Everyone in the gambling house seemed to fear Master Lu Fifth. They hurriedly scattered, clearing a wide path for him.
Several men in black suits entered first. Their clothes didn’t fit quite right, marking them clearly as bodyguards and subordinates.
Jiang Ci stood her ground near the entrance of the cutting room.
Through the gap in the crowd, she saw a magnificent black car parked at the gate.
A man in black stood by the door and opened it respectfully. A foot in an Oxford shoe stepped out.
The occupant bent down to exit, straightened his collar, and stood tall.
Master Lu Fifth appeared to be around thirty years old, quite tall. He wore an exquisite three-piece suit in a grey houndstooth pattern. Under the wide Windsor collar was a silk tie with a paisley design. The open jacket revealed a matching waistcoat and a silver watch chain, and a silk pocket square peeked out from the breast pocket.
His attire was bold and stylish, very Italian in flavor.
Coupled with his roguishly handsome features, he certainly looked the part of a powerful figure.
As expected of a supporting male lead in a romance novel, he couldn’t be ugly.
In the real world Jiang Ci came from, men with this kind of power and money were usually in their forties or fifties, often pot-bellied and balding…
At least this world was kind to her eyes.
Jiang Ci made a mental note and quietly moved around the back of the crowd, leaving the cutting area. She held the small piece of colorless glass-variety jade in her hand, absorbing its energy while scanning the other stones with her ability.
Master Lu’s arrival created a sense of urgency.
She didn’t know exactly which day the Imperial Purple jade would appear in the plot, but Ajin had told her that there had been no rumors of anyone finding such a top-quality stone recently.
But since Lu Fifth was here, she couldn’t be sure if the stone had already been bought and just wasn’t cut yet.
While everyone else was watching Lu Fifth’s every move, Jiang Ci was busy analyzing what the Imperial Purple rough stone might look like.
Most people here bought smaller stones. The piece in the story was special—small but thick.
Before the apocalypse, Jiang Ci had seen pictures of top-grade purple jade. Unlike green jade, purple jade didn’t always need perfect transparency; its value lay mostly in the richness and uniformity of the color.
Even the most famous purple jades she saw online weren’t as transparent as Imperial Green. They usually contained some internal flaws or “cotton.”
So her target was: small, thick, good translucency, and containing visible white threads/flaws.
The previous piece of snowflake cotton glass variety had confirmed it—the black dots she saw were the cotton flaws.
With these criteria, she quickly filtered out the stones.
Jiang Ci silently selected three stones and handed them to the clerk.
Instead of speaking, the clerk just gestured for her to follow to the cutting room.
At that moment, the manager of the gambling house hurried to the entrance, looking terrified.
“Oh! Master Lu! What an honor! You didn’t tell us you were coming! Someone, bring a chair for Master Lu immediately!”
A clerk rushed over with a chair and placed it in the middle of the hall.
Master Lu sat down casually, crossing his long legs. He glanced at the manager and said, “Cut the act. Your boss probably wishes I’d never set foot here, right?”
“Not at all! Business is business. Everyone is welcome! We are delighted to have you!”
Lu Fifth snorted dismissively and looked around. “So, what good stuff do you have today?”
The manager laughed nervously. “You came at a quiet time, Master. No one has hit the jackpot yet!”
However, he was proven wrong almost immediately.
A commotion broke out inside the cutting room. Someone shouted loudly.
“It’s purple jade! Royal Purple!”
In this era, there weren’t many fancy names. “Royal Purple” was the term for the most expensive, vividly colored violet jade.
Jiang Ci hadn’t expected to find it in the very first stone. She had just stepped forward to confirm when the crowd began shouting out prices frantically.
“I offer ten thousand dollars!”
“Old Chen, you’re taking advantage of a newbie! Too low! I offer fifteen thousand!”
“Little lady, gambling stones is risky. Sell it to me for twenty thousand now, and you don’t have to worry about what happens next!”
Jade gambling had four stages: windowing and first cut, full cutting, slicing/carving, and polishing. Each stage had its risks.
But the first two were the most dangerous.
As the saying went: One cut makes you poor, the next makes you rich; third cut, you’re wearing a sackcloth.
Although she had cut a window showing purple, no one knew how deep the color went or how big the actual jade was.
Still, the allure was too great.
“Thirty thousand!”
“Thirty-one thousand!”
“Thirty-two thousand!”
Once the price reached thirty thousand, the bidding slowed down.
Jiang Ci shook her head at them. “Sorry, I intend to cut this stone completely open.”
The craftsmen inside looked at each other excitedly.
This was the first time they had handled such top-quality material. An opportunity like this comes once in a lifetime.
“Madam, where would you like us to make the second cut?”
Jiang Ci drew a line on the stone. “Cut here.”
“Still time to sell!” someone urged. “If you cut it wrong, you lose everything!”
