The Domineering Cultivator Farmer

Chapter 44: Jade Betting in the Provincial Capital

The morning’s events hadn’t dampened Fang Yun’s spirits. He was currently troubled, agonizing over what kind of betrothal gift to prepare. Money was too vulgar, and as for antiques—not to mention whether he could even afford them—he didn’t understand a thing about them anyway. The medicinal herbs in the ring were certainly substantial, but he’d already given them once. Besides, he planned to restore his family’s health so they could all practice cultivation together; even if they didn’t achieve much, it would at least extend their lifespans. Since he’d be heading deep into the mountains in the future, the supply in the ring might not be enough for his family. “Daddy, look—Xiao Bai isn’t eating anything.” Niuniu tugged at Fang Yun, who was deep in thought, and shook him to get him to look at Xiao Bai. “All right, all right. Daddy’ll take a look.” Fang Yun took Xiao Bai from her. The little guy seemed to be asleep; no matter how he moved, he wouldn’t wake up. He checked with his Yuan Power and found that Xiao Bai’s life force was normal; it just seemed like he was breaking through some kind of barrier, but there was no danger. It appeared that Xiao Bai was one step closer to becoming a true Snake Emperor. “Xiao Bai’s fine; he’ll be okay after sleeping for a few days.” Fang Yun placed Xiao Bai back into Niuniu’s chubby little hands, and his gaze immediately fell on the jade bracelet on her wrist. “Thwack!” Fang Yun gave himself a frustrated slap on the head. How could he not have thought of crafting some jade artifacts himself? Jade is an essential item for cultivators—whether for recording manuals, setting up formations, or crafting talismans, it’s indispensable. Every cultivator has their own method for refining jade, which is infinitely superior to hand carving. The jade produced through this process is truly a masterpiece of nature, with not a single trace of carving visible. But he didn’t have any jade on hand, so he’d have to go buy some. Remembering the high-quality jade he’d seen at Jiang Lili’s shop, “Juyuan Zhai,” during his last trip to the provincial capital, Fang Yun decided to set off immediately for the provincial capital to buy some jade to refine. Taking Niuniu along—who had been pestering him to go to the provincial capital with him—Fang Yun said goodbye to his parents and set off in his car. Although Fang Yun had returned his credentials and service weapon to the Dragon Group, they refused to take back the official vehicle. Knowing the Dragon Group wanted to keep him in their good graces—perhaps hoping for his help in the future—Fang Yun didn’t refuse. When he parked the car and walked into the store with Niuniu, Fang Yun was taken aback—it really was a small world; he’d run into Jiang Lili again. Jiang Lili, who was inspecting the store, saw Fang Yun and looked delighted. “Fang Yun, when did you get here? This must be your daughter—she’s so cute.” The last time Fang Yun had run into Feng Bodai after buying jade, Jiang Lili—who had been watching him leave—had seen the encounter. Thinking something was wrong, she had rushed out only to hear that Fang Yun’s daughter was already five years old. So when she saw Fang Yun this time with a chubby little girl, she guessed it might be his daughter. “Yes, this is my daughter, Niuniu. She’s five years old this year. Niuniu, say hello to Auntie,” Fang Yun said, pulling Niuniu over to introduce her to Jiang Lili. “Hello, Auntie.” “Mm, what a good girl—so cute.” Seeing such a sweet and well-behaved Niuniu, Jiang Lili was absolutely smitten. She scooped her up, planted a few big kisses on her, and said to Fang Yun, “Your daughter is so adorable—can I borrow her to play with for a few days?” Fang Yun was at a loss—is a daughter something you can just “borrow” to play with? “If you like her so much, why don’t you just find someone to have a child with?” “I’d love to, but I can’t find the right person. Never mind that—what are you here to buy this time?” Jiang Lili, still clutching Niuniu tightly, led the way toward the counter. “I’d like to buy some jade this time—preferably uncut rough stones.” Fang Yun hurried to catch up. “Raw stones, huh? I don’t think we have any in stock—we only have carved and polished ones.” Jiang Lili frowned. “Then I’ll just go check out other stores.” Fang Yun reached out to take Niuniu so they could look elsewhere. Jiang Lili suddenly remembered something. Holding Niu Niu, she turned around. “We don’t have any here, and other stores might not have them either. Jade is selling very well right now. But the largest jade shop in the provincial capital, Huang’s Jade Shop, brought back a batch of uncut ore from Tengchong a few days ago for ‘gambling on jade.’ It’s been a huge hit these past few days. Would you like to go take a look?” “Jade gambling.” Fang Yun felt a twinge of excitement; he’d long been fascinated by the legendary jade gambling, where “one cut can mean heaven, another hell.” “Let’s go—I’ll take a look.” “Aren’t we going to Huang’s Jade Shop? Why are we driving toward the suburbs?” After driving for a while in the direction Jiang Lili had indicated, Fang Yun was quite puzzled. He knew a thing or two about Huang’s Jade Shop—it was located right on the main street in the heart of the provincial capital’s busiest commercial district. “We’re going to Huang’s Jade Shop’s transit warehouse—that’s where all the raw jade is stored. It’s not transported back to the city until tonight,” Jiang Lili said, rolling her eyes. Fang Yun blushed, realizing he’d made a basic mistake. Jade stones are always cut open on the spot—with all the noise and dust involved—so how could they possibly be stored right in the heart of the bustling city center? When they arrived at a warehouse, the three of them heard a buzzing clamor the moment they walked in—it was just like being in a vegetable market. Fang Yun glanced around and saw dozens of people standing in front of several piles of raw jade, chatting and arguing. “How does jade gambling work?” Fang Yun asked Jiang Lili in a low voice. “Each piece of jade has a price tag. You can pay and take it right away—you can cut it open right here, or take it home to cut it yourself,” Jiang Lili patiently explained to Fang Yun. Fang Yun glanced at the price tags on the ore and couldn’t help but be taken aback—the cheapest one was 10,000, and the largest was priced at a staggering 10 million. “So how do you know which one contains jade?” Not knowing how to choose, Fang Yun had no choice but to ask Jiang Lili. “Jade gambling is just that—a gamble. You can’t tell by looking at the outside, and even X-rays won’t help. It’s all about luck,” Jiang Lili said, realizing she found herself rolling her eyes a lot whenever she was with Fang Yun. “That’s not true at all! Daddy’s the best—he’s definitely got this figured out, right?” As Fang Yun’s devoted little comfort, Niuniu noticed Jiang Lili’s eye-roll and took offense; in the little girl’s mind, Daddy was all-powerful. “Mm-hmm, Niuniu is so smart.” Hearing his precious daughter’s words, Fang Yun was deeply gratified and resolved to select a stone that actually contained jade. “Huh.” Refusing to give up, Fang Yun swept his divine sense over the pile and discovered that some of the ore emitted a green glow, some a white glow, and some showed no light at all—with the intensity of the light varying from strong to weak. “Could it be…?” This discovery thrilled Fang Yun. In fact, a cultivator’s spiritual sense is naturally a powerful tool for locating jade. Cultivators require vast quantities of jade, which they must find and mine themselves. Those with profound cultivation can even detect jade veins buried over a hundred meters underground—let alone the jade deposits right before him, which were merely encased in a layer of rock. He took out the bank card he’d had reissued after returning home and swiped it to pay. The funds came from the money left over after selling ginseng; he’d given some to his parents—just 500,000, not wanting them to feel uneasy about receiving too much—and after covering some expenses for organizing Sanfeng Village, he now had 2 million left, just enough to buy the two ore samples with the brightest glow that Fang Yun had set his sights on. “Let’s go cut them open.” Fang Yun picked up the two ore samples and headed toward the cutting area. Seeing that Fang Yun had paid for the two pieces of ore without even selecting them first, Jiang Lili exclaimed, “Why didn’t you even pick one? Are you really just leaving it up to luck?” “Yeah, I couldn’t tell the difference