Your Daydream, My Plaything

As evening fell, the three arrived in Ruili.

Sun Peng and Duan Wei weren't here for fun; they had a clear goal: to head straight to the Delong Market as soon as they arrived in Ruili.

According to them...

Late at night, with a flashlight, is the perfect time to examine the raw stones.

Zhang Yang wasn't in a hurry, but since Ta and the others were going, he figured he might as well go along and see what was going on. It was a pretty natural thing to do anyway.

"This is Delong Jewelry City?" Zhang Yang looked out the car window at the huge gate, the bustling crowd, and the jade and emerald shops every few steps, and was somewhat surprised.

"First time here, right? You'll be surprised later." Sun Peng looked at Zhang Yang's reaction, not at all surprised.

After all, most newcomers have similar reactions when they first see the grandeur of Delong Jewelry City. To him, Zhang Yang's current reaction is typical of a newcomer and quite normal.

The three got out of the car and walked into the Delong Market.

Inside the market, the lights were on, and license plates from all over the country were everywhere. There were shops on both sides, as well as semi-open stalls with lights on.

Other night markets sell food and household goods, but this one doesn't.

Have you ever seen raw jade stones sold at a street stall?

"These are just for casual play, they'll only make a noise, there's definitely nothing good in them." Sun Peng glanced at the rough stones on the stall.

"However, you get what you pay for. The stones from the eight major mines are definitely more expensive. There's a saying that goes, you can never earn money beyond your understanding. As a newcomer, it's not worth spending a lot of money to try and make mistakes. So it's fine for you to just play around with these rough stones from the street stalls."

Although these words sounded a bit condescending, Zhang Yang didn't take them too seriously.

It's good to keep a low profile.

"Let me take a look first." Zhang Yang smiled casually, then took out the Lucky Stone and carried it with him.

He strolled around a few stalls as if he were just wandering around, picking up a few items at random, without any particular method, clearly a complete novice.

The stall owners' eyes lit up when they saw this.

"Hey handsome, want to take a look? These are all top-quality rough stones. You won't make much money gambling on them," a stall owner said with a smile.

"How much?" Zhang Yang asked, picking up a piece at random.

"This, this is eight thousand," the stall owner said immediately.

Zhang Yang's Lucky Stone showed no unusual behavior or reaction. He held the raw stone in his hand, weighed it a couple of times, smiled, and put it down.

If the Lucky Stone doesn't react, it's definitely a waste.

He certainly wouldn't fall for that trick.

"Where are you planning to go?" he asked with a smile, glancing at Sun Peng and the other man beside him.

"Ahead are goods from the eight major trading posts, and of course, the prices are quite high. If you're interested, come and take a look." Sun Peng spoke with the air of a seasoned veteran.

"Alright, I'll learn more and not rush into anything." Zhang Yang nodded.

Moments later, flashlights were everywhere in the huge market.

The stalls stood side by side, and the customers in front of them carried flashlights, staring intently at the raw stones.

Sun Peng also took out his flashlight and got into action.

"The texture is uniform, the grains are fine, and it's very translucent. This must be from the Pakant Mine." Sun Peng shone a flashlight on it, immediately demonstrating his professionalism.

"Professional!" The stall owner glanced at Sun Peng and gave him a thumbs up.

He demonstrated professionalism, so he wasn't taken advantage of as a novice.

After walking around and looking at various places, Sun Peng finally decided to take action.

"Is this from Damakan Mine? How much does it cost?"

He weighed a fist-sized stone in his hand and asked the stall owner.

"This piece? This one, this price." Without hesitation, the stall owner gestured. "You can check the oiliness and hydration of this piece; it's sure to be a good one."

"How much? One hundred thousand?" Sun Peng asked, amused. "Ten thousand, I'll take it if you sell it to me."

"That won't sell. The minimum is 50,000." The stall owner grinned.

"Let's go." Sun Peng gave Duan Wei and Zhang Yang a wink, then turned and left.

They left without any hesitation, and as expected, behind them came voices pleading for them to stay, "Twenty thousand, that's the absolute minimum, take it or leave it."

"At most fifteen thousand!"

"Make a deal!"

A moment later, Sun Peng acquired his first rough stone of the day at the rough stone market.

"Brother Sun, I'm going to take a walk around. I'll look for you guys later." Zhang Yang followed for a while and roughly figured out the routine.

For example, the actual price is usually negotiated down to 10% of the original price.

Despite trying to haggle, their quoted price was actually much higher than expected; they were simply ripping people off.

"Okay, then you can go and take a look around first. If there's anything you're interested in, don't rush to buy it. You can ask me to help you take a look," Sun Peng said with great enthusiasm, waving his hand.

