Chapter 51

After taking a look around, Lu Qian nodded in satisfaction and said to the middle-aged man, "I'm troubling you this time."

"It's my duty, it's my duty," the middle-aged man nodded repeatedly and then said, "President Lu, you must be tired from the flight. If there's nothing else, I won't disturb your rest."

"Alright," Lu Qian smiled faintly, "You can go and do your work. I'll contact you when I need to."

"Okay, President Lu." The middle-aged man responded and carefully retreated.

After the middle-aged man left, Lu Qian smiled at Xu Jianxing, "Honey, what do you plan to do? Go to the jade street today or tomorrow?"

"Let's do it tomorrow. It's already noon. I'll cook something for you to eat, and I'll look up some information online this afternoon. We can go tomorrow," Xu Jianxing smiled.

"That works. Let's go out for a walk now."

"Okay." Xu Jianxing replied, and the two of them walked out of the room. As they stepped out of the gate, Xu Jianxing noticed that the white minivan was gone. After carefully checking, he found no one was watching them anymore.

This made Xu Jianxing feel a bit relieved. The possibility of a kidnapping seemed to have decreased. After all, if they were planning a kidnapping, they wouldn't leave without someone keeping an eye on them. On the other hand, the situation in Huangshi added a bit more uncertainty.

Even so, Xu Jianxing didn't let his guard down. While accompanying Lu Qian, he familiarized himself with Shunhe Town and observed for any suspicious activity. During this time, he also discovered a gemstone gambling shop in the jade jewelry trading area. Although he felt a bit excited, he had to put aside his excitement due to the tracking issue.

By the time they returned from the market with many ingredients, Xu Jianxing felt more confident about his hypothesis, though he still wasn't sure what was going on. He believed it would be revealed in a few days.

After lunch, Xu Jianxing spent the entire afternoon searching for information about jade online. As the saying goes, it's never too late to prepare.

Time flew by, and after dinner, Xu Jianxing deliberately took Lu Qian for a long walk on a secluded path in Shunhe Town. Nothing happened, which made Xu Jianxing feel a bit amused.

The next morning, after breakfast, Xu Jianxing pulled Lu Qian and chuckled, "Honey, let's go earn some pocket money."

"Pocket money?" Lu Qian asked in surprise, "Where are we going to earn pocket money?"

"You'll see when we get there." Xu Jianxing didn't say more, just smiled and led Lu Qian to the jade jewelry trading area. As soon as they arrived, they saw the small street lined with shops selling jade and jadeite, with a variety of jadeite jewelry on display.

Seeing this, Lu Qian understood and said with a hint of annoyance, "I bet you want to gamble on jade. You'll be lucky if you don't lose everything."

Lu Qian didn't believe Xu Jianxing could make money, but she wasn't too concerned. After all, Xu Jianxing only had about two million, and losing it all wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, she didn't know that Xu Jianxing had only about 1.5 million left after buying some things.

Seeing that Lu Qian didn't believe him, Xu Jianxing didn't bother to explain. He quickly led her to the gemstone gambling shop he had seen the day before. It wasn't very large, but it was connected to two shops. One shop sold finished jade products, with various jade items and pendants displayed in glass counters. The other shop was for gemstone gambling, filled with various sizes of jade rough stones. Each stone had a barcode and a price tag. There were already many people in the shop, making it quite lively.

As soon as Xu Jianxing and Lu Qian stood at the door, a server came out and smiled, "Bosses, are you interested in gambling?"

"Yes, a bit interested," Xu Jianxing smiled and led Lu Qian inside, asking, "By the way, how are the rough stones priced?"

"The prices are clearly marked, no bargaining. Just pick what you like," the server smiled and led them to the rough stones.

Xu Jianxing touched each stone and smiled at Lu Qian, "Honey, pick whichever one you like. I'll treat you today."

Since the prices of the stones in the shop weren't too high, with the most expensive one being a few hundred thousand, Xu Jianxing felt confident.

His bold words naturally made the server smile even more, thinking, "Looks like I've met a novice today. I'll make a good profit."

Lu Qian rolled her eyes and said, "You're just boasting. If I take them all, you'll have to sell yourself to pay off the debt."

Xu Jianxing chuckled, "But, would you let me?"

"You're so shameless," Lu Qian blushed and pouted.

The server couldn't help but laugh.

After a quick tour, Xu Jianxing picked a larger stone priced at 88,000 yuan without hesitation. He knew what was inside, but from the outside, it looked average, even poor, with visible cracks and large areas of green on the surface.

In the jade world, experienced gamblers know that the size of the stone isn't as important as its quality. The value of jadeite is mainly determined by its color, which should be pure. The amount and quality of green determine the value. When green appears in large patches on the surface, it's often just "surface green" and doesn't extend inside. When green appears in lines or clusters, especially when the lines are symmetrically distributed, the green is likely to extend inside. The saying goes, "Better a line than a patch." Additionally, the "type" of the stone is important, meaning it should be old and lively. The texture should be fine and moist. Besides observing the surface, it's also important to check for cracks, the fewer the better.

Therefore, this large stone was only priced at 88,000 yuan, as it had very little potential for a good outcome.

When Xu Jianxing said he wanted to buy this stone, the server was secretly delighted. He hadn't expected to meet a novice, as this stone had been unsold for over a year and was a bit of a headache for the owner. The owner had even offered a 1,000 yuan bonus for selling it.

Lu Qian, who knew nothing about gemstone gambling, even thought Xu Jianxing had good eyes because of the green on the surface. If the server knew her thoughts, he would have laughed out loud.

Xu Jianxing also noticed a few other promising stones but knew not to overdo it. He then smiled at Lu Qian, "Honey, pick one too. We can't come here for nothing."

"Alright," Lu Qian, though not interested in gambling, felt she should try. She pointed to a stone priced at 30,000 yuan, "I'll take that one."

The stone Lu Qian pointed to also had large patches of green on the surface.

Xu Jianxing glanced at it and smiled, as he had already checked it and knew there was nothing inside.

The server struggled to keep from laughing, thinking, "This couple is truly a match, with such similar eyesight."

However, he realized that these two, though young, were wealthy and were just here for fun.

With a smile, the server said, "Bosses, you have a keen eye. I wish you good luck."

The server knew what Xu Jianxing was thinking but smiled and said, "Thank you for your good wishes. Can we pay by card?"

"Of course, of course," the server nodded. Shunhe Town had many tourists, and some would come to play, so a card machine was essential.

After paying, the server called a few people to move the stones to the cutting room.

Xu Jianxing saw that there were about ten people in the room, seven of whom were tourists or locals, and the other two middle-aged men and one elderly man were likely the stone cutters.

The server walked to the elderly man and said, "Master Li, these two stones were just bought by the bosses. You have more experience. Can you cut them?"

"Sure," the elderly man glanced at the stones, shrugged, and then looked at Xu Jianxing, "Boss, which one do you want to cut first? Do you want me to decide or you?"

Xu Jianxing scratched his head and smiled, "Let's start with the smaller one. I'm in a hurry, so I'll decide."

"Sure," the elderly man was a bit surprised but then laughed. He realized that this young man knew a bit about gambling and understood that cutting was the fastest way. He also saw that the young man was just here for fun.

Although he didn't approve of such reckless behavior, he didn't say anything, as it was the customer's request.

Moreover, he didn't think much of these stones. If Xu Jianxing had insisted on cutting, he would have refused, as he saw it as a huge insult to his profession to cut blindly. He didn't want to see the green cut off, as that would be his failure.