Time seemed to rewind in Qin Xiao’s mind, back to a few minutes earlier, to a quiet corner of Treasure Pavilion untouched by the noise.
Yun Yiyi’s voice sounded in his head, a little playful yet helpless, like a child denied candy: [Host, your remaining Luck Points are insufficient. You can’t refresh the system again.]
Qin Xiao’s brows knitted ever so slightly as his fingers unconsciously rubbed the smooth cufflink.
The cool metallic touch kept him utterly calm.
“Then these past few days… Gu Siqing and Su Wanying’s change in attitude toward me—doesn’t that count for some favorability reward?” His tone was casual, revealing no emotion.
Yun Yiyi said, sounding a little guilty, as if she also found the rule a bit unreasonable: [Ah, Host, according to the rules, you must completely conquer them, making them fall wholeheartedly for you to fulfill the condition and receive rewards. Right now, it’s just a bit of favorability—it doesn’t count!]
Qin Xiao was silent for a moment, his fingers ceasing their movement. “So there’s no other way?”
[Hmm… let me check… Ah! Found it! Congratulations, Host, for achieving the hidden achievement—‘Meat Delivered to Your Mouth Yet You Don’t Eat It’! Reward: 3,000 Luck Points!] Yun Yiyi’s voice suddenly leapt an octave, full of delight, as if she had discovered a new continent.
The corner of Qin Xiao’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, feeling a vein throb at his temple. “Is this achievement name mocking me?”
[No, no! You’re overthinking, Host! Hehe, look! Now you have Luck Points—you can refresh!] Yun Yiyi quickly laughed it off, trying to get away with it.
The virtual system interface lit up again, system names scrolling rapidly like a carousel.
Two refreshes later, the options that appeared were either [Public Square Dance Leader Aura] or [Shared Bicycle Unlimited Monthly Pass], making Qin Xiao’s eyelids twitch. These were probably the scraps Ye Chen had discarded.
Just as Yun Yiyi was about to perform the third and final refresh, Qin Xiao’s gaze fixed on an unremarkable greyed-out option.
“Wait.” His voice was steady, carrying a faint hint of interest. “This [Listening to the Spring to Appraise Treasures System]… what does it do?”
[Oh, this one, Host! It was originally designed as the ultimate weapon in pawnshops! Once activated, any ‘flaw’ you point out—no matter how minor, even if you make it up—will to some extent become reality! It’ll instantly devalue the other party’s treasure!]
Yun Yiyi’s voice held a touch of pride, as if showing off a small but fun invention.
[But it doesn’t work on living things—only items.]
Turning imaginary flaws into reality?
Qin Xiao’s eyes glimmered as his fingers tapped lightly on the redwood armrest, an excellent plan flashing in his mind. This system was practically tailor-made for the current moment. “Can this system be turned into a tangible item for me to use?”
[No problem, Host! Easy!] Yun Yiyi agreed readily.
Before her voice faded, Qin Xiao felt a slight weight in his palm—a small, cool-to-the-touch, antique-looking brass magnifying glass. The dark brass frame and lens caught a faint glint under the dim light, appearing no different from an ordinary flea-market trinket.
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His thoughts returned to the present.
Qin Xiao slowly emerged from the shadow of the large jade sculpture, wearing his signature faint, unreadable smile. It was as if Ye Chen’s earlier frenzied barking was nothing more than annoying cicadas outside, unable to ruffle him in the slightest.
“Oh? Stone gambling?” His clear voice carried a leisurely tone that clashed with the tense atmosphere. “I happen to be interested. Why don’t we play together?”
Ye Chen’s bloodshot eyes locked onto Qin Xiao, his chest heaving. The humiliation from earlier encounters, mixed with the sting of being ignored now, burned away what little reason he had left.
“Good! Very good!” Ye Chen ground his teeth, a twisted grin spreading across his face. He suppressed the urge to strike immediately, instead thinking of his X-ray vision.
To him, stone gambling was like picking treasures from an open box. This was a perfect chance to humiliate Qin Xiao and strip him of everything.
“Qin Xiao, since you want to play, let’s make it big!” He pointed at the dust-covered raw stones in the stone gambling area, his voice edged with malice. “We each pick one stone and see whose is worth more!”
“The loser kneels and kowtows three times, shouting ‘Grandfather, I was wrong’ three times!” He paused for emphasis, his eyes gleaming with cruelty. “And! The loser must compensate the winner ten times the value of the winner’s jade!”
The crowd gasped—ten times compensation!
This wasn’t just gambling stones; this was gambling lives. Many looked at Qin Xiao with sympathy, certain the young man was about to suffer a huge loss.
Liu Qingyou’s brows furrowed, her slender fingers clenching slightly. She looked at Qin Xiao with worry, parting her lips to speak, but his gaze stopped her.
