Chapter 18: The First Bucket of Gold

18 Chapter 18: The First Bucket of Gold

Gao Fei left the police station and went straight to Gambling Stone Street.

The entire street was filled with gambling stone shops, with all kinds of stones displayed in front of each shop, each marked with a price. The most expensive stones were priced over a million, while the cheapest ones needed only a few hundred yuan.

Generally, the larger the stone, the more expensive it was, because bigger stones had a higher chance of containing jade.

As Gao Fei walked, he scanned the stones on both sides of the street. At this moment, he had activated his Clairvoyance ability, clearly seeing the insides of the stones. In a short while, he had looked at over a hundred stones, almost all of them were duds with no jade at all.

Some stones had a very gorgeous appearance and were very attracting, seeming like they had a high chance of containing jade, but in reality... there was nothing inside, just a piece of junk! If one rashly bought them, they would definitely lose everything.

"Gambling Stone is indeed full of risks," Gao Fei remarked to himself, "Just a moment's carelessness, and you could lose it all." "Luckily, I have Clairvoyance, or else... I really wouldn't dare to enter this trade."

"Eh? This stone doesn't look bad." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Gao Fei walked briskly to a shop and picked up a stone. The stone was only as big as a child's palm, rough on the outside with lots of cracks, and looked quite ugly.

"Fancy this stone?" a middle-aged man emerged from the shop.

Gao Fei saw the price tag on the bottom of the stone, "Three thousand yuan? Isn't that too expensive!"

"Not at all, this stone is from an old pit in Myanmar, and the chances of it containing jade are very high." The middle-aged man was obviously exaggerating, a common sales strategy to talk up his goods and hike the price. To those unfamiliar with the business, there was a real chance of getting conned.

"I'll take it for five hundred yuan," Gao Fei began to bargain.

"No way, that's too low; I can't even cover my costs," the middle-aged man said, shaking his head vigorously.

"Then forget it, I don't want it." Gao Fei put the stone back from where he picked it up and pretended to walk away. This was another tactic, taking a step back to gain an advantage, keeping the initiative in his own hands.

"Hey hey hey... don't go..." the middle-aged man grabbed Gao Fei, "We can still talk about it... How about this, I'll give you a discount price, two thousand five hundred yuan..."

Gao Fei shook his head, "I can only offer you five hundred yuan."

"Raise your price a bit..."

"I can't raise it..."

After some back-and-forth bargaining, the two finally agreed on a price, and the stone was sold to Gao Fei for eight hundred yuan.

Gao Fei paid promptly, then picked up the stone he had set his sights on, "Boss, where can I cut the stone?"

"You can do it right here," the middle-aged man said with a smile, "But you need to pay a hundred yuan as a cutting fee."

"There's a fee for cutting it?"

"I'll offer fifty thousand!" A woman's voice sounded from behind, "To purchase this jade!"

"Hmm?" Gao Fei turned to look and saw a woman standing at the entrance of the shop, an extremely beautiful woman with long hair over her shoulders, a melon-seed face, delicate eyebrows, and a pair of lively big eyes. She wore a white shirt and light blue casual pants, exuding a very capable appearance.

"Hey... I say! How can you snatch my deal like that!" The middle-aged man looked at the long-haired woman discontentedly, "Don't you have any respect for the rules?"

"Rules?" The long-haired woman chuckled lightly, "This jade is worth at least fifty thousand, and yet you offer thirty thousand. Isn't that clearly trying to swindle someone?"

"You..." The middle-aged man was about to speak but got interrupted by the long-haired woman.

"If this jade is meticulously carved, it will definitely become more valuable." The long-haired woman looked intently at Gao Fei, "Sell this jade to me. I'll give you fifty thousand. This price is absolutely fair!"

15:07

"Having no respect for the rules... really no respect for the rules..." The middle-aged man was so angry that his face turned green, seeing the deal slipping out of his hands, especially irritated by the interference.

Gao Fei nodded, "Done, it's yours." Getting more money was certainly good. This experience made Gao Fei realize that his understanding of the value of jade was limited, and he was easily susceptible to deception. It seemed he needed to properly study the knowledge of jade in the future.

"Tell me your bank account number, and I'll transfer the money to you right away." The long-haired woman pulled out a large-screen smartphone from her pocket. With advanced technology, transferring money through mobile phones was very convenient.

"My account number is..." Gao Fei told the long-haired woman his bank account details.

The long-haired woman tapped her phone a few times and nodded, "Done, I've already transferred it. Check to see."

At this point, Gao Fei had received a message from the bank; his account balance had indeed increased by fifty thousand. He nodded, "The money has been transferred. The jade is yours!" Gao Fei snatched the jade from the middle-aged man's hand and handed it to the long-haired woman.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave," said the long-haired woman as she carefully put away the jade and then turned to leave.

Watching the long-haired woman's departing figure, Gao Fei nodded to himself, acknowledging her beauty. An outright beauty with the looks and grace, and a well-proportioned figure that was close to perfect; if he could win over a woman like that to be his wife, life would be blissful indeed.

"Brother... take a look... why not pick out a few more stones?" The middle-aged man came over with a smile, "Your luck today is great! You definitely should seize it!"

Gao Fei glanced at the middle-aged man indifferently, "What's the most important thing in doing business? It's honesty! Without honesty, a business is doomed to fail sooner or later." After saying this, Gao Fei walked away with big strides, resolved not to have dealings with someone who would be unprincipled out of greed.

"Hey, don't go..." The middle-aged man called out a few times, but Gao Fei simply ignored him, thinking to himself, "Damn it! It's all because of that wretched woman! She's ruined my good fortune! You better not fall into my hands, or I'll make sure you regret it!" An excellent deal had been spoiled by a stranger, and the middle-aged man was fuming with rage.

"What's the use of honesty? Can honesty be eaten like food? Can it be spent like money?" The middle-aged man vented furiously, "In today's business, it's all about cunning. Whoever is more cunning prospers! Without clever maneuvres, you can only wait to catch the northwest wind!"

...

Gao Fei was in high spirits, downright thrilled!

In under an hour, he had made close to fifty thousand, almost a year's total income for a wage earner.

No wonder so many people gambled on stones; the speed of making money was simply too fast!