CH 23.2

Chapter 23.2

The Min family was one of the top three families in the Proxima Star and even though there were some bad rumors about the family, it was an existence that everyone around wanted to climb up to.

Just who was this old man that he could make decisions on behalf of the Min family?

A rough stones dealer looked carefully at the old man’s appearance and couldn’t help but feel a jolt in his heart after thinking of something: this, this old man could very well be the old head of the Min family, Min Yuan!

He had met Old Man Min at a Proxima Star dark-bid auction ten years ago, and the old man’s decisive look was still fresh in his mind.

The old man had thrown 150 million starcoins at the auction to win the then bidding king over, overwhelming all the other families and shocking everyone present at the time.

Later on, the bidding king produced an ice green jadeite worth nearly 300 million, and rode the entire auction to a fevered pitch, gaining momentum!

Many families admired Old Man Min’s insight and determination and befriended him.

This move also enabled the Min family to move up the ladder to become one of Proxima Star’s leading families.

Although the current head of the Min family was Min Shang, the power was still in the hands of Old Man Min and any major decisions of the Min family could only be made with his approval.

As Min Yuan’s visuals were widely circulated on Starnet, at this point, many people recognized him.

Moreover, he was followed by two black-clad bodyguards with the latest model of energy guns at their waists, guarding his safety every step of the way, further confirming his identity.

To the shock of everyone, Old Man Min had taken a fancy to a young man he had never met and wanted him to be the Min family’s exclusive Stone Gambler!

All at once, everyone looked at Bai Jing with unbridled envy and jealousy.

What kind of luck did this young man have that he could be favored by the person behind the Min Family! How come they didn’t have such luck?!

Just looking at him, they didn’t even know if he had the qualifications to gamble on rough stones yet!

This time out, Bai Jing wasn’t wearing the Level 1 Stone Gambler badge and with his different outfit, no one knew he was the commoner who had tied in first place with Du Xing Yu.

Many people looked at him with puzzled eyes, wondering what was so outstanding about him that he could be valued by the Min family’s old man.

Surprisingly, however, Bai Jing not only didn’t immediately agree to Old Man Min’s invitation, he even declined the other man’s generous offer: “Thank you, but I can’t accept your offer.”

At these words, the crowd erupted.

Was this teenager unaware of the Min family’s position in Proxima Star or had his brain been smashed in by a door?

This was a position as the Min family’s exclusive Stone Gambler which was much higher than the status of a normal hired Stone Gambler!

However the expression on Bai Jing’s face remained calm, making it impossible to tell what he was actually thinking.

He had refused the Min family’s invitation not only because he had already signed an agreement with Gu Yuanzhao and become the exclusive Stone Gambler of the Gu Conglomerate, but also because of Min Qingshi.

From Min Qingshi’s arrogant, condescending and disrespectful character, the Min family’s tutelage was evident; as the saying went, ‘one is able to see the whole picture from a small part’ and together with the news Bai Jing overheard on Starnet about the Min family’s bullying of the commoner Stone Gambler, he’d had had no good feelings towards the Min family ever since.

Never expecting the young man to refuse his invitation, Old Man Min froze for a moment, but he wasn’t angry, only a little puzzled: “Young man, may I know the reason for your refusal?”

Naturally Bai Jing couldn’t tell him the truth and so said politely, “My ability is not up to the level of being an exclusive Stone Gambler so it doesn’t merit me being regarded so highly by you. Thank you for the invitation, but I am sorry.”

A gleam appeared in the eyes of old man Min, who had a keen sense of human nature, intuiting that this was an excuse from the young man.

From the moment Bai Jing began to deconstruct the stone, he stood by and watched the young man unobtrusively.

The young man’s technique was clean, and he wasn’t frustrated when the rough stones collapsed in bet, nor was he overjoyed when they rose up in bet.

Old Man Min had seen a lot of people in the first half of his life, but there were few who could remain as calm as the young man had.

He was so impressed by the talent that he invited him.

But he couldn’t force himself on him if he didn’t want to. Sigh!

After Old Man Min boarded his hover car, he was still a bit undeterred and planned to go back to look up Bai Jing’s profile.

