Chapter 646: Going Out for Wool and Going Home Shorn
In contrast to Xue Yu’s shock and disbelief, Chu Yuan’s expression was somewhat unnatural. He originally thought that victory was already at hand. Of which, first, it would prove that he had the ability to suppress Tang Xiu, and second, the dinner he invited Xue Yu to attend to would happen as expected. He was even thinking of taking her to dinner in the presidential suite of the Long’s Dining Hall.
His smug, wishful thinking at this moment, however, came to nothing. The hen had flown away and the eggs in the coop were all broken. All was lost, and so was his chance to invite Xue Yu to dinner—all of which made him vexed and angry.
Compared to him, Master Huang was a bit excited. For him, in the capacity of a stone-cutting expert, being able to take out the best quality jade such as this Blood Jade was definitely an honor. Nevertheless, he was also well aware of the outcome of this gambling between Chu Yuan and Tang Xiu, which resulted in Chu Yuan’s loss.
However, he still had his own principle although being someone from the Imperial Garden. After taking out the Blood Jade, he took it and placed it on the tray, and then picked up the third chunk of stone material again.
“There’s no need to cut it, Elder Huang. I’ve lost already.”
Despite feeling vexed, Chu Yuan still displayed a frank and upright attitude. He nodded to Tang Xiu and then spoke to Master Huang.
“There’s no rush, Mr. Chu,” said Tang Xiu with a smile. “I still must cut this stone even though we don’t have a game of bet. Please continue, Master Huang.”
Hesitating for a moment, Master Huang still complied with Tang Xiu’s words. He spent two minutes cutting the stone with the stone-cutter machine as a green hue was then exposed to everyone present.
“This… this stone also has jade inside?”
Master Huang was shocked, and so was everyone around him as they wore disbelieving expressions. They knew that Tang Xiu’s three chunks of stone were all taken from the pile of stone materials at random by Master Huang. How come each of them contained jade materials?
Was it because Tang Xiu was lucky? Or was it that he was sure that these chunks of stone really had jade materials within?
The jade contained in the third chunk may not as good as the first and second, but it was still worth several million yuan should it be sold.
“I was careless.”
Rarely did Chu Yuan lose due to his cautious personality. He usually knew what he and his opponent could offer whenever he did something, and thus had the confidence that victory would be in his hand. The outcome of this gamble snapped him back to the realization that he was psychologically disturbed. He was aware that he wouldn’t have rashly proposed a gamble against Tang Xiu if Jade Beauty was not there.
After taking a deep breath, Chu Yuan slightly smiled and said, “Mr. Tang is indeed worthy as the Big Boss of the Magnificent Tang Corporation and the most outstanding member of the Tang Family. Your ability in stone gambling is truly deep and reaches the point of being superb. I’m really convinced. This Chu Yuan admits his loss.”
Tang Xiu replied with an odd expression painted his face, “You too have some good means, Mr. Chu. I did not expect that you have already found my identity so clearly with such a slight effort.”
“As a matter of fact, I’ve already learned about you long ago, Mr. Tang. It’s just that we just met and I couldn’t recall about you for a while,” said Chu Yuan with a light smile. “If anything, it’s not like I’m conceited or being smug, but there are not many people who can win me under the sky nowadays, so you do have that qualification, Mr. Tang.”
Tang Xiu raised his brows and did not want to continue talking with Chu Yuan about such wasteful words. What he needed now was to cut all the stoned he had purchased. Since the other party had already learned his identity, he did not want to conceal it anymore. And now that he had already won, he might as well add some more awesome things to give a clear message to this Imperial Garden’s heir apparent, that he was not someone who was easy to provoke.
“Please continue cutting the stones, Senior Huang!”
The eyes of Master Huang were filled with a somewhat strange expression as he looked at Tang Xiu. But still, he started cutting the fourth stone material with the help of the old man in Chinese tunic suit.
“There’s jade material!”
“This one, too!”
“How is this possible?”
“I…”
Master Huang continued cutting stones and took out the piece of jade of the stone. After two hours, a large number of jades and jadeites were taken out from more than a dozen chunks of stone.
At this time, Chu Yuan was shaken as he could hardly believe his eyes. It was because each chunk of stone bought by Tang Xiu contained jades or jadeites. This fact shattered his cognition and knowledge of stone gambling. Other than him, the young man and woman behind him were shocked to the point that it was hard to be surprised again at this time. Never once had they ever encountered such a demonically queer scene.
A radiant light flashed in Xue Yu’s beautiful eyes, as her eyes lingered on the stone chunks, jades, jadeites, and Tang Xiu. She was at the scene when Tang Xiu purchased these chunks of stone and witnessed him directly choosing these stone materials at that time and the deal he made with the owner and employees in those sheds.
It was so devilishly queer and strange!
Xue Yu found that she could not see through Tang Xiu at all. Not mentioning other aspects, just the stone gambling he had displayed was too terrifying and supernatural!
Eventually, when Master Huang was done cutting the twentieth chunk of stone, Xue Yu couldn’t help but stare at Tang Xiu and ask, “How exactly did you do it, Mr. Tang?”
“Huh?” Tang Xiu knew why she asked as he replied, “I don’t get what you mean.”