"Okay, I'll definitely trouble you then." Zhang Yang casually replied and left first.

Zhang Yang stopped in front of the rows of stalls, glancing at the raw stones on display.

He was a complete novice, so naturally he had no method and was just looking around randomly.

"Huh?" Zhang Yang touched a rough stone on a stall and suddenly realized that the durability of the Lucky Stone in his mind had decreased a little.

"This... luck has worked?"

Zhang Yang stared at the rough stone in his hand, then calmly put it down.

He casually picked up another rough stone.

How much is this?

"This is a high-grade rough stone from the Mowanji Mine, 200,000 yuan." The stall owner sized up Zhang Yang and immediately made an exorbitant offer.

What about this one?

"There's this too?"

Zhang Yang didn't even glance at them, randomly picking up a few pieces, including the rough stone he had just picked out.

Sometimes, being too professional can actually lead to unforeseen problems.

You act like a complete novice, so they don't take you seriously; at most, they just want to rip you off.

"So you mean you want 500,000 for just these few stones?" Zhang Yang couldn't help but laugh out loud, then turned and left.

"Hey, do you want it? I'll give you a discount if you do," the stall owner quickly called out to Zhang Yang.

He realized that Zhang Yang was just there to watch the fun and wasn't really going to buy anything; if he let him get away, then he really was gone.

Every customer who inquires about pricing should be treated with utmost care.

"Less? These few pieces, can you even sell them to me for ten thousand if you lower the price?" Zhang Yang said casually as he turned around.

"This... of course I can't sell this." The stall owner smiled helplessly. Faced with a newbie who was just there for the fun, some things were impossible to reason with. "Well then, I'll be frank with you. If you really want these few pieces, the lowest price is 80,000 for the whole package."

"Eighty thousand?" Zhang Yang deliberately feigned disbelief.

"If you really can't take it all, just take less," the stall owner said, shaking his head.

Zhang Yang stood in front of the stall, casually weighing each piece in his hand in order, then nonchalantly picked up the one he had initially chosen. "I'm just trying my luck, I'll just take one to test the waters. Will you sell it for five thousand?"

"Minimum ten thousand," the stall owner said, holding up one finger.

"Okay, this is it." Zhang Yang paid promptly and took the rough stone.

There are so many stalls selling raw stones throughout the market.

Zhang Yang has figured it out: whenever he gets his hands on a stock of Lucky Stone, their durability will decrease.

Items with significant price drops usually have good quality stock.

Along the way, Zhang Yang wandered around, not caring about the extent of the durability reduction; he took down anything that reacted.

Among these, durability decreased by a few tenths of a point, by one point, and by two points at once.

After all this trouble, the Lucky Stone's ten-point durability quickly dwindled to only five points.

"Huh? This is actually..." Zhang Yang paused, his expression calm on the surface, but his heart was instantly filled with tremendous turmoil.

Just now, he discovered that the Lucky Stone's durability had suddenly dropped to zero.

What he was holding in his hand was a rough stone the size of a small pumpkin, with a thick outer shell and no color visible on the surface.

"This stone from Houjiang Mine is worth 500,000." The stall owner, a man of few words, held out his palm before Zhang Yang could even ask a question.

"Too expensive." Zhang Yang shook his head and put the stone down.

"Then you can look at the others. All the prices here are fixed, no gimmicks." The stall owner shook his head and pointed to a few slightly smaller items on the side.

Zhang Yang thought that if he were to open the rough stones and only find those with good quality, it would be too obvious.

Or, I might as well just buy some random things.

"And this one?" Zhang Yang picked up another piece and asked.

"Two hundred thousand," the stall owner said casually, without much enthusiasm.

After so long, his stall hasn't seen many customers, but he's not in a hurry and continues to work at his own unhurried pace.

"Two for one, give me a discount," Zhang Yang asked bluntly.

The goods are obviously good, and the stall owner isn't stupid. You can't expect to find a bargain there, so you might as well have a proper chat.

"You want both?" The stall owner looked Zhang Yang up and down with some surprise. "You should take another look. Once it's sold, there are no returns."

"I really want both. Is two 500,000s okay?" Zhang Yang asked.

"I can't sell them for 500,000, but I can get them for 600,000. After all, these two pieces have been here for a long time. Since you know their value, I'll give you a discount," the stall owner said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay, deal." Zhang Yang nodded in agreement.

In a short while, the transaction was completed, the Lucky Stone was completely destroyed, and Zhang Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the mission for this trip has finally been completed.

"Let's not rush to open it." He glanced at the suitcase full of rough stones in his hand, intending to go find Sun Peng and the others to meet up.

In a corner of the market, Zhang Yang found Sun Peng and his group.

Right now, Sun Peng is examining a stone from all angles, looking somewhat uncertain.

