"Compete?"
How?
With that mouth of yours?
Jiang Yan suddenly found it somewhat laughable. She detested men who had no ability yet loved to boast.
But what she found even more laughable was herself—she had actually been pining over a man for so long. Now, it was time to let go.
She swore to herself that after tonight, her heart would never again flutter at the name Li Junyi.
But was that even possible?
She hadn't managed it in over two years.
Arriving at the sixth-floor conference hall, the layout had drastically changed. Most of the chairs had been removed, and the front of the hall was filled with raw stones of various sizes.
A large crowd had gathered around an enormous raw stone, with some jewelers and gamblers already pointing and discussing it.
This particular stone had excellent features: its shell was dark brown, fine and smooth, classified as a fine-skinned stone. It was covered in dark gray-green moss, and as the saying goes, "green follows moss," so the chances of this stone containing green were extremely high. Moreover, the surface had formed banded pine patterns, vivid and lush.
Due to its outstanding appearance, the stone's price was naturally high, starting at eight million.
The crowd buzzed with discussion.
"I haven't seen a stone of this size and quality in a long time. It's definitely going to have green, and high-quality at that."
"Of course. I heard this is one of the finale pieces today—it can't be bad."
"Starting at eight million, the final price will probably be tens of millions. Sigh, no hope for us."
Shen Yuxuan's eyes lit up at the sight of the stone. Such a large raw stone would undoubtedly yield a significant amount of green. If made into bracelets and pendants, the profits would be enormous.
"The bidding for this stone starts now! The opening price is eight million, with increments of five hundred thousand. The highest bidder wins!" The auctioneer, seeing that most people had arrived, announced the start of the bidding.
"Nine million!"
"Nine and a half million!"
"Ten million!"
Amid the crowd's enthusiasm, the price of the stone skyrocketed.
Shen Yuxuan joined the bidders but didn't rush to offer a price. Once the bidding reached twenty million, the number of participants dwindled. Shen Yuxuan immediately called out, "Thirty million!"
The crowd gasped. The young master of Fengyuan Xiang was indeed extravagant, raising the bid by nearly eight million in one go.
Shen Yuxuan raised his head proudly, quite pleased with himself. His bid was essentially the ceiling price—he was determined to win this stone.
"Forty million!"
A calm voice suddenly cut through the quiet crowd.
Shen Yuxuan's expression changed. He turned and saw it was Li Junyi.
Li Junyi glanced nonchalantly at Shen Yuxuan and made a "go ahead" gesture, inviting him to continue bidding.
Shen Yuxuan gritted his teeth, called his father for permission, and immediately shouted, "Forty-five million!"
His voice trembled, and his eyes reddened—clearly, he was agitated.
"Fifty million!" Li Junyi raised an eyebrow, provocatively looking at Shen Yuxuan.
"Fifty—"
Just as Shen Yuxuan was about to speak, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Lin Yu.
Lin Yu shook his head without a word, signaling him not to bid further.
In Lin Yu's view, this stone didn't have much spiritual energy. Even if it contained green, it wouldn't be worth much—at most, the starting price. He hadn't expected Shen Yuxuan to jump into the bidding midway. Fortunately, Li Junyi was there to take over, so he quickly stepped in to stop Shen Yuxuan.
"Jiarong, what are you doing?" Shen Yuxuan anxiety said. The auctioneer had already started the countdown.
"Listen to me. Let him have it," Lin Yu said.
"Haha, what? The young master of Fengyuan Xiang has to take orders from a good-for-nothing?" Li Junyi, seeing the situation, immediately taunted.
"Not orders—advice," Lin Yu said disdainfully. "We're not interested in a stone that's not even worth the starting price. If someone wants to be the sucker, let them."
Hearing this, Shen Yuxuan's excitement cooled. After what happened last time, he had an inexplicable trust in Lin Yu. He nodded and said he wouldn't bid further.
"Ridiculous! What do you know?" Li Junyi scoffed, irritated. This good-for-nothing could only curse him with words.
The crowd burst into laughter, looking at Lin Yu with contempt, clearly considering him an outsider.
"Don't pretend to know what you don't!" Jiang Yan coldly scolded Lin Yu from behind. She knew a bit about raw stones and felt that fifty million for this stone was still a reasonable price.
In the end, the stone was sold to Li Junyi for fifty million. He wasn't in a hurry to cut it open because the next stone immediately caught his attention.
With the finale stone sold, Zhou Chen quickly ordered another finale piece to be brought out, aiming to ride the momentum and bring the auction to a climax.
"This raw stone auction lives up to its reputation! One good piece after another!"
"In my opinion, this one is even better than the last. It's definitely going to surge!"
"This stone has quite a background. Rumor has it the owner got it directly from Burmese Shan soldiers. It's highly likely to yield glass-grade jade."
Hearing it came from Burmese Shan soldiers, the crowd was shocked. The owner must have significant connections—this kind of (fig.) channel wasn't accessible to just anyone.
The so-called Burmese Shan soldiers were local ethnic armed forces, enemies of the government army. They controlled many mining areas, and their goods were often superior to those on the market.
The stone was gray-black, very dark, with white pythons patterns throughout. Beneath the pythons was a misty fire-smoke flaw. The upper edge of the shell was very thin, and under the light, it gave a translucent green glow.
