Chapter 011

Chapter 011

The shop was called "Fuyunlai Jewelry Store." As soon as Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan stepped inside, a shop assistant immediately greeted them.

A youth with a pleasant and likable appearance.

"Miss, need to buy something?" He spoke in English with a sweet tone.

"Just browsing for now." Lu Mingzhu's eyes quickly swept over the interior of the store, noticing glass display cases on three sides. An elderly man with a white beard and black-rimmed glasses sat behind the east counter, where a sign read "We Buy Gold, Diamonds, and Gemstones."

The front and west counters showcased an array of gold and silver jewelry, while the east counter featured a variety of gemstones and a few diamond rings.

Set against the black velvet, the diamond rings sparkled brilliantly, and the gemstones gleamed with vibrant colors.

The diamonds were relatively small, with the largest one estimated to be around 1 carat.

Lu Mingzhu approached the counter. "Excuse me, sir, do you buy diamonds here?"

The old man looked up and smiled. "Yes, we offer very fair prices here. Do you have a diamond to sell? Please feel free to show it to me for an appraisal."

He responded in fluent Shanghainese, a local dialect from Shanghai.

He was neither too enthusiastic nor too cold, striking a balance that made Lu Mingzhu feel quite comfortable.

Feeling at ease, Lu Mingzhu retrieved a roughly two-carat oiled diamond from her handbag—actually from her spatial storage—and placed it on the counter. "Could you please take a look at this diamond and tell me its value?"

"Ah, an oiled diamond! That's a rare find." The old man carefully examined it with a magnifying glass, displaying his experience.

After a moment, the old man looked up. "I can offer you 3,500 Hong Kong dollars for it."

Lu Mingzhu exclaimed, "3,500?"

The old man quickly added, "Don't think it's too little, Miss. The other day, we sold a two-carat diamond ring through a jewelry broker for just 3,800 dollars. That diamond had less luster than yours, so the price was lower. Since we're running a business, we need to cover our service costs. Therefore, the highest price we can offer you is 3,500 dollars."

"Pingan, do you think the price is fair?" Lu Mingzhu asked her nephew.

Lu Pingan nodded. "It's reasonable."

"Since you say so, we'll sell it." It was something she obtained for free anyway, so Lu Mingzhu was quite straightforward. She also planned to sell all the remaining diamonds she had another day.

The money from selling them would be used to buy a building.

Hehehe!

In seventy to eighty years, the appreciation potential of real estate would be much higher than that of diamonds.

A two-carat diamond could be bought for tens of thousands of dollars, but in Hong Kong, you couldn't even buy one square foot of a house for that price.

With Lu Mingzhu's agreement, the old man quickly pulled out a stack of Hong Kong dollars from the drawer and handed her 3,500 HKD.

"If you still have diamonds, we welcome you to visit our shop again." He said.

Lu Mingzhu smiled in response. "Definitely, definitely."

Despite her words, as soon as they left, Lu Mingzhu led Lu Pingan to the next jewelry store just a hundred meters down the road to check the buyback price for diamonds. The next shop had a larger storefront and a more spacious interior, making it feel more inviting.

There were also a few foreign customers inside, constantly marveling at the delicate gold filigree shrimp whisker bracelets.

However, they appraised the 4-carat diamond ring that Miss Lu found in Mr. Lu's coat pocket at 5,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Miss Lu took back the diamond ring and turned to leave.

Not interested.

A 2-carat diamond was priced at 3,500 Hong Kong dollars, so a 4-carat diamond ring should at least double in price, if not more.

The person inspecting the diamond was a fat middle-aged man with squinty eyes and an oily face. Seeing this, he hurriedly tried to stop her, saying, "Miss, if you're not happy with the price, we can discuss it! I can offer you 5,500 Hong Kong dollars!"

"Not selling," Miss Lu said.

Lu Pingan looked up at the middle-aged man, his expression indifferent, "This kind of flawless diamond is bought with large gold bars. One carat is equivalent to over ten taels of gold, and it's a hard currency like gold on the international market."

"That's right!" Miss Lu remembered an old lady she knew before she traveled through time.

That old lady was also from Shanghai. When she was young, she loved flawless diamonds and collected many of them. Later, she led her family to Hong Kong during the war. They didn’t bring much gold because it was too heavy, and their other belongings were destroyed in the war. Only the flawless diamonds were light and easy to carry. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, the old lady used the money from selling the flawless diamonds to help her family rise again.

The middle-aged man said discontentedly, "We are a buyback business, how can we offer the original price? Besides, it's much higher than what pawnshops give."

Miss Lu stopped her nephew, who was about to argue with him, "If the deal isn't right, don't sell. It's that simple."

No need to haggle.

Out the door and continue walking forward.

There were several jewelry stores on this street, so they could ask around one by one!

Miss Lu swapped the 4-carat diamond ring for a 2-carat one from her original body and shopped around at several stores. In the end, none of the prices were as good as the first offer from Fuyunlai Jewelry Store, though the gold prices were mostly similar.

Miss Lu took out a large gold bar to ask for its price and was offered around 1,700 dollars, with the exact amount depending on its quality.

At the gold store offering the highest price, she sold the large gold bar and received 1,780 dollars.

After understanding the market, she stopped going into the stores.

"Weird, why do all the larger jewelry stores have a second-hand diamond buyback service? Do they use these diamonds to make new jewelry and then resell them?" Miss Lu wondered, asking Lu Pingan for an answer as they walked.

In her own society, the buyback price for diamonds was notoriously low!

Many people said that buying diamonds was not as good as buying gold, which could be easily cashed out at any time.

