"Ye Luo?"
Situ Luoyunâs eyes swept toward Ye Luo, revealing a surprised expression as they had already descended the stairs and arrived on this floor.
"What are you doing here?"
Situ Luoyun asked with an elegant, noble smile while looking at Ye Luo.
"Iâm obviously here to buy something,"
Ye Luo said, gesturing to the cauldron he was holding in front of him.
"You came to buy this cauldron?"
Situ Luoyunâs phoenix eyes were fixed on the pitch-black cauldron in front of Ye Luo, filled with surprise.
"Miss Situ, do you know each other?"
At this point, the old man in a grey robe couldnât help but ask, looking from Ye Luo to Situ Luoyun.
"Mhm."
Situ Luoyun nodded her head and said to Ye Luo, "What do you need this cauldron for? It doesnât look valuable at all."
"How can it not be valuable? I just spent thirty thousand on it."
Ye Luo retorted with a pout.
"Thirty thousand?"
Situ Luoyunâs face froze for a moment, then she turned to the old man and asked, "Old Chen, is this cauldron really worth so much?"
"This... that..."
The old manâs face changed multiple times as he glanced at the cauldron Ye Luo was holding, clearly embarrassed. The cauldron was not worth thirty thousand. He had received it as a freebie during a purchase, and it had no significant value. He had been keeping it as a piece of idle stock, how could it possibly be worth thirty thousand.
"Liu Qing, come over here. Whatâs going on?"
Afterward, the old man looked toward the young man who had just sold the cauldron to Ye Luo and called out to him.
At this time, the young man was already dumbfounded. He hadnât expected the situation to turn out this way. The youngster who had been taken for a fool actually knew such a beautiful woman, and whatâs more, this woman seemed to make his boss very wary. What a mess this had become.
A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind, but the young man still braced himself and went over.
The old man looked unkindly at the young man and said, "Whatâs going on here? Did you sell this cauldron to this gentleman?"
"This... I..."
The young man didnât know what to say and appeared awkward.
"Alright, boss, let it be. I bought the cauldron myself for thirty thousand."
Ye Luo involuntarily spoke up, knowing that the cauldron seemed worthless in the eyes of these people and that he had wasted his money, but to him, spending the thirty thousand was an incredible bargain.
The old manâs face was etched with embarrassment as he looked at Ye Luo, glancing at Situ Luoyun occasionally, fearing she might become upset.
"I really donât know what youâre thinking?"
Situ Luoyun seemed puzzled as she gazed at Ye Luo.
However, at that moment Ye Luoâs expression intensified as he scanned Situ Luoyun.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ye Luoâs unabashed stare made Situ Luoyunâs pretty face blush, and she couldnât help but recall the scene when he had treated her, feeling a sudden warmth inside her.
Soon, Ye Luoâs gaze moved away from her to one of the girls in black behind her who was holding a box. He activated his Clairvoyant Eye.
"Whatâs inside there?"
Ye Luo pointed at that box and spoke.
"This is a jade Guanyin that I just purchased from Old Chen to give to my grandfather as a birthday gift for his grand celebration."
Situ Luoyun looked at the box and said,
"May I have a look?"
Ye Luo spoke directly.
Situ Luoyun nodded, and with a wave of her hand, the woman in black opened the box. Inside lay a jade Guanyin, white as jade and shimmering with a lustrous sheen. It was obviously of great value."
"Can you sell this jade Guanyin to me? Iâll pay double the price."
Ye Luoâs gaze went straight to Situ Luoyun.
Situ Luoyun slightly furrowed her brows and said, "What do you need it for?"
"Itâs of great use to me. Whatever amount you ask for, Iâm willing to purchase it."
Ye Luo said without hesitation.
"Itâs not about the money. Iâm not short of cash. It took me a long time to find this jade Guanyin, and I feel itâs perfectly suitable as a birthday gift for my grandfather. If I sell it to you, what am I supposed to give my grandfather for his birthday?"
Situ Luoyun couldnât help but look at Ye Luo.
"A birthday gift is just thatâI can give you something better than this jade Guanyin for your grandfatherâs birthday, and I guarantee he will be satisfied."
Ye Luo said directly.
"My grandfather is no ordinary man. He has no need for common jewels or jadeite."
"Donât worry, whatever I give will be liked by any elder, whether they are an ordinary citizen or a person of power and influence."
A confident smile appeared at the corners of Ye Luoâs mouth.
Situ Luoyun glanced at Ye Luo and said, "What is it? Show me."
"I canât show it to you just yet, but just give me one dayâs time, and I can hand it to you tomorrow, guaranteed to your satisfaction."
"Then wait until you have that thing to show me, and Iâll consider whether or not to sell you this jade Guanyin."
Situ Luoyun pursed her lips as she spoke.
"Alright, Iâll come to you tomorrow."
Ye Luo nodded, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the jade Guanyin.
He so dearly wanted this jade Guanyin primarily because he had discovered that it contained a significant amount of spiritual energy. He wanted to acquire it to absorb the spiritual energy and enhance his own strength.
"Iâll be going then."
After leaving these words, Ye Luo walked out with the furnace. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly spotted a jade store next door, surrounded by a large crowd.
The storeâs entrance displayed various rocksânot ordinary ones but raw jade stones containing jadeite. Among these stones could potentially be top-grade jadeite.
Buying one and properly cutting it open could lead to a windfall overnight. Many people here were buying stones, then cutting them open to verify if there were precious gems withinâan activity known as stone gambling.
If one was to cut open a stone of high-value jadeite, the gain was immense. But if it turned out to be a worthless rock, one could lose everything.
Seeing this, Ye Luo spun his eyes and walked straight over.
At the entrance of the store lay a half-meter-tall rock. A worker was carefully cutting it, an undertaking referred to in the industry as âstone solving.â
There were two methods of stone solving: one was windowing, which meant cutting a small area on the raw stone to reveal the jadeite inside. If the quality was good, it indicated profit and the stone could be sold or cut further.
The other method was to cut the stone entirely open to reveal the form of the jadeite within, gambling right to the end. The outcome could be a huge windfall or a massive loss.
Thereâs a saying in the jade stone gambling industry, "One stroke poor, one stroke rich," precisely describing this situation.