"Director Mu, we have checked this batch of raw stones. It is still good from the appearance of the product. It should be promising."
The moment that they arrived at Fantastic Stones Shop, several employees of Tianfu Branch came and reported. It seemed that they were responsible for purchasing raw stones here.
Mu Yanran nodded and said, "I will hand it over to Director Yun. You get ready to load."
She turned to Ding Ning and said, "Mr. Ding, sorry that I can"t keep you company. You can hang around yourself."
Ding Ning asked curiously, "Are you not a jewelry company? Why do you need to buy raw stones?"
"Oh, there are too many jewelry companies in Ninghai now, and the pressure on compet.i.tion is very high. The price of the raw stones from Myan is increasing lately, and so is the price of jades. If we directly buy jades to process, the cost would be very high. Therefore our company has also opened a stone gambling house. We could keep some raw stones that we are sure about the quality and cut them to make all kinds of jewels. Then we sell the rest that we are not sure about the quality in the stone gambling house. And if someone makes a good gamble, we also buy back and use it as raw material."
Mu Yanran politely explained.
Ding Ning nodded stunned and said with a smile, "Can I have your contact, Miss Mu?"
Mu Yanran did not seem to think that she would have anything to with him in the future. she looked at him without any expression and said, "I don"t think that"s necessary."
"I have good carving skills, don"t I? If you need me later, you can give me a call. Maybe I could be of help."
Ding Ning knew that if he needed to conquer the Queen, he must have the opportunity to contact her. What he could show off at the moment were his carving skills.
He deliberately revealed his carving skills to make the moment happen and did not believe that Mu Yanran could resist the temptation.
As expected, Mu Yanran"s eyes brightened. She had always tried to avoid Ding Ning"s attempt at her. Therefore she ignored his excellent carvings.
At this moment she realized that she had neglected her duty. She should try her best to draw a carving master with such excellent skills over to her side.
She glanced at the Zhang Pangzi who was behind them and kept looking to Ding Ning and suddenly realized that he was there to draw Ding Ning over to his side.
Thinking that even the owner of a small jewelry store had such a perspective, but she herself failed to seize the advantage of being in a favored position. She was such a loser.
Immediately, she showed a smile and said, "Mr. Ding, can you tell me what your job is?"
"I, just graduated from college, and I am still unemployed for the time being. I may return to school to continue my studies."
Ding Ning replied calmly, but he whispered in his mind, "Has Executive Zhou handled it yet? Why there is no news about my postgraduate study application?"
Mu Yanran frowned and said after a short while, "Since Mr. Ding has to continue your studies, you will definitely not be willing to work in any unit. I have a ruthless request. I don"t know if I should ask it."
"Please go ahead!" Ding Ning was a bit confused about Mu Yanran"s purpose and said with respectful attention.
"I want to ask Mr. Ding to become the jade carving master of our company."
Seeing that Ding Ning frowned and seemed to have the intent to refuse, Mu Yanran quickly explained, "It"s not the kind of full-time job. When we need Mr. Ding, I will contact you and make arrangements according to your time. The basic salary is 5,000 dollars. And we will pay you correspondingly according to the carving grade of the jade ware. What do you think, Mr. Ding?"
"There is a basic salary? Isn"t that a good treatment?"
Ding Ning didn"t really care about whether he would have a basic salary or not but the opportunity to get along with the Ice Queen, and Mu Yanran had already shown her sincerity. He certainly would not refuse her. Therefore he laughed and said with his hand reaching out, "That"s deal. I hope we would be good partners."
"Then I will have to bother you to go to the company with me, Mr. Ding. We will sign a contract. Our condition is only one. After signing with our company, you can no longer work for other companies, Mr. Ding."
"No problem!" Ding Ning agreed without hesitation.
"Then please take a look around, Mr. Ding. We will go to the company later."
Mu Yanran breathed a sigh of relief and felt very happy. She did not hesitate to reach out her slim arm to shake hands with Ding Ning. For her, that was a big bargain.
Ding Ning definitely had the level of the top jade carving master. The monthly salary of 5,000 dollars per month was nothing. Even if she paid him 50,000 every month to support him, it was still a good deal.
To hire a top jade carving master would cost more than hundreds of thousand dollars or even one million dollars. And it depended on whether the master was happy to do it or not.
Of course, Ding Ning didn"t know that he had become a cheap worker in Mu Yanran"s eyes and felt merry that he finally got the chance to get along with the Queen.
Of course, even if he knew it, he wouldn"t care. After all, Mu Yanran would arrange work according to his schedule.
Mu Yanran"s way of doing things was effective and resolute. She left to negotiate with the boss here right away.
Ding Ning looked right and left like a curious baby. Seeing that Fantastic Stones Shop filled with raw stones, his heart burst with excitement. "This is all money."
"Little brother, h.e.l.lo, my name is Zhang Yuhuan. I am the boss of Jubaozhai. We have met before."
The moment Mu Yanran left, Zhang Yuhuan ran up to him happily with a flattering smile and handed a quaint business card with both of his hands.
One could never refuse a smiling man. Ding Ning politely took the business card with his hands. But when he heard his name, his face looked quite weird.
"Zhang Yuhuan? Your parents are very talented. It"s really apt to see your stomach like it"s of pregnancy for seven or eight months. That"s a typical fat size," thought Ding Ning.
Zhang Yuhuan also seemed to know that his name was funny, grinned, and said, "It"s the name given from my parents. There"s nothing I can change. If you want to laugh at me, laugh. Don"t hold it back."
"Haha!"
Ding Ning couldn"t help but laugh out loud. He started to have a very good opinion of this fat man who could face up to his shortcomings without taking other people"s ridicule to heart. This kind of mindset could not be compared to an ordinary person"s.
