Chapter 66

After looking at a few more stalls, Wu Di couldn't help but ask a stall owner who was speaking the local dialect:

"Boss, the stones in this morning market don't seem to be very good? Isn't it said that there are many good stones in Jiegao?"

"Hehe, young man, are you here to participate in the public auction?"

"Yes?"

"That's right. The public auction is organized by the three major families, but starting this year, it has also been opened to us stall owners. This means we can also bring our stones to the auction, but we have to pay fifteen percent of the transaction price. The fee is a bit high, but the public auction can easily result in sky-high prices, so we all take our best stones to test the waters."

"Damn, does that mean I came at the wrong time?"

"Not exactly. After all, good performance doesn't guarantee good jade, and poor performance doesn't mean there's no good stuff. As the saying goes, 'ugly stones can produce the best jade.' So, there's no fixed rule in gambling on stones. Besides, gambling is all about the thrill. Finding jade in a stone no one likes, that's the real excitement."

"Ugly stones can produce the best jade? Where does that saying come from?"

Wu Di thought about his few pieces of top-quality jade, and they were indeed all gambled from stones no one wanted. He couldn't help but smile:

"Boss, your theory is quite profound. The saying 'ugly stones can produce the best jade' makes a lot of sense. Do you know its origin?"

The boss stammered and made something up. Wu Di smiled and looked down at the stones on the stall. Upon inspection, he found the origin of the saying. This boss was quite a talent; half of his stones showed no signs of quality, and the other half were all oddly shaped and ugly. Moreover, apart from a few good pieces of open jade, the rest were all covered stones. It seemed that 'ugly stones can produce the best jade' was the boss's advertising slogan.

Seeing Wu Di shaking his head with a smile, the boss pointed to the few pieces of open jade, a bit anxiously:

"Young man, don't disbelieve me. See these pieces? They were opened by experts from this pile! Besides, my stones are cheap, and there are many opportunities for big gains."

Wu Di laughed:

"Boss, not only do you have an advertising slogan, but you also have celebrity endorsements. Alright, I'll spend some time on these ugly stones today and see if I can find a big gain."

"That's the right attitude, young man. Gambling on stones should start with the cheap ones. Don't chase the high-performing ones like others; it can easily lead to bankruptcy! Moreover, I never encourage people to buy too much. Think about it, if tourists come and you empty their pockets, how can they go home?"

Wu Di caught the flaw in the boss's words and smiled:

"Ha, Boss, it seems you don't have much confidence in your stones! Otherwise, why not say that you can make a fortune and go home with a full pocket?"

The boss's face turned a bit red, and he laughed:

"Nine out of ten gambles end in loss. If it were that easy, there wouldn't be a gambling industry."

As they were chatting, Wu Di's phone rang. As soon as he answered, his mother's voice came through:

"You brat, you haven't called home for so long? Do you think that specialty store isn't yours?"

"Mom, things have been busy lately. Besides, the chairman of that specialty store is you."

"Little brat, you know how to flatter me. What are you doing now?"

"Accompanying a friend to look at jade in Yunnan."

"Oh, pick out a few bracelets for me to give as gifts."

"Gifts? For whom?"

"The specialty store is halfway built. Once it opens, the industrial and commercial, tax, and urban management departments all need to be taken care of. Just relying on that mayor won't do. By the way, I've received notice that a batch of land will be auctioned off in a few days, and our plot is included. You better handle it well. If you lose it, the millions spent on building the house will be wasted."

"Okay, I understand. Don't worry, Mom. I'll call Mayor Wang tonight."

"I think it's safer if you come back in person."

"No problem, I'll ask the friend who introduced me, and then I'll give another call."

After hanging up, Wu Di lost interest in the stones, thinking about whether to give his second brother, Zhong Zhengdao, a heads-up. Although a few million wasn't much to him now, it was his mother's first business venture. According to what Fat Pig and the others said, his mother had lost over ten pounds in the past half month! He felt a bit regretful for getting his mother involved in this. After some consideration, he decided not to hide it from his father and called him.

His father chuckled:

"The old lady thinks I don't know anything! Little Wu Dan, that spy, has already told me everything. Besides, how could Pang Kuan and Zhu Ziming hide anything from me? Your mother is fine, not as bad as those two guys say. She's just a bit tanned and has lost a few pounds. Money can't buy health in old age! She's full of energy every day, not like the sickly person she used to be. Having something to do has made my life much better too. Hahaha, don't worry, focus on your work. I'm keeping an eye on things."

Wu Di found Zhong Qi, who was struggling with a half-gambling rough stone. Seeing Wu Di, he quickly pulled him over:

"Come and help me. Lin Lin is acting strange, saying she heard the stone talking and wants to buy this one. The boss is asking for a high price, but it shows no signs of quality."

Chang Linlin nudged Zhong Qi with her toe:

"Hey, who are you talking about?"

