Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 752, Section 343: Rules are the Way (8,000 words, non-stop!)

(Every year when the seasons change, Ah Xian catches a cold. It's so awful! His nose is running like crazy, it's so uncomfortable!)
Just as a granary contains grains and cereals, a money vault contains gold, silver, copper, and iron.

The rice from Ninth Sister was the most mixed in quality, which shows that the family that was dismantled was truly a vulnerable group.

Mixing 20% ​​with 10% is considered respectable; mixing 50% with 10% is a bit against the rules of the game. But Professor A's contaminated rice is 70% mixed with 10%.

Of these 70%, half is dog food that will trigger a red light as soon as it enters the banking system, and the other half is poorly made fake rice.

The dog food that was emitting a red light was easy to deal with because it was real rice, but the fake rice was not so easy to deal with. It could only be sent by boat to the Pearl River Delta and then somehow managed to sneak into the vault of the jewelry store.

A 10% depreciation fee was already a fair price, and Chi Mengli didn't ask for more.

One-tenth is depreciation, three-tenths is pumping, and one-tenth is regulatory fees. Added together, they take up fifty percent of the total.

Asking for an exorbitant price, then haggling on the spot!
As a seasoned veteran, Ninth Sister naturally understood this principle. She didn't say anything, but simply picked up her teacup and drank the Pu'er tea inside in one gulp.

"Half a percent depreciation fee!"

"Everything else remains the same!"

In business, it's about each other making concessions to achieve the best possible outcome.

Ninth Sister stated her price and awaited Chi Mengli's reply.

"Since you've asked, Ninth Miss, of course I'll nod and agree!"

Chi Mengli glanced at Xiren, and seeing Xiren nod, she immediately agreed.

"I will deliver the contaminated rice as soon as possible. I will discuss the specific details with Sister Xiren, so I won't trouble you, Brother Sheng."

When Ninth Sister saw that Chi Mengli had agreed, she breathed a sigh of relief, picked up her cup, and continued to sip her tea.

Having talked for so long, Chi Mengli was also parched. He finished the plain water in his teacup to moisten his throat.

Forty-five percent, washing 300 million worth of dirty rice, that's the floor price.

But Chi Mengli didn't come away empty-handed. By helping Miss Ling of the Plum Blossom Group deal with these hot potatoes, Miss Ling would definitely show her some appreciation.

This is also a path: gold is valued in times of chaos, and antiques are valued in times of prosperity, but the antique industry is particularly murky.

Going back from the Qing Dynasty, the paper shop business was like a secret sect, with its teachings kept secret from everyone else; it was a small circle of people.

To become an apprentice at the Nanzhi shop, one must have a middleman recommending them. This middleman or recommender cannot be a relative or an unknown person.

This middleman must have social standing and be a veteran in the paper shop business.

The middleman's fee alone is not something that small families can afford, because children who want to become apprentices have to stay at the middleman's house for ten days to half a month.

The time spent at a Chinese family's home cannot be short, at least ten days. Children are all gifted actors, and pretending for six or seven days is not a problem.

But one cannot keep acting forever. After about ten days, one will be exposed, but it cannot be longer than fifteen days.

Because if it's been more than fifteen days, even a teenager can see through the family's affairs, and letting it out would be a handle against them.

Ten days to half a month—this timeframe is well-managed, allowing one to discern the character of a young man without revealing one's secrets.

If the person is of good character, a middleman will step in and send them to a paper shop that is short of apprentices, where they will sign a guarantee and become formal apprentices.

But if the middleman is not clever, the middleman will repackage the middleman's fee, add a box of fine Suzhou pastries, and send the middleman's fee and the boy back.

But in life and in business, one should always leave room for maneuver, so that it's easier to meet again in the future. He simply said that there was no suitable opening at the Nanzhi shop, and that he would try harder when a suitable opening came along.

Unless they are stubborn parents, they will understand what the middle-aged person means and will not bring it up again.

With the help of a middleman, a young man who had been recommended to work as an apprentice at the Nanzhi shop was required to study academic subjects for the first three years. He had to learn whatever the scholars studied.

After finishing the Four Books and Five Classics, students will learn the reign titles of various dynasties, get to know the famous masters of each dynasty, and also learn accounting and arithmetic.

For the next three years, only food, lodging, clothing, hats, shoes, and socks will be provided. An assessment will be conducted after three years.

The next three years are a very important hurdle. If you pass this hurdle, you can continue learning. If you fail, the shopkeeper will give you a sum of money to settle the karmic debts of the past three years.

In ancient times, learning to read and write, and being able to do accounting and arithmetic, provided one with the means to make a living.

The paper shop where the employee worked would also issue a guarantee to prove this experience; this was the ancient form of a resignation certificate.

After passing the three-year-long examination, they began to learn how to appraise paper, a closely guarded secret within the Nan Paper Shop.

The appraiser also teaches little by little, from dynasty to dynasty.

Antiques encompass a wide range of things and can be divided into four main categories: ceramics, calligraphy and painting, jade, and miscellaneous items. Each category is enough for a person to study for a lifetime, and no one is an expert in everything.

You need to learn the four diagnostic methods: observation, listening, questioning, and palpation; you need to observe the form and the qi; you need to understand the intricacies and characteristics; and you also need to guard against fraud.

He studied for another three years, until he mastered one skill before he was considered to have left the mountain.

But leaving the mountain is not the end, because one also has to learn etiquette, from serving tea and water, rolling up sleeves and offering a hand, speaking upon entering a room, and even small things like tipping the doorman.

