Chapter 109: Ma San

  It wasn't until a while later that Li Guodong reacted, saying somewhat resentfully: "Wow, Xiao Chuan, you're so quiet and mysterious, actually starting a company without even telling us beforehand. Don't you consider us friends?"

  Chu Chen hastily explained: "The product was not even trial-produced before, and I'm not very convenient to say, besides, I'm just a shareholder, the management is handled by Xiao Lan's uncle and another elder."

  Li Guodong said with envy: "That's not bad either, as the saying goes, leaning against a big tree is good for cooling off. It seems that you, Xiao Chun, will become a billionaire soon! What do you think, Xiao Lan?"

  Chu Yulan nodded and smiled, saying: "My uncle's business acumen is quite sharp, ordinary projects can't even enter his eyes. It seems that Brother Chu, relying on this company alone, will become a billionaire in just a few years. However, your confidentiality work is really well done, my grandfather's birthday was not even mentioned by my uncle. No way, you have to treat us to several big meals, otherwise we won't let it go."

  "That's right! Xiao Lan (Yu Lan) is absolutely right!" Li Guotang and Wen Yuting also applauded in agreement.

  Treating them to a meal was no big deal for Chu Chen, so he hastily nodded in agreement: "Alright, I'll cover the food expenses for these few days. When we get back, I'll treat you all to a good meal at Ba Zhen Yu Shi."

  "What is this Eight Delicacies Jade Food? Is it famous in the capital? I've never heard of it?" Wen Yuting asked with some curiosity.

  Chu Yu Lan smiled and explained: "Ba Zhen Yu Shi is the name of a newly opened private restaurant, the dishes inside are very delicious, but the cost is not cheap, we must make sure to take advantage of Chu Ge's generosity."

  Li Guodong nodded in agreement when he heard this and said, "Indeed it is."

  "Ah, but how did you know so clearly, Rain? Have you been there before? And Guo, are you also going to that kind of place without telling me?" Wen Yuting asked with a nod.

  Chu Chen smiled and said, "That's the restaurant opened by Xiao Lan's uncle. Xiao Lan must have known about it. As for Li Ge, I invited him to eat there before, and that time Li Ge called you to go together, didn't he?"

  Li Guodong somewhat resentfully told the story of what happened that day, and Wen Yuting immediately remembered it, her face involuntarily flushing. That day she indeed had a small matter to attend to, and wasn't familiar with Chu Chen and the others, so she hadn't responded; this matter really couldn't be blamed on Li Guodong.

  Zhang Yanbin interjected jokingly: "I said you all have a big meal to eat, what about us outsiders?"

  Chu Chen smiled and said: "As long as you guys go to Beijing, this landlord will not treat you unfairly, right?"

  "That's enough with just your words, but after talking for half a day, we still don't know about the products of Xiao Chu's company?"

  "The products of our company are incense and similar things."

  Zhang Yanbin nodded and said: "Oh? Incense, my grandfather is quite interested in this kind of thing. When the product comes out, I will definitely patronize it."

  Chu Chen heard this, scratched his head and said: "Now I'm not very clear how many kinds of incense the company will produce in the future, but the price should not be cheap. The highest one, the price should be at least several hundred thousand. At that time, I'm afraid you won't want to spend it, Zhang Ge."

  Everyone who heard this couldn't help but take a deep breath of cold air.

  Wen Yuting said in shock: "Chu Ge, you're not mistaken, are you? What you're selling as incense looks more like gold!"

  Chu Chen smiled mysteriously and said, "If the consumption is worth it, then this price will definitely be worth it. As for what kind of thing it is, please let me keep you in suspense for now. After production, you'll know."

  Hou Yuanming said: "Oh, listening to you Xiaochu, I'm a bit looking forward to it. When the product comes out, be sure to let me know and let me take a look."

  As he said this, others also nodded their heads in agreement. They were now curious as well - what kind of incense could be so valuable?

  By the time they had finished talking, Liu Zhiqing's half-piece of material had also been processed, and the jade material inside was taken out. As a result, Hou Yuanming did not disappoint. The quality of the jade material was similar to that of Zhang Yanbin's piece, only slightly smaller in size. In the end, Hou Yuanming bought it for 11 million yuan.

  Chu Chen had originally planned to unravel the piece of wool he bought today, but first, it was late, and secondly, the most important point was that the value of jade inside this piece of wool was not low, and if he were to unravel it in public, there would inevitably be some problems.

  Although everyone has some faith in Chu Chen's good eyesight and luck, after all, he is still very young, playing for four years without much achievement, suddenly popping out, and continuously rising sharply, which may make people suspect something.

  For safety's sake, even with Li Guodong and the others, Chu Chen felt that it was still better to be on guard a bit. So when Li Guodong and the others asked for his opinion, he pushed it off, thinking that they could discuss it again after returning to the capital.

