The winds are strong in southern Yunnan, and the terrain is steep.
Especially since the place Jiang Zao and the others were going to required going into the mountains, the journey was bumpy. Even though Jiang Zao was mentally prepared, she still felt nauseous and it took her a while to stop vomiting when she got out of the car.
Qiao Li, unusually gentlemanly, handed Jiang Zao a tissue.
Jiang Zao took it without even looking at it, saying, "Thank you."
Then he asked, "How much further?"
Qiao Li had been here a few times before and automatically acted as a guide, saying, "It's about a half-hour walk if you don't need to rest along the way."
Jiang Zao said she was fine.
Qiao Li initially thought Jiang Zao was just putting on a brave face, but to her surprise, she actually persevered without blushing or panting, appearing to have adapted perfectly.
Qiao Li, on the other hand, seemed a bit tired.
Although he had traveled this road several times, each time he felt an urge to "build the road as soon as he had money."
We finally arrived at the jade mine. A few workers were mining there, and it was clear that it hadn't officially started operating yet.
Jiang Zao looked around and asked Qiao Li, "There should be quite a few jade mines around here, right?"
Qiao Li nodded: "Yeah, these are the only two I could manage to snag, one big and one small. They're not the best, but they're not the worst either. Some people come and try for half a year and come back empty-handed."
This wasn't him showing off intentionally; he wanted to let his partner, Jiang Zao, know that he was capable of getting things done.
Jiang Zao spent a day wandering around the two jade mines, not eating anything except for drinking some water, and only returned to the nearby guesthouse when night fell.
The guesthouse has been bought by Qiao Li and is considered an ancillary business.
Jiang Zao sat down and took a sip of hot soup, feeling her whole body warm up.
"You've thought of everything; you even bought a guesthouse." Jiang knew that Qiao Li's abilities went far beyond that.
In his previous life, he was the one who single-handedly saved the Qiao family.
Moreover, this guesthouse has clearly been renovated, and a considerable amount of money must have been invested in it.
Qiao Li was also hungry, and ate the food in big mouthfuls. He had never felt that any food could taste so good.
"Yeah, I thought it was stupid to look around for a place to sleep. Besides, if a big client came, we could just check in at night, and all the food, drinks, accommodation and transportation would be covered."
He handed a steamer of shumai to Jiang Zao.
It's made with pure beef, and it smells amazing.
Jiang ate two in a row, and the empty feeling in her stomach finally disappeared.
"Have you found a polisher and a cutter yet?" Jiang Zao asked.
Qiao Li nodded: "Almost everyone here knows how to do this. The hardest thing is to find a jade carver. Good jade carvers usually have fixed partners. Moreover, the people here are very xenophobic and have formed several factions. It is extremely difficult to snatch people from these factions."
“If you can’t compete, join in. What’s so difficult about that? Tomorrow, buy some decent gifts and pay a visit. If you flatter them well, it’ll be easier to build a good relationship,” Jiang Zao said while eating.
A single word awakened me from my dream.
Qiao Li slammed his hand on the table. "That's right! How come I didn't think of that?"
Jiang Zao smiled and said, "Because you've been flattered and given gifts since childhood, you're used to looking at things from a superior position, so naturally you wouldn't think of these things."
Qiao Li was slightly taken aback, but found it made a lot of sense.
So he quickly ate his fill and then went out to buy gifts.
It's a very remote place, and almost every house is closed at night. If you want to buy a gift, you have to drive to town.
By the time they finished their round trip, it was almost dawn.
Jiang slept soundly that night, perhaps because she was too tired during the day, and didn't even know that Qiao Li had knocked on the door.
The next day, at seven o'clock, Jiang Zao was awakened by her biological clock.
I picked up my phone and saw three missed calls and two WeChat messages.
They are from Fu Yanci and Zheng Xiao, respectively.
Jiang had sent Zheng Xiao a video earlier, but found that the network was not good and she couldn't send it, so she had to call instead.
Lu Li answered the phone.
"Mr. Jiang, Miss Zheng stayed up all night writing music and just went to sleep." Lu Li's voice was very soft.
Jiang Zao was surprised: "She's willing to play musical instruments now?"
"Um."
"Okay." Jiang Zao was relieved. "When Xiaoxiao wakes up, tell her that I'm fine here. I'll go back as soon as I've taken care of things. Tell her not to worry."
Lu Li: "Okay."
This person is truly sparing with words.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Zao called Fu Yanci again.
The other party answered very quickly.
It gives the impression that you're always holding your phone and waiting for a call.
But the person who answered the phone spoke calmly and unhurriedly, "Hello, Zaozao."
Jiang Zao responded, "Sorry, I slept too soundly last night and didn't hear your call."
Fu Yanci said it was alright.
Both of them remained silent for a moment.
Fu Yanci then asked, "It's getting colder, so remember to wear more layers when you go out today."
Jiang Zao hadn't gone out yet, but the room was indeed quite cold. When she took her arm out from under the covers, she immediately felt a chill.
"How did you know?" she asked as she put on her clothes.
Fu Yanci paused for a moment, then said, "Weather forecast."
Jiang Zao: "Thank you for your concern."
Then there was a knock on the door. It was Qiao Li asking, "President Jiang, are you up?"
"Okay, just a moment." Jiang Zao replied and said to Fu Yanci on the other end of the phone, "I have to go now, bye."
Fu Yanci didn't even have a chance to say "bye-bye" before he heard the mechanical beeping sound.
Jiang Zao got dressed, quickly washed her face, and combed her hair before opening the door for Qiao Li.
His unadorned appearance exuded a unique aloofness, which startled Qiao Li slightly.
After a brief moment of amazement, he asked, "I'm going to deliver a gift, are you coming?"
Jiang Zao remembered what Fu Yanci had just said, "Go, wait for me."
She went back inside and put on another trench coat before coming out.
"Let's go."
Qiao Li thought that girls were indeed delicate. Before he could even say anything, he sneezed several times as he went out.
"Holy crap! How did the temperature drop so fast?"
Jiang Zao was glad she listened to Fu Yanci, otherwise she would have been among those freezing right now.
"Do you want to go back and wear more clothes?" Jiang Zao asked.
"Achoo!" Qiao Li rubbed his nose. "I'm not that delicate. Let's go. I went to town last night to buy gifts and found out that a lot of people have been communicating with the local forces. If we go too late, it might be too late."
Fortunately, the car had a heater, which warmed Qiao Li up considerably.
They went to the village chief's house first.
The village chief's surname is Lai. He is very prestigious in the area and is said to come from a family of village chiefs. He also has very good and intertwined relationships with several nearby villages, making him a pillar of support for the locals.
Unfortunately, Jiang Zao and the others arrived a step too late. When they entered the house, they saw a pile of gift boxes on the table, clearly indicating that someone had just been there.
Qiao Li's heart skipped a beat, but since he was already here, there was no way he could back down.
"Village Chief Lai, my two jade mines are really short-handed. Why don't you help me out and introduce me to some people? Don't worry, you'll definitely get your share of the benefits," Qiao Li hinted.
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