Chapter 25: The Great Universe in a Pot

  "Gambling stone meeting?" Xiao Ping was unfamiliar with the jade stone circle and didn't know what it meant.

  "This time the stone gambling meeting was initiated by the Myanmar side. After the New Year, a large batch of jade rough stones will be sold in the border area, and many people in this circle have been invited to participate. Buying such rough stones is entirely based on vision and luck, similar to gambling. If you gamble correctly, you can immediately become a billionaire, but there are more people who lose their families and go bankrupt."

  Mao Wenqing stopped here to take a sip of tea, then continued: "I think Mr. Xiao has a high level of expertise in identifying jade stones. I'd like to invite you to join me at the stone gambling meeting. If you can help me select materials, I'll give you 10% of the profit. What do you say?"

  Although Mao Wenqing only allowed Xiao Ping to have a 10% share, the profit from selling a piece of jadeite rough stone was often in the tens or even hundreds of millions, so he was quite generous.

  Xiao Ping was very interested in Mao Wenqing's proposal and couldn't help but think to himself, "This is worth a try."

  Jade is also a kind of jade, and the Lianyou Hu has a feeling for it. Others who gamble on stones may not be lucky and lose everything, but for Xiao Ping, it's a surefire deal that won't lose money.

  However, Xiao Ping felt that there was still something to be clarified and soon asked: "Can I buy a few pieces of jade rough stones with my own money?"

  "I don't know how much money Mr. Xiao has?" Mao Wenqing hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively.

  If Xiao Ping also brought a large sum of money, he would definitely prioritize choosing the original stone for himself, and Mao Wenqing would not have much to gain. Mao Wenqing would not do things that are detrimental to others, so he had to figure this out.

  Xiao Ping smiled awkwardly: "About 18 million, I couldn't get any more money out."

  Mao Wenqing immediately let out a sigh of relief. The hundred or so million at the stone gambling meeting was not considered money, and if it weren't for him bringing it, Xiao Ping wouldn't have had the qualifications to participate in the stone gambling meeting with just this amount of money. With his mind at ease, Mao Wenqing immediately said: "No problem, you can use my name to buy the raw stone later."

  Since everything has been settled, Xiao Ping didn't waste any words and stood up to extend his hand to Mao Wengui: "Nice doing business with you, Boss Mao."

  "It was a pleasure working with you!" Ma Wengqing also stood up and shook hands with Xiao Ping, and the two men's cooperation was settled.

  Mao Wenqing attaches great importance to Xiao Ping, this young man, and personally sends him to the door of Wei Xiaozhai. This again surprises the guests in the store, who thinks that Mao boss is so polite, definitely not a rookie, Xiao Ping becomes a master of playing jade in their eyes.

  Jade can't be measured by volume, but the jade material that Xiao Ping spent 100,000 yuan on was still a big package. Carrying so many stones around was really inconvenient. So he simply returned to the hotel and planned to deal with these jades first.

  The Alchemy Vessel absorbed the jade stones without any courtesy, and soon all the jade materials that Xiao Ping had bought were gone. After the Alchemy Vessel finished absorbing all the jade materials, Xiao Ping eagerly entered the space inside the vessel to see the effect of his investment.

  The space inside the pot has become much larger, and it is now roughly half an acre in size. A portion of the spring water overflows from the source, forming a small stream about ten centimeters wide. The stream flows out for tens of meters before converging into a pool of thirty or forty square meters. The water in the pool is extremely clear; although the deepest part exceeds two meters, the pebbles at the bottom are clearly visible, giving one an illusion that there is no water in the pool.

  Facing such a wonderful pool of water, Xiao Ping couldn't help but softly exclaim: "This place... must be great for raising fish."

  Actually, the water pool is not the only obvious change in the space of the pot. The small tree growing next to the spring eye has also changed. Since Xiao Ping obtained the Lian Yao Hu, this small tree had always had only seven leaves and never changed. But now Xiao Ping discovered that a tender green bud grew on top of the small tree, believing that as long as the Lian Yao Hu absorbed more jade stones, this bud would eventually grow into a leaf. Although Xiao Ping was also unclear what was special about this small tree, being able to grow an additional bud was obviously not a bad thing.

  Apart from the changes in the Lian Yao Hu space itself, the plants that Xiao Ping had planted inside also underwent some changes. All of the ginseng were growing well and had all produced red seeds. Xiao Ping believed that these ginseng would definitely be able to sell for an even higher price if they were allowed to grow for a bit longer.

  The oak tree planted some time ago has grown to the height of a three-story building, with a trunk so thick that one person cannot wrap their arms around it. The canopy covers an area of over 100 square meters, and sunlight can't penetrate through the dense leaves, casting large areas of shade underneath. In the outside world, an oak sapling would take at least several decades to grow this big. But in the miniature world, this process only takes a little more than a month.

  Since the oak tree had grown so big, Xiao Ping felt that it was time to put the cultivation of Song Lu on the agenda. He left the world in the pot and asked a hotel service staff about the location of the best restaurant in the provincial city, then went there directly.

  The owner of the restaurant, Pierre, is a Frenchman who is not only a shrewd businessman but also an excellent chef. A few years ago, Pierre chose to open this Western-style restaurant in the provincial city and it quickly became the highest-end dining venue in the city. Over the years, Pierre has seen many customers make various strange requests, but today's young man's request was something he had never heard of - he didn't order any dishes, only saying that he wanted to buy a whole fresh white truffle and black truffle.

  Truffles are a very precious ingredient, even in high-end restaurants like Raffles, the number that can be sold each season is very small. Generally, they are sliced into extremely thin pieces for use as a garnish, who has customers asking to buy whole ones, and on top of that, wanting both black and white truffles? Even the headwaiter couldn't make this decision, only the boss could decide.

  Pierre said in poor Chinese: "Mr. Xiao, you want black truffle is no problem, but white truffle is a bit troublesome, our store also need to book from Italy."

  "I can wait, and price is no problem." Xiao Ping said to the Frenchman: "But it's best if they're fully mature truffles, and they must be fresh."

  "Don't worry about the quality," Pierre said confidently. "At La Fleur, we only sell the best ingredients and wouldn't do anything to tarnish our reputation."

  "This is for the best." Xiao Ping took out two stacks of RMB and placed them on the table: "This is the deposit, we'll pay the rest when the matsutake mushrooms arrive."

  Since Xiao Ping has shown enough sincerity, Pierre will not push away the business that comes to his door. He stood up and shook hands with the other party: "Please rest assured, I will contact Europe immediately, and as soon as the goods arrive, I will contact you."

  "Thank you!" Xiao Ping politely thanked Pierre, very satisfied with the result of the trip to Raffles Restaurant.

  The next morning, Xiao Ping rushed to the nursery in the suburbs of the provincial city. He had already inquired beforehand and knew that they sold blueberry tree seedlings here. The owner of the nursery was very enthusiastic about Xiao Ping's intention to buy enough seedlings for five mu of mountain land. However, upon learning that Xiao Ping hoped to take delivery as soon as possible, he immediately shook his head and refused his request.