Plagued by trivial matters, but thankfully, they are mostly resolved. I promise, the updates will pick up speed very soon!

........................ Qi Fei dismissed Wang Zhuo's ambition with a slight smile, viewing it as nothing more than a joke.

While twenty million yuan was certainly a considerable sum, it was still far, far short of what was needed to open a jewelry store. The stone-bidding gamblers, seeing they couldn't sway Wang Zhuo, temporarily quieted down.

Wang Zhuo hadn't refused to sell; he merely stated the price offered was too low for his satisfaction, leaving them with little room to argue. "Brother Qiu, how about you take the grinder and make the first cuts for me?" Wang Zhuo handed the angle grinder to Qiu Lu, smiling, "It's increased so much in value, I’m almost hesitant to touch it myself." "As if I'd believe that," Qiu Lu replied with a wry laugh, shaking his head, but he reached out and took the grinder.

He asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll cut a dud for you?" Wang Zhuo chuckled, "How badly could it lose? It certainly can't drop below what we lost on that Imperial Green piece last time, can it?" "Fine, I’ll cut it.

Tell me, where should I start?" "Just carve it into the shape of a big Chinese cabbage," Wang Zhuo said frankly. In terms of stone gambling technique, he was undoubtedly the best in the world, but when it came to jade design and carving, he was leagues behind Qiu Lu and Qi Fei.

The material selection and project planning were done; the remaining specialized work should be left to the experts. Qiu Lu and Qi Fei began analyzing and marking the raw stone.

When the gamblers saw them plotting the cutting process based on the design of a cabbage, they were instantly disappointed. A golden opportunity to snag a massive profit was slipping away.

The one who had earlier suggested Wang Zhuo simply cleave the stone in half had vanished without a trace, perhaps having burrowed into the earth out of shame. If this stone yielded a magnificent cabbage, it would be a monumental gain; cutting it open would at least recoup the initial cost, but how much would be lost remained uncertain.

Leaving the delicate work to the professionals, Wang Zhuo paused to think. Using a trip to the restroom as an excuse, he slipped away from the crowd.

Perhaps the news of the depletion of old pit raw stones had instilled a sense of urgency; he suddenly felt disinclined to waste time watching the cutting and intended to use the moments to select more rough stones. The idea of opening a jewelry store was not an impulse.

Wang Zhuo had deeply experienced the benefits of wealth and understood why the richer people became, the greater their ambition for money grew. This was because they had tasted the high status and comfortable life that money afforded them; thus, making money became addictive—one could never have enough.

Wang Zhuo was unsure if he possessed any aptitude for business, but in truth, ever since the Imperial Green came to light, he had been strategically positioning himself to enter the jade industry. At that time, it was merely a vague thought, not yet fully fleshed out.

Giving those large red envelopes to Qiu Lu and Qi Fei was the first step in that layout. While this initial step might have been somewhat excessive, with his X-ray vision, he would never gamble on a lost cause, so there was no need to be overly concerned about the cost.

Revealing the plan to open a jewelry store to Qi Fei had also clarified a lingering reservation in Wang Zhuo’s own mind: a shop required inventory, and that inventory had to cover all tiers of quality. Just like Shijizhi or Qishifang, regardless of the quality, the counters needed to be filled first—there must be high-end pieces, but also mid-range and entry-level items.

Given this realization, there was no need to focus solely on stones promising massive returns; even modest gains were profit, and he should acquire them when he found them. Glancing casually at a few raw stones, Wang Zhuo waved over a sales assistant.

"Miss, how much is this piece?" The assistant checked her records and replied, "Sir, this raw stone just arrived a few days ago. The asking price is twenty thousand yuan." Wang Zhuo mused briefly, estimating it could yield three bracelets of icy, vivid green floating flowers, with remnants left for a few small pendants—a guaranteed profit.

"I'll take it. Please find a security guard to hold it for me; I’ll settle the payment for everything later." The sales assistant quickly found a guard, who carried the stone aside.

