Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Master Dao milled a layer off the stone. Then he brought the stone off the machine and washed it. After running it through the water, he brought it out and his eyes lit up. “Wow, young man, some good luck you have!”
Li Du did not have to look to know the reason. He was truly in luck. That was a piece of pure jade.
There was not only jade in the stone. There was a layer of stone around the jade core. The layer of stone wrapped around a large piece of jade, just like how an eggshell covers the egg. It was one of the most superior stones that had ever been seen in that mill.
However, the stone was still considered very small. If it had been the size of a basketball, Li Du would be able to make a good profit out of it. A piece of jade like that could be sold for a few hundred thousand.
The revelation from the milling could cause a stone’s value to plunge, rise, or remain the same. That was a scary thing and the thrill of stone-gambling.
Godanwei, Xiao Liao and the other people watching rushed forward for a closer look. The people wore either an envious or a jealous look on their faces. They said, “It’s turning yellow, yes, turning yellow. Oh boy, this piece of stone is worth at least one hundred thousand!”
“Such good luck. This man is a newbie. He bought a good stone on his first try.”
“This is a bait. Didn’t you see what happened just now? A scammer must be stringing him along, so he offered him one good stone. Otherwise, how can they continue cheating him?”
Xiao Liao came over and said, “Congrats, man. The value of your stone has multiplied. It’s worth at least one hundred thousand now.”
Li Du said, “I bought it for one hundred thousand.”
Stunned, Xiao Liao said, “One hundred thousand for such a small thing? You are really rich!”
Li Du could not comprehend. “Why? Didn’t you just say it’s worth one hundred thousand?”
Xiao Liao said, “This stone is worth one hundred thousand now. That’s because it has turned yellow and the color of the jade is showing. It proves that there must be jade within. This indicates it is worth one hundred thousand. Otherwise, it would only be worth ten thousand!”
Li Du smiled. “Oh, I see. That’s not a problem. I’ve always enjoyed good luck.”
Master Dao asked, “How do we treat this next?”
Li Du replied, “Continue to mill it. See what happens after grinding off another layer.”
Master Dao said, “You really want to continue to mill it? I will tell you first that stone gambling is a risky thing. In a casino, there’s a saying that goes ‘stop once you reap’. Now you have some gains. If you decide to continue, things might become better. However, it could also be that you will lose everything. Then this stone will be worth nothing.”
Someone egged him on from the side, “Go on and gamble on it. I think this stone has a chance.”
“That’s right. The top of it looks good. There will be no issue at the bottom. There’s better stuff within.”
“Wow, bro, there are really many of us Chinese people here…”
Xiao Liao looked on with anticipation and said, “If it really changes in color, then you’re really in good luck.”
The color change indicated the presence of jade. Jade was beautiful and elegant thanks to its shade of green. Currently, the stone had been milled to a light yellow. That was a common color of Damakan jade.
The value of a yellow stone was much lower than of green stones. They were typically used to make Buddha statues and pendants. If the color of the stone turned green, its value would rise.
Li Du waved his hands. “Continue milling then. For now, we are happy to do so.”
The machine started again, and more sand from the stone came off. With the piercing jig-jig sounds from the machine, the surface of the stone was quickly polished.
“Oh dear, there’s nothing in the next layer. It’s going down, it’s going down…”
“D*mn it, idiot. How much has been shaved off now? Continue milling…”
“Hey, that’s nice. Continue, continue, it’s turning yellow again. This yellow, hmm, it doesn’t look right. It’s changing, changing color!”
A series of excited yelling rang out. Master Dao immediately brought down the stone from the machine and washed it. Then, when he brought out the stone again, it looked like a half-hatched egg. Half was in its original state and the other half was a revelation.
It was real jade, pale yellow on top and pale green in the middle.
Master Dao shone on it with a flashlight. The light shone clearly through the stone, unobstructed. The green glowed brightly and was mesmerizing.
Some of the people were getting excited. That stone was not big, but the yield could be extremely high. It was rare in Hpakant. Naturally, the crowd got excited seeing such high-quality material.
Xiao Liao wore a strange expression, a mixture of envy, jealousy, regret and something more troublesome. He mumbled, “Lu Da You is an idiot. He’s in bad luck. He’s suffered a huge loss now!”
Li Du asked, “How much is this stone worth now?”
“I’m offering 150,000, my friend. How about selling it to me?”
“Go to hell with your 150,000. Is that all you’re prepared to give? You might as well ask to have it for free. I’m offering 155,000!”
“Pfft, dudes, are you guys in a talk show? I will pay 200,000!”
Li Du shook his head and placed the stone in his bag. He said, “This is the first stone I bought in Hpakant. I won’t sell it for any sum. I will keep it. This is my lucky stone.”
He was indeed lucky. That stone found him. It was not like he had used the abilities of the little bug to discover it. The meaning of it was starkly different.
