Gambling on Stones

"This doesn't seem right." Zhou Wenping hesitated.

Old Wu rubbed his hands and said, "This is really too embarrassing."

"All right, it's settled, then. You have to come when the time comes. Otherwise, you'll be showing me no respect."

Seeing Chu Chen put it that way, the two men had no choice but to nod and agree.

The three of them then chatted about some interesting stories from the antique street—who had made a blunder and paid tuition, who had found a bargain, who had stepped on a land mine, and so on. Events big and small happened every day on the antique street. There was enough material for countless Hollywood blockbusters.

When it was almost time, Chu Chen said goodbye to the two men. After all, he still had business to attend to at Cuiyuan Zhai.

After leaving the antique stall, Chu Chen couldn't help sighing with emotion. Thinking back, he had once lived the same life as Zhou Wenping and Old Wu, hawking goods through wind and sun. Yet in just a few days, a single piece of Tang Sancai had brought about earth-shaking changes. These past few days had been a mixture of joy and sorrow. Life truly was unpredictable, and no one could foresee what would happen.

When Chu Chen arrived at Cuiyuan Zhai, he saw many people gathered around a stall, picking through something. No need to guess. It must be the rough stones Zhang Guosheng had just brought in. Everyone was taking advantage of the moment to pick out the ones with better potential.

When jadeite was mined, it was wrapped in a layer of weathered crust, making it impossible to know what lay inside. Only by cutting the stone open could one determine whether it contained jadeite and judge its quality. This was what people commonly called jadeite rough.

In the past, gambling on stones had not actually been called gambling on stones. It had been called gambling on the line. A stone gambler had to possess three things: an exceptional appetite for challenges, an adventurous spirit, and abundant experience. These three requirements alone showed how difficult gambling on stones was.

As the saying went, "Even immortals cannot judge an inch of jade." Even with today's advanced technology, there was no way to detect what exactly lay inside a piece of rough stone. People mainly judged the quality of the jadeite within by examining the rough stone's surface characteristics.

This required stone gamblers to possess extensive knowledge and experience concerning jadeite, such as analyzing sample rough stones and knowing the places of origin of jadeite. Moreover, because rough stones offered extremely high profits, some people inevitably tried to cheat, and methods such as applying fake skins emerged one after another. Buyers had to be especially careful.

Still, since the word "gambling" was part of gambling on stones, no one could be certain of victory. Even experienced experts inevitably had moments when they misjudged a stone, and luck played a considerable role as well.

Precisely because gambling on stones was so uncertain, people becoming fabulously wealthy overnight or losing everything overnight were both common occurrences in the market.

To sum up, gambling on stones was essentially an expert-level method of trading jadeite. Taking part relied on luck, tested one's judgment, and also required a solid reserve of professional knowledge.

Without nearly four years of experience gambling on stones, even if he had later tested his supernatural ability and discovered that it could sense jadeite, Chu Chen would not have dared to use it so frequently while gambling on stones.

If a newcomer managed to uncover good jadeite several times, it might be luck. But if it kept happening, people would inevitably become suspicious. He might even be taken away to serve as a test subject—or simply be forced to help someone gamble on stones. Thinking of such a miserable fate, Chu Chen couldn't help shivering.

"Oh, Xiao Chen's here! What do you think? What are you planning to buy today?" Zhang Guosheng had sharp eyes and spotted Chu Chen from far away. He called out to him, then pointed at a small pile of rough stones beside him after Chu Chen reached the entrance. "We're having a sale today. For a hundred yuan, you can pick any four from that pile. Once you miss this opportunity, it won't come again!"

"Hey, Brother Zhang, didn't Aunt Zhang say yesterday that you asked me to drop by? How come you haven't even brought me a cup of tea?" Chu Chen joked with Zhang Guosheng.

Zhang Guosheng had inherited Aunt Zhang's shamelessness completely. He wasn't embarrassed in the slightest and said, "Well, it's just that I'm really busy today. Look, someone's calling me over there again. Why don't you take a look around first? If you need anything, just come find me. We're old acquaintances, after all. I certainly won't let you lose out."

After apologizing to Chu Chen, he went over to greet the other customers.

Almost every time this happened, Zhang Guosheng found one excuse or another to shirk his responsibilities. Chu Chen was used to it by now, so he shook his head and walked toward the pile of rough stones Zhang Guosheng had pointed out.

The condition of these stones was worlds apart from that of the newly arrived rough stones on the other side. Only one young man was picking through them, and Chu Chen knew him as well. His name was Li Guodong.

Li Guodong was two years older than Chu Chen and looked quite energetic. He was a fourth-year student at a university in the capital. He had entered the stone-gambling trade a year later than Chu Chen and, like Chu Chen, enjoyed buying the cheaper stones in the shop. His reason, however, was different: he was simply short of money.

The two were about the same age, shared the same hobby of gambling on stones, and were both newcomers, so they found it easy to talk. Before long, they became friends.

