Liu Ruyan froze on the spot. The face that usually wore a practiced business smile now held nothing but sheer disbelief.
She could hardly believe her ears.
Even two tonnes of top-grade gold star rosewood might not pass through the entire market in a year.
Yet this harmless-looking young man standing before her claimed he had two or three tonnes?
"Mr. Chen, are you... are you sure it's all this quality?" Liu Ruyan's breathing grew unsteady as she asked Chen Lin again, afraid she had misheard.
"That's right."
Chen Lin nodded calmly.
He had already examined the three rosewood logs carefully. They were equally thick, and their broken ends more or less matched, so they had most likely come from the same enormous tree. Naturally, their quality would be the same.
At his confirmation, Liu Ruyan's chest rose and fell sharply.
Her mind raced.
Two tonnes!
If the company could buy those two tonnes of top-grade gold star rosewood, dominating Yicheng's entire high-end timber market would be just the beginning. They could use it as a springboard to expand across the province and even become a well-known provincial enterprise!
This was no longer just a business deal.
It was an opportunity that could change the company's fate!
At that thought, the way Liu Ruyan looked at Chen Lin changed completely.
She was no longer looking at a business partner, but at a walking, glittering mountain of gold.
Song Qiuya keenly noticed the change.
She immediately felt uncomfortable.
Liu Ruyan was being far too blatant about the way she looked at Chen Lin!
She stepped forward and naturally slipped her arm through Chen Lin's, breaking their eye contact.
"All right! Chen Lin, stop keeping us in suspense. Take us to see your gold star rosewood!"
Only then did Liu Ruyan withdraw her gaze. Realizing she had lost her composure, she gave him an expectant look. "Yes, Mr. Chen. Shall we go inspect the goods now?"
Feeling the softness against his arm, Chen Lin glanced at Song Qiuya's little display of possessiveness and found it amusing.
He nodded. "It's at my place. If you don't mind, shall we take my car?"
The three of them left the Zhou Xiaofu jewelry store.
When Liu Ruyan saw Chen Lin's white Qin Plus parked by the road, she froze again.
She instinctively took out her Mercedes keys, then looked at the domestic electric car, feeling rather dazed.
Were young people these days all this low-key?
Driving a car worth tens of thousands of yuan while negotiating deals worth tens of millions?
But she was decisive. Without a moment's hesitation, she opened the Qin Plus's rear door and got in, leaving her brand-new Mercedes-AMG C63 sitting all alone outside the jewelry store.
Forty minutes later, the Qin Plus drove smoothly into Chen Family Village.
When the car stopped outside the Farmhouse Courtyard, Song Qiuya and Liu Ruyan looked around curiously.
Far from the city's bustle, the air was refreshingly clean. The greenery and the gently flowing stream put them completely at ease.
"The surroundings here are lovely!" Song Qiuya praised sincerely.
Chen Lin led them into the living room, fetched some tea leaves from the kitchen, and brewed each of them a cup.
He had barely sat down when Clear Wind's and Bright Moon's voices sounded in his mind.
"Master! Pretty ladies!"
"We want pets!"
Chen Lin answered mentally, Come on out. No causing trouble.
The next second, two white shapes darted out of the room.
"Meow~"
Clear Wind and Bright Moon appeared before the two women, walking with graceful feline steps.
"Wow! Such cute cats!"
Song Qiuya melted on the spot. She immediately crouched down and cautiously held out her hand.
Clear Wind approached willingly and rubbed a fluffy head against her palm.
Even Liu Ruyan, who always presented herself as capable and professional, lost her businesswoman's mask the moment she saw the two lively little cats, revealing her gentle side.
Watching the two women fall under their spell, Chen Lin smiled, stood up, and headed behind the house.
With a thought, the two enormous rosewood logs in his Storage Ring appeared out of thin air in the clearing behind the house. Each was over two meters long and so thick it would take two people to reach around it.
Only after finishing did he stroll back into the living room.
The two women each had a cat in their arms. Clear Wind and Bright Moon purred contentedly, turning on the charm.
