Hou Yuanming's jade jewelry store was not far from the Eight Immortals Nunnery.
Back then, Hou's father had shown tremendous determination. During the early days of reform and opening up, when he was in his forties, he had resolutely gone south to start a jade business. After gaining some experience and connections, he returned to Xijing in the early 1990s and opened this jade jewelry store.
Hou Yuanming had served in the military for several years. After leaving the service and returning home, he worked as a civil servant for a few years, but found it boring. Just then, Hou's father happened to be planning to return and open a store, so the father and son joined forces to establish this business.
With Hou's father's experience and connections, along with Hou Yuanming's sharp mind, the two complemented each other perfectly. Over the years, their business had grown larger and larger. At the beginning of this year, they had even opened a branch in the city center.
Hou Yuanming's jewelry store was called Cuiyu Zhai. Both the exterior and interior decoration followed the same style as the Eight Immortals Nunnery, giving it an extremely simple yet elegant appearance. The store had been around for nearly ten years. Although its space had seemed quite large back then, by modern standards, it was merely average.
A circle of simply styled glass display cases stood in the center of the store. Most contained jade jewelry, while some held white jade pieces. Along the left and right walls, as well as one side of the front wall, stood exquisite antique-style cabinets filled with various beautiful jade and white jade statues and ornaments.
Cuiyu Zhai was probably quite famous in Xijing. Even at noon, several customers were choosing jewelry and ornaments. After Chu Chen and the