Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
You’re such a high profile person and yet, when you’re in here, you only play with hundreds and thousands of yuan… People would laugh to death if they heard about this…
“Ah, it’s testing waters.” Hong Dali didn’t care at all. He was never concerned with matters about pride. “I’m here just to play casually.”
“Alright.” The more Hong Dali said this, the more curious Yang Chao was. This Hong Dali had always called himself a superprodigal who said that “Squandering is a skill.” He must have his reasons by doing so. He’d better learn from him properly today and see whether it was true.
Betting on stones was actually the same as gambling, which would result in losses most of the time. Though there were abundant untrimmed jade quarry stones here, it was already considered good to have a jade within one in ten ores. Thus, the more Yang Chao saw Hong Dali behaving like that, the more cautious he became.
Can squandering really be a skill? Yang Chao thought, and soon after, he recovered from his thoughts. “This stone-gambling scene has always spread optimistic news—we often hear people striking it rich overnight—but actually, the people who suffer losses are the vast majority. I have experienced it a great deal myself. Seems like Young Master Dali is indeed a genius among all prodigals!”
Meanwhile, what Hong Dali was thinking was: I can’t buy it big. Otherwise, if I really happen to be spot on in my betting, my little stick would be gone instantly!
With such a group of people entering the place, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
Truthfully speaking, those that could come here were all interested in stone-gambling. But such a spectacle of a huge group of people entering while surrounding a single person was something they truly had never seen before. Thus, everyone was curious about the identity of this young man who was obviously the leader. Of course, the shrewd ones had long ago recognized that this fellow was that famous superprodigal of Tianjing City, that person with exceeding luck. Thus, more and more people crowded around and, very soon, everyone was following Hong Dali. After which, they entered the cheapest studio in the way…
“It can’t be. That’s Hong Dali, the superprodigal, could he be planning to buy the cheapest untrimmed quarry stones?”
“By right, it’s impossible that he would spend so little in this. This is a little strange.”
“Stop going on and on about it, who isn’t jealous about that luck of his, there’ll definitely be a good show coming up today.”
“En, that’s right, we’ll just watch and see. Don’t talk useless nonsense.”
Hong Dali stared at the studio ahead of him. There were numerous jade ores displayed on the stalls, and they were all quarries the size of a fist. With a few hundred ores piled up, the scene was rather grand.
“Five hundred yuan for one piece?” Hong Dali pointed at the quarry inside. “Brother Yang, can we directly buy this thing?”
“Yes.” Yang Chao nodded. “It’s an open bid today, meaning that you can freely choose an untrimmed quarry stone that isn’t numbered, and bid for it openly. There’s still a closed bid, which is numbering the untrimmed jade quarry stones, and after the customers have seen them, they will fill in the bidding form, and lastly, when the quotation is opened, they will auction for it at once, and the highest bidder gets it. However, all the untrimmed quarry stones over here are of the lowest quality which nobody would normally bid for. Thus, they will directly put a price to it, and you can buy it directly if you want to and cut it open for fun.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” Hong Dali beamed with delight as he heard that. “I like this, I’ll use ten yuan to cut it open for fun first.”
“This…” Speaking of which, Yang Chao had idled around here for such a long time but never bought an untrimmed quarry stone of such quality. However, since he’d come here with Young Master Dali today, in order to learn the unique squandering skill, he went all out. “In that case, Young Master Dali, please cut it open first. A professional will record it down.”
After the people surrounding him heard that Hong Dali was going to cut open this crushed particle of almost no use at all, they were instantly astonished.
They were not stunned at the huge spending of Hong Dali, but instead, this amount spent was really…
Isn’t it embarrassing for someone of your status to play this low? How would others see it? How will you survive in the future in the literary and artistic industry?
Afterward, they came to understand what it meant by the moment to witness a miracle…
How was it possible that Hong Dali knew how to cut this thing open? He was only responsible for buying it.
Eventually, someone who was a professional at cutting stones came over to help. After Hong Dali casually asked his lackeys to bring tens of untrimmed quarry stones over as if he were buying fruits in the market, they started to cut the stones.
Pa! One cut. The first quarry stone… junk!
Yang Chao: “…” Su Yan: “…” Lao Deming: “…” The rest: “…”
Wasn’t Hong Dali known to have exceeding luck?! How could it be junk? This wasn’t logical!
Tang Muxin was unsurprised and completely unconcerned, on the other hand—she believed in Hong Dali’s luck and definitely did not have the slightest doubt about it. Thus, she grinned as she hugged Li Nianwei’s arm, softly smiled and said, “Sister Nianwei, seems like we’ll be gaining quite a lot today. Normally, the worse Hong Dali’s luck is at the start, the greater it’ll rebound later!”
The little lass still remembered how Hong Dali had dramatically turned the tables around during the family meeting…
By then, the professional cutting the stones had already started on the second stone. It was junk once again…
Yang Chao: “…” Su Yan: “…” Lao Deming: “…” The rest: “…”
The third piece, it was still junk…
“Yang Chao: “…” Su Yan: “…” Lao Deming: “…” The rest: “…”
When they’d reach the fourth piece, Yang Chao couldn’t stand it anymore and asked his mate in a low voice. “Young Master Dali’s luck shouldn’t be like that, I feel that he’s not much better than us…”
His mate thought for a while, then said with certainty, “What the heck, those untrimmed quarry stones definitely didn’t have any jade stones inside in the first place. Have you seen people getting jade stones out of the untrimmed quarry stones over here before?”
“En…” Yang Chao thought for a while, then nodded his head with absolute certainty. “This must be the case! I knew it, it’s impossible for Young Master Dali’s luck to be so bad. The stones here definitely don’t have any jade in them!”
As expected, the fifth, six, and seven pieces were all junks as well.
