Two hundred thousand

As expected, when the stone priced at eighty-eight thousand eight hundred eighty-eight was cut open, there was not a trace of jade inside. Apart from a piece of stone skin radiating green light, the rest was nothing but gravel.

"That's a loss for sure."

"With such a strong jade glow, how could there be no jade?"

"I was considering betting on this stone earlier, but never expected that it wouldn't yield any jade. Fortunately, I didn't buy it," the crowd muttered among themselves.

"What? Not even a bit of jade? Eighty-eight thousand just down the drain like that." The young man who had just paid emerged, his face paling at the sight.

"We've been cheated," whispered another youth beside him, casting a resentful glance toward Chen Fengyun.

"Don't worry, there's still one more," the student remarked with admirable composure, patting his companion's shoulder as the master began to work on the second stone.

"This stone is large, but the color in the window is so dull—there's no way it'll produce good jade."

"I agree, they're going to lose even bigger this time. Even if it yields some jade, it's not worth one hundred eighteen thousand."

"How could they be so foolish, listening to an outsider? If they'd just bought one, their losses would have been less. Now it's even worse."

The crowd commented on the second stone, almost no one optimistic about its prospects. Even the two young men, though holding onto hope, found it hard to believe a miracle would occur.

Shhhh—

Yet, just as the master sliced away a third of the stone, a brilliant green light suddenly burst forth, flooding the surroundings with its radiant glow.

"My goodness, that's the glow of superior jade!"

"Incredible, such a nondescript stone contains top-quality jade?"

"A massive windfall, pure jade—who would have thought! The shop owner is going to lose big this time."

Experts among the crowd cried out in astonishment, and even the burly men inside the shop were taken aback. The two young men were stunned, but when they looked at Chen Fengyun, his expression remained calm and composed.

"Chen Fengyun, how did you know there would be jade in that stone?" Zeng Yue jumped up excitedly beside him, then pulled him aside to ask in a whisper, "Can you really tell which stones have jade inside?"

"You're overthinking it. You said this stone was bigger and cheaper, so I suggested they try it. Do you really think someone can see through a stone? Even the most advanced scientific instruments in the world can't do that—how could a person?"

Chen Fengyun replied with quiet indifference, dampening her excitement. After a moment's thought, she nodded in agreement; she couldn't believe Chen Fengyun could see through stones—it must have been luck.

"Superior pure jade, bigger than a fist. Enough for several jade bracelets, and some other jewelry besides." Soon, the master extracted the jade from the stone, and it gleamed in his hand, its green glow pure and the jade itself crystal-clear. Even those unfamiliar with jade could see its exceptional quality.

"Brothers, you're in luck. We'll buy back this jade at our shop. Since it's fine quality but a bit small, we'll refund your previous payment as its price," said the leading burly man, his eyes wide with surprise as he stepped forward with a smile to address the young student.

"Do you think we've never seen jade before? Jade bracelets of this quality easily fetch tens of thousands a pair, and this piece can make more than just one pair. If you offer a fair price, we'll let you buy it back. If not, we have every right not to sell," the student retorted coldly, clutching the jade.

"Brother, this jade was cut in our shop. If you don't sell it to us, do you think other shops would dare buy it?" The burly men closed in again, the leader sneering.

"What, are you trying to force a deal? Is your shop really the biggest in Lin C County? I don't believe it. Come with me; my uncle owns a shop, and he'll give you a fair price," Zeng Yue suddenly jumped in to defend them. The burly leader was about to flare up, but paused at her words, asking, "Who is your uncle? Even if he's a shop owner here, I doubt he'd dare compete with Master Han's business."

"My uncle's name is Zhao Jianguo. Have you heard of him?" Zeng Yue replied without hesitation.

"So your uncle is Master Zhao? That's quite the family connection. Master Zhao and Master Han are business partners; tonight's reopening of the Ancient Garden is their joint venture with others. Given that, we'll offer a fair price—fifty-two hundred thousand. That's basically cost price; we'll only make a little on the craftsmanship," the burly leader's attitude changed at the mention of Zhao Jianguo, and he raised the offer four or five times as he spoke to Zeng Yue with a smile.

"That's an acceptable price. It's inconvenient for us to carry around such a large piece of jade; better to exchange it for cash and join tonight's stone gambling event," the two young men whispered together, then sold the jade to the shop.

"Brothers, thank you, especially for your advice. Without it, we'd have lost the eighty-eight thousand. Now we've not only recovered our capital but made an extra four hundred thousand. We've agreed to give you two hundred thousand—please don't refuse," the student caught up with Chen Fengyun and Zeng Yue just as they were leaving.

"That's right, this is unexpected fortune for us, but without your guidance, we never would have made it. Please don't turn us down," the other young man added earnestly.

"Actually, we…" Zeng Yue began.

"Here's my bank card. Transfer the money directly. I'd like to attend the stone gambling event tonight, but my card is empty, so I'll accept your thanks," Chen Fengyun interrupted, handing over his card number.

Zeng Yue: "…"

The two young men had been ready to convince him, but were surprised when Chen Fengyun nodded and gave them his card number without hesitation. They didn't delay and promptly transferred the two hundred thousand via mobile banking.

"My name is Geng Chunming, a sophomore at the Capital Foreign Languages University. This is my friend Xu Dalin, also a sophomore at Capital University. We took leave for social practice, but snuck off to watch the stone gambling here. Thankfully, we met you, otherwise today would have been much rougher."