The next morning, when Su Qing arrived at the raw stone yard, a fair number of people had already gathered. She even spotted a few familiar faces: the same bosses from Xiangcheng who were stone gambling in Chuncheng a week ago. Boss Shi, the one who had given her the address, was also there.

"Hey, Little Su, you made it." Shi Youda spotted Su Qing and greeted her with a smile.

Su Qing smiled and nodded. "Boss Shi."

"Come on, let’s take a look at these raw stones first. Things haven’t started yet," Shi Youda said to Su Qing with a cheerful laugh. "The owner of the yard hasn’t shown their face, and I reckon there are still a few people who haven’t arrived. So, Little Su, if you buy any raw stones this time, are you planning on selling?"

Su Qing smiled. "I’ll see how it goes. If I do decide to sell, you’ll be the first person I consider, Boss Shi." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Oh, that’s wonderful news!" Shi Youda beamed upon hearing this.

Su Qing scanned the raw stones on display. She had to admit, this operation was huge, and the person behind it was clearly powerful. Unlike in Chuncheng, where the stones were hidden away in a basement, these were laid out openly in the factory courtyard. Many more were inside the building itself. There were both full-gamble and half-gamble stones, all sorted into separate piles. On one side of the yard stood three cutting machines. This was a much grander affair, all things considered.

"I wonder how much these raw stones are per piece," Su Qing remarked after a brief survey of the area.

Shi Youda was keen on befriending Su Qing. He felt her luck was extraordinary. Businessmen like him tended to believe in things like luck and feng shui. In his eyes, Su Qing cutting an emerald from a full-gamble stone meant her luck was off the charts. He felt he had to stick close to her and hope some of it rubbed off.

"They haven’t announced it yet," Shi Youda said. "But based on past prices, the full-gamble stones usually go for between 60 and 100 apiece. The half-gamble ones should be between two and five thousand. Of course, there might be even larger half-gamble stones, and those would be even more expensive."

Su Qing nodded. ’Looks like the raw stones at this place are quite a bit more expensive than the ones back in Chuncheng,’ she thought.

Shi Youda added with a laugh, "Don’t let the higher prices fool you; the quality is much better than in Chuncheng. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see so many bosses from Xiangcheng here. The ones with really deep pockets even bring stone gambling experts along with them."

"Boss Shi, how come you didn’t bring one with you?" Su Qing asked, curious.

"Sigh. In this day and age, you think there are a lot of stone gambling masters? Not at all. Besides, hiring them is ridiculously expensive. Small-time jewelry merchants like us can’t afford it. And even if we could, we probably couldn’t get a good one," Shi Youda said with a laugh. "With that kind of money, I’d rather just buy cut stones directly. After all, there’s no guarantee the master you hire will find good material. Plenty of people hire an expert only to end up losing a fortune."

Shi Youda lowered his voice, not daring to speak too loudly. After all, at an event like this, such words could easily offend someone.

Su Qing nodded. After she and Shi Youda exchanged a few more words, she saw the An Family siblings arrive. Today, trailing behind them, in addition to the two bodyguards from yesterday, was a man in his fifties dressed in a Tang suit.

"Well, look who’s here. The An Family has arrived." Seeing the siblings, Shi Youda whispered to Su Qing, "See them? That’s the An Family from Xiangcheng. They’re from the main branch—the siblings, An Zhiqian and An Zhiwei. The man in the Tang suit behind them is Elder Tang, an incredibly famous stone gambling master in Xiangcheng. Not just anyone can afford to hire him."

Su Qing took in Shi Youda’s words and nodded, her gaze shifting to Elder Tang. The man was somewhat gaunt, but his face was a mask of arrogance. He didn’t look like a particularly pleasant person.

None of this had much to do with her, though. She turned back to the raw stones. ’I just need to sell these stones,’ she thought, ’and then get into the mountains to find that Chicken Blood Vine.’

’No matter what, I have to find the century-old Chicken Blood Vine in these mountains. I’m going to get rid of this scar on my face by next year. I can’t stand having it any longer.’

Just as she was lost in thought, Shi Youda exclaimed, "Hey, the Cheng Family is here too."

Hearing this, Su Qing turned her head, an eyebrow arching in surprise.

’Well, what do you know. Another familiar face.’

Weren’t the two people in the distance the very same brother and sister from her train compartment on the way to Chuncheng? She never expected to run into them here. And from the sound of it, they were from Xiangcheng too.

"They’re from Xiangcheng too?" Su Qing asked.

"That’s right. They’re a prominent family in Xiangcheng, on the same level as the An Family," Shi Youda said. "I haven’t seen the Cheng Family at these things before. Didn’t expect them to show up today. Oh boy, looks like we’re in for a good show."

’A good show?’

’Don’t tell me the Cheng Family and the An Family are rivals.’

"Hey! You’re here too." Clearly, Cheng Beilin had also spotted Su Qing.

Although Cheng Beilin could be a bit spoiled, she wasn’t an arrogant person. The clash with Su Qing on the train had happened for two reasons. First, she had genuinely been frightened by Su Qing’s appearance. Second, she had simply been in a bad mood that day. The combination caused her to lash out when she saw Su Qing.

After Cheng Beize had scolded her that day, she realized she was in the wrong. She had felt a bit embarrassed after apologizing to Su Qing and hadn’t dared to speak to her for the rest of the trip. But seeing Su Qing today, she was so surprised that she completely forgot about any lingering awkwardness and rushed over to talk to her.

Shi Youda, surprised that Su Qing knew Cheng Beilin, quickly greeted the girl with a smile. "Well, you two catch up," he said. "I’ll go look around somewhere else."

"Alright." Su Qing nodded to Shi Youda, then turned to Cheng Beilin and gave a mild reply. "Hello."

Su Qing’s response was a bit cool, but Cheng Beilin didn’t seem to mind. Thrilled at the unexpected reunion, she smiled. "I really didn’t expect to see you here! Are you here to buy raw stones, too? Is your family in the jewelry business?"

Su Qing shook her head. "No, I’m just interested in it, so I thought I’d come try my luck."

"Me too!" Cheng Beilin’s eyes sparkled as she spoke to Su Qing. "I made my brother bring me. I want to see if I have any luck picking out stones. My brother always says I have terrible luck, but I refuse to believe it! I’m sure I can find at least one good piece."

Su Qing couldn’t help but press her lips into a small smile at Cheng Beilin’s words.

Cheng Beilin blinked and whispered to Su Qing, "Um... about what happened on the train... you’re not still mad at me, are you?"