Chapter 90

Chapter 90: Newly Crowned Genius Stone-Gambling Master

Si Jin Nan stared at his phone—still no signal—and rubbed his brow, half annoyed, half numb.

What mattered wasn’t the dead bars. What mattered was the rough stone on the cutting bed.

A meter-tall lump everyone had scoffed at had been split open to reveal old-mine jadeite—half a meter of it—its colors stacked cleanly into fortune, longevity, and prosperity like the earth itself had arranged a blessing.

He hadn’t just been shocked. Even the veteran cutters at the estate had gone still, mouths open, as if the blade had cut through their pride instead of stone.

No one had expected material this good. Not from that rock. Not from anything in his pile.

Si Jin Nan lifted a hand. “Hold bidding.”

The crowd’s chatter stalled.

“Everyone, wait a bit,” he said, forcing calm into his voice. “Once all the pieces are fully cut out, you can bid. It won’t be too late.”

He wasn’t the only one who wanted to see the rest. The moment he spoke, anticipation spread like heat. People leaned in. Eyes sharpened. Phones came up.

The cutters moved as one. Masters who’d been casual earlier now treated the stones like fragile relics, drawing lines carefully, measuring angles again and again. No one dared look down on the rough stones in Young Master Si’s hands anymore.

Two of the smaller pieces were only palm-sized. Even the assistants didn’t risk the saw. Afraid of cutting away something good, they chose to grind them by hand, shaving away a fraction at a time.

Calls went out. Messages flew.

Even if the remaining pieces didn’t yield anything special, just that massive fortune-longevity-prosperity tricolor alone was enough for a jade shop to profit for a full year.

Very quickly, the entire jade world of Cloud City received the news: at Cloud City’s stone estate, an old-mine fortune-longevity-prosperity tricolor worth over a billion had been cut out.

One hour later

Not a single person left, even under the blazing sun.

Stone after stone opened, piece by piece, and every reveal brought another wave of stunned silence.

When water poured and the cut surface cleared, color bloomed under the wet sheen—clean translucency, rich tone, light caught inside the jade like it belonged there.

Two words filled everyone’s mind.

Genius.

Stone-gambling master.

“Fortune-longevity-prosperity tricolor, old-mine. Imperial green. Icy-glutinous green. Old-mine glassy jadeite.” Someone counted them off, voice shaking. “She only picked four… and every single one is a huge win.”

Qiao Qing Yan had only chosen four rough stones, yet every one of them had hit—hard.

She had even picked old-mine material.

A voice pushed forward. “Young Master Si, are you cutting yours too?”

Si Jin Nan finally remembered to breathe. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Cut it.”

Ten minutes later, an assistant’s shout broke through the crowd.

“Green—green’s showing!”

The cutter’s movements slowed immediately, cautious to the point of reverence. That soft green glow spread wider, richer, as the blade crept forward.

Twenty minutes later, water splashed down in a bright sheet, and the whole face of the stone was revealed.

“It’s imperial green again!”

“Oh my god…”

That stone—picked back then with Qiao Qing Yan’s help—had been about the size of a basketball. Even after opening, the core was still thick, closer to a football than anything else.

And it was imperial green jadeite.

The elders who had mocked Qiao Qing Yan earlier went dead silent.

“She’s not from some jade family, is she?” someone muttered, voice tight. “That skill at judging stones…”

“A newly risen stone-gambling genius.”

“I heard she’s beautiful.”

“Of course.” A low, envious laugh. “Young Master Si latched onto a noble benefactor this time.”

Every win was a crushing win. The prices multiplied with each reveal.

The estate boss watched bidders press forward, and he clutched his chest like it physically hurt.

No wonder, when he offered an eighty-percent discount, that beauty had insisted on ninety. So that was what she meant.

“Young Master Si!” A man pushed forward. “Emerald Jade Pavilion wants that fortune-longevity-prosperity piece. Our bid is 1.2 billion!”

“Young Master Si—”

Before the next person could finish, a clear, ringing female voice cut through the noise.

“Sorry, everyone. I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you.”

The crowd parted.

A woman in a professional suit stepped out, sky-high heels clicking sharply against stone. Her expression was strict and solemn, like she’d never smiled unless it served a purpose.

“This time,” she said coolly, “the jadeite Young Master Si cut out—my pavilion is buying it all.”

“I bid 4.5 billion. What do you think, Young Master Si?”

A ripple went through the crowd.

“Hiss… it’s the Ji family’s Fourth Miss.”

“Ji Qiang Wei…”