Chapter 75

Wu Di put down his worries and said:

"Let's go and check out the other shops. After my performance, I doubt anyone will compete with me for the stones."

"Maybe we should give it a rest. Although you got a piece of glass seed this time, you had a string of failures before. Your luck probably isn't as good as it used to be. It's better to quit while you're ahead. This public auction is just for fun."

Wu Di rolled his eyes and walked straight toward the public auction. There was only one hour left before the auction ended for the day. The next two days were for the opening of the bids, meaning there were only two days to view the stones. Wu Di started from the numbers he had seen in the morning, memorizing the numbers and the base prices in his mind. People passing by him pointed and whispered, some friendly, some disdainful, but he ignored them all. "I've chosen my path and will walk it without hesitation. What do those passersby have to do with me?"

Including the morning, Wu Di found three stones worth bidding on. The stones he considered worth bidding on were those with poor external appearances, low base prices, but with actual value. Although the proportion of such stones in the open-window roughs was low, they were not nonexistent, and under the guidance of the Heavenly Book, they were all revealed.

Back at the hotel, everyone pretended nothing had happened, but Wu Di couldn't hold back:

"Is it just about cutting a stone? Is it really necessary to act like this? I'm fine, really fine."

"Drunk people usually say they're not drunk!"

"Alright, I admit I was wrong. I won't be so exaggerated in cutting stones in the future, okay?"

"That's right, I said Little Wu would be fine, but you didn't believe me..."

Wu Di's phone rang. He took it out and said dejectedly:

"Old Lady!"

Zhong Qi rolled his eyes, looking as if he was wishing Wu Di good luck.

The phone call lasted for half an hour, driving everyone else away. After fending off the old lady's attacks, Wu Di wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Oh, it seems that trying to act on my own ideas isn't easy at all! But, the feeling of being cared for is really nice." As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the phone calls started coming in one after another. First was Li Qinglong, reporting the progress of the construction department project, which had already supplied the goods, and the commission could be collected in a week. Then he was notified to go to the company to settle the commission for the contract in Guangzhou. Next was Zhao Haoran, who said the project in Tianjin had won the bid and asked for instructions to sign the contract the next day. Then it was Qu Zhuren, reporting that the procedures for the start of construction had been completed, and the quadrangle courtyard had actually started construction a few days ago...

After finishing these calls, Wu Di felt more exhausted than he had been after a day of looking at stones. "How could all these things happen at the same time?"

The next day, he continued to view the stones. Wu Di spent the whole day looking at the open-window roughs, comparing them with the guidance from the Heavenly Book, and felt his skills had improved. In the evening, he brought back a stack of bid sheets, filled in the prices according to his own judgment, and prepared to submit them the next morning after viewing the full-gambling stones.

The first full-gambling stone was a large one, but its appearance was not good, and the base price was quite high. Wu Di directly used the ability of the Heavenly Book, and there was no surprise, so he gave up! The second one, give up! The third one, give up!...

It wasn't until the ninety-second stone that he found a good one with a different appearance inside and out. It was the first ice glass seed in the full-gambling stones. Wu Di looked at the base price, which was about twenty kilograms, and the bid price was only 100,000 yuan. He estimated that 300,000 yuan would be enough to get it, but to be safe, he bid 380,000 yuan.

Over the past two days, he noticed that if he stayed longer by a stone, more people would pay attention to it. He guessed that his background had been dug up, and people thought he was an expert. So, he now mixed truth and falsehood, spending more time by the stones with good appearances and using the Heavenly Book to quickly pass by the poor ones, making it hard for them to find any flaws.

At lunchtime, Wu Di had finished submitting his bid sheets. Including the open-window roughs, he had submitted a total of seventy-two bid sheets. Many of them were stones with poor appearances and mediocre jade inside. He focused on two ice glass seeds and five ice seeds. One of the ice glass seeds had an open window, so the price would probably be high, and the other was the one he bid 380,000 yuan for, which he felt quite confident about. Among the five ice seeds, two had open windows, so he didn't expect to win them, but he was quite confident about the other three.

During this period, he had a vague plan for his future, which would likely involve jade and antiques. So, he decided to start stockpiling. Wu Di had calculated his assets. Not counting the 1.3 billion yuan he had with his godmother and the 120 million yuan he owed Zhong Qi, he still had about 250 million yuan. With so much money, it was better to buy things and wait for them to appreciate in value.

Eating lunch with Fatso, Song Hongyan, and Zhong Qi, Fatso asked Wu Di with a smile:

"Little Wu, how many bid sheets did you submit?"

"About seventy or so?"

"Damn, are you serious?"

"What's wrong?"

"If you win all of them, you'll have to open a jewelry store, won't you?"

"Not necessarily. I haven't thought that far yet. Damn, Fatso, you almost led me astray. Are the stones yours? Do you think I can win just because you say so?"

"Hehe, you're not being fair, planning to take Fatso's bread and butter."

"Get lost! Your bowl is dirty, you know!"

