Lucky Buys a Stone

Leonard Li was surrounded by a group of local young gentlemen, each putting on a sycophantic smile and praising, "Young Master Li's taste is impeccable!"

Exactly! The noblemen from the capital are truly on another level!

Leonard Li wore a cheerful grin, but seemed oblivious to all the flattery. The men around him were the sons of the most prominent officials and wealthy merchants in Greenfield City, yet Leonard didn't spare them a glance—his attention was solely on the pile of stones before him.

Lily and her friends squeezed into the crowd to watch the commotion. Lily scrutinized the pile of stones on the ground, but after staring for ages, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. To her, all the stones looked the same; you couldn't tell what was inside just by looking. No wonder they called it 'gambling on stones'—it was all luck.

Lucky squatted silently on the ground, feeling one stone after another with his hand.

Cynthia Wu curiously eyed the stone at Leonard Li's feet and said to Lily, "Lily, what do you think is inside these stones?"

Cynthia's voice wasn't loud, but Leonard Li heard her. He turned and saw two young ladies, flashing a charming smile. "Just cut it open and you'll see!"

The young gentlemen around Leonard immediately started to stir, calling for the boss to cut the stone.

The boss sliced into the stone, but inside it was nothing but dull gray—no sign of jade or emerald at all.

Leonard Li stared at the cut surface and smacked his lips. "Oh? Nothing?"

The boss, ever amiable, suggested, "How about slicing it horizontally? You never know, there might be something inside."

"Sure, go ahead," Leonard Li replied, tapping his palm lightly with his fan. He smiled at Lily and Cynthia Wu, "The two young ladies are waiting to see, so hurry up, boss."

The group of young men immediately joined in, laughing and urging the boss to cut faster, teasing Lily and Cynthia.

Cynthia Wu, feeling shy, shrank back and hid behind Lily.

The boss made another horizontal cut, but still, there was nothing inside.

Leonard Li simply had the boss slice the stone every which way. Forget about emerald—even a sliver of jade couldn't be found.

"Tsk, I misjudged this one," Leonard Li shook his head.

Someone nearby sighed, "There goes five hundred taels of silver!"

But Leonard Li didn't seem to care about losing five hundred taels at all. He just started picking through the pile of stones again, clearly ready to gamble once more.

"Nothing interesting here. Let's go," Lily said, finding the whole thing dull. She motioned for everyone to stop wasting time.

"Wife." Lucky squatted down and tugged at Lily's skirt.

"Hmm?"

"Wife, I want to buy a stone too, is that okay?" Lucky stared at Lily with his wet, pleading eyes.

"Ha? This young man wants to gamble on stones too? Do you know how much these stones cost? The smallest one over there is a hundred taels, and the big ones are five hundred each. Looking at you two, you probably can't even pull out a single tael, yet you want to gamble? Hahaha!" The people nearby burst into laughter, sizing up Lucky and Lily's country attire.

Lily didn't really want to gamble on stones—she didn't understand it, and to her, it was just throwing money into the water. Even though she'd earned a little and had saved up three hundred taels, she wasn't about to spend recklessly.

"Lucky, we can't afford to play this game right now. Let's go." Lily tried to pull Lucky up and take him away, but the usually obedient Lucky was unexpectedly stubborn: "Wife, I want to buy a stone. I've already picked one. Can we buy just one, please?"