Chen Bin was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Li Se to return the pendant to him so readily, and it struck him as rather odd. He looked at Li Se and asked, "What did you do to this pendant just now?"
"Just a blessing. You'll be fine wearing it," Li Se said, as if joking.
"You rascal, have you started becoming a con artist now?" Chen Bin retorted good-naturedly. However, he pocketed the pendant anyway, not really taking it to heart, and planned to put it back on the counter to sell later.
Just then, Chen Bin's phone rang. After answering it, he soon said, "Alright, I got it. I'll be right there."
Then, he patted Li Se's shoulder and said, "How about it, want to come along and broaden your horizons?"
"Broaden them with what?" Li Se asked, a bit confused.
"You'll know when we get there," Chen Bin chuckled.
In Chen Bin's car, they quickly arrived in front of a warehouse. A number of people were already carrying stones into the warehouse.
"Gambling on stones?" Li Se had never tried it, but he'd seen it done.
Chen Bin smiled and said, "All of this adds up to about fifty million. It all depends on how good a price the jade can fetch."
"What if it doesn't fetch an equivalent fifty million?" Li Se glanced at the rough jade stones, shaking his head slightly, as he didn't sense much spiritual energy from them.
"If it fetches forty million, we can pretty much make a small profit, considering we'll have to process it and then sell it. But if it's less than thirty million, it's basically a loss." Chen Bin then looked at Li Se curiously. "What did you mean by shaking your head just now? Do you think I'll lose money?"
"No, I just don't really like gambling," Li Se explained. He knew that saying anything inauspicious now would only displease Chen Bin.
Gambling on stones was akin to gambling, and it was most taboo to utter unlucky words before starting.
Upon entering the warehouse, a man with an arrogant expression immediately walked over. He smiled and said, "I've picked out this entire batch of goods. It's fifty million in total."
"Li Se, let me introduce you. This is the expert in stone gambling, Qiao Yifan." After introducing the man, Chen Bin nodded to him. "Alright, I'll transfer your payment immediately, same as before."
Qiao Yifan smiled and said, "Good."
Chen Bin immediately transferred five million to Qiao Yifan.
Li Se was astonished. "You get paid five million just for picking stones?"
As soon as Chen Bin heard Li Se's words and was about to explain, Qiao Yifan, feeling rather displeased, spoke first. "What do you know? You're clearly an outsider. If it weren't for us pickers of raw stones, jewelry stores would have gone bankrupt long ago. Every industry has its experts, and we are no different from the appraisal masters in the antique world. Do you think our fees are expensive?"
"Li Se, it's like this. If we didn't have these experts to pick the raw stones for us, and we picked them ourselves, we might lose so much we'd have to sell our underwear," Chen Bin explained.
Li Se countered, "If you're so skilled, why don't you gamble on stones yourself?"
Qiao Yifan laughed, "That depends on my mood. Do you see antique appraisal masters only appraising for themselves?"
"Master Qiao, I'm truly sorry. My friend here is encountering raw jade stones for the first time, so he's not familiar with many of the rules. I hope you can forgive him." Chen Bin said apologetically.
"So he's a rookie," Qiao Yifan said dismissively. "Never mind, I won't argue with a rookie."
Seeing Qiao Yifan's arrogant demeanor, Li Se didn't want to argue. However, even though Li Se hadn't said anything else, Qiao Yifan added, "Young man, in the future, if you encounter something you don't understand, just stay out of the way. Don't butt in with your opinions for everything. Today, I'm feeling generous and don't want to bother with you. If you run into someone who isn't as accommodating, your friend's jewelry business might suffer."
Chen Bin's expression turned a bit unpleasant. Although Qiao Yifan hadn't used any vulgar language, the intention to humiliate was exceptionally clear. Yet, he truly didn't dare to offend Qiao Yifan. Being in the jewelry business, he couldn't afford to offend these stone gambling experts easily.
"I don't think you're that amazing either," Li Se said, feeling a bit annoyed. He had already decided not to say anything, but this guy was still trying to humiliate him.
Chen Bin knew things were going south, but it was too late to stop him. Li Se's words had completely enraged Qiao Yifan.
"How dare you!" Qiao Yifan declared furiously. "If you don't apologize properly to me today, I will never cooperate with your jewelry store again!"
Chen Bin's face changed drastically. "Master Qiao, my friend..."
"Don't give me that!" Qiao Yifan cut him off dismissively. "Don't talk to me about rookies. I've already said what needed to be said. Mr. Chen, your friend is truly foolish. I need an explanation today!"
Chen Bin broke out in a cold sweat. "Master Qiao, how about this, I'll give you another million as an apology."
Upon hearing about more money, Qiao Yifan's expression finally softened slightly. He huffed, "Tell your friend to stop talking in front of me."
"Yes, yes, yes," Chen Bin nodded repeatedly and quickly whispered to Li Se, "Li Se, don't say anything more. Offending Master Qiao like this will truly make my jewelry business difficult."
Seeing that Chen Bin was about to give Qiao Yifan another million, Li Se grabbed his outstretched hand. "Chen Bin, this million is a bit excessive. Two-thirds of the rough stones he picked are duds!"
Two-thirds!
This meant that out of fifty million, the jade could fetch at most around twenty million. This was a massive loss.
"Hahaha!" Qiao Yifan laughed, a laugh full of disdain. "A rookie questioning my stone gambling skills, this is truly amusing. Since you say so, what if it's not two-thirds duds?"
Li Se replied, "I'll apologize to you. You can name your terms, and I'll agree to them."
"Good, then let's see what we get!" Qiao Yifan snorted. He was quite confident in his stone gambling skills. If he couldn't even fetch twenty million from fifty million worth of raw jade stones, then he truly wasn't fit for this profession.
Chen Bin was worried and wanted to say something, but Li Se stopped him. "Chen Bin, trust me!"
For some reason, Li Se exuded a sense of security at this moment, a feeling of steadfastness that made Chen Bin feel a bit dazed.
Li Se said coldly, "However, if you can't get that much, you have to refund the money and apologize!"
"Deal!" Qiao Yifan agreed without even thinking.
Li Se looked at the rough stones and smiled. "Just having two-thirds be duds makes me seem like I have no skill. Perhaps if I win, you'll think it's just luck. How about this, I'll pick out all the ones that can yield green, and give them to you!"