Chapter 11: Shut Up, Man
The number 2 million was subtle.
For Jiang Xinian, it definitely wasn’t a large sum, nor could it affect the relationship between the Jiang and Song families.
But the thought of buying a broken stone made Jiang Xinian furious.
He might as well let “Little Qian Xuesen” go back and continue blowing up the house.
The murmurs of the surrounding crowd were like boiling water, buzzing, muttering like mice marrying off a daughter.
“Tsk tsk, 2 million? With this shell appearance, getting a full green plaque would be considered good.” “Just wait and see. When it’s cut open later, I’m afraid they won’t even be able to gouge out a bangle core.” …
Shi Huaibai’s voice rang out clearly, calm without a ripple, indisputable. He directly ordered the staff waiting nearby: “That stone, find someone to cut it now.”
“…” Jiang Xinian’s vision went black: “If it’s cut into waste, it will be very embarrassing.”
Everyone in the circle would know that he played the Sky Lantern game with two idiots, the machine roared gold ten thousand taels, and in the end, he was the only one losing money.
If he didn’t know that Shi Huaibai and Song Chi were like fire and water, Jiang Xinian would suspect that the two of them had united to set him up.
As long as it wasn’t cut, Jiang Xinian could pretend that today was just a very normal business transaction.
Schrödinger’s cat; as long as the matter wasn’t broken open, he wasn’t a hot-headed fool.
Song Chi couldn’t wait to see how bad Jiang Xinian’s face could look.
Raising his eyebrows slightly, he came up to the two provocatively, bringing up the pot that shouldn’t be opened: “Thanks to Young Master Jiang for his contribution to charity. This stone that you fought for so long, when it’s opened one day, you must call me to appreciate it.”
Jiang Xinian’s smile was stiff, gently pressing his tongue against his cheek: “Isn’t money meant to be spent? Whether it rises or falls upon opening, as long as one is happy.”
“Is that so? Why not open it now? I’m also very curious.” Song Chi also liked to watch the fun. While teasing, he secretly peeked at Shi Huaibai’s reaction: “It’s just 2 million, not enough to be that painful. Open it for us to verify.”
“Song Chi, don’t go too far,” Shi Huaibai suddenly spoke up.
Jiang Xinian felt somewhat gratified instantly. It seemed Shi Huaibai still understood that the one paying his wages and providing room and board was him.
Fortunately, this puppy who didn’t play by the rules still recognized its master.
Song Chi smiled slightly: “Then open it.”
Jiang Xinian: “Our Little Qian Xuesen can open it whenever he wants. What does it have to do with you?”
“Song Chi, I’m telling you.” Shi Huaibai crossed his legs, nodding slightly as if guiding the country, his voice full of Long Aotian’s sense of justice: “Jiang Xinian is my person. Whether it rises or falls upon opening, it’s not up to you to come over and provoke or ridicule! You have touched my reverse scale. I tell you, Song Chi, stop trying to sow discord between Xinian and me. Even if it doesn’t rise upon opening, I won’t despise Xinian for being a loser.”
Jiang Xinian: “…”
Wait, something’s weird…
Who was the one wanting to buy the broken stone again?
Shi Huaibai: “Moreover, don’t rejoice too early. You vulgar person, haven’t you noticed anything special about this stone?”
“Open it now, let you guys see!”
Jiang Xinian laughed out of extreme anger: “…”
Good news: The pretty puppy he took in knows who has the real master-servant relationship with him.
Bad news: The puppy looked up to the sky and howled: “I am the master.”
However, Shi Huaibai said just now that this stone has special features. Does Shi Huaibai really understand? Is Shi Huaibai playing the pig to eat the tiger?
The System was also curious: 【What is special about that stone!】
Shi Huaibai’s eyes were bright, tone firm: “Of course there are special features, because there are no two completely identical leaves in the world, nor two identical stones.”
【…】 The System frantically knocked on Shi Huaibai’s head: 【Then why did you speak so unfathomably just now?】
Shi Huaibai was very candid: “Acting cool. That way, if the value rises upon opening, I am a professional jade expert.”
The System was going crazy: 【Then if the value doesn’t rise, won’t you become a clown?】
Shi Huaibai: “If it doesn’t rise, I am a great philosopher.”
Because there are no two identical leaves in the world, nor two identical stones.
System: 【…】
You win.
You Long Aotians are truly professionally heinous at acting cool!
Hearing Shi Huaibai’s words, Song Chi’s gaze locked dead on Shi Huaibai’s face like a falcon hunting prey. His tall figure loomed over, as if imprisoning Shi Huaibai in his embrace: “You care so much about Jiang Xinian, just don’t know how Jiang Xinian views you.”
He wasn’t like Jiang Xinian, putting effort into maintaining an image of a refined scum gold on the outside, but that didn’t mean he knew nothing about Jiang Xinian’s actions.
Once, Jiang Xinian also went in and out with several special admission students like Shi Huaibai, behaving gently and intimately.
But after the re-election assembly, no one ever saw Jiang Xinian smilingly accompanying those special admission students again. The things Jiang Xinian gave to those special admission students also quietly returned to Jiang Xinian’s pocket.
This guy only briefly discovered that Shi Huaibai had value to him.
Once he discovered that the cost of recruiting Shi Huaibai was greater than the value Shi Huaibai could bring him, or he no longer needed Shi Huaibai, he would abandon Shi Huaibai without hesitation.