Of course, large diamonds were a different story, with prices rising every year and not accessible to ordinary people.

Lu Pingan indeed knew the reason and carefully explained, "It's simple. Jewelry stores don't have direct access to diamonds. The diamond trade abroad is controlled by De Beers, which limits the number of licenses issued to jewelers worldwide. Only licensed jewelers can buy diamonds from them. I'm not sure if Hong Kong has them, but local merchants generally can't access this business."

"Pingan, you really know your stuff!" Miss Lu gave him an appreciative look.

Lu Pingan rubbed his head and smiled shyly.

On the way back to the company, they passed by Fuyunlai Jewelry Store and ran into Zhao Sinan coming out.

"Miss Lu!" He greeted her warmly.

Miss Lu looked surprised, "Mr. Zhao, are you here to buy jewelry?"

"Of course not," Zhao Sinan denied, then continued, "I've mentioned that I act as a middleman in the jewelry trade, right? Fuyunlai received a 2-carat flawless diamond today and asked me to come take a look and find them a client."

Lu Mingzhu was speechless.

It hadn’t even been an hour since I sold that diamond, had it? And they had already found a buyer.

She hesitated for a moment before asking, “What price are they offering?”

“They’re asking for 5000 dollars,” Zhao Sinan mentioned only the price quoted by Fuyunlai, without disclosing his own selling price.

A quick profit of 1500 yuan!

Lu Mingzhu felt a pang of regret.

Zhao Sinan had no clue that the diamond belonged to Lu Mingzhu. Seeing that she and Lu Pingan were continuing on their way, he followed along. “Miss Lu, if you ever want to sell or buy jewelry, you can come to me. Before I settled in Hong Kong, I worked as a middleman at a department store in Shanghai. Now, I work as a broker. I only deal with authentic goods.”

Having grown up in Shanghai, Lu Mingzhu was familiar with the profession of a department store middleman. It was all about making a profit from the price difference between the seller and the buyer.

She replied casually, “I’ll find you if I need anything.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” Zhao Sinan said. He knew these kinds of deals couldn’t be rushed, but he wanted to build a relationship with Lu Mingzhu as a potential client. Trying to make conversation, he asked, “Miss Lu, since you’re out shopping, didn’t you buy anything?”

Lu Mingzhu smiled in response, “We’re just casually strolling around.”

“Then I won’t disturb you anymore,” Zhao Sinan was very tactful.

Lu Mingzhu had also walked until her feet were sore. She hailed two rickshaws to take her and Lu Pingan to Glory Real Estate Company to wait for Wang Bohui to get off work.

The fare was six cents per person, costing a total of twelve cents.

Wang Bohui was quite busy that day. Besides his work at the shipping company, he received a call in the afternoon inviting him to dinner. He told Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan, “I’ll be having dinner outside tonight. I’ll ask the driver to send you home first.”

“Actually, we can take a rickshaw,” Lu Mingzhu replied.

The company wasn’t far from the Wang mansion.

Wang Bohui shook his head, “It’s not safe. You should take the car.”

“Alright,” Lu Mingzhu appreciated his thoughtfulness.

When they got home by car, they saw Mrs. Wang and Liao Wanru playing mahjong. The two middle-aged ladies were unfamiliar faces, dressed in exquisite cheongsams, exuding wealth and elegance.

Diamond rings sparkled under the light.

Actually, there was no need to turn on the lights in broad daylight; it was still quite bright at 4 p.m., but for some reason, the expensive crystal lamp above the mahjong table was switched on.

Upon seeing Lu Mingzhu come in, Liao Wanru quickly said, “Mingzhu, go wash your face and take over for me.”

The two ladies looked at Lu Mingzhu and asked, “Who’s this?”

“Goddaughter,” Mrs. Wang answered with a gentle smile, “Her name is Lu Mingzhu. She just arrived from Shanghai. Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Zhao, don’t bully her when you play mahjong later.”

“So, this is the famous Miss Mingzhu, the number one beauty of Shanghai. I’ve heard so much about you,” Mrs. Zhao exclaimed.

But she doesn’t exactly fit the description!

Pretty, yes, but not stunning enough to be considered unrivaled in beauty.

After Lu Mingzhu greeted them, washed her face, and changed her clothes, Mrs. Zhao couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, “She really does live up to her reputation as the top beauty.”

"You're too kind. I'm nothing special, hardly the top beauty!" said Lu Mingzhu as she took Liao Wanru's seat.

"It's you who are being too modest. If you're nothing special, then what are we? Wilted old cabbages?" Mrs. Zhao said with a playful smile, showing off the diamond ring on her finger.

The diamond ring was on her left ring finger, and she wore a ruby ring on her middle finger.

The ruby was about the size of a fingernail, glowing bright red.

Mrs. Liu, who was slender, smiled and said, "Mrs. Zhao, your diamond is quite large. How many carats is it?"

Mrs. Zhao immediately replied, "Five carats, a flame-colored diamond."

She couldn't hide her pride.

Mrs. Liu then said, "Bigger ones do look better. At a banquet the other day, Mrs. Chen, the second wife of the owner of the textile factory, was showing off a diamond ring that her husband gave her. It made my diamond look tiny and dull, which really got under my skin."

Mrs. Wang burst out laughing, "Ask Mr. Zhao through Mrs. Zhao to help you find a larger one."

Mrs. Zhao quickly seized the opportunity, "Yes, Mrs. Liu, my Sinan has connections. The goods are all genuine. I'll ask him to find a couple for you. How many carats would you like to buy?"

Lu Mingzhu then realized.

Turns out, Mrs. Zhao is Zhao Sinan's wife. Small world!