Chapter 36

Wu Di and his two companions had dinner and returned home in high spirits. The Song Dynasty six-petal flower-mouthed vase was left at Old Mr. Chang's house, where it was safe, and the old man could also play with it from time to time. It could have been left at the Zhong family's house, but since no one there was into this hobby, it wouldn't have been as well cared for as by Old Mr. Chang.

Wu Di returned to his rental apartment, took out the Heavenly Book, and habitually placed the seed jade he had picked up in the afternoon on it. After a moment, the Heavenly Book gave an answer:

"Gold-sprinkled skin, lamb fat white jade."

Wu Di was excited for a while, played with the jade, and then went online.

After putting away the Heavenly Book and the seed jade, he lay on the bed, thinking about the dream-like life of the past month. Wu Di suddenly felt a sense of unreality. He was afraid that everything was a dream, a dream that seemed real. He couldn't help but bite his finger, and it hurt, but why did he feel so unreal?

The Second Machine Factory project, the landscape painting, the jadeite, the Song Dynasty porcelain, and the lamb fat white jade—all these encounters had only happened after he obtained the Heavenly Book. Right, the Heavenly Book. If something happened to the Heavenly Book, he didn't know if he could get through it. What could happen to the Heavenly Book?

Jade gambling, the Heavenly Book could tell the type and color of jadeite, but not its weight. In the future, he might spend a lot of money on a stone with very little jadeite, but so what? It would just mean losing some money.

Finding a bargain? That also depends on whether you can find one. If you can't, even if the Heavenly Book shows everything, you won't find one. Right, the Heavenly Book will show everything!

Wu Di jumped out of bed, took out the Heavenly Book, and carefully flipped through it.

The Heavenly Book was small but thick. Wu Di carefully counted the pages, and there were twenty in total. Removing the first and last pages, there were eighteen pages left. The Second Machine Factory project took up one page, the next two projects took up one page, the brick inkstone and jadeite took up one page, leaving fifteen pages!

Wu Di carefully counted: the brick inkstone, Shi Tao's painting, the glass-type jadeite, the four stones he bought after getting the glass-type, the twelve stones he bought later, the Song Dynasty porcelain, the lamb fat white jade, one piece of information per line, a total of twenty-one lines, filling up one page! With fifteen pages left, he could only see 315 more raw stones! He could only identify 315 more antiques!

According to the probability of jade gambling, he had thirty-one more chances to win! According to the probability of finding a bargain, he might not have any chance at all!

What to do? These three hundred plus opportunities were too few. He couldn't even see all the stones at Fat Qian's place, let alone a tenth of the goods in an antique shop!

Cherish the opportunities? Learn some micro-carving techniques and draw vein maps on the Heavenly Book. He could probably draw three to forty projects, with a seventy percent success rate, he could make a lot of money, and most importantly, he would have something to do. Using it three to four times a year, it could last ten years, but what about the rest of the time?

No, he needed to learn. If he had an eighty percent confidence before using the Heavenly Book to verify, wouldn't that greatly improve its efficiency? Jade gambling, finding bargains, such a colorful life couldn't just go away. Projects, take a back seat, he wanted to live a wonderful life!

Wu Di felt the crisis and it sparked his fighting spirit. Jade gambling, others could learn, and he could learn too. If he observed according to the Heavenly Book's prompts, his learning cost would be much lower than others. Antiques, using the Heavenly Book to verify at high prices, even if he didn't find a bargain, he would still be an enviable successful antique dealer! The remaining 315 lines were Wu Di's confidence.

Understanding this, Wu Di was no longer depressed. Life was indeed bright. When God closes a door, He opens a window. It was up to him to find it.

Wu Di took out the four books Wen Yajiu lent him and read them carefully. Tomorrow, he needed to find a way to learn jade gambling. First, use jade gambling to accumulate funds, then become an antique dealer! Like Wen Yajiu and others, wandering through the beautiful landscapes of the country, collecting goods, gambling on jade, and making a lot of money, wasn't that his dream?

Wu Di read very carefully, reading and thinking. He found his memory greatly enhanced. No matter what content, he could remember it perfectly after reading it twice. This greatly boosted his confidence, as he hadn't read books seriously since his third year of college. From this period, he might be naturally suited for this profession.

By midnight, he had read a third of "Ceramics." Thinking about the project handover tomorrow and then returning home, Wu Di suppressed his excitement and climbed into bed.

Today's plan was to first accompany Ms. Leng to three projects, then accompany Xiao Gao to three more. After completing the ten main projects, he would go to his godmother's house for dinner, and the next day take Ou Doudou to play at Principal Lu's place for a day, and then he could go home!

With the gloom gone from his heart, the project handover went smoothly. People he usually couldn't meet even after several visits, he met most of them today. By eleven o'clock, the three projects in the morning were completed. He declined Ms. Leng's invitation to dinner and rushed to Panjiayuan. In the morning, he received a call from Fat Qian, asking him to stop by before lunch. His glass-type jadeite ring was already carved.

Wu Di parked his car and called Wen Yajiu. Everyone was at Fat Qian's place, waiting for him.

