing’s left hand.

“Then let it be a bust. It’s perfectly normal for a business to have gains and losses,” Wen Yunqing said, not feeling much concern, as the stones Wen Yimeng had chosen were not expensive. The three stones together amounted to exactly one hundred thousand yuan.

Wen Yimeng remained silent, instead praying inwardly and watching the cutting machine open with anticipation, waiting for the final result.

“Glutinous Rice Jade (Nuomi Zhong), and the color is not bad,” the cutting master announced. “Two customers, do you need me to fully extract it for you?”

“Extract it! Get all the jadeite out!” Wen Yimeng breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was jadeite inside, they shouldn’t lose too much money.

Ten minutes later, a roughly spherical piece of jadeite was taken out. Although the color and quality were not as exquisite as the piece Wen Yunqing had opened, its advantage was its large volume; after removing the outer skin, it was all “meat.”

“Master, if we sell this, how much could it fetch?” Wen Yimeng asked humbly.

The cutting master took out a powerful flashlight to examine it. “There is some ‘cotton’ inside, but the quality is good. If planned well, it should be possible to make over twenty bangles. It should sell for around three hundred thousand yuan.”

“Three hundred thousand, that’s not bad,” Wen Yimeng said with a hint of regret. She had probably been dazzled by the previous five million five hundred thousand and now considered three hundred thousand to be merely a small amount of money.

“Master, please prepare a shock-proof box for me. We want to take this jadeite back with us,” Wen Yunqing said, walking over to Wen Yimeng and lowering her voice. “Yimeng, I have a way to double the value of this stone.”

“Really?” Wen Yimeng instinctively turned her head. Due to the swiftness of her movement, her lips brushed inadvertently past the other’s cheek, almost touching her mouth.

“Th-that, that, h-how can we double the value?” Realizing what had just happened, Wen Yimeng’s voice was unavoidably stammered.

Wen Yunqing raised an eyebrow, directly touching her own cheek where she had been ‘kissed,’ and let her smile spread without concealment. “If we gift this stone to Dad, he will surely be very touched, right?”

“When Dad hears that we want to start our own business, he’ll definitely give us some start-up capital, wouldn’t he?” Wen Yunqing said, her smile stretching almost ear-to-ear.

Seeing Wen Yunqing’s unconcealed joy, Wen Yimeng’s momentary shyness disappeared. She glared at her playfully. “Would that really count as us earning the money?”

“Why not? Doesn’t the money ultimately end up in our own pockets?” Wen Yunqing thought her plan was flawless. Was his money not money?

Soon after, the master came out with a suitcase, which he filled with thick sponge padding. Then, he and the owner worked together to put the stone inside.

“The next time the two of you come to Jade Street, remember to come to my place to cut your stones. I’ll give you a two percent discount,” the owner said with a smiling face, helping to carry the suitcase to the street.

“We certainly will,” Wen Yimeng said, taking the suitcase and attempting to lift it up.

Three seconds later, Wen Yimeng quietly let go, acting as if nothing had happened, and pulled out the handle, preparing to wheel the suitcase away.

Wen Yunqing witnessed the entire spectacle. She quickly took the suitcase before Wen Yimeng could move it. “Check the map. Is there anywhere to eat nearby? I’m hungry.”

“Okay, I’ll check.” Wen Yimeng needed to use her phone to search, naturally leaving her hands free from the suitcase.

In addition to the famous Jade Street, Xinshi City had many other highly-rated entertainment venues. After half a day of serious ‘work,’ Wen Yimeng and Wen Yunqing began researching how to combine eating, drinking, and entertainment.

Unfortunately, just as Wen Yimeng finished the itinerary, the weather turned foul, and it began pouring rain, causing the outdoor plans to be abandoned.

“Then let’s go to this mall. It has integrated entertainment,” Wen Yunqing said, looking at the guide and secretly making a note of the places they missed today.

After all, the travel was only two hours or so. If they missed this weekend, there were many more weekends to come.

Perhaps because of the heavy rain outside, the mall wasn’t very crowded. After checking the floor layout, Wen Yimeng headed straight for the amusement center on the third floor.

“Ten coins for ten yuan, one hundred and ten coins for one hundred yuan, six hundred coins for five hundred yuan. Which one should we get?” Wen Yimeng asked. She was tempted to get five hundred coins but worried they wouldn’t spend them all and it would be a waste.

Wen Yunqing glanced inside the amusement center. “There are a lot of machines in there. Let’s get the five hundred yuan package—that’s three hundred coins each.”

With a full basket of tokens in her hand, Wen Yimeng went straight for the claw machine. The machine required two tokens per grab. Wen Yimeng wasn’t stingy. After choosing the doll she liked, she immediately inserted twenty tokens.

First try: Failure. Normal. How could anyone succeed every time at a claw machine?

Second try: Failure. It was just a matter of not choosing the right angle. Next time, she would surely succeed.

Seventh try: Failure. Wen Yimeng took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was all the claw machine’s fault! The claw was so loose! Who could hold onto anything with that?!

“I’ll take the remaining three tries,” Wen Yunqing, having watched seven failures, spoke with confidence. “Which one do you like?”

“I’m not unskilled! The claw has a problem! It’s too loose!” Wen Yimeng puffed out her cheeks, not willing to accept her own failure. “I want this one, this one, and this one!”

“Alright,” Wen Yunqing nodded. She first looked left and right at the doll’s position, then studied the claw. She gently wiggled it left and right for a long time, and only pressed the button when the countdown was about to end.

The claw opened, descended, grabbed, and rose. Just as Wen Yunqing thought she was about to succeed, the claw that had been tightly holding the doll suddenly loosened. The doll fell straight down and, disrespectfully, bounced to the very back of the machine.

“Hmm?” Wen Yunqing frowned slightly. “Is this claw mocking me?”

Seeing the look on Wen Yunqing’s face, Wen Yimeng laughed without reserve. “I told you it was the claw’s problem! It definitely wasn’t because of my skill!”

Wen Yunqing’s competitive spirit was sparked. Even if the claw was weak, she could still rely on skill to pull the doll out. She would select the correct angle when pressing the button, grabbing it diagonally. This way, even if the claw intentionally loosened when rising, the doll should still bounce towards the exit chute.

“Huh? Can it be stuck like this?” Wen Yunqing’s frown deepened, looking at the doll that was halfway out and halfway stuck.

“Quick, quick! Grab its butt again! That should flip the doll out!” Seeing a glimmer of hope for victory, Wen Yimeng urged her on.

Wen Yunqing took a deep breath, selected the position, and pressed the button cautiously.

“Excellent! It’s picked up!” A look of joy appeared on Wen Yimeng’s face. This doll was finally going to be… “Wait, what’s happening? Why is the doll rolling backward!!!”

Wen Yimeng and Wen Yunqing were filled with disbelief, watching helplessly as the doll tumbled once and then rolled steadily into the deepest corner of the machine.