Sophia brought all the other accessories she had taken from home. Other than the ones she gave to Lidder for appraisal, everything else was laid out here.
She had a lot of items and wasn't relying completely on Lidder.
She understood the idea of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
When Haiwen and Zinni arrived, Sophia had already ordered coffee for both of them.
"I ordered Americanos for you two. If you don't like them, we can order something else," she said.
Just then, the waiter brought their coffees over.
Haiwen raised her eyebrow. "What a coincidence. We both do like Americanos."
Sophia gave a playful smile. "Isn't it said that all CEOs love iced Americanos?"
Although Haiwen hadn't officially taken over as chairman from her father yet, she still held a high-ranking position in the company.
As for Zinni, Sophia had just learned last night from Amelia that Zinni's family wasn't in business, but they had a strong background. Money wasn't a concern for her either.
"Did you bring everything?" Zinni looked at Sophia, eyes sparkling.
Sophia immediately laid out everything from her bag.
She had taken photos of everything the night before and sent them to Haiwen and Zinni.
Soon, the small café table was full of all kinds of items—pendants, bracelets, rings, hairpins, combs, tassel ornaments, and beaded bracelets.
Each piece was finely crafted, with smooth and skillful workmanship.
"Haiwen, Zinni, these accessories have more value as collectibles than for everyday wear. If you're not into collecting, I wouldn't really recommend buying them," Sophia said. Then, realizing they had made the effort to come, she added, "If you see anything you like, pick one set each. Consider it a little gift for our first meeting."
Zinni pulled her hand back and crossed her arms. "You think one set of jewelry is enough to buy us off?"
Normally, a gift like that would come from a senior to a junior. Friends or peers didn't usually exchange such things.
Sophia chuckled. "Come on, it's the 21st century. Who still sticks to those old rules?"
Haiwen and Zinni weren't put off. They continued looking through the items.
"Don't worry. We can afford a few pieces," they said while browsing.
Others might collect such things, but they didn't need to. Their homes already had antique vases worth millions, just used for decoration.
Seeing this, Sophia didn't argue further.
The two of them were like buyers at a wholesale market, picking out nearly half of what Sophia had brought.
Then they wrote her a check for 67.4 million yuan.
To someone who didn't know better, it might have looked like just 6,740 yuan.
But Sophia had already seen billion-yuan deals before, so this amount didn't faze her much anymore.
She started packing up the remaining items.
Haiwen watched her casually putting the rest into her backpack and suddenly asked, "Hey, these things didn't come from the ground, did they?"
The items they bought were all accessories—either for personal use or as gifts. If they had been dug up from underground...
People usually avoided taking things that had been unearthed into their homes. It was considered bad luck.
Sophia answered confidently, "Don't worry. I can guarantee these weren't dug up."
Zinni sighed in relief. She had bought a natural imperial green jade bead bracelet, planning to give it as a gift for her grandmother's big birthday. There couldn't be any problems with that.
"Sophia, this bracelet, the ring, and this forehead ornament all look like they came from the same piece of jade. But if it's a full set, it shouldn't just be these. If you can find the whole set, it would be worth way more—easily over a hundred million."
Zinni had a sharp eye. Although her parents were both in the military or government, her uncle's family dealt in jade.
Since she was little, she'd played with jade like they were glass marbles. Just one look, and she could tell the imperial green jade jewelry Sophia had was of exceptional quality.
Real high-grade jade can even nourish a person.
Sophia took Zinni's words seriously. With that reminder, she vaguely recalled seeing other similar high-quality jewelry while sorting through the storage.
The three of them sat and talked about jewelry. Though it was about jewelry, the conversation went far beyond that.
There was a lot of hidden information for Sophia to digest.
Haiwen and Zinni started talking about the real estate market this year.
This year had been a harsh winter for the overall economy—and especially for real estate. And it might not even be the worst year yet. Things could keep getting worse unless there were new policies to help stabilize the situation.
However, Haiwen's family was well-established in a first-tier city, and their brand was well-known. Plus, they were backed by the government, so they were doing better than most companies.
"But when it comes to the direction of the economy, no one can say for sure. As long as we follow the country's lead, we won't go wrong," Haiwen said.
Zinni agreed.
No matter what the future holds, the most important thing now is to stay politically correct.
Sophia listened to all this like she was watching a drama unfold.
She wasn't too worried. Her investment was small, and her returns were already high.
After finishing afternoon tea with the two of them, she packed up and headed to the shelter to check on Four-Eyes.
She also brought afternoon tea for the shelter staff.
Four-Eyes was lying weakly in a corner.
The staff member who had first handled Sophia's case was a short, slightly stocky woman. When she saw Sophia, she looked worried and said, "Ever since you left yesterday, this dog hasn't eaten or drunk anything."
"Was he like this when he was staying with you?"
Sophia felt a pang of sadness and quickly picked up the prepared water and dog food and went over to Four-Eyes's cage.
Four-Eyes lay on the ground weakly. When he saw Sophia, he wagged his tail but didn't have the strength to get up. He looked very listless.
The staff member couldn't bear to see it, "We contacted his original owner. He said he'd come this morning, but now it's almost evening."
Sophia said, "Then let me take the dog back home for now. When the owner finally decides to come, contact me and I'll bring the dog back. Is that okay?"
The staff member hesitated for a bit after comparing both situations. "I'll talk to the director."
After a while, the director came out and double-checked the information Sophia had already given to the staff. Finally, he agreed to let her take the dog back for now.
Since the original owner refused to take back this retired police dog, the shelter had to report the matter to the relevant public security authorities.
Once the report was done, Sophia would still need to complete the formal adoption procedures before it could be considered official.
Sophia smoothly brought the dog back to the hotel.
With her by his side, Four-Eyes's condition seemed to improve. Once they arrived at the hotel, he sniffed around.
After catching Sophia's scent, he finally began to eat heartily.
Seeing him like that, Sophia regretted not bringing him back sooner.
The shelter worked quickly. The next day, they contacted Sophia to confirm the report had been submitted. Just as she finished that call, another call came in—and the person on the line started yelling at her.