Chapter 132: So Many Seeds

  Zhou Gongzi's name is Zhou Kai. If he was a wolf showing off his might in front of Xuan Qi, now he's a dog wagging its tail and lowering its head.

  Zhou Kai's age is not as old as the other two, his family background is also not as good as theirs, and what's more pitiful is that his family's power can't even be mentioned in the same breath as theirs. The highest position in the Zhou family now is just a provincial level, and it's just a figurehead who will retire in two years after holding an idle post. Moreover, the old master has passed away many years ago, and the feelings between the door-to-door friends have long since faded. Therefore, the Zhou family now counts as only a third-rate family, not enough to compare with those above, but better than those below. When he really encounters a first-rate family that is deeply rooted and has many branches and leaves, he can't help but go forward to curry favor.

  Sheng Gongzi, full name Sheng Dengfeng, his grandfather was a founding general. Among the people who changed the sky and moon, Sheng Lao's achievements were not outstanding, but he was the longest-lived and healthiest one. In those years, his old comrades were all lying in bed, while he had a head of silver hair, a ruddy face, carrying a bird cage to walk birds in his own garden. Even the doctor said that if this old man maintained this state of mind, he could live for at least another 30 years, and there would be five generations living together, or even six.

  The Sheng family thrived and grew vigorously under the old master's healthy condition. With the support of a big tree, it was easy to enjoy the cool breeze, and the second generation all became high-ranking officials in their respective fields. Even the younger generations had their own sky in the military, business, and political circles.

  Sheng Dengfeng is the third person in charge of the Sheng family's younger generation, in charge of Jing Tian Media, and has a good relationship with various media outlets. He holds the divine instrument of public opinion, without showing off, but has a great influence. In the small circle of Beijing, he can also be considered a well-known mastermind.

  Lǔ Gōngzǐ, whose name is Lǔ Zhuóqún, holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and ranks among the top ten in terms of academic credentials within his circle. His grandfather was once a military and political commissar and had a close relationship with the Sheng family's elderly master. The younger generations of the two families also interacted frequently, relying on each other for support. The Lǔ family is only involved in the military and business sectors and is known as one of the most prominent red capital families in China, accounting for 70% of China's red wine business.

  Old Master Lu had nine daughters in one breath, and the tenth was a son, so Lu Zhuogroup is the eldest grandson. Although the Lu family is not involved in politics, Lu Zhuogroup has nine very powerful uncles. In the small Beijing city, he is also a prominent figure.

  In the capital city, there are four young masters who can walk sideways. At present, two of them are standing here. Mr. Zhou also understands their identities and naturally tries his best to fawn on them, which makes people look very unpleasant.

  Lu Gongzi didn't have the arrogance of a noble, but instead had the smoothness unique to merchants. He lacked yang energy and appeared slightly yin and gentle. At thirty-two or three years old, he looked like a young man in his early twenties. He raised an eyebrow at Xuan Qi: "This friend looks unfamiliar, I heard you won 1 million from Zhou's son last time you gambled on Tian Huang, this time we meet by chance, it's more fun to play together than alone, shall we join forces? You don't have any objections, do you?"

  When wealth is just a number to them, they'd rather seek thrills, street racing, rock climbing, mountaineering, scuba diving, and polar expeditions. After playing with all these, they suddenly discover another exciting thing - gemstone gambling.

  The aristocratic families, especially the deeply rooted ones, have very strict family rules for their descendants. The three vices of prostitution, gambling, and drugs are strictly forbidden. Once one is tainted by these vices, it can lead to addiction and loss of self-control, or even worse, bankruptcy and separation from one's spouse and children. Therefore, in all aristocratic families, there is an unwritten rule that once a family member is found to be involved in prostitution, gambling, or drugs, they are immediately expelled from the family and stripped of all inheritance rights.

  Such a strict door wind, the concept instilled since childhood, has become a high-voltage line that no one dares to cross. With the prosperity of the antique market, those who got rich first entered, and the antique and art market continued to be popular. Teng's antiques can not only show off their knowledge and identity but also serve as a relatively rational investment, quickly attracting a large number of second- and third-generation wealthy individuals.

