After Ma Dong finished speaking, he turned and walked into the hall.
Gao Fei watched Ma Dong’s retreating figure, the corners of his mouth curling slightly into a sly smile of a successful scheme.
Brother?
You think you’re worthy?
If you didn’t have a bit of filthy money, would I bother with you?
Back in the hall.
Mu En asked Ma Dong, “Have you made up your mind?”
“Yes,” Ma Dong nodded and said, “I want to compete fairly with Mr. Lin.”
Hmm?
Lin Jingzhi was taken aback.
Earlier, Ma Dong had said he would give up. How could a brief trip outside change his mind?
Mu En laughed heartily, “That’s the spirit! How can a man give up so easily? Mr. Lin, what about you? Are you giving up?”
“I won’t give up,” Lin Jingzhi stated.
Her trip to Dali was primarily to purchase jade and establish a long-term partnership with Mu En.
If she gave up now, she would completely lose Mu En as a supplier.
Hearing Lin Jingzhi’s words, the smile on Mu En’s face grew even wider.
This was exactly the outcome he wanted.
He wanted to pit Ma Dong and Lin Jingzhi against each other, ideally letting Ma Dong win. That way, Lin Jingzhi would fail to secure the goods, lose him as a supplier, and surely become desperate.
Then, according to Mu En’s plan, Lin Jingzhi would come begging to him, and he could seize the opportunity to make demands.
As for the demands, there was really only one: he wanted Lin Jingzhi to be his woman.
Mu En thought to himself that if Lin Jingzhi became his, he could supply her with goods, and Ma Dong would have nothing to say.
Mu En said, “Since neither of you is giving up, let’s have a fair competition. I’ll need to think carefully about the method of competition.”
Ma Dong quickly said, “Uncle Mu, I have a suggestion.”
“Oh?” Mu En glanced at Ma Dong in surprise. “Let’s hear it.”
Ma Dong said, “Uncle Mu, what do you think about stone gambling?”
Mu En’s eyes lit up.
Lin Jingzhi’s expression, however, shifted slightly.
Stone gambling is a unique form of trade, not unlike gambling.
A piece of uncut jade, known as raw material, reveals nothing beyond its shape and weight—no one can be certain whether it contains jade inside.
There’s a saying in the stone gambling world: “Even immortals can’t judge an inch of jade.”
Thus, stone gambling relies not only on luck but also on experience.
Gamblers rely on their expertise, examining the surface of the raw material, making repeated guesses and judgements, estimating a price, and then purchasing the material to cut it open. The result could be jade worth tens or hundreds of millions, or it could be worthless waste—that’s the risk of stone gambling.
As the saying goes, “One cut can make you poor, one cut can make you rich.” A single stone could make someone fabulously wealthy or bankrupt them overnight.
Such stories are common in the stone gambling world.
Mu En smiled, “I think Ma Dong’s idea is excellent! Mr. Lin, what do you think?”
Lin Jingzhi said, “I think we should consider something else…”
“Mr. Lin, I think we’d better stick with this!”
Before Lin Jingzhi could finish, Mu En interrupted, “We’re in the jade business, and stone gambling is a little bit of fun in our industry. It tests eyesight and luck, and it won’t harm anyone’s goodwill.”
“For fairness, we’ll have a best-of-three.”
“Whoever cuts open the jade with the highest value wins!”
“The final victor will not only take this batch of goods from me but will also become my sole partner in Suzhou and Hangzhou moving forward.”
“Mr. Lin, what do you think?”
You’ve already decided, so why ask me?
Lin Jingzhi was somewhat displeased.
At that moment, Ye Qiu’s voice rang out, “I say we go with Mr. Mu’s plan!”
“Ye Qiu…”
Lin Jingzhi was about to warn Ye Qiu that stone gambling was disadvantageous to her, but as she started to speak, she saw Ye Qiu give her a subtle look.
Lin Jingzhi had no choice but to say, “Fine, let’s do stone gambling!”
“Excellent,” Mu En laughed heartily. “In that case, let’s not waste time. Follow me!”
With that, Mu En led the way, and the group left the villa.
They turned a few corners along the street and arrived at a processing factory.
Outside the factory, a crowd of at least a hundred people—tourists and merchants—had gathered to buy raw materials.
“Mr. Mu is here!”
Someone shouted, and the crowd parted, making way for a path.
Wherever Mu En passed, people greeted him incessantly.
“Hello, Mr. Mu!”
“Hello, Mr. Mu!”
“…”
Mu En waved with a smile, greeting the people around him, then led Ye Qiu and the others into the factory.
Upon entering, Ye Qiu was stunned.
The factory spanned thousands of square metres, with mountains of raw jade materials piled up, countless in number.
The raw materials varied in size.
The smallest weighed a pound or two, while the largest were hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Among them, one piece in the corner, weighing at least three thousand pounds, stood out prominently.
“Ma Dong, Mr. Lin, as per the best-of-three agreement, each of you will select three pieces of raw material.”
Mu En pointed to the materials in the factory and said, “You can choose any raw material here, and whichever you pick, I’ll give it to you for free.”
“If you’re lucky and cut open jade, I’ll buy it back at three times the market price.”
“Of course, if you don’t want to sell, you can take it all away.”
“What do you both think?”
Ma Dong’s face lit up with joy as he smiled and said, “Uncle Mu, you’re truly a big boss—always so generous.”
Mu En glanced at Ma Dong, “You seem awfully confident, lad. Got something up your sleeve?”
Ma Dong chuckled, “I’ve brought a helper.”
“Who?”
Just as Mu En asked, a commotion erupted from the crowd outside.
“Mr. Yao is here!”
“Make way for Mr. Yao!”
“Is Mr. Yao here for stone gambling?”
“Fantastic, we’ll finally get to see Mr. Yao in action!”
“…”
Soon, an elderly man, surrounded by the crowd, appeared in Mu En’s line of sight.
The man was over sixty, with a lean face, dressed in a grey Zhongshan suit and gold-rimmed glasses, looking every bit the scholar.
“Mr. Yao!”
Mu En stepped forward quickly, shaking the man’s hand and saying, “Your presence truly honours us, Mr. Yao!”
“You’re too kind, Mr. Mu!” Mr. Yao smiled. “I’m now the chief appraiser for Young Master Ma’s company. When I got his call, I rushed over.”
“Is that so?” Mu En glanced back at Ma Dong, saying enviously, “You’ve done well, lad, getting Mr. Yao to join your company. Must’ve taken some effort, eh?”
Ma Dong said modestly, “Mr. Yao saw that I’m a junior just starting out, so he wanted to give me a leg up.”
Meanwhile.
Lin Jingzhi said gravely, “I’m going to lose this stone gambling match.”
Ye Qiu noticed that ever since Mr. Yao’s arrival, Lin Jingzhi’s expression had grown serious. Hearing her words, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the deal with this old guy?”
Lin Jingzhi replied, “Mr. Yao has a nickname: the Jade King!”
—
