Chapter Fourteen: Value

“Boss, how about three thousand for these four rough jade stones?” Yang Qi looked toward the middle-aged man and spoke.

He didn’t have much money on him, so naturally, he wanted to save wherever possible.

The middle-aged man glanced at Yang Qi, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Are you sure you want them?”

Yang Qi had been selecting for over half an hour. During that time, the man had observed him several times. At first, he thought Yang Qi knew something about jade gambling, but seeing him hold the rough stones for less than ten seconds each, he realized Yang Qi was clueless. Yet, surprisingly, Yang Qi still decided to buy all four rough stones.

“Well, the price isn’t expensive. It’s fine to buy them just for fun, right?” Yang Qi smiled.

The middle-aged man was taken aback by Yang Qi’s casual attitude and couldn’t help but say, “Like I said, don’t blame me if you lose money!”

“Since it’s gambling on jade, there will be wins and losses. If I lose, it’s only because I don’t have the luck,” Yang Qi said calmly. He was buying the rough stones primarily for the vitality energy within, not particularly concerned about the jade’s value inside.

“Alright, three thousand it is,” the man nodded.

“Um… can I pay by card? I don’t have that much cash on me,” Yang Qi said awkwardly. Three thousand in cash wasn’t much in today’s world, but he simply didn’t have it on hand.

“That’s fine,” the man nodded.

After swiping the card, the four fist-sized rough stones became Yang Qi’s.

When Yang Qi casually hugged the four stones and prepared to leave, the man was surprised and quickly said, “Young man, our shop offers free jade cutting.”

“Oh, that’s great! Let’s cut them here then,” Yang Qi nodded. He had initially planned to absorb the vitality energy directly from the rough stones, but the man’s words reminded him that absorbing energy through the outer stone layer was slow. Once cut open, absorption would be much easier—just like with that Guanyin pendant, from which he absorbed all the vitality in the blink of an eye.

“How would you like them cut?” the man asked.

Though he had long seen through Yang Qi’s ignorance about jade gambling, the stones were now his. The man had to ask first—if the cutting went wrong, he couldn’t be held responsible. In the jade business, he had met many like this: owners who gave free rein to cutters, then refused responsibility when the stones were ruined.

Unaware of the man’s thoughts, Yang Qi picked up one stone and sensed the vitality’s intensity and depth within. Then, with chalk, he drew several lines on its surface.

The middle-aged man looked at the intersecting chalk lines, which outlined an area about the size of a fist. He sighed but warned, “Are you sure you want to cut this way?”

Cutting jade isn’t done like this. These are all gamble rough stones; no one knows if there’s jade inside or how large it might be. Usually, you start by cutting off a small piece from the outer layer and wiping it clean to check for green. If none is found, you keep cutting. But Yang Qi’s lines meant cutting away about a third of the stone right from the start. If there was jade inside, it might be cut in half. If the jade was large, it might be okay, but if small, its value would plummet.

“I’ll cut it like this,” Yang Qi nodded. If not for worrying that the vibrations from cutting might damage the vitality-containing part, he would have drawn the lines even deeper. He was confident in his ability to sense and manipulate his internal energy.

The man shook his head but, since the stones belonged to Yang Qi, he had no choice but to proceed as instructed.

“Clang!”

A third of the rough stone was sliced off.

The man rinsed the cut section with water, and a translucent green shimmer appeared before his eyes.

“This… green?” The man stared dumbfounded at the cut, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

“Young man, do you want to keep cutting? This stone could easily sell for twenty or thirty thousand,” the man said, glancing at Yang Qi.

“Twenty or thirty thousand?” Yang Qi was stunned. A stone he bought for seven hundred and fifty had just increased in value more than thirtyfold—it was insane!

“Keep cutting, until it’s fully revealed!” Yang Qi quickly regained his composure. He had absorbed the vitality, and the jade was still intact. He could sell it later. Others didn’t know the stone’s true nature, but he did. The vitality-filled area was about the size of a fist, meaning the jade inside was at least that big. Even just the bit of green exposed was worth twenty or thirty thousand; fully revealed, it would be worth far more.

The man shook his head. Although he wanted to continue cutting, memories from half a year ago darkened his expression. If it weren’t for that incident, his jade shop wouldn’t be so deserted. These rough stones had been gathering dust for six months. Even selling them close to cost, no one was interested.

But since Yang Qi was the owner now, the man could only follow his wishes.

“Another patch of green!”

Cutting along the chalk lines again, another section revealed green.

“This…” The man’s expression shifted slightly. He might have dismissed the first line as luck, but both cuts were just a hair’s breadth from the green? Could that still be luck?

At that moment, the man began to doubt his own eyes. Yang Qi must be a jade gambling expert playing dumb! But after some thought, he shook his head. Yang Qi was only in his early twenties. Even veterans with over a decade of experience couldn’t confidently cut with such precision. Only luck could explain this. In this world, with billions playing the lottery, luck was unpredictable.

Half an hour later, the rough stones were fully cut open. In the man’s hands was a fist-sized piece of translucent green jade, even larger and clearer than the one a suited man had previously revealed. It was rich in water content and clearly higher quality.

“Icy type, high-grade icy yellow-green! Young man, you have great luck!” the man exclaimed excitedly.

“One million! I offer one million!” At that moment, a voice from the crowd snapped everyone back to reality.

“A million? I’ll give one point two million!” A portly middle-aged man scoffed.

“One point five million!” Another voice quickly responded from the crowd.

One point five million?

Yang Qi swallowed hard. Usually, he would hesitate even to spend a hundred and fifty yuan, yet now he could easily become a millionaire?

“One point five five million!”

“One point six million!”

After a moment, the jade’s price surged to one point six million. Then, the crowd fell silent, clearly considering that the value was about right. Going higher would yield minimal profit.