Zhong Qi ignored her, wiped his sweat, and pulled Wu Di to squat down and look at the stone.

It was a water stone, but it didn't have the typical characteristics of a traditional water stone. The skin was relatively thick. Wu Di examined it carefully and guessed it was a water stone from the Que Bing mining area, which was rare in China. If it existed, it was generally lumped together as the Damukan mining area.

Wu Di shone a strong flashlight on the stone. The light was yellow, and there was no green at the edge of the light halo. Either the skin was too thick to see through, or it was just a regular stone. After another careful inspection, he found two scattered patches of pine flower. This kind of appearance usually didn't produce high-quality jade, and the water content might not be sufficient. Wu Di shook his head, used his little finger to look through the stone, and then glanced at Chang Linlin, who was looking at open jade at another stall.

"Could this girl really hear the stone talking? I cheat when gambling on stones, but if we're talking about luck, this girl is truly a super-lucky little superhuman!"

The skin of the stone was thick, but beneath it was a watery apple green. Several green dragons of varying widths intertwined, and where the dragons were, the stone reached the ice glass quality. The colorless parts were slightly inferior but still reached high ice quality. Generally, when the quality reached high ice, the presence of green would increase the value by one level. This material was known as old pit glass! After cutting, it could yield about two kilograms of jade, enough for two full-green bracelets and many full-green cabochons, worth millions!

"How much is the boss asking for?"

"Five hundred thousand. Do you think he's gone crazy? It's all because of Lin Lin's nonsense. Let's go, tell Lin Lin we're not buying it."

"Not expensive, not expensive. If the pine flower were denser and there were two more snakes here, this stone could sell for a million!"

The boss initially thought Wu Di was helping him, but then realized something was off and angrily said:

"How do you talk to me, young man? The pine flower and snakes are part of the stone. Do you think they grow just because you want them to? What do you mean?"

Zhong Qi understood and pointed at the boss with his index finger, pulling Wu Di away. Wu Di held him back and smiled:

"Sky-high asking price, ground-level offer. This stone is interesting. I'll take it for ten thousand."

"Not selling, no matter what!"

"Really not selling? Not even for a million?"

The boss didn't know if Wu Di was joking and hesitated. Wu Di smiled:

"See, you want money, and my brother wants excitement. You set the price, we make the offer, and we do business amicably. Do you really want to call the market manager? Here's a deal: I won't bully you, four brother, fifteen thousand, and we'll take the stone."

The boss didn't say anything. The stone did have issues, but he wasn't afraid of a fuss. He had only stuck some high-quality jade powder on the surface of the rough stone and buried it on the mountain for half a year. Later, to make it less noticeable, he removed a lot of it. He didn't expect this young man to have such a keen eye. However, fifteen thousand was already ten times his cost, so he composed himself and smiled:

"Alright, I'll make a friend with you. Bring more friends next time."

Zhong Qi took out money from his bag while looking at Wu Di with his eyes. Wu Di nodded slightly and then started looking at the boss's other stones.

This boss might be too confident or too foolish. Half of the rough stones on his stall had been tampered with, but the alterations were small and very hidden. A professional would need to be on high alert to notice them. He asked about the prices of two more stones, which were not expensive. Either the boss wasn't greedy, or he saw that Wu Di knew his stuff. However, a couple like Zhong Qi and Chang Linlin, who looked like they were on a romantic stroll, would be charged more for anything they bought, not just rough stones!

"The stones here are all pretty ugly."

Wu Di suddenly remembered the boss's famous saying and couldn't help but take a closer look. This look revealed a problem. At the bottom of the stall, there was a strangely shaped rough stone, about the height of a bucket, which seemed to have issues.

Wu Di walked over and straightened the stone, and he laughed. Zhong Qi, who had just finished paying, saw it and immediately burst out:

"Damn, Second Brother!"

Song Hongyan happened to be walking by and heard, so she looked up:

"What's going on?"

This time, it was Wu Di's turn to burst out. Zhong Qi's face turned red, and he said:

"Brother, I wasn't calling you. It's just that..."

Song Hongyan, curious, walked around and saw it, then laughed:

"This one matches Little Wu's beauty stone. Look, if you put it on the back, it looks like a pig carrying his wife!"

The boss also came out from behind the metal rack and said:

"This is a rare stone. Last time, a boss offered a million, but I didn't sell it. Take it home, carve it a bit, and it won't be worse than the jade duck!"

"Sure, the jade duck is indeed made of jade, but this one, I think, is just a stone. If you remove the skin, it's just a regular stone carving. If you leave the skin, it's natural, but it's rough and lacks any beauty. It's more likely to scare people."

Wu Di patted the head of the stone and laughed:

"A million is your asking price, right? Boss, you've heard that I have a beauty stone that matches this one. Give me a price, and if it's reasonable, I'll buy it as a rare stone."

As he spoke, he habitually used his little finger to look through the stone. His eyes almost popped out, and he quickly reminded himself to stay calm.

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