Chapter 26: Why Are You Buying Scrap?

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Why Are You Buying Scrap?

Jiang Fan walked into the stone-gambling den.

Inside the den was a group of guards. They worked for the establishment and were mostly retired special forces soldiers or former martial arts instructors.

The transactions in a stone-gambling den were often huge, making robberies a real risk.

This group’s entire purpose was security.

But generally speaking, the owners of these dens had some connections, so it was rare for some reckless, blind fool to come looking for trouble.

Just a few steps inside, he saw stone after stone laid out on the ground, each with a price tag.

If anyone took a fancy to one, they could just pick it up.

However, the ones placed on the ground were usually stones that had already been picked over or even partially cut. They were leftovers, second-rate goods.

The truly valuable stones—the ones with a high probability of containing something good—were generally not displayed on the floor.

Jiang Fan gazed at the stones on the ground.

Soon, the stones seemed to be peeled back layer by layer, gradually revealing their true nature to him.

Jiang Fan couldn’t help but shake his head. ’The owner of this place is a real skinflint.’

Most of this stuff wouldn’t even earn back the purchase price.

Before long, Jiang Fan picked out a palm-sized stone.

Don’t be fooled by its size; despite being only as big as his palm, it was priced at fifty thousand yuan.

Absolutely outrageous.

Jiang Fan took the stone and went to the front counter to pay.

The guards nearby exchanged a smile. The stone in Jiang Fan’s hand, Number 008, was just a very ordinary rock.

’This guy must be a first-timer.’

’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have picked from a pile of scraps.’

A tall, loli-like beauty walked toward him.

Her eyes shone with intelligence, yet also held a hint of smug satisfaction.

The only slight imperfection was that her complexion was a bit pale.

When she saw Jiang Fan, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Hey handsome, you know stones starting with a ’0’ are all scrap, right?"

"Spending fifty thousand on this stone isn’t a good deal."

"It’s fine. I feel a connection with this stone, so I’ll take it," Jiang Fan replied with a smile.

Li Qian’Er clicked her tongue, then held out her hand to him. "Handsome, I think I have a connection with you too."

"How about you give me fifty thousand yuan, too?"

Jiang Fan chuckled. "If money were that easy to come by, then I’d have a connection with you too."

Li Qian’Er pouted and didn’t try to persuade Jiang Fan any further.

Jiang Fan swiped his card. "Transaction: Fifty thousand yuan."

"Handsome, members get a discount. Want to buy a membership? It’s one hundred thousand a month."

"You get twenty percent off."

’That’s a pretty steep discount.’

’But the membership itself is a hundred thousand a month. No way he was getting that.’

He used to be dirt poor, and now that he had a little money, he wasn’t about to start spending it recklessly.

"Thanks, but I don’t come here often, so I’ll pass on the membership."

Jiang Fan wasn’t in a hurry to have the stone cut.

Stone-cutting was the process of slicing open a purchased stone.

Once purchased, whatever was found inside belonged to the buyer.

That was the rule here.

Jiang Fan toyed with the stone in his hand as he went to look at a newly arrived batch of goods.

These new stones were generally still covered in a bit of dirt.

It hadn’t been washed off completely.

And most were tightly encased in their stony rinds.

Without some real skill, it was difficult to pick a winner from such a large selection.

"Well, aren’t you a big spender."

"Spent fifty thousand on a piece of junk, and now you’re back in the new arrivals section looking at more stones," Li Qian’Er said, striking up a conversation with Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan grunted subconsciously in response.

Jiang Fan’s gaze fell on the field of stones before him. He activated his X-ray vision, and in his eyes, the stones appeared as if they were being dissected layer by layer.

Those with cracks and those without—all of it appeared clearly before him.

"I’ll take this one." This time, Jiang Fan chose a soccer-ball-sized stone.

The female attendant patiently explained, "An excellent eye, sir. This particular stone was cut from the main vein of the mine."

"From the outside, its quality looks quite promising."

"The price is one million yuan."

Jiang Fan’s heart skipped a beat. ’A million yuan for this? Outrageous.’

’Still, it wasn’t an unacceptable price.’

"Alright, I’ll take this one."

Nearby, Li Qian’Er glanced at the soccer-ball-sized stone and shook her head. She wanted to talk Jiang Fan out of it, but on second thought, she decided against it.

’Oh well. You can’t talk sense into a fool, and you can’t save someone who’s determined to self-destruct.’

The stone-gambling den had many stone-cutting machines.

They were all set up out in the open.

Many people who bought stones would have them cut right here on the spot.

And to attract more customers, the den’s owner would also rank the best finds of the day.

Besides those cutting stones and those waiting to have theirs cut, the den was also filled with plenty of spectators.

These were either people who had lost all their money, or those who were just there to browse, feast their eyes, and watch the show.

"Stone Number 98! Boss Wang, that one cost three million, didn’t it? You must have been making a killing lately."

Over by Jiang Fan, a pot-bellied man came over to have his stone cut, and the crowd immediately parted to make way for him.

Wang Chong took a drag from his cigar. "It’s been so-so. The whole market isn’t doing great right now."

"But my family’s in the tobacco business. We made a small profit of a few tens of millions last year."

"Impressive," said Old Zhou, the stone cutter, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Help me see what this stone can yield." Wang Chong had been gambling on stones for many years and had a decent eye for it.

Generally speaking, the stones he chose were rarely bad.

Naturally, the onlookers’ eyes were filled with anticipation.

"Nobody’s cut anything good all morning. It’s all up to your judgment now, Boss Wang."

"Cut it, cut it, cut it," Wang Chong said confidently, waving his hand.

"Alright, here I go."

The angle grinder quickly made an incision in the stone, grinding away some of the outer skin.

A splash of clean water washed it off.

The crowd gasped in admiration. "Incredible eye, Boss Wang! The very first cut revealed some color!"

Wang Chong said smugly, "Of course. Who do you think I am?"

"This stone might look ordinary, but it’s more than worth its three-million-yuan price tag."

Jiang Fan smiled. ’Three million?’

’This stone only has that single layer of jade on the surface.’

’Cut any deeper, and there’ll be nothing.’

Jiang Fan’s background was in archaeology. Besides being able to appraise ancient burial artifacts, evaluating modern jade was a piece of cake for him.

If he hadn’t lacked a mentor back in his archaeology days, with his abilities...

...becoming a master appraiser would have been more than achievable.

"Keep cutting."

All eyes were fixed on the stone.

However, just as Jiang Fan had foreseen, the next cut took off a third of the material.

The layer of pale green vanished completely.

In its place was a black, stony core.

"Looks like Boss Wang doesn’t hit the bullseye every time, haha."

Seeing the second cut was a bust, the crowd started to poke fun at him.

Wang Chong’s face flushed red. "It’s only the second cut! What’s the panic?"

"Old Zhou, keep cutting for me!"

Sure enough, the third cut went down, and the stone was a complete bust.

There was nothing.

"What a shame about that three million, Boss Wang," someone teased.