Xu Zifan has been learning about jade gambling for several months. When he came to Myanmar last time, Shaohua scanned those rough stones and projected virtual simulation models. You could even touch them, and they felt exactly the same as real rough stones. Moreover, the appearance of the skin and other aspects were exactly the same.
With such convenient access to research, his understanding of jade gambling is now vastly different from what it was before.
This time, instead of selecting raw jade pieces first, he joined several collectors to examine the more complex pieces, offering his insights as appropriate. Before long, he won the praise of the elderly collectors, who commended his solid foundation and discerning eye.
Many people in the industry who thought Xu Zifan's success last time was due to luck have now realized that Xu Zifan is actually quite knowledgeable.
Since he was learning through a virtual screen that others couldn't see, they naturally assumed that he hadn't touched anything related to jade gambling for the past few months and that what he knew must have been something he already knew before.
Some people from the entertainment circle who came with their families couldn't help but gossip about Xu Zifan, saying that he was a hidden talent and that handsome guys who were good at both playing and studying were always more popular with them.
Compared to him, Liang Liwei pales in comparison. He's not only a good-for-nothing, but he also has no bottom line when it comes to playing around. He doesn't even look as good as Xu Zifan.
Liang Liwei overheard this by chance and was furious. He truly loathed Xu Zifan. The Liang family was clearly on the verge of surpassing the Xu family; the Xu family was declining. He refused to believe that Xu Zifan alone could turn the tide!
As a result, this young master of a family who was showing signs of decline has recently been outshining him in every way and has become very popular in the circle. As his rival, where can he put his face?
Seeing the collectors praising Xu Zifan, Liang Liwei walked over and provocatively said, "Since Young Master Xu is so amazing, why don't you pick out some good pieces of jade? Last time you gambled 15 million and turned it into 700 million, this time it should be better than last time, right? So, Young Master Xu, how about letting us all open our eyes?"
A bet of 15 million rising to 700 million is a once-in-a-century event. Even if Xu Zifan were to offer another 700 million today, the cost would exceed 15 million, making it unstunning and unable to steal the spotlight.
Besides, the Liang family brought their most elite team of experts this time, and he refused to believe they couldn't compare to Xu Zifan alone! Even if Xu Zifan declined, he would still have reason to mock him.
Xu Zifan put away his flashlight, took the handkerchief handed to him by Secretary Zhang, wiped his hands, and smiled, "I didn't expect that Young Master Liang would still be in such a good mood today after being injured yesterday."
He threw down the handkerchief and walked up to Liang Liwei. "If you want to broaden your horizons, I'm happy to give you that face. I heard that you recently started working at the company. We're in the same industry. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
Liang Liwei's face darkened. "Young Master Xu is joking. You should keep your skills to yourself. Don't make a fool of yourself later."
Xu Zifan shrugged and didn't take it seriously at all. "Young Master Liang, look at you. You've made the lively atmosphere so serious. Isn't the point of going out to have fun?"
"So you want me to show off my skills in picking out rough stones? What's the point of me doing it alone? Since Young Master Liang thinks we're evenly matched, why don't we each pick a few stones and compare?"
He then looked at some young masters and ladies who had come to join in the fun and said with a smile, "There are quite a few bored people here, let's add some fun for them. Let them place bets on who will win and who will lose, and the loser pays the money to the side that bets correctly."
Before Liang Liwei could respond, the group of young masters and ladies started cheering loudly, "This is great! Young Master Xu is so kind, this is fun! Accept the challenge, Young Master Liang!"
Liang Liwei had never even touched a jade gambling stone before, so how would he know how to choose one? But Xu Zifan had dragged him here, and he was the one who provoked him first. Wouldn't it be even more embarrassing not to fight back?
Wang Yalin had a bad feeling. If Liang Liwei was unhappy, wouldn't he take it out on her?
She quickly stepped in to defuse the situation, "Young Master Xu, if you want to have fun, you'll have plenty of time back in Yanjing. So many people are here for this grand event; if we keep having fun, it'll disrupt the event and put the organizers in a difficult position. Let's each do our own thing."
Xu Zifan still didn't look at her, as if she were invisible. He only glanced at Liang Liwei a few times with curiosity, then sneered, his face full of blatant mockery, "Young Master Liang, scared? Young Master Liang is so cowardly now that you even have your pet speak for you?"
Wang Yalin's mind went blank for a moment, and she instinctively looked at the young masters and ladies. Sure enough, their eyes were all on her, and sarcastic and mocking words kept pouring out.
