"To celebrate the company's establishment, President Jiang has arranged a sumptuous dinner. Please help yourselves. President Jiang, do you have anything else to add?" Guo Xuyang said.
"Brother Guo has clearly explained everything according to the agenda. I have only one thing to say: to ensure our company's victorious start, we won't stop drinking until we're drunk tonight."
As Jiang Qixin spoke, he led the way to the restaurant downstairs.
With clinking glasses and lively conversation, the meal was a joyous occasion for both hosts and guests.
"Darling, I think Li Minxi is interested in you," Elena said, hugging Guo Xuyang back at the hotel.
"What are you thinking? She's just curious and wants to tag along. Why don't you go with them too?" Guo Xuyang replied.
"I'm not going. My main task now is to eat well, drink well, and take care of the baby inside me."
"Okay. Get some sleep. We'll go look at houses tomorrow."
"Alright, darling. Goodnight!"
After Elena fell into a deep sleep, Guo Xuyang reviewed the day's events. m..oΓg
He felt he might have been too hasty regarding the oil matter.
After all, nothing was concrete yet, and it could give Qi Fankun an impression of being rash. This might be detrimental to future cooperation.
At the same time, he realized that Li Minxi might genuinely have feelings for him.
She was seizing every opportunity to be with him.
However, he truly had no romantic feelings for her, considering her just a casual friend.
Scumbags often have peculiar ways of thinking, believing they are just casual friends with every girl, yet ultimately unwilling to let any of them go.
The next day, Guo Xuyang accompanied Elena to view a property in Baihuan Jiayuan near Panjiayuan. They settled on a 136-square-meter apartment.
The layout was reasonable, featuring three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom, with two bedrooms and the living room facing the sun.
The furniture and appliances in the apartment were very new. It was being sold by a newly married couple who were going abroad for further studies and had entrusted it to the agency.
They negotiated directly with the agency and paid 8.76 million yuan for the transfer. They moved in that afternoon.
The apartment was not far from Panjiayuan, and the overall environment was good.
Since he didn't know how long they would be in Myanmar, Guo Xuyang specifically called Wu Youzhi and asked him to arrange for Wu Bing to buy some vegetables and deliver them to Elena when he had time.
He also contacted Li Minxi and asked her to inform Su Ran to help take care of Elena when necessary.
Li Minxi was stunned when she learned that Elena was pregnant. She didn't know how to face Guo Xuyang.
She considered not going to Myanmar, but felt unwilling to give up. In the end, she didn't voice her reservations.
A day passed quickly. Guo Xuyang accompanied Elena to the supermarket to buy various vegetables, nutritional supplements, and bedding. That evening, they stayed at Baihuan Jiayuan.
The next day, Guo Xuyang, Wu Youzhi, Pi Xiaoqian, Lü Liang, and Li Minxi boarded a plane to Myanmar.
They arrived at the airport near evening. Wu Youzhi had booked hotel rooms, and the five of them took three rooms.
He and Guo Xuyang shared a room, and Li Minxi had her own.
"Brother, let's go for a walk. We've been on a plane all day, so let's stretch our legs."
Wu Youzhi put down their luggage and invited Guo Xuyang to explore the streets and experience the local culture.
Myanmar is an ancient civilized country with a long history.
It is also one of the countries with the widest forest distribution in the world, with a forest coverage rate of about 41%. It is rich in various precious hardwoods such as sandalwood, chicken-wing wood, rosewood, and huanghuali.
Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate with a good ecological environment. The temperature difference between day and night is not significant, making it very suitable for living.
This was not Wu Youzhi's first or second time in Myanmar. Like Pi Xiaoqian, he was a regular client there.
However, he rarely participated in the jade public auction because it required the accompaniment of a prominent figure, and a deposit of 20,000 Euros was required for entry.
The Myanmar jade public auction is essentially a competition of buyers' financial strength, discerning eyes, and courage.
Before the official auction, all jade rough stones are numbered, with their quantity, weight, and reserve price indicated.
The rough stones are exhibited publicly for three days, during which buyers observe each item and select the rough stones they need, then evaluate their prices and determine the best bidding price, which is then placed in the bid box.
In a blind bid, for the same rough stone, due to different perceptions and prices offered, multiple parties compete, leading to significant price discrepancies.
Some win by a small margin, while others miss out on rough stones worth hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions due to differences of a few hundred.
The auction results, including the winning company and the winning price for each rough stone, are officially announced one by one on the day after the formal bidding.
Before entering the public auction, each person must pay a 20,000 Euro deposit to prevent some individuals from defaulting after winning a bid.
The penalties for bid defaulting are quite severe. At best, it's a ban from participating in public auctions for three to five years; at worst, it's a lifetime ban from trading at public auctions.
As a small operation, Wu Youzhi only buys relatively suitable raw stones from the jade street in Myanmar to sustain his business in the provincial capital.
Before meeting Guo Xuyang, he had paid a considerable tuition fee for jade identification. Later, like Pi Xiaoqian, he bought materials from the gambling stone market that others had already cut.
The group ambled along to the jade street, which was brightly lit.
The shops were crowded with people, presumably those preparing to attend the Myanmar public auction.
Guo Xuyang extended his senses, focused his gaze, and looked towards a nearby shop. The jade on display did not perform particularly well.
He decided to continue walking along the jade street.
Seeing that Guo Xuyang had no intention of entering, the others followed him.
Guo Xuyang only bent down and entered when they reached a low-lying stall.
He discovered a piece of top-grade jade, weighing about thirty kilograms.
"Boss, how much for this?"
The plump boss held up two fingers.
Guo Xuyang took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote "2". The boss then added a "0" at the end.
Wu Youzhi stepped forward and asked in the local dialect, "Can it be any less?"
The boss waved his hand, disagreeing.
Guo Xuyang simply extended his senses and focused his gaze on the boss's head, clearly seeing that the boss's asking price was 200,000 Euros.
Perhaps due to the upcoming public auction, these people were all conducting transactions in Euros.
200,000 Euros converted to RMB was over 1.5 million, which was lower than his expected price.
He immediately agreed and requested on-site cutting.
People around saw the boss opening for business and crowded over.
The boss arranged for a young assistant to place the stone on the machine and secure it, then pressed the machine's switch.
A piercing sound immediately emanated.
About thirty minutes later, the machine stopped with a "clang."
Everyone craned their necks forward. The boss had the assistant push the crowd back.
Then, he opened the machine's cover, and a strong scent of oil and gas began to dissipate from the machine.
As people peered inside, they saw a hint of deep green peeking through the machine's trough, which was filled with stone powder and slurry.
"Congratulations, boss! A big win," the assistant shouted.
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