The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 66 Gambling on Jade

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The county's antique street, also known as the collectibles market, is a small street located in the north of the town. Although it is not wide, it is quite long, about two kilometers long, and both sides are lined with shops dealing in antiques. These shops are always open.

The market fair is a spontaneous gathering of collectors at the collectibles market to exchange their wares. Dealing with antiques is, after all, a form of entertainment. There is only one such market fair a week. On this day, collectors from the county and neighboring counties will bring their collections to set up stalls and sell them at the market. The markets in the neighboring counties are staggered. Some collectors who make a living by dealing in antiques will visit each market one by one.

The market in Yunggu County is held on Mondays, and Yang Ming was lucky enough to be there today for the collectibles market.

The large market for collectibles attracts just as many people as a farmers' market, where people buy and sell everyday items, and the consumers are mostly local villagers.

The large fair of collectibles sells antiques, and the consumer group comes from all over the world: Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and so on. Occasionally, a few foreigners will also be mixed in.

As Yang Ming entered the antique street, he was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer variety. On both sides of the street, there were vendors selling woodenware, bronzeware, porcelain, lacquerware, jade, ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, the Four Treasures of the Study, and old clothes... The various collectibles were displayed in abundance, some genuine and some fake, some new and some old. This would test the collectors' discerning eye. Some might be fooled and lose millions, while others might find a bargain and make tens of millions with no investment. This was the allure of collecting; it was almost like gambling.

Countless collectors strolled along the street, hoping to find some good items. Yang Ming was also among the crowd, mainly looking at jade artifacts.

"Ya Ya, can you tell the difference between real and fake jade?" When Yang Ming was dazzled by the exquisite jade artifacts, he finally realized that he had been too naive. Collecting jade is not something just anyone can do. There are many intricacies involved, and it is very challenging to distinguish between real and fake jade.

"No, YaYa can only scan objects with signs of life," YaYa said.

"So, I want to buy jade. How can I tell if it's real or fake?" Yang Ming asked.

"If the master knows the composition of the jade, he can buy a 'fertilizer processing machine,' which has a material composition analysis system inside," Ya Ya said.

"How big is this fertilizer processing machine you mentioned?" Yang Ming asked.

"They come in all sizes, from as small as a toothpick to as big as a flashlight," Ya Ya said.

"The fertilizer processing machine is so small?" Yang Ming asked in surprise.

"Of course, fertilizer processing machines simply release microwaves to vibrate ores and microorganisms into inorganic and organic fertilizers that can be absorbed by crops. They don't need to be too large," Ya Ya said.

"How many gold coins does one cost?" Yang Ming asked.

"Depending on the number of functions, the price ranges from 10 to 100 gold coins," Ya Ya said.

"Buy the one with the most complete functions, and put it in my pocket in a bit," Yang Ming instructed.

"Yes, sir." Ya Ya quickly replied, then opened the sales system to make the purchase.

Suddenly, Yang Ming felt a bulge in his pocket. He reached inside and found a cylindrical object about the size of a flashlight. He took it out and examined it closely. The cylinder was 15 centimeters long and 4 centimeters in diameter, just like a flashlight. In the center of the cylinder was a long, rectangular LCD screen that displayed the status. At one end were two buttons, one green with "On" written on it and the other red with "Off" written on it. These were the power switches for the machine.

At the other end, there are more buttons: a black one labeled "Measure," used to detect the composition of substances, and directly opposite this black button is a small black light bulb; a blue one labeled "Decompose," used to decompose inorganic substances, and directly opposite this blue button is a small blue light bulb; and a purple one labeled "Ferment," used to catalyze the fermentation of organic matter, and directly opposite this purple button is a small purple light bulb. These three light bulbs are evenly distributed along the edge of this end, forming an equilateral triangle.

In addition, there are 10 buttons representing strength, each labeled with an Arabic numeral from 0 to 9. Next to 0 is the word "weak," and next to 9 is the word "strong."

After obtaining this treasure, Yang Ming pressed the green button. The LCD screen flashed like a mobile phone being turned on, and then displayed the status, indicating that it was in the "on" state.

Yang Ming walked up to a jade stall, took a milky white jade pendant from it, and held up a fertilizer processing machine. He shone a small black light on it, and a long set of chemical formulas immediately appeared on the LCD screen.

