Chapter 203: Chapter 179 Wei Jiaguo’s Routine Chapter 203: Chapter 179 Wei Jiaguo’s Routine Zhang Wei probably won’t be coming back tonight; it’s just unclear which of the three college students he managed to lure away earlier.

Once back home, Chu Mingcheng set down the case he was holding and opened it to take out the specimen inside.

A smell that is hard to define emanated from the specimen, mixed with a hint of the scent of bubble wrap.

At first glance, the Alligator Gar retained its original appearance, with its mouth gaping open to reveal sharp teeth.

But in fact, it was just an empty shell and very light to pick up.

There was a long incision on its belly, now stitched up. The eyes were artificial, making the specimen look quite lifelike from a distance.

Chu Mingcheng figured that Bai Yueke and the others must have had a lot of participants to have finished the taxidermy so quickly.

It’s just that he didn’t like the appearance of the Alligator Gar at all–he’d thought it would look better as a specimen, but it turned out even uglier.

“Ah Yang, do you want this specimen?”

“Of course I do. The Alligator Gar is big enough, and I’m planning to display it when I open my shop here next year,” Chen Yang had no reason to refuse the free specimen.

“Okay, then I’ll keep it here for now. You can come and get it later!”

Chu Mingcheng moved both cases to a small room; as for Jiang Luoluo, she had no interest in these things.

After dinner, Chen Yang cuddled up with his laptop in the living room to work.

Meanwhile, Chu Mingcheng went to Jiang Luoluo’s home to help her edit the video of their Golden Spearfish hunting trip.

The trip to Dongsha had many spectacular scenes that needed to be carefully edited.

Of course, so many exciting shots couldn’t all be shown at once, so after some discussion, the two of them decided to split it into three videos: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

While they were busy at home, in a private restaurant elsewhere, Wei Jiaguo pointed at the pike swimming back and forth in a fish tank and said, “How about this pike of mine, it’s not smaller than the one you had a few years ago, right?”

“Agou, you really have the knack! Just a few days ago, you got a nearly three-meter-long Flagfish, and now you have this rare big pike,” an elder with a full head of silver hair, yet still very spry, exclaimed in admiration.

Wei Jiaguo had invited three people today. All three of them appeared to be about his age, with the silver-haired man being the one who had once treated him to a twenty-pound Crucian carp feast.

Then, another elder dressed in a Zhongshan suit said, “Does anyone else feel something’s off? Has Aguo been getting a lot of big fish lately?”

“There was the nearly four-meter-long Red Eel and a hundred-pound Big Eel and so on. Aguo, don’t you have a channel for acquiring big fish?”

These men had been friends for decades, and they knew Wei Jiaguo well enough to know that he used to watch others show off their catches.

But as for the second half of this year…

No, that’s not right, starting in November, Wei Jiaguo would occasionally get his hands on one or two good catches.

Especially that lamentable Rat Spot–it had made them drool for a long while when it was still in the fish tank.

They all say that fish should be eaten while it is still alive and fresh, but the old man refused to part with it until it died, which was a complete waste.

This remark hit home, prompting the other two men to realize, “Yeah, Aguo, did you get to know someone who can always find these good items?”

“Just be envious! I caught this fish this morning. I had already caught a dozen Crucian carps and was about to move to another fishing spot when this big one suddenly popped its head out,”
“That tail had such force; one slap sent water splashing really high, at least three to four meters…”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t talk nonsense without thinking, old man. This fish is, at most, just thirty pounds. Where does it get such power from? Someone who didn’t know better would think you’re talking about a Blue Whale!”

A group of elders gathered together, each one boasting while the others called their bluff, creating a lively scene for the better part of the day until the waitress took the fish to the kitchen, and they all entered the private room one by one.

After settling into the private room, Wei Jiaguo casually took out that piece of cinnabar, “Old Man Shi, take a look at this!”

Old Man Shi is the one who had been quiet until now.

Unlike the other three fishing enthusiasts, his pastime, much like his surname, involved stones.

When he saw the cinnabar stone, the calmness he usually maintained visibly shattered.

He stood up briskly from his seat, hurried over to Wei Jiaguo, and carefully took the cinnabar stone, shielding it with his hand from the light while retrieving a flashlight and a magnifying glass from his briefcase.

After examining it thoroughly, he could be heard continuously uttering words like “top-notch” and “excellent,” clearly indicating the high quality of this cinnabar stone.

The cinnabar stone had little white and a lot of bright red, creating naturally beautiful patterns that had the old man named Shi completely enamored.

“Aguo, where did you get this piece of cinnabar? I’ve been looking for a suitable piece of cinnabar for the past few years to make a seal.”

“But the output of cinnabar is so low, and most of the top-quality pieces already have owners.”

“This pure, flawless single-color texture of the Mutton Fat Jade-like cinnabar is even rarer; you must let me have this one.”

Wei Jiaguo recognized the exceptional quality of the cinnabar as well, but he didn’t expect it to be good enough for his old friend to speak up about it.

If it was truly his own, then since his old friend had asked, he naturally would have helped him out.

Unfortunately, the item was not his. Moreover, he had a purpose in bringing out this piece of cinnabar.