By then, even the stone cutter’s hands had started to tremble…
To speak the truth, this stone cutter had worked here for many years, and he’d cut at least nine to ten thousand untrimmed quarry stones. Most of it had turned out to be pieces of jades with mediocre quality. In stone-gambling, whatever was cut open was it, and nobody could blame it on him.
The problem was that this person that he served today was different. That was Young Master Dali, definitely the number one in the world of luck. If junk was produced at every cut, people would definitely suspect that this place was scamming people. Though he wouldn’t be implicated, that boss of his would definitely be beaten to death. Even if he was half dead after being beaten up, his boss might vent his anger on him…
As expected, the eighth, ninth, and tenth pieces were also junks. Just then, another person who was sweating profusely appeared beside the stone cutter. As expected, it was the boss of this studio who had rushed over upon hearing news about what was going on.
By then, ten pieces of quarries had been cut, and they were all junks. The crowd below had begun to make noise—
“Boss, are you sure that you’re doing it right? This is Young Master Dali, you should have heard of his luck before, right? If even he cannot extract the jades out, you owe us all an explanation, right? En?”
“That’s right. I say, boss, the untrimmed quarry stones here are indeed not expensive, but you can’t just use some random stones to trick people. Do you think we’re all fools that can just be played around like that?”
“If even Young Master Dali cannot extract jade from these untrimmed quarry stones, we don’t even need to think about it anymore. Quickly tell us what’s going on.”
The boss’ entire body was almost soaked with sweat. What he feared most was to anger the public. By then, once one person took the lead, he’d be beaten till he was half dead! Thus, he hurriedly explained. “Everyone, these untrimmed quarry stones of mine are really authentic, I’ll definitely not use junks to trick people! As for why these untrimmed quarry stones did not produce jades, I don’t know as well…”
What he said was akin to not saying anything at all. Everyone was instantly unhappy with him.
Fortunately, at this point, Hong Dali spoke. “Boss, give me 10 more pieces!”
Small ancestor, please don’t harm my business. Find another one, will you…
The boss almost cried. “Oh, Young Master Dali, I’m setting up my stalls here only to let people have a feel about how it works and practice their cutting skills. Your status doesn’t match mine. There, over there are pieces of stones all at 1000 yuan each! Go and take a look there!”
“Oh…” Hong Dali was about to turn his head around when the boss over there couldn’t stand it anymore. “What are you talking about? You’re planning to drag me into this, aren’t you? Why don’t we practice it between us?”
After all, the person who charged 1000 yuan per piece was more confident than the person who charged 500 yuan per piece. This boss who charged 500 yuan per piece instantly got scared and anxiously said with beads of perspiration on his head, “Then open mine, open mine!”
“Oh.” Hong Dali directly got another batch of stones. “Then, I’ll buy 20 pieces first.”
The boss almost got down on his knees…
The eleventh piece, junk. The twelfth piece, junk. The thirteenth piece, junk again…
By then, everyone around had gotten rather angry, and a few hot-tempered ones already wanted to come forward and beat someone up.
Speaking of which, these untrimmed quarry stones were not worth much. People could buy over 100 pieces without even batting an eyelid. The problem was that you couldn’t take a huge bunch of junks that couldn’t extract even one piece of jade to trick people, right?
The boss was on the verge of crying. “Young Master Dali, please take it easy…”
Hong Dali: “Oh, I’ll buy more, then. If there still isn’t a jade from this batch, then I’ll buy 50 more pieces.”
The boss froze. Anyway, he definitely did not become like that because he was too happy.
By then, there was an increasing commotion among the crowd, and the boss was close to hanging himself to death. Alas, the stone cutter suddenly shouted as if he’d gone insane. “It’s here! It’s here, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here!” Those that didn’t know what it was about would’ve thought that his wife was pregnant…
“What, what! Let me see, let me see!” Yang Chao was the first to rush forward, and he was stunned after taking only one look at it. “What the heck! It’s a hibiscus! A hibiscus!”
Fortunately, it wasn’t a lotus sister(a woman who had gotten famous on the internet)… Hong Dali strangely asked, “What’s a hibiscus?”
Yang Chao hurriedly explained. “The hibiscus type of jade is typically green, not yellowish at all. It’s very simple and elegant, and there isn’t an obvious edge of the fiber and particles. Though it isn’t very transparent, it’s mild and elegant, with a refined type of beauty. Just this piece alone is worth a lot!”
“What type…” Hong Dali was entirely unclear. “This type is very valuable?”
“Yes!” Yang Chao explained. “At present, there are 50 types of jade that are commonly found.
“The glass type of jade has the highest level of transparency, with the most luster. From the words alone, it’s as transparent as glass, and the glass types can be said to be own title of highest quality jade of all. Of course, there are many types of glass jades.
“The ice type, its transparency and luster are a little lacking compared to the glass type. As seen from its name, it’s as transparent as ice.
“Youqing, it refers to a darker green type. Its color is not purely green, it has a little grey or blue mixed within. Thus, it’s not bright enough, and the top grade sapphire costs over tens of thousands.
“Bingnuo, its texture is between transparent and non-transparent, just like fully cooked glutinous rice.
“Huaqing, it refers to the type which the green color is spread out in the shape of veins. Its color can be light green or other, and its texture can be rough or smooth.
“I won’t list out the rest of them.” Yang Chao smiled and said, “If we encounter more of them, I’ll explain them further to you.”
“Oh…” Hong Dali did not remember anything, and currently, he was holding the hibiscus jade that had just been extracted. “This thing is not bad…”
Of course, it was not bad. Just then, the System in his head had clearly displayed the attribute of this piece of hibiscus ore: “Agility+2”.
Needless to say, if this thing were to be made into jewelry, he would gain two more agility attribute points!
