Volume 1 Chapter 5 Pawnshop Apprentice

  Returned home with joy, the first thing was to tell parents about work, and in the evening, parents prepared a sumptuous feast for Qu Wen, after all, this is considered the son's first step into society.

  The next morning, he came to Yuefeng Pawnshop again, wearing a crisp black suit, like an American agent, and gave a respectful salute to the person in front of him.

  "Good morning, Master Gu."

  "Xiao Qu, this is your first day on the job, let's get familiar with the work in the pawnshop department first?"

  Gu Quanzhong is the master of the pawnshop department, similar to the steward in ancient times. Apart from him, there are three other people. On ordinary days when there's nothing going on, Gu Quanzhong rarely comes to the company and even if he does, it's just for a short while. Although Gu Quanzhong is over 70 years old, he gets things done quickly and decisively, with high standards and a keen eye for antiques, calligraphy, jewelry, and jade stones. He has the reputation of being "Gu Quanzhong, the capable one" in the industry. With him leading the way, Qu Wen got a general understanding of the overall situation and workflow of the pawnshop.

  Yuefeng Pawnshop is different from ordinary street pawnshops, the whole company has an area of three or four hundred square meters, with more than 40 employees. The scope of business includes antiques and jade articles, gold and silver jewelry, high-end watches, valuable equipment, machinery, raw materials, cars, motorcycles, real estate, stocks, bonds, etc. It can be said that as long as it is valuable, they will accept it here.

  Inside the pawnshop, it is mainly divided into four departments: finance department, business department, pawn department and property management department. The business department has the most people, accounting for half of the company, but the pawn department has the greatest say, because all valuable items must be appraised by the master of the pawn department before being evaluated and decided whether to accept.

  Qu Wen originally wanted to apply for the cashier position, which belonged to the finance department. Unexpectedly, he was recruited into the pawnshop department by mistake. For this pure newcomer who didn't have any appraisal skills, it seemed like a huge joke. If Chen hadn't said it himself, Qu Wen would have thought he was dreaming.

  However, what puzzled him was why Yue Feng Dian would find him to be an apprentice appraiser?

  "Master Gu, may I ask you something?" Qu Wen asked in a low voice, her mind full of doubts.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Why did they recruit me as an apprentice in the pawnshop? I originally wanted to apply for a cashier position."

  Gu Zhong heard and stopped, slightly stunned: "Didn't Weiwei tell you?"

  Vivian, who is Vivian? After thinking for a while, a beautiful figure gradually emerged from my mind, and it seemed that the beauty in charge of recruitment that day was called Chen Wei. Listening to Gu Quan's tone, it seems that he is familiar with her, but I don't know what kind of relationship they have between them.

  "Is Master Gu talking about the beauty at the recruitment meeting?" Qu Wen didn't dare to confirm, and asked in a low voice.

  "Who else could it be besides her? This girl too, didn't say anything clearly and just sent someone to me. Since you're here, do a good job, many people want to come learn but don't even have this opportunity."

  Gu's face sank slightly, and he had some subtle words, making Qu Wen dare not ask more. Afterwards, he followed him to turn around in a circle again, and finally returned to the pawnshop, handing him over to a middle-aged man named Fan Yongcheng.

  His name was Fan Yongcheng, and he looked very ordinary, the kind of person you'd forget as soon as you saw him. He chatted with Gu Quan for a few sentences, then clapped his hands to get the attention of two other people from the pawnshop: "This is our new colleague Qu Wen, and these two are our masters in the trade, Liu Da and Zeng Hongwei. From today on, Qu Wen will be an apprentice here with us for half a year."

  Liu Da was tall and thin, in his 40s, similar to Fan Yongcheng. Zeng Hongwei, on the other hand, had just turned 30, but was short and stout, resembling a giant meatball from afar.

  Looking at Qu Wen's handsome appearance, the two walked up and politely shook hands. Zeng Hongwei said enthusiastically: "Our pawnshop has a new person coming in every few years, to show our welcome, I'll invite you to dinner at Jinlvzhou tonight."

