1907 Section 1916 Pearl Industry

"Hehe, let this matter go, what business prodigy, Sir Sir, don’t praise me here. I still know too little about business matters. If I do business, I guess your property It’s better to be my prince.” Prince Yulin is very clear about his abilities. It’s better not to get involved in these things. Most of the royal children are In this way, they do not have their own shares in all business activities, and no one has participated in it. If they participate in it, their face may not be very good-looking, and it will give people a feeling that they are very greedy for money. Yes, this is absolutely impossible.

"That's right, after all, the prince is still a nobleman. It's fine to leave these things to us. By the way, the prince, this time we will encircle the Tuoba clan together. I am afraid that the Tuoba clan will not be so easy. Let it go. I think it’s better for us to prepare early.” Li Cong thought of another important issue, and he didn’t want to continue meeting with such a fool. He decided to finalize some things earlier. Okay, I went back early when I was done.

"Hehe, Sir Ferguson is really worried. Now who doesn’t know that their Tuoba clan is like a cross-street mouse. I know that their Tuoba clan was very powerful in the past, but it can only be in the past. Now they don’t have much abilities at all. I think what Tuoba Zhiqiu brought out this time should be half of their masters. Their Tuoba will not be so stupid to avenge a few dead people. Yes, if that’s the case, they might die faster. They won’t do things like that, and we don’t need to guard them much.” This guy doesn’t care about Tuoba’s revenge at all. He seemed to him that the Tuoba clan would definitely be frightened this time. How could they continue to send people to the city, unless they all wanted to die.

Since others have said that Li Cong, it is hard to say anything. Anyway, the next development plan has been finalized. All I have to do is let Dai Lin implement this plan properly.As for the Tuoba clan, you don't need to care, but Lao Tzu will definitely care. It is definitely not a coincidence that the Tuoba clan can exist for such a long time.

Li Cong said goodbye after a while, this Prince Yulin also has his own business, although I feel that Li Cong is a good person.But the first time I met the two people, the conversation didn't go too deep. When the two people felt it was time to go, Li Cong walked out in such a fair manner.This is not the Prince's Mansion, so there is no such long way.

After leaving the house, Li Cong was about to get on the carriage and think about whether he had missed anything. The steward of the Prince's Mansion sent an admission ticket. It is a pearl meeting held in this city today, and it is also in this world. Those who have their own pearls, it’s just that Li didn’t pay much attention to it before. Pearls in this world are similar to those on the earth. They don’t have much share of jewellery but they are also an indispensable thing. Suddenly Li Cong thought of something else. One thing, artificial breeding.Damn, all the people in this world should get some natural ones. Can they get a batch of artificially bred ones? Good deed, why didn’t I think of this a long time ago? Haha, your good days are here. .

"Go to this place. I want to see what is special about this pearl." Li Cong said with a smile.

"Master Cao, you can't underestimate this pearl club. The pearl is also one of the three noble decorations, and the pearl club in this county city can be said to be the most popular in the southern part of the Western Empire. Jewelers from all over the empire will come here to buy pearls, of course. It depends on your own eyes. If you choose mother-of-pearl but there are no pearls in it, you can only blame yourself for having no future. Of course If there are a lot of things in it, then I might develop myself. Although I have not been in contact with this industry, I have heard of it. There is a paradise and a hell in it. Many people get what they want here. Yes, but there are also many people who have lost their jobs here." Dai Lin said after he came up, he was a little wondering how Li Cong would be interested in this industry. If you know this is not the same as Li Cong’s airship. High-grade pearls may be profitable in the eyes of others, but in Li Cong's eyes, it is nothing. The most valuable pearl is only tens of millions of silver. What's the point?

"Really? This kind of thing is really fun. I think we can also try our luck. There are more women in the family. It seems that I will bring some good pearls home today." Li Cong Said jokingly, Dai Lin looked at Li Cong with some wonder, where did his boss come from so much confidence. If you were asked to find out the pearl, it is estimated that all those who lost money would have to jump off the building. Why? When people look at one, there is nothing, but when you look at one, they are all pearls?

The distance is not very far. It takes a few people to pass by in a carriage for more than ten minutes. You must know that there are people everywhere in the city at this time. The carriage is not very fast. If the whole line is unblocked, estimate It will be there in a few minutes.

