Chapter 77: The Competition
Lin Tian was following behind with a cigarette in his mouth, thinking to himself, "Dinner later? Let’s see what you say once it’s cut open!"
The emerald stone was lifted down from the small cart hill, and the same master who operated the cutting machine began the slicing process again.
Xia Jianren stared at the stone with excitement, while Bai Shishi had a bit of worry on her face. Lin Tian, on the other hand, found a little stool to sit on and was ready to enjoy watching Xia Jianren’s expression in a moment.
The big stone was split in half and all they saw was pitch black. Even the master with the cutting machine sensibly said nothing this time.
It’s a loss, a huge loss indeed.
"How could it be?" Xia Jianren looked at the pitch-black inside of the stone, feeling completely off.
"Should we cut another piece?" the master in charge of cutting asked.
"Make one horizontal cut!" Although the first attempt failed, the stone was big, and Xia Jianren quickly regained his confidence.
After the second cut, the stone still appeared pitch black.
"Go for a third cut!" Xia Jianren was skeptical about bad luck.
After the third cut, the stone was already shattered into six small pieces, with only one showing a bit of a green glow while the rest had completely black surfaces.
"Want to try a fourth cut?"
"No need!" Xia Jianren, stepping on the cigarette butts all over the floor, put the last cigarette in the pack into his mouth.
"Was it a loss?" Bai Shishi came over.
"It was a loss, a big loss this time!" Xia Jianren had an apologetic and extremely awkward look on his face.
He had just confidently guaranteed a massive gain, and the next moment he suffered a big loss. No wonder Xia Jianren felt exceptionally awkward due to the big contrast.
Isn’t it just like slapping oneself in the face?
"I always said it was just a stone!" Lin Tian snorted coldly from his stool.
"Shut up!" Xia Jianren was already pissed off, and Lin Tian’s words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire: "It’s all your fault for jinxing it. Otherwise, how could I be this unlucky today?"
"That’s just blaming the toilet when you can’t go!" Lin Tian retorted.
"You!!!" Xia Jianren was so angry that his face turned red and his neck thickened. He finally managed to say the rest after a long pause: "You are barking while standing. How about we compete?"
"Bring it on! Like I’m afraid of you!" After two stone betting attempts, Lin Tian understood how this worked completely and realized that Xia Jianren, the so-called expert in stone betting, was actually not that good. He only talked big but had no actual skills!
Afraid of him?
"We should think of ways to earn back the money we lost!" Bai Shishi crossed her arms, feeling quite helpless.
They originally planned to earn some money from stone betting. Now, they lost over 1.4 million before they even started.
"Shishi, manage his mouth. I will earn back the money for you!" Xia Jianren patted his chest in guarantee again.
This time, not just Lin Tian, even Bai Shishi didn’t believe him. After two guarantees came two big losses. Xia Jianren just moved his mouth, while it was herself bearing the losses.
"Miss Bai, I can earn it back for you!" Lin Tian patted his chest and guaranteed.
"Really?" Bai Shishi raised an eyebrow.
"Better than some so-called experts!" Lin Tian side remarked, indirectly mocking him.
"Humph!" Xia Jianren snorted coldly, implying that Lin Tian was just talking as well.
"How about we give it another try?" Bai Shishi was also undecided about whose words to believe.
Lin Tian was right twice, they were indeed just stones.
But Xia Jianren is supposed to be the expert in this field...
"Shishi, trust me. I can definitely help you earn back the money!" Not wanting Lin Tian to participate, Xia Jianren spoke up again.
Seeing Bai Shishi’s hesitant expression, Xia Jianren confidently said, "I am the real expert in this area!"
"Have you heard this saying?" Lin Tian raised his head and laughed.
"What saying?"
"Experts are foolish unto death!"
"You!" Xia Jianren pointed at Lin Tian’s nose and scolded, "Do you want to get beaten?"
"I’m indeed asking for it. Come beat me, then!" Lin Tian even presented his face to him.
"Enough, both of you stop arguing!" Bai Shishi raised her voice, stopping the quarrel between the two.
"How about this? We have a competition, and whoever loses will pay back Bai Shishi for the two stones just now!" Xia Jianren confidently challenged Lin Tian.
Xia Jianren’s confidence was not without reason: part was his faith in his own stone betting skills, and another was that Lin Tian, working under Bai Shishi, surely wouldn’t have 1.4 million.
"Sure!" Lin Tian nodded without hesitation.
Lin Tian’s straightforward answer left Xia Jianren with a shocked face, and even Bai Shishi looked at him with disbelief.
Leaving aside whether Lin Tian had 1.4 million, he didn’t even know how to bet on stones. On what grounds could he compete with Xia Jianren?
"Lin Tian, are you sure?" Bai Shishi frowned tightly.
Originally, the 1.4 million loss was because Xia Jianren chose the wrong ones. If Lin Tian really lost, it would surely be just taking a fall for Xia Jianren. Isn’t that plainly foolish?
"Sure!" Lin Tian nodded!
Lose?
Against Xia Jianren, this half-hearted expert, he didn’t even know how to spell lose.
"Shishi, don’t meddle between us. Today, you can recover the 1.4 million loss from him!" Xia Jianren originally felt guilt towards Bai Shishi and was thinking of making up for the 1.4 million loss from the betting.
Now it couldn’t be better; the fool actually volunteered to take the blame. It couldn’t get any better.
"Fine, I won’t interfere between you two!" Bai Shishi sighed and suddenly regretted bringing Lin Tian to see the world.
Great!
This 1.4 million loss is something she would definitely bear, so Bai Shishi resigned to it.
If Lin Tian loses, just treat it as a lesson for him, so he won’t be so arrogant in the future.
Unlike Bai Shishi’s worry and Xia Jianren’s gloating, Lin Tian didn’t care at all since he wouldn’t lose. Plus, someone was willing to fork out 1.4 million, why not be happy about it?
Since both agreed, the stone betting competition officially started.
Xia Jianren inspected stones in the market on his own, while Lin Tian and Bai Shishi looked at stones together.
"Lin Tian, you idiot, why insist on competing?" Bai Shishi reprimanded when Xia Jianren wasn’t around.
"Miss Bai, rest assured, I definitely won’t lose!" Lin Tian’s face was full of confidence.
"Ay... you really are!" Bai Shishi saw Lin Tian’s confidence as arrogance and conceit.
"Boss, how much is this stone?" Lin Tian almost looked through all the stones in the market, finally stopping beside a head-sized stone.
The shop owner was visibly stunned when Lin Tian asked about this pitch-black stone and quickly gave a price: "This one’s 200,000!"
"So expensive!" Lin Tian smacked his lips. Judging by its appearance, this emerald stone wasn’t good, with a black surface and several dents, indicating it might not contain emeralds inside.
But if Lin Tian chose this stone, he had his reasons: "Can it be cheaper?"