"What a waste! What an unforgivable waste!"
Zhong Wentai was heartbroken. His hands trembled as he cradled the fragment, as though it were not a piece of jade but his own grandson's severed limb.
"What a shame. What a terrible shame!"
He turned to Song Qiuya, regret practically spilling from his cloudy eyes.
"This fragment is broad at the top and narrow at the bottom, with sharp edges and carved patterns on its surface. If we tried polishing it into another pendant, it would end up much smaller and considerably thinner. That would affect its value."
Song Qiuya felt a deep sense of regret as well.
To think such exquisite jade had met this fate.
Chen Lin lifted the glass of water in front of him and took a sip.
At Zhong Wentai's words, his heart clenched.
It would affect its value? Did that mean this thing wasn't worth much?
Just then, Song Qiuya asked in her cool, businesslike manner, "Mr. Zhong, even so, what would be a suitable price for us to purchase it on behalf of Zhou Xiaofu?"
Zhong Wentai considered for a moment, then held up three thick fingers.
"Three million."
"That's merely its price as scrap material. If the piece were a little more regular and evenly shaped, it would easily be worth over ten million!"
"Pfft!"
The mouthful of water Chen Lin had just swallowed nearly sprayed straight onto Song Qiuya's exquisite face across from him.
He forcibly held it back, choking until his face turned bright red and his chest heaved.
Three million?
For this broken piece of junk?
And that was only the price for "scrap material"?
Was everyone in the jewelry industry this loaded?
He really was too young. Poverty had limited his imagination!
Song Qiuya nodded, agreeing with the price.
Suddenly remembering something, she looked at Chen Lin expectantly. "Mr. Chen, I believe I saw earlier that you had more than just this piece..."
Chen Lin wasted no time. He pulled the crumpled tissue-paper bundle from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing the other, smaller fragment of imperial green jade.
The moment Zhong Wentai saw it, every muscle in his aged face twitched.
He snatched up the fragment and switched on his high-powered flashlight with trembling hands.
Under the beam, the green glow and internal structure of both fragments left no doubt that they came from the same piece.
His regret instantly transformed into tremendous hope.
Together, these two fragments were not particularly small. Judging by their broken edges, they probably made up only a small portion of the original jade pendant.
By a conservative estimate, the intact pendant must have been palm-sized!
He raised his head and stared at Chen Lin with burning eyes. "Mr. Chen! The remaining fragments... do you still have them?"
"If we could gather all the fragments, I'm confident I could restore it perfectly, without a single crack visible to the naked eye! An intact jade pendant like that could absolutely become the crown jewel of our Zhou Xiaofu store!"
Chen Lin shook his head, looking sincere and regretful. The lie rolled right off his tongue.
"It's been passed down in my family. There are only these two fragments. Supposedly, it's from the Western Zhou dynasty!"
The remaining fragments? They were probably being disposed of as construction waste in some unknown otherworldly dimension right now. Where was he supposed to find them?
Watching Chen Lin spout nonsense with a perfectly straight face, Zhong Wentai felt the corner of his eye twitch. For a moment, he was speechless.
Western Zhou? Did he think I was blind?
With broken edges this fresh, last week would be more like it!
A hint of amusement flashed through Song Qiuya's beautiful eyes as well. She lifted her teacup and took a small sip, using its rim to hide the smile threatening to curl her lips.
Even as a nonexpert, she could tell the jade had broken no more than a month ago.
But Zhong Wentai was a seasoned old hand, and he did not expose the lie.
He handed both fragments to Song Qiuya and said to Chen Lin, "This piece is considerably smaller, but the quality is the same. Its value is around two million!"
Chen Lin's heart began to race.
Two fragments, five million!
He was rich!
This time, he'd really struck it rich!
The transaction went even more smoothly than Chen Lin had imagined.
After the contract was signed, Song Qiuya handled the transfer herself. Less than ten minutes later, a text from the bank arrived on Chen Lin's phone.
[Your savings account ending in xxxx has received RMB 4,350,000.00. Current balance: RMB 4,380,125.50.]
Six hundred and fifty thousand in taxes, gone just like that.
Chen Lin winced a little, but above all, he felt dizzy from the enormous fortune that had landed in his lap.