Qin Xiao merely smiled faintly, his demeanor as calm as if Ye Chen’s proposal were just a harmless game.
“Alright.” His simple response was so unhesitant and serene that it momentarily stunned Ye Chen.
Seeing him agree so quickly, Ye Chen assumed he was bluffing, his grin turning even more vicious.
Qin Xiao turned toward the pile of raw stones.
Unlike Ye Chen, he didn’t scan them with special powers, but strolled casually until his gaze paused on a half-man-high, moss-covered grey-green stone tucked away in a corner like discarded waste. “This one.” He pointed at it, speaking to the Treasure Pavilion’s jade craftsman as if he were picking vegetables at a market.
Ye Chen snorted, his tone filled with contempt. “Hah, trash is trash. Picking a stone like that—are you blind? You’ll be left with nothing!”
Though the craftsman also thought the stone looked poor, he still moved it to the cutting machine.
The water saw whirred to life, spraying mist into the air. The onlookers craned their necks, most without much hope. As the outer layer peeled away, a warm yellow gradually appeared.
“Green?” someone blurted.
“No, yellow jadeite!” an expert corrected.
Soon, the entire stone was revealed to be fine-textured, bright yellow jadeite. Not top-grade, but still quite good, with decent translucency. The craftsman examined it and estimated, “This yellow jadeite—decent quality and even color—would fetch around 700,000 to 800,000 yuan.” Get faster updates on novelping.com.
Though not a small sum, it paled beside the icy jadeite Ye Chen had previously revealed.
Ye Chen’s mockery deepened.
Stepping forward, he almost pointed at Qin Xiao’s nose. “That’s it? This is the best you can do? Seven or eight hundred thousand, and you think you can gamble against me? Laughable!” He burst out laughing, then turned sharply to the fist-sized grey stone he had chosen with his vision. “Watch closely! I’ll show you what true top-grade jadeite is!”
Snatching the cutting tool from the craftsman, he cut with a confidence born of his ability, the line precisely tracing the jade’s edge.
Shrrk—
A blinding green light burst from the cut, so rich it seemed to drip water, tinting nearby faces green.
“Imperial green! My God, it’s imperial green!” Gasps of disbelief erupted from the crowd.
Once fully revealed, the top-quality emerald glistened flawlessly, its color and translucency perfect. Du Xie instantly fawned over it. “Young Master’s might is unparalleled! This emerald’s quality is top-grade, flawless—worth at least 500 million yuan, maybe more!”
500 million! The figure hit like a bomb, drawing greedy, envious, and admiring stares. Ye Chen basked in the attention, feeling like the master of the world. Snatching the emerald back, he tossed it at Qin Xiao’s feet with a crisp clink.
“See that, trash?” His voice was filled with contempt and glee. “This is the gap between us—worlds apart! Now kneel, kowtow, and call me grandfather! Then hand over fifty billion yuan! If you’re short by even a cent, I’ll wipe the Qin family from the Imperial Capital—utterly!”
The killing intent and humiliation were almost tangible.
Liu Qingyou’s face turned pale, her body trembling. Unable to hold back, she stepped in front of Qin Xiao, her beautiful face resolute. “Mr. Ye, forgive and let live! Cancel the bet—this jade’s money, I’ll…”
“Get out of the way!” Ye Chen, intent only on crushing Qin Xiao, barked coldly. “Miss Liu, this doesn’t concern you! Don’t overstep and bring trouble on yourself!”
In that tense moment, Qin Xiao gently moved Liu Qingyou aside, reassuring her. His face remained calm, tinged with faint helplessness, as if saying, “See? The mad dog’s biting again.”
Without haste, he bent down—not to pick up the dazzling emerald—but to slowly take out the antique brass magnifying glass from his suit pocket.
[Listening to the Spring to Appraise Treasures System activated. Target locked: imperial green emerald.]
“500 million? Truly valuable,” Qin Xiao said evenly.
Squatting, he brought the seemingly cheap magnifying glass close to the emerald, even adjusting imaginary spectacles, as if conducting a meticulous appraisal. “But with something this valuable, I should check it carefully—what if there’s a problem?”
His gaze sharpened through the lens, the magnifying glass slowly sweeping the surface until it stopped at a seemingly insignificant spot.
Looking up at Ye Chen, who was grinning in anticipation, Qin Xiao’s lips curved into a smile tinged with amusement and pity. “Tsk, tsk… what a pity…”
He tapped the spot under the lens, his voice soft but carrying clearly through the silence. “Young Master Ye’s emerald—top-grade, plenty of water—but unfortunately…” His tone was tinged with just the right amount of regret, as if genuinely lamenting the flaw. “Ah, such a large penetrating crack here! Tsk, tsk… now it’s probably not worth even 50,000 yuan.”