Wu Di hurried to Fat Qian's store and rushed to the backyard. Fat Qian, Old Tang, Mr. Zeng, and the Qi sisters were all there, admiring the jewelry carved by Old Tang. Wu Di hadn't even stood steady when the little girl, who had been a bit at odds with him before, "hmmph" and waved her little fist at him, saying:

"You're so arrogant, we've been waiting for you for almost an hour."

Wu Di repeatedly said sorry, but his eyes were involuntarily drawn to the pendant in the hands of another Qi beauty. It was a jadeite Maitreya Buddha, which, under the sunlight filtering through the courtyard roof, looked lush and green, shimmering with a lustrous glow.

Fat Qian smiled and said:

"We were originally going to be in the VIP room, but everyone said that natural light makes jadeite look more real. Wu brother, to be honest, seeing these things, I regret not grabbing one for myself at the time."

Wu Di nodded in deep agreement. If he got another piece of glass-type imperial green now, he wouldn't sell it but would make it into various jewelry to give to his family.

Without looking up, Wu Di said:

"You pick first, and the remaining ring is mine."

Wen Yajiu also deferred, and the little girl was not polite, taking a ring and earrings. Adding the pendant in her sister's hand, the remaining one naturally went to Mr. Zeng. It seemed they had already discussed the distribution before Wu Di arrived.

Old Tang smiled and said:

"You're all using these to celebrate the old lady's birthday. Otherwise, a leaf carved for a young lady like Miss Qi would be a perfect match."

Miss Qi smiled and said:

"Thank you, Master Tang. If my grandmother knew this jewelry was made by Old Master Tang, she would be overjoyed. The material is secondary. However, I am very grateful to Mr. Wu Di for providing the imperial green. After all, good material matches good craftsmanship. If it were ordinary material, Grandpa Tang wouldn't have done it."

Hearing her sister's words, the little girl proudly raised her chin at Wu Di. Wu Di shook his head. Whatever a beauty says is right. From Master Tang to Old Master Tang to Grandpa Tang, she subtly brought the relationship closer, impressive.

After the distribution, everyone dispersed. Wu Di declined Fat Qian and Wen Yajiu's invitations to dinner and contacted Xiao Gao. He still had three more projects to run in the afternoon.

He also learned the names of the two beauties from Fat Qian: Qi Yuyan and Qi Yanning. Thinking about how the little girl seemed to be naturally at odds with him, Wu Di could only smile bitterly. It seemed he had a good rapport with children, but why did he clash with this little girl every time they met?

After completing the project handover, Wu Di returned to the Zhong family's small house. Ou Doudou and Zhong Qi were playing in the yard, and Zhong Qing was talking to the old lady upstairs.

Seeing Wu Di, Ou Doudou came up and showed affection, and Zhong Qi winked and said:

"Hehe, Mom already agreed. I'm going home with you to visit Uncle and Aunt. No more being grounded, it's great!"

Wu Di shook his head and entered the small house. He realized that since getting the Heavenly Book, he had shaken his head more times than in his entire life before. It showed what kind of people and things he had encountered!

Seeing Zhong Qing coming down the stairs, Wu Di quickly ran over, put his arm around her shoulders, and pushed her towards the second-floor study, whispering:

"Is the old man not at home?"

"He hasn't come back yet! Good brother, what do you need to tell your sister?"

"Hehe, I have something, I really do. Come, let's work quietly, no guns."

Seeing the siblings embrace and enter the study, the old lady was puzzled and "hmm"ed, then secretly came out to listen at the wall.

Wu Di took out the imperial green ring and presented it to Zhong Qing, who was surprised and exclaimed:

"Ah! Don't tell me this is glass-type imperial green!"

"Hehe, it is indeed glass-type imperial green! Made by the great Master Tang from the North!"

The old lady almost burst in when she heard Zhong Qing's "ah," but then she heard the rest and realized she had been overthinking it.

Zhong Qing played with the small ring for a moment and then regained her composure. She put the ring down and said sternly:

"Speak, no good deed goes unpunished. What do you need your sister to help with?"

"Nothing, nothing, hehe, just thought you deserved this ring."

"You have a heart. So, is what Xiao Si said true?"

Wu Di cursed silently. Fortunately, he had been cautious. Zhong Qi was a big mouth. He had planned to stay for a few days, but with that guy around, how could he have peace? He needed to find a way to keep him from going. If the old lady knew he had so much money, she would take it all.

Wu Di asked awkwardly:

"Sis, does the old lady know about this?"

"What do you mean? Do you have something bad we don't know about?"

"No, no, I'm just afraid the old lady will take all my money."

Zhong Qing poked Wu Di's forehead and said:

"Look at your thoughts! Let me tell you, this little thing isn't enough to buy off your sister. It's still a half-finished product, and your sister still needs to add gold to it!"

Wu Di thought to himself:

"Indeed, the prettier the woman, the harder to please."

His eyes twinkled. Sorry, Brother Si, he was going to use the big weapon!

"Sis, there's actually something about Brother Si."

"Oh, what secret does Xiao Si have?"

Wu Di whispered his observations about Chang Linlin to Zhong Qing, making the old lady outside scratch her head in frustration. Inside, it was mysterious, outside, it was anxious, and neither noticed Old Mr. Zhong sneaking up.