  In contrast to the second generation's praise for treasures in the long river of history and their admiration for the brilliant splendor in the art world, the third generation is more interested in the jade hidden in the rough stone. They like to take risks, as long as they don't go too far or get too crazy, it's okay.

  After the four people made a big bet, Luo Zhuangjia, as a witness, added 20 million to his card. He led the four people to the back of Yushizhuan, where there was a large stone warehouse. Inside, some seeds were placed from Myanmar.

  In 2000, businessmen were far less cunning than their later counterparts. The entire antique market, especially the jade market, was relatively regularized. As long as it was pulled out from the material yard, twenty percent of the seeds would be jade, and there were absolutely no cases like in later times where people intentionally added stones to the seed piles.

  It's precisely because of this growth rate that frequent players don't lose out. Moreover, these aristocratic young masters who gamble away their jade don't sell it, but instead collect it as spoils of war in their homes, which is essentially hoarding and profiteering. Even if they're still losing money now, from a long-term investment perspective, they'll eventually make a profit, after all, jade is also an irreplaceable resource.

  As the large iron gate creaked open, a massive stone warehouse appeared before everyone's eyes. Looking at the dazzling array of materials, Xuan Qi's eyes narrowed slowly. Seeing Zhou Kai's confident expression, Xuan Qi immediately sensed that there was a trap hidden within.

  Two pieces of jade material of the same size, one as big as a refrigerator and the other as small as a football, were placed together for gambling. The emerald green jade that came out of the refrigerator-sized piece was originally more valuable than the football-sized piece, so this time it couldn't be gambled according to the rules of Tan Huang.

  Xuan Qi gazed at the fabrics filling the room, his eyes shining with excitement. The quality of these fabrics was superior to those found elsewhere. Having entered Treasure Mountain, how could he return empty-handed? Thus, Xuan Qi spoke in a low voice, "There's a loophole in the wager; let's clarify it first."

  Suddenly saying there's a loophole, the other two young masters' eyes narrowed slightly, while Zhou Gongzi looked at Xuan Qi with an unpleasant expression: "If you don't have the guts to gamble, then say it clearly, don't make excuses about loopholes."

  Xuan Qi ignored Zhou Gongzi and picked up a price tag instead. The pale blue tag had the item number, name, and price on it. Xuan Qi looked at Luo Zhanggui and the other two young masters and said: "There are many gambling stones here, and the prices vary greatly. If I spend 10 million to buy five pieces of seed material, and you spend 100 million to buy ten pieces of seed material, I will definitely be at a disadvantage. Since we're betting, there should be a limit. Let's set the maximum investment amount to 15 million, and then freely buy seed material. Finally, let's decide the winner based on the market price of the opened seed material."

  "What you're talking about is the ratio of investment to return." Lu Zhuoqun's eyes flashed with inspiration, and then his thoughts spread out: "What if two people set their sights on the same material? Will they bid?" The high-IQ brain made a slight turn, and immediately discovered another loophole.

  Since we can gamble on stones, the thrill is in winning. Making the opponent lose with a crushing defeat on the same starting line is the real thrill of gambling. Now pursuing so-called fairness is just to have more pleasure after cutting open the stone.

  Luo Zhuangui didn't think much of Xuan Qi, because his financial resources were not strong. Money may not be omnipotent, but most of the time it is still very powerful. So in Luo Zhuangui's eyes, Xuan Qi was just a sparring partner who would soon be kicked out. But unexpectedly, Xuan Qi directly found the loophole in the gambling game and added 15 million to the upper limit.

  Facing the second loophole raised by Lu Gongzi, Luo Zhanggui's eyes were scrutinizing, looking at the young and inexperienced Xuan Qi, waiting to see how he would respond.

  Xuan Qi said calmly: "We can use a secret bid." He pointed forward with his hand: "All the seeds here have prices and numbers on them. Just write down the price you're willing to pay, which should be higher than the marked price. If there's still a tie after that, we'll have an open bidding."