"It seems that the chemical composition of jade and jadeite is silicate, right? Then this one that's so long can't be real..." Yang Ming thought, putting the jade pendant down. He recognized the chemical formula for silicate, and this jade pendant was clearly artificially synthesized.

Yang Ming examined each piece of jade at the stall, but unfortunately, none of them were genuine; they were all just long strings of chemical formulas.

"Hey young man, what do you want?" The stall was run by a middle-aged woman with a scarf wrapped around her head. She was a little unhappy to see Yang Ming picking up and putting down the jade items on her stall one by one.

"Big sister, do you have any real jade here?" Yang Ming asked directly.

"Isn't this all true?" The middle-aged woman was even more displeased.

"Hey lady, we've known each other for ages, why are you trying to fool a kid? All of this is fake, not a single piece is real," a middle-aged man in a jacket said as he approached.

"I'm telling you, aren't you shameless? Does it concern you or not? You're always showing off everywhere. Go do what you're supposed to do..." The middle-aged woman raised her eyebrows and scolded the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man walked away sheepishly, and the middle-aged woman said to Yang Ming again, "Do you want it or not? If you don't, don't rummage through it and don't block my stall. I still need to do business..."

Yang Ming shook his head, got up and left, heading towards another stall. His sharp ears could still hear the middle-aged woman's curses: "What a piece of trash! Pretending to know everything, acting like a big shot!"

"There are all kinds of people in this world. Some people use fake goods to cheat others, and when they are exposed, they even curse others for being immoral. But if people don't fall for it, they have a different story..." Yang Ming thought to himself with contempt.

"Hey! Sir, why are there so many stones here?" Yang Ming noticed a stall with large stones on it and curiously approached to ask.

"Young man, you don't understand, do you? This is raw jade, you can call it rough jade, it all comes from Hetian." The man running the stall was in his thirties with a pair of smiling eyes, which made everyone who saw him think he was smiling. Therefore, his friends in the circle gave him the nickname "Smiling Brother".

"The Hetian area? Could there be jade there?" Yang Ming knew about the beautiful jade from Hetian.

"You never know, that's why it's called jade gambling. If you're lucky, young man, you might actually find one," Brother Xiao said.

These stones are actually the ones that people have rejected. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it all the way from the Northwest to the antique market in North China. The reason they haven't been cut open is because these stones are intact. Due to the uncertainty, they can still fetch a price. If they were cut open, you might be lucky enough to find a piece of jade the size of a fingernail. If you're unlucky, you'd just throw them in the trash.

Modern testing instruments are 60-70% accurate in determining whether a stone contains jade. In addition, stones containing jade are extremely rare. Therefore, the stones that people leave behind are basically empty stones.

"How much is this rough jade for?" Yang Ming asked.

"No matter the size, it's one thousand yuan a piece, no bargaining," Brother Xiao said, holding up one finger.

"Can I choose?" Yang Ming asked.

"Look at what you're saying. This is a jade gambling game, of course you can choose," Brother Xiao said with a laugh.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Yang Ming smiled and began to inspect each piece of fertilizer with the 'fertilizer processing machine'. Sure enough, Yang Ming found some good ones. After this round of inspection, he found a total of five pieces that were of good quality.

"I'll take these five yuan." Yang Ming handed over five thousand yuan.

"Young man, would you like to cut it open and take a look?" Brother Xiao watched as Yang Ming shone a flashlight on the spot and selected five pieces. He felt it was really mysterious. Could it be that he could pick them out just like that?

"You can even split stones here?" Yang Ming asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course, we offer a one-stop service for selling and cutting stones..." Brother Xiao pointed to a small cutting machine placed to the side.

"Can you process it?" Yang Ming asked.

"That won't do..." Brother Xiao smiled awkwardly.

"Will you charge a processing fee if you cut the stone for me?" Yang Ming asked again.

"Of course we won't charge that; the processing fee is already included in the price," Brother Xiao said.

"In that case, let's cut it..." Yang Ming nodded.

So, Brother Xiao started his car, and the engine drove the motor on the car, which in turn drove the cutting machine. A buzzing sound rang out, and the cutting machine started spinning rapidly. Cutting stones was a novel experience, and many collectors around gathered around, watching curiously.

"Swoosh..." A sharp scraping sound rang out as the first stone was slowly cut open corner by corner. Suddenly, a piece of white jade the size of a fingernail with an oily luster appeared in the cut. The jade was warm and delicate, like sheep fat.