"This is the Pearl Club. In fact, every city will have such a Pearl Club. There are so many people who have been doing this business. Every year, there are people who lose money and some who have made money. This The city’s pearls will be bigger, otherwise His Royal Highness won’t call you to see it.” After getting off the bus, Dai Lin explained. To be honest, Dai Lin didn’t know much about some of the things inside. , But after all, he knows more than Li Cong.

Li Cong raised his head and glanced. Not far away is a stone archway with the word Pearl Society written on it. The street area is not very large, but the people walking here don’t have the clothes of ordinary people. It can be seen that even the cheapest one has to be one hundred and ten taels of silver. Li Cong can see that these people should be businessmen. It is impossible for ordinary people to wear such expensive clothes. The silver is enough for them to eat for a while. Where can there be so much money to make clothes? This is absolutely impossible. It seems that this is still something of the upper class.

"Damn, today's success or failure is in one fell swoop, I will buy you three more fritillary. You just make a price, if there are no pearls, I will have nothing anyway, so I will jump into the city gate today. When Li Cong just wanted to go in, he saw a guy standing on the table beside him saying loudly. These words are the same as those who Li Cong said when he played jade on the earth. These people If you look carefully at this time one by one, you can see it.Their eyes are all red, and their entire lives are the next gamble.There is nothing else.

"Hehe, Jia Er, I think it’s better for your kid to be honest. This day is not that way. I have made it clear today that your luck is not good. You continue to drive. Are you looking for death? I am here. There are many Fritillaria, but we have been a good friend for more than ten years. I can’t ask you to continue to go bankrupt.” The guy who sold Fritillaria was trying to persuade this kid on the surface, but in fact, it’s pretty bad. Everything is ironic, this guy is just a smiling tiger.

"Less *** long-winded, you just ask for a price." The guy named Jia Er said, did not flinch at all, but this is not the time to be aggressive, if it is still that way.Sooner or later, I will lose everything.

"Okay, since you have said that, I can't just buy and sell. You can see clearly, my three Fritillaria are the top-notch East Sea Fritillaria. For each one, I want you 5000 tael. This Not much. If there are beads in it, you can earn ten times as much immediately, how about?" The seller smiled and grabbed three fritillaries and said, everyone around saw it, just follow this The seller said the same, these few should be from the East China Sea, these three can be said to be very good.The price of 5,000 taels of silver is not high. Even if you buy it and don’t open it, it may be much higher than this price after a while, but it seems that Jia Er won’t do that. He will definitely opened.

"Well, I have a silver ticket of 10,000 taels of silver here. I don't have that much silver. This is the ring I bought last year. When I bought it back, it was 8,000 taels of silver. How about your 5,000 taels of silver? "This Jia Er got a ring inlaid with gemstones from his hand and said, Li Cong shook his head helplessly. This guy was really convinced, so gambling.

"Haha, you said that, can I say no, these three mother-of-pearls are yours." The boss took the silver ticket and said to the ring. These three mother-of-pearls were collected from the East China Sea. The price is only less than 1,000 taels of silver. This is considered to be a lot of effort to ship over, but it will definitely not reach 5,000 taels of silver. This is a 200% profit. Your own profit rate can be No, I never open the mother-of-pearl casually. I don’t have that idea. He knows that he specializes in selling this thing. The Jia Er in front of him is betting on this. Of course, he is at most mixing a little rich. Yes, but if Jia Er can produce pearls, this is going to make a lot of money.

Just like what the boss said, as long as one of the three mother-of-pearls has real things, the price will definitely exceed 150,000 silver, which is also ten times the profit, as long as it is slightly better. It will be over 200,000.

"Damn, success or failure is in one fell swoop..." Jia Er's hands began to tremble, all his net worth, 400,000 taels of silver has been in these days, this guy was when he was It was a restaurant who opened a restaurant, that is, he had ten to twenty thousand silver, but this guy entered the industry the year before last. At that time, he bought some bad fritillary. Who knew his luck at that time It’s really good. In a very rubbish mother-of-pearl, he actually produced a very good thing. Since then, he has been out of control. In two years, he has hundreds of thousands of silver fortunes, but this is all Things happened a few days ago, and now I am about to become a pauper. Of course, I may also come back. Just like the boss said, as long as there is one in it, it will immediately cost hundreds of thousands of silver.

