Chapter 577 - 577: Crystal Purple Jade

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Reluctantly, the vendor ended up selling the catnip musk to Yuan Hongjun.

Yuan Hongjun happily stored the catnip musk and continued browsing the black market with Bao Linjiang.

With a discerning eye, one could find many treasures at the black market, but there were also many fakes. One had to be careful not to be swindled.

Chu Qingzhi watched her two disciples with amusement. “Jinghong, stay here and keep watch. I’m going to take the two to pick out some good items.”

Tang Jinghong nodded. “Okay.”

Chu Qingzhi leaped down from the rooftop, landing in front of her disciples.

The disciples initially thought someone was coming to snatch their catnip musk, but upon recognizing their master’s eyes, they exclaimed in surprise, “Master!”

Chu Qingzhi pointed towards a nearby stall, “There’s an antique stall over there. Let’s go see what they have.”

“Ok.”

There were still many people surrounding the stall. When the three of them went over, a few people happened to leave. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to get close enough.

The stall displayed small vases, tea sets, ornaments, and ink washes made of jade, each appearing genuine and exquisitely crafted.

Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang browsed but couldn’t discern much.

Bao Linjiang asked, “Master, do you see anything you like? 1 can buy it for you.”

“Just a moment,” said Chu Qingzhi, before asking the vendor, “How much are these items?”

The vendor enthusiastically replied, “Fifty taels each, choose anything you like.”

Chu Qingzhi subtly activated her spiritual energy in her eyes, which made genuine items emit a faint glow, while fakes remained dull.

Using her special ability, Chu Qingzhi picked several items from the stall: a dagger, a small white rabbit, a small black rabbit, a small purple jade gourd, and a set of jade Bodhi beads.

The vendor was secretly delighted, thinking Chu Qingzhi had poor judgment as she picked all fake items. He felt like he was making a fortune.

Chu Qingzhi handed over the banknotes.

The vendor quickly pocketed the banknotes, relieved that Chu Qingzhi didn’t change her mind, “Welcome back anytime.”

It had been a long time since he had encountered such an easy mark. If more such customers came by, he would be rich in no time.

Seeing Chu Qingzhi choosing only fake items, bystanders couldn’t help but give her sympathetic looks.

In the business of antiques, making or losing money all depend on luck.

After walking away, Chu Qingzhi gave the small white rabbit to Yuan Hongjun and the small black rabbit to Bao Linjiang. “One for each of you. They’re genuine, and the jade quality is good.”

Yuan Hongjun, looking at the cute little white rabbit, curiously asked, “Master, how do you know they are genuine?”

Chu Qingzhi replied, “I could tell just by looking. 1’11 teach you how to distinguish it in the future.”

“Ok.”

“Let’s go see something else.” Chu Qingzhi led her disciples to a stall selling raw stones. The largest stone there was as big as a large iron pot, and the smallest was the size of a fist.

Bao Linjiang cautioned Chu Qingzhi, “Master, raw stones are the most deceptive. Many are of inferior quality jade.”

Chu Qingzhi said, “It’s okay. Let’s try.”

The stall owner pricked up his ears to listen to their conversation. When they were done, he quickly said, “You can’t say that. I’ve had top-quality purple jade come from these raw stones.”

“Purple jade?” Yuan Hongjun scoffed. “You must be boasting.”

The stall owner, used to such skepticism, smiled and said, “If you don’t believe it, pick one. Maybe you’ll find purple jade.”

Chu Qingzhi’s eyes flickered, and she pointed to a stone the size of a plate at the vendor’s feet, “Hongjun, bring that stone over.”

“Okay.”

While Yuan Hongjun was fetching the stone, Chu Qingzhi asked the vendor, “How do you sell these stones?”

The vendor offered a flat rate, “One hundred taels each, big or small. Choose any, and after you pick, we can crack them open.”

Chu Qingzhi then began to pick stones, with her disciples continuously bringing them to her feet. Soon, she had a small mountain of about twenty stones.

Chu Qingzhi counted them and handed the banknotes to the vendor, “Here’s the payment. Let’s crack them open.”

Her bold move attracted a lot of attention.

“Buying so many stones at once, if they’re fake, that’s a huge loss.”

“Yeah, they should buy one and crack one open.”

“What if they just have too much money to spend?”

There was a heated discussion about Chu Qingzhi’s actions, but when the stones were being cracked open, everyone immediately fell silent, making the atmosphere tense.

Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang were also nervous. After all, with so many stones, amounting to thousands of taels, if no valuable jade was found, their master would suffer a huge loss.

Tang Jinghong sat calmly on the roof, watching Chu Qingzhi with a slight smile on his lips. Chu Qingzhi was not one to suffer losses. Just wait and see.

The vendor, having not encountered such a generous customer for a long time, was quick to start cracking open the raw stones. “Miss, if we find something good, 1 can buy it back from you.”

Chu Qingzhi nodded, “Let’s see what we find first.”

“Alright.” The vendor took out his tools for opening raw stones and randomly picked one to start with.

Everyone watched intently, with more and more people gathering, causing a bit of a crowd.

Chu Qingzhi looked relaxed, casually observing the process.

Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang, gripping their sleeves, were so nervous they were sweating.

As the vendor worked on the stone, a corner of the cut revealed purple jade…

“My goodness, purple jade! The first stone and it’s purple jade; that lady is so lucky.”

“Quickly peel off the rest to see how big the piece of purple jade is. If it’s big enough, I’m willing to pay two thousand taels for it.”

“I’ll offer three thousand taels.”

Before the jade was even fully exposed, people were already bidding for it.

The vendor couldn’t help but regret; not only was it purple jade, but it was also exceptionally translucent high-quality purple jade. If it was big enough, it could sell for five thousand taels or more.

The stone being worked on was the size of a plate, and the vendor had only cut a thin layer to reveal the jade inside.

This young lady’s luck was too good!

The vendor continued cutting, and finally, he carefully peeled out the purple jade. The entire piece of jade was covered only by a thin layer of stone on the surface, the rest was all purple jade.

“Five thousand taels!”

“Six thousand taels!”

“Seven thousand taels!”

The crowd was in an uproar. This was a rare crystal purple jade, highly sought after and hardly available on the market. If turned into jewelry, its price could easily increase tenfold.

Yuan Hongjun finally relaxed, realizing that this single piece of jade had earned back all their money, ‘Master, should we sell it?”

“This one we won’t sell, continue with the next one.” Chu Qingzhi planned to keep this piece for her second sister’s dowry.

Hearing it wasn’t for sale, everyone felt a sense of loss.

“Miss, sell it, we can offer a high price.”

Chu Qingzhi replied, “Not selling, continue opening.”

The crowd could only give up hope reluctantly, secretly anticipating the next piece of jade..