Dong Dashan stood before the mirror with a dark expression, desperately trying to wipe away the words written across his face with an oil-based marker.
He was so furious his eyes had turned red.
He had no idea which bastard had plotted against him and made him lose so much face in public.
He rubbed so hard that his skin was almost raw.
Yet he managed to erase only the first three characters.
The two characters for “eunuch” stubbornly remained on his face, as though mocking him.
Then he remembered the surveillance footage.
The thought left him both aggrieved and frightened.
Whoever had done this had manipulated his body without anyone noticing.
To everyone else, it looked as though he had sleepwalked and done everything himself.
Just who had he offended?
Dong Dashan didn’t immediately suspect Qin Su.
After all, she looked far too beautiful and harmless.
People instinctively underestimated young, attractive women.
Suddenly, the female ghost’s face appeared in the mirror.
Suppressing his anger, Dong Dashan cursed,
“What kind of job did you do? You couldn’t even handle something this simple?”
Not only had he failed to make those two into laughingstocks, he had become everyone else’s joke instead.
The female ghost, Wanhong, said,
“Boss Dong, I’ve found a new employer. I’m here today to resign~”
Dong Dashan’s lips trembled with rage.
Yet there was absolutely nothing he could do.
If one of his employees had dared behave like this, he could have ruined their career in a fit of anger.
But could he blacklist a ghost?
Wanhong said in a ghostly tone,
“My new employer is Miss Qin. Bo Ze was very loyal to you, so now his soul has already been completely destroyed.”
The blood rushed to Dong Dashan’s head.
His vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.
…
Qin Su sat quietly in the car, meditating to restore her energy.
They had set out early that morning.
By the time they arrived at the nearest mining site, it was already four in the afternoon.
The mine was located upstream along the river, and mainly produced rough stones with yellow sand skin and grayish-white fish-skin surfaces.
Nearby was also a trading center where people could buy rough stones or gamble on jade.
Qin Su understood the importance of making a fortune quietly.
She had no intention of cutting open the best rough stones she bought right away.
Instead, she planned to store the finest ones inside Qianjin’s stomach.
The Cui family had purchased plenty of jade from one of the major local companies over the years.
Their business relationship was long-standing and well established.
This mining area was managed by the local government, though they also cooperated with several large companies for extraction.
The company’s manager personally led them to a newly excavated batch of rough stones for inspection.
If not for regular clients like the Cui family, the company would never have brought out its truly high-quality rough stones.
That was exactly why Qin Su hadn’t come alone.
There was no way she would have had access to resources like these by herself.
The warehouse stretched as far as the eye could see, filled with rough stones.
Some weighed over a thousand kilograms.
Others were tiny pieces weighing less than a kilogram.
She looked across them.
Although there were countless rough stones, not every one of them was surrounded by spiritual energy.
That meant many contained no jade at all.
The color and density of the spiritual energy also revealed the quality of the jade hidden inside.
Cui Mingyu had brought several experts with him.
Each of them was carefully examining the stones.
Qin Su’s eyes suddenly lit up.
In one corner sat a rough stone weighing around ten kilograms.
It radiated the richest purple spiritual energy in the entire warehouse.
She walked over and casually asked,
“How much is this one?”
The manager glanced at her.
“Twenty thousand.”
Qin Su was beautiful and approachable, so several of the experts were willing to offer her some advice.
One of them couldn’t help saying,
“This has straight black moss. Don’t let the pine flower patterns on the surface fool you. It’s very difficult for rough stones like this to produce good jade.”
Another expert chimed in,
“That’s right. You’d be better off buying the one beside it with the thread-like pine flower pattern. That one has a much better chance.”
Qin Su smiled.
“It’s fine. I just think that since I rarely get the chance to come here, I should buy one to cut open for fun. Besides, the price isn’t expensive. I can’t afford the others anyway.”
Many of the other rough stones cost hundreds of thousands or even millions.
