Generally speaking, Wang Weimin never went to places like fast-food restaurants. The food here was utter garbage; not only was it low-class, it was unhealthy too, completely beneath the status of the young master of Treasure-Gathering House.
At yesterday's class reunion, he had run into the former class beauty and invited her out today.
Back then, the class beauty had gotten together with some rich second-generation heir. She was single now, and she knew Treasure-Gathering House had grown tremendously in recent years. After hesitating briefly at her former classmate's invitation, she agreed.
After they had grown tired from walking around, they decided to rest their feet. She knew he would be paying, but she did not want him to think less of her, so she suggested coming to a fast-food restaurant—compared with cafés and teahouses, this place was cheaper.
What could Wang Weimin say? That this place was too low-end? Come on. He still wanted to win over the class beauty and maybe have a friendly match afterward. How could he question her taste?
The two casually ordered some orange juice and chips. They were not there to eat, just to rest. They would sit for half an hour, then find a high-end hotel for food and drinks. That was the proper way for old classmates to spend time together.
When they saw a young man sitting across from them, neither paid him much attention. However, his bold eating style and whirlwind speed still caught their notice.
He had finished two burger combos in the blink of an eye. How long had this guy been starving?
Feng Jun had not been hungry for long. He had ordered food at the bathhouse last night, but he had only gotten two baskets of buns and a large bowl of porridge. It had not been enough, but it would have been awkward to order more.
Putting him aside, when the class beauty saw him get up to buy more food, she could not help muttering under her breath, "This guy really has quite an appetite. Good thing fast-food restaurants aren't that expensive."
Fast-food restaurants were not expensive? If the owner of a hole-in-the-wall diner heard that, they would definitely disagree.
Still, she was saying it as a tactful hint: she had chosen to rest here not because she had never been to high-end places.
Wang Weimin, however, paused in surprise before reaching out and picking up the stone from Feng Jun's table. "Heh, this is kind of interesting."
The class beauty quietly reminded him, "Don't touch other people's things."
Wang Weimin answered carelessly, "Maybe he put it here because he wants to sell it. I've seen this kind of thing plenty of times."
He was not just making things up. Many people really did sell things this way.
For example, in the middle of summer, someone might carry an exquisite bamboo sleeping mat down the street. If you thought it looked nice and walked up to ask where they bought it, they might very well answer directly, "One hundred sixty!"
Then there were those people riding electric scooters around with two huge baskets of mulberries or pomegranates. You could just stop them and ask the price.
The class beauty was still a little worried about him taking something without asking. "I think he's using it to save his seat. Wait until he comes back and say hello before taking it. It won't be too late then."
"Heh." Wang Weimin smiled dismissively but said nothing more. He did not want to leave a bad impression on her.
In his view, anyone eating at a fast-food restaurant was dirt poor. If someone had even a little ability, who would come to such a dump to eat?
What? The other guy ate a lot? Then he was even more dirt poor! If he had the means, he could order Leo Kingdom lobster until he was stuffed. That would at least be interesting.
He had already sized the other man up: the guy might not be especially short on cash, but he definitely did manual labor.
So he truly did not take Feng Jun seriously. Instead, he examined the stone from every angle.
His family owned an antique and jade shop, so his eye was far sharper than most people's. The instant the stone entered his hand, he knew it was genuine and definitely not artificially manufactured.
The patterns on the stone were rather interesting too. On closer inspection, he could make out faint clouds, mountain peaks, and a temple atop one of the peaks, like an ink-wash painting.
But the most interesting part was that there was actually a touch of reddish brown along the stone's edge, strikingly like sunset clouds on the horizon.
If it had only possessed the ink-wash effect of watery smears and dark markings, the stone would still have been decent, but not particularly rare. Yet that touch of reddish brown gave the entire stone an intense and distinctive charm.
What made a strange stone special? The point was its strangeness!
Wang Weimin was determined to obtain this stone.
When Feng Jun heard this guy actually asking him for a price, he had no choice but to look up. After chewing twice and stretching his neck to swallow the food in his mouth, he shook his head and answered expressionlessly, "Not for sale. I'm using it to save my seat!"
He disliked the man's behavior, and he disliked that self-righteous attitude even more.
"Not for sale?" Wang Weimin smiled faintly and leaned back against his chair, raising his chin slightly. "I said you could name your price. Just don't make it too outrageous."
He did not speak loudly, but the half-concealed, lofty arrogance in his tone was impossible to hide.
That was what Feng Jun could not stand the most. I already said it wasn't for sale, so why are you still showing off your superiority?
You're the one who wants to buy it. I'm not begging for your charity, so what the hell are you acting so high and mighty for?
This time, he could not even be bothered to speak. He took a big bite out of his burger, pointed at the stone, then pointed at the tabletop: You've looked long enough, right? Please put down my property.
Wang Weimin immediately felt his face heat up. Damn it, you're so arrogant that you can't even be bothered to speak?