Things with no technical content depend on his own luck. "This kid has to go to the city gate tonight." Li Cong said with a smile and left. A hundred thousand gambling game against Dai Lin He doesn't care about it, but he has to finish watching it at this time, but Li Cong has already lifted his foot and left, and he can't watch it here as an attendant.

Dai Lin looked back three steps and wanted to see what happened to the place just now. After only a few steps out, the people around sighed. It seems that the first one was opened. It doesn’t seem like the sound. If there are good things in it, there should be nothing left.Then there is the second sound... the third sound...

"I said, Master Cao, how do you know that there is nothing in him?" Dai Lin said in an unbelievable way. If Li Cong could see the situation inside the mother-of-pearl, it would be a steal. Could it be that Li Congzhen can?

"Hehe, God told me. The secret is not to be revealed. These mother-of-pearls were all transported from the East China Sea?" Li Cong wandered around a few stalls without seeing any good products.Asked as he walked.

"Most of them are. Although there are pearls in the West Sea of ​​the Western Empire, there are no good pearls. The ones that are usually made are 100 taels of silver. These days, Dongzhu and Nan Pearls are more valuable. The Southern Empire and the Eastern Empire also make a lot of money every year. This thing is also a valuable thing over there. After being transported here, it is naturally a very valuable thing." Dai Lin I still know a little bit about this industry.Although it is not very detailed, it is very good to understand this level.

"I don't think there are any good things in the things here. By the way, isn't it that some good beads cost tens of millions of silver? Why didn't I see that kind of thing?" Li Cong said for a while. Although there are a few good beads along the way, the price is only hundreds of thousands of silver.Could it be that the pearls the size of a child's fist that I have heard before are all nonsense? No, there are still things like that on the earth, and there should be there too.

"My lord, can you find that kind of things on any street? If you want to buy those things, have you seen them? In the distant shops. It is estimated that there are one or two such things on the bottom of the box. Yes, but I don’t think they will sell these things. They all use the one to attract customers. If you really want to get one like that, you can only rely on your secret to find it yourself. "Dai Lin said irritably, putting thousands of dollars worth of things on the street, unless there was someone with a level eight fighter or above watching.Otherwise, I don’t know how many times you are stolen in a day. Since you said you have that ability, why don’t you try your ability outside.

"Hehe, don’t you believe me? Okay, I’ll bring you one." Li Cong smiled and entered a shop next to it. This is also a place specializing in selling mother-of-pearls, similar to those on the street. It’s not the same. The last thing they have here is also the best thing on the street just now. This mother-of-pearl also has a different place, just like the one in this house. The ones here are all blue and gray. It is more than 30 years old, and the chances of producing large pearls are much greater than those outside those in more than ten years. Although it is said that the longer the mother’s gestation time, the greater, but this is not absolute. Just like the artificial ones on the earth, it’s okay if the time is short. All kinds of things can be added. When the watermelon can ripen, everything can ripen.

"The bosses are really good-looking. They all came to me so late. They must know that I have new products here. I am different from other stores. I definitely have genuine things here. These The mother-of-pearls arrived this afternoon. All of them are from the South China Sea. All of them are more than 20 years old. I can’t guarantee that there are pearls in every one, but I can guarantee that if the pearls come out, they will be in them. These are inside." The shopkeeper is a second generation ancestor with a small beard. Looking at his beard, Li Cong naturally thinks of that very annoying race. Taijun Taijun is like this. Today I'll make you lose everything. Why would you make you look so different from those people? I feel upset.

Li Cong glanced at the mother-of-pearls that performed very well. There are a few of them with pearls, but the price of these is not low. Although they can earn twice as much after they are opened, it is not called that. Your flesh hurts. What is the difference from normal business? Li Cong looks at the cheap fritillary. It’s best to open such things. The boss also followed Li Cong’s eyes. In the past, it wouldn't be a problem. This grandfather's outfits were all worth trillions of dollars. How could he only look at the worthless things? This doesn't seem like this grandfather should do.

After wandering around for a whole circle, the cheapest ones are really nothing good. These mother-of-pearls have nothing in them. Even if there is, it is estimated that the pearls inside are not enough to buy mother-of-pearls. .

