18

Zhou Di selected two raw stones to participate in the auction, both of which were not particularly large. For the first stone, there was persistent bidding from several people and Yang Chen suspected some collusion among them. Drawing on his experience in antique auctions, Yang Chen advised Zhou Di to stick to his price bottom line and avoid overbidding excessively. Seeing Zhou Di remain silent, Yang Chen realized that Zhou Di might not be able to acquire the stone. After the stone was finally cut open, Yang Chen asked: 

"How is it?"

Zhou Di replied:

"I overestimated its value but not by much. That person suffered a loss."

The second stone was truly unremarkable in appearance and even ugly to Yang Chen. However, the bidding from several people surprised Yang Chen when it reached 1000 silver yuan. Despite this, Zhou Di persisted and bid up to 1200 silver yuan and when someone raised it to 1300, Zhou Di countered directly with 1500, ultimately winning the auction. When the stone cutter, experienced in the craft, carefully examined it, he exclaimed:

"Oh, My God! It is Glassy Species Jadeite."

Zhou Di couldn't believe it, staring at the stone in his hand in disbelief, then looking at Yang Chen dumbfoundedly. Yang Chen, not understanding, asked him:

"What is the matter? Did we lose?"

Zhou Di stuttered:

"Ext...ext...exceptional jade."

At this moment, people kept coming over to congratulate Zhou Di. Although Yang Chen still didn't understand, he knew Zhou Di had won and, of course, he was happy for him. He thought that it was better to take his 'stupid' Zhou Di back to the hotel. So, Yang Chen pulled Zhou Di to leave, but suddenly Zhou Di hugged him and shouted:

"Chen Ge, I've struck it rich. I've struck it rich."

Bewildered, Yang Chen said:

"Brats! How crazy you are!"

Someone nearby remarked:

"It seems that your doesn't understand anything. Your brother has the reason to become crazy. This is the Glassy Species Jadeite, the best jadeite, which worth at least 100,000 silver yuan. Congratulation! Congratulation!"

Only then did Yang Chen realize the situation. He quickly took the unassuming piece of stone and examined it. It looked like glass, emitting a faint green colour, very bright, with no impurities, seeming quite good and beautiful.

At this moment, a young man, approximately 30 years old, walked over, followed by two younger boys and addressed Zhou Di, saying:

"Hey, guy, I'll give you 20,000 silver yuan to sell me your jade."

The person who spoke earlier remarked:

"Oh, My God! It is this tyrant. Don't mess with him. With 20, 000 silver yuan, you'll still earn money and give him your jade."

Yang Chen raised an eyebrow, observing the three people, but said to Zhou Di directly:

"You promised me to carve an invaluable treasure for me if you won. You have to keep your word."

The young man retorted:

"Ignorant fool, do you know who I am? We could have handled this easily, but you chose the hard way."

After his statement, he slowly drew a pistol. However, before he could aim it at Yang Chen, another pistol was already pressed against his forehead. Yang Chen held the pistol with one hand while pulling Zhou Di behind him with the other, speaking gently:

"Yes, I really don't know who you are but frankly, actually I don't care either. My younger brother is too happy today so I don't want anyone to ruin his mood."

Trembling, the young man stammered:

"I... I don't... believe... you dare... dare to shoot."

Yang Chen smiled, observing the surroundings, noticing everyone keeping their distance. He raised the pistol and with a "bang", the bullet grazed the young man's forehead before shooting towards the sky. The young man was immediately terrified, collapsing to the ground. His two boys were also shocked out of their wits. Yang Chen kicked the man with his foot and addressed to the two boys:

"Hey, you two, stop being foolish. Help your master up and get out of here. Don't embarrass yourselves. I didn't hurt your master."

Two boys assisted their master to his feet and hastily departed from the stone market. Everyone around looked at Yang Chen, clad in a long robe, wearing a hat and an eyepatch, casually playing with a gun. Zhou Di whispered:

"Chen Ge, I'm scared to death."

"Don't be scared. I've been accustomed to playing with the pistol like this since I was a kid. But I still want to know who this person is." Yang Chen said, pulling someone aside to inquire, "Excuse me, who is the person who just left?"

"Oh, his name is Liu Shun. I heard that he is the nephew of General Pang's adjutant."

"Pang Dehai. Well, that doesn't sound too impressive. I don't think he is an important role. His adjutant holds no significant power. Yet his nephew dares to dominate in the market. Ridiculous!"