  "Good!" Sheng Dengfeng patted his hand and said to Luo Zhanggui: "Prepare some paper and pens for us." Then he said to Lu Zhuoqun: "This method is very good, it's a lot of fun, in the future we can find a few brothers to play like this too."

  Lu Zhuoqun nodded his head and looked up and down at Xuan Qi: "Young brother's vision is not ordinary, it has broadened my horizons. I haven't even asked your esteemed surname and name yet."

  Born with a golden spoon in his mouth, the heaven's darling has had more advantages than others since birth. It is difficult to get their recognition or affirmation. Now Xuan Qi uses his careful thoughts to arouse Lu Zhuo's curiosity. Unconsciously making Zhou Kai mutter: "It's really dogshit luck".

  "My name is Xuan Qi. I'm a freshman at Beiqing University." Xuan Qi said, tapping his brow, and seeing that Lao Ding hadn't spoken up, he continued: "I'm the heir of the Xiangnan Xuan family."

  "Xiangnan Xuanjia?" Zhou Kai was perplexed. Sheng Dengfeng's face immediately lit up with excitement after a moment of astonishment, his face filled with unusual passion. He took out a business card from his pocket: "I felt an instant connection with you, this is my card." His eyes sparkled with fervor as he spoke.

  Xuan Qi took over with both hands, the flower sedan chair was lifted by everyone. Xuan Qi also understood this principle: "I don't have a business card yet." He said, taking out a pen and writing down a string of numbers on paper: "This is my phone number." In this world, there is no love without reason, nor is there hatred without desire. Since Sheng Dengfeng took out his business card, the underlying message was that he wanted to get Xuan Qi's contact information.

  Zhou Kai's eyes were filled with disdain, he thought Sheng Dengfeng was giving him a business card just to make Xuan Qi understand the difference in their social status. Xuan Qi wrote down his phone number by hand, which not only showed disrespect but also revealed his flattering and sycophantic nature. Zhou Kai had already planned that after Sheng Dengfeng refused, he would mock him, and his brain was already racing to come up with sarcastic words.

  But the development of things was beyond his expectation. Sheng Dengfeng not only didn't show any disdain but instead stretched out his hand to take over the note written by Xuan Qi with both hands and solemnly put it away. This scene left Zhou Kai stunned, the emotions he had been brewing up suddenly burst out like a punctured balloon, causing Zhou Kai to cough repeatedly.

  Standing beside him, Lu Zhuoqun suddenly let out a cry of surprise: "I remember that this year's national college entrance examination champion is in Beiqing, and his name is also Xuan Qi. Are you the Xuan Qi from the Computer Science Department, Class 1?"

  Zhou Kai finally breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice: "How could he possibly be the top scorer in the college entrance examination? Today is Wednesday. If he were a university student, he would be skipping class now." He had been waiting for an opportunity to attack Xuan Qi, and he naturally wouldn't let it slip away.

  "I am Xuan Qi, and I'm also this year's top scorer in the college entrance examination." Xuan Qi was very calm and composed.

  Zhou Kai immediately said: "You're bragging, why didn't you go to class today? Are you..."

  "Alright." Lu Zhuoqun's face flashed with a hint of impatience. Zhou Kai was becoming increasingly unbearable. Although Lu Zhuoqun didn't like Zhou Kai, they had known each other for decades after all. Lu Zhuoqun said, "Xuan Qi has the ability to memorize everything at a glance and is extremely intelligent. On the first day of school, he self-studied and completed three years' worth of university courses. Now, instead of attending classes, he's studying for credits and participating in the semester-end exams."

  "How is this possible?" Zhou Kai's mouth was able to hold a whole quail, he wanted to say something but didn't dare question Lu Zhuoqun, so in this situation, he could only stare blankly at Xuan Qi, watching him walk into the seed area with Sheng Dengfeng and Lu Zhuoqun. After a while, he gasped and said: "This shouldn't be"