  Jinlv Zhou may not be the largest hotel in Longcheng, but it can be said to be the most luxurious. The interior decoration is magnificent and elegant, with rich and majestic furnishings. Even the service staff are carefully selected, with handsome men and beautiful women. The guests who come here are either wealthy or noble, and it's not something that ordinary people can afford.

  Seeing Zeng Hongwei's enthusiasm, Qu Wen, as a newcomer, couldn't bear to refuse and responded with a "Thank you, Brother Zeng."

  "Ah, ah, just like when I first joined the company, Liu Ge threw me a welcome party, it's an old tradition in our department. Tonight, I'll introduce you to two beautiful girls, guaranteed to satisfy you."

  Gu Zhong stood by, hearing Zeng Hongwei's words, and slapped a palm lightly: "Little Qu just arrived on the first day and you want to lead him astray. If he loses focus and can't learn anything, I'll have to deduct your salary."

  "Don't worry, Uncle Quan. With me keeping an eye on him, he'll definitely learn well."

  "This is what you said!" Gu Quan turned around and took out several books as thick as dictionaries from the bookcase and threw them at Zeng Hongwei: "You have half a month to teach Xiao Qu to understand these. I will test him myself, if he doesn't pass, your bonus for this month will be gone."

  Zeng Hongwei's face suddenly turned greener than a bitter melon: "Uncle Quan doesn't have to be so strict, does he!?"

  "This is a serious matter, it's what Director Chen entrusted me with. He made a bet with someone else to see if Xia Qu is suitable to be an appraiser."

  The two people's conversation entered Qu Wen's ears without missing a single word. How about that! He had just joined the company and was already being used as someone else's pawn, but on his first day, he didn't dare to ask anything, so he could only stand there foolishly, pretending not to have heard anything.

  Zeng Hongwei immediately handed the book to Qu Wen: "Did you hear that? It's not that I don't want to help you, but it was arranged by the higher-ups. You have half a month to learn it. If you can't learn it well, my funds will also be wasted."

  Qu Wen took over the book and looked at it, most of which were related to jade and jewelry, and under the title of each book, two words were uniformly marked: "Introduction". Looking at these books, Qu Wen was stunned in her heart, wondering whether she had come to work or to study, and that she would even get paid for studying here.

  The pawnshop department is very laid-back, and if it's just stocks, bonds, or ordinary cars and houses, the salesperson can handle it themselves. Only when encountering valuable items do they need to call in a master from the pawnshop department. As a result, on the first day of work, the entire department was like a leisurely teahouse, with nothing to do except for someone coming over to chat for a few sentences. Taking advantage of the free time, Qu Wen sat at his desk and devoured the several books that Zeng Hongwei had given him, not expecting to start new studies again after just graduating.

  At five thirty in the afternoon, the bell rang and Zeng Hongwei came to Qu Wen's side, asking warmly: "I booked a place at Jinlvzhou, and there are several colleagues from the business department going together. Did you drive or take a ride today?"

  "I came by bus." Qu Wen scratched his head and replied. A newcomer who had just graduated from school, how could he possibly have a car? Even if it was an electric bike, he couldn't afford it now. After turning out all the pockets on his body, he only had about a hundred yuan left. Fortunately, Zeng Hongwei was treating him to dinner tonight; otherwise, he would have had to thicken his skin and ask his parents for money again.

  "Then sit in my car, and I'll introduce you to two beautiful women." Zeng Hongwei said, leading Qu Wen to the door of the business department, shouting loudly: "Are the two beauties ready? Today I'm treating, eat as much as you want!"

  Two beautiful women with good figures walked out soon, one of whom smiled and said: "Do you want us to become big fat women? You know we can't eat much but you still say so on purpose."

