Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The King had a small warehouse in Huika where he kept some stones.
The warehouse was small but because the mining activity in the field was very rampant, every inch of land was quite precious and expensive. Most of the residential areas were mines that had been filled and the houses of the miners were also on such filled land.
However, that warehouse was not in another place. It was in an empty space near the border of the residential area. No mining activity took place beneath the ground. Being able to construct a building in such a place showed how capable its owner was.
Li Du knew that it must be part of the Old King’s inheritance. Based on the capabilities of the current King of Hpakant, it would be strange if he could even afford a building like that.
Tulsi brought some men and organized the stones that were already inside, heaping them at a corner. Then he brought in the new marked stones into the warehouse. Very soon, there was a pile of them in there.
They had already spent billions of capital money. While they did not buy famous or popular stones, with that price they were able to buy many good pieces.
Back at the market, Li Du randomly found a place to settle down. Very quickly, a businessman came over with his stones. He said, “Friend, check out these stones of mine…”
Li Du spent a lot of money quickly. With just a glance at the stones, he would either make the purchase or reject it. Hence, he spent the fund at a rapid speed. The stones flowed back into the warehouse like a tidal wave.
At some distance away, the King wore a dark look. He was practically bleeding inside. They were spending his money!
The way Li Du was acting did not convince anyone that he was gambling on the stones. He just looked like a silly man spending frivolously. It was especially obvious when some dealers had some low-quality stones, those that in no way would be valued higher after being cut, and Li Du still bought them.
That way, Li Du had seen pretty much all the stones in the market already. By then, he had already thrown out more than two billion.
Da Mao was so agitated that his face had turned red. He said softly, “D*mn, boss, you are really something. Do you know how much money we’ve spent today?”
Li Du waved his hand. “Just keep quiet.”
Seeing that Li Du was not interested in talking more, Da Mao changed the topic. He was now in a state of excitement and was dying to chat. Previously, he had been focused on his act as a deaf-mute. To a hugely chatty person like him, it was too difficult to bear.
“It’s most comfortable to be purchasing stones in Huika. We can just sit down here and people will send us their stones to view. How awesome is this! This wouldn’t happen in Ruili. It’s too exhausting there. You’d be panting from walking through the market. And even then, you might not spot good quality stones!”
As he spoke, he looked at Li Du, waiting for him to reply.
Li Du rolled his eyes. He asked, “Why wouldn’t I be able to see good quality stones?”
When he opened his mouth to speak, Da Mao perked up. “Why? Because they are cocky. In Ruili, those who have stalls enjoy a higher status. After you are done viewing the stones, they would not tell you the price and might even give you a blank face! Here, you don’t have to move an inch and you get to view the stones clearly and discuss the price. How awesome is this?”
Li Du had never visited the jade market in China. However, he would eventually come across it. After all, there was now a lot of jade in his possession. Hence, after hearing Da Mao’s words, he started to grow interested.
“Between Ruili and here, how much is the difference in pricing?”
Da Mao pointed his left hand to the sky and right hand to the ground. He said dramatically, “The difference is this big. It’s bigger than the difference between the sky and the earth! Even if slight milling revealed some green and water, the price would escalate in Ruili!”
The two of them were still chatting while the King was growing impatient with the wait. He came over and said, “Hey, Mr. Mao, aren’t you a deaf-mute?”
Da Mao flinched and resumed his act as a deaf-mute.
Li Du helped him to get past that and said with a solemn expression, “Do you know of an illness called Psychologically Uncontrollable Vocal Cord Damage Epilepsy? Mr. Mao has just that illness.”
The King lowered his shades and said, “What?”
Li Du repeated, “Psychologically Uncontrollable Vocal Cord Damage Epilepsy. It is a sort of epilepsy that acts up when people are nervous. You know about epilepsy, right? Patients with such an illness will have seizures when they get nervous. The symptom is an inability to control their vocal cords.”
Da Mao nodded vigorously and gestured, “Ahh baa, ahh baa!”
Li Du continued, “Basically, this is a sort of chronic neuropsychiatric disease rendering people mute. It is very rare. It is the reason why Mr. Mao never came to this place before although he has great talent in analyzing jade ore quality.”
The King waved a hand and said, “I don’t care about all this. D*mn, you guys can say what you like. All I want is to make money! What are you guys doing here? Why aren’t you working?”
Li Du said, “There’s no more cash.”
The King looked at him fiercely, nose flaring. “No more cash? D*mn! Didn’t I just fork out fifty million?”
Li Du said, “That’s right. But don’t you have an idea of what that amount of money can buy? Go check out the warehouse, see how many more new stones we have.”
Tulsi walked over and mumbled, “Indeed, there are a lot more, but I’m not sure about the value of those stones…”
“But if you guys want us to continue working and picking the stones, no problem, fork out some more money then,” Li Du interrupted Tulsi.
Hearing that, the King almost exploded with anger. He said furiously, “No more money! Cut the d*mned stones first. Dude, you’d better be praying that the value of the stones will increase after being cut. Otherwise, you will regret being born!”
He turned and walked towards the warehouse angrily.
Da Mao looked at Li Du, worried. Li Du shrugged.”Let’s go, it’s time to unveil the mystery.”
There was almost two billion dollars’ worth of stones in the warehouse. The effect of such an amount was visible. The stones that had been cut were placed deeper in the warehouse. The stones that were near the door were the raw stones; hence, they would have to start the cutting from them.
The King was indeed well-connected there. After a phone call from him, the field area sent over a milling machine and a blade master to help them cut the stones.
That day, Li Du’s group was the talk of the entire field area. Many people paid attention to them. Seeing that they were about to start with the milling, a crowd started to gather to watch.
“Hey, there are so many stones here. Did the field area provide specialized service for them?”
“This is the King, buddy. It’s quite interesting. The King and a deaf-mute teaming up to gamble on the stones, haha.”
“What are you guys laughing about? What’s so funny?”
“Are you a newbie or an outsider? You’ve never heard of these two famous guys? Watch and see, they are both very lucky. I want to see what these two have gotten now that they’ve teamed up…”
The milling began with a piece of long raw stone. The knife master first made a cut and started to mill. The moment he started, the piece of stone broke.
The King’s and Tulsi’s faces instantly darkened.
The master picked up another raw stone and started to cut. It broke too!
The next few raw stones, too, broke when they were cut. The King looked livid.
There were more than two hundred raw stones and the pricing had been low. Li Du had bought a lot of them and they were all piled up like a small mountain.
The knife master continued his work busily and started to perspire profusely. He cut and threw out one raw stone after another. Altogether, he had cut more than one hundred stones and none had any value!
The King was seething. However, Li Du waved his hand calmly and said, “Don’t worry, there are still so many stones. Calm down.”
The King felt wretched and knew that he had been cheated. He forced himself to smile and pointed at Li Du. “Alright, I will wait and see.”