"Wow..." This discovery immediately drew gasps from the onlookers.

"Young man, you're in luck! There's jade inside, and it's even mutton fat jade..." Brother Xiao looked on with envy, and then cut it even more carefully, slowly polishing it. After polishing away all the stone covering the outer skin, everyone was speechless. It turned out to be a piece of jade the size of an adult's fist.

Brother Xiao's eyes were red, whether from jealousy or excitement, it was hard to tell. He handed the heavy piece of jade to Yang Ming and patted Yang Ming's shoulder hard: "Young man, you've struck it rich. This piece of jade is worth at least a million. It's the top-grade Hetian mutton fat jade."

"Hehe," Yang Ming just smiled. A million dollars really couldn't excite him. "Brother, your skills are not bad. Keep going..." He found a black plastic bag from somewhere and put the jade inside.

"Okay!" Brother Xiao nodded, then went to cut the jade again.

Slowly, all four pieces of jade were cut open. The people around them almost forgot to breathe. Jealousy, extreme jealousy, endless envy. All five fist-sized pieces of Hetian mutton fat jade went into Yang Ming's pocket, and he even managed to find more than ten smaller pieces of jade.

Brother Xiao's hands were trembling, and he said, whether laughing or crying, "Little brother, next time, please patronize my business again." The scattered jade pieces were nothing, but the five top-grade jade pieces, each worth at least five million, made him envious. These five pieces of jade originally belonged to him, but he sold them for five thousand yuan. Now his heart was aching terribly.

"Hehe, definitely, definitely. When you get to Xinshi, remember to let your brother know. What's your phone number, brother?" Yang Ming took out his phone.

Brother Xiao gave him a number, and after Yang Ming dialed it, he turned around and slipped out of the crowd with the jade. He disappeared into the flow of people in a few moments. "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Now Yang Ming had five pieces of jade in his arms that could be used to make a jade disc. If someone was watching him, it would be troublesome. He should disappear from everyone's sight as soon as possible.

"These five pieces of jade could make about thirty jade pendants, or a dozen or so from the loose pieces. I wonder where in the county there are jade processing shops?" Yang Ming muttered to himself as he carried the heavy jade pieces.

After thinking it over, Yang Ming decided to wait until he got back and ask Aunt Liu for advice on whether to get a jade disc, jade pendant, jade charm, or something else. He had underestimated the complexity of the matter. Having basically achieved his goal, Yang Ming immediately left the collectibles market, met up with Old Yang who was waiting outside, and then quickly left the county town to go home.

Just as Yang Ming left, four or five people ran out of the antique street. They looked around and couldn't help but sigh. What a pity! This person ran too fast; he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When I got home, it was just 11 o'clock. On the roof, a pair of pigeons were hopping around. The baby pigeons had grown up quite a bit, and the mother pigeons were starting to prepare for their second brood. They were busy gathering grass, building new nests, and chasing away eggs, without missing a beat.

In the yard, the puppies lazily slept under the trees, by the corners of the walls, and at the base of the fence. Two or three chicks scratched for food at the base of the fence, their big paws digging large holes in the ground.

In this harmonious atmosphere, Wei Qingqing and Liu Nannan were picking chestnuts together under the chestnut tree. A large winnowing basket at their feet was almost overflowing with chestnuts. The couple, Wangcai and Liu Nannan, were holding onto the basket with their two front paws, sniffing the contents with their little noses.

"You're back? Did you buy it?" Wei Qingqing greeted them as she saw the delivery truck parked outside.

"I bought it, but it's not a jade pendant, it's just raw jade. It still needs to be processed. I'm not familiar with the county, I don't know where to process jade, or what kind of processing it will look like, so I just brought the raw jade back. I'll ask Aunt Liu for her opinion first, and then we'll take it to be processed." Yang Ming got out of the car, handed the black plastic bag to Wei Qingqing, and went inside to get a drink of water. He hadn't had a drop of water all morning, and his throat was parched.

"What is it?" Liu Nannan asked curiously, coming closer.

Wei Qingqing opened the plastic bag, and the two of them crowded around to take a look. There, they saw five fist-sized pieces of mutton fat jade lying quietly in the bag, with a few scattered stone fragments on them. The scattered jade pieces paled in comparison and were subconsciously ignored by the two women.

