Zhang Xingming started his business at twenty-seven, and today marks the sixth year.

Back then, his father, a department director, had long since retreated to the sidelines. When the man left, the warmth faded. With no prospects for advancement in government work, he took his father's meager ten thousand in savings and dove into the commercial sea by opening a jewelry store.

As it turned out, he found his calling. Not only were the profits enormous in this line of work, but as living standards rose, ordinary people could finally afford to indulge. A diamond ring marked at four-eight (¥48,000) could net him a profit of six thousand yuan—a fortune rolling in, impossible to hold back.

Anyone familiar with the jewelry trade knows that making money by selling pure gold is utter nonsense; being able to hit ten percent profit was cause for celebration, not to mention the massive capital required and the inherent risks, as a fluctuation in international gold prices could instantly impact business.

But diamonds were different. A little manipulation during appraisal, downplaying the weak points in advertising, and even industrial diamonds could be passed off as gemstones. Ordinary folk wouldn't know the difference; they only clung to the slogan hammered home in the ads: "A diamond is forever, one stone remains eternally."

Yet, the day they needed cash and took that ring—bought for over ten thousand yuan back then—to a pawnshop, the pawnbroker would only tell them: "We can buy this band for the current platinum price. As for the diamond on top, you might as well keep it as a keepsake. We wouldn't even take it at half price."

This was the industry secret: diamonds held their value far less reliably than gold, and their profits were wildly inflated.

Zhang Xingming built his fortune selling diamonds. Later, he gradually added other items—pearls, agate, jade, and jadeite—but these were all opportunistic goods: low quality but highly priced, meant to fool tourists and average consumers.

Having amassed significant wealth, Zhang Xingming intended to expand. Coincidentally, a year ago, the neighboring Sheng Zhou Fu Jewelry store announced it was for transfer because the owner was immigrating. He immediately paid close attention.

However, the shop was ultimately secured by a couple from Wenzhou, who paid the higher price. This greatly displeased Zhang Xingming, so he secretly hatched a malicious plan.

And so, the Wenzhou couple's new shop began encountering problems every few days. Sometimes their windows were smashed late at night; other times, customers would immediately report them after making a purchase. The quality inspection department and market management frequently paid surprise visits. After six relentless months of harassment, their business dwindled to almost nothing, leaving the couple utterly exhausted.

Zhang Xingming remained hidden in the shadows. Although the couple suspected he was behind the trouble, they couldn't find a shred of evidence.

But six months ago, the troublemaking seemed to vanish overnight. The Wenzhou couple assumed the ordeal was over, and after operating legitimately for just a few months, new trouble arrived.

Following the 2008 Olympics, "Gold-Inlaid Jade" items became hugely popular. These exquisite and unique ornaments, symbolizing a destined match between gold and jade (), were highly sought after by customers. The Wenzhou couple capitalized on this trend.

Simply purchase over one thousand yuan worth of goods from their jewelry store, and you earned one chance to enter a lottery. The first prize allowed the winner to buy a gold-inlaid jade pendant, valued at eight thousand six hundred yuan, for a mere ten percent of the price. Other prizes were arranged accordingly—in short, every option was enticing.

Since launching this promotion, the Sheng Zhou Fu store's turnover soared. Many people would unconsciously spend a little extra just to get a chance to draw, and Sheng Zhou Fu's prize structure was remarkably generous: they gave away several first prizes daily, selling the six-thousand-eight-hundred-yuan jade pendants for one-tenth the price to customers.

Someone might ask, didn't Sheng Zhou Fu lose money doing this? Lose a fart! Selling it to you for 680, they still pocketed 360.

Then someone else countered, "Surely Sheng Zhou Fu wouldn't dare sell fakes? Every single item has an appraisal certificate from an authoritative body."

Bullshit appraisal certificate! Look closely: it only states the jade is natural and the gold is 18-karat, but it never says the jade isn't worthless "brick material" or that the gold only weighs two grams.

In fact, it wasn't just Sheng Zhou Fu doing this; many jewelry stores did the same, including Zhang Xingming's Tianyuan. But this was cheating consumers! Zhang Xingming had connections, so he was fine. But for you two outsiders doing the same thing? Whether you’d be fine was another story.

After playing the game of "letting the duck fly before snatching it back" for several months, Zhang Xingming quietly covered up the shady dealings in his own business. Then, he suddenly mobilized enforcement officers, media representatives, and consumer advocates—a whole host of "deities"—to conduct a surprise inspection of Sheng Zhou Fu, immediately exposing their fraudulent practices against consumers. The relevant authorities ordered a temporary closure for rectification.

Sheng Zhou Fu was never a major establishment to begin with; even its name was a knock-off, capitalizing on the goodwill of Chow Sang Sang, Chow Sang Fu, Chow Tat Sheng, Chow Tai Fook, Chow Luk Fu, and the other "Chow brothers." Although no one knew who copied whom, Sheng Zhou Fu was definitely the most derivative of them all.

With a single store whose very name was plagiarized, once the media latched onto the exposé, its reputation was ruined. What was there left to "rectify"? The Wenzhou couple didn't say a word; they canceled their license. We quit, okay? They packed their bags and left.