anyway, so I just picked them at random. By the way, if you want to buy one, here—that one’s pretty good.” Fang Yun said matter-of-factly, nodding toward a mineral with a particularly strong glow. “Are you serious?” Although Jiang Lili didn’t believe Fang Yun, she still paid for the ore. “Master, cut along here.” Fang Yun walked up to the stone-cutting machine, drew a line directly on the two pieces of ore in his hand, and instructed the master to cut them. The stone-cutter took the ore from Fang Yun’s hand and gave him a curious look. After all, isn’t the standard procedure to cut a thin layer at a time, then slowly polish it bit by bit once the green color appears? But he figured he’d just do whatever the customer asked. “Glass-like jade!” The master was utterly stunned as the blade sliced through. “What? Glass-like jade!” The people nearby, hearing the master’s exclamation, were also taken aback and all crowded around. Jiang Lili was so startled she nearly dropped Niuniu, earning her several disapproving glances from the little girl. Fang Yun quickly caught Niuniu. As the jade was slowly polished to reveal its true form, everyone gazed at the fist-sized piece of glass-like jade in Fang Yun’s hand and began vying to buy it. Fang Yun turned them all down, saying he intended to keep it for himself. Fang Yun put the jade away and motioned for the carver to continue working on the next piece. The carver, energized, positioned the next block and made a single cut. “Emerald!” “Whoa!” The crowd, which had been circling the area the whole time, erupted in a frenzy. It was unbelievable—this man had just uncovered two top-grade jadeite stones in a row, a sight rarely seen. Some people’s eyes darted about, clearly hatching some scheme. Knowing that Fang Yun wouldn’t sell the jadeite he held, the crowd had watched for quite some time. Just as they were preparing to leave with a heavy heart, they heard a woman’s voice: “Master, please cut this one for me as well.” A tidal wave of emotion surged through Jiang Lili’s heart. She was now certain that Fang Yun must have a way of selecting ore that contained jade—otherwise, it would be impossible for him to have bought just two pieces and had both yield top-grade jadeite. That meant the piece Fang Yun had told her to buy also contained jade. At this thought, she was instantly overcome with excitement. She knew all too well just how much a rare-grade piece of jade could boost the reputation of a jade shop. So she decided to cut the stone right there on the spot, letting the people present spread the word for her—a free After all, everyone who came here to gamble on jade was well-heeled, and the people in their social circles were much the same—these were precisely the main customer base for her jade shop. By the time Jiang Lili’s rough stone was cut open, the crowd had grown numb—it was yet another “glass-like” variety. Although it was slightly inferior to the one in Fang Yun’s hands, it was still a rare treasure. Everyone present was either a jade collector or a jade shop owner; they all knew Jiang Lili as the owner of Juyuan Zhai, so none of them made a scene. As Fang Yun and his two companions left, a few shady-looking men secretly followed them out. However, upon seeing the Beijing Military Region license plates on Fang Yun’s car, the ringleader stopped the others: “Don’t go any further—we can’t afford to mess with him.” “What’s there to be afraid of? He’s just a soldier,” one of them protested, clearly unwilling to give up. “Smack!” The leader slapped him hard across the face. “You idiot! That’s a Beijing military license plate. Anyone driving a car that fancy must hold a high-ranking position. Are you trying to get us all killed?” As Fang Yun drove away, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. These guys had at least a little common sense; otherwise, he wouldn’t have minded taking them down himself. Fang Yun detected no traces of blood on any of them, indicating they’d never killed anyone before—they’d simply been overcome by greed. So Fang Yun had no intention of taking their lives; he merely injected a wisp of Yuan Energy into each of them. This energy would wreak havoc on their physical health, leaving them completely weak in the future—they wouldn’t even be able to run, let alone commit any crimes.