Chapter 381 - 379: Conscience Price

Chapter 381: Chapter 379: Conscience Price

"With Spiritual Energy this abundant, it has to be huge." At the same time Cao Cao let out a gasp of amazement, Gu Nuan Nuan also sensed an exceptionally rich wave of Spiritual Energy. This time, she didn’t hesitate, walking directly toward the shop’s backyard. She then stopped in front of a massive raw stone, at least as tall as a person.

"It’s huge! I bet at least eighty percent of it is Jade, and the quality is definitely top-notch. It would be such a shame to miss out on this." Cao Cao floated in front of Gu Nuan Nuan, its face flushed with excitement. "Master, let’s buy it and have it cut!" ’This is so exciting! We can finally make a huge scene, can’t we?’

Gu Nuan Nuan ignored it, simply standing in place and gazing at the stone before her, lost in thought.

"Well now, little miss. Staring for so long... have you taken a fancy to this stone?" Just as Gu Nuan Nuan was staring fixedly at the giant raw stone, a seductive woman in her thirties suddenly sauntered over, swaying her hips. She shot Gu Nuan Nuan a malicious smile, her face a mask of undisguised contempt. "Even if you have, it’s no use. Do you have any idea how much this stone costs?"

Gu Nuan Nuan raised an eyebrow, glancing at the woman. "Are you the owner, or the owner’s wife?"

"No."

’How ridiculous.’ "If you aren’t, then what business is it of yours whether I like it or not?" Gu Nuan Nuan threw her a disdainful glance.

"You have no manners! I was just being kind, telling you that you can’t afford this raw stone so you wouldn’t waste your time standing here drooling over something you can’t have. How can you be so ungrateful?" When the woman saw that Gu Nuan Nuan didn’t blush and scurry away as expected, but instead retorted with such an attitude, she flew into a humiliated rage.

"Psycho." Gu Nuan Nuan shot her a sidelong glance and scoffed softly. Walking past the woman, she tossed out, "Just because you can’t afford it, don’t assume the rest of the world can’t, alright?"

"Then buy it, if you’re so capable! This single piece costs three hundred thousand! I’d love to see what you plan on buying it with!" Hearing this, the woman instantly screeched as if her tail had been stepped on.

Gu Nuan Nuan ignored her and went directly to fetch the owner.

"Young lady, are you sure you want to buy this one? It’s not cheap, you know." The owner was a refined-looking middle-aged man with a perpetually gentle smile. He had actually witnessed the entire scene, but since he hadn’t believed Gu Nuan Nuan could afford his stones, he hadn’t intervened in the other woman’s provocations. The moment he walked over, however, the seductive woman who had just been screeching and posturing before Gu Nuan Nuan immediately fell silent as a cicada in winter, shrinking to the side without daring to utter another sound.

"How much?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked.

"Three hundred thousand, take it or leave it." The owner smiled. Though in his heart he didn’t truly believe Gu Nuan Nuan could produce the money, he still spoke with a sliver of hope. He was a natural at spouting nonsense without batting an eye. "By weight, this stone is a solid ten tons. Three hundred thousand isn’t expensive at all. It’s a more than fair price."

As the owner finished speaking, several regular customers nearby, who had been eavesdropping and knew the stone’s history inside and out, all scoffed to themselves. They cast furtive, pitying glances toward Gu Nuan Nuan.

In truth, most of the regulars there knew the story behind this particular stone.

Five years ago, the owner’s father had personally traveled to an old mining district in Nan’an Country and paid a hefty price to bring it back. Back then, it was nearly double its current size. During its extraction, a scrape had revealed a small window of pure, solid green. Someone had even offered a million for it at one point. Unfortunately, the old owner was supremely confident, believing that the stone he had paid so much for and gone to such great lengths to bring back from the old district in Nan’an Country was worth far more. Thus, he insisted on cutting it himself.

But alas, things rarely go as planned. The stone ended up being a complete bust. That window of solid green was later confirmed to be just a paper-thin layer. After a full half of the stone was cut away, not another speck of green was found inside—it was all worthless rock. The incident became a laughingstock in private circles, and the owner’s father was so incensed that he suffered a stroke. Ever since, the stone had been left here, completely ignored.

Naturally, Gu Nuan Nuan had no way of knowing about any of this. She noticed the supposedly furtive glances from the crowd but paid them no mind. She was determined to have this raw stone. "Could you help me rent a warehouse? I need to store it for a couple of days."

A moment ago, while standing before the raw stone, she had been contemplating the feasibility of having the owner deliver it to her maternal uncle’s place. But after being interrupted by that baffling woman, it occurred to her that she could just rent a space herself. That way, she could also snatch up the few other large raw stones she had fancied at the previous shops.

"A warehouse is no problem. If you’re buying it, you won’t need to rent one. I have a place nearby I can lend you to store the stone for a few days," the owner said, watching Gu Nuan Nuan with keen interest. In his heart, he still doubted she could pull out that much cash in one go.

Gu Nuan Nuan said nothing. She simply set down her backpack, unzipped it, and began pulling out bundle after bundle of cash. Once a full thirty bundles were out, she zipped her backpack closed. "Sir, I’ll leave this stone here for now. In a bit, I’m going to buy a few more stones from other shops. I’ll be back in half an hour at most. It won’t be a problem to temporarily store those at your place along with this one, right?"

"Haha, of course it’s no problem! Go right ahead. After you buy the stones from the other shops, just tell them to deliver them to me, Old Jin. I’ll receive them for you." The owner glanced at Gu Nuan Nuan’s backpack, which was obviously still packed with cash, and let out a hearty laugh. Seeing her nod, shoulder her backpack, and turn to leave, he couldn’t resist adding hopefully, "If you need it, we can help you with the stone cutting right here."

"I won’t need to trouble you with the stone cutting. My family has professionals who can do it better." Gu Nuan Nuan smiled. By this point, she was certain this raw stone had a ’story.’ A smirk played on her lips. Without any more small talk, she turned and left. Behind her, the seductive woman had taken in the entire scene. Her shocked eyes stared at Gu Nuan Nuan’s backpack for several moments. Then, she lowered her head, her own eyes filled with avarice.

"Master, do you think that woman will try to pull a fast one on us?" Cao Cao giggled, asking Gu Nuan Nuan from its spot in mid-air. Although Gu Nuan Nuan hadn’t planned on cutting the stone on-site to cause a major stir, the sight of her pulling out all that cash had been witnessed by quite a few people. Cao Cao felt rather satisfied with the envious stares they had garnered.

"She probably will. Hmph. Some people are just so strange. I didn’t do anything to provoke her. I have no idea why she’s acting so crazy for no reason at all." Gu Nuan Nuan was rather speechless. She wasn’t afraid of someone plotting against her, of course. ’Perfect. When the time comes, I might even be able to get the story behind this raw stone out of her.’

"Hee hee, she’s just jealous! I mean, who told you to be younger and a hundred times prettier than her, Master?" Cao Cao felt it had uncovered the truth of the matter.