About five minutes later, Cliff Fu returned to his seat. Without any pretense, he said directly, "Mr. Song, the Fu Family has people in the Anti-Corruption Office. I've already made the call, so we should have news very soon."
"Thank you, Mr. Fu. Let me toast you." Ian Song raised his glass gratefully. Originally, his plan had been to join the National Martial League and use his status as an Innate-Rank Master to catch the League's attention, putting pressure on the Nangong Family to release his uncle. If the League refused, he would have had to take desperate measures.
Now, with Cliff Fu stepping in, a lot of trouble was avoided. At the same time, Ian realized that no matter how strong an individual is, it's hard to fight against an established group. This planted the idea in his heart of building his own force in the future.
"Mr. Song, you're too polite. It's really just a small matter." Cliff Fu raised his glass modestly.
The two of them drank a glass. Shelly Song, who had been quiet all this time, raised her glass to Cliff Fu and said, "Thank you, Mr. Fu, for saving my dad."
"Miss Song, you're too kind," Cliff Fu replied quickly.
After that, the atmosphere at the table grew more and more relaxed. Around the tenth minute, Cliff Fu took a phone call, then smiled at Ian and Shelly Song, saying, "Mission accomplished. Mr. Song, your uncle has already been personally escorted back to the Education Bureau by the Anti-Corruption Office."
Normally, officials taken away by the Anti-Corruption Office rarely get a second chance. Now, with Anti-Corruption staff personally sending Stephen Song back to the Education Bureau, wasn’t that the Office slapping its own face?
Ian thanked Cliff Fu once again.
With his uncle still on his mind, Ian sat for a while longer before politely saying he needed to leave.
Cliff Fu said he'd arrange a car for them, and this time Ian didn't refuse.
Just then, Cliff Fu’s phone rang. He answered, and soon his expression turned extremely excited. After hanging up, he said to Ian, "Mr. Song, I just got news from the Jade Gambling Hall—they've cut out a piece of emperor green jade. Would you be interested in going to take a look?"
"Emperor green?" Ian was a bit confused.
"I know, I know!" Zoey Su cut in. "Emperor green is an extremely rare kind of jadeite—it's practically priceless."
Cliff Fu nodded. "Miss Su is right. Emperor green is indeed a very rare type of jadeite, and extremely scarce. My Jade Gambling Hall has been open for years, we've cut more than ten thousand rough stones, but this is the first time we've ever found emperor green."
"Shelly, what do you think? Want to go take a look?" Ian asked for Shelly Song's opinion.
Zoey Su quickly grabbed Shelly's wrist and urged, "Come on, Shelly, let's go! Emperor green jade is super rare—we should go and broaden our horizons."
"I'll listen to my brother," Shelly replied sweetly.
"Alright, then let’s go with Mr. Fu and see for ourselves," Ian said with a wave.
Seeing Ian agree, Cliff Fu was delighted and immediately ordered a multi-seat electric cart to drive them toward the Jade Gambling Hall inside the estate.
On the way, Cliff Fu took the initiative to explain to Ian what rough stones were, what jadeite was, and the nature of jade-gambling.
Time was limited, so Cliff could only give a brief explanation. Still, Ian immediately spotted a business opportunity: thanks to his Clairvoyant Vision, he could see inside rough stones while others could not.
"Mr. Song, Miss Song, Miss Su, we've arrived. Please get out of the cart," Cliff Fu said politely.
So, the group got out and, led by Cliff Fu, entered the Jade Gambling Hall.
With Cliff Fu’s introduction, Ian learned that the Jade Gambling Hall was divided into three areas: selection, cutting, and rest areas.
The whole hall looked extremely spacious, but right now, almost everyone was crowded into the cutting area, making it very noisy.
"Boss, you're here." The manager of the Jade Gambling Hall came over to greet Cliff Fu.
"Manager Sun, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Ian Song, this is Miss Shelly Song, and this is Miss Zoey Su. They’re my honored guests—make sure to treat them well." Cliff Fu pointed to the three as he spoke.
Hearing Cliff's introduction, Manager Sun's expression immediately turned serious. He said to the three, "Mr. Song, Miss Song, Miss Su, if you need anything, just ask. If I can do it, I'll never refuse."
"You're too kind, Manager Sun," Ian replied politely.
After some pleasantries, Manager Sun led everyone to the cutting area. With his explanation, they learned that the emperor green jade had been cut out by a local real estate developer named Huang. He had spent one million yuan on a rough stone, and after polishing a small window, a patch of green appeared. Judging by the water quality, it was emperor green, so the stone’s price soared—someone had already offered ten million.
But Boss Huang kept hesitating—should he sell and pocket a nine-million profit, or keep cutting?
If he kept cutting, he might find a large core of emperor green jade and make a fortune, but he could also ruin the stone entirely.
"Boss Huang, have you made up your mind yet? Are you selling this rough stone or not?" The middle-aged man who’d offered ten million couldn’t help but urge, seeing Boss Huang still struggling to decide.
Boss Huang gave an awkward smile. "Don’t rush me, Mr. Nie. Let me think a bit more."
"I’ll offer eleven million. How about selling to me, Boss Huang?" Cliff Fu said.
Hearing someone raise the bid, Mr. Nie was furious. He turned and saw it was Cliff Fu, and couldn’t help but grumble, "Young Master Fu, are you interested in this rough stone too?"
Cliff Fu smiled. "The odds of finding emperor green are just too low. If I buy this rough stone, I won’t cut it any further—I'm planning to make it the shop’s treasure."
Ian and Shelly couldn’t help but click their tongues in amazement. Just like that, Cliff Fu offered eleven million—he really didn’t seem to care about money at all.
But Boss Huang, hearing Cliff Fu’s higher bid, seemed to make up his mind. "Sorry, Young Master Fu, I’ve decided to keep cutting."
"No problem," Cliff Fu said generously, waving his hand. "If you do cut out emperor green, Boss Huang, you must sell it to me—I’ll make sure the price is worth your while."
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"Absolutely! Absolutely!" Boss Huang replied with a laugh.
Ian’s heart stirred. He activated his Clairvoyant Vision and looked at the so-called emperor green rough stone, which was about the size of a basin. At first, his vision went dark, but soon, the entire internal structure of the stone appeared before his eyes.
To his surprise, the so-called emperor green was just a very thin layer. Aside from that, the rest of the rough stone was all gray, meaning if Boss Huang kept cutting, the value would collapse.
Realizing this, Ian felt a bit emotional. Boss Huang was going to regret it—if he’d sold to Cliff Fu for eleven million, he’d have made ten million profit. Now that he was cutting? That thin layer of emperor green probably wasn’t even worth a million.
Sure enough, things played out just as Ian expected. When the whole rough stone was cut open, only a thin layer of emperor green remained. Boss Huang was devastated, almost sick with regret—if only he hadn’t been so greedy and had just sold it.
Since there was no big emperor green inside, the crowd in the cutting area quickly dispersed.
"Mr. Song, would you like to try jade-gambling yourself?" Cliff Fu asked Ian.
Ian shook his head and refused. "No need, I’m just an outsider." Mainly, he’d noticed that the rough stones here weren’t cheap—the expensive ones cost five or six million, even the cheapest were seventy or eighty thousand, and his total assets were just a bit over that.
"Haha!" Cliff Fu laughed heartily. "How about this—since you and I hit it off, I’ll gift you, Miss Song, and Miss Su each a rough stone as a meeting present."
"Awesome! Mr. Fu, you’re the best!" Before Ian could respond, Zoey Su eagerly accepted and dragged Shelly Song off to pick out rough stones. Seeing this, Ian had no choice but to agree.