It was a piece of jade, green shading into dark green, and judging by its size, it had to weigh at least three or four hundred kilograms.
It was no small thing.
Li Long hurriedly welcomed He Yuqing and Meng Hai inside and asked:
"What made you haul something like this over?"
Meng Hai and He Yuqing followed the horse-drawn cart into the courtyard, one behind the other. Leading the horse, Meng Hai deliberately steered the cart closer to the east wing to avoid having the horse startle the children playing on a mat to the west.
"I spotted this thing when I went to catch fish in the river the other day," Meng Hai said with a smile. "I knew it was jade, and your courtyard's big without much standing in it, so I had a few militiamen load it onto the cart and brought it over. Find a spot, build a platform, and it'll look nice sitting on top."
Less than half the jade was exposed; most of it was covered in a stony crust. Years of running water had worn away every sharp edge. Li Long could not yet tell what it resembled. That would take a good look.
But judging by the exposed jade, there were no fly-dropping-like black specks. It counted as exceptionally fine jade.
"Why didn't you sell it?" Li Long asked. "This jade's pretty good quality."
"Sell it for what?" Meng Hai said, smiling. "I think it'll look just fine in your courtyard. Here, Comrade Li Long, step aside a little. Let me see. Somewhere it won't block the way, but will still look nice... this spot's good..."
He pointed north of the east wing, to the northeast corner of the first courtyard. "I think building a platform right here and setting it