Chapter 107: Gambling on Stones (1126)

  It is a folk name. The ancients believed that Tianhuang stone was spiritual, and after leaving the mine, the original Tianhuang stone material would secretly run away. So after mining out the material, miners used an ordinary large mountain stone to press it down, on the one hand to comfort themselves, and on the other hand to indicate that the spiritual Tianhuang was pressed under the stone, which was a good omen.

  As time goes on, folk rules and customs will spread unknowingly. Those who gamble on the yellow soil will all ask for good luck, so during transportation, there will be a large stone pressed on top, which is also called a "car-pressing stone".

  The boss, dressed in the Republic of China style, adjusted his tortoiseshell glasses and inadvertently glanced at the jade stones in Xuan Qi's backpack. Except for a piece of Burmese red jade that was still pretty good, the rest were uneven.

  The boss already had a preliminary guess in his mind, this should be a newcomer who is greedy for money and foolish. In professional terms, he is a rookie. Whatever catches their eye, eight cows can't pull it back, even if they clearly know it's a pitfall, they still jump into it without hesitation.

  The people around who were buying jade and antiques, after hearing the oily man's loud shout, all gathered around. Betting on Tian Huang is a delightful thing to watch, and bystanders love to see the excitement. Looking at others' good fortune, they feel envious, resentful, and hateful in their hearts, wondering why they don't have such good luck themselves. Watching others get cheated, these guys will again be gleeful, thinking to themselves that this is just another idiot who spent tens of thousands of dollars on a worthless rock with nothing inside.

  People who are familiar with him have started to greet the oily and powdered young master, whose surname is Zhou. He is an old player in Panjiayuan, likes to gamble on stones and play with women.

  As Zhou Gongzi shouted, everyone looked at Xuan Qi and saw the half-person-high bluestone beside him. The stone had been placed here for nearly three to five years. According to the geological structure, it was impossible for any jade material to form inside that stone. It was just a good luck charm for Pressing Field Yellow.

  At this moment, the people around looked at Xuan Qi with a mixture of envy and disdain, as if they were looking at an idiot who had stumbled upon good fortune.

  In the antique industry, insiders have several terms to refer to outsiders. Newcomers who have just paid tuition fees are called "new Bengchu". Those who have paid tuition fees for a few years but still haven't gained insight and continue to lose money in the antique business are called "old Bengchu". Ones who keep losing money but never learn from their mistakes are called "dumb Bengchu". Those who spend lavishly without fear of losing money are called "foolish Bengchu". Ones who keep losing money until they die, remaining stubborn till death, are called "dead Bengchu".

  The boss of the antique shop let out a sigh for no reason, and in his seemingly loyal and honest eyes, a hint of helplessness flashed by. No trickery, no business, especially in the antique industry, you need to have a mouth that can turn white into black, and a heart that is completely black as coal. Just like this situation now, if there weren't so many people around watching, the boss would definitely pass off this weight-pressing stone as a Tian Huang stone and sell it to this newcomer. But with all these people around, he couldn't even open his mouth to deceive anyone!

  After all, some things can be done behind people's backs, but not in front of them. Some things can be done with few people, but not with many. If you really deceive yourself, let alone whether there are people around to expose you, even if there aren't, your actions will still become a laughing stock in Panjiayuan tomorrow. Customers will recognize your deceit, and the road to business will only get narrower until it's closed for good.

  Even the most cunning businessman must maintain a honest and trustworthy image when there are many people around. The boss thought for a moment, then sighed inwardly, wondering why this new employee had to choose this time to suppress his greed and put on the air of a businessman: "Young man, that piece is just a heavy stone, an ordinary green stone with nothing inside except its weight. But the Tianhuang original stone in your hand is from an old mine, with good material and appearance. If you want to buy it, I'll give it to you for 100,000!"

  The boss says so, but in his heart he is bleeding. This price only made a third of the profit, just a little! Just a little! Thinking about it is unbearable! But to maintain the honest business brand, can only endure!

  "Hey!" Someone next to the boss who knew him whispered in shock, "Did Old Lu take the wrong medicine today? Why didn't he heavily slash the price when he encountered a new customer? This stone is usually sold for 150,000, how could he offer such a cheap price?"

  Another person with a playful smile at the corner of his mouth said in a similarly low voice, "Isn't this because there are many people around? If there weren't so many people surrounding us to watch, Old Lu would have asked for 2 million."

  Xuan Qi ignored the surrounding people's discussions and slapped his palm on the large green stone again, with a look of frenzy unique to gamblers: "Spit out what I've said, nail it. Since I said I'd buy two together, today I'll buy two together." Xuan Qi turned his eyes: "Two pieces added together, eleven million for you!"

  Xuān Mén cultivator, every word and action is in cultivation. Xuān Qí seems dull, but reveals the enthusiastic mentality of a newcomer, as if to prove the persistence of his unique insight, but instead takes down this large Qing stone at a smaller cost and with fewer unexpected events. It's precisely because there is ān Hún Yù (Soul-Calming Jade) inside, which can help Grandfather transform dead energy into living energy, that Xuān Qí will try every means to take it down, no matter if it's 10,000, 1 million, 10 million or 100 million.

  "Alright then!" The boss, who was maintaining a tough image, didn't insist and nodded in agreement, afraid of losing the deal. His heart, which had been bleeding earlier, felt slightly better, at least he would make an extra 10,000.

  After Xuan Qi bought the two stones, Zhou Gongzi on the side opened his mouth to mock: "Youngster, you really have good eyesight, buying such a big stone, do you want to take a look now?"