"Huh. I don't have the money to pretend to be anything. I think I should close the door as soon as possible, and save some people like this." The shopkeeper said nothing before the boss-like guy upstairs said. From above, he couldn't see exactly what the people below were wearing, the shopkeeper kept winking at his boss, who knew that the boss hadn't seen it at all.In his opinion, if even Fritillaria should be bought cheaply, these people are definitely not qualified to enjoy these pearls.

"Haha. I don't know anymore. You need to talk about whether I come in to buy things or not. Since you said that, I have to bring you some business here." Li Cong looked up. He glanced at the guy above and said, the boss took a closer look at Li Cong. This guy’s dress is a lot higher than his own. Why did he owe him so much just now? What did you say? Don't you have nothing to do when you are full

"Go out. Ask someone to come in, so I'm going to drive out all the mother-of-pearls here today." Li Cong turned around and said to several of his entourages, and they all understood that they would go out now. Pay your own price for this sentence, the shopkeeper first darkened his face, and immediately became happy when he heard Li Cong said that he was going to open all the mother-of-pearls here. There must be hundreds of them here. Of the fritillary.This is a few months' worth of goods. Is this young master going to open it?This happened in the past. Several wealthy elders confronted these mother-of-pearls. In the end, they opened hundreds of them, spent millions of dollars, and finally got back hundreds of thousands of them. silver.But this is not what they can manage. This bet on pearls is inherently a very risky thing. In the end, it depends on your own good fortune to lose or earn.

Many people outside have heard that someone wants to get all the mother-of-pearls out. It’s usually a good idea to get a dozen or so of them like that Jia Er. This kid wants to get them all out. Just leave this kid alone. Is it true? This is all to come and see.Even if you don’t finish looking at the fact that people are so rampant, it’s a long experience for yourself. This boss naturally likes so many people to come to his store, but now I see so many people coming in. Suddenly, the guy's heart suddenly popped up for no reason, as if things shouldn't be that simple, what do these people want to do?I should be very happy if I opened the mother-of-pearl, but how could I be so upset? What's wrong?I can't tell myself.

"Who, who, why is it so powerful? The mother-of-pearl here has millions of dollars. I guess tens of millions are possible. Whose family is that son, how can he be so rich? There is no way to do this if you are in support, right?" Everyone who came in saw Li Cong talking there. In their opinion, how could this kid be so powerful?

Li Cong can see that there are basically dozens of people in this house. Look at their appearance and the shopkeepers and bosses in the shops next door. Ha ha, you are not lucky if you get Lao Tzu today. You can just watch it carefully. Li Cong stood up and everyone around him gave him a way. From the beginning, Li picked fritillaries one by one. There were about four hundred in the house. , Li jumped out more than 30 from the front and back. Didn’t you have all of them, why are you picking them?Is it just blowing it, but even if it blows more than 30 at a time, it's pretty amazing, especially the boss just now, I regret it now, this *** is my main customer, myself. It’s been a long time since the store opened, and I haven’t met people who bought so many all at once. At the moment, my smiling faces are piled up vigorously. It may be because I didn’t speak very well just now. People’s smile on myself is No cold at all.

"Boss, come and see how much these thirty-six are. I'll pay in cash." Li Cong said, and the boss passed by quickly.

"Haha, this sir, there are 36 in total, 12 of the first-class, each is 000 taels, and the second-class 24, each is 13,000 taels, and the total is 55,000 taels. You give 55 Ten thousand dollars is enough.” The boss generously removed the remaining fraction. It looked very generous, but everyone knew that he was able to make money at once, especially the several bosses around. The envy in here, how come I haven't met such a customer before.

"Okay, this is 550,000 taels of silver. You can be optimistic about it. These mother-of-pearls are all mine, everyone, now I open all these mother-of-pearls in front of you, I can tell you all here Fritillaria all have pearls. If you believe me, I can sell it to you at double the price. If you don’t believe it, you don’t need it. Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that There are no pearls in the remaining mother-of-pearls. I hope you can remember that the savings will suffer in the future. From now on, is there anyone who wants to buy it?" Li Cong said with a smile. The boss was dumbfounded immediately. How could this guy talk like that, but he wasn't angry either. There were many lunatics here.There is everything, there are pearls in it?What is your kid doing in dreams?This is absolutely impossible. I have never seen anyone who can produce so many pearls at once. It is impossible.

