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Chapter 350 - Not Even Me? (2)
Chapter 350 - Not Even Me? (2)
Chapter 350 - Not Even Me? (2)
Tang Moyu gave the old couple a reasonable estimate to sell their bar. Like what they had assumed earlier, the selling price would be more than enough to support the two of them for the rest of their lives.
Meng Yanran had asked Tang Moyu and Feng Tianyi for a favor, to help her pawn some of her jewelries to pay Madam Rong and her husband before leaving the town with them.
Tang Moyu had driven them to the first pawnshop near the Rong's household and entered the shop with Meng Yanran and Feng Tianyi. It was the first time for both women to enter such an establishment. They curiously looked around.
Meng Yanran hadn't reached the counter, where she could talk with the shop attendant, when she suddenly huffed and turned around, telling Tang Moyu that they should leave at once.
"Why?" Tang Moyu asked curiously once they were out. What had made Meng Yanran change her mind?
"Have you seen what they're selling? They are selling counterfeit items at ridiculous prices! The audacity of these people!" Meng Yanran scowled. She would never pawn her father's gifts in that kind of shop.
Her resolve was starting to wane as she thought hard about it. What if they switch her father's treasures into fake ones? Although her jewellery were expensive, Meng Yanran didn't have any proof of its authenticity.
"What's wrong?" The empress asked her once she noticed the unusual silence coming from Meng Yanran, who was seated in the back seat of the car, holding her bag tightly as if she didn't plan to part with it.
"I'm just worried that I might not be able to retrieve it back..." Meng Yanran confessed. Their family business used to be in the jewelry business, so she knew a lot on how to spot the fake from the genuine ones and was able to estimate and appraise the value of the gems.
The second shop wasn't as bad as the first one, but Meng Yanran didn't agree on how the shop owner tried to undervalue her jewellery. At the third shop, she finally snapped at how ridiculously the offer was.
She marched out of the shop. Feng Tianyi and Tang Moyu then shared a knowing look.
"I know what you are thinking, Baby. Wanna recruit her to join Xiao Xing?" He asked the empress.
Tang Moyu rubbed her chin and stared at Meng Yanran's retreating figure.
"She was able to accurately tell the grade of the diamond on the display earlier. Did you see how the shop owner started to sweat when Meng Yanran pointed out the difference between each grade? Ah, it seems like Meng Yanran hasn't noticed her talents at all." She commented.
The best grades for diamonds were nearly colorless. This was the fact Feng Tianyi and Tang Moyu already knew. However, unlike Meng Yanran, they weren't able to tell the difference of each grade.
The diamond color scale begins at D and ends at Z. The closer to D a diamond is, the more colorless it is. The closer to Z a stone is, the more body color it would have. All factors being equal, the closer to D a diamond sits on this scale, the rarer and more expensive it was.
And some of the diamonds Meng Yanran had in possession were in G to J grades. Goodness, Tang Moyu thought. How can Meng Yanran walk around or drive to an unfamiliar place bringing such fortune with her? Wasn't she afraid of being robbed?
"Such talent and skill would be a waste if not utilized." Feng Tianyi agreed with her. He could already see Tang Moyu's gears starting to work on the possibility of recruiting Meng Yanran.
"Nothing can interest me like food and money." She suddenly said out of the blue.
"Not even me?" Feng Tianyi questioned, which was ignored by the empress.
"Moyu!" The devil exclaimed in exasperation.
Tang Moyu snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him.
"Oh? You were saying something?" She blinked.
Feng Tianyi wanted to cry alongside Meng Yanran. How could this even be possible? His own wife was bullying him? A part of him wanted to sit in a dark corner and sulk.
Meng Yanran wanted to cry in frustration. None of the shops were good enough to temporarily keep her father's treasures. Seeing her helpless expression and noticing that they had already wasted enough time for today, Tang Moyu tapped the other woman's shoulder to get her attention.
"Why don't you pawn them to me instead? I don't have cash right now, but I have a better proposition for you, Miss Meng."
"W-what is it?" Meng Yanran asked.
When she was younger, her father had repeatedly reminded her not to make deals with loan sharks. They were bad news and would only make her life miserable. That was why no matter how hard life was for her, Meng Yanran never had a debt in her name.
It was better to be penniless than to have a few bucks, but drowning in debt.
"I'll buy out the Rong family's bar and will keep your father's possession, but in return, I want you to join our company, Xiao Xing Diamond Co., and oversee the production that is scheduled to start next month." Tang Moyu replied.
Meng Yanran looked at the empress as if she had grown another head. Was she serious? Tang Moyu will buy out the bar so she wouldn't have to worry about the old couple and she was willing to hire someone like her?
Tang Moyu didn't need to help her or the old couple, but she was willing to extend an olive branch to settle everything? Why? Meng Yanran was confused, but still, she couldn't help but be moved by the empress's words.
Her eyes were blurred with tears again as she threw herself to the empress, who staggered back, holding Meng Yanran in shock. What the hell? She turned her head to ask for Feng Tianyi's help, but he was sulking in the corner.