Within Wanli Group, many people had opinions about Zhou Peng, but the one with the most opinions was Zhao Xing, the former general manager of Wanli Company's Qiantang branch.
Although Qiantang cannot compare with first-tier economic cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, it is still a well-known city in China. He is doing a good job as general manager and is a person with real power and a promising future within Wanli.
More than two years ago, a greenhorn named Zhou Peng was parachuted into Qiantang through Zhou Wannian's connections, and was given the title of "Deputy" before "General Manager".
Since Zhao Xing didn't dare to confront Zhou Wannian, everything naturally fell on Zhou Peng's shoulders. It was precisely because of Zhao Xing's lack of cooperation, both overt and covert, that the Qiantang branch's performance had been so dismal in the past two years.
Even if Zhou Peng knew, he couldn't do anything about it. In terms of seniority, Zhao Xing was much more senior than him, and in terms of performance, he was far superior. In terms of connections, Zhao Xing had been operating in Qiantang for half his life. With just one sentence, he could make some old clients and friends bypass Qiantang and go to branch offices in Kyoto and other places to find cooperation. And he couldn't find any obvious mistakes.
This is also a major reason why Zhou Peng has no notable achievements despite being in charge of the Qiantang branch.
At this moment, Zhao Xing was returning from running errands when he saw a young man standing at the front desk. After listening to the last two sentences of his conversation with the front desk staff, he roughly understood that this person wanted to auction off jewelry.
"Young man, what do you want to auction?" Zhao Xing asked casually.
The receptionist noticed Zhao Xing at that moment and quickly bowed, saying, "Hello, Mr. Zhao."
Seeing the middle-aged man in a suit with a beer belly next to him, Wu You figured there was no need to hide anything since he was the CEO of Wanli, so he replied directly, "Hello, Mr. Zhao, I would like to entrust Wanli to help auction a gemstone."
"What kind of gemstone is it?" Zhao Xing became slightly interested.
"It should be considered a type of pearl," Wu You said after thinking for a moment.
Zhao Xing's interest vanished almost instantly. No matter how good the pearls were, they wouldn't fetch a high price. A 10mm natural ocean pearl was considered excellent, but it would only be worth a few hundred thousand yuan at most, and it was unlikely that any would be available in Qiantang.
Losing interest, he asked one more question: "How many are there, and what is their diameter?"
"There's only one, about the size of a longan, but I haven't measured its exact diameter."
Zhao Xing's face immediately fell. A pearl the size of a longan? Are you kidding me? Looks like you're a clueless idiot who got his hands on a fake.
"Alright, Xiaohong, we don't need to pay attention to this customer anymore. He received counterfeit goods, but I don't know if he can tell the truth himself."
Zhao Xing glanced at Wu You from head to toe with a mixture of disdain and scrutiny.
The receptionist, Xiao Hong, looked at Wu You apologetically: "Sir, please leave..."
To be honest, Wu You didn't know the size and market price of natural pearls, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed with Zhao Xing. He didn't even bother with a basic appraisal, and before even seeing the actual product, he immediately accused Wu You of bringing fakes. Zhao Xing's scrutinizing gaze seemed to suggest that Wu You was trying to swindle Wan Li.
Wu You looked coldly at Zhao Xing.
"Wanli Auction Company, what an arrogant attitude. I hope you won't regret it."
After saying that, Wu You ignored Zhao Xing and the receptionist and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute." A clear voice came from outside.
Wu You glanced in surprise in the direction the sound came from; it was the man in the suit who had been smoking without a lighter at the entrance of the commercial building.
The receptionist hurriedly bowed and said, "Hello, Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Peng returned after finishing his cigarette. He missed the middle part of the story, but he happened to see the ending scene where Wu You and Zhao Xing parted on bad terms.
He had a good impression of Wu You, and Wu You was a potential client. However, Zhao Xing's actions seemed to have given Wu You a bad impression of the entire Wanli Auction Company.
This is outrageous! Wanli's reputation has been built up over many years, and Zhou Peng has long regarded Wanli as his second home. He will never allow such a case of cheating customers to happen. What if this young man has an amazing background?
Even if we take a step back and assume that this young man has no background and the commissioned item isn't particularly outstanding, Zhou Peng still has to keep this client just to annoy Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing laughed at this point. "Fine, you're asking for trouble, so don't blame me." He deliberately put on a cold face for Zhou Peng.
"Mr. Zhou, don't blame me for not warning you, this customer is very likely to be buying counterfeit goods."
Zhou Peng was taken aback: "Fake? You've already seen it?"
Zhao Xing shook his head: "No."