In terms of appearance alone, it was even better than the one Li Junyi had just bought.
"I'm definitely getting this stone!" Li Junyi said grandly. "No one compete with me. I bid sixty million!"
The crowd gasped. Li Junyi was truly wealthy—two stones totaling over a hundred million. Although many present had substantial assets, liquid funds were different. Being able to拿出 one or two hundred million in liquid funds was indeed impressive.
"I bid—"
Shen Yuxuan couldn't wait to bid, but before he could speak, Lin Yu grabbed him.
Shen Yuxuan immediately grew anxious. "Jiarong, what are you doing? You stopped me from bidding on the last one, but this stone is clearly going to surge. If I miss this, I'll leave empty-handed tonight!"
Zhou Chen had reminded him earlier—this was the last finale stone of the night. Miss it, and it's gone.
"This stone won't surge—it'll crash hard. Except for a small patch of green at the top, the rest is pretty much just rock," Lin Yu explained.
"How is that possible? I thought you didn't know about raw stones?" Shen Yuxuan frowned. During dinner, Lin Yu hadn't said anything like this.
"If you consider me a brother, trust me," Lin Yu said bluntly, releasing Shen Yuxuan's hand.
"He Jiarong, you're going too far! If he wants to buy it, let him. Why are you interfering?" Jiang Yan said angrily. She also felt this stone would definitely surge and didn't want Li Junyi to get it.
Lin Yu didn't respond. He'd already said enough—the rest was up to Shen Yuxuan.
"Yuxuan, Jiarong means well. But you've done your research too. Think carefully before deciding," Zhou Chen quickly mediated, though his tone subtly encouraged Shen Yuxuan to bid.
"Sixty-five million!"
A wealthy jeweler in the crowd had already started bidding.
"Seventy million!" Li Junyi didn't even blink, as if money were just a number to him.
"Seventy-five million!"
"Ninety million!" Li Junyi hardened his heart and raised the bid by fifteen million.
The jeweler immediately fell silent, struggling internally. Bidding further would mean over a hundred million, and judging by Li Junyi's demeanor, he was prepared to go higher.
"Any more bids? Anyone above ninety million? Ten, nine, eight…"
Listening to the auctioneer's countdown, Shen Yuxuan broke out in a cold sweat. His father had said that as long as he thought it profitable, he could bid up to two hundred million. He had the means to compete with Li Junyi.
"Fine. I'll listen to you," Shen Yuxuan hesitated momentarily but ultimately chose to trust Lin Yu.
In the end, the stone fell to Li Junyi, who smiled so widely his eyes curved. He turned provocatively to Shen Yuxuan. "Young Master Shen, why didn't you compete? Scared off by the price? Is this all the strength Fengyuan Xiang, known nationwide, has?"
Shen Yuxuan, about to retort angrily, was cut off by Lin Yu, who coldly said, "What does strength have to do with it? Why would we compete when you're spending nearly a hundred million on a piece of junk worth only a million or two?"
"Go f—" Li Junyi started to curse but held back, remembering his status. "I won't stoop to your level. You good-for-nothing living off your wife—all you can do is curse me with your mouth."
Jiang Yan looked coldly at Lin Yu, full of disgust. The slight favorable impressionshe'd felt for him earlier vanished. She'd been right from the start—this good-for-nothing really thought he could win back what he'd lost with his mouth. Little did he know, he'd become a laughingstock in everyone's eyes.
Many in the crowd openly mocked Lin Yu.
"Next time, don't invite such outsiders to events like this."
"Look at what he's wearing—like a country bumpkin."
"What can you do? There are plenty of thick-skinned young people like him nowadays."
Facing the ridicule, Lin Yu remained calm, but Jiang Yan couldn't take it. Not only was this embarrassing in front of so many people, but especially in front of Li Junyi.
"Young man, since you're so amazing, why not pick a stone and show us? Let's see if you can cut open some ice-grade jade for us to marvel at!"
Someone in the crowd was already making fun of Lin Yu.
"Sure," Lin Yu said with a smile, actually agreeing. "Since you said 'marvel,' ice-grade might be too low. How about I straightforward cut open some glass-grade imperial green jade!"
The hall erupted in laughter. Unbelievable—they'd really encountered a fool today.
Everyone looked at Lin Yu as if he were a monkey, urging him to quickly pick an imperial green for them to see.
"Jiarong, what are you doing?" Zhou Chen anxiety said in a low voice. He'd seen all the stones at the auction—the two best had already been sold.
The remaining stones weren't large. Though some had decent appearances, the chance of cutting imperial green—the highest grade—was virtually impossible.
"I said, gambling on stones is about the gamble. Come on, let's take a look. Maybe we'll get lucky and find one," Lin Yu said lightly, walking toward the pile of stones.
The crowd followed with amused smiles. Only Jiang Yan stood still, livid, her hands trembling. Was this winning her respect? This was humiliating her! In all her life, she'd never been so embarrassed—her husband being made a fool of, and actually enjoying it!
"Come on, Jiang Yan. Why are you standing there? Let's see how your husband cuts imperial green from this pile of scrap," Li Junyi said, walking up to Jiang Yan and laughing heartily.