Chapter 6 Earning Money

Behind the Fengyuan Jade Store was a spacious hall of about a hundred square meters, and there was another room beyond that.

These stones were categorized into different grades; those with good appearances and high chances of containing jade were kept in the inner room, while the inferior ones were piled in the hall. Even the slightly better rough stones had their prices set by specialists.

The pile of rough stones that yielded the dark green jadeite was in the inner room. A crowd rushed in, most heading to the inner room, while those remaining in the hall also picked the stones with better appearances. Even the translator was excitedly eyeing them.

Shenchi had no intention of going to the inner room. Instead, he walked around the hall, observing.

He had been reborn with a breakthrough to Level Four before his death, and after the initial excitement, he experimented with the space. He found out that besides its storage function, it now allowed only him to enter, with a time limit.

For example, he could enter only three times within 24 hours, each time not exceeding four hours, or he would be forcibly ejected, causing mild discomfort and doubling the energy consumption.

The good news was that he could still see the outside world when inside the space, ensuring maximum safety upon exiting.

Twelve hours a day was more than enough.

He knew how long until the apocalypse began, how long the government could hold out, and where to avoid zombies most effectively. Thanks to his time in the lab, he also discovered that he was a dual-element ability user, and his child, who shared his bloodline, was too. Moreover, the child's level could advance synchronously with his while still in the womb.

Regarding the storage function, he had experimented with various items, food, plants, and marine life immediately after awakening his spatial ability. The result was that all living things could not enter the space, including living seeds, barely alive rats, and even himself.

This time, he conducted similar experiments, even attempting to bring live humans into the space at a blind massage center, but the results remained unchanged.

If the space only allowed the owner to enter, how could he teach his child to use her abilities to hide herself after birth, especially since she wouldn't have communication skills yet?

Carrying the child during combat would risk hurting her, and if accidentally scratched by a zombie...

After all, ability users were not entirely immune to the zombie virus.

For the past three days, Shenchi had been pondering this issue. Raising a child in the apocalypse was already a luxury, let alone an infant.

But just now, as he got out of a taxi, he saw a pair of twins, which sparked a new possibility:

Perhaps, family members sharing a bloodline might also be able to enter the space.

With this idea, Shenchi booked a flight to Shandong Province a few days later.

Before that, his top priority was to get money, a lot of money.

In the early stages of the apocalypse, the government acted swiftly and effectively, isolating infected individuals and deploying the military. During this period, all strategic supplies were collected by the military and distributed according to population, making it unwise to try looting supplies after the outbreak.

The source of money was these stones.

These unprocessed stones, called "rough stones," were covered with a thick layer of weathered skin and needed to be cut open to reveal the hidden jade inside.

They were much cheaper than processed jade but carried significant risks.

Shenchi followed the crowd, observing. A staff member noticed that Shenchi looked like a foreigner and not an expert, so he tried to guide him towards the more expensive stones. However, after asking the price, Shenchi directly headed to the cheapest corner.

The staff member's lips twitched.

Shenchi didn't care and picked through the stones, eventually selecting ten or so from smallest to largest, instructing the staff to weigh them.

Usually, the worst quality stones were priced by weight, at $15 per kilogram.

The rough stones Shenchi chose ranged from smaller than an egg to the size of a bathtub. One particularly large stone, covered in moss, looked somewhat like a green-skinned stone but, upon closer inspection, resembled a rock from a ditch. It had been lying there for ages, leading some to suspect that the miners had simply picked up random stones.

The staff member weighed the stones, totaling 450 kilograms, with the largest weighing 418.5 kilograms. After settling the bill, he asked Shenchi if he needed the stones cut, offering a reasonable fee.

Shenchi nodded, and the staff member asked whether he wanted the cutting done in the hall or in the basement.

"Out here," Shenchi said, leaving the details to the translator. He stood aside as they moved the stones to the hall.

The jade cutter was clearly experienced, effortlessly slicing through the stones. As he cut, he found only one piece of low-grade jadeite suitable for a pendant, while the rest were all dead embryos.

The onlookers quickly lost interest, and half of them dispersed.

The cutter fixed the last bathtub-sized stone, which he believed contained no jade, and started cutting without hesitation.

