"Hello, welcome to the IWC boutique. Are you interested in men's or women's watches?" the salesperson greeted them warmly at the entrance.
Before Zhou Wang could respond, a voice suddenly rang out from outside the store.
"Ranran!"
Zhou Wang turned in surprise to see a man in his thirties with a buzz cut standing outside, frowning and waving at Ranran, who was standing beside him.
"Oh no, how did Brother Xiao Mao find me here so quickly?" Ranran exclaimed nervously, sticking out her tongue. She quickly dropped her shopping bags and said to Zhou Wang, "Brother, I need to go talk to him for a minute. I'll be right back!"
Without waiting for Zhou Wang to ask questions, she hurried out of the store.
Though puzzled, Zhou Wang had only just met Ranran and was pressed for time. He decided not to dwell on it and turned to the salesperson. "I want to buy a watch priced around 400,000 yuan, and it must be in stock."
"400,000 yuan?" The salesperson was slightly taken aback. While IWC certainly had watches in that price range, their sales weren't exactly brisk. This was the first time he had encountered a customer who immediately requested such an expensive watch.
The salesperson quickly regained his composure, though a thoughtful glint remained in his eyes.
"Very well, sir, please follow me."
He led Zhou Wang to the customer lounge but didn't sit down himself. Instead, he walked to the opposite counter and whispered a few words to a man in a sharp suit who was engrossed in examining something.
As Zhou Wang wondered what was happening, the suited man glanced up, smiled, and strode over.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Zhou. I'm Manager Cao of the IWC Henglong Store. Xiao Zhou has informed me of your preferences. Given your generous budget, I thought it would be more appropriate for me to assist you personally. Would that be acceptable?"
"No problem. But you can skip the brand history and all that. Just show me the watches."
Zhou Wang was clearly pleased to be personally attended to by the manager, anticipating a more efficient process.
"It seems you're already familiar with IWC. Before we proceed, I'd like to confirm something. I recently assisted another customer with the same interest. Are you also here for the limited-edition Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar?"
Manager Cao smiled. "Ah, you're interested in the ¥400,000 model?"
"Uh..." Zhou Wang paused, realizing they might have misunderstood his intentions. Nevertheless, he nodded calmly. "If it's the ¥400,000 model, then yes. I'd like to see the actual watch first. Do you have it in stock?"
"Absolutely! It's right here in the store. The customer who pre-ordered it had to cancel for personal reasons. In fact, it only arrived yesterday by plane and was delivered to us this morning. It's only been here for three hours..."
As Manager Cao explained, he beckoned to a sales associate named Xiao Zhou, who shared Zhou Wang's surname.
Xiao Zhou quickly approached, carrying a white watch box, and carefully placed it on the table.
Manager Cao donned gloves and personally opened the box. Inside the large white case was a smaller black leather watch box. After unfastening the clasp, a wristwatch with a black dial, red indices, and matching hands was revealed.
The watch wasn't particularly beautiful, but it exuded a solid, premium feel. While its design resembled a somewhat clunky digital watch, Zhou Wang couldn't deny that, at least in his opinion, it was a step up from the Vacheron Constantin models he had just examined.
Its main appeal lay in its perfect suitability for his age.
"Mr. Zhou, allow me to proudly present the crown jewel of IWC's Aquatimer Collection: the IW379405 diving watch..."
"It features a ceramized titanium case, an automatic movement, a 49mm diameter dial, a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, luminous hands and markers, and a black rubber strap..."
"As a limited edition, only 25 pieces were produced worldwide..."
"It's water-resistant to 300 meters underwater..."
Manager Cao continued his comprehensive presentation, enthusiastically detailing every aspect of the watch until Zhou Wang abruptly interrupted him.
"What's the price?"
"The official retail price in mainland China is 436,000 yuan," Manager Cao replied with a smile, showing no sign of displeasure.
Perfect!
Hearing the price, Zhou Wang felt as if the System itself had specially prepared this watch for him.
"May I try it on?" Zhou Wang couldn't wait any longer.
Meanwhile, in a corner outside the shop:
"Do you even realize what you did wrong?" Brother Xiao Mao snapped, hands shoved in his pockets, glaring at Ranran.
"Was it... because I forgot to turn off my location sharing?" Ranran ventured cautiously.
After all, this line of work was filled with young, attractive women, and the quality of clients varied wildly. There had been several troublesome incidents in the past, so Brother Xiao Mao had installed location-sharing apps on everyone's phones, requiring them to turn it on during appointments—ostensibly for their safety.
It was precisely this system that allowed Brother Xiao Mao to track Ranran down so quickly after she went "off the grid."
"Still trying to joke around!" Brother Xiao Mao raised his hand as if to swat her, but ultimately refrained, shaking his head in exasperation. "So, that little boy was your excuse for ditching a client?"
Though they hadn't known each other long, Brother Xiao Mao understood Ranran well enough. While she was undeniably materialistic, she was also a hopeless sucker for good looks.
She had previously refused assignments because "the client was just too ugly," but since this was just a part-time gig for her, Brother Xiao Mao hadn't pressed the issue too hard.
This time, Ranran had really crossed the line. She had already accepted the assignment, but when the client waited for half an hour and called Brother Xiao Mao, he discovered she hadn't even shown up.
His messages went unanswered, and his calls were hung up. Brother Xiao Mao even started to worry that something might have happened to her, which prompted him to rush to Henglong Plaza.
When he spotted Ranran holding hands with a man from a distance, Brother Xiao Mao immediately jumped to conclusions, convinced he knew the truth.
"I've never forbidden you from dating, but you took the job and then stood up the client? That's just wrong," he muttered, his anger simmering.
"No, Brother Xiao Mao, you've got it all wrong..." Ranran quickly explained how she had met Zhou Wang. "I was busy shopping with him and didn't have time to check my phone. By the time I remembered, it was too late!"
"So you two just met?" Brother Xiao Mao paused, then shook his head. "Never mind, that's not important. Let's go."
"Go where?"
"To apologize, of course!" Brother Xiao Mao scoffed. "Even though I got Qingqing to cover for you at the last minute, the client is still furious. You'd better come with me and apologize in person. That client has serious connections—we can't afford to offend them."
"Ah, but I already promised my brother I'd help him pick out his watch, and I think he's quite capable..."
"If he's buying an IWC, his family must be doing alright... but nothing too special."
Unlike Ranran, who knew next to nothing about watches, Brother Xiao Mao was quite knowledgeable about them. After all, most of his clients were watch enthusiasts, and he couldn't afford to be clueless.
He had his own set of criteria for judging watch brands.
The simplest method was to gauge a brand's status by the price range of its best-selling models.
While IWC claimed to rival Rolex, its top-selling watches hovered around 50,000 yuan. In contrast, Rolex's most popular models rarely retailed for less than 100,000 yuan—a clear disparity.
Even though Brother Xiao Mao himself wore a Longines worth just over 20,000 yuan, that didn't stop him from looking down on IWC from this perspective.
"I still don't think it's a good idea..."
"Forget it. You don't need to worry. I'll talk to him myself."
Noticing Ranran's reluctance, Brother Xiao Mao waved dismissively and strode into the store.