I Really Want to Buy This Fabric

The shopkeeper was just stealthily slipping his phone back into his pocket. He rubbed his hands together, his face breaking into the enthusiastic smile typical of a businessman, ready to launch into a dazzling sales pitch aimed at Lin Mo.

But the moment he opened his mouth, before a single word could escape,

Lin Mo didn't even bother to take a proper look at the items in the display case. He simply shook his head faintly.

"The stuff here is mediocre. Let's go."

With that, he turned around directly, without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Xie Yuling and Chu Miaomiao were taken aback for a second, but trusting Lin Mo implicitly, they immediately followed.

The whole process was seamless and swift, leaving the shopkeeper choking on the flood of prepared sales talk stuck in his throat.

The smile on the shopkeeper's face froze instantly, then, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his whole face flushed a purplish-red. He dashed to the shop entrance in one swift stride.

"Hey! Young man! You stop right there!"

Pointing at Lin Mo's retreating back, he roared, sputtering with rage, "Do you even know anything about gambling on rough jade? Daring to call my goods 'mediocre' just like that? Every piece I have is better than the junk outside! You're ruining my reputation!"

His voice was so loud it drew the attention of people from several nearby stalls, all eager to watch the drama unfold.

Lin Mo paused in his steps and slowly turned around.

His face showed no particular expression, his eyes calm as he looked at the furious shopkeeper. It didn't feel like he was looking at a businessman, but more like he was observing a clown making an unreasonable scene.

"I'm the customer. I'm the one paying. If I say it's mediocre, then it's mediocre."

Lin Mo's tone wasn't heavy, but each word landed with crystal clarity.

"If you're not convinced, shopkeeper, it's simple." He pointed towards the display case packed full of raw stones.

"Right now, in front of everyone, pick any two stones from there and cut them open on the spot."

"If even one piece yields 'glass-grade' jade—just one, not even two!—I'll kneel and kowtow to apologize right here, and then buy out your entire stock."

"So, shopkeeper, dare to take the bet?"

As these words fell, the area fell silent.

The shopkeeper's tirade cut off abruptly. His mouth hung open, but no words came out.

What a joke!

Glass-grade? That's a one-in-ten-thousand find. The entire market might not see a few pieces cut open in a whole year.

If he really had that kind of stock, would he still be running a shop here reading novels? He'd be living in a hilltop villa by now!

A few suppressed snickers also came from the crowd of onlookers.

After all, in this business of gambling on stones, the customer has always been free to buy what they like.

Everyone could see this shopkeeper was just trying to scam a young person, but the young man was no amateur and had turned the tables on him masterfully.

Now, the shopkeeper's face was utterly unsalvageable, turning from purplish-red to a sickly bluish-purple. His lips trembled for a long moment, but in the end, he could only watch helplessly as Lin Mo and the two girls walked away at a leisurely pace.

"What an absolute time-waster..."

He squeezed out a local curse through gritted teeth, slunk back behind the counter, grabbed his phone, and went back to reading.

After they had walked several dozen meters away, Xie Yuling finally couldn't help but glance back and ask quietly,

"That shopkeeper was so angry his face turned green. Was there really not a single good piece in his shop?"

"There is jade, but the quality is very poor. Basically, all of it has inclusions and cracks. There's completely no point in trying to find a hidden bargain."

Lin Mo's reply was straightforward.

"Since there really are no bargains to be had, we'll have to use Miaomiao's three million to pick out some premium pieces."

Hearing this, Chu Miaomiao patted her ample chest. "Don't overthink it. Use it when it's needed."

Lin Mo, of course, knew this, but he was the type to save where he should save and spend where he should spend.

If he could avoid spending extra money, he wouldn't.

They weaved through the various stalls in the jade market. While it couldn't be described as bustling with noise, the sounds of haggling rose and fell intermittently, and the air was filled with the smell of dust and stone.

Many stalls were piled high with raw stones of all sizes. Some had rough surfaces, while others had a small section "windowed"—polished to reveal a cut surface of green or white inside, attracting curious buyers to gather around.

Seeing these, Xie Yuling and Chu Miaomiao would look curiously.

But whenever they saw Lin Mo leave without hesitation, they would immediately follow.

"That stone just now seemed like it might have good stuff inside," Xie Yuling couldn't help saying, referring to a raw piece with a window showing a jade-green surface.

"It doesn't. They just opened the window in that specific spot. Actually, there's nothing underneath. It's a trick to pass it on to someone else."

Gambling on stones is gambling, but nine out of ten bets are scams.

Many people set up schemes around this practice.

Putting a windowed stone up for sale is precisely to sell it at a high price.

The windowed stone Xie Yuling mentioned appeared on the surface to be an apple-green, glutinous-ice variety, which in a market like this would already be considered very good material.

That piece was priced at three hundred thousand.

But if it really had good material inside, cutting it open would yield at least seven hundred thousand.

Unfortunately, Lin Mo's spiritual sense had already swept over it. He knew the green beneath the window was just a thin layer, not even enough to recoup the three hundred thousand investment.

All those stones the merchants boasted about as "ice-grade" or "high-green" were, in his eyes, utterly ordinary raw stones laid bare.

Either full of inclusions, hiding internal cracks, or with impure color—not worth a second glance.

Xie Yuling and Chu Miaomiao followed behind him, occasionally picking up a stone to look at, mimicking his manner.

Xie Yuling was genuinely curious, making puzzled sounds from time to time before looking at Lin Mo as if asking, "How about this one?"

Chu Miaomiao, however, was purely there for the spectacle. She had no concept of stones and just thought the patterns on them were quite pretty.

At that moment, Lin Mo suddenly stopped walking and glanced at a shop to the side.

Surrounded by piles of raw stones, Lin Mo walked over and reached out to pick up a watermelon-sized stone.

It had a price tag on it.

Eighteen thousand.

Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to haggle. He directly walked over, picked up the stone, and placed it on the counter. "Boss, ring it up."

The shop owner was reading a newspaper. Hearing the voice, he put the paper down and looked Lin Mo up and down.

"Newbie?"

Lin Mo didn't respond to the question, simply stating calmly, "Ring it up."

The shop owner glanced at the watermelon-sized stone. This piece looked mediocre, even quite poor.

Looking at the three young people who seemed like students, the owner waved his hand.

"Youngsters, just buy a few hundred-yuan pieces to practice on. Don't touch these, or even a family with a mine won't have enough for you to squander."

It was clear the owner actually meant well, advising Lin Mo not to buy this stone.

After all, he didn't think much of it himself and saw no need to inflict it on a young person.

Better to save it for those with more money than sense.

But Lin Mo shook his head.

"Ring it up, boss. I really want to buy it."

Lin Mo could hear the owner's good intentions, but he had genuinely taken a liking to this watermelon stone.

Just at that moment, someone walked over.

"Boss, I'll take that stone."

The voice wasn't very pleasant, but Lin Mo had already recognized who it was.

Lin Mo turned his head to look at Xia Yusheng. "Oh, it's you. Xia Yusheng."