50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 308 A good start
Next to the counter, in a corner of the shop, hung a black curtain, which separated a small area.

Inside was a table covered with a clean white cloth, with a small tray in the middle.

Sun Zhiwei placed the ring on a small tray, drew the curtain to block the light, and then turned on the surrounding spotlights.

The lights made the rings on the tray sparkle, and the originally inconspicuous pink color became more pastel.

"Click" "Click" "Click"

He took several photos from different angles, then turned off the spotlights, turned on the fluorescent lights, and started developing the photos in the small pool next to him.

Ten minutes later, the photos were developed.

He selected the clearest photo and led old Jim back to the counter.

Then he took out a standard appraisal certificate from the M country's appraisers association.

Cutting, pasting, filling in, stamping, and laminating were all done in one go, and a freshly produced certificate of authenticity was ready.

He tossed the certificate to old Jim and then took out a small velvet bag and handed it to him.

"Put the ring in the bag, don't lose it. If you really lose it, I'm afraid you'll regret it to death."

Old Jim carefully held the certificate of authenticity; it was worth $500. He then put the ring from his pocket into a velvet bag and prepared to leave.

"Old Jim," Sun Zhiwei called out to him again.

Old Jim shuddered, looked at Sun Zhiwei with a bitter expression, but clutched his wallet tightly in his pocket.

Sun Zhiwei glared at him irritably before saying, "I have a suggestion, whether you listen to it or not is up to you."

Upon hearing that it was free, Old Jim's expression immediately improved.

"Say, you say."

"Don't rush to sell this ring. Such a large pink diamond is very rare. The price is constantly rising. In a few years, it will definitely sell for tens of thousands of dollars."

"Alright, that's all I have to say. Whether you listen or not is up to you to decide. Thank you for your patronage."

After saying that, Sun Zhiwei sat back behind the counter and picked up a book to read.

Old Jim listened to his words, stood there for a moment to think, and then turned and left the shop. Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn back and say, "Thank you, James."

After leaving, Old Jim did not completely heed Sun Zhiwei's advice, but instead went to several jewelry stores in the city to have the ring appraised.

Some jewelry stores didn't recognize it as a pink diamond and offered less than 1000, while others recognized it as a pink diamond and immediately raised the price to three or four thousand.

Old Jim remembered Sun Zhiwei's words and turned to leave if the asking price was less than 5000.

Sure enough, one of them came out and offered a price of 5000.

Old Jim is a shrewd old man; he knows that jewelry stores buy jewelry and that if you ask for 5000, you can sell it for at least 1. This shows that Sun Zhiwei's assessment was genuine.

He underestimated the greed of these jewelers; they would sell a piece of jewelry they bought for 5000 for at least 5.

After he produced the certificate of authenticity again, the other party indeed added another 500, and now Old Jim had no more doubts.

He packed the ring away, took the certificate, and went home. He planned to follow Sun Zhiwei's advice and keep the ring for a few years before deciding what to do next.

On the other side, after seeing off the first customer, Sun Zhiwei immediately opened the drawer with a big smile, took out the $740 he had just received, and counted it again.

"Not bad, not bad. The certificate, electricity, and photo shoot cost a total of $4. My first order earned me a tearful but furious $736. Great luck!"

This was his first legal income since coming to Bald Eagle, just like when he received his first paycheck, and he was a little excited.

After he finished celebrating, he leisurely lay back in his chair. Only then did he remember an important matter: while others might not know the value of everything in his room, he knew very well that they were all genuine artifacts.

If this shop gets robbed, he'll lose out. It seems he'll need to find someone to keep watch at night.

Hiring a duty officer wouldn't be difficult; Georgetown University is right next door, full of students looking to work and study. All he has to do is post a notice.

These college students are hardworking and reliable, guaranteed by their universities, and more honest than people in society; they are all ideal "leeks" to be harvested.

Without hesitation, he got up, pulled out a piece of white paper, and wrote down the job posting:
1. We are hiring a female cashier. She will work 15 hours a week and will receive a weekly salary of $100.

2. We are hiring one male night shift worker, with a weekly salary of $170.

This salary is not low; in 77, the average annual salary in the Bald Eagle was only $8886.

Everyone knows that average wages are a statistic that most people fall behind.

If the shift workers need to stay overnight, they will be paid the average wage. Cashiers, who work shorter hours, will be paid slightly more.

After writing the notice, he posted it directly behind the glass of the shop window at the entrance.

Now the store is only missing one thing: weapons.

It was only then that he realized that, to this day, James has never applied for a gun license.

Applying for a gun license requires paying a considerable amount of money, which is not reimbursable. Therefore, everyone should try to save money wherever possible.

Now, he has no choice but to apply for a gun license himself.

However, last year, Washington, D.C. enacted the strictest gun control law in the entire country.

The bill stipulates that, with the exception of certain law enforcement personnel, residents are prohibited from possessing handguns.

Other weapons, including rifles and shotguns, must be stored at home and locked or disassembled, and bullets cannot be loaded.

Therefore, it is particularly difficult to apply for a gun license at this time.

He recalled that the bill was not surpassed until the Haeller case in 2008.

Well, in theory, restricting gun ownership is actually beneficial to public security, but if bad guys have guns and you don't, then things could get really bad.

Sun Zhiwei's shop may face this situation in the future: those who want to rob him will definitely have guns, and if he doesn't, he will be in a very passive position.

Therefore, he is considering how to strengthen the store's defenses.

This wasn't just him being overly pessimistic; he vaguely remembered that in the 90s, Washington, D.C. was known as the "murder capital."

At that time, gun crime rates were high. When criminals committed crimes, the public did not have guns because of gun control laws, so they were unable to fight back and were thus killed.

This was one of the triggers for the later Hale case; he certainly didn't want to become one of the victims.

In the following days, he focused his attention on designing defenses for the store.

Since the shop started accepting business from Old Jim, customers have gradually come in.

People around him gradually came to recognize Sun Zhiwei's identity as an appraiser, knowing that although his appraisal fees were high, the results were highly reliable.

In mid-January, as the university winter break ended and students returned to school, the number of students passing by this area also began to increase.

The information about his shop hiring spread among the students, and students came to inquire about the situation one after another.

(End of this chapter)