Whenever they had time, they would get together and go out. Sometimes Li Guodong even invited Chu Chen to his classmates' gatherings, allowing Chu Chen to learn something about university life and make up for some of the regrets of never having attended college. After spending so much time together, the two became close friends.

Chu Chen greeted Li Guodong. "Brother Li, find anything good today?"

Li Guodong pointed at the rough stones on the ground. "Look at their quality. What could I possibly have found?"

Chu Chen lowered his head and took a rough look at the stones on the ground. He was instantly speechless. Could these even be called rough stones? They didn't display even the most basic characteristics of jadeite. They were nothing but brick stones—so crude that they would be uncomfortable even to use as doorstops.

"So that's why they're so cheap today," Chu Chen said. "When they were clearing out old stock before, it was two stones for a hundred yuan. Today, you can get four. With stones like these, I wouldn't take them even if they were free. From now on, let's call him Brother Zhang the Rooster."

Li Guodong nodded deeply in agreement. As he continued picking through the stones, he said, "That's fine too. It saves me money. The rough stones weren't necessarily much better when I came at this time before. Maybe stones like these will actually produce jadeite."

Chu Chen looked at him disdainfully. "Keep dreaming. You expect jadeite from stones with this kind of appearance? I'd say the odds are less than one in ten thousand."

"Heh, never mind what the odds are. You can't say it's impossible, can you? Maybe today my luck will finally come." Li Guodong looked pleased with himself.

"Come on, you're obsessed. With luck like that, you might as well buy a lottery ticket. Don't tell me you need money because you've gotten yourself a girlfriend?"

Seeing Li Guodong's stammering expression, Chu Chen said, "No way, you really got a girlfriend? Could it be that even a thousand-year-old iron tree can bloom?"

"Get lost! What do you mean, a thousand-year-old iron tree? Am I not allowed to get a girlfriend?" Li Guodong said angrily out of embarrassment.

Li Guodong was fairly good-looking—over 1.7 meters tall, with the refined appearance of an artsy, bourgeois young man. He looked decent enough. Yet since entering university, either the girls he liked already had boyfriends, or girls liked him while he didn't like them back. As a result, he had remained single until now.

When Chu Chen heard that he had gotten a girlfriend, he became very curious. "Come on, tell me. What does she look like? When will you let me meet her?"

Li Guodong said somewhat awkwardly, "We only made things official yesterday. Besides, she's shy, so let's wait a while before I introduce her."

Chu Chen patted him on the shoulder. "All right, Brother Li, spring has arrived for you. But don't tell me this has put strange ideas in your head. Or does your girlfriend have bourgeois tendencies?"

"Don't talk nonsense. My girlfriend has never asked about my family background, and she's quite frugal too. It's just that her father holds a minor official position in a department in the capital. I want to make some money so we can be a better match."

Li Guodong's family was not badly off, either. Both his parents were teachers at a key high school in a provincial capital in western China. His family lacked for nothing, though becoming fabulously wealthy was naturally impossible.

Chu Chen asked, "So what do her parents think? Have they put any pressure on you?"

Li Guodong waved his hand. "We only officially started dating yesterday, so her parents don't know yet. But when I think about her family situation, I get a headache. If things go well between us, I plan to work in the capital. But you know my family's circumstances. I'm still a little short of being able to buy a house there."

"The key is still her parents' attitude. If they approve of you, everything will go smoothly. Otherwise, I think it'll be difficult. But if you want to buy a house, do it as soon as possible. Housing prices change every day. If you don't have enough money by then, just borrow from me. Don't be polite."

With that, Chu Chen patted his chest.

Li Guodong laughed. "All right, I definitely won't be polite then. But before that, I still have to ask my parents what they think."

Chu Chen nodded, then joined Li Guodong in picking through the rough stones. He had originally planned to choose stones from the other side, but too many people had gathered there and it was extremely crowded. On top of that, the weather was hot enough to make him uncomfortable, so he planned to wait until there were fewer people.

The rough stones here had such poor characteristics that it was impossible to see any signs of jadeite in them. Chu Chen simply didn't bother using a flashlight or anything else. He picked at random, examining anything that caught his eye and comparing it against his past experience. To be honest, though, brick stones like these were useless for testing anything.

After selecting more than a hundred rough stones, his left hand's supernatural ability still showed no reaction. Chu Chen didn't care. It would have been strange if stones like these contained jadeite.

By then, the crowd around the newly arrived rough stones had thinned out. Some people had watched for a while before leaving, while others had already selected rough stones they liked and were preparing to take them to the back courtyard for cutting. Seeing this, Chu Chen prepared to go over and choose some stones himself. After all, rough stones with better characteristics had a higher chance of containing jadeite.

Suddenly, a trace of astonishment flashed across Chu Chen's face. Just before leaving, he had casually picked up another rough stone. The moment it touched his hand, the supernatural ability in his left hand began to stir restlessly. For an instant, he was caught completely off guard.