"You two are outsiders who are not familiar with Tongliao. The highest-ranking officer here is General Chen, Chen Yufeng, and Pang Dehai is one of General Chen's generals, particularly protective of his subordinates. Liu Shun relies on his uncle's power to flaunt his power over the common people."

"Flaunting power over the common people? So, he acts like a coward in front of the officers?"

"Yes, there are a lot of generals and soldiers here in Tongliao. He is also afraid of provoking other generals. If General Chen learns of his behaviour, I think General Pang might get his punishment. Therefore, Liu Shun can only flaunt his power in front of the common people."

"Damn! He is just a coward too. Thanks anyway." Yang Chen said after dismissing the passer by. Turning to Zhou Di, he asked, "Do you think I should continue hiding or expose ourselves and play along with them?"

Zhou Di, clutching tightly to his cloth bag containing his glass jadeite, asked:

"What do you plan?"

Yang Chen led Zhou Di out of the market and said:

"If I continue hiding somewhere, we'll have to change hotels. Tongliao is so big that it'll take some time to find us. You know I want to observe more here discreetly. If I choose to play along with them, we can continue staying in the same hotel. They'll find us soon, and it might even escalate to a fight , alerting Chen Yufeng. That's when my identity will be exposed to the public."

Zhou Di responded:

"Chen Ge, I don't know what you're doing but obviously your coming here is for important things, so it is better for you to focus on this."

"Okay, my baby, I'll follow your lead. Let's change the hotel."

As soon as they settled into the new hotel, they heard a knock on the door. Yang Chen opened the door and found Yang Zaihua standing outside. Yang Zaihua asked:

"Why did you change the hotel?"

Yang Chen replied, pointing to Zhou Di:

"For the sake of his stone."

Yang Zaihua looked puzzled:

"Stone?"

Yang Chen spoke to Zhou Di:

"Show it to him." Zhou Di took out his stone but held it tightly in his hands. Yang Chen chuckled, "For his worthless stone, I had to fire a shot."

Zhou Di laughed and said:

"It's not a worthless stone. It is worth 100,000 silver yuan."

Yang Zaihua exclaimed:

"What? You spent 100,000 silver yuan? You spoil him too much because you have never spent 100,000 silver yuan on gifts for the Grand Marshal or Madam."

Zhou Di clarified:

"No, it is worth 100,000 silver yuan, not cost 100,000. I paid 1,500 silver yuan for his stone."

Yang Zaihua remarked:

"Forcing a trade? Young Marshal, you have never done such things. You still spoil him too much."

Yang Chen defended himself, saying:

"Why do you always say I spoil him too much? I paid 1,500 silver yuan to gamble on a stone. After the stone was cut, it turned out to be glassy species jadeite, the best jade that is worth 100,000 silver yuan"

Yang Zaihua looked at the stone in surprise, exclaiming:

"Unbelievable! What an amazing deal! That means you have become rich in no time. Mr. Zhou, do you know how to identify the stones?"

Zhou Di shook his head and admitted:

"No, I was just guessing."

Yang Chen explained further:

"So we caused trouble because of this. Someone tried to rob us so I had to fire a shot."

Yang Zaihua inquired:

"From Chen Yufeng's people?"

"A relative of Pang Dehai's adjutant's. We didn't want to expose ourselves so we had to change the hotel."

Yang Zaihua said:

"You scared me! I thought something had happened so I rushed over to check."

Yang Chen asked:

"Don't worry. Just do what you have to do. Is everything going smoothly with Zhao Hai?"

"Yes."

"Leave us alone. Go away!"

Yang Zaihua pressed:

"How to do if Pang Dehai really finds you? What will you do?"

Yang Chen suggested:

"After all, now we are on their turf. A strong dragon can't repress a local serpent. So you go to visit Chen Yufeng."

Yang Zaihua interjected:

"Don't you think Chen Yufeng will kill you?"

Yang Chen laughed:

"I don't think so. He likes me a lot."

Zhou Di exclaimed in surprise:

"He likes you a lot?"

Yang Chen burst into laughter, lightly patting Zhou Di's face, and said:

"Jealous? He is an old man at 50 years old."

Zhou Di blushed instantly, seeing Yang Zaihua also smirking, feeling extremely embarrassed. He quickly used the stone to cover his face, ignoring everyone around him.