  The young master's words were completely out of shame and ridicule. Xuan Qi pretended not to understand, nodded his head and said: "Good!" The stone was too big, almost a ton heavy, and Xuan Qi couldn't carry it either. Seeing Xuan Qi's persistence, the boss let two workers lift the stone and place it horizontally on the cutting machine. Just as they were about to cut it in half, Xuan Qi hurriedly said: "Wait!" Then he picked up a piece of chalk and drew lines on the big green stone with Lao Ding's assistance.

  Don't joke around, An Hún Yù is such a precious thing, how can you just slash down like that. It will be a waste of heaven's treasures, and a heavenly punishment. With the help of Lǎo Guī, Xuán Qí carefully drew a line on it, and to be cautious, he even moved his finger outward by one inch. On the large dark green stone, there was only a palm-sized An Hún Yù. It was condensed right in the center of the stone, if it had been cut down carelessly just now, it would have been completely ruined.

  The onlookers who had gathered to watch the commotion didn't leave, their eyes filled with curiosity as they watched Xuan Qi draw lines. Some of the more impatient collectors had already begun to whisper among themselves, wondering if this large stone really did have potential? Could it be cut and polished? As they pondered, they gazed intently at the stone again, but the large green stone remained just that - a large green stone!

  Zhou Gongzi's mouth curled up, his eyes full of disdain, and he said: "Stupid stick, I think you should wipe the stone clean, maybe inside is full of Tian Huang." As he spoke, he supported his chin with his hand, intentionally using a light and sarcastic tone to say: "That would be incredible, half a ton of Tian Huang stone coming out of a one-ton Qing stone, a world record! You'd directly become the richest man in Huaxia!"

  The people around him burst out laughing, this is a story that even mythological tales dare not fabricate. The green stone producing yellow rice is as impossible as a rooster laying eggs or a sow climbing trees.

  Xuan Qi remained calm, ignoring the surrounding people's ridicule, and after drawing the line, he signaled the workers to cut. The high-speed rotating sand wheel quickly fell down, the ear-piercing noise left people speechless. After waiting for the big bluestone to be cut in half, the onlookers gathered around, only to see that the inside of the big bluestone was still just bluestone!

  "Up! Up! All are big green stones!" The people around burst into laughter again. Those who were not firm in their will began to self-examine in their hearts, what could be inside the big green stone? It must still be a big green stone! Their own previous fantasies and letting the pig give birth to a litter were no different!

  Xuan Qi's expression was calm and collected, he glanced at the slightly larger stone block, and found that the worker had cut it relatively steadily. They were all following their own lines, and hadn't damaged the An Soul Jade inside, so he put his mind at ease and let the workers change to another side to continue cutting.

  Gambling on jade is also a gamble, and participants all have an unyielding obsession. There was once a big player in Yunnan and Myanmar who staked his entire fortune on a piece of rough stone, but it didn't yield any jadeite. Not a single strand of jade came out, so he refused to give up and cut the entire piece into fist-sized chunks. Still, nothing was gained, and just as he was about to lose everything, his five-year-old son picked up one of the fist-sized pieces of rough stone and began polishing it on a grinding wheel. To their surprise, green jade emerged, and what's more, it was imperial green glass!

  The rich man who should have gone bankrupt became a new noble with a net worth of tens of millions. From then on, he never gambled again. With his son and wife, he lived a stable life, doing practical business.

  It's really because of the unpredictability of gambling on stones that there are often stories of dramatic reversals and narrow escapes, constantly reminding us that great wealth and utter bankruptcy are only a hair's breadth apart. This prompts some opportunists to keep searching for the stone that will make them rich overnight.

  So Xuan Qi's attitude is quite reasonable. After all, it was his money that bought the thing, and he can cut it however he wants! If it rises, everyone will envy him, and if it falls, everyone will definitely mock him. Anyway, watching the excitement doesn't cost any money!

  The spinning grindstone stopped, a one-meter-high stone, only a one-meter-diameter, fifty-centimeter-thick stone slab was left. The big green stone remained the same as before. The eyes of the people around flashed with ridicule. Zhou Gongzi's sarcastic remarks continued, and he jumped even more happily.

  Xuan Qi took out 600 yuan from his pocket and gave each worker 300. He then gestured for them to step aside, as he would take over the cutting himself. The stone slab was secured on the machine, and Xuan Qi grasped the handle of the cutting machine. Taking a deep breath, he started the sand wheel and carefully made four consecutive cuts along the Anhun Jade. With a series of swift movements - brush, brush, brush, brush! - the original one-meter-long stone slab was transformed into a cube with sides of only 50 centimeters in length, width, and height.

  After the sand wheel stopped, looking at the cube on the ground, Xuan Qi felt a strong aura rushing towards him, his soul was not calm, and a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky above Pan's garden, with seven-colored auspicious clouds, thousands of colorful rays, purple energy coming from the east, and the birth of a spiritual treasure. However, the ordinary people around couldn't see it at all. The wise and sharp-eyed cultivators were left in the dust, knowing that a spiritual treasure had been born, they wished they could grow wings to fly over, but the distance was too far!

  Xuan Qi's hands moved as swiftly as lightning, directly picking up the large dark green stone. It seemed to have been tossed into his backpack, but in reality it appeared in Lao Ding's Yunbo Mountain Cave Heaven. Lao Ding was already excited like a mischievous child: "The rest of the task I'll take care of!" He said, washing the large dark green stone by the river water, using the most gentle and primitive method to extract the Anshen Jade from within the stone.

  As the Soul Jade appeared in the Smoke Wave Cave Heaven, although the strange colors above the Pan Family Garden disappeared, it shocked the Xian cultivators of China. Various hermits came out, and all the major sects were shaken. Even foreign religious forces wanted to come to China to get a share of the pie. For a time, the winds and clouds stirred!