Chapter 202
Outside just now, An An had been like a rose with thorns.
Stunning and fiery, but her thorns warned people not to get too close.
When the topic of touching her leg came up, her eyes had flashed with murderous intent!
Yet now, she seemed almost pitifully humble, her tone laced with pleading. As she spoke, she even scooted forward, placing her long, fair legs right within Chenyang’s reach.
This stark contrast in her behavior, after a moment of shock, put Chenyang on high alert.
’Could this girl be after my jade but doesn’t want to pay for it?’ he couldn’t help but wonder. ’Is she trying to set up a honey trap? She’ll wait until I actually touch her, then immediately accuse me of being a pervert and snatch the jade away without breaking a sweat?’
At that thought, Chenyang instinctively took a step back.
"Miss, you’re a wealthy woman. Surely you wouldn’t stoop to such a dirty trick just for a piece of jade, would you?"
An An was at a complete loss. "What dirty trick?"
"Using ’learning from me’ as an excuse to lure me into touching your leg. Then, once I’ve done it, you accuse me of being a pervert and threaten me by pretending to call the cops. You’ll let me off the hook if I hand over the jade, otherwise you’ll send me to the station. You call that not a dirty trick?"
An An was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly explained, "You’ve misunderstood. I had no such intention."
"Oh, give me a break. A minute ago outside, when I mentioned touching your leg, you looked like you wanted to chop my hand off. But now that we’re in here, not only are you not resisting, you’re practically inviting me to do it. When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. This stinks of a setup."
"No, I’m not..."
An An shook her head repeatedly, becoming a bit incoherent in her anxiousness to explain.
Seeing this, Liu Yun chimed in, "Xiaochen, you’ve really misunderstood. An An honestly just wants to learn from you."
"Just to learn? And she’s willing to let me take advantage of her for it?"
"You don’t know An An. Her family has been in the jade business for generations. She grew up completely immersed in it, and on top of that, she’s exceptionally gifted. She developed an incredible ability to appraise stones when she was just a little girl.
It’s no exaggeration to say her eyes are like they have x-ray vision. When she picks a stone, eight out of ten times it’s a winner.
But today, you cut jade from a stone she was certain was worthless. Not only did she misjudge, but it also made her intensely curious about your appraisal methods and techniques.
Letting you touch her leg is just the ’tuition’ she’s willing to pay to learn from you."
Chenyang raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
An An raised three fingers. "I swear, I really just want to learn from you. If I have any other intentions, may I be struck dead by a falling rock the second I walk out the door!"
Liu Yun smiled. "If you don’t believe An An, do you not believe me? My parents and her parents are friends, and we’re on good terms too."
Hearing this, Chenyang finally let his guard down completely.
"That scared me. I really thought you were trying to set me up."
"An An’s family has enough rare and exotic jade to build a house with. Why would she ever risk her reputation for your one little piece?"
Liu Yun smiled. "Speaking of which, I’m also very curious about your appraisal method. That stone... no matter how you looked at it, it seemed worthless. How did you know there was jade inside?"
Chenyang looked troubled.
’My x-ray vision is my biggest secret. I can’t tell them!’
’Even if I did, Liu Yun and An An would never believe me!’
’But if I don’t give them an explanation, judging by the attitude of these two beauties, they definitely won’t let it go easily!’
Left with no choice, Chenyang had to make up a story.
Of course, it wasn’t complete nonsense.
Instead, he mixed in some methods from traditional Chinese medicine for identifying herbs.
Although it was a bit esoteric, the logic was sound.
After listening, Liu Yun remarked, as if she only half-understood, "In traditional Chinese medicine, there are also substances like metals and stones. Using methods for identifying medicinal properties and scents to examine them could indeed yield results that conventional methods can’t."
"That really is a novel and unconventional technique." An An nodded, then looked at Chenyang with a hopeful expression. "Handsome, could you teach me this method?
I’ve been determined to become a top player in the jade world since I was little. With my existing skills, if I could add your method to them, my influence in the industry would surely rise to another level!"
"Er..." Chenyang’s expression instantly turned strange.
’I just made all of that up. If I try to teach you, wouldn’t I just be leading you astray?’
Seeing Chenyang’s troubled expression, An An thought he was about to name his price.
She smiled and said, "I won’t ask you to teach me for free. How about five thousand per lesson? If you think that’s too little, I can add more. And if you think money is too crass, I can also give you even better jade."
"You’re overthinking it. I don’t want your money or your jade..."
"You don’t want money or stones? Then... do you want... me?"
An An fidgeted bashfully. "Aside from sleeping with you, you can do whatever you want. You can touch my leg... and you can touch other places, too."