Have You Ever Seen Jadeite the Size of a Millstone

Since everyone was eager to throw money at him, Ian Song certainly couldn’t refuse their goodwill. He agreed right away, and after tallying it up, aside from the 100 million bet against Old Seven Lee, the total from everyone else reached 430 million.

Charles Zhao, standing nearby, was so shocked by Ian Song’s reckless move that he jumped: “Ian, are you crazy? You know you’re sure to lose, so why the hell are you betting with them?”

“Fourth Uncle, do you think I’m stupid?” Ian Song asked with a grin.

“Not stupid!”

“If I’m not stupid, would I do something stupid? Relax, I’ve got this!” Ian said with full confidence.

Seeing Ian so determined, Charles Zhao could only shake his head helplessly. “Forget it, I won’t bother with you anymore. Do you have enough money? If not, Fourth Uncle still has 300 million.”

“Thanks, Fourth Uncle, but I’m not short on cash!”

Since this round of betting involved dozens of people, plus all the contracts and transfers, it took a full hour before the stone-cutting could start again.

Watching the jade-cutting master struggle to lift the massive rough stone onto the cutting machine, Ian Song motioned for him to step aside—he wanted to do the cutting himself.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh!”

As stone dust flew everywhere, Ian Song sliced off one of the rough stone’s irregular corners. The cross-section was pure white—there wasn’t the slightest sign of jade inside.

The crowd who’d joined the betting all looked delighted.

But Ian stayed calm and kept operating the machine, slicing off two more irregular sides. Now, the whole rough stone was shaped like an oval.

Next, Ian picked up a smaller cutting machine and started polishing the surface of the stone.

Twenty minutes passed.

“Pa!”

When a thin layer of stone skin dropped away, a hint of green finally appeared on the cut surface.

“It’s rising!”

The crowd was all a bit surprised.

Ian didn’t react—he just kept grinding along the cut surface, and the green color grew richer and spread wider.

An hour later, Ian Song had finished cutting open the entire rough stone.

When everyone saw the millstone-sized slab of jadeite, the whole place instantly fell silent.

The quality of this jadeite wasn’t quite as good as violet jade, but it was still mid-to-high-grade water-type jadeite. Judging by its purity and rich green color, it was definitely top-tier among water-type jade.

And on top of that, the sheer size of the jadeite was staggering.

“Hahaha!” Charles Zhao burst out laughing, looking so smug it was like a peasant singing after turning his fortunes around.

Old Seven Lee’s face, on the other hand, was as dark as water. As for those who’d hoped to cash in on Ian’s loss, every one of them wore a mournful expression—their faces couldn’t have looked any uglier.

“Master Han, you’re the expert—why don’t you tell us, what’s this slab of jadeite worth?” Charles Zhao asked Han Zhenhai.

Han Zhenhai replied in a deep voice, “I’ve gambled on rough stones for years, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a slab of jadeite this big. And its quality isn’t low, either—it’s mid-to-high-grade jadeite. In my opinion, this slab is worth 400 million!”

“Four hundred million! Old Seven Lee, did you hear that? Your slab of jadeite is only worth 120 million, while mine is bigger by 280 million! So tell me—who won?”

“A petty man riding his moment!”

Old Seven Lee cursed with an ugly look on his face, then turned and left.

Charles Zhao wasn’t about to pass up the chance to kick a man when he’s down. He shouted after Old Seven Lee’s back, “Haha, don’t leave, Old Seven! I won several hundred million today—I’ll treat you to lunch!”

Old Seven Lee paused for a moment, but then stormed off even faster.

Seeing him flee in embarrassment, Charles Zhao laughed even louder and more gleefully.

Suddenly, Master Han stepped forward and said, “Fourth Master, how about selling this slab of jadeite to my Zhouman Jewelers for five hundred million?” The Lee Family was too powerful for him to offend, but the Zhao Family was even more so. He’d only backed Old Seven Lee out of necessity, and now that the bet was lost, Old Seven would surely resent him.

So, by offering to buy the jadeite for a hundred million above its value, he was hoping to build goodwill with the Zhao Family.

Charles Zhao might be impulsive, but he was still a scion of a major family. He saw through Master Han’s intention instantly and laughed, “Master Han, you’re too kind! As for your company’s stalled project, leave it to me—I guarantee I’ll get it sorted!”

Master Han was stunned for a second, then broke into a huge grin. As the saying goes, a blessing in disguise.

“Congratulations, Ian! You’re the first person to ever beat Master Han—you’d better treat us all!” The beautiful proprietress strolled up with a bright smile, her voice soft and fragrant.

Ian smiled back. “You’re too kind, Boss Yan—I just got lucky. But it’d be my honor to treat you. Wherever you want to eat, you decide!”

“Then I won’t hold back! I’ll pick the most expensive place and eat you into poverty!”

…………

This round of betting netted Ian Song a total of 1.03 billion yuan. Of that, 530 million came from his bets against Old Seven Lee and the others, and the other 500 million was from selling the giant slab of jadeite. Ian hadn’t planned to take the sale money, but Charles Zhao insisted he accept it.

Unable to refuse, Ian had no choice but to accept.

Afterward, the four of them headed to Taishan Restaurant for lunch: Ian Song, Charles Zhao, Han Zhenhai, and Jade Beauty Hall’s proprietress, Ruby Yan.

During the meal, the group kept raising their glasses. With Ruby Yan, the beautiful proprietress, being a master at setting the mood, things just got livelier and livelier as they drank.

“I’m going to the restroom for a bit. Fourth Uncle, Master Han, Boss Yan—you guys keep drinking.”

Stepping out of the private room, Ian felt a wave of relief. The three inside were all drinking pros. No one tried to force him to drink, but he’d still had quite a bit—his head was already spinning a little. Still, he realized his alcohol tolerance had gone up; if this were last time, he’d have been passed out by now.

After relieving himself, Ian passed by the door of another private room. Suddenly, the door flew open and a staggering figure crashed right into his arms.

“Sorry!”

She apologized and tried to pull away, but Ian thought her voice sounded very familiar. He looked closely—wasn’t this his old boss, Mira Su?

“Mira, is that you?”

“Ah—Ian, what are you doing here!” Mira Su was just as surprised to see him. Suddenly, something seemed to occur to her, and she said anxiously, “Ian, I’ve got something urgent. I’ll talk to you later!”

But after just two steps, Mira’s body suddenly went limp and she began to collapse. Ian quickly stepped forward to catch her from behind, and she ended up slumped completely in his arms.

Just then, a young man clutching his head rushed out of the same private room. Seeing Mira in Ian’s arms, he exploded in anger and shouted, “Bastard, let her go!”