Chapter 134 - 135: Stone Gambling
Ancient Wen Heng looked at the stones displayed on the curio shelves, thinking how a stone’s status was decided by its position alone. ’On any other stone gambling street, these would probably just be tossed on the ground.’
"You can pick any of these out here," Deng Yuanhang said after a brief exchange with the escort agency staff standing guard. He then pulled them into the main hall.
Standing in the main hall, they could see several open rooms. Dart masters stood guard at each doorway, and inside were more curio shelves filled with gambling stones.
"This isn’t too expensive, is it?" Zhou Ping whispered, tugging at the corner of Deng Yuanhang’s sleeve. "With a setup this grand, I hope we don’t get in over our heads."
Deng Yuanhang shook his head and pointed to the people picking out stones in the hall. "A lot of them are dart masters from our escort agency. They come for the thrill and the hope of striking it rich. They don’t carry many Silver Taels with them. Most will pick one or two stones and then leave."
"Then how do you know if there’s jade inside the stone?"
"You must be new to this, little brother," a nearby old man with a mustache chuckled. "Out back, you can have it wheel-cut or wire-sawn. If you want to save money, you can even take a pick and slowly chip it open yourself."
"Old Hu, kids these days are sharp. You don’t need to explain everything so clearly. They’ll figure it all out after one walk-around," another old man said, coming over and draping an arm over his shoulder. "Seen anything you like today? How about we make a little wager?"
"I’m not betting against you," Old Hu said, letting the man’s push guide him forward. "Last time, your wife came and blocked my front door. I can’t afford to get on her bad side."
"That won’t happen again..."
Deng Yuanhang also put an arm around Zhou Ping’s shoulder. "They were right. You’ll understand the basics after one look around.
Other than needing a bit of a keen eye for the stones, there isn’t much technique to it.
Let’s not just stand here. Look, Wenheng is already picking some out."
"Wenheng, how’s it going? See anything you like?"
Ancient Wen Heng shook his head. "I’m just looking at what makes these stones different. The prices are way too high."
’They’re actually charging five taels of Silver for a little fist-sized rock like this one. Judging by its rind, it probably won’t produce any good jadeite. This is a bit of a rip-off.’
"The prices are steep," Zhou Ping said, also noticing the price tag on the stone. "If there’s no jadeite inside, you’d lose your shirt."
’You can find tons of these smooth, round stones in any river or stream outside.’
"Shh," Deng Yuanhang said, shaking his head at him. "You can’t just say things like that. Look more, talk less. You can’t go wrong with that."
Only then did Zhou Ping realize how inappropriate his comment had been. He quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and nodded to show he understood.
Drawing on his prior knowledge of stone gambling, Ancient Wen Heng actually managed to find two raw stones he was fairly satisfied with.
He called over the Shopkeeper on duty in the main hall and handed him four stones he had selected.
"You’re done buying already?" Deng Yuanhang was surprised. He hadn’t even made up his mind yet, but Ancient Wen Heng, here for the very first time, had acted so decisively.
Ancient Wen Heng replied, "I can’t really tell what’s good or not, so I just grabbed a few at random. What about you? Any expert opinions?"
Deng Yuanhang held up his hands. "This is only my second time here. I’m just a little more familiar with the rules than you are."
"So you’re clueless too," Zhou Ping said, rolling his eyes. "Then what was the point of looking so carefully just now? Could you make out anything at all?"
’In his eyes, they were just a bunch of rocks anyway. If every single one really contained jadeite, the owner probably wouldn’t just leave them out for people to gamble on.’
"The last time I came, I was with an older family friend, and he made a killing. He just grabbed a random stone in this hall, and it ended up being worth a hundred times what he paid." Deng Yuanhang’s eyes lit up with excitement as he spoke. "Just imagine! Five taels instantly turning into 500 taels! That’s an insane amount."
Ancient Wen Heng was speechless for a moment. "Well, I hope we’re that lucky today. The Shopkeeper said it’s not busy right now, so we can get the stones cut early. I can’t wait to see what’s inside, so I’m going to go pay.
Once you’re done, come find me in the backyard."
Just as Ancient Wen Heng was about to leave, Deng Yuanhang also grabbed two stones at random. "Ah, what the hell. I’ll leave it to fate. Let’s go pay."
Zhou Ping, who had been left behind, simply started pointing here and there, muttering to himself. When he stopped muttering, his finger stopped too. He scooped up the stone it landed on and hurried after them.
Old Hu, who had been led away earlier, saw this and his jaw dropped. He complained to his old companion, "It seems we’re getting old. The more you think, the harder it is to choose."
"Then let’s not choose. We can just grab a couple at random for fun. Isn’t it all just for a bit of excitement?"
"Deal. It’s all a gamble anyway..."
* * *
In the backyard, several burly men were squatting, using ropes made of horse tail and mane as saw blades. They continuously added sand and water, pulling the "blades" back and forth to cut the raw stones.
Ancient Wen Heng watched from a distance. When one of the stones was cut into smaller pieces and revealed nothing but plain white rock, he knew that gamble had been a bust.
He walked over to pay the fee for cutting his own stone. Not wanting to make things difficult for the wire-pulling craftsmen, Ancient Wen Heng simply drew a line down the middle of his rock. "Cut it here."
The craftsman glanced at him in surprise. "Are you sure? You might want to rethink that. If there’s ’meat’ in the middle, cutting it like this would be a huge loss."
Ancient Wen Heng was speechless.
Deng Yuanhang added, "The craftsman is right. If you cut it slightly off-center, you could ruin it. You should change the line."
Ancient Wen Heng had no choice but to draw a new line along a corner of the stone.
This wasn’t one of the raw stones he had high hopes for, and he had expected it to be a bust. But who would have thought the craftsman would suddenly shout, "We’ve got green!" The cry instantly drew a crowd, filling the once-empty backyard.
"Lao Luo! What’s with all the commotion? It’s not even fully cut out yet, is it?"
Manager Luo shot the craftsman a glare. "My man here is inexperienced. We’ll inform you gentlemen when we’ve actually cut out a good piece of material."
"You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid. Alright then, just give a shout when there’s something to see." As they spoke, the crowd vanished as quickly and completely as it had appeared.
"They’re merchants, waiting here to buy jade," Deng Yuanhang explained in a low voice when he saw Zhou Ping’s bewildered expression.
"Then why don’t they buy the raw stones themselves?"
Ancient Wen Heng replied, "They’re hedging their bets—minimizing their losses. As long as they buy cut material from others, they can process it and make a profit as middlemen.
If they were to buy the raw stones themselves, the gamble is too great. A bad streak could ruin them."
Zhou Ping nodded, only half-understanding. "So we’re basically their guinea pigs?"
"That’s not quite it," Ancient Wen Heng said after a moment’s thought. "A lot of people are here for the thrill of it. You could say everyone gets what they’re looking for."