As Xu Lai prepared to take his daughter to Galaxy Kindergarten, he noticed a black Mercedes parked downstairs. Inside were Ruan Changqing and his family of three.
That little bitch Ruan Tang! Ruan Changqing’s expression was cold.
Yesterday, after he had called Ruan Tang’s father—the head of the Ruan Family’s second branch—his timid brother Ruan Changmu stammered that his daughter wouldn’t answer his calls. Ruan Changqing cursed his useless brother, then decided to come with Song Ru and Ruan Jin to find Ruan Tang in person. But they ended up meeting Xu Lai first.
"Xu Lai, get Ruan Tang out here to see me!" Ruan Changqing lowered the car window without even opening the door, his attitude lofty and his gaze haughty.
"She’s sick and needs to rest," Xu Lai replied indifferently. "Please leave."
Xu Yiyi hid behind Xu Lai, her large eyes peeking out as she observed the three people before her.
"She was fine yesterday, and now she’s sick? Who are you trying to fool?" Song Ru’s eyes blazed with anger. "Have her come out right now and go to work. We’ve already stooped to coming to this shabby neighborhood, and now she’s putting on airs? Who does she think she is!"
Xu Lai no longer paid any attention to the three of them and started to walk away.
Ruan Jin, furious, stepped out of the car and walked toward Xu Lai. "Kid, didn’t you hear what my mother said?"
However, Xu Lai completely ignored him.
Very well. Ruan Jin’s eyes were icy. He was the eldest son of the Ruan Family’s main branch, the future heir. And this pretty boy who lives off a woman dares to ignore me? He’s practically asking to die!
But it was broad daylight, so Ruan Jin didn’t dare to attack him. He could only watch resentfully as Xu Lai and his daughter slowly walked away.
"Let’s go home," Ruan Changqing said grimly.
"What?" Song Ru grew anxious. "Go home? If we don’t get Ruan Tang back to the company, are we just going to lose the money? That’s thirty million, Changqing!"
"Yes, Father. Nearly all of the Ruan Family’s funds have been invested in the Fang Family, hoping to make a name for ourselves in the real estate industry. Even if Grandfather dotes on me, he probably wouldn’t..." Ruan Jin didn’t understand his father’s plan either.
"A Martial Artist in service to the Fang Family will arrive at the Ruan household in a couple of days," Ruan Changqing said meaningfully. "I hear he’s just turned thirty. I already asked Father last night for you to represent the Ruan Family and make contact with him. The route from the airport to the Ruan Family residence passes by Galaxy Kindergarten."
Ruan Jin slapped his forehead. He understood his father’s intention, and a smile appeared on his face. "I get it now, Father."
"Good." Ruan Changqing rolled up the car window, thinking viciously, Ruan Tang, since you insist on being shameless, don’t blame us for being ruthless.
「At the kindergarten gate.」
After dropping off his daughter, Xu Lai got into Su Daiyi’s car. She and her driver were already waiting for him. They didn’t discuss the plan to take down the Ruan Family.
"Mr. Xu," Su Daiyi said respectfully, "Eighth Master has already booked a hotel in Hangcheng to welcome you."
"There’s no need to go to such trouble in the future." Xu Lai frowned slightly. He just planned to pay the Fang Family a visit.
"Understood," Su Daiyi replied.
The car sped along the highway, arriving at the luxurious hotel booked by Old Jiang Ba right around noon.
"Mr. Xu," Old Jiang Ba said, bowing slightly.
Xu Lai nodded, his gaze suddenly drawn to a stadium hundreds of meters away, which was bustling with a noisy crowd.
"Hangcheng holds an annual jade exposition that lasts for half a month. Today is the last day, so it’s quite lively," Su Daiyi explained. "Also, the Fang Family is one of the organizers."
Old Jiang Ba smiled. "Are you interested, Mr. Xu? Why don’t we go take a look?" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel·fire·net
Xu Lai’s interest was piqued.
Jade gathers the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon. It is an extremely important material, whether for Cultivation, Artifact Refining, or Array Setting. Of course, many jade stones don’t store enough Spiritual Energy to meet the standard of spiritual jade.
Su Daiyi led the way as the trio arrived at the stadium.
Upon entering the main gate, they saw numerous vendors with jadeite raw stones laid out on the ground, with prices ranging from thousands to tens of millions. The sound of stones being cut echoed throughout the venue. Some people laughed loudly, some were silent, and others sighed. Every face showed a different emotion, a microcosm of the human experience.
"Mr. Xu, care to try your luck?" Old Jiang Ba asked with a chuckle.
Xu Lai was somewhat disappointed. A single glance told him that the quality of the jade within these stones was extremely low. Their Spiritual Energy purity was less than one percent of a true spiritual jade’s, making them utterly worthless in his eyes.
Despite this, Old Jiang Ba, swept up in the atmosphere, spent 300,000 to pick out two raw stones. They were cut on the spot, but not even a hint of green was revealed. He wasn’t angry, though; such a sum was a drop in the bucket for him.
Su Daiyi squatted down, examining the stones carefully. Finally, she sighed softly and decided against it. She didn’t know much about stone gambling and chose not to join the frenzy.
Suddenly, Xu Lai said, "That one in the far corner... and this one... and this one."
He pointed to three stones, each about the size of a soccer ball.
Su Daiyi glanced at Xu Lai in surprise, wondering why he was so certain about these three. But after hesitating for only a moment, she bought them. The stall owner squinted, his smile exceptionally joyful. The three stones were priced steeply, totaling 3,700,000!
"It’ll be a cut-to-rise!"
"Get real. It won’t be. Master Fang already looked over this stall and didn’t pick a single one. They’re obviously all worthless."
"Hiss... The jade master from the Fang Family? If he said that, this young lady is probably going to lose her shirt."
Seeing that a cutting was about to happen, the onlookers began to buzz with discussion. Even though Su Daiyi was the Pearl of the Su Family and held some sway in her clan, her personal account balance was only five million. Having just spent most of it, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. "Boss, cut them!"
"You got it! Old Zhang, over here!" The stall owner introduced him, "This is the best master I have. He’s been in the cutting business for a full thirty years. Very steady hands."
"Stop dawdling and cut already!" the crowd urged, even more anxious than Su Daiyi.
Old Zhang, a man of nearly fifty with an honest smile, began to cut away bit by bit, accompanied by a grating sound.
A surprised voice cried out.
"There’s green! And the color is good!"
"I’ll offer two million for this stone! Miss, are you selling?"
"Not selling! Keep cutting!" Su Daiyi exclaimed, her heart leaping with joy.
The cutter, Old Zhang, acknowledged her. His expression and movements grew more serious as he continued to meticulously shave away at the stone.
The view within the stone revealed itself—
A dazzling, profound green!
This made the connoisseurs in the crowd gasp.
This green... was Imperial Green!
"Cut the second and third ones at the same time," Su Daiyi said spiritedly, ignoring the surrounding chatter. She had already made her money back and then some with just this one piece.
The stall owner hurriedly called over another cutter, and the two old masters began cutting simultaneously.
But then, something happened that shocked everyone present.