The money she had brought wouldn’t buy many of them.
Seeing that Qin Su was treating it purely as entertainment, no one tried to persuade her further.
She immediately bought the rough stone.
She eagerly anticipated what kind of fine jade would emerge from inside.
Judging by the spiritual energy surrounding it, it contained enough for her to cultivate for an entire year.
Ever since reaching the Qi Refining stage, the amount of spiritual energy she required had more than doubled.
Tu Qing also picked out two small rough stones for fun.
Together, they cost less than ten thousand.
Qin Su glanced at them and discovered that Tu Qing had surprisingly good luck.
Both rough stones were surrounded by spiritual energy.
Although they couldn’t compare with hers, they would still yield a handsome profit.
After purchasing that one, Qin Su selected another rough stone covered in black moss.
According to Cui Mingyu, jade-bearing boulders with black moss usually produced jade with poor texture and quality.
Only occasionally did they yield high-grade jade.
By now, everyone present had noticed something.
Qin Su seemed especially interested in the moss-covered stones that everyone else avoided.
Every stone she picked belonged to that category.
In reality, Qin Su had only one reason for choosing them.
They were cheap.
Her funds were limited, so naturally she had to spend them carefully.
Besides, there really weren’t many exceptional jade-bearing stones in this batch.
After searching for quite a while, Qin Su found three more relatively inexpensive ones.
Altogether, they cost less than a hundred thousand.
After thinking for a moment, she bought three additional stones just for appearances’ sake, so no one would become suspicious.
In total, she purchased seven rough stones.
It was already dark by the time they left.
Cui Mingyu smiled.
“Master Qin, would you like to cut the stones now?”
After all, rough stones were quite heavy.
Taking them all back would be rather inconvenient.
Naturally, Qin Su wasn’t about to cut open the finest straight black moss stone in front of everyone.
She understood perfectly well that it was wiser to make a fortune quietly.
However, considering that she would be attending the jade public auction in a few days and needed more capital, she could cut open three of the other stones and make a modest profit.
The Cui family had also purchased quite a few rough stones.
Their transactions totaled over a hundred million yuan.
After all, the bulk of their spending was reserved for bidding on rough stones at the jade public auction.
The purchases they made today were merely appetizers.
Damn it.
I want to be able to casually spend over a hundred million too!
Today’s Qin Su was, as always, poor.
The batch of rough stones they had purchased was delivered to the company’s cutting factory, where professional stone-cutting masters would process them.
Although it was already getting dark, everyone hurried over to watch.
They were not the only ones having stones cut at the factory.
From a distance, Qin Su spotted several bodyguards surrounding a young man in a suit.
Cheers erupted from that direction.
“That’s top-grade Cockscomb Red, isn’t it? The quality is excellent, and the color is so pure. A piece this size could make at least six bracelets. It must be worth a fortune.”
“Before last year, Yupin auctioned off a red jadeite rough stone about the same weight for over thirty million. This one looks even better than that. This piece alone should fetch at least forty million.”
“Young Master Lin is incredible. I heard this rough stone only cost him one hundred and fifty thousand.”
The smile on Cui Mingyu’s face froze for a brief moment before returning to normal.
The Cui family and the Lin family were both renowned jewelry merchants in China, and their competition was fierce.
“They’re still cutting stones over there. Let’s pick a corner instead.”
He lowered his voice as he spoke to Qin Su, clearly wanting to avoid getting involved with the Lin family’s young master.
Unfortunately, his plan was doomed from the start.
“Isn’t that Mingyu? What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
Holding the jadeite he had just cut, Lin Hongjin walked over with a smile.
“I’ve already finished cutting all the rough stones I bought. You can use the equipment here directly. The masters here are quite skilled.”
With the jadeite in his hands, he looked full of youthful confidence.
A jadeite worth forty million…
Qin Su couldn’t help looking over.
She froze for a moment.
To her surprise, she couldn’t detect the slightest trace of spiritual energy from the jade.