How was Feng Jun being arrogant? He simply felt that he was eating and it was inconvenient to talk. Especially since this fast-food restaurant was a foreign brand; if he had been eating at a domestic restaurant, talking would not have mattered, but he could not embarrass himself in a foreign fast-food place.
Wang Weimin could not have imagined that. Although he also had to mind his image and manners when he went to Western restaurants, and would never make a loud commotion, this was a fast-food restaurant!
Especially with the class beauty beside him watching his every move, his face reddened at once.
You want me to put it down? No chance. This stone is mine today.
You little country bumpkin from out of town, how dare you put on airs in Yang City? Today, I'll make sure you learn why flowers are so red!
After a moment of silence, he gave a dry laugh. "Friend, one thousand is a little expensive. How about this? I really like this stone, so I'll give you five hundred... If you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement."
Feng Jun stopped chewing and looked at him in astonishment. Then he resumed chewing with gusto, his eyes filling with thick disdain—I won't say anything. Go ahead and take it if you dare!
That expression... I absolutely can't take this lying down! Wang Weimin was furious too. Without another word, he took out his wallet, counted out five red bills, and slapped them onto the table with neither too much nor too little force. Then he picked up the stone and looked at Feng Jun provocatively.
Feng Jun still said nothing. He raised the fries in his hand and gave them a shake: Are you blind? I'm eating!
"Fine, enjoy your meal," Wang Weimin said. He truly refused to believe it and stood up on his own. "I'll be going, then."
Feng Jun was so angry he could barely put it into words. What did I ever do to you? You can't just bully people like this!
He raised a hand, intending to make a move, but considering that this was a restaurant, he forcibly suppressed his anger. He took out his phone, unlocked the screen, and directly pressed three numbers—calling the police!
Then he raised the phone and waved it at the other man.
"You stupid bastard," Wang Weimin sneered coldly. "I left the money right there. Let's see how you report this to the police."
What he had done counted as forced buying and forced selling. It was illegal, but not criminal.
Once it rose to the level of a crime, it would either be fraud or robbery.
However, Wang Weimin was both a local big shot and a rich second-generation heir. He had the other man figured out and was not afraid of things escalating at all.
There was another consideration as well: the value of strange stones was difficult to measure. The stone before him was strange because of its patterns and color, but the stone's shape itself was as ordinary as could be.
And among the strange stones popular nowadays, shape came first, while patterns were secondary.
If a stone had a good shape, large size, and fitting patterns, then it was a top-quality piece.
In other words, this stone had patterns but no shape, and it was only this tiny. It was not worth much at all.
Calling it worth five hundred might even be considered an overvaluation by many people.
Wang Weimin had originally thought that getting it for under five thousand would not be a loss. If he could not sell it, he could keep it as a collectible anyway; it was not worth much regardless.
But if he happened to meet someone who truly liked it, selling it for thirty or fifty thousand would be easy. Even one or two hundred thousand was not impossible.
Just like the Ma Family Tibetan Mastiff Army: a single dog worth forty million was not necessarily hype. Collectors cared about whether it caught their eye.
And if he ran into a big spender, money would be even less of a concern.
In short, there was a great deal of knowledge involved in collecting stones, but personal preference was also extremely important. Aside from certain universally recognized masterpieces, the estimated value of a stone could vary enormously.
Wang Weimin simply did not believe that anyone would dare call taking this stone for five hundred robbery!
When Feng Jun saw that he still would not say anything, he directly pressed the "send" button. Stretching his neck, he swallowed a mouthful of fries and spoke loudly, "Police? I want to report a crime. Someone is robbing me!"
Wang Weimin looked at him coldly and remained unmoved. Punk, if I don't make you cry for your parents today, I'm not a man.
The class beauty, however, reacted quickly and snatched Feng Jun's phone away. Seeing that the call had not connected yet, she hurriedly hung up. "What is wrong with you? We thought you put it there because you wanted to sell it."
Feng Jun's shout had already drawn the attention of many people, and some had even taken out their phones.
One thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl was the most excited. She jumped onto a chair and started filming.
Everyone had social media feeds. In this age of self-media, who did not want to be the first to break a story?
When Wang Weimin saw this scene, his head began to ache as well. He could find friends to smooth things over with the police, but if this got posted online, it would be much harder to handle, and the situation could become uncontrollable.
When Feng Jun saw the woman step forward, he could not help feeling a little regretful. If this could not go through the police, he would have to use another strategy.
So he sneered. "I already said it wasn't for sale. Didn't you hear me?"
The class beauty was left speechless, but Wang Weimin was thick-skinned enough to immediately start shouting, "You held up one finger. You clearly meant you were selling it for one thousand! I countered with five hundred, and you didn't object... If you don't believe me, let's check the surveillance footage!"
"Can you have even a little shame?" Feng Jun's face darkened. "I was telling you to put it down! Even by your interpretation, how do you know one finger couldn't mean ten thousand?"
After a pause, he snorted coldly again. "With a difference of five thousand, was I wrong to report robbery?"
Wang Weimin laughed in anger. "You want to sell this lousy stone for ten thousand? Have you gone broke from poverty?"
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