Wang Zhuo then pointed to another raw stone and asked, "And this one, how much?" "Sir, this one is only seven thousand." Seven thousand? It could yield a palm-sized piece of colorless glass jade, likely multiplying its value several times over?

He decided to take it. "Note it down.

Please hold onto it for a moment." The raw stone, weighing just over two pounds, wasn't too heavy, and the assistant held it, staying by Wang Zhuo’s side for further instructions. "Uh...

perhaps you should call for another security guard," Wang Zhuo suggested. "Oh, certainly!" A short while later, the sales assistant returned with a guard.

Wang Zhuo pulled out four hundred yuan, handing two crisp bills to each man as a tip, but both refused to accept it, citing company policy. "Do you have sales commissions, then?" Wang Zhuo inquired.

The sales assistant smiled faintly. "A small amount.

Even though the rate is low, it adds up to a few hundred yuan a month." "Heh heh, I only get a perfect attendance bonus," the guard chuckled good-naturedly. Wang Zhuo nodded.

"I'll mention it to Boss Cai later; I'll ask him to give you an extra bonus this month." The guard smiled gratefully, thanking him repeatedly, though whether he took Wang Zhuo’s promise seriously remained unknown. "Move this stone away; I'm taking it," Wang Zhuo pointed to a piece of raw material the size of a millstone on the floor.

"Ah..." The sales assistant gasped in shock, but she watched as the guard spat into his hands, bent down with effort, and managed to lift the stone, walking towards the exit with a visible strain. Only after the guard had moved a fair distance did Wang Zhuo deliberately slap his thigh.

"Oops, I forgot to check the inventory number. How much was that stone again?" The sales assistant hurried after them, but she could only wait until the guard had set the stone down before checking the number, as he was currently using every ounce of his strength and couldn't easily assist her.

While the two were occupied elsewhere, Wang Zhuo used his vision to scan several more stones. When they returned, the next stone needing removal was already waiting.

If Cai Yuantu hadn't instructed the manager to brief the sales staff that Wang Zhuo was a VIP enjoying a 90% discount, some people might have assumed Wang Zhuo was just pulling a bizarre prank. Before the full glory of the Chinese cabbage stone was even revealed, Wang Zhuo already had a small pile of raw materials amassed.

He had no intention of cutting these here, so every single one was a guaranteed profit, though some gains were smaller than others. After scanning countless raw stones consecutively, Wang Zhuo finally felt a slight dizziness—a precursor to overdrawing his extraordinary ability.

He stopped and told the sales assistant, "Tally up the prices. Write me a detailed receipt later." The sales assistant excitedly grabbed her calculator and paper, calculating and writing while the guard squatted nearby, wiping sweat from his brow in exhaustion.

This small stack of stones represented nearly half a month's worth of material sales for Qishifang. The adage in stone gambling—look often, buy seldom—meant many people might visit the market for a month without making a single purchase.

Qishifang’s usual sales volume was only three to five stones per day on average. Recently, sales had surged following the Imperial Green discovery, and with a large shipment of new inventory just in, they had only just surpassed ten stones per day.

This was already an astonishing figure. Wang Zhuo's purchasing style was likely unparalleled anywhere else.

While the raw material origins in Myanmar dealt in wholesale lots, they sold only by the pile, with no haggling allowed. Gamblers nearby who witnessed this scene began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Is that guy completely insane?" "Pfft. If he has money, he should go play in Yunnan or Myanmar, not show off here!" "Is this kid just causing trouble?

Are the people at Qishifang fools to just play along with him?" "He's the one who hit the Imperial Green last month; I don't think he’s just messing around." "That kid is definitely going to lose everything down to his underwear. Let's wait for the show." When the total price reached three million yuan, the sales assistant’s hands began to tremble slightly.

Company policy dictated a commission of twenty yuan for every ten thousand yuan in sales. This pile of raw stones would likely total nearly four million, meaning her commission alone would be close to eight thousand!