Chapter 382 - 380: A Rare Fat Sheep

Chapter 382: Chapter 380: A Rare Fat Sheep

’Jealousy and greed are cardinal sins.’

Other than jealousy, Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t think of any other reason why that woman would say such baffling things to her. She shrugged, deciding not to waste any more thought on someone so irrelevant. Relying on her memory, she quickly revisited the few shops she recalled having stones rich with Spiritual Energy. She pointed out the raw stones that had previously caught her interest, paid for them, and simply instructed the shopkeepers to deliver them to Old Jin’s shop. And that was that.

To any onlookers, her actions seemed like the textbook definition of a rich girl being willful. Who gambles on stones like that? Just pointing at them without a proper look, making a decision on the spot, and not even considering cutting them open? In the eyes of a true expert, how was this any different from a child messing around?

Back at Old Jin’s shop, Gu Nuan Nuan returned in less than the agreed-upon half hour, having arranged for another dozen or so large stones to be delivered. Some people immediately noticed her backpack, which was now completely flat. The anger and heartache in their eyes was so intense, you would think it was their own money she had just squandered.

The greedy stares from those people, which they thought were so subtle, couldn’t possibly escape Gu Nuan Nuan’s Divine Sense. She scoffed inwardly, not even bothering to give them a glance. With a composed expression, she followed the owner as he found people and a vehicle to move her large stones to the place he’d promised to lend her—a warehouse fitted with an iron gate and several huge padlocks. Conveniently, it wasn’t far from the owner’s shop and was in a fairly busy neighborhood.

After the stones were unloaded, the owner handed her a set of keys and said generously, "I don’t expect to use this warehouse anytime soon. If three days isn’t enough, you can leave them here for another five or six days. It’s no problem."

"Three days is enough. I might not even need that long," Gu Nuan Nuan said with a smile. "Should I have someone bring the keys to your shop afterward?"

"No need. Just drop the keys into that mailbox when you’re done," the owner said, pointing to a large, sheet-metal mailbox by the warehouse entrance. "I’ll come by in three days to get them myself."

"Okay, that’s perfect." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded, noticing the mailbox also had a large padlock on it.

"To be honest, I mostly lend this warehouse to customers for temporarily storing raw stones. I don’t change the keys every time, so you’d be wise to have someone stand guard at night. The locks can also be latched from the inside. Or you could add another padlock of your own. This area is relatively safe, so you can rest easy as long as someone is watching. Even if someone shows up at night looking for trouble, all it takes is a shout or a loud noise. The people around here are very alert and will come to help." Before leaving, the owner couldn’t help but offer this well-intentioned reminder, seeing as Gu Nuan Nuan seemed to have the carefree nature of a child and lacked the appropriate wariness.

"Mhm, I know," Gu Nuan Nuan replied, giving a dismissive nod as if she hadn’t really been listening.

The owner gave her a long look, then wasted no more words. He turned, hopped briskly into the large truck, and left.

Watching the truck disappear in a cloud of dust, Gu Nuan Nuan turned back, placed all the raw stones directly into her storage ring, locked the gate, and casually tossed the keys into the mailbox. Then, she began to stroll leisurely back to her hotel.

"Master, besides that woman from earlier and the man with her, another group is secretly tailing us too. Tsk, tsk. Should we lead them somewhere more secluded and give them a chance?" Cao Cao was thrilled, having noticed the two groups of people following Gu Nuan Nuan in the shadows.

"So they really see me as an easy mark? Heh heh... Let’s string them along for a couple of days. It’ll be more interesting to let them feel that unbearable itch of wanting something they think is within reach, but can’t quite grasp," Gu Nuan Nuan chuckled. "We won’t go out for the next two days. We’ll just stay at the hotel and get some rest. We can also take the opportunity to cut open the raw stones we got today. Otherwise, having such large chunks in the storage ring is a waste of space."

"So close, yet so far! That’s a great idea, Master. Hahaha!" Cao Cao was delighted and spun around happily twice in mid-air.

"Don’t forget to keep an eye on them, and the warehouse. We can’t have anyone discovering tonight that the stones are already gone," Gu Nuan Nuan instructed, a smile playing on her lips as she watched Cao Cao’s glee. "Let’s not create a ’case’ of our stolen stones. We’ll need a legitimate way to handle the stones we buy in the future."

"Don’t you worry, Master," Cao Cao said, puffing out its chest. "I’ll keep an eye on things. If anyone dares to make a move on that warehouse tonight, I’ll have them lie outside and feed the mosquitoes all night long."

"Okay." Sticking to crowded places, Gu Nuan Nuan didn’t linger outside and returned directly to her hotel.

The glamorous woman and the brawny, fierce-looking man tailing Gu Nuan Nuan watched as she entered her hotel. They exchanged a look, and the man hesitated. "Sisi, maybe we should just forget it. She’s staying at Brother Xie’s hotel. I’m not brave enough to go looking for trouble on his turf."

"What are you afraid of? You spineless coward. Didn’t you see how much money she had? A whole backpack full! I’ve never seen that much cash in my entire life. Ah Lei, have you?" The woman’s face was a mixture of envy, jealousy, greed, ruthlessness, and excitement.

"N-no, I’ve never seen anything like it..." The man named Ah Lei had an equally greedy and frightening look in his eyes.

"Exactly! And she’s just a young girl, all on her own. A fat lamb like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Are you saying we shouldn’t pull off this one big job and live comfortably for a few years? What are we waiting for?" Sisi coaxed.

"You’re right. Even if we don’t go after a rare fat lamb like this, someone else will." Ah Lei spat viciously on the ground, but then he hesitated again. "But why the hell did she have to stay at Brother Xie’s place? Brother Xie is not to be trifled with. If she were staying anywhere else, we’d have made our move already. But she’s his guest. If we touch her, do you really think he won’t investigate?"

"Are you stupid? We’re not going to do it in Brother Xie’s hotel," Sisi said dismissively. "She can’t stay cooped up in there forever, can she? She came here alone to have fun. You think she’s going to just hide in her room and sleep all day? If something happens to her outside, what can Brother Xie possibly say about it?"

"But that damn brat seems pretty cautious. Didn’t you notice how she stuck to the crowded streets earlier?"

"Hmph, so what? Then we’ll just wait until she checks out and leaves this place. We can follow her somewhere else and make our move then. It’s all the same," Sisi said, a calculating look on her face. "That little girl is pretty cute, too. Once we get our hands on her, we can sell her off no matter where we are and make an extra profit."