Quite some time passed before Liu Ruyan suddenly remembered why she was there. Slightly embarrassed, she put Bright Moon down.
"Mr. Chen, we should inspect the goods first."
"Follow me."
Chen Lin led the two women behind the house.
When Song Qiuya and Liu Ruyan saw the two enormous logs lying casually on the ground, both held their breath.
In the sunlight, their deep, muted purple wood was covered in star-like markings, exuding an ancient, noble air.
"So big! So thick!"
Liu Ruyan murmured instinctively.
The words had barely left her mouth when she noticed the peculiar looks Chen Lin and Song Qiuya gave her, and her face instantly reddened.
Song Qiuya shot Chen Lin a look, torn between annoyance and amusement. "You just left something this valuable lying outside on the ground?"
Chen Lin chuckled and spread his hands. "I didn't know it was worth so much!"
Liu Ruyan no longer had time to feel embarrassed.
She hurried forward and reached out, reverently stroking the rosewood's rough bark and smooth broken ends.
She could tell at a glance that these two logs and the sample she had seen in the VIP room had definitely come from the same tree!
And their size... their diameter... was simply unheard of!
What an extraordinary find!
She spent a long time examining them closely, barely able to contain her delight.
Liu Ruyan took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Then she turned around and spoke decisively.
"Mr. Chen! These two gold star rosewood logs weigh far more than two or three tonnes! Based on my experience, their combined weight is at least four tonnes!"
She fixed her eyes on Chen Lin and named her price.
"I'll take them both! Fourteen thousand yuan per jin!"
Song Qiuya sucked in a breath.
Song Qiuya gasped. She looked at Chen Lin in delighted surprise. That price was considerably higher than her estimate!
Four tonnes meant eight thousand jin.
At fourteen thousand yuan per jin... the total would exceed a hundred million!
A hundred million!
Chen Lin's heart skipped a beat too, but he kept smiling and promptly extended his hand.
"Deal! These two gold star rosewood logs are yours, Manager Liu!"
Next, Liu Ruyan immediately took out her phone and contacted the company's finance director and business department manager.
Afterward, she and Song Qiuya seemed to forget all about the hundred-million-yuan deal. They returned to the living room, each picked up a cat, and happily began petting them.
Chen Lin had intended to join them, but after listening for a moment, he realized they were discussing the latest handbags and which brands of skincare products were good. Feeling completely out of place, he gave a bored yawn.
An hour later.
A Buick minivan drove into Chen Family Village, followed by a truck fitted with a small crane.
The vehicles stopped outside the courtyard gate, drawing curious looks from quite a few villagers.
A man and a woman got out of the Buick. The woman was around fifty, dressed in a tasteful suit, with a shrewd, capable air. The man bore some resemblance to Liu Ruyan. He looked to be in his forties and had a composed presence.
They were Liu Qingmei, the Zhengtian Group's finance director, and Liu Zhengyun, its business department manager.
Liu Zhengyun was Liu Ruyan's paternal uncle, while Liu Qingmei was her father's younger sister.
Liu Ruyan went over to greet them, briefly explained the situation, then brought them along as she followed Chen Lin behind the house again.
When Liu Zhengyun and Liu Qingmei saw the two enormous gold star rosewood logs, they reacted exactly as Liu Ruyan had, freezing on the spot.
Breathing rapidly, Liu Zhengyun rushed forward, inspecting and touching the wood while muttering nonstop.
"Exceptional! This is absolutely exceptional! My God, and they're so big!"
He spun around and excitedly gave Liu Ruyan a thumbs-up.
"Ruyan! Girl, your luck is unbelievable!"
Liu Ruyan smiled softly, filled with emotion herself.
Coming across such exceptional timber, which money alone could not buy, truly was an incredible stroke of luck.
Beside her, Liu Qingmei, the Liu family's finance director, already had a gleam in her eyes.
She knew all too well just how staggering the returns these two logs could bring the Zhengtian Group!
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