"This...is it jade? It seems to be of pretty good quality..." Liu Nannan was somewhat fascinated, her gaze lingering on the five pieces of beautiful jade.

It is said that Chinese people have a special affection for jade. Phrases like "a gentleman is like jade" and "a beauty is like jade" all reflect people's admiration for jade.

"So beautiful..." Wei Qingqing murmured softly, also captivated.

At this moment, Yang Ming came out with a big peach, eating it as he said, "I wonder where in the county there is a jade processing shop. Why don't we go back to the city and find a jewelry store? Jewelry stores usually have jade processing services."

"Jade processing?" Liu Nannan murmured softly, then her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "I know where to find it! There's one in our Liu Family Village. My grandfather Liu is a jade processor, and his grandson even runs a jade processing shop in the county town. It's a decades-old craft."

"Really?" Yang Ming smiled. "Then I must thank Nan Nan. If your Grandpa Liu's craftsmanship is really that good, I'll give you a jade pendant when it's finished."

The value of jade artifacts lies half in the craftsmanship and half in the material. A skilled craftsman can multiply the value of a piece of jade several times over, and even make it priceless.

"No need, no need. Let me warn you first, Grandpa Liu's prices are very high... but his craftsmanship is absolutely the best. When I was little, Grandpa Liu carved some small animals for us out of stone, and they looked just like they were alive." Liu Nannan blushed a little.

"Let's not worry about the jade for now... You forgot your phone when you left this morning. Not long after you left, Mom called and said that they've thought about the thing we discussed yesterday and think it's okay. They asked if we're serious." Wei Qingqing snapped out of her obsession with the jade and said.

"What's wrong?" Yang Ming asked, puzzled.

"How can you be like this? You mentioned the wedding yesterday, and you've already forgotten about it?" Wei Qingqing said with some dissatisfaction.

"Oh! You mean the wedding this evening? What did Mom say?" Yang Ming suddenly remembered.

"Mom said that if we hold the wedding in the evening, you can leave at 3 a.m., arrive at our house at 10 a.m., and return at 5 p.m. That way, we won't have to get married twice. If we only change the wedding time to the evening and all the other ceremonies are the same, there shouldn't be any problems. It's just that the guests might go hungry for a day," Wei Qingqing said.

"Okay! Let's do it this way. Let's change the wedding time to the afternoon. A person only gets married once in their life. What's the point of getting married twice?" Yang Ming's eyes lit up.

"Hehe, if only there were bridal sedan chairs..." Wei Qingqing said with some longing.

"How about we use our transport truck and convert the back into a bridal sedan chair when we get married?" Yang Ming said.

Wei Qingqing's eyes lit up, and she was about to applaud when Liu Nannan spoke first: "This... isn't that a bit inappropriate? I remember that during funerals, tractors were used to pull sedan chairs, and the coffins were placed inside the sedan chairs."

The little girl's words poured cold water on the two men's heads, making them feel uneasy. If the back of the truck were really converted into a sedan chair, it would be no different from a funeral sedan chair. Of course, in reality, there is a big difference between a bridal sedan chair and a funeral sedan chair, but modern people are unfamiliar with this thing and easily confuse the two.

"However, painting the car bright red, pasting red 'double happiness' characters on it, and adding lots of red flowers would be nice..." Little Liu Nannan felt a little uneasy after spoiling the mood, so she added softly.

"Then let's use a bridal sedan chair. There's a saying, 'A young woman gets into a bridal sedan chair for the first time,' so I'll use one. I even saw a couple using a bridal sedan chair for their wedding online the other day," Wei Qingqing said.

Wei Qingqing's attitude was very firm. After all, a woman only gets married once in her life, so why not sit properly in the bridal sedan chair? Their own transport truck was even more stable than a sedan, and there was no bumping at all while sitting in the truck.

If you put a sofa bed inside, along with a coffee table and some fruit and snacks... the whole journey would be wonderful.

"Alright, let's use a bridal sedan chair." Yang Ming nodded. He had already made up his mind. He would buy another transport vehicle from the sales system and convert it into a bridal sedan chair. It would be used as a bridal sedan chair for the wedding and as a motorhome for other occasions... But, Qingqing, are you still a young woman? Aren't you already a young married woman?

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(End of this chapter)