“You truly have excellent taste. It's rare to find such smooth and lovely gambling stones. If you like it, even if you don't open it, it's worth taking home as an art piece to display,” the vendor said with a smile, giving Wen Xiangjie a thumbs-up.
“How much is it?” Wen Xiangjie asked.
“10,000 yuan. If you're serious about wanting it, I'll give you a 20% discount, 8,000 yuan,” the vendor said to Wen Xiangjie, making a gesture with his fingers to form the number eight.
“An art piece, and you want 8,000 yuan for it?” Wen Xiangjie immediately placed the stone on the ground. “I've bought souvenirs in other scenic spots before, and none of them were as extortionate as you!”
With that, Wen Xiangjie stood up to leave.
“Hey, hey, hey, beautiful lady, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Business is all about bargaining, back and forth. You name a price, and I'll see,” the vendor quickly said, trying to stop her.
Without this easy mark, who else would buy this broken stone?
“100 yuan!” Wen Xiangjie gritted her teeth and raised her right index finger to the vendor.
“Deal!” The vendor agreed without hesitation.
This was just a broken stone he'd picked up off the ground; selling it for 100 yuan was pure profit for him.
Wen Xiangjie: ?_?
He agreed to 100 yuan so quickly. It seems the price she offered was still too high.
But in business, unless you have a mortal feud with the other party, you always have to let them earn a little.
The other party could make a small profit, but she would definitely make a big one.
After paying the vendor 100 yuan, Wen Xiangjie, with a gambling stone in her left hand and another in her right, walked towards the Card Gambling Store in the Core Area.
In the Core Area, Wen Xiangjie immediately saw the sign for Shenyou Card Gambling Store.
As Dorothea had said, Allison's Shenyou Card Gambling Store was the largest Card Gambling Store in the Gambling Card District. The shop was built magnificently yet elegantly, and its area was even larger than the surrounding Card Gambling Stores. Customers came and went in an endless stream.
As soon as Wen Xiangjie walked into Shenyou Card Gambling Store, a staff member greeted her proactively.
“Hello, esteemed customer. Are you looking to buy gambling stones, semi-finished gambling stones, or finished cards that have already been opened?” the staff member asked with a smile.
Semi-finished gambling stones refer to gambling stones that have been partially opened with experience cards, allowing some information about the cards hidden within to be seen.
With this partial information, customers can make an initial value assessment of the hidden cards, making the risk slightly lower than with complete gambling stones.
“I'd like to see your shop owner, Allison,” Wen Xiangjie said, taking out the black and gold invitation letter Allison had given her.
Upon seeing the invitation letter, the staff member's expression immediately became even more respectful.
“Please follow me.”
The staff member led Wen Xiangjie through the internal staff passage to the front of the manager's office.
The staff member knocked on the door, and only after a “Please come in” was heard from inside did the staff member push the door open.
Allison, sitting in her boss's chair, saw Wen Xiangjie standing at the door and rose with a surprised look to greet her.
“Wen Xiangjie, you're here!”
In the past few days, Wen Xiangjie and Allison had been in contact, and their relationship had grown much closer. They could now address each other by their first names.
“Good morning, Allison,” Wen Xiangjie said with a smile, walking in with two gambling stones.
It happened that several managers were in Allison's office reporting on the situation. Seeing Allison so warmly and proactively greet Wen Xiangjie, they all looked at Wen Xiangjie curiously.
This was the Gambling Card Master their manager had spent 300 million to invite, rumored to be even more skilled than Master Isaiah?
After seeing Wen Xiangjie's face clearly, all the managers were stunned.
She... she's so young?
The gambling card industry, more than others, requires the accumulation of experience and relevant knowledge. No one expected that the Gambling Card Master Allison had invited would be so young.
If it weren't for their manager, who had never made a wrong decision, inviting Wen Xiangjie, they would have thought they were being scammed if someone else had invited her.
Seeing Wen Xiangjie holding a gambling stone in each hand, Allison asked in surprise, “You've already bought two gambling stones? From which Card Gambling Store did you buy them?”
As she spoke, Allison took the two gambling stones from Wen Xiangjie's hands and personally placed them in a safe inside the office.
This was a safe she had specially prepared for Wen Xiangjie today. Any gambling stones Wen Xiangjie bought would be temporarily stored here before being opened. Only she and Wen Xiangjie knew the safe's password.
“On the way here, I bought two from a stall in the outer area just for fun,” Wen Xiangjie said with a smile.
Bought two gambling stones from a stall in the outer area just for fun?
The managers, who were listening intently to Wen Xiangjie and Allison's conversation, felt even more that Wen Xiangjie was unreliable.
No one understood the inside story of the Gambling Card District better than them, who worked there year-round.
Almost all gambling stones excavated from famous gambling stone burial sites were first selected by professionals hired by the large shops in the Gambling Card District, and only the remainder would flow into the market.
Therefore, the probability of finding a bargain at an outer stall was extremely low.
Then, looking at the two gambling stones Wen Xiangjie had chosen.
The one in her left hand was fine; it looked decent. But what was with that round, plump gambling stone in her right hand?
You know, if you saw a round, plump stone like that in everyday life, you might pick it up out of curiosity to play with.
But this was a gambling stone. It's well known that the more regular-shaped a gambling stone is, the more likely it is to be fake.
This round, plump gambling stone practically had the words “fake goods” printed on it.
And their manager actually carefully locked such a fake into a safe. Did it deserve that???
The managers already felt that Wen Xiangjie was unreliable due to their preconceived notions. After seeing the two gambling stones Wen Xiangjie had chosen, they were almost certain that Wen Xiangjie knew absolutely nothing about gambling cards.
However, out of respect for Allison, the managers did not raise any doubts about Wen Xiangjie. At least outwardly, they maintained the respect due to Wen Xiangjie.
“When do you plan to open these gambling stones?” Allison asked.
“I'll open them all at once after I've picked out all the gambling stones. I like the feeling of saving them up and then getting a big burst of satisfaction,” Wen Xiangjie said with a smile.
“Alright, let me know in advance when you plan to open the stones. I need to prepare in advance and build momentum for you,” Allison said.
Even good wine needs good promotion. Before Wen Xiangjie opened the stones, Allison needed to do good publicity to attract customers' attention in advance.
The managers subtly exchanged glances, a wry smile on their faces.
The publicity plan had naturally been decided in advance. At the time of making the publicity plan, the idea was to attract more customers to see rare cards opened at their Shenyou Card Gambling Store, completely boosting the popularity of Shenyou Card Gambling Store.
Now, it had turned into attracting more customers to watch their Shenyou Card Gambling Store make a huge fool of itself!