The weather was quite nice in the morning, with a cool breeze blowing in from the open French windows on all sides.
This eased the heated atmosphere inside the venue, where shouts, conversations, and bidding filled the air.
The only quiet place was the platform in the middle, which had two tables on it and nothing else.
With the sound of a gong, men in black entered the crowd in an orderly fashion.
They quickly parted to make way, and several elderly people followed them onto the platform.
Represented by powerful families, they occupied their respective territories.
All the participants appeared below the stage, searching for the first to come out.
She stepped lightly up the stairs, without a trace of tension or excitement.
It was a match she was destined to win; she had to win.
An Ziyi, who followed behind, couldn't hide her emotions, but she wasn't so foolish as to show them all.
If the challenge was personally issued by the Le family, and no one from the Xun family participates, or if they fail, the outcome is predictable.
Xunmi nodded to An Ziyi and then ignored her, waiting for the referee to announce the start.
"Today is the triennial jade gambling convention, and the first session is represented by Miss Xun from Xunjia and An Ziyi from Lejia."
"Three rounds: selection, identification, and stone cutting."
After a brief explanation of the rules, the two were asked to choose the raw gems they needed from the entire arena.
You can choose a maximum of three, and the winner will be determined by the identification and the finished product obtained from the stone cutting.
Full of confidence, An Ziyi rushed to the raw stone area, determined to select the best one within twenty minutes.
She wasn't as anxious as An Ziyi; she was currently communicating with her baby.
While scanning the raw gemstone, the baby accidentally scanned An Ziyi, who was squatting next to it.
The scan revealed a problem: there was an energy fluctuation emanating from An Ziyi.
It was as if it were mixed in with the soul, but it didn't know exactly what it was, so it told its wise host.
'Perhaps it's a cheat code granted by her rebirth; if I'm not mistaken, it should allow her to detect whether there's jade inside the raw stone.'
In the original novel, it wasn't very clear that she was into gambling on stones, but later it was said that she and Le Chenxi both became rising stars in the stone gambling world.
The book's title suggests that she eventually became a queen, implying that she might have some knowledge of jade gambling.
'Don't worry, host. I've confirmed it. She can only sense something within the raw stone, but she doesn't know what it is.'
The baby scanned it again for An Ziyi and finally got a reasonably reliable answer.
Searching for Xiaoxiao, we also entered the raw stone area.
When she passed by in the morning, she saw a vendor selling rough stones that looked very special in appearance and color.
The baby had told her before that she could see energy fluctuations inside, so naturally she wouldn't miss it.
When An Ziyi arrived, she had already selected five rough stones.
Her hands continued moving, as she wanted to select everything she could sense.
Then she would pick out the three best pieces from there, even if she wasn't sure what kind they were, they would still be better than searching for them.
After all, all three of her pieces contained jade, and she refused to believe that they couldn't compete with the one who relied solely on himself.
There was no rush in the search; he squatted down, picked up what he thought was good, and began to observe it.
In comparison, everyone is more optimistic about the actions and attitudes of the seeker.
After all, who has ever seen a jade gambler simply touch a rough stone and move it all away?
Regardless of size or appearance, it seems to accept all comers.
Le Zhengtian listened to the whispers around him and felt disdain.
He had seen An Ziyi select raw stones several times, so he naturally understood that she had discovered that there was jade inside those raw stones.
He had just instructed his assistant to buy all the items that An Ziyi had selected.
Search, search for home, just wait, he will make them obediently get out of the jade gambling world.
In the last five minutes, they searched and selected three rough stones that were very deceptive in appearance and varied in size.
I placed it on the display table, took out my tools, and prepared to cut the stone myself later.
An Ziyi was still choosing; dozens of pieces were already piled up in front of her.
With time running out, he gritted his teeth and finally chose three very large rough stones.
In her opinion, all of these contain jade, and the larger ones definitely contain larger pieces of jade.
If other jade experts knew what she was thinking, they'd probably be furious.
If large rough stones truly mean large jade stones inside, then the smaller rough stones probably wouldn't sell.
"Miss An, why don't you go first in the second round?"
Seek out the habit of first showing humility, preparing to give your opponent the first opportunity to perform.
Normally, An Ziyi would probably be very happy to agree.
But now, she cursed the idea of searching for her ancestors for eighteen generations again in her mind.
She's not even a proper jade expert, so how could she possibly know how other jade experts identify what kind of jade is inside a rough stone, or why there is jade in it?
But when she saw the provocative smile on Xunmi's face, she couldn't help herself.
Xunmi was truly wronged this time; she only gave a polite smile, which was by no means a provocation!
"The three rough stones I selected all contain different types of jade, so there's no need for further explanation; let's just cut them open."
An Ziyi would absolutely not let herself lose here, even if she didn't understand.
The referee was furious at An Ziyi's disrespectful behavior, but since the other party represented the Le family, he still had to give them face.
But this other woman was a young lady from a family, and rumor had it that she was the wife of a big boss, which put him in a difficult position.
Xunmi shrugged indifferently: "Since Miss An has spoken, let's do as Miss An wishes."
"After all, I'm also eager to know the results."
The referee nodded gratefully to Xunmi and summoned a stone cutter to help cut the stone.
Seek out those who refuse to help and take matters into your own hands.
The three stones she chose were all raw stones with green veins, and their appearance was somewhat flamboyant.
People who gamble on rough stones are generally unwilling to do so because the risks are too high, but the temptations are also great.
"Look, it's turning green! It's turning green!"
'The color is clear and translucent, and it looks to be of very good quality. I don't know its size or variety.'
'I think it's somewhat like the hibiscus variety; the color is clear, but the green is a bit pale.'
Look, the other one has turned green too.
'The jade expert the Le family sent this year is truly formidable; both pieces yielded green jade.'
"No, all three have come out! Look!"
The entire audience erupted in commotion, all eyes turning to An Ziyi's three rough stones.
Sure enough, under the combined support of bright lights and strong sunlight, the green was so eye-catching and beautiful.
The three stone cutters were also pleasantly surprised; they actually had all three pieces—that was amazing!
It's worth noting that the jade gambling convention has only been held thirteen times so far, and the only time three stones were matched was more than ten years ago.