This is different from the airport. Back then, it was just Xu and Liang's teams. Now, the venue is filled with young masters and ladies from wealthy circles, as well as business tycoons, collectors, and experts. With just one sentence from Xu Zifan, she's been forever branded as a "pet" in everyone's eyes! She'll never be able to turn things around!
Liang Liwei shoved Wang Yalin aside, glared at her, and sneered at Xu Zifan, "Let's play! There's no limit to the bets, and no one is allowed to quit halfway. If we're going to play, let's play to our hearts' content!"
"I'll play along to the end." Xu Zifan smiled. This young master Liang is easily provoked. The Liang family's ambition to surpass the Xu family is probably only a dream come true.
Now that the betting has started, Liang's experts naturally can't help. They're all getting anxious. The best materials this time are more expensive than the last. They came here with a budget, and they wanted to carefully purchase the best materials to take back. Isn't Liang Liwei just messing around?
But as soon as they tried to offer a word of advice, Liang Liwei berated them mercilessly, venting all the anger they had suffered at Xu Zifan's hands on them. They could only keep quiet and watch, their brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Xu Zifan focused on examining the raw jade stones based on his acquired knowledge and experience, identifying which pieces he favored.
Then let Shaohua scan and confirm; if it's a good piece, we'll buy it.
They agreed that each person would choose ten stones. Xu Zifan, having been validated by Shaohua, made his decision quickly and chose his stones just as fast. Liang Liwei, on the other hand, was completely confused. All the stones looked like dull gray stones, and he hesitated, unsure which one to choose.
Seeing this, others naturally felt that Xu Zifan was truly talented, at least more confident than Liang Liwei who knew nothing. Of course, they bet on Xu Zifan to win!
Seeing more and more people crowding around Xu Zifan's side while his side remained deserted, Liang Liwei felt deeply ashamed. Then, noticing that no one was betting on him to win, and everyone favored Xu Zifan, he became even more furious.
He called out to Wang Yalin, "Go, I'll bet myself to win, I'll bet two million!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Since Young Master Liang has placed a bet, I'll place one too. Yao Yao, bet ten million for me and I'll win."
"Give me a deposit of fifteen million!" Liang Liwei pulled out a card and tossed it to Wang Yalin, his face grim. "Aren't you going yet?"
Wang Yalin hesitated for a moment, looked at the raw material in his hand, leaned closer to him and whispered, "Young Master Liang, this one doesn't seem good. The yellow sand skin one next to it is quite nice."
She was afraid others would notice that she had reminded Liang Liwei, so after saying that, she kissed him on the cheek to cover it up and quickly went to place her bet.
Liang Liwei scoffed. She'd only read a few books occasionally and asked the experts a few questions these past couple of days—what did she know?
However, after looking at the rough stone in his hand, he hesitated for a moment and put it back, then picked up the yellow sand skin next to him.
Shao Hua was monitoring the entire scene, so Xu Zifan naturally heard Wang Yalin's reminder. He asked Shao Hua to scan the two stones and immediately laughed.
In jade gambling, you'll often encounter stones with an ordinary-looking outer layer, but which are surprisingly valuable inside. The one Liang Liwei placed down was just like that; its exterior appeared to be nothing more than a common type of jade, but inside it was actually a treasure trove of auspicious symbols!
This rare five-colored jade, symbolizing the arrival of five blessings, is nowhere to be found on the market. If it were put up for auction, wealthy families and collectors would definitely compete for it, and its value of 200 million would be no problem at all, and it might even be higher.
Xu Zifan immediately put down the rough stone in his hand, walked straight to Liang Liwei, and picked up the rough stone.
Liang Liwei frowned. "What are you doing here?"
Xu Zifan carefully examined the rough stone and said with a smile, "I suddenly remembered that Young Master Liang suffered a bloody disaster yesterday, so I thought I'd switch areas with you. Don't say this rough stone is bad if you lose. Let's look around more and not pick from the same place too much."
After he finished speaking, he put the raw material in his hand into the shopping cart and bought it.
Seeing that he had picked up what he didn't want, Liang Liwei snorted coldly and disdainfully moved to a place far away from him.
Xu Zifan, after examining many rough stones and verifying them with Shaohua, found that the probability of misjudging them was 30%, a significant improvement compared to the last time.
This kind of thing requires accumulation over time and a long period of time to gain experience. He won't get anxious if he's wrong; he has a long life ahead of him and can take his time. Right now, he has Shaohua around, as long as it doesn't stop him from proving himself wrong.