Before he left, Song Qiuya took the initiative to add Chen Lin on WeChat. She told him that if he had any gold or jade to sell in the future, he could come to her for a fair price.
Chen Lin stepped out through Zhou Xiaofu's opulent doors, squinting against the sunlight outside.
His mood was through the roof.
What next?
He thought of the three-wheeler he had parked on the outskirts.
Its sputtering engine, the seat that jolted him until he nearly fell apart, and that lingering smell of diesel.
No way!
Now that he had money, he had to get a new ride!
It had to be a good one, too!
He would need someone knowledgeable to help him buy a car.
A burly figure immediately sprang to mind: a man standing 185 centimeters tall and weighing 110 kilograms.
Zhao Jie!
His best friend, his closest buddy.
They had been in the same class for all three years of high school, so close they could have shared a pair of pants.
After the college entrance exams, Chen Lin had gone to Modu Jiaotong University, while Zhao Jie, an athletic recruit, had gotten into a sports college in the provincial capital, Wucheng.
The guy had a natural head for business.
During the summer after his freshman year, Zhao Jie set up a little stall applying phone screen protectors and immediately spotted an opportunity.
Tempered-glass protectors cost one or two yuan apiece wholesale online, but he charged at least ten yuan to apply one.
Better still, Zhao Jie knew how to tailor his prices to his customers.
When a young guy or college student showed up with his girlfriend, Zhao Jie would boldly ask for thirty. To save face, the customer would pay without blinking.
If he encountered a penny-pinching middle-aged man or woman, he would quote fifteen, leaving room to haggle.
Chen Lin had been dumbfounded at the time, marveling at what a born profiteer his friend was!
Sure enough, after returning to college, Zhao Jie began applying screen protectors and replacing batteries for his classmates, easily earning three or four thousand a month.
Of course, with more spending money than he could use, his athlete's physique ballooned as though he were moving up a weight class every year.
When they met again after graduation, Chen Lin had almost failed to recognize him.
When he asked his weight, good grief-110 kilograms!
After graduating, Zhao Jie had abandoned a career in sports and plunged straight into the phone business.
Six months as an apprentice at a phone shop in Wucheng had taught him all the ins and outs.
Then he quit, returned to Yicheng, and opened his own phone shop, repairing phones and buying and selling used ones. Business was booming.
Following his memory through several streets, Chen Lin found Brother Jie Communications.
A massive figure was hunched over the counter, completely absorbed in replacing an iPhone screen.
"Holy shit!"
The figure abruptly raised his head and cried out in delighted surprise the moment he saw Chen Lin.
"Lin! What are you doing back all of a sudden? You didn't even give me a heads-up!"
Zhao Jie rushed over in a few long strides and wrapped Chen Lin in a crushing bear hug, nearly squeezing the breath out of him.
Chen Lin chuckled and patted his broad back. "Wanted to surprise you! Come on, let's grab a meal. My treat!"
They picked a little roadside restaurant at random.
When Zhao Jie heard that Chen Lin was back for good this time and intended to make a life in his hometown, he slapped his thigh with delight.
"That's fantastic! You're finally back! You have no idea-with you away, drinking with anyone else just wasn't any fucking fun. It was so damn boring!"
Smiling, Chen Lin picked up a bite of food, warmth filling his heart.
"Don't worry. I'll take you straight to the top!"
"The top?" Zhao Jie took a swig of beer and asked curiously, "How?"
Chen Lin set down his chopsticks, leaned forward slightly, and spoke with deliberate emphasis. "I'm planning to buy a car."
Zhao Jie immediately perked up. "Nice, Lin! What kind are you thinking? A domestic model for a hundred-something thousand, or a joint-venture brand for two hundred-something thousand? I'll help you pick!"
Chen Lin grinned and delivered his answer almost like a proclamation.
"Anything under a million!"
The beer bottle Zhao Jie had just lifted toward his mouth froze in midair.
He stared at Chen Lin for a full ten seconds.
"Did you fucking... win the lottery?"
After they finished eating, Zhao Jie said nothing more. He wheeled his garishly modified scooter out of the shop.
"Hop on!"
"Where are we going?"
"Where else? The auto mall! We've got to find you the flashiest ride there!"
With an ear-splitting roar, the scooter carried the two men, whose combined weight topped 150 kilograms, hurtling toward the auto mall on the west side of town.
Before you continue