Conditions

Chen Mo froze for a moment, then turned and walked a few steps closer to Zhang Liwei. A sweep with his Spiritual Sense left him rather surprised. The stones Zhang Liwei had picked all gave him a response. They might not compare to his own, but they felt promising. He hadn't expected this fellow to be such an expert at Stone Gambling.

"How do you want to bet?" Chen Mo asked with a slight frown, wanting to hear the terms first. If they were betting on whether the Rough Materials contained jade, he could not agree, because four of his pieces contained no jade at all. He was already somewhat angry, but not angry enough to lose his head. First, he needed to see the Rough Stones Zhang Liwei had chosen and prepare himself.

"Hehe! You've got some nerve." Zhang Liwei sneered. The young girl accompanying him today had quite the background, and she was also a rising star in the business world.

The young girl was named Nangong Xue, the second daughter of the Jiangnan aristocratic family. An accident in her childhood had left her unable to cultivate. However, she had displayed astonishing business talent from a young age and was now the chairwoman of Nangong family's Southern Jewelry branch. She was a true rich and beautiful woman. Countless people pursued her, yet no one had ever become her lover. Moreover, Nangong Xue had an exceptionally cold personality, which many people could not endure.

Zhang Liwei was also one of Nangong Xue's pursuers. Though he was an illegitimate son of the Zhang family, he was deeply favored by the entire family. The Zhang family and Nangong aristocratic family were old friends, which was why he had the chance to remain at Nangong Xue's side. Spoiled since childhood, he had developed a personality that always sought revenge for the slightest offense.

If Nangong Xue had not been here today, Zhang Liwei would definitely have made Chen Mo seriously question his life. Yet because Nangong Xue stopped him, Chen Mo had avoided one dispute. Still, Zhang Liwei had no intention of letting him off so easily. Wasn't he just looking for trouble?

He himself was also an expert at Stone Gambling and had weathered ups and downs in the jade industry for many years. He was leagues ahead of Chen Mo. With such confidence in himself, he was certain he could win.

"You picked seven Rough Materials, and I'll pick seven as well! We'll bet on the total value of the jade inside them," Zhang Liwei said.

"Fine!" After thinking it over, Chen Mo agreed. With the responses from his Spiritual Sense, he would not lose. This made Chen Mo feel rather fortunate to possess such a cheating method. Wasn't this a little too unfair to others?

"The loser must not only hand over all the jade cut from the stones to the winner, but also kneel and kowtow three times!" Zhang Liwei declared arrogantly.

Seeing how arrogant he was, Chen Mo's brows furrowed before gradually relaxing. "What if the loser refuses to pay?"

"Haha! If the loser tries to renege, then don't even think about leaving this courtyard!" Zhang Liwei was extremely confident. How could he possibly lose? If Chen Mo tried to run, he would beat him until he called him grandfather. Although the state restrained Aristocratic Families from making a move against Ordinary People, that depended on the situation. If a Martial Artist's dignity was offended, the state would have nothing to say even if someone was killed. That was why Zhang Liwei was so arrogant. As long as Chen Mo agreed, he would have no choice but to kneel and kowtow.

"Fine! I accept!" Chen Mo did not ask why the loser would be unable to leave the courtyard, but he agreed nonetheless. Zhang Liwei had a Martial Artist's dignity, but Chen Mo had the dignity of a cultivator as well. Though he was still weak, he was not someone any random cat or dog could trample over. Zhang Liwei's repeated provocations had already made Chen Mo dislike him.

While Chen Mo and Zhang Liwei were confronting each other, Nangong Xue and the others arrived in the backyard and heard about their wager.

Nangong Xue's delicate brows knitted slightly, but she neither spoke nor stopped them. Nothing could be read from her lovely face, while several old men beside her began discussing it.

"I've never seen this young man before! He'll probably lose!"

"That's right. He doesn't understand Second Young Master Zhang's abilities. Why did he agree? He's far too young!"

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't agree. Young Master Zhang's Stone Gambling skills are truly rare."

"Yes, yes..."

There were quite a few people cutting stones in the backyard. Eight Stone Cutting machines stood in a row, all whirring with "Screech! Screech!" sounds, and the place was crowded. Most people had heard about Chen Mo and Zhang Liwei's wager. Anyone who knew Zhang Liwei did not think Chen Mo could win.

At this point, the shop owner received word from an employee and came to the backyard as well. He first greeted Zhang Liwei, Nangong Xue, and the others, then looked at Chen Mo and shook his head. He did not think highly of Chen Mo either, but he said nothing. Youngsters would grow up after learning a few hard lessons. Who had not acted impulsively when they were young?