These etiquettes also take three years to learn, and from entering the profession to becoming independent, it takes at least nine years to master them.

The Nanzhi shop spent nine years training an apprentice who was well-rounded and confident on stage.

Merchants don't do business at a loss. The reason they do this is because the managers and apprentices of the Nanzhi shop all work in large, secluded mansions.

The Nan Paper Shop did not accept walk-in customers. The owner behind the shop was a prominent figure of the time, and the items, including calligraphy and paintings, that the shop dealt with were all of impeccable provenance. The signature and seal on a painting served as its anti-counterfeiting features, so learning the signature and seal was one of the lessons apprentices had to learn.

The calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain that have been passed down through generations and flowed out of wealthy and powerful families were mostly used for legitimate purposes, such as filling lucrative positions in the Ministry of Revenue or being short of officials in the Grand Canal Transport Bureau.

At worst, when the results are announced each year, we can provide these literate scholars with a ladder to climb.

Even in the Song Dynasty, when scholars were most respected, if you passed the imperial examination and became a high-ranking official, you still had to pay respects to your teacher and seek out relatives and friends in order to secure a high-ranking position and a salary.

It's important to remember that, apart from the unprecedented upheavals of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, antique shops and paper shops all operated on a membership system.

We never accept walk-in customers, nor do we accept antiques from walk-in customers.

If you have antique paintings and calligraphy but are not well-known, you can't sell them to antique shops. You can only go to pawnshops. If you pawn them immediately, the pawnshop owner will wait for the time limit and won't touch your collateral.

Even if it's a dead pawn, they'll wait ten days or half a month until nothing happens before sending the item to a wealthy antique shop.

When new items are acquired, they are first posted to familiar adults who are also interested in this field. If any adult likes them, the post is kept.

The owner of the paper shop will visit in three days.

If they like something, they'll keep it; if they don't, they'll give the shopkeeper or apprentices a tip so they don't work for nothing.

If a long-time customer loses power in officialdom and retires to his hometown, the Nanzhi shop will remove him from its customer list, and the shopkeeper will visit him in person.

The usual practice is to keep a few items that you really like and sell the majority back to the paper shop. The shopkeeper will then buy them back at the original price, without losing a single penny.

It should be noted that Master Zeng, the last semi-saint of Confucianism, went all in after passing the imperial examination.

He raised a large sum of money at a Shanxi money exchange, then went straight to a paper shop in Nanzhou and spent a fortune to buy Mu Zhang'a's favorite private collection.

Then he used his connections to send a visiting card, took the painting, and met with Mu Zhang'a, where he discussed the painting with Mu Zhang'a.

However, Zeng Guofan did not keep the painting directly. Instead, he took it back to his residence and waited patiently for two months.

Two months later, the Shanxi money lender came to collect the debt, and only then did he send the painting back to the Nanzhi shop to sell it.

Based on Mu Zhang'a's observations over two months, he discovered that Zeng Guofan was indeed a talented individual, which is why he promoted him all the way up.

Otherwise, Zeng Guofan would have had to endure the long hours of official duties, even though he had already entered the Hanlin Academy.

It was through this skill that he rose from thirty-eighth in the third class to second in the imperial examination, thus becoming the heir apparent.

He wrote the famous saying: "Only the most sincere in the world can overcome the most deceitful in the world!"
Emperor Daoguang, out of respect for Mu Zhang'a, allowed Zeng Guofan to be promoted seven times in ten years, eventually becoming the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works at the age of forty-two.

This is unprecedented in history. Even Heshen, Emperor Qianlong's favorite minister, did not go to such extremes.

The intricacies of Nanzhidian could be discussed for three days and three nights without breaking the bank.

The antique market is complex, and even experts can make mistakes. Gold, being bulky, is prone to problems during transportation.

The only thing suitable for washing rice is gemstones.

Agate and pearls are like Wang Xiaoer's New Year – each year is worse than the last, due to excessive market fluctuations.

Jade is priceless. It's priceless because when you sell it, you're lucky if you can even get half a percent back, and you might as well check if your ancestors' graves are emitting any auspicious smoke.

The warlords in Yangon never think about providing a safety net; they produce a lot of rough stones every year for the gamblers to take advantage of.

Sapphires and rubies are acceptable, but the trade in sapphires and rubies is entirely controlled by Indian guys.

Even with South Asian men acting as intermediaries, it's impossible to get top-quality goods. Besides, since the source of the goods is controlled by one side, there's no room for negotiation.

After much deliberation, the top-of-the-line oil drill is still the most suitable target.

They are quick to use, easy to carry, and there is no way to trace their origin.

Meihua Group has been cultivating the African continent and must own many mines; it's impossible for them to sell these goods to De Beers.

Therefore, they also need to find private sales channels to sell the oil drills they have.

Chi Mengli smiled, genuinely happy that he had opened up a new avenue for wealth.

"Once the count is complete and the inventory is finished, I will arrange the transaction."

"I guarantee they are all top-grade fire oil diamonds, weighing three carats or more, not cheap imitations!"

Chi Mengli took the cigarette out of her mouth, put it in the ashtray, picked up her teacup, and took another sip.

"I have an appointment, so I'll stop here for today. Let's chat sometime!"

Ninth Sister stood up, took off her sunglasses, put them on her nose, and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute, we haven't discussed the important matters yet, no need to rush!"

"Another cup, please! This is the finest Pu'er tea!"

"Let's have a few more drinks!"

Chi Mengli picked up the teapot and poured half a cup into the teacup in front of Ninth Sister.

(End of this chapter)