Chapter 146: Money is the hardest thing to keep

Dense, tiny speckles—a bit repulsive. Anyone with trypophobia would probably feel like vomiting on the spot.

Yet this phenomenon is extremely common in the realm of jade gambling.

Black moss!

Right at this moment...

"Damn it! How about the two of us split it 50-50, each putting up half the cash!"

Old Lin could no longer resist Old Tang's instigation and finally blurted it out.

Old Tang smiled.

That was quite a slick remark.

Sui Yi let out a breath. This rough stone must absolutely not be purchased by Old Tang and his companion!

Otherwise, losing money would just be a laughing matter, but losing face in this jade gambling competition would be a disaster!

However, Old Tang and Old Lin were already negotiating with the vendor, seemingly intent on sealing the deal—

They were merely indulging in their habitual haggling to lower the price.

Sui Yi furrowed her brows. Yu Quan, who stood nearby and was adept at reading facial expressions, walked over to her side and asked in a low voice, "Lass, you don't think much of it?"

Hmm? Of course, Sui Yi couldn't say she didn't just disapprove of it, but had actually seen right through it. She lowered her gaze and said calmly, "It doesn't feel quite right. Somehow, the price feels way too high."

This explanation didn't arouse Yu Quan's suspicion. He curled his lips and said, "It's already been half-cut, and given that quality, the price is somewhat justified, though admittedly steep."

Clearly, that was what he thought as well.

Just as he said this, Sui Yi's eyes suddenly flickered as she watched a group of people walking over...

"Oh, Old Tang, you're here too. What a coincidence!"

Li Yuan walked up, accompanied by that sharp-faced urban consultant. Although a smile hung on his face, Sui Yi and the others could all sense the ill intentions emanating from him.

Sure enough, the moment they crossed paths, Li Yuan patted the five-million jade rough and said, "You guys also think this piece of material is decent? It seems your view coincides with that of our company's jade consultant, Elder Zheng!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Mingbiao cast a disdainful glance at Old Tang and the others, saying coolly, "I had my eye on this rough piece long ago. I found its quality and the trajectory of its mist to be exceptional. I didn't expect Old Tang and his friend also wanted to buy it. What a coincidence!"

His words strongly implied that Old Tang and the others were merely following his lead.

Being shrewd veterans, Old Tang and Old Lin immediately caught the implication. Enraged, they sneered, "Who is copying whom remains to be seen. Heh..."

Li Yuan smiled at this. "Heh, why ruin the harmony? This rough piece is priced at five million; the highest bidder wins. What do you say, boss?"

Actually, had this been the official bidding convention, bidding like this on half-cut rough stones with set prices would not be allowed, as the principle of first-come,-first-served applied. However, this was not the official convention, and the rules were not so rigid. Moreover, the coincidence was that Old Tang and Old Lin had not yet finalized their intent to buy, but were still haggling over the price.

This gave the stall owner room to maneuver, and he smiled, saying, "This gentleman makes a fair point... In business, naturally, we sell to whoever offers the higher price."

It was the naked, mercenary language of a businessman.

Old Tang frowned upon hearing this. Five million was already higher than what they deemed reasonable, and if the other party was going to outbid them...

"The two of you aren't particularly skilled at jade gambling anyway; you'd better not waste your money... Leave it to our company to purchase," Li Yuan laughed heartily, his tone reeking of contempt for the two elders.

"Hoh, I wonder what price Manager Li intends to offer?"

Provoked to anger, Old Tang and Old Lin decided to dig their heels in...

"Five million three hundred thousand." Li Yuan refrained from raising the price too steeply all at once for fear of unnecessary loss; thirty thousand would serve to suppress the opponents.

"Hoh, five million three hundred thousand! We bid five million five hundred thousand!" Old Tang bellowed. Hearing the shout, nearby onlookers drifted over.

After figuring out the situation, they began watching the spectacle with amused chatter.

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes and looked at Elder Zheng, who gave a slight nod.

This meant the purchase was viable.

Clearly, Elder Zheng held a favorable view of this rough stone.

Reassured, Li Yuan smiled and said, "Five million eight hundred thousand... If the two of you are really keen, feel free to raise it to six million!"

Six million... Damn it, the price had just jumped by a full million!

No one's money grew on trees!

Dense, tiny speckles—a bit repulsive...

(Part 1 of 3)

(Part 2 of 3)

Yet... both Old Tang and Old Lin had just noticed Elder Zheng's expression, which clearly indicated that the potential of this rough stone was exceptionally high, or Li Yuan would never have been so lavish.

Consequently, after weighing the pros and cons and caught in a fit of pride, Old Tang and Old Lin were even less likely to back down.

They were just about to continue bidding.

"Old Tang, I had my eye on a rough piece earlier, but I'm a bit short on cash. Could you lend me some first?"

Sui Yi's soft, unprompted remark cut right in. Old Tang was stunned; any stubborn pride instantly paled in comparison to his disciple's urgent need.

Old Tang immediately turned around and asked, "How much? I'll transfer it to you right now!"

"Not much," Sui Yi said, her slender eyebrows arching slightly, "just five million."

Uh... Old Tang's expression contorted.

Gosh, five million?

That much?!

Everyone was startled.

The young lady had quite an audacious tone!

Old Lin was also baffled. Which rough stone had caught Sui Yi's eye that she suddenly needed so much money?!

However, interrupted by Sui Yi, Old Tang and Old Lin lost the appetite to bicker with Li Yuan. Besides, since Old Lin was an outsider, taking the chance to step down was inevitable.

As for Old Tang, he wasn't particularly eager to spend such a massive sum of money either, and coupled with Sui Yi's urgent need...

An exit had presented itself.