First cut, nothing...

Second cut, nothing...

Third cut, nothing...

The onlookers shook their heads in disappointment.

The cutter glanced at the translator, who nodded, indicating that his employer wanted to continue cutting until finished.

The cutter rinsed off the stone and made another cut, suddenly frowning. He took a coarse sandpaper and polished the exposed green skin, revealing a rough surface. After some time, he began cutting again, this time more carefully.

The onlookers noticed something unusual and became more attentive. Suddenly, a smooth water-skin stone appeared!

Onlookers: "..."

Cutter: "..."

Translator: "..."

Someone impatiently offered to buy the uncut water-skin stone, sensing a high chance of jade. Others joined in, gradually increasing the price several times over Shenchi's original cost, even reaching tens of times higher!

People were drawn by the commotion, and the crowd began discussing the likelihood of finding high-quality jade. The price quickly soared to $120,000!

The translator glanced at his employer, but Shenchi remained unmoved.

The cutter stretched his limbs, found a suitable spot, and resumed cutting.

After more than ten minutes, when the first window appeared, the crowd erupted in exclamations:

"Glass seed! It's glass seed!!"

"My God, such a piece actually yielded glass seed..."

The stone cutter stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The pressure was immense. He drank some water to calm himself down, then chose an excellent spot for the second cut. As expected, it was a win, and the crowd began to stir again. A series of numbers were thrown around, making the translator's heart race.

Shenchi remained as calm as ever. He sipped his tea. The original bucket-sized stone was now only the size of a foot basin, yet he showed no signs of panic. Meeting the translator's gaze, he nodded faintly.

The translator swallowed hard and said to the stone cutter, "Please continue."

As more of the jade face was revealed, the bidding grew higher, but no one paid attention. The stone cutter had no intention of stopping.

"Oh my God! It's blue water jade!!"

Someone in the crowd shouted this out. There, lying in the stone cutter's hands, was a complete piece of glass seed blue water jade, as big as a face basin!

The crowd fell silent instantly. Glass seed jade was already rare in such a large jade market, and blue water jade was even rarer. To find a piece with such ample clarity and size, intact, was almost unheard of.

When everyone approached for a closer look, they all drew sharp breaths. A pure blue jade, with a color resembling the sea, evenly distributed throughout, and finely textured, lay quietly in the stone cutter's tanned hands.

The stark contrast emphasized the coolness and warmth of the glass seed jade, making its qualities even more apparent.

Such a high-quality piece of jade was undoubtedly valuable for collection.

Immediately, someone raised their hand and called out, "Excuse me, where is the owner of the blue water jade? I'm interested in buying it!"

"I am too!"

"I'll offer eighty thousand dollars!"

As soon as the bid was made, others started calling out prices. This time, they added ten thousand dollars at a time. Some people looked around to identify the owner for private negotiations, while the translator and staff stood there in shock—these were all in US dollars!

"I'll offer one million five hundred thousand dollars! And let's not rush; please part with this blue water jade!"

"Who would give up such a large piece of sea blue? I'll offer one million seven hundred thousand dollars!"

"Two million!"

"You people only care about money! How can you measure such a spiritual treasure with mere currency?!" The person said this, but their face betrayed a fanatical expression.

No one knew who the owner of the jade was, but the staff member who had greeted Shenchi did. He had been stunned earlier but quickly ran to the shop owner to point him out. The owner asked him to invite Shenchi inside.

Once the jade was carried away, most of the crowd dispersed. They admired the jade but knew their chances were slim, especially since the owner hadn't spoken up. So they followed along, hoping for a chance.

Led by the staff member, Shenchi and the translator entered a grand office where two people were already seated. One of them got up to greet Shenchi, introducing himself as the shop owner, while the other was a well-known domestic jeweler named Zhang.

Since they were fellow countrymen, the owner treated Shenchi like an old friend, but still spoke in English.

A tall, beautiful woman served Shenchi a cup of tea, which he didn't touch or acknowledge. Seeing this, Mr. Zhang got straight to the point, expressing his interest in purchasing the blue water jade Shenchi had just uncovered.

Shenchi didn't beat around the bush: "Two million five hundred thousand dollars, final price."