Chapter 139 Nouveau Riche or Tycoon?

Nighttime.

Accompanied by whistling winds, the heavy rain fell all night long.

They slept until high noon.

Because they had eaten too much the previous night, the group walked around the courtyard to digest their food, only returning to their rooms to rest when it started raining in the early hours of the morning.

It was even colder today.

Ling Yue wore a mint green cashmere cardigan over her camisole, sleeves slightly rolled up to reveal her fair, tender arms and a black leather wristwatch.

Paired with blue jeans, white sneakers, and the Hermès Herbag she bought the day before yesterday, the look was relaxed and warm.

Yu Shuo was waiting at the entrance of the residential complex as usual.

The two met up and headed together to the central building of the Pingxi Public Auction.

With twenty minutes left until ten o'clock, the venue was almost full.

Upon learning that Yu Shuo and her group wanted to watch the bid opening on-site, the organizers had reserved VIP seats for them.

When ten o'clock struck.

After the host said a few words, the winning bid results began scrolling on the big screen in front of them.

The first round of scrolling finished, and it began to loop.

The venue erupted in chaos.

"Who is this member with the ending number 1132?"

"They took both the major and minor bid king titles! Is it a veteran member from before?"

"No, I haven't seen this number win any major bids before."

"A newcomer? Acting so arrogant right off the bat?"

"Heh, just a nouveau riche upstart; these types love mindless bidding."

"Acting like they have to show off how rich they are."

"It's not just the major and minor bid kings; I just noticed this number appearing quite a lot. They must have won at least a hundred pieces."

"This person must be crazy!"

"My 3244 was taken by them. Speechless. I bid up to the ceiling price, and it was still snatched away. Damn it!"

"And my 1239 too."

Someone let out a soft laugh, "What's yours or mine? Once someone else has bid on it, it all belongs to them."

"Who told you not to have as much capital as them?"

"Lunatics."

"..."

Ling Yue didn't want to hear it, but unfortunately, her hearing was too good.

[ resentment value: 89% ]

[ resentment value: 96% ]

[ resentment value: 100% ]

[ Lucky Draw Count: 18 ]

[ resentment value: 4% ]

But then again.

She had indeed been a bit high-profile.

So it was normal for people to say a few things and have some resentment in their hearts.

Forget it.

There was no reason for her to be petty.

"I won, I won too!" Cheng Jiao suddenly pointed at the screen and said.

She had come to the Pingxi Public Auction a few years ago with her employer from Shanghai. Because she was occasionally sent by her employer to bid on raw stones, she had also become a member of the auction.

Yesterday, since a raw stone appraiser was present, she picked up a bargain that Miss Yu didn't want, spending 12,000 on a stone the size of a cutting board. She hadn't expected to actually win.

"I've seen enough; shall we head to the settlement center now?" Yu Shuo suggested.

"Let's go, let's go." Ling Yue was a little excited.

The group went to the settlement center building.

To speed up the payment process, there were many windows.

People like Ling Yue, who won over a hundred bids at once, had appeared before, so the settlement staff didn't find it very shocking.

She printed out the bill and placed it in front of Ling Yue.

She had won 112 raw stones for a total price of 278 million, which included the 2% commission to be paid to the auction.

On average, that was about two million per raw stone.

Quite cheap, actually.

No, wait.

Had her unit for 'cheap' actually risen to 'millions' now?

Money really corrupts one's thoughts; this won't do, this won't do!

Ling Yue shook her head and quickly swiped her card to pay.

The deposit and security deposit paid earlier were also returned to Ling Yue's account after the settlement was completed.

After receiving the payment voucher and the pickup order.

The group returned to the factory area once again.

"Miss Ling, would you like to cut the stones on-site, or take the goods and leave?" Looking at the long queue for pickup, Yu Shuo asked.

Ling Yue thought for a second and said, "I've been a bit too high-profile this time. I want to take the goods and leave directly. Does Miss Yu have any suggestions?"

Yu Shuo smiled and said, "Our company has a stone-cutting workshop in Guang Province. I usually transport the raw stones back to my own workshop to cut them."

"Then could I trouble Miss Yu?"

"It would be my honor!" Yu Shuo was well-prepared. "I will have the workshop send a few more vehicles over to transport your raw stones along with mine."

"Qu Shu, Liang Hanlin, Bodyguard Xiao Wen."

The three people called by Ling Yue stepped forward in unison.

Ling Yue instructed, "The three of you, go with Miss Yu's assistant to pick up the goods."

