Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Don’t Take What’s Given for Free

“The material from “Ka Chang” is generally good, little brother, although the piece in your hand isn’t big, its appearance seems promising. If luck is on your side, you might end up with a sizable chunk of nice jadeite.”

While Lin Yi was communicating with the system in his mind, Zhuang Yan next to him suddenly handed over a small flashlight and started explaining to Lin Yi.

Once he finished speaking, Lin Yi also started laughing:

“Haha, material from “Ka Chang” is usually pretty good. The outer skin is delicate, smooth with a pale green hue, often humorously likened to frog skin. Under the flashlight, it usually shows up well, often turning out to be ‘glutinous’ or ‘icy’ jadeite.

Looking at this piece, it should produce a ‘glutinous’ jadeite, but the size might not be very big, I estimate around 15%-20%.”

Mimicking the actions of others around him, he pretended to scan the rough stone with the flashlight and then shared the system’s assessment in his mind.

Lin Yi wasn’t deliberately showing off. He knew that in front of someone like Zhuang Yan, the more skilled you appear, the more seriously they take you.

Indeed, upon hearing Lin Yi accurately describe the characteristics of the mine, Zhuang Yan was visibly stunned and then burst into hearty laughter:

“Haha, little brother, you were being too modest! You previously claimed not to know much about rough stones, but you seem more professional than me! Sigh, originally, I thought I could flaunt a bit in front of you, especially in something I’m good at like antiquities, to regain some face… In the end, the joke’s on me as your Brother Zhuang… Haha.”

Lin Yi just smiled modestly in response, then continued focusing on the other rough stones at his feet.

As he touched the stones, he communicated with the system in his mind and chatted with Zhuang Yan using the hints from the system.

For a moment, Zhuang Yan was utterly shocked. Just as he previously mentioned, he didn’t know much about antiquities, but he was quite adept at betting on stones.

However, it turned out that all his years of accumulated experience still didn’t add up to Lin Yi’s expertise–a student currently preparing for the college entrance exam.

This was really quite a blow.

Time trickled by as Lin Yi and Zhuang Yan examined the rough stones, while Lin Jianguo took Empress Dowager Ye for a walk elsewhere.

Possibly due to his fascination with jadeite roughs, Zhuang Yan didn’t leave. He stayed with Lin Yi, picking and scrutinizing each piece of rough material.

The time seemed brief when focused on serious matters. Even though Lin Yi looked at the rough stones quickly, by the time Empress Dowager Ye and Father Lin came to call him, he had only gone through a small portion.

To Lin Yi’s dismay, in over an hour, apart from the small rough stone he first saw that contained 15% ‘glutinous’ jadeite, there was only one soccer-sized rough stone containing 1.6% ‘bean’ jadeite, and one palm-sized stone containing 63% ‘glutinous’ jadeite.

Seeing the hundred jadeite roughs behind him, only three had jadeite inside. This left Lin Yi speechless.

The odds of finding jadeite are just too low.

“So, Brother Lin, after looking at so many rough stones, have you taken a liking to any particular one? I mentioned earlier that I’d gift you a piece. Choose one!”

Seeing Zhuang Yan’s earnest expression, Lin Yi didn’t stand on ceremony. He bent down and picked up the palm-sized gray stone, “Haha, I really don’t know much about rough stones. This one looks the right size to practice with at home.

But a gift is unnecessary; just tell me the price. I’ve made over a billion with you, Brother Zhuang. If you insist on giving, I might not come to you with good things in the future.”

Seeing Lin Yi’s serious manner, Zhuang Yan just gave a helpless smile. This period of contact allowed him to get to know a bit of Lin Yi’s temperament.

He knew that pushing further with Lin Yi would backfire. So, he didn’t insist and directly called a staff member to settle the account.

“Boss, this rough stone is priced at seventeen thousand nine hundred yuan.”

Hearing the number, Empress Dowager Ye and Lin Jianguo exchanged a look, seeing the disbelief in each other’s eyes.

Such a stone is worth half a year’s salary? That’s too outrageous!

While shocked inside, they said nothing. Today, Empress Dowager Ye felt that her son had grown up and didn’t need her fussing anymore.

Though Lin Yi hadn’t expected the stone to be worth over ten thousand, he didn’t hesitate and gritted his teeth to pay the bill.

Just silently cursing himself for being pretentious–why insist on buying it when it was offered for free?

After they left Xuanrui Studio, Lin Jianguo took over the stone worth nearly twenty thousand. He claimed he was afraid his son might drop and break it.

Even after Lin Yi explained to Lao Lin that it was just a stone, and wouldn’t break even if hit with a hammer, Father Lin still held it tightly to his chest.

…

In the afternoon’s entrance exam, Lin Yi, much like in the morning, leisurely walked out of the exam hall an hour after it began.

The only difference from the morning was that the Chinese exam took ten minutes due to the essay.

But in the afternoon’s math exam, Lin Yi finished in just five minutes!

As Lin Yi exited the school gate, the reporters, upon seeing it was him, seemed indifferent.

To them, Lin Yi–a self-proclaimed slacker–had a brief moment of exposure, just enough to catch some online attention and garner traffic, but not much else worthy of an interview.

Lin Yi was pleased with the tranquility, as that was just perfect for him.

After dropping Empress Dowager Ye and Father Lin home, he exchanged a few words and then hit the road again.

Half an hour later, Lin Yi’s Land Rover stopped outside the college entrance exam site once more.

Glancing at the time, even after going home, he was still half an hour early.

Finding himself idle, Lin Yi reclined in his seat for a nap.

Half an hour later, with a crisp ring of a bell, the day’s exams were finally over.

A few minutes later, students started streaming out of the school gate.

And as ‘student’ Lin Yi, he watched them like a parent, his eyes scanning the crowd quickly and purposefully.

Until a tall, slender figure with a head low in shyness came into view, a mischievous grin appeared on Lin Yi’s face, and he strode towards that lonely figure.

…

[To be continued…]

PS: Brothers, which university do you think Lin Yi should attend?