Li Shi looked at the text, stunned for a moment, and replied with a smirk, "No, I've graduated years ago, I'm just revisiting some university courses recently."
"Ah, why would you revisit them?"
While chatting with Chen Qiu Ye, his former colleague Li Gui Ming sent him a message.
"How're you doing lately? Have you found a job yet? Why do you still have the mood to read at home?"
Li Shi replied: "I haven't found a job yet, I am taking a break for now. How about you, have you found a new job?"
Li Gui Ming: "Nope, I'm planning to go back to my hometown. Where are you now? You haven't had lunch yet, right? Do you want to have hot pot?"
Li Shi initially wanted to have a light lunch and continue his studies in the afternoon. But upon hearing that Li Gui Ming was planning to leave Tan Zhou to return to his hometown, he didn't decline and asked: "Where to? I'll take a taxi there."
"Xiao Long Kan."
Soon, Li Gui Ming sent him a location pin. Li Shi then hailed an online cab and headed towards Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot at 51 Square.
Seeing Li Gui Ming again, he noticed that he looked quite different from just a few days ago. He looked rather bleak, sitting by the window and looking out in a daze.
"What's wrong? Feeling depressed? You seem to have lost weight," Li Shi said as he took a seat across from him, jokingly.
Li Gui Ming shifted his gaze and responded with a hint of surprise: "Nice observation. I've been on a diet and lost about a pound and a half already."
You gain more than a pound just from having a meal.
Li Shi didn't comment and asked: "Why do you want to go back to your hometown?"
"I stayed in this city for love. After my divorce, I got used to working here and decided to stay. But now that I'm jobless, there's nothing to hold onto," said Li Gui Ming rather regretfully.
"Sounds like you have quite a story. But going back to your hometown could be nice," Li Shi replied.
Li Gui Ming laughed: "Yes, it could be nice. My parents are getting old, and it's time for me to inherit the family wealth."
Li Shi: ?
He suddenly remembered Li Gui Ming's spending habits, which far exceeded his salary, including his car worth hundreds of thousands. Could it be that he's a hidden rich second generation?
Xiao Long Kan is known for its fragrant and spicy hot pot from the mountain city. Li Shi, who is accustomed to spicy Hunan cuisine, is not afraid of spicy food but finds the numbness a bit hard to handle. Li Gui Ming shares a similar taste, so both of them ordered a spicy soup base with fewer Sichuan peppers.
Since Li Gui Ming didn't drive, he ordered a few beers.
They chatted away while enjoying the hotpot.
"Dude, have you been in contact with Wei Shu Lan lately?" After a few rounds of beers and nearing the end of their meal, Li Gui Ming suddenly asked.
Li Shi took a bite of a juicy piece of beef and replied: "No, why you suddenly mention her?"
Li Gui Ming put his chopsticks down, looking a bit puzzled, "She blocked me on WeChat just because I chatted with her late at night. I had no other intentions…damn it, women are visual creatures as well, she probably thinks I'm too ugly."
Li Shi was surprised and put down his chopsticks that were almost emptied: "What, have you had your eye on her for a while?"
Perhaps due to the influence of alcohol, Li Gui Ming was a bit more dissolute than usual: "Heh, don't you think Wei Shu Lan is quite attractive? That body…thin waist, big butt, damn tempting. Honestly, if I were as good-looking as you, I'd…"
He didn't finish his sentence.
However, as he said this, his eyes sparkled like a pair of wolf eyes.
In his heart, Li Shi sighed, indeed the human heart is the most unpredictable. He had been with Li Gui Ming for two years, and never imagined that he harbored lustful feelings towards his female boss Wei Shu Lan for what seemed like quite some time.
The image of Wei Shu Lan emerged in his mind, he had to admit, that woman was indeed the top-notch of all plump ladies.
Her voluptuous figure had a strong allure to men, even more so where she was skinny.
He had to admit it, himself included.
They lingered over the hot pot meal for two hours, and Li Gui Ming had drunk three bottles of beer. He was slightly drunk when they left the restaurant, and Li Shi hailed a taxi for him.
Li Shi himself only drank one bottle. He had a study plan for the day and knew to exercise self-control.
Just as he returned home, his cell phone rang, it was an unfamiliar number from Shanghai City. He suddenly remembered that the headquarters of Dejia Auction Company were in Shanghai City, and quickly answered the call.
Five minutes later, Li Shi hung up the phone, simmering his excitement, and opened the email application on his tablet. Sure enough, there was an unread email from Dejia Auction House. The content indicated that they were very interested in the collection Li Shi had submitted and asked if it was convenient for them to get in touch.
"It was an email sent an hour ago, they called proactively when I didn't contact them within an hour, sure enough, as long as the items are good enough, the ones in a rush are them!" Li Shi thought to himself gleefully.
The person who had just called was the senior business manager of Dejia Auction Company's Jewelry Excellence Department, Zhou Ya Juan. After confirming the authenticity of the email, she immediately expressed her wish to have their experts assess the bracelet as soon as possible.
Li Shi agreed, and among the options of sending the item to Shanghai City or waiting for them to come to Tan Zhou, he chose the former.
After reading the email, and comparing the contact number in the email with the number from the call, he opened WeChat and accepted Zhou Ya Juan's friend request.
"Mr. Li, if you're available now, can we carry out a video call? That way our experts can initially assess the jade bracelet via video."
Upon acceptance of the friend request, a message came immediately.
Li Shi thought for a moment, went to his bedroom, looked around a bit, and felt that the area around his desk was suitable for the video call, so he agreed.
Once the video call connected, a middle-aged woman wearing professional dress appeared on-screen. She had short hair, plain looks, and introduced herself as the person who had called earlier, Zhou Ya Juan.
She also introduced Li Shi to the senior expert in jade stone evaluation sitting next to her, He Yi Wei, a man in his thirties.
At the request of He Yi Wei, Li Shi constantly adjusted the angle of the phone camera for the evaluation. It was obvious that the appraiser had a genuine passion for jade. Seeing such high quality jade, he became very excited and exclaimed it could serve as the finale piece of the auction!
Li Shi himself was much more calm. He secretly recorded the whole process of the video call for future reference.
After the video call, Zhou Ya Juan took the initiative to communicate with him on WeChat about many details, including not charging any fees beforehand. A commission of 3% would be deducted from the transaction amount for tax, 10% for insurance, and another 1% for other costs. No further fees would be charged.
As for the estimation, starting bid, and increase rate, these details would be discussed when they met to sign the consignment auction contract.
Li Shi immediately bought a high-speed train ticket from Tan Zhou to Shanghai City for four-thirty in the afternoon. By nine in the evening, he would arrive in Shanghai City.
When he left, he put the safe in the black suitcase he had bought in college. The safe was empty save for an empty jewelry box. The bracelet and jade ring were wrapped in prepared cotton and placed in a backpack, which he wore backwards over his chest.
Throughout the journey, Li Shi refrained from studying. He appeared to be playing with his phone, but in truth, he was surveying his surroundings to ensure the safety of the two jade pieces in his bag.
After ten in the evening, he arrived smoothly at the Jin Jiang Hotel in Huangpu District of Shanghai City. It was just over eight hundred meters from the Dejia Auction Company headquarters located at Huan Mao Square, and only took about ten minutes by foot.
After a night's rest, the next morning, around nine, Li Shi, carrying his suitcase, arrived at the Dejia Auction Company's Art Center in Huan Mao square without prior notice. He requested the front desk to inform Zhou Ya Juan of his arrival.
The lady at the reception desk seemed very discerning, even while making the phone call, she couldn't help but gaze at the jade ring on his left thumb.