“Stop dreaming about this cinnabar stone; it belongs to a junior of mine. He plans to make a pair of Jade Pendants and a golden hairpin, so I specifically brought it here to ask if it’s feasible to work on,”
“Jade Pendant and golden hairpin?” Shi Wei Yuan was stunned upon hearing this and then became so angry he trembled, “Such a waste, a sheer desecration of heavens! Using cinnabar to make a jade pendant?”

“Which one of your younger relatives did this? Fetch them here right now, I’ll break their legs!”

Wei Jiaguo’s mouth twitched, “If you want this piece of cinnabar, then forget about breaking someone else’s legs and think about how to get this stone instead!”

“Right, right, right, hurry and make a call to ask–I’m willing to pay a high price to acquire that piece of cinnabar.” Shi Wei Yuan’s anger immediately cooled down, after all, the cinnabar was still intact, and it wasn’t a time to be angry.

Wei Jiaguo took out his cell phone and made a call to Chu Mingcheng.

Once the call connected, he said, “Ah Cheng, are you free right now?”

“I am,” Chu Mingcheng happened to be slicing fruit in the kitchen, avoiding Jiang Luoluo’s eavesdropping and not needing to step away to take the call.

“That piece of cinnabar you have is of excellent quality, I have a friend here who wants to buy it at a high price.”

“Grandpa, I don’t really want to sell it. I never gave Luoluo a proper gift, and since I’ve come across a piece of high-quality stone, I thought it would make a perfect present for her.”

“You should think this through. After a master carves the cinnabar into a seal, it could be worth millions. And besides, cinnabar isn’t suitable for wearing, making it into a jade pendant would really be a waste.”

Hearing about millions, Chu Mingcheng too was somewhat shocked. Isn’t it valued at hundreds per gram? His stone wasn’t that heavy, so how could sculpting it make it worth millions?

But of course he was happy to hear the stone was valuable. Still, having planned to give it as a gift, he wasn’t considering going back on his word.

“Nowadays, who carries a jade pendant every day? I won’t sell it even for millions… Oh!”

As soon as he finished speaking, an idea suddenly struck Chu Mingcheng.

Wei Jiaguo, at first relieved to hear that Chu Mingcheng wouldn’t sell even for millions, considered him a sentimental man–somewhat foolish, but reassuring to deal with. However, the sudden twist froze the smile on his face.

“What is it, you want to sell?”

“No, if it’s so valuable, can I exchange it for an emerald jade pendant and hairpin of roughly equal worth?”

Wei Jiaguo paused, surprised that Chu Mingcheng caught on so quickly, falling right in line with his own thoughts.

A faint smile played on his lips as he suggested, “Actually, it would be better to exchange it for white jade, which seems more suitable for you guys.”

Top-quality white jade typically refers to Nephrite Jade from the Western Regions.

Of course, even white jade comes in different grades.

If the cinnabar is so highly valued and unsuitable for making a jade pendant, why not exchange it for something more appropriate?

Chu Mingcheng wasn’t sure he could get that much, he didn’t have a concrete concept of the value of these items. He initially just wanted to exchange for an emerald of similar value, but Wei Jiaguo suggested white jade instead.

Compared to the greenish emerald, he truly preferred the milky white color.

Moreover, he trusted Wei Jiaguo deeply, and since he himself wasn’t well-versed in these matters, he readily agreed.

“That works, Grandpa, you decide. You wouldn’t let your junior suffer a loss, would you?”

“You little rascal…”

Wei Jiaguo chuckled helplessly, his smile softening even more. Being willing to trust in the exchange was the best choice.

“Alright, I’ve got nothing else, your proposal should work. I’ll let you know once everything is ready.”

No sooner had he hung up than he knew, based on his understanding of Shi Wei Yuan, that the likelihood of his old friend agreeing was very high.

The price of top-quality white jade was similarly steep, even higher in some cases.

The value of these items often depended on finding someone who particularly liked them and was willing to pay a high price; there was never a concrete price. Fortunately, Shi Wei Yuan just happened to be looking for a piece of top-quality cinnabar.

“My junior says we can exchange it for white jade, and we want a pair of jade pendants and a white jade hairpin. I remember you have some Mutton Fat Jade rough at home…”

Shi Wei Yuan by now understood that all this was a scheme from his old friend; he hadn’t thought much about the cinnabar initially.

With a friend like Wei Jiaguo, how could he not know that cinnabar wasn’t suited for making jade pendants and the like?

But knowing Shi had been looking for a piece of cinnabar, Wei devised this plan for the evening.

“Ah, Aguo, so you’ve been setting me up from the start!”

Wei Jiaguo didn’t deny it, “Just say whether you’ll exchange or not. If not, I can sell this piece of cinnabar and help buy some white jade instead.”

“Of course, it’s a deal!” A set of carved jade pendants and a pure white jade hairpin meant Shi Wei Yuan was at a loss, but he was willing.

After all, he had searched for a satisfactory piece of cinnabar for years without success, yet he had several pieces of Mutton Fat Jade at home.

In the end, both parties were extremely pleased.

Chu Mingcheng never expected such a fortuitous turn. He actually wasn’t very fond of the blood-red color on the cinnabar.

It was mainly due to a lack of any more suitable material and not having a clear understanding of the stone’s value that he hadn’t considered selling it to buy another piece of jade for carving into jewelry.

Now that someone was willing to exchange it for white jade, even offering free carving, he was naturally inclined to agree.