Thus, Old Tang waved his hand, "Never mind. Since you're short on cash, lead me over to take a look. If it's suitable, I'll pay for it for you."

Sui Yi nodded, "Alright."

Pausing for a moment, she glanced at Li Yuan and his companions on the opposite side, curled the corner of her lips, and turned to leave. Old Tang followed close behind...

Not far away, Ah A witnessed this scene and alerted Lin Chuxiao. The two of them followed closely behind.

Li Run and his group had seen it all clearly and curled their lips in mockery, muttering, "Cowards, poor losers!"

Four words popped out of Li Run's mouth, immediately echoed by Zhou然 and the others nearby.

In fact, Zhou然 felt even happier than Li Run at that moment, because he had finally found someone capable of keeping these wealthy old men in check.

The Li family was indeed immensely powerful!

It was imperative to cling tightly to this mighty tree...

The mere thought of how he had boasted about his job and salary to his former classmates a few days ago, and the look in their eyes then...

Zhou然 smiled.

————

"Hey, Sui Yi, which piece did you have your eye on?" Old Tang asked, unable to contain his curiosity after walking with Sui Yi for a good while.

Actually, as she walked, Sui Yi had been spreading out her magnetic perception to search for nearby rough stones with stronger magnetic fields. Unfortunately, the quality of the raw stones here was generally poor, and after walking for a while, she hadn't found any containing jadeite.

Sui Yi wasn't anxious, though. When Old Tang asked, she smiled faintly, "Well... I seem to have forgotten the exact spot. I just remember it's around here."

Hearing this, Old Tang stopped in his tracks and looked suspiciously at Sui Yi, "You lass... don't try to pull a fast one on me. Tell me honestly, were you doing that on purpose earlier just to stop me from buying that rough stone?"

In truth, observing Sui Yi's expression earlier, he had a hunch that she didn't think much of it, even if she hadn't shown it overtly.

And if it was enough to make her stop him like that, she must have thought very poorly of it indeed.

Realizing that Old Tang was quite crafty, Sui Yi tilted her head and smiled, "Old Tang is overthinking it. I..."

Her voice trailed off. Looking at the rough stone right by Old Tang's foot, she narrowed her eyes.

What was that just now...

The magnetic energy seemed extremely intense.

"Found it." Sui Yi paused her steps, walked right up to Old Tang's side, squatted down, and pointed at a rough stone about the size of two watermelons resting beside him.

Huh, there really is one? It wasn't just an excuse?

(Part 2 of 3)

(Part 3 of 3)

Old Tang looked down skeptically at the bumpy, gray, dull-looking stone on the ground and pursed his lips, "This thing looks like a rock from an outhouse. Are you sure this is it? Hey, isn't this priced at fifty thousand?!"

Fifty thousand versus five million!

Old Tang's facial expression twisted.

Sui Yi raised an eyebrow slightly, "Well, I suppose I must have misremembered or misidentified it earlier... No matter, it's this one. It's not expensive anyway, is it?"

Fifty thousand was indeed not expensive.

However... Old Tang looked at Sui Yi, "Are you sure you want to buy it?"

He calculated Sui Yi's current net worth. Even with frugal spending, she probably only had around two million at most right now.

Was she really willing to gamble a quarter of her assets on this?

Buy it or not?

Sui Yi's palm gently stroked the rough stone.

Through two centimeters of stone skin lay a vast expanse of green.

The color was so pure and vivid that it struck her as breathtaking.

It looked like a pool of concentrated green water.

Comparing it to the prices of jadeite she had sold previously, she estimated this piece was worth at least three to four million.

No loss—a massive profit!

Sui Yi stood up, summoned the stall owner, and whispered softly to Old Tang, "Has Old Tang ever heard a saying?"

"What saying?"

"The hardest thing to hold onto in this world isn't people's hearts, but RMB."

Pfft!

Caught off guard by Sui Yi's rare joke, Old Tang couldn't help but laugh. He didn't try to stop her either, patting his thighs as he stood up, "Fine, I know you won't let yourself suffer a loss... I might as well buy a stone myself to have something to show for the trip. As you said, RMB is impossible to keep!"

Sui Yi smiled, "Old Tang can just use my piece to report back; why bother wasting more money?"

"No, what's yours is yours..."

Old Tang waved his hand and stepped into the stall area where Sui Yi was. The vendor had already hurried over and, seeing that Sui Yi was ready to buy, beamed with joy. The transaction was completed swiftly. On the way back, Sui Yi walked beside Old Tang, inspecting the other rough stones...

"Sui Yi, which of these do you think is good?" Old Tang patted three rough stones next to him, all similarly priced at around one million each.

By then, Sui Yi had squatted down, touching each stone and contemplating carefully before pointing to the first one on the left.

"This one."

"Good! No wonder you kept eyeing this piece earlier. Actually, I had my eye on it too! Since we both like it, let's buy it!"

Old Tang smiled.

Sui Yi smiled as well.

She had already inspected these rough stones earlier. Out of a hundred or so pieces, apart from the exceptionally good one she had chosen for herself, only this one—which contained a palm-sized piece of vibrant blue-water jade—was decent.

The size was also respectable, roughly the size of a honeydew melon.

She figured it wouldn't lose a million; at the very least, having jadeite inside meant they wouldn't lose too miserably.

She had simply put on a show to entice Old Tang into making the purchase.

——————

Just as Old Tang finished his transaction, Li Jingyan came over briskly to find them. "Old Boss Tang, Miss Sui, Manager Li and his group, along with Boss Yu and the others, have all moved ahead. They asked me to come find you two... I've already told Ah A and the others to head over." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian to vote for recommendation tickets or monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.read.)

(Part 3 of 3)