After all, it was only a small piece of high-quality material. Although the top of the stone was good, and it had a pleasant color, it was too small. That affected its value greatly. It would be worth at most slightly more than 200,000.
In Hpakant, one would often encounter stones with such value. A stone worth hundreds of thousand was nothing there. Only stones worth millions would be rare.
Hence, after Li Du bagged the stone, the crowd started to disperse.
However, that incident had become a hot topic. A scammer had used a stone to swindle a rookie and deceived him of one hundred thousand. In the end, that stone turned out to be worth twice as much.
Master Dao went back to drinking his tea. As he sipped, he laughed. “Lu Da You and Ma La Nian, these two old dogs. Haha, wait for them to regret this. F*ck their mother and grandmother!”
Xiao Liao stared at the remaining six stones and thought hard. “Master Dao, do you think these stones…”
Those six stones were larger than the one in Li Du’s hands. Even the smallest of them was twice the size of the one Li Du had. Altogether, they weighed around twenty kilograms. They weighed down the bag holding them.
Master Dao said to him, “Why, you want to do it? Those are your stones, you go ahead then, hmph!”
Hearing Master Dao’s cold laugh, Xiao Liao smiled sinisterly. “No, no, no, I’m not going to do it. Haha, I’ve sworn never to gamble on stones again. Otherwise, I will be cursed for the rest of my life!”
Li Du almost spat out the tea in his mouth. That dude was quite interesting. He dared to swear on anything.
Xiao Liao asked, “Master Dao, these stones are mine, right? I can do anything with them, right?”
Master Dao pushed the stones towards him and said, “That’s right. I suggest that you sell them to the jade shops outside. You could sell them for three or four hundred thousand.”
Xiao Liao said anxiously, “Didn’t you say they are worth millions?”
Master Dao rolled his eyes. “I guess I exaggerated a little. However, they are definitely worth five or six hundred thousand. These are of high quality. That piece in Brother Su’s hand is from the same source. There won’t be much difference between those stones.”
Xiao Liao said, “Then why would they only fetch three or four hundred thousand in the market?”
Master Dao said impatiently, “Is your brain working right? Those shops want to make profits. To them, offering three to four hundred thousand is already pretty high.”
Xiao Liao said, “That sounds too low.”
He kept his eyes on Li Du and said, “Brother Su, what do you think?”
Li Du laughed bitterly and said, “Brother Liao, it’s not too good for me to offer my opinion. After all, it involves money.”
Exp
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Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Listening to their conversation, a passerby laughed. “If you can sell it for three or four hundred thousand, then sell it. The shops might not buy those stones of yours. If you mill it, it would be better. As of now, they are all only stones. They have tons of stones in their shops. Why would they buy yours?”
Master Dao laughed and waved his hands. “Come over for a look, friend, and then tell us how much it’s worth.”
He pushed the stone forward and when the man looked at it, his face changed. “Wow, natural green?”
Natural Green Stones were a category of their own. That meant to say that one could see the shade of green from its exterior. Such stones would definitely have jade within. However, the top and bottom of the jade were hard to predict. Hence, the price of those stones could not be confirmed in advance.
In stone gambling, Natural Green Stones were the most popular and most expensive. That piece of stone weighed around two kilograms. It would be able to fetch a few hundred thousand.
Xiao Liao licked his lips and looked like he was struggling to make a decision.
In the end, he looked at Li Du with his fist clenched. “Brother Su, how about this? I won’t let the stone shops outside stand to profit. Four hundred thousand. All six stones. How about that?”
“Brother Su, the stone in your hand is from the same source as these. The Damakan source is famous in the entire Hpakant. Typically, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. They would at least be somewhat similar, wouldn’t they? Do you dare to give it a gamble?”
Li Du frowned and said, “Four hundred thousand for six stones?”
Xiao Liao said, “That’s right. Much cheaper than those you paid for just now, right? But I have a condition. If after milling the total value exceeds one million, you will have to split half of the excess with me. If it is less than one million, I don’t want another cent.”
Godanwei smiled coldly. “That’s a guaranteed gain. A good deal for you!”
Xiao Liao said forcefully, “Don’t say that I’m greedy. I think this is very fair. Otherwise, I will sell them to the shops, and that won’t be just four hundred thousand!”
Li Du folded his arms and thought about it. He said, “Let me do some calculations.”
After a while, his phone rang. Li Du picked up and said, “I can’t talk now. We’ll talk later.”
After hanging up, he thought about it again. Finally, he patted the table and said, “Alright, I will buy them for four hundred thousand.”
Xiao Liao looked ecstatic. Master Dao, too, smiled. He said, “Now at least you can recoup some of your loss.”
Li Du pulled out some US notes from his bag. After counting out six piles, he passed them to Xiao Liao and said, “Count them.”
