Chapter 131 - 132: Raw Stone
「In a private room at a restaurant in Fu County」
Deng Yuanhang and Ancient Wen Heng sneezed one after the other.
"Someone must be thinking about you," Zhou Ping said, smiling with his lips pursed. After passing the Scholar examinations together last time, the three of them had grown much closer.
Ancient Wen Heng rubbed his nose. "I think someone’s plotting against us. I just felt a chill run up my spine. That can’t be a good sign."
Deng Yuanhang said, "Since when did you become an expert in divination, Junior Brother Gu? It’s just the weather getting colder as winter sets in. We just got hit by a cold draft, that’s all. What’s this talk about plotting?"
Ancient Wen Heng didn’t argue with him. "You’re right, you’re right, Senior Brother Deng. I was probably just overthinking it.
So, why did you two ask me over today?"
"Good news, of course," Deng Yuanhang said, beckoning them closer with a mysterious air. Once they had leaned in, he said, "A new shipment of raw stones has arrived in Dao City. I was wondering if you two are interested in taking a look?"
"Raw stones?" Zhou Ping was baffled. ’What on earth are those?’
A glint appeared in Ancient Wen Heng’s eyes as he watched Deng Yuanhang silently.
Deng Yuanhang, misinterpreting their silence to mean neither of them knew, immediately puffed up with self-importance. "Just as the name implies, they’re stones. But these aren’t ordinary stones. There’s a whole world inside them."
"What kind of world?" Zhou Ping asked, his face full of curiosity.
Deng Yuanhang unfastened the Jade Pendant from his waist. "Look. Isn’t this piece beautiful?"
Looking at the tiger-stripe pattern on it, Zhou Ping said, "Isn’t that the Jade Pendant you always wear? I’ve been used to seeing it for a long time."
"Hah, that’s not what I’m talking about. Do you know where this jade comes from?" Deng Yuanhang turned specifically to look at Ancient Wen Heng. "Wenheng, do you know?"
Ancient Wen Heng replied, "I read in some miscellaneous books before that these things are cut from inside stones. And they’re completely natural—what you see is what you get."
"So you knew all along, you rascal! And here you were, putting on such a good act." Deng Yuanhang instantly hung the Jade Pendant back on his belt. "This is a way to get the biggest return for the smallest investment. So? Are you interested?"
"Isn’t that just gambling, then?" Zhou Ping finally realized.
"It’s different. With regular gambling, you lose nine times out of ten. But with stone gambling, you have at least a fifty-fifty chance."
Ancient Wen Heng said, "One cut to poverty, one cut to riches, one cut to wearing sackcloth. It’s not much better than gambling."
Deng Yuanhang wasn’t bothered. "You two novices are being way too cautious. We’re just going to try our luck a couple of times out of curiosity. As long as we don’t get addicted, none of the things you’re worried about will happen.
If we get lucky, we might even earn enough to cover our future exam travel expenses."
Zhou Ping was tempted by this. His grandmother’s recent illness had cost a lot of money, and his family was already strained from supporting his studies.
Ancient Wen Heng stingily pulled a small-denomination silver note from his brocade bag. "This is all I have on me right now. Is it enough to play one round?"
Deng Yuanhang nodded. "That’s plenty, that’s plenty. We won’t buy any of those with ’windows’ already cut. Those are expensive; even I might not be able to afford one."
Zhou Ping gritted his teeth. "Alright, I’ll go with you to take a look first. If it’s too expensive, I’ll just treat it as a learning experience."
Deng Yuanhang had no objection. "Then it’s a deal. Let’s go home and let our families know. An escort agency has a carriage heading out around noon, so we can travel with them."
"So soon?"
Deng Yuanhang said, "You don’t get it, do you? If we don’t go early, all the good ones will be picked over. All that’ll be left is the dregs, and there’d be no point in making a special trip for that.
I got the news pretty early, but even so, the market is opening tonight."
"..."
***
Ancient Wen Heng never would have imagined that just after he brought up stone gambling, Jin Qianqian would place a huge pile of stones in front of him.
"Can you tell me if there’s anything you *haven’t* collected?" Ancient Wen Heng had been to a few stone gambling yards before, so he naturally knew a thing or two about these raw materials.
’Looks like this girl has some decent luck. Even for completely uncut stones, these look pretty promising. A few of them should yield some good material.’
Jin Qianqian said, "Remember when we were in Yunnan and that guide tricked us into going to a stone gambling street? I had to buy things to store anyway, so I just grabbed a few.
If you hadn’t brought it up today, I would have almost completely forgotten about them.
Take a look. What do you think of their quality? Think we can cut some jadeite out of them?"
Ancient Wen Heng made a chopping motion in the air with his hand. "You need special tools for these. I can’t cut them open."
Jin Qianqian then whipped out a full set of stone-cutting tools, her face alight with excitement. "The shop owner saw I was buying so many and threw in a small set for free. So? Want to see if we’ve won the lottery?"
Ancient Wen Heng looked up at the sky, speechless. ’What kind of wife did I find? She’s basically a female Doraemon.’
Seeing how excited Jin Qianqian was, and since it wasn’t time to meet his friends yet, his hands started itching to give it a try.
To avoid disturbing the neighbors, and because these power tools couldn’t be seen by others, the two of them took the large pile of raw stones back into the space.
"This doesn’t look too good," Jin Qianqian said, pouring water over the stone as she inspected it. "There’s not a hint of color yet. It’s probably a dud."
"Don’t be hasty," Ancient Wen Heng said, holding the cutter steady as he continued from another angle.
After who knows how many cuts, they finally saw a flash of green in a corner of the stone.
Jin Qianqian laughed as she poured more water. "Thank goodness, a glimmer of hope! Otherwise, I was about to ask you to turn these into mahjong tiles. At least they’d have some value that way."
"This is worth much more than a set of mahjong tiles. It looks like the translucency is quite good. It should be an ice-type." Ancient Wen Heng made his judgment based on past experience and his knowledge of the collections back home.
"The little guy sure knows how to play hide-and-seek," Jin Qianqian said, curiously staring at the sliver of green. "We’ve almost cut to the very bottom, and it’s only just showing itself."
"..."
"It looks like a glass marble," Jin Qianqian exclaimed in amazement. It was so round and smooth, with a radiant luster, that she found it completely captivating. "If there were a pair of these, the price would skyrocket."
"Getting a haul like this from the very first stone is already fantastic. When I get the chance, I’ll have someone custom-make this into a set of jewelry, so my Qianqian can be all dressed up and beautiful."
Jin Qianqian was speechless. ’I need to write this down in my little notebook, just in case this senior doesn’t own up to it later.’
***
Ancient Wen Heng hurriedly changed his clothes, grabbed the pastries and food box Jin Qianqian had just handed him, and rushed just in time to catch the carriage before it departed.
"You’re so slow! I thought you’d chickened out and were about to leave without you," Deng Yuanhang said, deftly shoving a hot water bottle into his hands. "It’s freezing out here, especially with this bone-chilling wind."
Ancient Wen Heng took it with one hand while placing the food box to the side. "When you’re about to leave home, there are always a few extra things to say to your family.
Besides, I was watching the time. I knew I wouldn’t be late."
Zhou Ping eyed the lacquered box in front of him and secretly lifted a corner. "Looks like we’re in for a treat on this trip. I didn’t expect you, you rascal, to prepare so much."