Buying a broken stone wasn’t a big deal for Jiang Xinian. But displaying his failed investment in front of everyone would be a big deal.
Jiang Xinian hated losing face.
Song Chi bewitched Shi Huaibai: “Since you care about Jiang Xinian so much, then open that stone to prove how good Young Master Jiang’s taste is.”
Shi Huaibai said: “Who’s afraid of whom.”
The System also became inexplicably nervous; the atmosphere in front of them was really tense.
Seeing Shi Huaibai agree, Jiang Xinian held his forehead with a headache. Song Chi crossed his arms and smiled, teasing Shi Huaibai: “Little Gold Digger, you are too anxious. Even if you want to fish for oil and water from Young Master Jiang, you don’t have to start bidding on whatever you see at the auction. Being so shallow, you look stupid enough and cute enough.”
“Now you can indeed show how much the one named Jiang pampers you, but have you thought about the price after the limelight passes?”
Few coming from wealthy families were stupid. Song Chi was also accustomed to seeing other rich young masters keeping internet celebrities and stars.
Internet celebrities who wanted to dig for money spent money frantically buying losing items, thinking this was pampering. Where love is, money is; they bought and bought as if declaring sovereignty.
Lacking love, lacking money, and also lacking brains.
The rich people keeping them calculated the gains and losses clearly.
Finally, the pets’ appetites were raised. The rich got tired of playing with them, or had utilized them thoroughly, patted their butts and left.
What would they do? Could they still afford their own lives?
Song Chi laughed: “Shi Huaibai, don’t act up too much. You can’t overdraw the value of your entire life too early.”
The stone was sent out to be cut according to Shi Huaibai’s request. The auction was still ongoing. Seeing Song Chi still lingering, Shi Huaibai couldn’t bear it anymore: “You’re blocking me.”
The System’s voice was weak, very nervous: 【Can it really rise in value?】
F1 indeed pampers Shi Huaibai now, but it is undeniable that F1’s base character is hypocritical, addicted to luxury.
If Shi Huaibai keeps making F1 lose face without providing any value to F1, the Host being abandoned is a certainty.
Then what about the mission?
Shi Huaibai obviously hadn’t considered that much: “According to other world lines I’ve experienced, there were cases where it didn’t rise. But mostly it can rise, right?”
System: 【…】
Then you still… acted so pretentious like an expert!
As a System with mature linguistic arts, it couldn’t bluntly display its speechlessness towards the Host, but had to use dialectical methods to prompt the Host.
【What if it rises?】
Shi Huaibai: “I, Long Aotian, never fight a battle unprepared. They can only see the first layer, while I have already reached the fifth layer!”
The System euphemistically turned to the main topic it really wanted to ask: 【Then what if it loses money?】
Shi Huaibai then put on a heartbroken look: “Damn Song Chi, actually making my brother make a fool of himself in public, leaving Xinian no place in the jade world from now on. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, you wait for me. One day, I will definitely avenge my brother!”
System: 【…】
It didn’t expect that after staying with it for a long time, the Host would also possess such proficient linguistic arts!
In short, didn’t that just mean: If it rises, it counts as Shi Huaibai’s; if it’s embarrassing, it counts as Jiang Xinian’s.
The System turned around, saw F1’s already autistic expression, and felt F1 was so miserable.
When the auction was only one item away from ending, Shi Huaibai’s stone was finally cut. During the cutting process, Jiang Xinian stood up countless times wanting to flee this place that might make him lose face, but Shi Huaibai followed like a shadow, and Song Chi also refused to go cool off somewhere else.
Amidst the distraction, the stone was finally carried over.
Shi Huaibai was too reckless. Old Mr. Shi, a jade expert at the auction, suggested they cut a little less, grind out the meat to check the species water and color band before deciding whether to continue. Otherwise, with drastic cuts, if this 2 million stone was cut into waste, it would be hard to sell even for 100,000.
Shi Huaibai was very confident: “Cut right in the middle. I, Shi, act upright and sit straight. Whatever comes out comes out. Whether it rises or collapses, I take responsibility myself. I absolutely won’t sell this stone further.”
Moreover, according to Old Mr. Shi: grinding the edges to check the situation would at most only recoup the starting price of 200,000. This half-opened stone couldn’t be sold for 2 million.
Shi Huaibai wasn’t willing.
Finally, the stone was carried over. The stone-cutting master hurriedly made a phone call: “It rose! It rose!”
Shi Huaibai instantly spirited: “Imperial Green?”
“No, it’s half landscape water, with green and purple.” The master sighed in admiration.
On the still wet cut surface of the stone, a thick shell could be seen. The outer circles were all cotton and cracks, but inside, in a spot about the size of three fists, a flawless beautiful jade was actually bred. The color was sharp and the water was good; the price of making bracelets would definitely exceed 2 million.
“Incredible,” Old Mr. Shi stroked the cut surface of the stone, saying to Shi Huaibai: “I didn’t expect Young Mr. Shi to have such a keen eye at such a young age, actually able to see that this stone would have such quality when cut. I wonder, 3 million, will you sell?”
The System was dumbfounded: 【Save… save me.】
It actually came out.
Long Aotian novel plot invaded the Mary Sue novel world!
Are you Long Aotians always so stiff when face-slapping and acting cool?
It rises just because you say it rises!
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