Rules in Zhonghai City? A duel? Lin Tian’s mind was flooded with a series of question marks. He couldn’t understand—what era were they living in that they still engaged in such backward practices like dueling as if they thought they were European nobility during the medieval period.
Unexpectedly, before Lin Tian could speak, Ou Mengmeng jumped out, slightly excited, "You said it yourself! Let’s follow the rules. We duel tonight. If you chicken out and don’t show, you might as well just castrate yourselves and stop pretending you’re men."
"Hey, Ou Mengmeng, I still don’t know what’s going on. Why the rush to agree?" Lin Tian was speechless. He couldn’t handle such a violent woman—how could Zhou Botong stand her?
Bai Yuze looked at him with disdain and mocked: "You don’t even know this rule and you’re still trying to mix in with us? It’s a joke, seriously embarrassing us people from Xikou City, huh! But then again, at your level of life, you barely qualify to be involved in these matters."
"Mr. Bai, why bother talking nonsense with him? He’ll understand when he shows up tonight, though I’m afraid he might wet his pants by then," Sun Decai repeatedly lost face thanks to Lin Tian and was in no good mood, so of course, he took the opportunity to mock him and regain some face.
But Lin Tian didn’t react with the unease they expected. He said with a smile, "Keep barking all you want—they say the best dogs are the quiet ones. Given how loud you are, you’re definitely not good dogs."
"You..." Sun Decai’s face darkened instantly, and he clenched his fists wanting to rush forward. But he was no match for Lin Tian, and Bai Yuze, fearing he would be at a disadvantage, quickly held him back.
"Don’t be impulsive; you’re my brother’s friend, so you are my friend too. Tonight, I’ll help you get back your dignity; there’s no need to rush," Bai Yuze persuaded.
In reality, Sun Decai just clenched his fists; he truly didn’t dare to confront Lin Tian physically.
"Sun Decai, you guys are just trash, barely saving a bit of face through words. Just wait for tonight, I’ll settle the score for my brother!" Lin Tian said disdainfully, turning Sun Decai and his companions green with rage.
He then turned to Zhou Botong and said, "Brother Botong, let’s go; seeing them spoils my mood."
"You can’t leave just yet." Bai Yuze stepped forward to stop them, coldly saying, "Mr. Futian’s issue can be settled tonight, but Zhou Botong just criticized my friend’s stand a while ago, claiming his jadeite roughs were just useless rocks. That statement has affected his business. Zhou Botong must clarify and apologize!"
For God’s sake, will this never end, Lin Tian glanced at him sideways, not wanting to deal with him, and took a step to leave.
"Lin Tian, both you and Zhou Botong learned your jade appraisal skills from Mr. Zhou, yet now you turn a blind eye and recklessly judge others’ roughs. I wonder if it’s because you haven’t been taught well, or is Mr. Zhou’s skill..." he chuckled dismissively.
What he thought of Mr. Zhou’s skills, he didn’t clearly say, but everyone could discern the mocking tone in his "heh." Bai Yuze was implying Mr. Zhou’s jade appraisal skills were lacking.
"Whoosh!" Lin Tian and Zhou Botong immediately fixed their gazes on Bai Yuze. Despite Zhou Botong’s typically jovial and easygoing demeanor, even being somewhat disrespectful to his grandfather, the person he respected the most was his grandfather, and he wouldn’t tolerate any slight against him.
Not to mention Lin Tian, who not only admired Mr. Zhou’s jade appraisal skills but also deeply respected his character. Born into the dregs of society, Mr. Zhou managed to maintain his simple natural quality, like a lotus flower rising untainted from the mud, earning deep respect from the heart.
His gaze was filled with a murderous aura, startling not only Bai Yuze into stepping back but also the unrelated Futian Shenyi, Sun Decai, and Bai Yufeng, who were frightened into retreating several steps.
Bai Yuze saw himself backing away in fright from a mere glance and felt extremely embarrassed. To cover up his awkwardness, he stiffened his neck and said, "Lin Tian, who are you trying to scare with that look? If you really have the skills, pick a good rough jade from my friend’s stall and cut it open right here. Let everyone see whether what you pick is top-grade jade or just trash!"
"If it’s good jade, you can clear Zhou Botong’s name. If it’s trash, it just shows that your skills aren’t up to par yet. Go back and learn for a few more years before coming out and embarrassing yourself, tarnishing Mr. Zhou’s reputation!" Bai Yuze said, fully disbelieving that with Lin Tian’s less than a month of experience in stone gambling, he could pick any good material.
Last time at the Bai Family, Bai Yuze thought Lin Tian was just lucky. He didn’t genuinely care about how his friend’s stall was doing; he just wanted to embarrass Lin Tian and his group to regain some face.
"Bai Yuze, if a top-grade jade comes out later, just don’t vomit blood," Lin Tian didn’t want to waste too much words on him. After all, Mr. Zhou’s authority is nationally recognized and wouldn’t be swayed by just one remark.
But now that Bai Yuze had challenged him, Lin Tian couldn’t just not respond, lest others gossip that Mr. Zhou’s student was timid and afraid to act.
"Please go ahead." Bai Yuze secretly gloated over his successful scheme.
His friend’s stall had plenty of jade roughs, but he had almost finished inspecting them, finding none of good quality. He believed that Lin Tian could only end up choosing poor materials, which would then be an opportunity to embarrass him in front of everyone. He hadn’t thought much about whether it would affect his friend’s business.
At that moment, a group of people moved towards a nearby makeshift tent, drawing quite a crowd interested in the spectacle. Since Lin Tian’s group consisted of handsome men and beautiful women dressed glamorously, it looked like a significant event was underway, attracting spectators who were eager for some excitement.
"Lin Tian, let me pick instead," Xiao Manxuan suggested. She had accidentally gotten a good piece before and felt overly confident, wanting to try her luck again.
"Xuanxuan, stop messing around. Just watch how Lin Tian does it," the Miss knew her skills best. A person who had hardly dealt with stone gambling could not possibly pick good material based solely on luck.
"Fine, but Lin Tian, you have to pick a piece of glass-type Emperor Green jade to make them eat their words," the little girl said reluctantly.
Ou Mengmeng also joined in, stirring things up: "Exactly, pick the best ones and make them lose big time."
Not only was Lin Tian speechless, but Zhou Botong was also frowning deeply, muttering to himself that they seemed to think top-grade jade was as common as cabbage, available whenever they wished for it.
"Hehe, Lin Tian, don’t disappoint the beauties," Bai Yuze added fuel to the fire.
"Boss, is it okay to choose any of the materials here? Don’t say that you won’t sell it after I pick," Lin Tian asked the stall owner.
The stall owner, a man in his thirties, imitated Bai Yuze’s tone and said, "As long as you have the money, I’ll sell it."
Lin Tian carefully inspected the roughs, ignoring these fools. The only way to shut such people up was with a resounding slap of reality.
While he appeared to be looking at the materials, in reality, he was using his X-ray vision to scrutinize them. The materials in the tent were divided into partially gambled and fully gambled pieces, but after inspecting all the materials on the left shelf, he hadn’t found a single piece of good jade. Could it really be as Zhou Botong said, just a bunch of worthless stones?
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