In an instant, Zhou Peng's temper flared up. You haven't even seen it and you're saying someone is trying to fool people with fake goods. Anyone would be angry in that situation.
But the superficial harmony still needs to be maintained.
"Mr. Zhao, whether it's counterfeit or not, that's something for the company's appraisers to decide. Although you're a veteran in the industry, you're not necessarily an expert in identifying counterfeit goods through objects."
Zhou Peng emphasized the words "separate from things" very heavily.
Zhao Xing was also angered by Zhou Peng's words. He said, "Go ahead and do the appraisal. When the time comes, I'll expose your shameful act to headquarters, and Zhou Wannian won't be able to save face."
"Then please make yourself at home, Mr. Zhou."
The receptionist, Xiaohong, was caught in the middle, in a dilemma.
Wu You, standing to the side, figured out that the young CEO Zhou and the CEO Zhao over there probably didn't get along.
I had originally given up on Wanli Auction Company, but now, I'll do Mr. Zhou a favor.
Zhou Peng faced Wu You again and handed her his business card with both hands.
"My name is Zhou Peng, and I am the general manager of the Qiantang branch of Wanli Auction Company. May I ask your name, customer?"
Wu You took the gold-embossed business card and replied, "Hello, Mr. Zhou, my name is Wu You. Since you trust me, let's follow Wanli Company's procedures."
Zhou Peng smiled and nodded.
"Xiao Hong, take Mr. Wu to the appraisal room. But no, I'll take Mr. Wu there myself."
...
Inside the No. 1 appraisal room of Wanli Qiantang Branch, Wu You and Zhou Peng had already arrived and were waiting for the appraiser to come over.
At this point, Zhou Peng had already inquired with Wu You about the details of the treasure that needed to be entrusted.
When Zhou Peng heard that it was a type of pearl and as big as a longan, he frowned and couldn't help but feel a little regretful. But if he asked Wu You to go back now, where would he put his face?
Wu You then realized what was happening. He had seen Zhou Peng's expression; it seemed that a pearl the size of a longan was indeed beyond the normal limit.
The appraiser entered; he was a balding man in his forties. He had probably encountered Zhao Xing before entering, as he looked at Wu You with obvious impatience.
"Hello Mr. Zhou, hello Mr. Wu, I am appraiser Huang Wei. Please bring out the item you entrusted, and I will know whether it is real or fake after taking a look." With Zhou Peng present, the appraiser dared not make any definitive statements.
Wu You didn't waste any words. He simply took out a wrapped silk scarf from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Even though the appraiser had already determined that Wu You had brought counterfeit goods, his professional habits still made him carefully open the scarf.
Inside is a lustrous, warm, and translucent bead, milky white with a slight yellow tinge, about 3 centimeters in diameter—a standard round size.
"Huh."
Huang Wei let out a soft exclamation upon seeing the pearl. As an expert, although not a professional pearl connoisseur, he could still distinguish between natural pearls and artificial pearls.
He gently picked up the pearl, held it to his eyes, examined it carefully with a magnifying glass, and then shone it with a small flashlight from various angles.
This pearl has a natural color, a near-perfect shape, and a flawless light refraction that cannot be artificially created. However, given its size, could it be that it has been filled with a core?
However, nucleus pearls also have limitations. If the nucleus is too large, it cannot become a pearl at all and will even kill the mother oyster. If the pearl is that big, the mother oyster would be a treasure.
He carefully measured it with calipers and found it to be 32 millimeters in diameter.
As the investigation deepened, his heart became increasingly unsettled. If it were true, if it were true, such a large pearl would be a family heirloom.
Zhou Peng, who had already given up hope, perked up when he heard Huang Wei's "Eh!" and then, seeing Wang Wei carefully examining the pearl, his anticipation grew stronger.
Huang Wei carefully put the pearl down with a reluctant expression.
"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Wu, I can only say that this pearl is very likely real, but my expertise is not enough to make a definitive statement. Fortunately, Mr. Qin is also in the company, so why don't we ask him to take a look?"
Zhou Peng was now extremely anxious: "Is Old Qin here too? Quickly, invite him over."
“Yes, Mr. Qin came to Qiantang for tourism and stopped by to see me. I’ll go and invite him right away.” After saying this, appraiser Huang Wei hurriedly ran out of the appraisal room. He was actually even more excited than Zhou Peng.
Qin Lao's full name is Qin Tianming. He is a leading figure in the appraisal of cultural relics and jewelry in China. At the age of 80, he is the crown jewel of Wanli Auction Group. Huang Wei happens to be one of Qin Tianming's three apprentices.
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