The Pact

Chu Chen found it inconvenient to say more about this matter, so he changed the subject.

"At least Mr. Liu, with so many years in the stone gambling industry, you've seen it all. Mr. Liu, which of the raw stones with good signs did you come to see today?"

"None."

Mr. Liu shook his head and sighed, "I'm all alone now, and stone gambling is my only hobby. But I've come to realize that it's better to make fewer moves from now on. Without superb skill and luck in stone gambling, it's absolutely a case of losing nine out of ten bets. Although I've gained something over the years, I'm still far from being a master."

"Heh, with your level, you're already a master to me. I'll have to ask for your guidance often in the future." After speaking, Chu Chen respectfully handed over one of his business cards.

Mr. Liu seemed to have a good impression of Chu Chen, and in turn, he also exchanged his business card, saying with a smile, "Don't say that. I heard from others that you've been involved with jade for quite some time. We can exchange ideas then. I envy your mindset, learning the ropes of stone gambling with less money, unlike me..."

Chu Chen took the business card and learned that this Mr. Liu was named Liu Zhiqing. Seeing that he seemed to be reminiscing sadly, Chu Chen comforted him, "Mr. Liu, one must look forward. May I be so bold as to ask if you have any plans for the future?"

"I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away."

Hearing this, Liu Zhiqing perked up a bit and replied, "I've spent so many years on stone gambling, and it's the only thing that interests me now. I plan to open a shop in the future, specializing in raw stone business. I have a few friends in Diannan, and I plan to go there next month to survey the market."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen immediately had an idea and said, "Mr. Liu, I have a bold request. Could you take me with you when you go?"

"Sure, there's nothing bold about it." Liu Zhiqing readily agreed, "I'll probably leave around the 5th of next month. I'll call you on the 3rd. If I forget, you can remind me, it's no problem."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Liu," Chu Chen said happily when he agreed.

Liu Zhiqing said jokingly, "No need for thanks. When my little shop opens, your frequent patronage will be the best thanks."

"That's for sure. I wish you a prosperous opening first, Mr. Liu," Chu Chen said with a smile.

"Then thank you for your good wishes. Little Chu, we've gotten to know each other now, so calling me Mr. Liu feels a bit distant. If you're willing, I'll take the liberty of calling me Brother Liu."

Seeing Chu Chen nod in agreement, he continued, "Little Chu, did you come here today prepared to make a big splash?"

"Not at all. My little bit of money isn't enough for a big splash. I just won a little yesterday, which gave me some confidence, so I came here today to try my luck again."

After Chu Chen waved his hand in response, he asked curiously, "Brother Liu, you came earlier than me. Did you encounter any raw stones with good signs?"

"Heh, I haven't been here long either. I just took a look at the thousand-yuan section, but the signs here aren't very good," Liu Zhiqing shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen also glanced at the raw stones in the thousand-yuan section and was immediately disappointed. The raw stones here were varied, and some were not small in volume, but it was not difficult to see that most of them were new-field raw stones.

Generally speaking, the raw stones for jade gambling on the market can be roughly divided into three categories: new-field jade, sand-skinned raw stones, and water stones.

New-field jade refers to raw jade directly excavated from the mountain. Its characteristics are no or little skin, and little change internally. The stones that are opened are often medium to low-grade materials with a white base and green patches, which have low market value.

However, since they are raw jade materials, some unscrupulous merchants often polish new-field jade into pebble shapes and then create fake skins to imitate yellow sand-skinned or black sand gambling stones or water stones.

Water stone raw materials refer to jade pebbles that have no skin after being weathered, eroded, and transported by river water. Due to river transportation, the loose parts of water stones have been eroded away, leaving only the harder and denser parts. Coupled with natural factors, their texture is relatively fine, and the color is also better, often yielding high-quality jade.

Sand-skinned raw stones refer to jade pebbles formed when previously long-buried riverbed pebbles are exposed to the surface again due to crustal uplift and undergo a second weathering and erosion. Due to the re-weathering, a layer of sand skin forms on the surface, called sand-skinned gambling stones, which are the main type of raw stones for gambling on the market.

And most of the stones in this thousand-yuan section are the first type, new-field jade. The other raw stones, when viewed from a distance, also don't show good signs, which is why Chu Chen felt disappointed.

Seeing Chu Chen's disappointed expression, Liu Zhiqing patted his shoulder and said, "Little Chu, your mindset isn't good. Don't you think about it? Your jade yesterday even came from brick material. Our industry is like dealing with antiques; you need to be bold and careful. Don't give up on any raw stone if there's even a slight possibility. Of course, this isn't encouraging you to gamble on brick material, but rather to draw conclusions after practice. People can't be judged by their appearance."