Instead, it was surrounded by an extremely dense aura of baleful energy.
That shouldn’t be possible.
The better the jade, the richer its spiritual energy should be.
Had something happened to that piece of red jadeite?
Since the other party had come looking for trouble, Cui Mingyu had no intention of avoiding him.
“Then thank you.”
Lin Hongjin’s gaze shifted to Qin Su and Tu Qing.
After lingering on them for several seconds, he revealed a smile that made Qin Su deeply uncomfortable.
“I didn’t expect you to bring beautiful women along on a business trip, Mingyu. You certainly know how to enjoy yourself.”
Cui Mingyu’s expression turned cold.
“These two ladies are distinguished guests I personally invited.”
Lin Hongjin raised an eyebrow and smiled without warmth.
“Distinguished guests? Don’t tell me they’re experts too. Such young experts, then I really should see what they’re capable of.”
Qin Su turned to Cui Mingyu.
“Let’s cut my batch first.”
She had bought seven rough stones in total.
Four good ones.
Three purchased simply for appearances.
The very best one, however, she had no intention of cutting here.
The stones she bought were all fairly small.
The heaviest weighed only about five kilograms.
The stone-cutting master worked quickly.
As soon as he saw that it was a rough stone covered with black moss, he frowned.
Even so, he professionally cleaned the surface before using sandpaper to grind open a window in the stone.
“Hmm?”
The moment the outer layer came off and the jade inside was revealed, surprise flashed across his face.
The quality…
It seemed exceptionally good.
The master immediately became interested.
His movements grew even more careful.
Rather than cutting the stone directly and risking damage to the jade, he chose the slower and more difficult peeling method.
He patiently polished away the outer layer along the side where the jade had first appeared.
Every movement was meticulous, afraid that even the slightest mistake would ruin its natural beauty.
Half an hour later, an irregularly shaped piece of jadeite weighing about four kilograms appeared before everyone.
Once polished, it radiated an enchanting violet glow.
Its color was crystal clear, smooth, flawless, mysterious, and elegant.
It was an exceptionally rare piece of icy Violet jadeite.
Most astonishing of all, such a large piece contained not a single visible impurity.
Its translucent, icy texture was almost unheard of.
Cui Mingyu, who had earlier tried to persuade Qin Su not to buy this rough stone, couldn’t help swallowing hard.
Qin Su asked,
“How much is this rough stone worth?”
Cui Mingyu finally snapped back to his senses.
“Five years ago, a six-kilogram piece was sent to auction with a starting price of around five million.”
Qin Su looked disappointed.
“So this one is only worth a little over two million?”
Still, the spiritual energy inside was enough to support a full year of cultivation.
No wonder the jewelry business was so incredibly profitable.
Cui Mingyu took a deep breath.
“That was only the starting bid.”
“In the end, that rough stone sold for two hundred million.”
Over the past two years, jadeite prices had risen considerably.
That meant the jade in Qin Su’s hands would sell for at least one hundred million if auctioned.
The larger the rough stone, the higher its value.
Qin Su quickly did the math.
She froze.
Oops.
Looks like I accidentally attracted way too much attention.
Without hesitation, Lin Hongjin said,
“How about this? I’ll give you my red jadeite, and another seventy million on top of that.”
“The red jadeite I’m holding is worth at least forty million.”
Tsk.
That piece of red jadeite didn’t contain the slightest trace of spiritual energy.
She would have to be an idiot to trade for it.
A thought crossed Qin Su’s mind.
She immediately summoned Qianjin.
Invisible to everyone, Qianjin pounced on the red jadeite and devoured every trace of the baleful aura surrounding it.
After finishing, Qianjin let out a satisfied burp.
At the same time, with the baleful aura gone, the rough stone gradually lost its vivid crimson color.
Its true appearance slowly emerged.
Feigning surprise, Qin Su exclaimed,
“Huh? Why is your red jadeite fading?”