By now, Lu Fengchun had walked over to the door of the cutting room.
The bidders glanced at him and immediately shut up, stepping back resentfully.
If he was here, they wouldn’t get the stone anyway.
Why did he have to come here and steal business from honest jade merchants? It was torture to see it but not be able to buy it.
Jiang Ci had her back to them, focused entirely on the work. She didn’t notice the exchange.
The wire severed the last connection, splitting the stone cleanly in two.
The rich purple jade was fully exposed. Sunlight shone through it, casting a hazy purple glow on the table.
The crowd gasped collectively.
“Glass variety!”
“Not a single crack! You can make a full set of bracelets from this!”
“It’s a huge win! They say color and transparency rarely coexist in purple jade, but this one has both! It’s a once-in-a-century find!”
“Oh why isn’t this luck mine? I come here every month…”
Zhegui tugged excitedly at Jiang Ci’s sleeve. “Miss, it’s so beautiful!”
Jiang Ci smiled, looking down at the stone.
Although it was glass variety, there were quite a lot of cotton flaws inside, swirling like clouds around the clear jade.
Normally, cotton was considered a defect. But here, the white mist blended perfectly with the purple veins, creating a smoky, ethereal effect that enhanced the color, making it truly worthy of the name “Royal Purple.”
Beauty was objective. Even with her limited knowledge, Jiang Ci had to admit it was stunning.
She picked up the thick slice of stone and said, “Zhegui, give the masters a tip.”
“Thank you, Madam! Thank you!”
The craftsmen took the money happily. It was custom to reward them generously when a stone hit big.
Her goal was achieved, Jiang Ci wasted no time. She turned to the clerk. “Keep the other two stones as they are. Please help carry them to my rickshaw.”
Suddenly, Lu Fengchun’s voice sounded from behind her.
“Fifty thousand dollars. I want this jade.”
“Sorry, this one is not for sale.” Jiang Ci paused but didn’t turn around.
Lu Fifth frowned. One of his men stepped forward aggressively. “How dare you! Do you know who you’re talking to?”
A cold light flashed in Jiang Ci’s eyes. She turned around slowly. “Of course I know. Master Lu is a famous and powerful man in this city.”
*After all, I need you to spend a fortune on this to make my shop famous!* she thought.
Her face caught Lu Fengchun off guard. His frown involuntarily smoothed out.
He watched her red lips move as she continued speaking.
“Thank you for your appreciation and such a generous offer. However, any reputable jewelry shop in this city needs a few signature pieces. I own a shop myself, so I need this. Although I won’t sell the raw stone, I would be happy to sell you the finished jewelry once it is carved.”
She bowed slightly to the crowd. “The same goes for everyone here. You are all welcome to visit Longchang Jade Shop to appreciate it later. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”
The path she had walked through earlier was still clear. Jiang Ci led Zhegui out, got into her rickshaw, and left.
Lu Fengchun followed her to the door, staring fixedly at the departing vehicle. After a long silence, he muttered, “What was she saying just now?”
His men: “…”
So you didn’t listen to a single word…
“Fifth Master, she said she owns Longchang Jade Shop.”
“Find out who she is. I’ve been in this city for years, how did I not know there was such beauty?”
“No need to check,” said another older, more knowledgeable subordinate. “My house is on the street behind Longchang. It was founded by the Jiang family. They were quite famous years ago. But Old Master Jiang was a romantic; when his wife died, he lost all ambition. Competitors took his business, and he passed away soon after. That lady must be his only daughter.”
The first subordinate’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that the new wife of Qin Huai’an? It was in the newspapers! They said Qin Huai’an didn’t like her and ran away right after the wedding!”
Lu Fengchun retracted his gaze, a mocking smile on his face. “No wonder people say scholars are half-blind. That boy Qin Huai’an definitely needs new glasses.”
His men flattered him. “Well, he has Miss Liang Manyin now. Ordinary women can’t compare.”
“In my opinion, he wasted his years abroad. He didn’t learn any gentlemanly manners, and he doesn’t know how to treat a lady properly either.”
Lu Fengchun got into his car. As it started moving, he rolled down the window and said to the man on the running board, “Send someone to watch the Qin residence. Find out what time this Young Mistress usually goes out.”
The two subordinates exchanged glances and replied in unison, “Yes, Sir.”
Lu Fengchun leaned back against the leather seat, a smirk playing on his lips.
*Liang Manyin, Miss Jiang… that boy Qin Huai’an is really lucky.*
*But if I were to take both of them into my household… The Qin family would become the biggest joke in Shencheng.*
Meanwhile, a clerk ran out the back door of the gambling house, heading straight for the mansion of the Qin family’s Second Branch.
This was huge news! The Young Mistress of the Main Branch had just caught the eye of Lu Fifth!