Chu Chen heard this and realized it was true. He had indeed been a bit superficial just now. He hadn't considered that if jade always came from raw stones with good signs, would it still be called gambling on stones? Liu Zhiqing's words were very accurate: people can't be judged by their appearance, let alone gambling stones where even immortals can't discern the jade within.

Seeing Chu Chen in deep thought, Liu Zhiqing smiled faintly and said, "Alright, it's getting late. I won't waste your time. Let's focus on looking at the raw stones."

Chu Chen quickly came to his senses, thanked Liu Zhiqing for his guidance, and began to search for his target for the day.

Although what Liu Zhiqing said earlier made sense, Chu Chen still planned to start his selection from the ten-thousand-yuan section for now. He couldn't help it; his special ability was only usable three times a day.

Walking into the ten-thousand-yuan section, Chu Chen felt disappointed again. This disappointment wasn't because the raw stones were bad, but because Treasure Sense, which he had placed high hopes on, showed no reaction at all.

If one were to say that there was no jade among the raw stones here, it would be impossible. Even if the probability of opening high-grade jade was not high, given the appearance of the raw stones in the ten-thousand-yuan section, it wasn't to the point where no jade could be found.

This indicated that Treasure Sense's ability to sense jade was ineffective. Of course, this situation might change in the future, but for the current Chu Chen, it was of no help.

Fine, if you can't do it yourself, you'll have to rely on others. If there's no Butcher Zhang, do you have to eat pork with hair on it? Chu Chen wasn't too disappointed. He cheered himself up, took out his magnifying glass and strong flashlight, and got ready for battle.

There were far fewer raw stones here than in the thousand-yuan section, and even fewer in the area above fifty thousand yuan. After all, spending tens of thousands on stone gambling was common these days, but spending hundreds of thousands or even millions on it was still rare for individuals, apart from companies.

The two sections in the ten-thousand-yuan area were further divided into two parts: one was semi-gambled raw stones, meaning raw stones that had a "small window" or "small door" opened. These raw stones, by minimizing risk to the greatest extent, were favored by some jewelry companies and customers who were not proficient in stone gambling.

Even with a small window opened, there was still a possibility of losing the gamble. After all, no one could predict what was inside the raw stone. For example, encountering cracks and blemishes, or if the jade inside was only a thin layer of skin-green, all these situations could greatly reduce the value of the opened jade or even lead to a complete loss.

However, even so, the possibility of accidents was still much lower than with fully gambled raw stones. Before Chu Chen had his special ability, he had also considered investing in semi-gambled raw stones when he had more money in the future. Although the profit would be less, the chance of making money was high.

The most expensive semi-gambled stone in the ten-thousand-yuan section was a yellow sand-skinned semi-gambled stone, weighing about ten kilograms. The opened window had good clarity and looked very fine. Under a flashlight, it appeared to be of ice type to glass type.

Unfortunately, this raw stone had many small cracks. As the saying goes, "Don't fear big cracks, fear small ones." Cracks and blemishes greatly harm jade, directly affecting the yield and aesthetics.

Large cracks are easy to observe and their impact on the jade is easy to assess. However, blemishes are small and prone to change, varying in size and depth, making them difficult to predict.

The value of this semi-gambled raw stone was greatly reduced due to the blemishes, otherwise, its price would start at least at five hundred thousand.

Just as Chu Chen was about to give up on this semi-gambled stone, he suddenly remembered that he had his special ability. If the inside of the raw stone wasn't as it appeared, wouldn't he have found a bargain?

Moved by the thought, Chu Chen immediately placed his left hand on the raw stone, lowered his head as if observing, and then activated his special ability.

However, his expression immediately became wonderful. The spirit energy intensity inside this raw stone was only at the thousand-yuan level. This meant that the raw stone was filled with large and small cracks, completely ruining the jade inside.

But under normal circumstances, although this possibility existed, the probability was extremely low. The most likely scenario was that this raw stone was the skin-green mentioned earlier, with jade only in the opened window area.

This raw stone was truly a case of "whoever understands it wins, whoever doesn't loses everything." Chu Chen couldn't help but sigh, marveling at the wonders of nature.

After leaving this semi-gambled stone, he looked at several other semi-gambled stones but found nothing satisfactory. The key issue was that the special ability, usable only three times a day, was too restrictive for stone gambling. Chu Chen could only hope that when his special ability was upgraded next time, the number of uses would increase.

After looking at the semi-gambled stones, Chu Chen began to examine the fully gambled raw stones next to them. The performance of the fully gambled raw stones here was commensurate with their price. Most had python patterns and flower patterns. There was even a large and relatively well-performing black sand stone. Unfortunately, this black sand stone had a wax-coated skin instead of a sand skin.