50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 420 The Golden Cube
At this point, the large pit, now paved with pure steel, was level with the ground. Only then did Sun Zhiwei dismiss the workers.

In the third week, he personally operated the induction melting furnace to begin melting the gold bricks. After a day and a night of pouring, a pure gold cube took shape on the pure steel floor.

After about half a month, Sun Zhiwei's planned promotional materials were finally completed.

Right now, at the entrance of the Rosewood Jewelry store stands a "Golden Cube," made entirely of gold, using more than 19 tons of pure gold.

He engraved the name and logo of Magnificent Jewelry on all four corners of the "Golden Cube".

Photo: On February 3, 2022, a hollow gold cube weighing 186 kilograms and worth $11.7 million was placed in an open space in New York's Central Park by German artist Niclas Castello.

Below the "Golden Cube" are nine cubic meters of pure steel connected to it, and below the pure steel are nine cubic meters of reinforced concrete as a supporting structure.

Because of the space's renovation, the entire "Golden Cube" has a perfectly smooth surface, with no place where one can exert force.

Because it was cast as a whole, the "Golden Cube" is integrated with the steel body below. To move the "Golden Cube", the nine cubic meters of pure steel below must also be moved.

Nine cubic meters of pure steel weigh 70.2 tons, one cubic meter of gold weighs 19.32 tons, and the entire irregular metal structure weighs a total of 90 tons, and is smooth all over.

Currently, apart from heavy-duty mining trucks or tanks, ordinary trucks simply cannot tow this thing.

Although the "Golden Cube" is completed, security measures still need to be increased. It's not that he's afraid someone will steal the entire "Golden Cube"; no one can steal something so heavy.

What we really need to worry about are the petty thieves. They might very well use axes, knives, or other tools to quickly chop off a small piece and sell it for money.

He had also made preparations for this; he had ordered ten mobile security booths in advance, each equipped with a hot water dispenser and a coffee machine.

Police officers passing by can open the keypad door with their badge numbers and get free hot water and coffee inside, where they can also take a break.

These mobile security booths have been donated to the Lower District Police Station. His only request is that one of them be placed not far from the Golden Cube, while the Lower District Police Station can decide the placement of the remaining nine.

He has already instructed the store manager, Theodore Ellis, that Magnificent Jewelry will be responsible for the maintenance of these ten booths from now on.

Actually, the maintenance work isn't complicated. Water heaters and coffee machines are connected to public water pipes and public electrical circuits, so they basically don't require maintenance when using water or electricity.

The only thing to do is to frequently replenish the coffee beans in the coffee machine and keep the guard booth clean.

This can be solved by hiring a temporary worker, although it will add an extra expense to the jewelry store's monthly budget, but such expenses are unavoidable.

Police officers work very hard on patrols, so with such a place to rest, they are naturally willing to stop here often in their police cars.

Doesn't this also protect the "Golden Cube" and the jewelry store?

Of course, the store also has its own security personnel. They are on duty 24 hours a day, so it's not difficult for them to keep an eye on the "Golden Cube" outside.

The morning after the completion of the "Golden Cube," the fence surrounding it was quietly removed, and a security post was erected 10 meters away on the roadside.

At dawn, early risers were already passing by the "Golden Cube" on their way to work.

At first, no one noticed, but when someone did, they couldn't help but step forward to take a closer look.

This sight was astounding; almost everyone exclaimed, "Oh my God!" That day, the "Golden Cube" caused a sensation in the Tribeca area.

The news spread quickly, and people kept coming to see what was going on, including the sharpest reporters from newspapers.

Sun Zhiwei stayed inside the shop, watching the commotion outside. Every now and then, young men would come up, grab the "Golden Cube," and try to move the behemoth a little.

He didn't stop any of these people; it was only when a homeless man took a knife and tried to pry off a piece of gold that the armed security guards stepped forward to issue a warning.

Starting the next day, major and minor newspapers in New York gave exaggerated headlines about the "Golden Cube".

"The most expensive decorative item in history has appeared in New York."

"One hundred and eighty million in gold has been dumped on the roadside. Would you like it?"

"Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold are right there, but you can't move them."

"Billionaires demonstrate their power"

Even The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times featured the emergence of the "Golden Cube" as a headline story in their local news sections.

Rosewood Jewelry became famous overnight, and "Golden Cube" has since become another name for the store.

Soon after, the mayor of New York City sent his men to find Sun Zhiwei.

After receiving his promise not to move the "Golden Cube," City Hall included the "Golden Cube" as a landmark of New York City in the city's brochures.

In the days that followed, people from all over the world flocked to visit this “Golden Cube,” which was said to be worth $1.8 million.

The "Golden Cube" has since become a must-see attraction for tourists.

Of course, this brief encounter also revealed a secret to the mayor of New York City from Sun Zhiwei: the "Golden Cube" was actually hollow inside and did not contain as much as 1.8 million.

Subsequently, this secret began to circulate among high-ranking officials and the wealthy as a rumor.

Although Sun Zhiwei and the Rosewood Jewelry store have never directly admitted to or denied the matter, this has significantly reduced the Rosewood Jewelry's popularity among high-ranking figures.

A few months later, store manager Theodore Ellis saw how interested tourists were in the "Golden Cube" and was inspired to develop a series of "Golden Cube" trinkets for the store.

Solid small "gold cube" gold nuggets and hollow "gold cube" earrings, among other things, have become very popular with tourists.

This led to a significant increase in the turnover of Magnificent Jewelry.
-
Rewind to the end of September, when "Golden Cube" was causing a sensation, but Sun Zhiwei ignored the turmoil in the store.

He watched as workers planted three large trees in the backyard of the villa at 45 77th Street, and then put the dismantled fence back together, until the workers gave the house its final touches.

After more than three months of renovation, the villa was finally ready for occupancy, and he slept in the new house that very night.

Unbeknownst to anyone, in the dead of night, a hidden underground passage had appeared in a corner of the basement of the new house.

(End of this chapter)