He selected six stones, and then had Shaohua scan the entire area to pick out the four best stones, naturally moving on to collect them.
Actually, he went along with Liang Liwei's bet for this moment. If he had picked out the best pieces as soon as he entered, wouldn't people have suspected something was wrong with him?
But he started betting with Liang Liwei, and since the people present weren't in a hurry to leave, they weren't worried about wasting time. They chatted and watched them bet, which helped to liven up the atmosphere. The atmosphere would be even more exciting when they cut the stones to determine the winner, and the organizer was happy to see that happen.
This way, they won't buy the stones first, he won't have to compete with others, and he can naturally wander around and pick the best ones. That way, even if the price goes up significantly later, others will only regret letting him pick first.
Xu Zifan wiped his hands clean and smiled at Liang Liwei, "Young Master Liang, take your time choosing. I'm going to cut the stones first."
Liang Liwei was not good at choosing. Seeing that Xu Zifan had finished choosing, he was unwilling to be outdone, so he casually picked a few that looked pleasing to the eye and finished. He snorted at Xu Zifan and went to the stone area first.
The atmosphere at this jade gambling auction was incredibly tense from the very beginning, and everyone was eager to watch the spectacle. Almost everyone moved to the stone-cutting area to sit and wait to see if Xu Zifan could continue his legendary run from last time. As for Liang Liwei, few people had any expectations for him.
The first stone cutting began, and Liang Liwei's stone was the first to turn green. Wang Yalin was overjoyed and leaned against Liang Liwei, acting coquettishly, "Young Master Liang, what a great start!"
Liang Liwei finally smiled a little, glancing at Xu Zifan's side where there was still no green, and felt relieved.
"Young Master Liang, look! The jade inside is quite large!" Wang Yalin whispered in his ear after seeing the rough stone clearly. "I chose it for you, Young Master Liang. How will you reward me?"
Liang Liwei then realized that the first spot he opened was the one Wang Yalin had reminded him of. Hearing this, he smiled, hugged her, and kissed her, saying, "I'll feed you when we get back."
"How disgusting!" Wang Yalin feigned shyness, but inwardly felt nauseous. She glared at Xu Zifan and Xu Mengyao with intense hatred. If it weren't for them, she would still be the eldest daughter of the Xu family, and wouldn't have been humiliated by that bastard Liang Liwei!
Xu Zifan smiled and said to the stone-cutting master, "No rush, take your time, and don't touch the jade inside."
Liang Liwei scoffed, "Is Young Master Xu sure there's something inside? I think it's just a rock. I cut it twice and didn't get anything out."
Xu Zifan's smile remained unchanged. He picked up his wine glass, glanced at him, and said casually, "Good things are always the last to be opened. Young Master Liang should be more patient. Impatience is the worst thing in business."
Liang Liwei's face darkened immediately. He had heard so much about Xu Zifan's abilities that he was sick of hearing it, and now Xu Zifan was actually teaching him as a senior? He was practically asking for trouble!
Seeing that he had solved everything on his end, he sneered, "Young Master Xu, don't just talk the talk and walk the walk and end up losing big on your first bet. That's bad luck. I wonder if this bad luck is just for you or for the whole Xu family. The Xu family has finally started to improve, so don't mess things up."
Xu Zifan, relaxed and with a smile on his lips, said, "You don't need to worry about that, Young Master Liang. You've found a piece of jadeite with a rich, glutinous texture. Congratulations."
Liang Liwei overheard an expert from his team telling him that the jadeite was worth 20 million yuan, and he had bought it for 10 million yuan—a lucky gamble. He frowned unhappily. 10 million yuan turned into 20 million? Xu Zifan had gambled 15 million yuan and won 700 million last time! The difference was too great!
However, when he saw that Xu Zifan was still cutting stone, he laughed. He even got up and walked to the stone-cutting platform to take a look. He put his arm around Wang Yalin and said to Xu Zifan with a smile, "It seems that Yalin is really a lucky star. I originally bought this stone to amuse her after she looked at it a few times. Who knew that I would win? Although the win is not much, it is still a good start. It will definitely bring me good luck."
He provocatively kissed Wang Yalin in public, wantonly humiliating her, and laughed arrogantly, "Young Master Xu, I should thank your Xu family for giving Yalin to me. She is truly a gem."
"Passing off fish eyes as pearls"—isn't this implying that Xu Mengyao is a fraud and the Xu family is blind to her true worth? This is a blatant provocation.
Everyone fell silent, watching to see how Xu Zifan would respond.