Fatso and Lu Gang had each bid on a pile of small roughs, and the others had randomly bid on a few, not expecting to win. Song Hongyan and Zhong Qi were just there for the ride, so they could be ignored. Among the group, only Wu Di was really prepared to go all out.

"Nothing to do in the afternoon, shall we go and sweep the shops?"

"Sure, who's afraid of who?"

"Low profile, low profile! If anything goes wrong again, my mom will really blame me for leading Little Wu astray. You don't know, after Little Wu finished his call yesterday, my mom gave me a half-hour lecture on maternal guidance."

"I got scolded too, though subtly. Auntie gave me the imperial sword to cut Little Wu down!"

"Troublemaker!"

Wu Di raised his hands in surrender:

"I promise, I'll only open one stone at each of the three major shops this afternoon. Is that okay?"

Chang Liling gave Zhong Qi a flirtatious glance and made a face at Wu Di, making him realize he had fallen for their trick. However, he hadn't planned to open many stones anyway, only one glass seed at each of the three major shops to make them give up some of the public auction profits...

The group excitedly headed to Hengchang's shop. On the way, Chang Liling kept whispering to Zhong Qi, who kept shaking his head. Everyone was curious about what they were talking about. Finally, Zhong Qi couldn't take it anymore and revealed the secret:

"Liling wants to do what Wu Di did that day, directly pick five stones and cut them. Do you think I dare to agree?"

"I think it's fine. Liling doesn't have that kind of destructive power."

Chang Liling gave Zhong Qi a triumphant look, but Fatso helped out. After some thought, she wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult, so she turned and glared at Fatso!

Wu Di started carefully selecting stones in the shop. There were many people, all of whom had finished bidding and were trying their luck. Chang Liling casually picked five roughs and shouted:

"Hey, take these five and cut them!"

The people around her were shocked. "Damn, is she a tough woman?"

Wu Di covered his face with his hands. People have two sides, and when no one recognizes them, they reveal their true nature...

Chang Liling's first cut revealed a golden thread seed. The cut narrowly missed the edge of the jade without damaging it, making the onlookers marvel. Half an hour later, she extracted a one-kilogram piece of jade, and the five roughs had already paid for themselves.

Chang Liling's second cut was unfortunate, cutting a golden thread seed in half, turning bracelet material into pendant material. Amidst the sighs of regret, it was sold for 800,000 yuan. The crowd grew larger, and the trend from the day Wu Di cut the stone was forming again.

The shop was almost empty, with even the assistants running to watch the cutting. Wu Di's selection of roughs was almost unaffected. After looking at and bidding on about thirty, he finally found his target, a basketball-sized Damuken water stone. Such a large piece was rare in Damuken roughs. After observing it, Wu Di placed his hand on it.

A cool sensation rushed in, like eating ice cream on a hot summer day. Wu Di was almost moaning with comfort. Under the guidance of the Heavenly Book, a dense green color rushed toward him. It felt like standing by a river in a deep mountain, with mist and greenery intertwining, making him drunk with delight. Old pit glass seed, emerald green!

Looking at the price, it was marked at 10 million yuan! Wu Di didn't know why this stone hadn't participated in the public auction, but since he had seen it, he had no reason to let it slip away.

The shop owner, Mr. Wang, who was the organizer of the public auction, saw the stone Wu Di was holding and smiled:

"You have a good eye, this is our shop's treasure! But if you want it, I'll give you a 20% discount, 8 million yuan, and it's yours!"

Wu Di happily paid by card and then hesitated. If he cut it, would it cause another disturbance like yesterday?

His eyes darted around, and he saw the smug Chang Liling. A very evil idea suddenly came to him. If he used this rough to swap one of Chang Liling's remaining two roughs, would the old lady fly to Ruili and put Zhong Qi under house arrest?

To swap or not to swap, that was the question.

Wu Di stored the rough and sneaked to the Hebao Song family's shop. At this moment, the crowd was in an uproar. Chang Liling's third cut was another golden thread seed, and it was particularly large. Someone shouted:

"Let's go and grab the roughs, this batch is all good!"

The crowd "whooshed" away, leaving no one behind! Wu Di only managed to look at two stones in the Hebao shop before being pushed out by the crowd. Chang Liling stood there, mouth agape. "This destructive power is too much, right? Everyone's gone?" She turned and glared at Fatso, who innocently blinked his small eyes and shook his head, "Grandma, it's not my fault!"

Two minutes later, the stone-cutting machines in front of each shop started up, even the three machines waiting for the public auction roughs were occupied. Mr. Wang, the owner of Hengchang, holding Wu Di's rough, looked at the empty shop and muttered:

"Turns out, you can play it like this."

Chang Liling's remaining two roughs were just stones, but no one cared about the results now.

Mr. Wang handed the basketball to Wu Di:

"Carry it yourself. If I hadn't been quick, it would have been taken away. If you want to cut it here, you'll have to wait in line. If you don't want to cut it here, I'll give you a pass to leave. What do you think?"

Wu Di looked at the people carefully cleaning and cutting the roughs, and smiled bitterly:

"Better to get the pass."

But he was secretly delighted:

"Ha, another old pit glass seed smuggled in!"

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