After all, there was no such thing as unjustified rejection and if there was any misunderstanding, it was better to clear it up as soon as possible.

Old Man Min had a hunch that if this young man joined the Min family, their family’s status would go even further.

Min Qingshi had been having a bad time lately, as if he was haunted by bad luck.

A month ago he lost a bet with a bast*rd from the slums in the Gu Conglomerate’s rough stone district, lost 5 million starcoins and lost his reputation, much to his disgrace.

Thinking of this, Min Qingshi gritted his teeth in anger. He still remembered that after it was over that day he hadn’t known how to explain what had happened to his father and so stayed out late until he had no choice but to go home.

However he didn’t expect to be greeted by a heavy slap on the face as soon as he entered the door.

He was beaten so hard that blood came out of the corner of his mouth and he became unconscious straight away.

He remembered that his father had never laid a finger on him, so he hadn’t expected him to be so angry this time.

Min Shang changed from his previously tolerant demeanor and cursed him for his stupidity and for having lowered himself to the point of antagonizing a commoner.

And the stupidest thing he had done was not telling him right away after causing trouble, which caused the rumor to spread so widely that many prominent families were waiting to see Min Qingshi and the Min family’s joke.

Ever since Min Qingshi became a Level 3 Stone Gambler, Min Shang had taken pride in this and had been spreading the word about his son’s status as a genius Stone Gambler as if he wished that his son would become a household name.

However becoming a Level 3 Stone Gambler at the age of 22 indeed showed that he was very talented.

Hence many prominent families envied Min Shang for having a good son.

But after this incident, Min Qingshi’s reputation as a talented Stone Gambler turned into a great irony and almost became a laughing stock in high circles.

Fortunately, Min Shang reacted quickly and used a lot of money and contacts to pull all the news from Starnet while silencing the matter with other more explosive news.

When Min Qingshi found out, he had exhaled heavily in relief.

He wasn’t afraid of his father Min Shang because his father had only one son and usually spoiled him so even if he did something wrong, he would just scold him and would never abandon him.

So Min Qingshi had been very much at peace for a while.

However just when it seemed that the matter was about to pass, it was stirred up on Old Man Min’s side.

When Min Qingshi heard the news, his heart ‘thumped’ and he thought to himself, ‘not good’.

His grandfather, Old Man Min, was the one he usually feared most.

When Old Man Min was young, he was an officer in the Empire and a very powerful and decisive man.

He had been the head of the Min family until now but was still the center of the family’s power.

Min Qingshi’s legs always went weak at the sight of the old man and he didn’t even dare squeak in front of him.

Old Man Min didn’t have only one grandson and his favorite was Min Qinghe who was only 17 years old; he didn’t care for he Min Qingshi at all.

Sure enough, the old man was furious when he found out about this and he was sent to work in the mines for more than a week as a laborer, leaving him so exhausted that he couldn’t even lift his arms when he returned.

Then he was forced to stay at home to recuperate until the rumors had died down before he could continue gambling on stones.

And all this, was thanks to that bast*rd from the slums!

Thinking of this, Min Qingshi’s eyes had turned red with hatred. He would never spare that slum bast*rd!

So he hired a few men to go to the Gu Conglomerate’s rough stone area with the intention of giving him a good beating.

But the men he sent weren’t able to find the bastrd for days and he couldn’t get a location so he could only be secretly pissed off at the bastrd’s luck. D*mn it!

He thought this was the worst possible outcome, but he didn’t expect something even worse to happen.

His betting rate dropped to below 15% due to a series of losses and as he hadn’t raised his betting rate for a month, he had been downgraded from a Level 3 Stone Gambler to a Level 2 Stone Gambler.

Fcking hll!

Min Qingshi couldn’t help but explode into foul curses as he smashed all the items in the room frantically. He simply couldn’t imagine the taunting stares of others when he participated in a betting battle again.

It was all that cheap bast*rd’s fault, he would definitely make him pay!!!

By now, it had been more than a month since the last time and he could finally be unbanned.

But before he could leave the house, the butler from the old man’s side came at the first moment and asked him to go to the main hall.

Min Qingshi arrived fearfully in the hall with its vintage style and was greeted by a teacup.

…..