Chapter 100: Chapter 100: It’s His Lover

Expo sales, an event that’s both an exhibition and a sale, and of course, the main purpose is to sell.

So-called gambling on stones is actually picking a stone that looks appealing and cutting it open; if you uncover something good, it means you’re lucky, and if not, then it’s just bad luck.

Of course, some experts can tell what’s inside a stone just by looking at its exterior, but for a newbie like Qiao Yi, it’s purely for the fun of joining the crowd.

“Do these stones also have different prices? Among these stones that cost over a million each, could there also be duds?”

The question made the guide choke a bit, but she still maintained a good attitude as she answered Qiao Yi’s silly question.

“There’s a certain chance of that, but our appraisers have assessed these stones and sorted them into basic categories, so while there’s still a chance of getting a dud, it’s very small.”

In plain terms, gambling on stones is no different from gambling; the only difference is that those who know the industry have a greater advantage over those who don’t.

Qiao Yi, somewhat clueless, took the powerful flashlight the guide handed her and played around with it in her hand for a bit before using it as instructed, shining the flashlight directly on the stone.

Through the thin skin, the stone faintly revealed some translucent purple.

Qiao Yi couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but she thought the color was pretty nice. Glancing at the price, she saw that this stone, the size of a head, was only over twenty thousand, so she immediately had someone place it in her car.

“Miss Qiao, don’t you want to look at a few more? This stone…”

“No worries, I’ll try this stone first. I’ll look at the others slowly!”

Qiao Yi was like a kid with a new toy, starting to look around the piles of stones with a few girlfriends.

Seeing the girls occasionally exclaim with surprise, vaguely discussing whether the color of the stone they were holding looked nice, the following gentlemen were all sheepish, fearing they might say something wrong and provoke anger.

It wasn’t long before several stones were loaded onto the cars behind the young ladies, ranging from a few thousand to as much as over eight hundred thousand, with the group excitedly pulling their carts, ready to go cut the stones.

“Young Master Lu!”

From afar, an uncle walked over, and when Qiao Yi heard him calling for Lu Yanchuan, she paused and looked over.

As the uncle approached, it turned out to be Uncle Peng, who was with Mr. Tao, and he had been looking for Lu Yanchuan around the venue for quite some time.

“The old gentleman invites you upstairs for a talk.”

Lu Yanchuan nodded but didn’t go upstairs with Uncle Peng right away; instead, he walked over to Qiao Yi and took her with him.

“Come with me to meet an elder.”

Qiao Yi was stunned for a moment; she hadn’t heard anything about Lu Yanchuan having any elders here before coming, and now she was suddenly going to meet an elder!

“I, I’m not dressed right to meet them, and I haven’t brought any gifts…”

“This must be Young Mrs. Lu, right? The old gentleman was just saying a few days ago that he wanted the young master to bring you over for a visit, he will definitely like the young madam.”

Uncle Peng’s smile was filled with strong affability, and though it was all niceties, it made Qiao Yi feel exceedingly gratified. She instructed Feng Siyu not to go cut the stones before following Lu Yanchuan with Uncle Peng to meet Old Mr. Tao.

On the way, Lu Yanchuan briefly introduced Old Mr. Tao’s identity to Qiao Yi, turning out to be an old friend of Lu Yanchuan’s teacher; no wonder Lu Yanchuan said it was an elder.

Mr. Tao was friends with Old Mr. Lu in their younger days, but after Old Mr. Lu took over the Lu family, their interactions dwindled, and now it has been many years since they last met.

However, when he learned that Lu Yanchuan was coming to Jiang City, Old Mr. Lu still had Lu Yanchuan bring a gift for Mr. Tao.

After understanding the relationship between Mr. Tao and Lu Yanchuan, Qiao Yi couldn’t help feeling inexplicably nervous.

According to Lu Yanchuan, Mr. Tao was no different from Old Mr. Lu in his eyes, and since Old Mr. Lu never married for the sake of Old Madam Gong, he had long regarded Lu Yanchuan as his own son.

Isn’t this just like meeting the parents!

When she met Old Mr. Lu before, Qiao Yi wasn’t this nervous, and when she met Old Madam Gong because she was seriously ill, Qiao Yi didn’t feel nervous either.

But now, Qiao Yi was so nervous that her palms began to sweat.

“Don’t worry, Master Tao is a very nice person.”

Lu Yanchuan could even feel the small hand in his palm tremble slightly. Why was Qiao Yi so nervous?

Before meeting Mr. Tao again, Qiao Yi had made countless guesses, imagining what Mr. Tao would be like.

Kindly? Stern? Would he like her? Would he give her a hard time?

But when Qiao Yi saw this little old man squatting beside the stone cutting machine, with no semblance of dignity, she was stunned.

This was the esteemed and renowned master of the jade industry, Mr. Tao?

How could…

Lu Yanchuan was probably accustomed to Mr. Tao’s occasionally puzzling behavior, and after seeing the situation inside the house, he just paused for a moment before naturally pulling Qiao Yi to sit down beside him, waiting for Mr. Tao to finish his work before talking to them.

Finally, the stone cutting machine stopped, and Mr. Tao directed people to take out a half-cut piece of jade from the machine and joyfully patted the stone twice.

“Ah! You’re here! I was so engrossed that I didn’t notice you!”

Mr. Tao placed the jade on the table next to him, and turned around to finally see Lu Yanchuan and an embarrassed Qiao Yi sitting on the sofa.

“This must be Xiao Chuan’s wife, she’s very beautiful! It’s our first meeting, and I don’t have much to give, but consider this stone as my meeting gift to you!”

Without any hesitation, Mr. Tao stuffed the freshly cut stone into Qiao Yi’s arms, its heavy weight almost causing her to fall if not for Lu Yanchuan’s quick reflexes grabbing hold of it, preventing the piece of ice jade from flying away.

“Master Tao, my name is Qiao Yi, I am Yanchuan’s…lover…”

Qiao Yi inexplicably chose these words to introduce herself, and as soon as the words left her mouth, her heart began racing.

Mr. Tao smiled and nodded; since Lu Yanchuan’s visit the other day, Qiao Yi’s profile had been on his desk, and the information indeed portrayed her as a good kid. Now it seemed that although the two were in a business marriage, this girl obviously had genuine feelings for Lu Yanchuan.

Having feelings is a good thing. As long as the two can be happy together, that’s what matters. Unlike him, who has lived a lifetime of regret…

Mr. Tao looked at Lu Yanchuan and Qiao Yi’s clasped hands, a fleeting sadness flashing through his eyes, then gone in an instant.

“Come by more often with Xiao Chuan, and if he doesn’t bring you, come by yourself; don’t end up gloomy at such a young age like him!”

Having wiped his hands, Mr. Tao then headed to the resting area with Lu Yanchuan and Qiao Yi.