The people around you look at me and I look at you. No one believes Li Cong's words, but the Jia Er who just claimed the compensation is a little tempted. Anyway, this guy has nothing.What's scary, I immediately stood out.

"Brother, I don’t have anything all over my body, but I still have this jade pendant. It’s made of the finest rice-zhi jade, and it’s worth a few silver. It’s okay to sell 15,000 taels of silver. This is My last possessions, and my own life, if there are no pearls, I will admit it myself, and I will be your slave in the future, how about?" Jia Er said very bachelor.Li Cong, who is a gambler, is also happy about this kid, but this kid has so much energy.

"Hehe, if I hadn't accepted such a condition before, but now nobody believes me except you. Okay, I'll just pick two for you." Li Cong said with a smile. The guy is really stupid and has a silly blessing. God destined this guy to be stunned today. Why did this guy bump into himself?

"Okay, I want these two." Jia Er pointed to the two largest mother-of-pearls and said. It is said that the pearls in these two should be the largest, but the actual situation is not like this. These two big mothers are next to each other. The two-and-a-half size ones have good pearls. It seems that this kid's fortune is still not home, but this is already very good.

"Then I opened it?" Jia Er handed Yupei to Li Cong, looked at Li Cong and said, seeing Li Cong nodded, this guy used a tool to open the mother-of-pearl, and everyone around him They all leaned their heads to see what was going on.

"My goodness, Jia Er, your kid has smoked from his ancestral grave today. This *** is second-class Nanzhu. I haven't seen such a good thing for a long time, and your kid has such a thing. Luck? Damn, I'm happy to say, how about 80,000 taels of silver, it belongs to me." A guy standing behind Jia Er said, he was the first to see.

"Fuck you, you are robbing money, Brother Jia, the price of this thing is just a shit price, there is no need to consider it, I will pay 150,000 taels of silver, how about it?" another guy said. He directly raised the price more than doubled, and the owner of this shop also stunned, shit, there are really pearls, but I don’t know if this is a coincidence or it’s the same as the kid said. Coincidentally, it's nothing, but if it's the same as what he said, the millions of goods in this place can be compensated here. This is a terrible thing.

"Don't make any noise, I haven't said that I want to sell this thing yet, I have to continue to open it, and I will say later." Jia Er said, everyone around suddenly thought that there is another one, Jia Er Lehe He smiled at Li Cong, and this opened another one. Good guy, this one is even more powerful. There are three pearls in this one. Although it is not as good as the one just now, but the number is large, no matter what In other words, this one is more valuable than that one. These two add up to hundreds of thousands of silver, but there is definitely something.

"Jia Er, I said that your hand is really a golden hand today. I'm convinced. Nothing like this in the past. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would not believe this if someone told me to kill it. , I opened my eyes, how? Let’s stop talking nonsense. These four pearls are all good. How about five hundred thousand taels of silver? I want them all.” A guy who hadn’t spoken said that the price was at its peak. If he took it back, he didn't make much profit. At most, he matched it with other pearls, and at most, he made a profit.This real profit is certainly not much.

"What Brother Wu said is true. I sold this thing. I won't sell it no matter what the price is paid by others. Just because of the words that Brother Wu advised me when I was driving outside, so did I. A person who knows the report." Jia Er smiled and handed the four pearls to the brother Wu. There are not many things like this. Most people will wait for a deal later.After all, there may be a higher price later, when it comes to Zhientubao.After Jia Er finished speaking, he knelt down to Li Cong immediately.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Li Cong said in a bit of surprise. It's his luck for this guy to drive out now, so he won't kneel down for himself. The two people's affairs were all just now. Finished.

"This master is kind to me. If it wasn't for what you told me just now, I would have nothing now. I am richer than when I was richest. This is what I am. You help me this time, in the future My life is yours. From now on, as long as the master has something to say, I will do everything for you when I go up to the sword and down to the sea of ​​fire." Unexpectedly, this kid is still a very righteous person. Li Cong smiled and nodded. Li Cong likes such a person absolutely.

