Upon seeing Hu Yunhe enter, Pan Kang, the manager of the jewelry store, who had been waiting for him, quickly came forward to greet him.
"Boss, you've arrived!"
"Um!"
Hu Yunhe nodded slightly. He looked around and saw that it was still early and there wasn't much business at the counter. He then instructed Pan Kang, "Come with me for a moment!"
Pan Kang dared not delay and followed Hu Yunhe up to the second floor, arriving at Hu Yunhe's office.
Hu Yunhe placed his briefcase on the table, leaned forward in his chair, and said directly, "Immediately have Master Chen design and make a set of the latest women's headdresses, using the finest pure gold. Tell him to do it as soon as possible!"
Upon hearing this, Pan Kang quickly nodded in agreement, saying, "That's no problem. It just so happens that Master Chen has just designed a new style of finish, which will come in handy."
Hu Yunhe nodded in satisfaction. Pan Kang was meticulous and a veteran in the industry, and had never made a mistake in his business. However, Hu Yunhe was shrewd and did not easily trust others, including Pan Kang. Therefore, he tried to be as hands-on as possible with the business of the jewelry store.
Pan Kang continued, "Boss, as I mentioned to you last time, our gold and silver reserves are running low. The market price has risen by another 20%, so we need to stockpile as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, Hu Yunhe frowned and sighed softly. The current situation is perilous and the world is in chaos. As the saying goes, "Antiques are valued in prosperous times, while gold is valued in chaotic times."
The value of gold and silver is increasing. These gold and silver shops buy old gold and silver jewelry at low prices, refurbish it, and then sell it at high prices. Everyone is hoarding gold and silver, which leads to less gold and silver circulating in the market and raw materials becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Hu Yunhe asked, "Is there any news about Boss Cheng from Shandong?"
"No, I heard that there are fewer and fewer mines over there, so this year's goods won't be able to get through."
"What? Is the news true?"
“It’s absolutely true. I heard that Heyuan Gold Shop sent people to Shandong but they didn’t manage to collect much. The Japanese control it very strictly. Shandong is the main source of goods. Once that’s cut off, the price of gold will rise a lot. Boss, we need to think of a solution quickly, otherwise, if the raw materials are cut off, we won’t be able to do business.”
Besides acquiring old gold and silver jewelry, the most important source of gold and silver materials is purchasing them from gold and silver mine owners all over the country. This is because Shanghai is the economic center of the country, where gold and silver prices are the highest. Therefore, a large amount of gold and silver is sent from all over the country to Shanghai for sale every year.
Zhaoyuan, located on the Jiaodong Peninsula, has been famous for its gold production since ancient times. Mining and mining began in the Song Dynasty and has continued to this day. It is known as the "Golden City of Abundance" and the "Gold Capital". It is currently the largest gold producing area in China and even the largest gold producing area in Asia. It has always been an important source of supply for the Shanghai gold and silver market.
However, after Shandong fell to the Japanese, they took full control of the gold mines in Zhaoyuan. In order to sustain the war effort, they drove miners and laborers to mine day and night, frantically plundering strategic materials and capital such as gold and silver.
This caused the already high gold price to rise again, which spurred many gold merchants to take risks. They tried all sorts of methods, such as bribing miners with high profits, exchanging bad rocks for high-grade gold ore, or smashing gold ore in the mine to smuggle it out, or even secretly excavating in small private mines, to obtain gold and then send it to Shanghai.
However, as Japanese control became increasingly strict and the scale of mining expanded, the space for these gold merchants to survive dwindled, and now they are almost unable to continue. The consequences are becoming apparent, making it increasingly difficult to do gold and silver business in Shanghai, Asia's largest metropolis.
Hu Yunhe hadn't expected the supply of goods to be so difficult. Although he had some stock, he couldn't just sit around doing nothing and wait it out. Once the supply ran out, the jewelry store would become nothing more than a decoration. This was a matter of survival and could not be taken lightly.
Thinking of this, he quickly ordered, "Go to the black market and buy as much as you can. Let's get through this period first!"
Where there is profit, there is trade. In Shanghai's black market, you can buy anything as long as you have money. Hu Yunhe had previously bought and sold gold and silver on the black market, but of course, he also had to bear great risks.
Gold traded on the black market is of dubious origin, mostly obtained through looting and robbery, and sometimes even linked to murder. Buying such gold carries a great risk; if problems arise and one is implicated, it could be a disaster if not handled properly.
However, Hu Yunhe was not afraid at all. Now his identity was different. As a senior cadre of the Special Agent Headquarters, he could commit murder and robbery with his own hands without hesitation, let alone buy some stolen goods.
Pan Kang nodded and said, "I've already checked. Prices on the black market are rising rapidly. I went through some connections and finally found a seller who has a large amount of gold jewelry and gold bars. However, he insists on buying in US dollars and won't accept any other currencies. We don't have enough US dollars, so I don't dare to make the decision."
Hu Yunhe was overjoyed. Finding a major seller under the current circumstances was a rare opportunity. As for the US dollar settlement, it was not a problem. When he was dealing with Li Zhiqun's gray industry before, he used Li Zhiqun's name to find a way to get some US dollars from the Yokohama Specie Bank in Japan.
However, Hu Yunhe still cautiously asked, "Do you know anything about this seller?"
"I don't know!" Pan Kang shook his head and answered in a low voice.
"I only met him once. He had a northern accent, didn't talk much, but had fierce eyes. I asked him a couple of questions, and when he realized I couldn't make the decision, he just turned around and left. This person is definitely not in this line of work!"
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com