  "Alright, I was wrong. Let me introduce tonight's main character, our department's new handsome guy, Qu Wen! These two are the company's famous flowers, Qin Wei Na and Su Ya Xin."

  Qu Wen stood behind Zeng Hongwei, exchanging a glance with each other. Although their appearance and figure were not as stunning as Chen Wei's, they were also very charming, especially Qin Weina who wore a tight-fitting summer dress, her full breasts almost visible under the low-cut neckline, nearly hooking out Zeng Hongwei's eyeballs.

  However, her gaze passed through Zeng Hongwei and fell on Qu Wen's body. She threw a flirtatious glance and smiled: "I really didn't expect that the new person from the pawnshop would be such a handsome guy. If you become a great master in the future, don't forget to take care of your sister."

  The beauty spoke and couldn't refuse, Qu Wen thought for a moment and casually replied: "Where, where, I'm just on my first day of work, it's only right that sister takes care of me more."

  Qu Wen's casual remark had struck a chord in Qin Wei Na's heart. In her opinion, Qu Wen was either really capable or had very strong connections; otherwise, it would be impossible for someone so young to work in the pawnshop department of Yue Feng Pawnshop, which was one of the top-ranked in the southwest region. As an apprentice in the pawnshop department, one needed to have a certain level of ability, which could come from various sources - personal or family connections. The latter type of ability was even more useful. If that were the case, Qu Wen might be a second-generation official or rich kid, and Qin Wei Na wouldn't mind having a romantic relationship with him despite their age difference.

  "May I ask which school you graduated from?"

  "I just graduated from the finance department of Huaxi University and was originally applying for an accountant position at a recruitment fair, but unexpectedly ended up being assigned to the pawnshop." Qu Wen habitually scratched his head, still unable to shake off the awkwardness of a big boy.

  "Did you apply for this job yourself?"

  All three of them were stunned, either Qu Wen was talking nonsense or the company's high-level executives had gone mad. How could a graduate from a second-rate university possibly do appraisal work for a pawnshop? At the very least, they should have found someone from an archaeology department.

  The work of the pawnshop is different from that of ordinary salesmen. It's enough to have some knowledge of finance and fashion brands, and often need to identify jewelry and antiques. Without three to five years of theoretical foundation, it's impossible to get started, not even qualified as an apprentice. For example, Zeng Hongwei had already studied in the Archaeology Department of Huqing University for four years before joining the company, with a certain professional foundation, and later entered Yuefeng Pawnshop through family relationships.

  "Hmm, is there something wrong?" Looking at the three people's shocked expressions, Qu Wen added another sentence: "Excuse me, among those who went tonight, was there a girl named Chen Wei?"

  "Chen Wei, what's your relationship with her?" Upon hearing this name, Qin Wei Na's curiosity was piqued, it seemed that this silly young man wasn't completely unrelated after all.

  "It's nothing, just that I met her once at a job fair and she was the one who recruited me to the company, so I wanted to thank her in person."

  "Haha, that's going to be tough, we can't invite someone as big as her to our little gathering!" At this moment, Qin Wei's enthusiasm had cooled down by half, and her expression changed slightly. How could officials' second generation and rich second generation need to go to a recruitment fair to find work? Qu Wen was at most a potential stock, still far from the rich second generation in her heart. In an instant, she seemed like a completely different person, without explaining what Chen Wei's identity was, and immediately walked from Qu Wen's side to Zeng Hongwei's side, gently holding his hand, with a sweet voice: "Zeng brother, let's go, I'm starving."

  When Qu Wen heard Qin Wei's words, he was shocked. Could it be that Chen Wei is still a high-level executive in the company? It's really hard to see that a girl of similar age has such strong abilities. Either she has an extremely deep relationship or she paid a lot to get this position.

  It's better to understand this kind of thing in one's heart and ask less, just thank him in person when we meet that day. Later, the four of them arrived at Jinlvzhou Hotel by car driven by Zeng Hongwei, where Gu Quan and Liu Da had already arrived earlier.

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