"Okay, since this is the case. Everyone will be brothers from now on, Brother Jia, I think your hands are very prosperous today. Just help me open all the remaining mother-of-pearls." Li Cong said with a smile. There are more than thirty fritillary mothers, all of them have awakened from the joy just now.By the way, it was this guy just now. He said that all the things with pearls are here, and the rest are things without pearls. These are really life-threatening. The boss was thinking of everyone. If you are happy, you may forget the rest, but I didn't expect this guy's words to be brought back.I think I've planted home today, and it's no wonder why my mouth is so stinky, it's offending people.

"Thank you for looking at me, I will do this for you immediately." Jia Er said with a smile. There is also this saying in this line. For example, Jia Er Jiner opened two good ones, which is absolutely He is a lucky person. Such a person is lucky. Basically, he asks others to open a red envelope like this, but Li never understands this. Jia Er will not care about that with Li Cong. With a red envelope of a thousand taels of silver, his net worth of hundreds of thousands has returned, and he has earned more than 100,000. This is what they have given him.

The people in this room can no longer be squeezed, and the number of people outside is constantly increasing. The more people there are, the more ugly the expressions on the faces of the boss and shopkeeper will be. If this spreads, it is estimated that their goods will be lost. It’s a small one. Although a few million dollars is a lot, it is estimated that no one will come here in the future. This is a superstition problem. Everyone feels that if a family produces pearls, every one will come out. This If you don't come out, you won't come here, the boss's business is over here, and the boss is absolutely pale when he thinks of this.

Li Cong smiled and looked at the boss. If you hadn't talked so much just now, it wouldn't be like this now. The next thing will be normal. All the dozens of mother-of-pearls left have been opened. There are pearls. Although there are no expensive goods, they are all similar to the ones Jia Er opened. Dai Lin made a rough estimate. Damn, if the remaining pearls are sold, at least There are more than 10 million taels of silver, and Li has used hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to double it up twenty times. The speed of making money is really surprising. At the beginning, Dai Lin felt that this was a small business, but Soon he knew that Li Cong had such an ability, and he would still grab money quickly.

It was useless for Li Cong to ask for these pearls. He sold all these pearls at the moment. When he went out, the boss’s expression was terribly ugly. The boss knew that because of his words, his family was not worthy Now, these people will never come to buy fritillary from themselves in the future. I have to close the door as soon as possible. Jia Er has also become Li Cong’s entourage. This guy usually looks carefree, but the key is I still know how to do things, and I must follow Li Cong. Li Cong smiles and accepts such people. Anyway, he lacks such a person who understands pearls.

"Boss, to be honest, I have seen a lot of people who get rich by this act, but there is absolutely no one at your level. The most powerful businessman in history can only make a few million dollars at a time. Of course, these are all It’s exposed. I don’t know what those who hide and drive themselves are like. They may be better than the boss, but even so, I think the boss’s deeds can be spread for a long time in this business. Time is up." Jia Er said after getting on the carriage. He can't calm his hands now. There was no such tremor at the beginning. I didn’t expect that I would have such a tremor when things were over. What happened just now will definitely become The most glorious thing in my life.

"Hehe, this is just luck. By the way, Jia Er, can you tell me in detail what's going on here? For example, how much demand does the pearl industry have every year, and how many people are engaged in this industry. What is the profit here." Li Cong said with a smile. Dai Lin knows a little bit about this industry, but this guy is not an industry insider. The person in front of him is a real insider. He should do most of the things. I know.

"Boss, there are still many people in the pearl industry. Pearl is also one of the three major jewellery. The pearl industry has existed since ancient times, and it has been tens of thousands of years now. Industry At present, there must be at least billions of people working in this industry in the entire continent, and the annual demand must be several trillions of silver. Of course, all I know are some ordinary aspects. For a high-grade pearl, I can’t even see it. I haven’t seen it before. Some of those high-grade pearls have a price of tens of billions of silver. For example, the mother-of-pearl beads in the Western Imperial Palace are said to be a large one and a small one. The emperor used the price of 100 million silver from A jewellery merchant bought it. The volume is said to be larger than the height of a person. The whole body is white, and there is no magazine at all. Such a trillion can be said to be the highest product in our industry. "Jia Er said with a smile.In fact, everything in this palace is also legendary, and no one has seen it before. Of course, some high-level officials will know, but it will definitely not be at the level of Jia Er.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation...)