The night market in Dongtai was as lively as ever. Qi Yu was attracted by a group of people gathered in the corner. She hooked her finger at Fang Zhicheng, then jumped over to watch the fun.
Sitting in the middle was a bald old man with white beard, and in front of him were many strange-shaped stones.
Qi Yu whispered to Fang Zhicheng: "They are gambling on stones!"
Fang Zhicheng had heard of gambling on stones and was a little disdainful of it, after all, it was not a serious business. But seeing that Qi Yu was very excited, he patiently watched on.
The old man stroked his beard and said, "This is the raw material I have spent my entire life collecting. My family ran into trouble, so I took it all out today. One hundred yuan per pound. If anyone wants it, take it all."
Many people on the road were just there to watch the fun, and many of them couldn't see the bright hall. Qi Yu pointed at one of the stones and asked, "Uncle, how much is this stone?"
The old man nodded, with a look of arrogance on his face, and said, "Little girl, you have a good eye. The other stones are sold at one hundred yuan per catty, but if you want to take this one, you must pay twenty thousand yuan."
"This stone looks like it weighs only 20 kilograms, and you want 20,000 yuan. Isn't that extortionate?" Fang Zhicheng frowned and said unhappily.
The old man waved his hand and said, "My dear little brother, your standards are much lower than your girlfriend's. Gambling on stones depends not only on luck, but also on vision. The probability of producing top-quality stones is much higher than that of inferior stones. The prices are also different."
A middle-aged man with a square face stood beside the old man, who seemed to be hesitating. He also stared at the 20,000 yuan stone without moving his eyes. The old man glanced at the middle-aged man, and some of his words were obviously meant for him. He did not regard Fang Zhicheng and Qi Yu, a group of young men and women, as sincere buyers.
"Uncle, you're wrong. I'm not very familiar with him." Qi Yu saw the old man tying her and Fang Zhicheng together, and a red halo rose on her cheeks, which was very beautiful. She stared at the stone again and again, turned around and said to Fang Zhicheng, "Do you have any money on you?"
Fang Zhicheng smiled bitterly and said, "Are you really going to buy it?"
Qi Yu nodded and said, "How about I lend it to you?"
It was an honor for the daughter of the Qi Group to borrow money from him. Fang Zhicheng took out his briefcase, took out an envelope from it, handed it over, and said, "There are 20,000 yuan in it..."
This was the dividend that Zhu Youming asked someone to give to him a few days ago, but he never had time to save it.
Qi Yu took the money, took out some from it, counted it, and said to the old man, "The money is for you, and the stone is for us."
The old man frowned. Wasn't the girl unfamiliar with the young man? Why did she ask him for money? They must have had a quarrel. The old man looked reluctant and glanced at the hesitant middle-aged man. He sighed heavily and said, "Forget it. I have been gambling on stones for so many years and my family has been ruined. Now I am in urgent need of money to treat my son's illness. I don't have the courage to gamble anymore. This is the stone I dare not open the most. I will just sell it to you." After that, he handed the stone over.
"Wait!" The hesitant middle-aged man shouted, "I want to buy it!"
Chapter 0194: Imperial Green Attracts Blood
"Uncle, I'm sorry, this stone already belongs to us." Qi Yu blinked and said with a smile.
"Alas!" The middle-aged man still felt a little regretful, and said to Qi Yu, "Little girl, how about selling it to me for 21,000? 22,000?"
Qi Yu showed two dimples at the corners of her mouth and shook her head insistently: "I'm sorry. We don't plan to sell this stone."
The middle-aged man's eyes flickered for a moment, and he stared at the jade with a reluctant look, and sighed: "Based on my years of experience, this is definitely a top-quality rough material. If I wasn't short of money, I would definitely buy it. However, gambling on jade is related to luck and courage. It seems that this rough material is not for me..."
The middle-aged man was ready to leave with a dull look on his face, while Fang Zhicheng stood behind Qi Yu holding the rough stone, smiling bitterly. He did not really believe in gambling on stones, and thought to himself that this rich girl was indeed different. She paid 20,000 yuan without frowning and bought a broken stone.
Whether the rough jade is good or bad depends entirely on luck. Not only can the human eye not tell the difference, even with high-tech methods, it is impossible to tell the difference. If it is a piece of waste stone, it would be a big loss.
"Is there a stone-cutter nearby?" Qi Yu asked the white-bearded old man.
The white-bearded old man nodded, pointed to a place not far away, and said softly: "There is a jade trading shop on the corner of that street. I don't know if it is closed at this time. Otherwise, I will take you to have a look?" The white-bearded old man was also a little curious. After all, he had kept that piece of stone for many years, and he also wanted to know what the mystery of this stone was.
Qi Yu smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to lead the way."
The middle-aged man saw that the two wanted to cut the stone, so he did not leave, but followed the three people to the jade trading shop. There were not many people in the jade trading shop. The boss and his wife were watching TV. They were familiar with the old man. When they saw the old man coming, they smiled and said, "Mr. Hu, what good materials have you brought here?"
Old Hu's face darkened, and he said awkwardly, "My luck is too bad, so I have decided to retire. I brought two friends here today, and they bought my raw materials."
The proprietress shook her head and saw Fang Zhicheng holding a piece of stone. She showed a strange smile on her face and pulled Qi Yu aside. She whispered, "Girl, you have been cheated. This old Hu has a bad eye for gambling on stones. He used to be a well-known figure in Dongtai County. He had a fortune of several million, but he spent all of it on gambling on stones in recent years, ruining his family."
The boss lady's voice was not loud, but it still reached Lao Hu's ears. Lao Hu coughed lightly and said unhappily: "Boss lady, there is no need for you to say bad things about me behind my back. This girl has already bought my wool. Isn't it unkind of you to say these things now?"
The proprietress smiled and quickly greeted him, "Old Hu, I'm just talking nonsense, don't take it seriously."
The boss took the stone from Fang Zhicheng, put it on the stone-cutting machine, and said in a deep voice: "It is indeed a good piece of rough stone. I have never seen Lao Hu bring it before... How do you cut it?"
Fang Zhicheng didn't quite understand, so he looked at Qi Yu. Qi Yu gestured on the stone, pointed at the narrow side, and said, "Cut from this side!"
The boss took a look, nodded secretly, and said with a smile: "Girl, you are an expert."
Qi Yu smiled and said, "I learned a little bit before, but I am just showing off my skills in front of an expert."
The boss saw that Qi Yu was not an ordinary girl who was easy to fool, so he bent down and observed her carefully, then arranged the raw stones and aimed the cutting machine in the direction that Qi Yu had just pointed.
Old Hu turned his head away, not daring to look again, while the middle-aged man showed excitement on his face.
Along with the buzzing sound of cutting, Fang Zhicheng felt as if his heart was about to jump out. An outsider just watching the fun was exactly what Fang Zhicheng felt. Although he didn't know what was inside the raw stone, he still vaguely expected a miracle to happen.
"It's broken, and there's no green." A small corner of the original stone was cut, and only grayish white was seen inside, with no green.
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, as if he was secretly lucky, but also as if he felt sorry, and sighed: "It's such a pity that such a good-looking raw stone has also collapsed."
Old Hu smiled helplessly and sighed, "I have made a big mistake in my life. But fortunately, I didn't solve the last stone..."
Fang Zhicheng walked over and patted Qi Yu on the shoulder, comforting her: "Consider this stone as my purchase, don't take it to heart. Gambling on stones is inherently very risky."
The proprietress walked up to Qi Yu and said softly, "Little girl, I think we are destined to be together. How about I give you 7,000 yuan and you sell the rest to me?"