"What the hell? What do you mean, sharing a room?"
Zeng Shen jolted at the notification ringing in his ears.
"Why does that sound so weird?"
"Wait, this woman is the tier-three water deity?"
Coming back to his senses, Zeng Shen wanted to cast Eye of Observation to confirm it, but the beautiful young married woman had already left the office.
Instead, he casually cast it on Shi Mingqiang as he approached.
The information he received showed that Shi Mingqiang was merely a set of skeletal remains destroyed in the cataclysm.
"So that woman really was the tier-three water deity."
Zeng Shen sighed inwardly.
He had thought the tier-three water deity was Li Yuqing's uncle.
He had even planned to trigger the "suppress" and "defeat" entries on Shi Mingqiang in a moment, earning his first survival points from him.
Yet it turned out to be that beautiful woman who was desperately short of money?
Then wouldn't finding her make it even easier to "suppress" and "defeat" her every day?
After all, she seemed badly in need of money.
No, even if she needed money, she had already left. Where would he find her, and how would he approach her?
And then "suppress" and "defeat" her?
After the woman left, Shi Mingqiang walked toward Li Yuqing, sat on the sofa opposite them, and said with a smile,
"Long time no see, little lady. You've gotten even prettier."
As he spoke,
he looked at Zeng Shen and said, "This young man wants to sell some rough jade, does he? I saw you two coming in holding hands on the security feed. Don't tell me he's your boyfriend."
Li Yuqing blushed slightly but admitted it openly. "Yes, his name is Zeng Shen. We were in the same class at university, too."
"Hello, Mr. Shi." Zeng Shen held out his hand.
"He's a spirited young man. Looks like you found yourself a fine boyfriend, Yuqing." Shi Mingqiang briefly shook Zeng Shen's hand as he spoke. "Yuqing told me you bought a few stones at a jade market before, and found jade in them a few days ago."
"That's right. I gave one a chop with a kitchen knife, and when I saw green, I stopped." As he spoke, Zeng Shen set his backpack on the table in front of them and took out a palm-sized stone.
Shi Mingqiang hadn't particularly cared what kind of jade was inside Zeng Shen's rough stone, but the instant he saw the dazzling emerald luster shining through its crack,
his eyes went fixed and his breathing quickened slightly, as though his entire mind had been drawn into it.
"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. This is top quality."
Murmuring in a trance, Shi Mingqiang took the rough jade from Zeng Shen and examined it carefully.
A full minute passed.
Only then did he come back to his senses and calm his excitement. Still holding the rough jade as though he couldn't bear to put it down, he said to Zeng Shen,
"Young man, it's difficult for me to put a value on this jade. But just the green light coming through this crack is enough to confirm that it's green dew imperial jade."
"What's green dew imperial jade?" Zeng Shen asked, puzzled.
"Green dew imperial jade is the finest imperial jade, and it's extremely rare. A piece the size of a thumb can fetch thirty million at auction. Based on the volume visible through this glimpse of green alone, your rough jade would have a starting auction valuation of at least fifty million."
"What? At least fifty million?"
Li Yuqing's beautiful eyes widened slightly.
She had seen plenty of money, but she hadn't expected Zeng Shen's rough jade to be worth so much. Hearing Uncle Shi suddenly name that price made even her gasp.
Shi Mingqiang nodded slightly and continued, "And that's the auction price for the rough stone. If my design department turns it into jewelry before auctioning it, it'll fetch at least two hundred million."
"Uncle Shi, you're not joking, are you? Two hundred million!" Li Yuqing said.
"Green dew jade is worth that price. It contains an energy that science still can't explain. Wearing it over a long period nourishes the body and improves immunity," Shi Mingqiang explained.
Hearing this, Li Yuqing turned happily to Zeng Shen. "Shen, you're rich! Your jade is worth two hundred million."
Shi Mingqiang smiled at her words. "My dear niece, that's only my initial, conservative estimate. If your boyfriend agrees, I'll arrange for someone to come and strip away the outer stone right now. If there's more jade inside, the price could multiply along with its size."
Zeng Shen had always cared little about money, but hearing such a sum for the first time, especially when it was suddenly within easy reach,
even he couldn't keep his emotions from surging.
He had known the jade was good, but he had underestimated its value. At most, he had expected to exchange it for a few tens of millions.
He hadn't imagined that its market valuation would far exceed his expectations, and that estimate was based only on the glimpse of green exposed by his kitchen knife.
If removing the outer stone revealed a piece of jade half the size of his palm,
wouldn't a conservative estimate put it at eight hundred million?
And he still had a whole pile of jade like this in his backpack.
He even had a mine at home.
What an outrageous windfall.
Who, however indifferent to fame and fortune, could stay calm in the face of that?
Zeng Shen took a slight, deep breath. "Sure. I'll leave the arrangements to you, Uncle Shi."
"Good."
A hint of excitement colored Shi Mingqiang's voice as he immediately called to arrange for the finest, most professional master stone cutter to come over.
Meanwhile,
the beautiful woman who had just left Shi Mingqiang's office was on the twenty-first floor, discussing her rough jade with his longtime rival.
But likewise, the other party refused to sign a risk agreement before the outer stone was completely removed. He even subtly mocked her for daydreaming and trying to get something for nothing.
Furious, she returned to the twentieth floor, intending to speak with Shi Mingqiang again. If nothing worked, she would have no choice but to have the outer stone removed first.
But as for the rough jade in her hands,
her keen intuition told her that perhaps only that tiny patch of green was imperial jade.
Its value would fall far below her expectations.
When she appeared at the entrance to Shi Mingqiang's office again,
Shi Mingqiang was questioning Zeng Shen about his background like an elder sizing up his niece's future husband, while waiting for the professional jade cutter to arrive.
"Mr. Shi, I hope I'm not interrupting." Standing in the doorway, the beautiful woman knocked softly and forced a smile.
Seeing her in the doorway, Shi Mingqiang rose from the sofa and walked over. "Not at all, Ms. Liu."
"Mr. Shi, I'd like to discuss my rough jade with you again," she said.
Standing in front of her, Shi Mingqiang nodded slightly. "Certainly. But if you insist on signing that risk agreement, we'll have to wait until the outer stone has been completely removed."
The woman hesitated before finally speaking, as though she had made a momentous decision. "All right."
"Then go inside and take a seat. Wait a moment." Shi Mingqiang took out his phone and glanced at it, then added, "I'll go meet the stone cutter at the elevator."
"All right."
The beautiful woman nodded and entered the office.
She had originally intended to sit in the office chair.
But when she entered and saw the palm-sized stone in front of Zeng Shen, it immediately caught her attention. More precisely, her attention was drawn to the deep green glow showing through the cut in the stone.
She didn't know much about jade.
But her intuition told her
that this rough jade was worth far more than the one in her hands.
At once,
she sat down on the sofa opposite Zeng Shen and asked him and Li Yuqing softly, "Are you here to commission Mr. Shi to process your rough jade, too?"
Zeng Shen had just been wondering how to find this beautiful woman and earn his first survival points from her by "suppressing" and "defeating" her.
Seeing her approach him of her own accord delighted him. He said calmly, "Yes. I happened to get a piece of rough jade. Mr. Shi said we could sign a risk agreement for at least two hundred million."
The beautiful woman's breathing suddenly quickened.
The corners of Zeng Shen's mouth lifted slightly. It seemed the fish had taken the bait.