Chapter 5

With fifty thousand yuan in hand, at least the tuition and living expenses for college were solved.

Thinking about the infuriated look on that pretty boy's face, Xiaohai felt an urge to laugh.

The Dragon Spirit Pearl was indeed a treasure. Not only did it strengthen his body, but it also produced an unexpected effect:

Making money!

Thinking of this, Xiaohai's heart raced. The Dragon Spirit Pearl, which hadn't even broken through to the first level, had already produced such an effect. What about the future?

According to what his parents had told him, the cultivation of the Dragon Spirit Pearl was divided into nine levels. The first level was called the "Spiritual Pearl," which could make low-level animals obey his commands. To be honest, Xiaohai didn't quite believe it at first, but the behavior of the two grassland wolves, Xiaocao and Xiaoyuan, began to change his mind.

This was just during the process of breaking through to the first level, and wolves were considered mid-level creatures. With the help of the Dragon Spirit Pearl, such remarkable effects could be produced. What about the second and third levels? Xiaohai couldn't even imagine.

To more quickly reach the first level of the Dragon Spirit Pearl, one thing was essential:

Jade!

Since ancient times, jade has been known to have spiritual energy. The better the jade, the more spiritual energy the Dragon Spirit Pearl could absorb, accelerating its growth.

Yuanxin, less than fifty kilometers from Halk City, was a huge, natural base for red jasper.

With fifty thousand yuan in hand, Xiaohai felt more confident. He immediately boarded a minibus to Yuanxin.

By the time he arrived in Yuanxin, it was already 3 PM. Xiaohai didn't know how to distinguish good jade from bad, so his only thought was that the more jade, the better.

He randomly chose a store selling finished jade. Seeing that the owner was quite old and looked honest, Xiaohai walked in and said, "Boss, I want to buy jade."

The owner had been in the jade business for decades and had never seen someone walk in and say that right away. Without a doubt, this was a novice.

Looking at Xiaohai, who was under twenty years old, the owner guessed he was probably a rich second-generation kid buying jade for fun. But then he noticed Xiaohai's clothes didn't look like those of a wealthy family.

The owner, being kind-hearted, handed Xiaohai a business card:

"Shangyu轩" Gu Wenhe.

The name was quite interesting, with a touch of mysticism. Xiaohai put the card away and said, "Boss Gu, I want to buy thirty thousand yuan worth of jade."

Gu Wenhe almost burst out laughing, "Young man, let's sit down and talk."

He poured Xiaohai a cup of tea and continued, "Young man, you want to buy thirty thousand yuan worth of jade? We're not in a hurry. First, tell me what kind of jade you want? Soft jade? Hard jade? Yellow jade? Green jade or white jade? What kind of mine do you want it from? Yangjia mine or Fujia mine? Or one of our local mines in Yuanxin?"

A series of questions left Xiaohai completely baffled. He just wanted to buy jade, but he never imagined there were so many details involved.

Do you have to go through years of training just to buy jade?

Xiaohai scratched his head, "Boss Gu, to be honest, I'm a novice. I just want to buy a few good pieces of jade."

Gu Wenhe laughed, "To put it bluntly, with your thirty thousand yuan, you can only buy some scraps. Good jade is out of the question. For example, look at the jade Buddha I have hanging there. It looks very nice, but it can only fool novices. Experts can tell at a glance that it's made from scraps. Even so, I wouldn't let it go for less than twenty thousand yuan."

This... Guanyin and the Jade Emperor, how much profit must there be in the jade business! Xiaohai originally thought that with fifty thousand yuan, he could be a big spender, but he never imagined he could only buy scraps...

"Young man, tell me, what do you want to use the jade for?" Gu Wenhe suddenly asked.

"Ah, I want to buy it for my parents," Xiaohai lied. "My mother really likes jade. Boss Gu, I don't have much money. I definitely can't afford good jade. Do you have any jade with a bit of spiritual energy? I heard that the more spiritual energy jade has, the better it is for warding off evil."

Gu Wenhe smiled, "What we call 'spiritual energy' needs to be nurtured by people. In our circle, this is called 'nurturing jade.' An ordinary piece of jade, if nurtured by someone who knows how, can develop spiritual energy in about twenty years."

Nurturing jade? Xiaohai was at a loss. If he told the old man that he was buying jade to absorb its spiritual energy, would the old man kick him out immediately?

He didn't dare say much, but Gu Wenhe opened a drawer and took out a piece of jade that seemed quite old. The jade looked very unique, with a scorpion carved on the front and a few shallow circular holes on the back.

Xiaohai had seen jade carved into Guanyin and other figures, but this was the first time he had seen a scorpion.

"Scorpions, vipers, centipedes, lizards, and toads are the five poisons. A jade scorpion symbolizes being immune to all poisons," Gu Wenhe explained carefully. "This piece of jade is a chestnut yellow variety of yellow jade, a very rare and valuable type. Unfortunately, when I had it carved, it was done poorly. Do you see this scorpion? The quality of a jade scorpion depends entirely on the shape of its tail, but the person I hired carved it without any spirit. What a waste of this yellow jade..."

He fondled the jade scorpion, his expression full of regret. "This piece of jade could have sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan, but now it's considered a scrap by experts. I don't like deceiving novices, so it's been in my possession for years without selling. Young man, you have a filial heart. If you like it, take it for thirty thousand yuan. Although it's a scrap to us experts, it's still worth three to five thousand yuan."

Xiaohai took the jade. He couldn't understand why a good piece of jade would become a scrap, but as soon as he held it, the Dragon Spirit Pearl in his body seemed to sense something, and a warm current began to circulate through his body.

Was the Dragon Spirit Pearl hinting at something?

"Boss Gu, thank you for teaching me so much today," Xiaohai carefully put away the jade and took out thirty thousand yuan from his backpack. "Here's thirty thousand yuan. Please count it."

"No need, I trust you," Gu Wenhe smiled faintly, not even glancing at the money. "Jade nurtures people, and people nurture jade. Remember that. I'm closing up, so I won't keep you longer."

"Boss Gu, goodbye."

After seeing Xiaohai out, Gu Wenhe pulled down the roller shutter and carefully counted the thirty thousand yuan twice. Then he picked up the phone, "Wife? I have some good news. The chestnut yellow jade scorpion you bought for five hundred yuan two years ago, I sold it for thirty thousand yuan... Really, why would I lie? A novice came in, and I sold it to him. He even thought he got a good deal. Hey, make some good dishes tonight, I need to have a couple of drinks."

Standing up with satisfaction, he thought, if he could encounter such a novice every day, he would be rich in no time.

Unfortunately, who in Yuanxin wasn't an expert in this field?