Zhang Xingming was ecstatic and immediately approached landlord Mr. Lin to rent the space. To his surprise, the rent had increased significantly, far beyond what Sheng Zhou Fu had been paying. Although Zhang Xingming could afford it, opening another branch elsewhere seemed more cost-effective.

After the Wenzhou couple pulled out, landlord Mr. Lin arranged for someone to take down the Sheng Zhou Fu sign and passed the listing details to the real estate agent, then settled in to wait, playing the long game. Zhang Xingming held onto a sliver of hope: with such high rent, it surely wouldn't be easy to lease out, and perhaps after a while, Mr. Lin would relent, allowing him to haggle and get a better price.

With this plan in mind, he instructed his staff to keep a close watch on the neighboring property. Whenever someone came to view the space, he would sidle over to observe.

Just now, hearing that only a young man and woman, two unfamiliar faces, were inside, Zhang Xingming paused slightly, feeling a sense of impending bad news.

As soon as he walked in, Zhang Xingming saw Wang Zhuo and Guan Yingying. After a brief appraisal, he probed, "Who are you two?"

Wang Zhuo offered him a faint smile: "We are the new tenants for this shop. May I ask who you are?"

"New tenants?" Zhang Xingming's heart sank instantly. He frowned and asked, "Are you saying this place has already been rented?"

Noticing the sharp edge in his tone, Wang Zhuo dropped his smile and affirmed with a measured nod.

The cooked duck had flown away. Zhang Xingming immediately felt a surge of irritation and pressed further, "Rented to whom? And for what purpose?"

"May I ask what business this is of yours?" Wang Zhuo deliberately stressed the word 'may I ask,' clearly signaling to the uninvited guest that he should be polite.

"What business is it of mine?" Zhang Xingming hadn't expected to be snapped at by some young punk. He sneered, "I own Tianyuan next door. What do you think it has to do with me?"

"It actually does have a little to do with it," Wang Zhuo said with a slight grin. "Might I ask the esteemed owner your name?"

"Is it worth telling you?" Zhang Xingming glanced at him, then took in Guan Yingying, who had remained silent beside him. Seeing she looked no older than twenty-two or twenty-three, he presumed she wasn't the decision-maker either.

"If it's not worth telling me, then please return whence you came," Wang Zhuo said with a fake smile, extending a hand in a gesture of dismissal.

Zhang Xingming instantly erupted in anger, a wave of malevolence surging up. He pointed at Wang Zhuo and huffed, "Fine, fine! Just you wait and see!"

With that, he turned and left without looking back. Only once outside did he realize he'd been so consumed by anger that he didn't even ascertain the newcomers' background.

Watching his retreating figure, Guan Yingying looked perplexed. "Why was that man acting so strangely?"

"His attitude shifted the moment he heard the place was rented. He probably wanted to rent this shop too," Wang Zhuo noted. His insight wasn't limited to X-ray vision; now, his ability to analyze others' motives was also quite sharp.

"It really seems that way," Guan Yingying laughed. "He even threatened you with 'wait and see.' Are you scared?"

"I’m terrified, ha ha," Wang Zhuo burst into loud laughter. "Competitors are always enemies. If I were scared of him, why would I even open a shop? I might as well go home and hug my wife."

Hearing him mention his wife, Guan Yingying glanced at him subtly. She thought this young man's way of looking at women seemed different lately; maybe he’d finally crossed that threshold with his girlfriend?

Back in his office, Zhang Xingming grew increasingly frustrated the more he thought about it. He called the front desk and summoned the security guard who had seen the real estate agent bring people to view the property that morning.

"There were only two people. One was Manager Wei from Huadu Real Estate, and the other was a man, maybe around twenty, about my height, wearing a black matte fabric casual outfit."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xingming immediately matched the guard’s description of the man with the one who had just argued with him. He waved the guard away and dialed Wei Xia.

"Little Wei, this is Tianyuan's Zhang Xingming. I need to ask you something—did you take people to view the Sheng Zhou Fu property this morning?"

"Boss Zhang!" Wei Xia replied enthusiastically, "That's right, I took someone to see the place. Mr. Lin already signed the lease agreement with him; it’s finalized."

Hiss—Zhang Xingming sucked in a cold breath, asking unhappily, "Didn't I tell you? If anyone expresses interest in renting, you must notify me first?"

Wei Xia maintained her enthusiasm and smiled, "Boss Zhang, it's not that I didn't want to help, but the whole process, from viewing to payment, took him only half a day. Before I could even confirm his intention to rent, he had already finalized the details with Mr. Lin."

Zhang Xingming nearly choked. Wei Xia's words sounded fine on the surface, yet they seemed to mock him for being too stingy to act decisively! Moreover, he realized a crucial point: could the young punk he just clashed with actually be the new tenant of Sheng Zhou Fu?

"What about the rent? How much is it? And do you know what he plans to use that space for?"

"The rent is three hundred thousand a month. He has already wired the first year's payment of three million six hundred thousand to Mr. Lin. He said he's opening an 'Art Investment Company.' To put it plainly, isn't its scope of business much the same as your Tianyuan?"

Zhang Xingming's face turned ashen. He had sent away a minor devil only to welcome a plague god. Recalling the young man's flippant and cynical face, he was overcome with rage. Kid, this time we really are going to see who prevails.