"Understood!" the three replied in unison.

Yu Shuo gave her assistant a few instructions and left the pickup point with Ling Yue.

"My mission for this trip isn't complete yet. I wonder if Miss Ling would be willing to accompany me to the stone-cutting site to take a look?"

She hadn't bought the top-tier materials that could enter her private collection yet.

She couldn't just pin all her hopes on getting good materials from the raw stones won at auction.

"I'm very interested," Ling Yue said, then looked at Cheng Jiao, who was coming out with the goods. "It just so happens that my people also need to cut stones here."

The stone-cutting site was very lively and noisy.

A large crowd had gathered.

When someone had a successful cut on-site, those nearby would immediately make an offer if they liked it.

The endless shouting of bids whipped the atmosphere into a frenzy.

People were laughing loudly on one side, while others were wailing on the other.

It demonstrated the phrase 'stone gambling has risks' to the extreme.

Cheng Jiao calmly handed the raw stone in her hand to the stone cutter.

Under the guidance of the raw stone appraiser, they started the machine.

The stone Cheng Jiao bought was a raw, unpolished piece.

It had a waxy luster. Under the flashlight, the skin showed a faint green color with cracks. As the light moved down, the area under the skin began to show yellow.

They first ground away the outer layer, revealing a large area of pale purple with cotton-like inclusions and a small section of green. At best, it could be considered a glutinous variety.

Passersby glanced at it and looked away, their attitude clear: it wasn't worth anything.

The raw stone appraiser said they could cut deeper.

Immediately after the next cut, it was a glutinous ice variety with spring-colored accents—eggplant purple and fruit green. The color was rich, the transition was even, and the overall piece was fine and clean, without cracks or cotton.

The stone cutter drew outlines for two 60mm diameter bracelets.

Immediately, people stopped in their tracks.

"I'll offer 28,000. Big sister, are you selling or not?"

"28,000? Don't make me laugh. I'll offer 35,000, sell it to me!"

"35,000 is worthy? This color is so good, I'll offer 40,000!"

"I'll offer 42,000. Big sister, you definitely won't lose if you sell it to me."

Big sister Cheng Jiao: "..."

Cheng Jiao remained silent, and the bidding continued.

Until someone offered 48,000.

Cheng Jiao nodded at him and said, "48,000, deal!"

The raw stone appraiser had said that once these two bracelets were finished, each could sell for at least 30,000 to 40,000.

Bought for 12,000, sold for 48,000; just one flip and she made a net profit of 36,000.

Isn't this more profitable than working for a wage?

Luo Shanshan was crazily envious, "If I had known, I would have bought one too."

Ling Yue teased her, "You need to pay a 100,000 security deposit to join; do you have that?"

Crack, a loud noise.

Luo Shanshan's shoulders slumped.

Come to think of it, she had been working for Miss Ling Yue for several months.

Her little savings account had just reached a little over 100,000.

But last month, she had reserved a motorcycle that cost nearly 100,000... the money in her hands simply wasn't enough.

Countless envious gazes were cast toward Ling Yue and her group.

But soon, no one was paying attention to them anymore.

Because a more intense roar of laughter erupted at the site.

The appearance of this sound meant someone had a successful cut, perhaps even a major one.

In an instant, everyone crowded toward the source of the laughter.

Naturally, Ling Yue wanted to join in the excitement too.

It turned out someone at the scene had spent 1.2 million on a stone and had actually cut out a high-ice, positive green jadeite.

It was a long stone.

Starting from the left, there was a thread-like emerald green; the green thread extended all the way to the right. Who knew that in the middle, the thread would suddenly begin to expand, enlarging into a big dot!

The owner of the raw stone asked the stone cutter to carve the big dot out completely.

The result was formed, and it was about the size of a ping-pong ball.

High quality, pure color—it could be called a masterpiece!

Not only was it a successful cut, but it was a massive success.

Yu Shuo instantly forgot about Ling Yue beside her and squeezed into the front of the crowd.

"5 million!" she shouted.

"5.2 million!"

"5.6 million!"

"..."

"8 million!"

Yu Shuo gritted her teeth and finally raised the bid to 8 million, securing this ping-pong ball-sized high-ice, positive green jadeite.

If made into a necklace, provided the design was outstanding, it would be worth at least 10 to 15 million.

Yu Shuo's mission for this trip could be considered successfully completed.

Looking at that smile, it couldn't be hidden.