My Left Eye Can See Through Everything

Fortunately, that awkward feeling dissipated as soon as they entered the private dining room.

Not only that, but within moments, the two women were chatting away like old friends, their conversation flowing effortlessly.

“Mr. Zhou, I never would have guessed that you’re also an expert in antique appraisal!” Jiang Xueru exclaimed, her tone genuinely impressed. “If it weren’t for a news article that popped up in my feed today, I wouldn’t have known. Truly remarkable!”

She wasn’t exaggerating. Earlier that day, while scrolling through her phone during a bathroom break, she had stumbled upon a news story featuring Zhou Yang. If it weren’t for his familiar name and face, she might have thought she was mistaken.

“You’re too kind, General Manager Jiang. I only know a little-just enough to get by,” Zhou Yang replied modestly.

“Mr. Zhou, you’re being far too humble. To be recognized as a disciple by Guan Chengru, you must be more than just ‘slightly knowledgeable,’ don’t you think?”

Zhou Yang found himself at a loss for words. Thankfully, the server began bringing in the dishes, providing a timely distraction.

“Mr. Zhou, let’s collaborate!” Jiang Xueru proposed, her tone turning serious. “You have the skill for Gambling on Stones, and I have the sales channels. If we join forces, it would be a win-win situation for both of us.”

“This partnership would benefit us both immensely. You wouldn’t have to worry about selling the jadeite, and I could reduce the risks and time involved in procurement. What do you think?”

Zhou Yang was about to agree when he remembered the woman sitting beside him. This wasn’t exactly his area of expertise, and he believed professional matters should be handled by professionals.

“Lanyan, what do you think?” he asked.

Ji Lanyan was pleased that Zhou Yang sought her opinion at such a critical moment. It affirmed her value in the situation. She shot him a reassuring glance before turning her attention to Jiang Xueru.

“General Manager Jiang, we’re open to collaboration. But how exactly do you propose we work together?” she asked, her tone calm yet probing. “After all, a partnership must be mutually beneficial. I trust you wouldn’t suggest this without seeing some advantage for yourself, right?”

Jiang Xueru snapped her fingers, clearly enjoying the straightforwardness of the question. She appreciated dealing with sharp minds.

“Miss Ji, you’re absolutely right. A true partnership is built on mutual benefit. Otherwise, it’s just charity, not collaboration,” Jiang Xueru replied. “I have two proposals. Once I’ve explained them, you can choose the one that works best for you.”

“Option one: Every piece of jadeite you extract, whether it’s ordinary or top-grade, will be sold exclusively to our company. We’ll purchase it at 80% of the market price, with no upper limit on quantity.”

“Option two: We continue as we have over the past two days, focusing only on high-quality jadeite. For these, we’ll offer 90% of the market price. What do you think?”

Zhou Yang listened carefully, running the numbers in his head. Honestly, whether it was 80% or 90%, the deal seemed favorable to him.

First, he wouldn’t have to stress about finding buyers for the jadeite. Second, the value of jadeite diminishes when there’s an oversupply. The high prices he had secured over the past two days were largely due to the rarity of the pieces and the novelty of their initial collaboration. Jiang Xueru might have even been trying to establish goodwill with him.

It would be unrealistic to expect those same prices in a long-term partnership. After all, there’s no such thing as unsellable goods-only goods priced too high. This is an unchanging truth.

Another factor was Zhou Yang’s limited time. He simply couldn’t afford to spend too much of it managing the sale of jadeite.

“Zhou Yang, which option do you think is better?”

Ji Lanyan found herself unable to make a decision right away. After all, she wasn’t very familiar with Gambling on Stones, and both cooperation methods had their own advantages.

If Zhou Yang’s jadeite rough yielded mostly ordinary jadeite, then the first option-selling everything-would be more profitable. Even if the price was only eighty percent of the market price, they would still make a profit. The real challenge lay in selling the ordinary pieces, not the high-quality ones.

However, if Zhou Yang truly had the skill to consistently uncover high-quality jadeite, then the second option would be far more advantageous.

Ultimately, Zhou Yang was the one who had the authority to decide.

Zhou Yang understood Ji Lanyan’s reasoning perfectly. Most people would likely choose the first option, but he wasn’t like most people. He had no interest in dealing with ordinary jadeite rough.

Quietly, he gestured a “two” with his fingers.

Ji Lanyan caught on immediately.

“General Manager Jiang, we’ll go with the second cooperation method. However, we’ll need to sign a contract for this arrangement. Also, the so-called market price isn’t something that remains constant.”

“This detail must be explicitly stated in the contract. If there’s a significant price discrepancy, either party should have the right to terminate the specific transaction.”

Jiang Xueru understood Ji Lanyan’s point. It was straightforward enough.

For example, if Zhou Yang valued a piece of jadeite at 3,000,000, but Jiang Xueru believed it was only worth 2,500,000, then the transaction could be terminated. In other words, if the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement, the deal wouldn’t go through.

After all, jadeite prices aren’t fixed. Just because Zhou Yang valued it at 3,000,000 didn’t mean Jiang Xueru had to agree. Disputes over pricing were perfectly normal.

In such cases, the usual approach was to meet in the middle. If Zhou Yang asked for 3,000,000 and Jiang Xueru offered 2,500,000, they could negotiate and settle somewhere in between.

This kind of situation was extremely common.

“No problem! That’s perfectly reasonable.”

“Additionally, I have another suggestion. I think it would be best for us to take a trip to Ruili together. Anyone in our line of work knows that jadeite rough there is relatively inexpensive.”

“Of course, price is just one factor. The most important thing is that the jadeite quality in Ruili is generally higher, and the chances of uncovering top-grade pieces are greater.”

“This means the profits are naturally higher. We could also explore other areas of cooperation while we’re there. But we can discuss those details later.”

“As for the cooperation terms we just discussed, if there are no further additions, I’ll draft the contract tomorrow. Once it’s ready, we can review it together, and if everything looks good, we can sign.”

Ji Lanyan nodded in agreement, but then something seemed to occur to her.

“Oh, right! We won’t be in Jinling for the next couple of days. Zhou Yang has to return to his hometown, and for some reason, he insists on dragging me along.”

“So the timeline might be pushed back by three or four days. But don’t worry-it’ll only be earlier, not later!”

Jiang Xueru glanced at Zhou Yang and nodded.

“That’s not a problem. It’s not urgent anyway. I’ll wait for you both to return, and we can stay in touch.”

“Oh, and Mr. Zhou, you should be careful in the coming days. Yu Jinlong has suffered two major losses recently, and I doubt he’ll let this go easily.”

“Keep an eye out. I don’t know him well enough to predict his actions, but it’s better to stay cautious.”