Xiao Liao looked at his wallet and then said, “No need, no need. I can trust you, Brother Su, can’t I?”
Master Dao said, “In that case…”
Li Du said, “You help me to process them. I feel that today is my lucky day. There will be jade in these stones.”
Master Dao rubbed his hands and said, “All of them?”
Li Du picked the smallest one and passed it to him. “First start with this piece.”
Master Dao laughed to himself. “Today, I’ve become a professional miller. Young Su, let me tell you, my skills are quite valuable. In the future, if you want me to mill, you’ll have to pay.”
Li Du laughed. “Don’t worry. If the stones turn out green, I won’t forget about you.”
They brought the stones to the back of the place. A bunch of people followed in to take a look. Xiao Liao and Godanwei, too, squeezed in to watch.
The machine started working again and grit came off the stone. Master Dao wore a casual look on his face, but after he wiped off the surface of the stone, someone by the side shouted, “Hey, it’s turning yellow, it’s turning yellow again!”
Master Dao was stunned. He brought out the stone and washed it with water. Indeed, a piece of glowing yellow appeared.
As the top of the stone was revealed, the people watching nodded and called, “That’s possible, it is. The top of this stone can be worth at least one hundred thousand.”
Master Dao wanted to continue polishing it. However, Li Du pocketed it and brought out another piece of stone to pass to him. Li Du said, “No hurry, look at this first. I have a feeling that this piece is even better.”
Master Dao continued to grind. This time, much of the stone surface was removed. Almost half the stone was polished by now. However, this time around, the color that came out was even better. It was jade-green!
The onlookers held their breath. “This dude’s luck is too good. This stone would cost at least two to three hundred thousand!”
Li Du grinned and kept that stone. He said to Xiao Liao, “Brother, thank you.”
Xiao Liao looked at the piece of stone in his hand and then at Master Dao.
“All from Damakan. This little dude is in for a profit.”
“He bought it for four hundred thousand? Oh, don’t these stones add up to 1.4 million?”
“More than that. That piece just now is green. D*mn, if the bottom is the same color as the top, it can even fetch 2.4 million. That color is beautiful!”
Hearing the commotion, Xiao Liao gritted his teeth and held Li Du back. He said, “Brother Su, can I talk to you? Come over, please.”
“What’s up?”
Xiao Liao looked pleadingly at him, “Brother Su, you saw how the scammer took my money. Now I cannot even get half of it back. I can’t go back to face my parents and my fiance. Can you take pity me and resell those stones to me?”
“Resell them to you?” Li Du asked, surprised. “Didn’t you just sell them to me?”
Xiao Liao said, “Yes, yes. I sold them to you. However, I’m regretting it now. I want to buy them back.”
Li Du laughed coldly and was about to say something when Xiao Liao’s knees fell to the ground. As he groveled, he looked to be on the verge of crying. He said, “I know this is unethical. But Brother Su, I don’t have a choice. This is the only chance I have to turn things around. Otherwise, how can I go home? This money is what my parents worked for. It’s also money that they borrowed from their colleagues to help fund my wedding…”
Seeing that, Li Du immediately helped him up and said, “Get up first and we’ll talk.”
Xiao Liao said as tears welled up in his eyes, “Brother Su, if you don’t take pity on me, I won’t get up. I can’t go home empty-handed.”
Li Du’s face changed. He gritted his teeth and said, “How much will you pay for them? I definitely won’t accept four hundred thousand!”
“Six hundred thousand,” Xiao Liao said in anticipation. “I will offer six hundred thousand. Now I have five hundred thousand. I will go home for the remaining one hundred thousand. Then I will pay it all to you.”
Li Du frowned, “Six hundred thousand? Just these two stones are already worth six hundred thousand.”
Xiao Liao started to cry, “Brother, take pity on me, take pity on me. I beg you. Otherwise, my entire family is doomed.”
Master Dao walked over and said, “Brother Su. We are all from the same place. If you are keen to help Xiao Liao, I will help him too. I have two hundred thousand. I will lend the money to him. He will buy those stones for eight hundred thousand.”
Someone behind them heard their conversation and mocked them. “Ha, shameless. His stones are worth more than that. You guys want to get it all for eight hundred thousand?”
Li Du looked serious as he considered. Finally, he sighed and brought out the bag. He said, “Eight hundred thousand. After all, I made a profit too. Alright, I’ll just consider it as a good deed.”
Xiao Liao instantly looked happy. It seemed he was ready to bow and scrape before Li Du.
Li Du helped him up and Xiao Liao handed over the stacks of dollars he just received. Then, he passed Master Dao an ATM card. There was a bank in the small town. Master Dao returned soon, with a bag in his hand.
When the bag was opened, there were red RMB notes stacked neatly inside. Li Du checked that there was no problem with the money, and after taking the bag, he passed the stones over.
Just like that, they were all happy!
