Ever since his mental power increased by another 22 points last night, Ian Song found his mind working even better, as if he now held wisdom in the palm of his hand.
From Old Seven Lee's mocking words, to his provocations, and finally his challenge to a bet—using reverse psychology to push Charles Zhao to raise the stakes—it all reeked of conspiracy to Ian.
Logically, knowing it was a setup, he should have warned Charles Zhao not to fall for it.
But he stayed silent for two main reasons: first, Charles Zhao's impulsive nature meant he might not listen; second, with his Clairvoyant Vision, Ian was confident he could help Charles win the bet and let the schemer bury himself in his own trap.
Soon, the beautiful Boss Yan had two betting contracts prepared and personally acted as guarantor.
After both sides signed, Charles Zhao and Old Seven Lee each transferred three hundred million yuan to Boss Yan's account. Whoever won would receive all six hundred million, while she took a two-million commission.
Once everything was settled, Old Seven Lee couldn't help but show a smug smile. "Fourth Master Zhao, I forgot to tell you—I've invited the famous stone-gambling master Harold Han to be my expert eye. Your three hundred million is as good as mine! Hahaha!"
At the end, he couldn't hold back his pride and burst out in wild laughter.
Hearing the name Harold Han, Charles Zhao's expression changed drastically. He glared fiercely at Old Seven Lee. "Old Seven Lee, are you screwing me over?"
"Heh heh!" Old Seven Lee sneered. "Charles Zhao, that's not a classy thing to say. Sure, Master Han is amazing, but even he makes mistakes sometimes. Maybe your luck will explode today and you'll cut out a piece of Imperial Green!"
Waving the contract in his hand, Old Seven Lee added playfully, "Besides, it's all spelled out in black and white. If you want to back out now, it's too late. But I'll give you a chance—if you bow to me three times and avoid me whenever you see me in the future, I'll return two hundred million out of your three hundred million. How's that? Pretty generous, right?"
Charles Zhao scowled and cursed, "You want me to bow to you? Dream on! It's just three hundred million—I'm not afraid to lose it. And besides, I might not lose at all!"
"Stubborn as ever! We'll see about that!" Old Seven Lee sneered.
......
After their round of verbal sparring, the two of them headed to the rough-stone storage area to pick out stones for the bet.
Unlike the jade-gambling halls in Riverstone City, here the rough stones are stored in warehouses—nine in total, with each holding at least a thousand stones. This alone shows just how powerful Boss Yan really is.
"Fourth Master, Seventh Master, Warehouse No. 9 just received a batch of old-pit rough stones today. Why not choose from there?" the beautiful Boss Yan suggested.
"Alright, we'll do as Boss Yan says." Old Seven Lee, full of confidence, waved his hand and strode toward Warehouse No. 9 with an elderly man in tow—the famous stone-gambling master Harold Han.
"Ian, let's go." Charles Zhao said grimly.
Ian nodded and asked, "Fourth Uncle, what's Harold Han's background?"
"I know about that," Boss Yan interjected.
The beautiful Boss Yan chimed in, "Speaking of Master Han, he's a real legend. When he was young, he was just a warehouse helper at Zhouman Jewelers, guarding the rough stones. Because he handled raw jade for so long, he developed unique insight into them. His first big break was over thirty years ago."
Back then, Master Han was still a warehouse helper at Zhouman Jewelers. The shop had just signed a huge order worth over two hundred million yuan in profit.
But just three days before delivery, several large jadeite pieces that were about to be finished were stolen.
To make matters worse, the client was extremely influential, and the contract stated that if Zhouman Jewelers failed to deliver on time, they'd have to pay a five hundred million yuan penalty. Thirty years ago, five hundred million was worth even more, and that was about the whole value of Zhouman Jewelers at the time.
With time running out, the owner of Zhouman Jewelers had no choice but to send people out to buy jade externally while also organizing a frantic cutting of his own warehouse stones.
But as the saying goes, jewelers are natural rivals, and the jewelry circle is pretty small. None of the other shops wanted to sell him jade—they were happy to watch Zhouman Jewelers struggle. So the owner could only pin his hopes on his own warehouse stock.
Unfortunately, even after half the warehouse stones had been cut, they still hadn't found suitable jadeite, and there were only two days left until delivery.
At that critical moment, Master Han stepped forward and picked out five rough stones from the warehouse.
No one expected that after cutting those five stones, three of them would yield jadeite—and not just any jade, but large, high-quality pieces that fully met the client's requirements."
Thanks to this, Zhouman Jewelers narrowly escaped disaster, and Master Han became a trusted favorite of the owner.
Master Han's most glorious moment came twenty years ago at the Blackfield Public Auction. By then, he'd married the owner's daughter and become general manager of Zhouman Jewelers, which, under his guidance, had already become the market leader.
Many jewelers were unhappy with Master Han, so at the Blackfield Auction, they set up a massive stone-gambling trap against him."
At this point, Boss Yan's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Master Han knew it was a trap, but he still stepped right in! The scheme involved nearly ten billion yuan, and if he lost, Zhouman Jewelers would be ruined and kicked out of the jewelry world.
But in the end, he single-handedly defeated more than ten stone-gambling masters hired by the other jewelers, making a profit of one billion yuan and laying a solid foundation for Zhouman Jewelers' future.
After that earth-shaking event, Master Han seldom took action, but whenever he did, the rough stones he picked almost always produced big gains."
"Has he ever made mistakes?" Ian asked curiously, secretly wondering if Master Han had some ability like his own Clairvoyant Vision.
"Master Han isn't a god, of course he's made mistakes—but they're very rare. Especially in recent years, he's been careful to protect his reputation and almost never takes commissions. This time, Old Seven Lee only got him because the Lee Family is blocking a key Zhouman Jewelers project, so Master Han had no choice but to step in.
So, Fourth Master, you really need to be careful."
Even though Charles Zhao knew he had a ninety-nine percent chance of losing, he refused to show weakness in front of the beautiful boss. He waved it off nonchalantly, "It's fine, it's just three hundred million."
"Fourth Uncle, we might not lose. Actually, I know a thing or two about stone-gambling myself!" Ian said, half-joking, half-serious.
Charles Zhao's eyes lit up. He patted Ian on the shoulder and said, "Really? Then I'll leave the stone selection to you. If we win, I'll give you two hundred million!"
Ian was no fool—he could easily see Charles Zhao's little scheme. If Ian picked the stone and they lost to Old Seven Lee, Charles could just say he wasn't the one who chose it, saving some face.
But would they really lose? Ian didn't think so at all, so he agreed with a big smile.