Chapter 29

Zhou Ming's words left Lin Muqing speechless: "You don't want to touch the money in Fenghui Bank. Are you planning to take all the money out of the stock market?"

Zhou Ming shook his head, which left Lin Muqing even more confused: "Then where are you going to get the money to buy my clothes? Can you conjure money out of thin air like Sun Wukong?"

Zhou Ming laughed and said, "Sister Muqing, I'm not Sun Wukong, and I don't have his 72 transformations. But I have a way to turn the few thousand dollars we have into at least ten times more."

"Are you kidding me?" Lin Muqing asked in surprise, "How can you just make the money grow?"

"Sister Muqing, what's the date today?" Zhou Ming asked.

"Today is August 8th, the 14th day of the sixth lunar month. What's the matter?" Lin Muqing said, puzzled. She didn't understand why he was asking about the date when she was asking how he would make the money grow. What did it have to do with anything? Could it be that he checked the almanac before leaving home and found out that he would find a large sum of money today?

Just as Zhou Ming was about to say something, a waitress walked over: "Are you two going to buy clothes? You're from the mainland, right?"

The waitress's tone was somewhat condescending and impatient, but Zhou Ming didn't mind: "Please wrap up the two pieces of clothing I looked at earlier. I'm going to go pick up some money, and I'll pay for them when I come back."

After saying this, Zhou Ming ignored the waitress's reaction and pulled Lin Muqing out of the mall. Lin Muqing cooperated and didn't say a word until they were outside, where she couldn't help but ask, "Do you really plan to pick up money?"

"Of course not. Sister Muqing, have you heard of jade gambling?" Zhou Ming asked. Lin Muqing's expression showed that she had no idea, so Zhou Ming explained, "Jade gambling is actually buying raw jade. Since the jade hasn't been processed, it has a weathered outer layer that looks like an ordinary stone. You can't tell if there's jade inside, so you have to gamble, hence the name 'jade gambling.'"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Muqing said, "Is it true that the price of raw jade is relatively low, and if you win, you can make a lot of money, but if you lose, you can lose everything?"

"Sister Muqing, you're very smart. That's exactly what jade gambling is," Zhou Ming said. "Kowloon is the largest jade market in the city, and it's a duty-free port, so I'm sure there's jade gambling here."

Lin Muqing was at a loss for words. She didn't expect Zhou Ming to be so serious about this. She asked, "Do you know how to gamble on jade?"

"When I was a child, an old man from the countryside taught me a bit, and I still remember it. It might come in handy."

Without further ado, Zhou Ming pulled Lin Muqing to a jade shop on Canton Road.

Of course, Zhou Ming's decision to gamble on jade wasn't a sudden whim. He suddenly remembered something from his previous life. He had read a biography of a Hong Kong jewelry tycoon who said that his first fortune was made by gambling on jade at a jade shop in Kowloon on August 8th, which was today. That's why Zhou Ming asked Lin Muqing what the date was.

Following the memory in his mind, Zhou Ming led Lin Muqing to the jade shop mentioned in the biography. It was a large shop, apparently owned by a Hong Kong conglomerate, with a good reputation. A sign at the entrance announced that the shop had recently received a batch of raw jade from Myanmar and was holding a jade gambling event.

Everything matched the description in the biography. Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing took a number at the entrance and followed the waitress to the jade gambling event.

The event was more like a street stall. The jade shop had placed raw jade on various display stands, and participants were selecting like they were buying vegetables at a market.

In Zhou Ming's memory, this jade gambling event did produce some good pieces, but the raw jade, even in its rough form, cost at least tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. With the money they had, it wasn't enough, so Zhou Ming had only one goal.

Zhou Ming led Lin Muqing directly to stand number 18, where a piece of raw jade the size of a winter melon was displayed. A staff member was introducing it: "This is an old pit stone from the Bai Bi mine in Myanmar. Everyone knows that the Bai Bi mine is the oldest in Myanmar, with a history of over 200 years. The jade from there is of the highest quality. This piece is definitely a good one. You can see the pine flower on the surface, and experienced people know that this indicates there's jade inside."

"Does that mean this piece definitely has jade inside?" a middle-aged man asked.