He deliberately cleared the two machines beside them, then loudly announced that someone was gambling on stones, with the cut jade as the stake. Almost everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around to watch Chen Mo and Zhang Liwei compete.

This was exactly the effect the shop owner wanted. Otherwise, he would not have stepped forward to oversee the wager. No matter who won or lost, the merchant would profit in the end. Still, it seemed much more likely that Chen Mo would lose.

The master responsible for Stone Cutting was an experienced hand. After placing a selected rough stone on the cutting platform, he began the operation.

This was where the difference between an experienced hand and a novice became apparent. Before placing a stone on the cutting platform, the Stone Cutting master would look at its owner to see how they wanted it cut. Experienced hands would explain their thoughts and might even step forward to draw cutting lines. Zhang Liwei did exactly that, going over to instruct the master on how he wanted the stone sliced.

Stone Cutting here was not like yesterday, when Chen Mo had casually bought a few stones and asked the shop to cut them open directly. The veteran Stone Cutting Masters here placed great importance on their reputations and the cutting process. Stone Cutting had become a skill in itself. Still, to avoid trouble, the Masters cut the stones according to the jade owner's requests. It was not like dealing with small scraps that were barely worth any money altogether.

Chen Mo, meanwhile, looked completely lost. Seeing the Stone Cutting Master looking at him, he simply looked back at the Master. The stones cut yesterday had been small, and nobody had asked him anything. He truly had no idea why the Master was staring at him.

The two stared blankly at each other. In the end, the veteran Stone Cutting Master could no longer hold himself back and had no choice but to speak.

Nangong Xue stood to one side with an expressionless face. However, after seeing Chen Mo and the Stone Cutting Master's expressions, her eyes shifted and she understood a few things. The corners of her lips twitched slightly, though she said nothing. She would neither participate in nor comment on the wager between Chen Mo and Zhang Liwei. What did it have to do with her?

Still, she thought a little more highly of Chen Mo. Ever since entering this Stone Gambling venue, every man's gaze had been fixed on her. The meanings behind those looks made her feel sick, and that was one reason she had developed such a cold personality. But after meeting Chen Mo, she found that he had looked at her only with appreciation, and only briefly. After that, he had not looked at her again. It was not that he avoided looking directly at her while secretly watching her from the shadows; he truly did not watch her at all, treating her as though she were merely an ordinary passerby. This made Nangong Xue very curious.

Not only was Nangong Xue beautiful, she had possessed a kind of intuition since childhood. She had never told anyone about it, not even her parents. At close range, she could sense whether a person bore goodwill or hostility toward her. Yet today, she sensed a third feeling from Chen Mo: indifference!

Someone was actually indifferent to her. This was something Nangong Xue had never encountered from childhood until now. Her face remained expressionless, but inwardly she felt somewhat resentful. Therefore, she no longer tried to dissuade Zhang Liwei from the wager. She simply wanted to see how Chen Mo would deal with it. She knew Zhang Liwei's Stone Gambling ability extremely well. Otherwise, she would not have allowed him to accompany her here to purchase jade materials.

It was not that Chen Mo did not want to look at Nangong Xue. Everyone liked looking at beautiful women. But Chen Mo was not the sort of person who lost focus because of outside factors. So what if she was beautiful? He did not know her, and she was with the fellow who had picked a fight with him. Thus, she had become someone Chen Mo instinctively rejected. Since she had nothing to do with him and belonged to the opposing side, ignoring her was the best choice.

"Young man, do you have anything to say?" Seeing Chen Mo stare at him blankly, the Stone Cutting master felt helpless. He had waited for a long time without hearing anything from Chen Mo, while the other side had already begun cutting, so he finally asked.

Only then did Chen Mo snap back to his senses. "Master, cut it however you see fit. I trust you!"

The surrounding spectators all shook their heads. It seemed this young man was a complete rookie, a rookie among rookies who understood nothing at all.

With Chen Mo's permission, the Master calmed down and began cutting the stone. Even with Chen Mo leaving it to him, he remained meticulous. He had done this kind of work many times and had accumulated plenty of experience, so the task came naturally to him.

The first stone was one Chen Mo had selected because it gave him a particularly favorable feeling. After cutting about a finger's width into the material, green appeared.

"It's gone up! It's gone up! It's gone up!" Everyone froze for a moment before shouting at the sight of green. They had not expected this little novice to have such good luck. It was enough to make them jealous with envy!