King of Gamblers: Growing from a Student to a Jade King

 "Hey, Zhao Fei, I talked to my dad, but he doesn't agree..."

 I listened to Zeng Hong's words on the phone. Her tone was still so polite, but I just sneered and said, "Fine, if you don't agree, that's it. Your family doesn't owe me anything. I'll move out with my mom as soon as possible."

 I hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. I had already cleaned up everything in the house. I knew I would definitely be moving out. Although this house is old and worn, it has been my home for over twenty years. All my memories and emotions are here. Leaning against the wall, I looked at the old fan, my heart felt heavy, and tears streamed down my face. I knew I was leaving my home.

 As for Zeng Hong, I have no right to hate her. I even have to thank her; she made me see the reality. I was trying to climb higher than my station. I really am just the son of a driver, not worthy of being friends with her.

 I pulled out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. When I was young, I often bought cigarettes for my dad, and this time was no different. I took out a few cigarettes, lit them, and placed them in the incense burner. I said, "Dad, we both have to go now. You lived your whole life in fear, never indulging in food or drink, and the only time you got passionate, you ended up losing your life. But this isn't your fault. Your research wasn't

 I lit a cigarette for myself, the first time I've ever smoked in my life. I took two deep puffs, stood up, left the room, and left this house where I've lived for over twenty years.

 My mom and I moved to my grandpa's house, but when we went back, we received a lot of disdainful looks. My grandpa even scolded my dad, saying that my dad was useless when he was alive and still caused trouble for the family after he died. I felt very indignant, but he is my grandpa, so I had to listen to whatever he said.

 However, what I can't stand the most is my uncle. He's from the countryside and is particularly unhappy about the fact that my mom and I plan to live here permanently in the future. He always makes sarcastic remarks about my mom, saying she doesn't have the luck to get rich overnight, so she shouldn't dream about it. He also advises me not to think about good things and to focus on finishing college, finding a job, and paying off the debt.

 I never planned to live a proper life from now on. If I fall there, I have to get back up from there. I will rely on gambling on stones to get rich. Even if I end up like my father in the future, I accept it.

 I don't plan to stay at my grandpa's house permanently; I want to live at school, which also makes it easier for me to work.

 On that day, I was getting ready to leave. While having breakfast, I said to my uncle, "Uncle, can you lend me two thousand yuan..."

 My uncle hadn't even said a word yet, and my aunt already said, "Borrow it? Can you pay it back?"

 This sentence made me choke on the food in my mouth. My hand holding the chopsticks just froze and couldn't move. I put down my bowl and chopsticks, said nothing, and turned to leave. Being looked down upon by others doesn't matter, but being looked down upon by one's own family is a feeling worse than death.

 I returned to school, Kunming University, which is considered one of the top universities in Yunnan. After coming back to school, I lost the motivation to study. I owe a lot of money outside, and I went into debt for 50,000 yuan for my dad's funeral. I have to find a way to pay off this debt. Later, I still need to buy a house, no matter the size. My mom and I need a place to live, and all of this will cost

 If you want to turn your life around, you still have to rely on gambling with stones.

 "Hey, Russian, what are you up to? Come out for a drink?"

 "I have class, so I won't go..."

 "Hey, Fat Pig, come out for some skewers, it's on me..."

 "Don't, keep the money and take your time living, your family matters are quite significant..."

 I hung up the phone, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and stomped on it hard twice. These classmates probably all knew I was meeting them to borrow money, and they were all scared. I can't blame them; their money didn't come for free either.

 Gambling on stones requires capital, and right now I'm in dire need of capital. I only have a few coins in my pocket. If I don't borrow, I won't even see the sun next week. I'm truly at the end of my rope.

 "Zhao Fei, have you finished dealing with things at home?"

 I heard a sweet and gentle voice, turned around to take a look, and saw a girl. She was not tall, petite, with dark skin, wearing glasses, and had curly hair. She was quite good-looking, with a delicate nose, slightly pursed cherry-like lips, plump and very touchable. She was wearing shorts; although her legs were short, they were very slender, and her figure was very well-proportioned.

 She is Xuanling, the monitor of our class. I don't really like her. She always sees herself as the big sister to everyone. Her concern is just superficial, not heartfelt. In college, people have matured, and so-called friendships are all utilitarian. I think Xuanling is the same. When she comes to care about me, it's just to create momentum for her campaign for next year's student council president.

 I nodded and was about to leave when she grabbed my arm and said, "Now that it's all settled, focus on your studies. You haven't been here these past few days. I have the professor's notes; take them home and review them. The exams are coming up soon, and you absolutely must not fail."

 I looked at the notes she handed over, and I had already lost the will to study. I looked at Xuan Ling and said, "If you really want to help me, just lend me some money."

