Cash Flow

The next morning, Zhang Yang opened his eyes but didn't hurry out of bed. Instead, he counted silently for a few seconds.

Left leg, right leg, quads, hamstrings...

Move them a little.

"Ugh..." They were incredibly sore.

Like a tottering old man, Zhang Yang used the bed for support as he stood up, then slowly washed up and took a shower.

It was Sunday, and the last weekend before the May Day holiday. The next time they got a break, it would already be May Day.

Song Wenqin had mentioned the night before that she wanted to buy a jade bangle. Zhang Yang figured he might as well get one for his mother in the Magic City. He had nearly 500,000 yuan on hand now, anyway.

A little after nine that morning, Zhang Yang drove his Cayenne straight to a jade shop near the City God Temple.

Inside a venerable jade shop with an excellent reputation, Zhang Yang looked at the bangles in the display case as a staff member explained them to him.

He wasn't interested in natural glutinous-variety jadeite under ten thousand yuan. A low-grade icy-variety bangle costing around a hundred thousand was a better fit. As for higher-quality, high-ice or even glass-variety bangles, those cost hundreds of thousands, or more than a million.

Bangels like those were treasures of the shop, kept on display as showpieces.

The awkward part was that, even if Zhang Yang wanted to buy one, he couldn't afford it just yet.

"I'll take this one." Zhang Yang chose a low-grade icy-variety bangle and asked the staff member to wrap it up. As for anything better, he'd wait until his finances had grown stronger.

The square outside was bustling. The staff member told him there seemed to be some kind of stone-gambling event going on.

"It's been held for years to draw a crowd. They mainly have beginner-level rough stones, all brought in from Myanmar. Most cost a few hundred or a few thousand yuan. It's just for fun and excitement."

Zhang Yang nodded as he watched the shop assistant write up the bill, wrap the item, and hand it over.

The bangle was taken care of. It had cost 150,000 yuan.

Zhang Yang walked out of the shop, planning to head straight home, but the rough-stone event nearby drew his attention. In the end, he went over on foot to take a look.

At the stalls, rough stones of every size were piled together. A crowd of onlookers milled around them, picking through the stones. Quite a few people looked like experts, holding magnifying glasses and powerful flashlights as they examined the stones with great concentration.

"How much is this one?" An old man picked up a stone, weighing it in his hand as he asked.

"The one you're holding is five hundred yuan. These over here are in the thousand-yuan range. Why not have a look?" the stall owner said enthusiastically.

Zhang Yang had heard the saying about gambling on rough stones: one cut could make you poor, rich, send you to heaven, or send you to hell. He also knew that stones costing tens or hundreds of yuan were exactly as the shop assistant had said: they were just for fun and excitement.

The odds of finding a valuable piece were about as good as winning the lottery.

He'd imagined buying a rough stone on a whim and having it turn out to be glass-variety Imperial Green. After all, he had a system; it wasn't impossible that a rough stone might yield something valuable, too.

But when he thought it over, he decided against it. What were the odds of something so ridiculously coincidental happening?

At a stall not far away, even more people had gathered to watch, but very few were willing to make a purchase. Zhang Yang went over for a closer look. The rough stones at this stall were enormous, one after another, though there weren't many of them. When he asked the prices, he heard they ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.

These were the stones that might actually yield something valuable, but they came with a high price tag. Not everyone could afford to risk tens or hundreds of thousands on a chance.

"Are you going to cut it or not?" Nearby, a worker was opening a window in a stone at the buyer's request.

Once the watermelon-sized rough stone had been ground open, its colors were distinct and it looked promising.

The buyer repeatedly shone a flashlight on it, checking how well the light passed through. He looked uncertain about whether to keep cutting.

The experienced hands nearby discussed it among themselves.

"The window looks good. The jade's got plenty of water, but the light doesn't pass through well."

"And there are claw-like cracks on the surface."

"Sell it while you can. You didn't pay that much for it, so you can still make a little profit. If you cut it and it's a bust, it'll be worthless."

Zhang Yang stood among the crowd, watching. He'd heard how much the stone had cost.

The buyer had taken a risk and paid 50,000 yuan for it. Now that a window had been opened, it seemed to contain jade, but the overall appearance of the stone still left a lot to be desired.

"Ah!" The buyer put away his powerful flashlight, his expression twisting as he struggled with the decision. It seemed he'd made up his mind. "Three hundred thousand! Anyone want it for three hundred thousand? I've decided to sell."

He held up three fingers and looked around. It was clear he didn't want to risk it any further and was ready to quit while he was ahead.

The people around him exchanged glances. For a moment, nobody seemed willing to take it off his hands.

After all, he wasn't the only one with doubts. If the inside looked as promising as the exposed window, everyone would be happy, and the buyer would make a fortune.

But if the cut ruined it, those 300,000 yuan would go down the drain.

Three hundred thousand was no small sum. Only someone who truly didn't care about the money would be willing to gamble on it.

"Three hundred thousand? Would you take two hundred thousand? I'd take the risk at that price," someone in the crowd finally asked.

"I won't take two hundred thousand. I'm selling because I can't decide what to do. If it really turns out to be valuable, it'd be worth at least three million." The original buyer waved him off and flatly refused.

There was a fifty-fifty chance it would turn out well or badly. It all came down to who was willing to risk 300,000 yuan on the gamble.

Zhang Yang was about to leave, but he couldn't help feeling tempted.

Buying stones that cost a few hundred or a few thousand yuan and hoping for a huge payoff was pure wishful thinking. But this stone was only one step away from yielding something valuable. It came down to whether anyone was willing to risk hundreds of thousands on it.

Zhang Yang didn't need to get involved, but if the stone really did turn out to be valuable, it would help him a lot.

Then he'd have an excuse for driving the Porsche Cayenne home. Wouldn't that be much more believable than making up some story about winning the lottery or getting rich through stock trading?

It was only a few hundred thousand. Should he take a shot?

"Forget it. I'll look around some more." Zhang Yang managed to suppress his urge and walked away, taking another lap around the event.

After making the rounds, he found himself inexplicably heading back.

The stone was still up for sale, and an even larger crowd had gathered around it.

"Anyone want it? If nobody does, I'm cutting it!" The buyer called out several times, but no one was willing to step forward. He gritted his teeth, about to tell the worker to cut it in one go. Whether it turned out well or badly, he'd just have to take the chance!

Zhang Yang pushed through the crowd and called out to stop him.

"I'll buy it at that price."

The noise around them died down for a moment as everyone looked at Zhang Yang. Then the commotion grew even louder.

Three hundred thousand? This young guy was going to pay that much?

He really dared to risk 300,000 yuan? Wasn't he afraid of losing it all?

"Uh..." The buyer had finally worked up the courage to cut it, only to be interrupted. Being stuck between deciding to sell and deciding to cut it left him feeling awful.

"If you want to sell, I'll take it. If you want to cut it yourself, go ahead. Forget I said anything," Zhang Yang said casually.

He'd only decided on a whim. Even if he lost 300,000 yuan, he could afford it. It was only about ten days' worth of cashback.

If the man sold it, Zhang Yang would give it a try. If not, he wouldn't push the matter.