Guo Xuyang seemed to see his people toiling day and night, quarrying stones and hauling them up the mountain.
He saw individuals, exhausted, tumbling down the mountainside.
He reached out to catch those falling, but his hand brushed against something soft.
"What's wrong? Handsome guy?" Li Minxi's voice sounded in his ear.
Guo Xuyang snapped back to reality, finding Su Ran looking at him with a flushed face.
His hand was still resting on Su Ran's chest.
"Sorry, I zoned out," he quickly retracted his hand, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"If you zoned out, how did your hand end up on me?" Li Minxi pressed, not letting it go.
"Really sorry."
"Then why were you crying like Liu Bei?"
"My emotions were stirred by the scene, a spontaneous reaction!"
"Felt good, didn't it?"
"Uh. Huh?" Guo Xuyang, despite his thick skin, blushed.
"Still shy? First time I've seen it. Scum." Li Minxi cursed fiercely, then turned and walked away.
Ilena smiled and extended her hand.
"Yangzi, give me a hand, I can barely walk."
Guo Xuyang gave an awkward smile, took Ilena's hand, and followed.
"Let's go," Lü Liang called to Su Ran.
Su Ran was still standing there, lost in thought.
She didn't understand why Guo Xuyang had suddenly reached out and grabbed her chest, squeezing so hard it hurt.
She had let out a cry.
Otherwise, Li Minxi wouldn't have noticed.
But she didn't understand why Guo Xuyang was inexplicably shedding tears.
At that moment, she truly felt heartbroken and wanted to embrace this young man, not much older than herself.
Climbing the Great Wall was, in a word, exhausting.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have used the word "climb."
Although Guo Xuyang was energetic after his morning's exertions, he was now as tired as a dog.
His calves felt like they were filled with lead, and lifting each leg required immense effort.
Ilena had long since stopped being able to walk, her legs trembling.
Li Minxi, however, seemed unaffected, still spirited.
"Come on, we've barely walked this far! Handsome guy, don't tell me you can't do it."
Guo Xuyang waved a hand from his seated position. "You guys go ahead. We'll wait for you here. I'm really done for."
Lü Liang, however, didn't feel tired.
But he was still supporting Su Ran.
Su Ran had stumbled earlier, and fortunately, Lü Liang reacted quickly, pulling her back, or she would have fallen hard.
Even though she was pulled back, her leg still took a hit.
She was limping, and embarrassed to hold everyone back, so she was forcing herself to keep up.
Later, Lü Liang simply supported her as they caught up.
Seeing Guo Xuyang's statement, he also stopped.
Li Minxi saw that no one else was moving and lost her energy.
"What's wrong with you guys? You can't walk after just this much? You're holding everyone back," she shouted at Guo Xuyang.
"I'm truly exhausted. I haven't recovered from the past period. To make amends, we'll go to the Yushun Jade specialty store tonight for a raid. How about that?"
"I'll let you off this time. Two pieces each, no less."
"Deal. I'll pick one for you, and you can pick one for yourselves. I'll pay, alright?"
"You said it yourself, we didn't force you."
"No, I'm doing this willingly."
Li Minxi then retreated from her position.
"Let's go back. It's getting late. We can go for our raid after dinner."
As they were talking, Wu Youzhi called.
"Brother, are you back? We need your signature here."
"I'm on my way back. But it's too late, they'll be off work when I get there. Can I sign tomorrow?"
"Let me check. Please wait." Wu Youzhi didn't hang up.
"Yes, you can come sign tomorrow morning. I'll take you then."
"Okay. We're planning to go for a raid at Yushun Jade tonight. Can you arrange something and join us? I'm thinking of calling Fatty too, otherwise, he'll complain again."
"Didn't we say we weren't going this morning? Why the change of plans?"
"Circumstances have changed. Find a hotel. We'll go after dinner. I'm really tired from today."
"Alright. I'll book a hotel and send you the location shortly."
Guo Xuyang hung up and said, "Let's go. The arrangements for tonight are made.
But we need to agree beforehand, none of these stones can be opened at that store.
If you agree, we'll go. If not, then forget it."
"Agreed, agreed. It's all the same where it's opened, we're not paying anyway," Li Minxi said with a greedy look.
"I won't let you lose out either. I'll have Director Wu buy the jade at market price. Then it's all up to your luck."
"As long as there's money to be made, good or bad doesn't matter."
The group started walking back as they spoke.
By the time they returned to the city, it was completely dark.
"Go to Sanlitun Fengxiang Fresh Hot Pot restaurant. Director Wu has booked a table there."
Guo Xuyang called Li Minxi, who was walking ahead.
He was in the same car as Lü Liang, and he had been driving on the way there.
On the way back, he was too tired to drive, so Lü Liang took over.
Li Minxi drove Su Ran's car, leading the way.
When they arrived at the hot pot restaurant, Wu Youzhi, Cheng Xiuping, and Pi Xiaoqian were already there.
The broth was already boiling.
"I've ordered some signature dishes, we can order more if it's not enough," Wu Youzhi said.
The serving platters were filled with Si Xi Beef, tripe, honeycomb tripe, duck blood, bean curd sheets, baby cabbage, and more, creating a large table of dishes.
"Okay. Order a few more servings of beef later. I'm really exhausted today," Guo Xuyang said.
"This Si Xi Beef is good," Li Minxi said, already adding the beef to the simmering broth.
They ate and chatted, enjoying themselves immensely.
The total bill came to less than five thousand.
"Not expensive. I feel fuller than when I ate in the alley," Guo Xuyang commented.
"Brother, how can you compare? That's fast food. And that? That's skill," Pi Xiaoqian disagreed.
"Each has its own merits. We've agreed, no one opens stones at Yushun tonight.
We'll hand them over to Director Wu when we get back, and let him arrange for them to be cut.
The commotion last time was too big, let's not cause any more trouble this time."
"No problem. But we have to be clear, if any good jade is found, give me a piece. I need to build up some popularity for the shop."
"Alright. If you like any piece, you can buy it yourself.
Today, you each pick one rough stone, and I'll pick another one for everyone.
I'll cover all the expenses.
The cut jade will be bought back by Director Wu using the public funds of Zhenbaoge, and the proceeds from selling it will go back into the Zhenbaoge public account."
"Okay. I will definitely offer everyone a fair price," Wu Youzhi said.
The eight of them, in four cars, majestically arrived at the Yushun Jade specialty store.