 I looked at Xuan Ling sincerely. She hesitated for a while, but in the end, she still lowered her head and said, "How much do you want?"

 "Two thousand..."

 My words surprised her a bit. Two thousand yuan is quite a sum for college students like us, but she still took her wallet out of her handbag and handed me a thousand yuan. She said, "This is all I have, it's this month's living expenses..."

 I held it in my hand, feeling very happy. Although borrowing money from a woman is a bit, you know, I said, "I will definitely pay you back."

 After I finish speaking, I'm leaving. I need to recoup my losses. Although a thousand is a bit low, I'll take it slow. As long as I turn things around, ten thousand or a hundred thousand will be small matters.

 I bought a high-speed train ticket at noon and went straight to Ruili. When people are possessed by ghosts, they don't care about anything. I was just focused on getting my money back and turning my life around.

 When I arrived in Ruili, I went straight to the Jie'ao Jadeite Street. Jie'ao is the largest jadeite rough stone distribution and trading area on the Ruili-Myanmar border, and half of the jadeite in the country is wholesale from here.

 I didn't go to Old Niu's shop; that guy didn't even know where he ran off to. But there are a lot of shops here, so I found a bigger one, afraid of getting scammed.

 Dachang Jadeite Betting Shop is quite large, with people sitting at the entrance. I walked in, and inside there is a finished product area and a rough stone area. I didn't linger in the finished product area and went straight to the rough stone area.

 In the rough stone area, there are many racks, lined up in rows, all filled with rough stones. The so-called rough stones are those mined from the jade ore mountains or rivers in Myanmar.

 These stones are the original form of jade. The translucent green jades you see are all cut from these raw stones.

 Near the rough stone area, the sound of friction is incessant, and there are many people betting on stones. These stones are all uncut, a term known as "blind stones" in the trade, and they are very cheap, costing only a few hundred yuan each, which is the lowest grade of goods. Cut stones are very expensive; a stone that costs fifty yuan can be worth a hundred times more if you cut it and find green in the cut.

 These rough stones are sold by size, the largest weighing dozens of kilograms, but they cost hundreds of thousands, which I can't afford. I checked my pocket and found only seven hundred yuan. I still need to save three hundred for a high-speed train ticket, so I can only afford the smaller rough stones. After searching around, I finally found one. Looking at the egg-sized rough stone in front of me, I felt very dissatisfied. The cheapest one still costs five hundred yuan, and it's only the size

 I can't worry about that anymore; I can only go all in and take a gamble. I started picking through those egg-sized pieces. I wasn't in a hurry to make a decision. Experienced people in the gambling stone business know that the more you look and the less you buy, the less likely you are to get burned.

 I have to choose a site first. There's a saying in the jade gambling world: if you don't understand the site, you won't be able to gamble on jade. The so-called site is the place where jadeite is produced. The raw stones from each site can yield different types of goods. If we were to categorize them, there would be dozens of types. There are twenty-eight large sites and eight small sites, and they are further divided into new and old sites, making it very complicated.

 I saw a piece of material with a yellowish skin, very small, pointed at both ends, round in the middle, weighing less than a pound. At first glance, I knew it was a typical small piece from Dama Kan, known as "a nest of chickens." This type of material sells very well. I picked it up and saw that the skin was very thin. When I shone a strong light through it, it was very transparent, but it was hard to tell if there was any

 However, I have made up my mind to bet on this piece of stone. My father's research experience says that if the material from Dama Kan has thick skin and is misty black, it is not worth betting on. Betting on such material will result in a short gray base, the green is often biased towards blue, and it lacks resilience. However, this piece of material is the opposite, so it is worth betting on.

 I took the stone to the counter to settle the payment, which was five hundred yuan. They issued a receipt and asked me to wait in line. There were many people gambling on stones, and the master who cuts the stones was too busy.

 I had just stepped over there when I suddenly heard someone shout, "Haha, it's gone up! Fully colored, bean green material, over 200 jin. This must be worth over 20 million, right? Set off the fireworks, hurry up and set off the fireworks."

 I heard the shouting and leaned over to look. There were two large stones on the ground, split open in the middle, and inside was all bean green material. I was green with envy. This raw material was worth at least two million, but with this cut, it's a full piece, and it's bean green. It could easily sell for twenty million on the street. If it were mine, that would be great, but unfortunately, I don't have any money.

 "Bang bang bang..."

 A burst of firecrackers sounded from outside, and I saw a boss giving out red envelopes. Damn, each envelope had over a thousand yuan in it. He handed out more than a dozen, and everyone was crowding around him. It was really damn impressive.

 I tightly held this egg-sized raw stone in my hand. Damn it, whether it can produce an egg or a chicken depends on you. In the future, I want to live like this too.