"Have you decided yet?" Duan Wei urged from the side.

"Wait, let me take another look." Sun Peng held up his flashlight, shone it on the stone, looked at it closely again, and finally clicked his tongue.

"That's it!"

"Three hundred thousand." The stall owner held up three fingers.

"Three hundred thousand?!" Sun Peng's eyes widened, and he casually put down the rough stone in his hand. "Let's not beat around the bush. Don't try to fleece me. This piece of jade has a lot of rough edges and impurities on the surface. It's very risky. You definitely won't be able to sell it for three hundred thousand."

"Fortune favors the bold, and the information is right here. The price is also listed here. Whether you can accept it or not is up to you," the stall owner said with a smile.

"Two hundred thousand, you sell it, I'll buy it right away," Sun Peng said through gritted teeth.

"Please take another look," the stall owner said calmly, seemingly in complete control.

"Duan Wei, how much do you have on you? Lend it to me first!" Sun Peng's expression changed as he looked at Duan Wei beside him.

"Me?" Duan Wei was speechless. "How much more are you lacking?"

"Can you lend me 100,000?" Sun Peng asked eagerly.

"I really don't have 100,000, and I can't come up with much more. I can only lend you tens of thousands at most. By the way, didn't you sell your wedding house?" Duan Wei shook his head decisively.

"You know my wedding house, it's a small apartment, and I can't sell it. I even borrowed money for it," Sun Peng sighed.

Seeing Sun Peng's troubled expression, Zhang Yang stepped forward.

"Brother Sun, have you found any rough jade that you like?"

Upon seeing Zhang Yang, Sun Peng reacted as if he had found a lifeline. "Zhang Yang, lend me 100,000 yuan. I'll pay you back as soon as I've finished processing this batch of stones."

"One hundred thousand?" Zhang Yang blinked.

One hundred thousand is nothing to him, but they're not that close. Is it really appropriate to just ask him for one hundred thousand like that?

"Brother, if I find something good, I'll definitely return double the money. Even if I don't find anything good, I'll still give you your principal back. Trust me! My judgment is never wrong." Sun Peng suddenly became anxious and said in a hurried tone.

"I'll write you an IOU and take a picture of your ID card."

"This... you can borrow it." Zhang Yang nodded.

It wasn't that he was generous; he was simply very curious about what would happen when the rough stone Sun Peng had acquired was cut open.

Besides, it's not like I'm not going to pay it back.

"Thank you so much, brother." Sun Peng was overjoyed. He immediately bent down and quickly wrote an IOU, then took out his ID card and gave it to Zhang Yang.

Soon, the money arrived, and the raw stone was acquired.

"Come on, brother, let's go check out this rough jade and see how my judgment is!" Sun Peng said excitedly, pulling Zhang Yang along.

As a professional raw stone trading market, the site naturally provides a one-stop service.

A group of people are gathered around the angle grinder.

Sun Peng went up to them, and after some communication, the raw stones he had purchased at the rough stone market were unloaded and prepared to be opened on the spot.

"Five pieces in total, I should at least offer something decent," Sun Peng said, arms crossed, his eyes gleaming with confidence.

Zhang Yang observed silently from the side.

This time, Sun Peng spent a full 400,000 yuan to acquire raw stones, not including the money he borrowed from him; it was a gamble he took.

Zhang Yang's only impression of him was that he was a big gambler and extremely audacious.

"Boss, shall we open it now?" Before opening the raw stone, the worker asked Sun Peng for his opinion again.

"Yes, be quick, just start it." Sun Peng waved his hand decisively.

The angle grinder was started, and the stoneworkers immediately began their work.

A moment later, the first rough stone was cut open.

Pour a bucket of water on it.

"Oh my, bean seeds!" a sharp-eyed customer exclaimed.

Sun Peng's expression immediately darkened, but he still feigned nonchalance, saying, "It's nothing, just a small loss. It didn't cost much anyway."

The second one was cut open very quickly.

"Damn, this is trash, it's not even as good as the first one." A burst of laughter immediately erupted from the surroundings.

Sun Peng's face turned even paler.

"No way!" he muttered to himself.

He thought this performance was decent when he watched it before, and that it should have been good, so why is it performing so poorly now?

Soon, the third piece began.

Sun Peng kept his eyes fixed on the third piece of raw jade.

If we don't give him some confidence in this area, things will get really bad.

Whoosh!

Water was splashed on it.

"The ice bean seed is good; it's much better than the first one."

"Would you sell it for 100,000? If so, I'll take it."

This time, the noodles, although still made from soybeans, had a more moist texture.

Sun Peng's expression immediately improved.

"Just a small profit, just a small profit." He breathed a slight sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.