After laughing for quite a while, Ding Ning got a bit embarra.s.sed and said, "Mr. Zhang, you are very generous. My apologies. However, being too fat is not a good thing. It would be a big burden to the heart."
"Oh, there is nothing I can do. I have been fat since I was a kid. I had done a lot of exercises when I was young, but it didn"t work out. When I stopped, it would bounce back right away, and I would get fatter than before. I have tried many types of weight-losing products. None of them helped. I have also been to the hospital to check. The doctor said that it"s easy for my body to absorb that I would gain weight even if I only drink water. Now I am too old to try. Therefore I let go."
Zhang Yuhuan sullenly rubbed the fat on his stomach, and the sweat on his forehead continued to flow like rain.
Ding Ning understood that well. Zhang Yuhuan was like his second master, who was also fat with a body that absorbed everything and turned all nutrition into fat. Even if he practiced in a high-intensitive way for decades, he didn"t lose weight even for a little bit.
Only that his second master was full of muscles and healthy, and it was incomparable with Zhang Yuhuan"s fat on his body.
Of course, the most important thing was that his second master himself did not want to become thinner. It seemed to have something to do with the Kungfu he cultivated. Otherwise, not to mention the fourth master, even he could help the second master lose weight with his medical skills like a piece of cake.
Zhang Pangzi"s word hit Ding Ning"s heart. What he said made senses. As the living standards of modern people improved, more and more people became fat. Then people started to fall ill when getting fatter. It could get so serious that sometimes it put people"s lives in danger. Although there were many types of weight-losing products, few of them could really work.
"This is a very promising and profitable market. If I develop a weight-losing product that effects quickly but won"t rebound, wouldn"t I make a lot of money?" thought Ding Ning.
Thinking of this, Ding Ning got interested right away and said, "Mr. Zhang, I have an ancestral weight-losing recipe, do you want to give it a try?"
"Forget it, forget it, I have been used to it for so many years, and I am over fifty years of age, and I don"t know need to find a woman or court a girl. What"s the point in losing weight. I don"t bother to try."
Zhang Pangzi waved his hand hastily. He had suffered a great deal from trying to lose weight. He had tried sweat steaming, exercising, slimming tea and so on, which made him sick that he had to go to the hospital several times.
Now he became jittery at the mention of losing weight frightful and didn"t want to think about it anymore. He said, "I came to ask you where you work now, little brother. With such excellent carving skills, it would be a pity if you don"t become a jade carving master."
Ding Ning shrugged helplessly, and said regrettably, "Mr. Zhang wants me to go to Jubaozhai as a jade carving master right? It is a pity that I just made a promise to Director Mu and accepted her employment."
"What kind of treatment does she give you? Now you have not signed a contract yet, right? Well, let me talk about the treatment I give, and you can give it a thought."
Zhang Yuhuan got a bit disappointed but still struggled to fight for it. "The monthly salary would be 50,000 dollars per month. Every time you carve a jade, I will pay you an extra amount according to its texture. What do you think?"
Ding Ning"s heart trembled, smiled, and shook his head. He didn"t expect that the basic salary that Zhang Pangzi give would be ten times of that Mu Yanran gave. Even in Ninghai, a man with a basic salary of 50,000 per month was definitely of the high-income group.
"Mu Yanran, you little slyboots. How cunning you are." Ding Ning would have agreed without hesitation if it happened before. But now, money was no longer a thing for him. His purpose was to conquer Mu Yanran to satisfy himself with his interest in a queen.
Ding Ning"s shaking his head made Zhang Yuhuan think that the price he gave was too low. He bit his teeth and said, "100,000, the monthly salary will be 100,000 dollars. Every time you carve a jade, I will pay you extra. My company is small. And this is the best I could offer."
Zhang Yuhuan"s sincerity had made Ding Ning a bit moved, but unfortunately, he still had to shake his head and refused. "I am sorry, Mr. Zhang, It"s not because the price you offered is low. On the contrary, the price you give is completely beyond my expectation. It"s just that I have to be as good as my word. Now that I have already promised the other, I should keep my word. I am terribly sorry!"
"It seems that I am really a bit lack of luck. If only I have asked earlier. Since you have already promised the other, I will not force you, little brother. If you have time, come to my store and let"s have some tea. I would like to have you as a friend."
Zhang Yuhuan was also a very generous man. He was rejected by Ding Ning, but he was not angry. Instead, he was quite appreciative of Ding Ning"s promise, and he wanted to make friends with him to take the second best.
As a qualified businessman, he knew that there was absolutely no harm to make friends with such an excellent jade carving master like Ding Ning. Maybe someday he would need to ask for his help someday.
Connections had always been the most important thing for an excellent businessman, and some connections were even far more important than money.
Ding Ning apologized. "Do you have a pen, Mr. Zhang?"
"I have it in my bag." Although Zhang Yuhuan did not know what Ding Ning was doing, he still handed him a pen and a piece of paper to him.
Ding Ning didn"t restrain himself and start writing bending over a raw stone with good penmanship.
Zhang Yuhuan looked at what he was writing curiously with his head tilted. When he saw his words, he suddenly showed a face with surprise.
As an antique dealer, he naturally had studied well on calligraphy and painting, and his percipient of calligraphy was not bad.
Although Ding Ning was writing with a water pen, his penmanship didn"t seem to be inherited from any famous calligrapher. On the contrary, it had a style of its own with the vigor of strokes and extraordinary structure.
The style was the man. Who was this man who looked so young in front of him? He was unexpectedly full of courage and daring. In time, he would be one above all.
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