Chapter 19: This Is My First Time Stone Gambling
Cheng Yuan’s eyes narrowed. ’A mother knows her daughter best, huh?’ he thought. He really was just a shield Lin Ruoxi had found at the last minute.
Of course, Cheng Yuan wasn’t going to admit it. "Auntie, this isn’t about money. Ruoxi and I are truly in love."
Hua Yao, of course, didn’t believe Cheng Yuan’s nonsense. She snorted in disdain. "Is two hundred thousand not enough? Then five hundred thousand!"
"Auntie, it’s really not about the money..."
"One million is my limit! Cheng, I’m warning you, don’t be too greedy! Piss off the Lin Family, and believe it or not, we’ll have you sent back to prison!"
Lin Ruoxi, who was at the side, couldn’t bear it any longer. She slammed her hand on the table and yelled, "That’s enough! Mom! Are you that desperate to push your own daughter into the fire? Don’t you know what kind of person Gu Chen is?"
Hua Yao was speechless.
Beside them, Lin Xinghe sighed, looking at Lin Ruoxi with an expression of self-blame. "Ruoxi, this is all my fault! I’m useless! I’ve made a terrible mess of things!"
Lin Ruoxi froze. "What do you mean?"
Lin Xinghe lowered his head. "After you disappeared, I was worried your grandfather would strip you of your position, so I temporarily took over your work. I personally went to Northern Myanmar and bought five hundred million worth of raw stones. When they were cut open, they were all Waste Stones! The jewelry company is about to run out of medium- and high-grade jadeite, and the capital chain is broken. If the jewelry company goes under, it could even drag down the entire group! If your grandfather finds out about this, he’ll definitely punish me severely. He might even take back all of our family’s shares and kick the three of us out of the Lin Family! Ruoxi, you have to save your father! If you marry Gu Chen, the Gu Family will lend me five hundred million. I’ll have a chance to make a comeback!"
Lin Ruoxi was so furious she gritted her teeth. Usually, it was the children who caused trouble for their parents. In her case, it was the complete opposite—her own father was dragging her down!
"Dad, how many times have I told you? The jewelry company needs to be stable. We should just buy pre-cut stones. Why did you have to go stone gambling? Don’t you know that nine out of ten bets are losses? You might as well just kill me now!"
With a look of anguish, Lin Ruoxi covered her face as silent tears began to flow.
’Why is my life so miserable?’
’Do I really have to marry that pervert for my father’s sake?’
’But I don’t have any other choice!’
"Okay, I..."
Seeing that Lin Ruoxi was about to yield, Cheng Yuan grew anxious and quickly interrupted her.
"Ruoxi, things will sort themselves out. It’s just a shortage of stones and a funding gap, right? I’ll help you fix it."
Lin Ruoxi shook her head with a bitter smile. "This is a five-hundred-million-dollar funding gap! You only have a few million, how can you fix it?"
Cheng Yuan smiled. "If we’re buying cut stones, the money I have on hand is indeed not nearly enough. However, it’s barely enough to try stone gambling. If it’s still not enough, we can have your parents chip in a little more. That should cover the shortfall."
’Stone gambling?’
Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao rolled their eyes. Thanks to Lin Ruoxi’s position as general manager of the jewelry company, they had picked up a thing or two over the years from dealing with stones. Even they could make a costly mistake, so what chance did a complete novice like Cheng Yuan have?
The pair couldn’t even be bothered to waste their breath discouraging Cheng Yuan.
Lin Ruoxi sighed and explained patiently.
"Cheng Yuan, you’re being too naive. Stone gambling isn’t as simple as you imagine. Yes, people get rich overnight, but the odds of that are lower than hitting the jackpot in the lottery! Besides, the market is flooded with fake, man-made stones. Even veteran stone-gambling masters get fooled by them, let alone a complete novice like you."
No one believed Cheng Yuan. Only Shen Manwen felt a crazy thought pop into her head.
’Maybe Cheng Yuan can actually do it!’
"Ruoxi, Uncle, Auntie, I suggest you consider Dr. Cheng’s proposal. You’ve already lost five hundred million, so what’s another few million? What if Dr. Cheng really does know his way around stone gambling?"
The three were confused. Shen Manwen had always been very rational, why was she being so impulsive now?
"Manwen, why do you have so much faith in this Cheng fellow? He’s just a poor student, and an ex-convict to boot."
"Dr. Cheng is a brilliant physician; he cured a hidden illness of mine. He’s also a master of the Martial Dao. He can defeat me easily. His skills are definitely no less than my brother’s."
’This kid knows medicine?’
’And his Martial Dao is stronger than Shen Ao’s?’
Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao believed Shen Manwen wouldn’t lie to them. But even so, what did that matter?
’What does that have to do with stone gambling?’
Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao exchanged a look, instantly reaching a tacit understanding.
"Alright, Cheng, we’ll humor you this one time! We have another five million. You can take it and try your luck at stone gambling! But if you lose, you must divorce Ruoxi!"
Cheng Yuan was absolutely confident in himself. "And what if I win? What if I manage to fill the jewelry company’s entire jadeite shortage?"
"If you can really do that, then we will no longer interfere in the matter between you and our daughter!"
"Alright then. There’s no time to waste. Let’s go stone gambling right now."
Cheng Yuan was so self-assured that Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao were taken aback.
They sized up Cheng Yuan with suspicious eyes. ’Could this kid really be a master stone gambler?’
’If he can really bring the jewelry company back from the dead, it wouldn’t be out of the question to give him a chance.’
Lin Xinghe took out his phone, contacted a few friends, and quickly found the location of the Luocheng Raw Stone Trading Market.
"Cheng Yuan, I’m giving you one last chance to back out," Lin Xinghe said. "If you divorce Ruoxi right now, I’ll still give you the one million! If you lose this gamble, you won’t get a single cent."
Cheng Yuan’s tone was firm. "I will never divorce Ruoxi."
"Fine, let’s go!"
「Half an hour later」
The five of them arrived at the Luocheng Raw Stone Trading Market.
After taking a look around inside, Lin Xinghe curled his lip in disdain. The market was too small, and the quality of the raw stones on display was mediocre at best.
These raw stones were either artificial fakes or the picked-over dregs from the old mines in Myanmar. The chances of finding a winner here were practically zero.
’Cheng Yuan is definitely going to lose.’
Lin Ruoxi, who knew a little about stone gambling, advised, "Cheng Yuan, the stones here are really low-quality. Why don’t we go check out the big raw stone trading market in the Provincial City?"
Not wanting to waste any more time, Lin Xinghe rejected the suggestion before Cheng Yuan could even respond.
"The stones in the Provincial City aren’t much better. It’s only a few million we’re talking about; there’s no need to go to all that trouble."
Cheng Yuan activated his Double Pupil. A casual sweep of his gaze revealed several raw stones with green inside at the nearby stalls. He smiled. "He’s right, no need to make the trip. We can just pick from here!"
Seeing how confident Cheng Yuan was, Lin Ruoxi’s anxiety eased a little. She leaned in and whispered, "Cheng Yuan, are you really good at stone gambling? Have you ever had a big win before?"
Cheng Yuan answered honestly, "This is my first time. Actually, I was going to ask you—what kind of jadeite is the most valuable?"
’His first time?’
Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao were utterly speechless. ’Is this Cheng guy joking?’