Chapter 255: [255] Do you mean to say that he is exceptionally talented?_1

Listening to Xu Xinling’s introduction, this old man with a goat beard is named Ma Qizhi, and he’s from Nanjiang City next door.

It’s said that this man is quite famous in Nanjiang City’s gambling on stones circle.

No one knew where he had heard that her father was preparing to dabble in gambling on stones, so he took the initiative to get in touch.

Yesterday, they had communicated over the phone and agreed to meet today to view the merchandise.

“Mr. Xu, please have a look.”

Ma Qizhi led a group of people to a stall and then pulled out a wooden crate from behind.

The crate was about thirty centimeters long and wide and seemed rather heavy.

He opened the crate and then lifted out a raw stone from inside.

This raw stone had already had a window carved into it, cutting away a piece to reveal a patch of emerald green.

Upon seeing this patch of green, Tang Feng’s pupils slightly contracted.

Imperial green?

This stone weighed at least twenty kilograms; if the whole stone were imperial green, its value would be at least ten million.

Many customers who were browsing the market were also attracted by the stone, all exclaiming in admiration.

“My goodness, isn’t this stone the finest quality? That’s imperial green!”

“Such a large piece of imperial green, it’s my first time seeing one. I guess it weighs at least twenty kilograms, right?”

“What’s even rarer is that it already has a window; it’s very likely that the value will skyrocket.”

“This stone has to be worth at least ten million, right?”

“Ten million? If the whole stone is imperial green, I think it could be worth tens of millions,”

A group of people had already been astonished by the stone’s appearance and were praising it in chorus.

Ma Qizhi grew even more complacent, smiling gleefully at Xu Tianhua, “Mr. Xu, I didn’t lie to you, did I? I told you it’s a top-quality stone.”

Although Xu Tianhua hadn’t had much to do with gambling on stones before, after all, he had spent many years among antique dealers and did understand a bit.

“This should be imperial green, right?” He looked curiously at the green of the window that had been opened.

“That’s right, this is imperial green, the finest in jadeite,” Ma Qizhi said, gazing with infatuation at the shade of green.

That shade of green is absolutely sacred in the eyes of those who gamble on stones.

“How much do you want to sell this stone for?” Xu Tianhua shifted his gaze from the stone to Ma Qizhi’s face.

“Honestly, I’ve already been offered 15 million by someone in the last couple of days, but I haven’t sold it. If Mr. Xu likes it, I’ll let it go for 10 million,” Ma Qizhi said with a pained expression on his face.

Upon hearing this, the onlooking crowd exploded into chatter.

“Really? Selling this stone for only 10 million? Are you kidding me?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“This is an opened-window imperial green; even if it’s sold for 20 million, that would be reasonable. 10 million? Isn’t that too cheap?”

“This boss, I’d like to buy it for 15 million,” someone chimed in.

“I offer 16 million…” another voice joined.

Xu Tianhua was not distracted by these people and maintained his composure as he continued to look at Ma Qizhi, “Mr. Ma, what do you mean by this?”

“Why wouldn’t you sell it to someone else for 15 million but are willing to sell it to me for 10 million?”

Ma Qizhi stroked his goat beard, a full grin on his face, “There’s no other meaning; I just want to make friends with Mr. Xu.”

Xu Tianhua clearly didn’t believe him, “A difference of 5 million, just to make friends with me? I didn’t know my friendship was worth so much?”

Ma Qizhi nodded while smiling, “The Xu Family is definitely considered a major clan in Zhonghai.”

“I’m new here and there will be many more places where I’ll need Mr. Xu’s help in the future. Buying your friendship for 5 million is not a loss.”

He didn’t try to hide his motive; put simply, he wanted to use this raw stone to forge a connection with the Xu Family, enabling him to settle down in Zhonghai.

Xu Tianhua watched him intently, then after a moment, his face broke into a smile, “I’m someone who loves making friends the most.”

“However, whether we can become friends still depends on fate.”

With that, he turned his head towards Tang Feng, “Tang, can you take a look for me?”

Tang Feng simply nodded and stepped forward to do the appraisal.

“Mr. Xu, this is…” Ma Qizhi glanced at Tang Feng, looking perplexed at Xu Tianhua.

“Tang is a friend of my daughter’s and is quite experienced with antiques and raw stones. I’ve asked him to help take a look. That should be fine, right?” Xu Tianhua explained with a smile.

“Haha, no problem, that’s only proper,” Ma Qizhi laughed awkwardly, then turned his gaze toward Tang Feng, “But this young man looks so young, are you sure he can discern anything?”

Tang Feng looked up at him, “By your words, Mr. Ma, do you mean to say that I’m not qualified to look at this stone?”

Ma Qizhi’s smile carried a hint of scorn, “That’s not what I meant.”

“However, eyesight is the most tested skill in our trade, but such eyesight requires years of accumulated experience. Without decades of refinement, it’s impossible to hone the skill.”

Xu Xinling stepped forward before Tang Feng could retort, “But some people are just prodigiously gifted; they only need to learn a bit to match decades of other people’s hard work.”

Ma Qizhi burst into laughter at her response, “Are you saying that he’s a prodigy?”

“Young lady, you’re too young, too easily deceived by people’s flattery,” he said.

Xu Xinling grew angry upon hearing the derision in his words, “I saw it with my own eyes. Tang Feng, by himself, uncovered a pig-butchering scam…”

She then recounted the incident where Tang Feng had exposed a pig-butchering scam and helped many people recuperate their losses.

After listening, the people around them looked at Tang Feng with surprise and doubt.

But Ma Qizhi’s laughter grew even louder, “Listen to this, isn’t it a bit far-fetched?”

“How could anyone be one hundred percent accurate with something like gambling on stones? Surely this kid must have been in cahoots with that bunch, deliberately deceiving her.”

The crowd around seemed to think that Ma Qizhi made a lot of sense.

“Yeah, I’ve never heard of anyone having a one hundred percent accuracy rate with gambling on stones.”

“That’s just ridiculous, unless he has x-ray vision, it’s impossible to achieve.”

“Ah, this young lady is too kind-hearted, even believing such a lie.”

“Can’t help it, the kid looks too deceptive; which girl couldn’t be fooled…”