"I didn't say that," the staff member replied. "Sir, since jade gambling is called 'gambling,' it means no one can guarantee whether there's jade inside. But that's also why the profit is high, right?"

The middle-aged man didn't respond. As an experienced jade gambler, he knew that even the most experienced jade experts couldn't be sure if there was jade inside.

"This piece has a yellow-gray surface, which is indeed from the Bai Bi mine, but the overall quality is poor. Look, there are many cracks on the surface," another bald man said.

After he pointed this out, everyone noticed the cracks on the surface, some of which extended deep into the stone. This discovery made many people try to see through the cracks, but unfortunately, the cracks were too small to see inside.

Seeing this, Zhou Ming smiled inwardly. Even if they could see inside the cracks, it wouldn't help because the crack was in the center of the stone, and according to the biography, the jade was on the right side without the pine flower.

"Brother, this stone is too difficult. There are so many cracks, and none of them show any green. The risk is too high," another younger gambler complained.

The staff member remained calm: "That's why it's called gambling. If you could see the jade through the cracks, there would be no gambling. It would just be a fixed price, right?"

"Then how much do you want for this piece?" someone asked.

The staff member turned the price tag in front of the piece, which read 20,000 Hong Kong dollars. This price caused a stir, as the jade shop clearly knew the piece wasn't of high quality and had many cracks, with no visible jade inside. To attract buyers, they set a relatively low price.

Seeing this price, Lin Muqing gasped. She asked Zhou Ming in disbelief, "This broken stone costs 20,000 Hong Kong dollars?"

"Sister Muqing, this isn't a broken stone. It's raw jade from a jade mine. It's just that we don't know if there's jade inside or how much. That's why it's priced this way. If it were a piece of jade this size, it would be worth much more, at least 200,000 to 300,000 Hong Kong dollars," Zhou Ming explained.

"What if it's just a broken stone?" Lin Muqing asked.

"Then it would be 20,000 Hong Kong dollars for a broken stone. If every piece of raw jade had high-quality jade inside, it wouldn't be called gambling. It's the uncertainty that makes it exciting, like a roller coaster of gains and losses, more thrilling than the stock market," Zhou Ming said. "Look at the eyes of the people around us."

Hearing this, Lin Muqing noticed that the eyes of the gamblers were shining, as if the stone were a piece of gold.

At this point, the staff member said, "Ladies and gentlemen, according to our shop's rules, 20,000 Hong Kong dollars is the starting price. You can bid any price, and the highest bidder gets the piece."

Zhou Ming smiled inwardly. The jade shop was indeed making money, even from the raw jade, by setting a starting price and letting the gamblers bid, ensuring they wouldn't lose money and might even make a fortune.

As Zhou Ming was thinking, the bidding had already started. Since everyone was there to gamble on jade, and this piece was from the best mine in Myanmar, it was worth a try. With a bit of luck, they could make tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. And since they were experienced gamblers, they believed they wouldn't lose money, even if the piece had some flaws.

With this in mind, the price quickly rose to 50,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Seeing the gamblers' enthusiastic expressions, Lin Muqing said to Zhou Ming, "Are these people crazy? The price of this stone has already doubled."

"That's the nature of gamblers. They all hope to buy this stone and find a large piece of jade inside. Even if it's not a whole piece, they could still make tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars," Zhou Ming explained. "But with so many cracks and no visible jade, even gamblers won't bid too high. 50,000 Hong Kong dollars is probably the limit."

Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Ming finished speaking, the bidding stopped. Faced with the high price, no one was willing to bid more, as they didn't think the stone was worth more. No matter what the staff member said, no one bid again.

At this point, Lin Muqing turned to Zhou Ming and asked, "Are you going to bid?"

Zhou Ming shook his head and smiled, "Sister Muqing, we only have 10,000 Hong Kong dollars. Even if I wanted to bid, I wouldn't have the chance."

Lin Muqing sighed in relief. She was glad Zhou Ming hadn't become like those gamblers. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known what to do.

But as she looked at Zhou Ming's confident smile, she still felt a bit uneasy. She didn't know that she was about to witness a miracle in the world of jade gambling.

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