  The next day, Chu Chen and his group took a bus early in the morning, heading for Yingjiang.

  Yesterday evening at dinner, Zhang Yanbin brought up the matter of going to Yingjiang. Hou Yuanming and Liu Zhiqing definitely didn't need to be asked twice, while Chu Chen would have to see what Li Guodong and the others thought. But Li Guodong and especially Wen Yuting, because of their previous losses in gambling, hadn't even considered it carefully before agreeing to go along with it.

  Since everyone agreed, Zhang Yanbin said that he would propose to set off tomorrow, and Chu Chen and the others had no objection, so they agreed.

  Sitting in the car, Wen Yuting asked curiously: "Isn't it said that Myanmar is very strict about smuggling and those who are caught with serious offenses will be beaten to death? Why do many people still choose to smuggle?"

  Chu Chen explained, "Isn't it because of poverty? There are many poor people in Lao Bian's place. When you went to Xijing before, you were surprised that there were still cave dwellings. The poor people in Lao Bian's place can't even afford to live in cave dwellings. For the sake of money, they will do anything. The profit from smuggling wool is so high, of course, they will flock to it."

  "How did they get here then?" asked Wen Yuting curiously.

  Zhang Yanbin smiled and explained: "In fact, there are many ways to smuggle goods. The armed organizations on the old Myanmar side are still numerous. As long as a certain connection is established, smuggling is still very easy. Moreover, high-priced wool can be made into fake leather that basically no one wants, and then it can be auctioned off at the public market and transported out by our own people, making it legitimate."

  "Anyway, smuggling methods are varied and numerous. As the saying goes, 'above there is policy, below there are countermeasures', only what you can't think of, they can't do. But it's also because of people like them that we can buy cheap and good wool, so we should still thank their fearless spirit."

  In the end, Zhang Yanbin also made a small joke, which made everyone laugh.

  The journey from Teng to Yingjiang was not far, and Chu Chen only felt that he had closed his eyes for a moment before resting for a while. When he opened his eyes again, the bus had already arrived at its destination. He looked at the time and it was just before 10 o'clock. However, as soon as they got on the bus, someone came up to greet them.

  "Lao San, this little Chu is my brother, and in our line of work, he's quite formidable." Zhang Yanbin exchanged pleasantries with the man for a bit before introducing him straightforwardly. Among the four people present, Zhang Yanbin only emphasized Chu Chen's introduction, which was actually normal. After a brief interaction, Zhang Yanbin also knew that Li Guodong and the others were just interested in gambling on stones.

  Lao San took a look at Chu Chen, nodded to show understanding, and then handed him a business card with only his name Ma San and a mobile phone number on it. Meanwhile, Chu Chen also took the opportunity to hand out his own business card and took a closer look at Ma San's appearance.

  Ma San looks like he's over forty, with a dusty face and the appearance of an honest farmer, but from his lively eyes, it can be seen that this person is not easy to get along with, if you trust him too much, you might be sold out and even help him count the money.

  Ma San took Chu Chen's business card and said, "Don't delay, let's go now. I pushed away two clients early today for you guys, so you'd better compensate me later."

  Zhang Yanbin didn't think much of it, having cooperated several times and knowing that Ma San's words couldn't be counted on. He chuckled and said: "Old Three, based on the number of times we've cooperated, you also know that as long as the goods are good, I definitely won't lose out on your end."

  Then everyone got on the minibus prepared by Ma San in advance and continued driving towards their destination.

  When everyone arrived at the place, Chu Chen only discovered that this didn't seem like a store, but rather a warehouse. Along the way, Chu Chen saw that the people here were very leisurely, with many of them gathered together chatting and so on.

  Seeing this situation, Wen Yuting asked in a low voice with some curiosity: "Will they have any business like this?"

  Chu Chen smiled and said, "There's nothing strange about this. Just like Ma San, he made a phone call and we came running from Tengchong, so as long as the wine is good, who cares if the alley is deep?"

  "Oh, I see." Wenting nodded.

  As he walked, Chu Chen also discovered a detail, this Ma San was indeed like Zhang Yanbin introduced before, doing business on a larger scale, and almost everyone who saw him would nod in recognition.

  But before they had gone far, someone rushed up to Ma San and said: "Third Brother, it seems like there's a big deal this time. How about giving your little brother a drink? Will you do it?"

  Ma San waved his hand and said, "Go away, don't make trouble. With your kind of crooked and twisted stuff, you still have the nerve to show it off in front of people?" After saying that, he didn't bother with him anymore and led the way, walking away.

  After walking for a while, Chu Yulan frowned and said, "I don't like that person from just now, his eyes were too bare."

  Ma San said after hearing that: "That person is a small potato, but here he doesn't dare to do anything to you, so don't worry."