"Yeah! I’ve always been pretty lucky."
"Why take a chance on gambling stones?"
This wasn’t the place to start a fight, but Bai Xiao had brought this man here precisely to settle accounts with her. Looking at Shao Ming, Bai Mei sneered through her nose. Had such a character become bold enough to come out and strut around? Shouldn’t he have brought that camp commander instead?
So, the flower-guarding hero has changed, huh?
Once you’re in Myanmar, there’s no turning back.
"Yeah! Just for fun!"
"You’ve really got an eye for stones, don’t you? Daring to buy such raw stones?" Bai Mei nearly burst into laughter looking at the stone. Even an outsider like her could tell something was off. Bai Xiao seemed keen on playing the fool.
"I like it!"
With one sentence, Bai Xiao had rendered Bai Mei speechless with annoyance.
Shao Ming tugged at Bai Xiao’s sleeve. "Don’t be like this, we’re not here to provoke! This stone also doesn’t look right to me, let’s not waste money on it." His miserly nature wouldn’t allow him to part with his money easily.
Even if it was Bai Xiao’s money, it still didn’t matter. Wasting it was shameful.
Bai Xiao gave him a look, and Shao Ming shut up.
It was someone else’s money, after all; he really couldn’t control that.
Bai Mei beamed with delight, "Oh! Looks like your boyfriend is reluctant to spend money on you."
She had assumed Shao Ming was Bai Xiao’s boyfriend.
Bai Xiao didn’t bother to correct her.
"How much for this piece?"
The staff member kept a poker face, realizing it was self-inflicted misfortune, but he couldn’t be blamed for it.
"This piece, five thousand per kilogram!"
Frankly, this raw stone was just a gimmick to fool the wealthy newcomers at the auction, which happened to attract quite a crowd this time.
Bai Xiao finally understood—the stone looked like it weighed several dozens of kilograms; it wasn’t cheap.
But there were already quite a few people checking out the other stones upfront. There was no fun in trying to outbid them.
Watching everyone examining stones with what looked like magnifying glasses, he turned to Baldy Qiang.
Baldy Qiang shivered at being stared at.
What was he up to?
He wasn’t responsible for this kind of meddling.
"Let me borrow that... please?"
He pointed at the magnifying glass and flashlight in Baldy Qiang’s hands.
Bai Mei almost doubled over with laughter at that moment.
Bai Xiao must be joking, she thought. Although Bai Xiao was a scholar, that was just about writing and painting; when it came to gambling stones, not everyone had the knack or insight for it. Right now, Bai Xiao was clearly a newbie—blindly white.
And fittingly so, with her surname.
"This? Here, it’s yours." Baldy Qiang immediately handed it over. It was just a magnifying glass and flashlight, after all. Easy to replace with a new set later.
Bai Xiao crouched over the stone, examining it closely with the magnifying glass, gently pressing her palm on the stone, slowly caressing it. The stone’s icy surface seemed to come to life under her hand. "This is the stone. Shao Ming, go pay for it."
She spoke as she continued to caress.
Bai Mei was taken aback. She was actually buying it.
She nudged Xiaodao, "Xiaodao, take a look, give it your expert eye." After all, if it was something Bai Xiao wanted, her aim was to sabotage it. She couldn’t let Bai Xiao get her way, especially after Liu Chuanfeng had made fun of Bai Xiao, which she had also witnessed, prompting her derision.
Offending Liu Chuanfeng was akin to making enemies with many; no one would want to get close to her then.
Xiaodao scrutinized the stone, shaking his head afterwards.
He had mixed in this trade for over a decade, having lost tens of millions here; if not that, at least millions. Having been duped often, he did have some basic standards at the very least.
Bai Mei was relieved.
"Do you even know how to evaluate goods? Stop playing the part of an elephant with a pig’s nose! With your level, I’m afraid you’ll need to look until next year’s Water Festival!"
It might be challenging to spot a good one, but spotting a bad one was a piece of cake.