Chapter 109 - 15: Women and Wine (Part 2)

Words : 1050 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

Su Ziceng’s Ruyi Abacus played shrewdly, and Shang Yin was indeed efficient. Upon learning that Su Ziceng had resolved all the troublesome matters, he did indeed send over a few bottles of "Royal Salute" and "Black Spade K" series wines. After taking stock of all the accounts left behind by the crooked former owner, Zhou Dagen raised another problem, "How to put the fallen signboard back up." Su Ziceng also found out, after spending a weekend in the wine and liquor shop like guarding a rabbit hole. Despite being in the busiest area of Zone 3, with a constant stream of passersby, no one would stop in front of the wine shop. The utility bills in the commercial district were surprisingly high. Over the past few months, wine sales for weddings and funerals had been supporting the shop’s livelihood. The volume was not large; it barely covered the shop’s utility bills. Luckily, with a month needed for shop renovations, Su Ziceng had some time to consider how to improve the bad reputation left by the wine shop during this period. Su Ziceng felt she was trapping herself. She had personally smashed the wine shop’s signboard, only to turn around and want to re-establish its prestige. When she mentioned this to Fatty Qiu Zhi, his admiration was utterly subservient: "Ziceng, that’s a masterstroke. It’s typical market manipulation, slandering one shop, buying in low, then hyping it up and selling high." Fatty’s inappropriate comment immediately earned a fierce rap on the head from Su Ziceng. After hitting him, Su Ziceng felt that something was amiss. The soft flesh on Qiu Zhi’s face seemed to have shrunk, and upon closer inspection, it wasn’t an illusion, "Qiu Zhi, you’ve lost weight." Earlier on, aside from chatting with Wen Maixue, Qiu Zhi’s favorite thing to hear was someone telling him "You’ve lost weight." However, the recent troubles at home were enough to steal his smile. "What’s wrong with you," Su Ziceng and Qiu Zhi sat in Daquan University’s tea bar, revisiting old times, and Su Ziceng felt inexplicably lighter, not having to worry about seeing Deng Jiani’s annoying face. "Qiu Sheng Jewelry has recently run into some trouble," Qiu Zhi’s family only had one son, and his parents were often abroad. Seeing that Wen Maixue was capable of handling matters on her own, he resolutely decided to start taking over family matters earlier. The matriarch of the Qiu Family meant well and assigned Qiu Zhi a labor-saving and pleasing task: managing the flagship store of Qiu Sheng Jewelry, the very shop Su Ziceng frequented. The history of this jewelry shop in Zone 3 isn’t much shorter than that of the wine shop Su Ziceng took over. It had always been a lucrative business. Qiu Zhi had it easy, simply wearing a smiling face like Maitreya Buddha every day and raking in wealth. Good days did not last. The previous month, war broke out in several of Africa’s major diamond-producing countries, including Namibia and Botswana. Meanwhile, South African diamonds were mainly controlled by European sellers, and diamond prices remained high. Additionally, a large number of high-quality artificial diamonds began appearing on the domestic market, including in other cities within Country Z, which severely impacted Qiu Sheng Jewelry. Not a single diamond had been sold for days on end. "Artificial diamonds?" Su Ziceng heard this term again, thinking, why is it this transparent glass stuff again? It’s good enough for making pots, but for collectible jewelry, it’s much too inferior. "These are highly realistic artificial diamonds. Whether it’s the color or the cut, even the fine lines can almost rival real diamonds. Even our appraisers have yet to find a way to explain the authenticity to customers," Qiu Zhi had also gone through much trouble over this issue. "I’ve also thought of some solutions, trying to get some information from overseas buyers. But diamonds are a rather special product. Apart from those large sellers who keep a low profile, it’s hard to obtain channels for conflict diamonds from other small producing countries that are under local armed control," Qiu Zhi was only eighteen after all. Even though he had risen again as the God of Stocks after the Qiu Family’s downfall, he was still a straightforward youth, inexperienced in the cutthroat business world, and did not know how to navigate such murky waters. "Doesn’t your grandmother have any solutions? Perhaps after a while, when the wars settle down, diamond prices will stabilize," Su Ziceng couldn’t make any decisive suggestions, only offering weak words of comfort. "Alas, I am indeed as useless as Mai Mai said," Qiu Zhi had expressed his feelings to Wen Maixue back in nursery school. Although she was still young then, she knew how to be crushing, leaving Qiu Zhi stunned with the retort: "I don’t like useless men." "Don’t listen to Wen Maixue’s nonsense. What do youngsters know about the taste of worries? Isn’t she where she is today because of her family background?" Su Ziceng unknowingly adopted the tone of a 35-year-old elder chiding the youth, thinking that if Su Qingzhang fully let go and allowed her to take care of the family’s affairs, she wouldn’t have been just a figurehead up to this point. "That’s not true, what Mai Mai has achieved is all down to her hard work. When her older sister had an accident, Mai Mai was only fourteen and was forced to learn all of this," Qiu Zhi defended, as the Qiu and Wen families were close friends and he knew many of their internal struggles. Concerning Wen Maixue’s privacy, Qiu Zhi could not say too much, "Let’s not talk about that. I heard that the Su Family is also starting new ventures. Don’t just think about that wine shop. You should focus on the new auction house that the Su Family has acquired. I heard Uncle Su is considering handing it over to Secretary Chang." "Auction house?" Su Ziceng’s brows tightened again after having relaxed. Could it be Subi Auction House? Wasn’t Subi Auction House supposed to be founded by Su Qingzhang five years later? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Chapter 109 - 15: Women and Wine (Part 2)

Comments (0)