“Even if your luck is good, it’s impossible to bet with 100% accuracy like that,” said Xue Yu. “Jade materials are wrapped inside the stone, and however deep the knowledge and insight a normal person has, there’s no way they can bet with 100% accuracy like you. I think you should have a means to detect which stone chunk contain jade materials within.”
As Xue Yu spoke, Tang Xiu realized that everyone’s eyes were focused on him. He immediately grinned and smilingly said, “If I tell you my eyes have an X-ray ability to see through things, would you believe?”
Seeing through objects?
“How could it be possible?” Xue Yu shook her head.
“Since it’s impossible, then why did you ask in the first place?” Tang Xiu slightly smiled. “Everyone has their own secrets, and so do you and Mr. Chu. I do have a bit of talent in stone gambling, so what is the fuss about?”
Xue Yu was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly asked, “Can you really see through objects?”
“I myself am not sure whether I can do that, though,” said Tang Xiu with a smile. “I can, however, see that you are very beautiful. You’re definitely a beauty who is hard to pick. But of course, you will look more attractive if you can smile more.”
“What?” Xue Yu’s delicate body shivered, along with a gasp of astonishment. What Tang Xiu said was as though a thunderclap in her ears that blasted through her heart.
There was never a soul who had seen her appearance aside from her parents before, and she had been wearing a veil on her face all the time for as long as she could remember. According to the prophecies of her family, every woman in the family whose face was seen by a man would have her heart and life trajectory be seen beyond the façade. And eventually, she would also become the woman of that man.
This idea had been ingrained and deeply rooted inside her heart, and it made Xue Yu, who came out of the Miao Region’s mountains, shocked and frightened by Tang Xiu’s words.
At this moment, other than the stunned and frightened Xue Yu, Chu Yuan, who had a crush on Xue Yu, was also startled. He knew who the ancestors of Xue Yu’s family belonged to. Many times did he think he would be the first man to uncover her veil and become her only man.
But… if Tang Xiu really had seen Xue Yu’s true appearance, then…. it meant that he would never be able to get her even if he had the ability to overturn the heavens.
“Please don’t joke about that, Mr. Tang.” Chu Yuan’s expression turned extremely solemn, and each and every word he spoke was spoken seriously. There was even a trace of hostility in his eyes.
Tang Xiu was utterly startled as he looked at the shocked Xue Yu and Chu Yuan’s serious and hostile expression. A ridiculous thought suddenly emerged in his mind as he asked with an expression of being at a loss whether he had to cry or laugh, “You couldn’t have some weird custom in your family, right, Miss Xue? Like… the man who first see your face shall take and marry you as his wife?”
“Yes!” Xue Yue’s mind was in disorder. Her voice was also trembling a bit.
Tang Xiu rolled his eyes and snappily said, “What age are we in now? And yet you still retain such unreasonable custom? Just forget about it. I was just saying some nonsensical things. There’s no need to take it seriously. Furthermore, I have to advise you that feelings between a man and woman are not children’s play, and you must never treat marriage as a joke. You people… you had better abolish that nonsensical and unreasonable custom of yours earlier!”
Having said that, he did not want to continue paying attention to Xue Yu and Chu Yuan anymore. He turned to Master Huang and straightly said, “Please hurry and cut the stones! I don’t have much time. The faster you take out the jade materials from the stones, the earlier I can go home and eat.”
Xue Yu stared fixedly at Tang Xiu. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke, “Mr. Tang, since you have won the gambling house from Chu Yuan, you should have dinner with me tonight according to the bet.”
Tang Xiu casually waved his hand and said, “As a matter of fact, the stake put forward by Mr. Chu was for the sake of you, I can tell. Even if we do have dinner together, I still don’t have time for that since I must go home early to take care of my kids!”
Kids at home?
Xue Yu frowned and asked, “Are you married and already have children, Mr. Tang?”
“No.” Tang Xiu shook his head.
“Then what do you mean by saying that you have kids at home?” Asked Xue Yu once again.
“It’s my disciples. They are still small,” said Tang Xiu.
A struggling expression could be seen in Xue Yu’s eyes. After a long time, she slowly said, “In any case, I have nothing to do today. Since Mr. Tang has kids at home, then I’ll go with you! However, I don’t know if Mr. Tang would be willing to take me and have a light meal at your place.”
“Jade Beauty!” Chu Yuan’s face was a bit unsightly as he shouted in a heavy tone.
Xue Yu turned her head to look at him and lightly said, “Imperial Garden Young Master, don’t tell me the gambling between you and Mr. Tang was nothing but a joke you made?”
“This…”
Never did Chu Yuan regret something so much. He did not want to go back on his words, but neither did he want to have the woman he liked go to another man’s house for a meal.
“Boss, it’s just a meal, nothing more,” suddenly said the young woman behind him whispered.
Chu Yuan’s body shivered, and cold sweat immediately came out of his back. He realized that he had just been affected by his feelings between men and women. He had even birthed a few evil intentions towards Tang Xiu inside.
Heart-fire Cleansing Mantra.
Chu Yuan silently meditated in his heart and no longer spoke. He even refused to look at Xue Yu and Tang Xiu again. With his identity and ability, what he feared the most was the love affairs between men and women. If he drowned himself into it, the Heart Gate he had opened with great difficulty would highly likely be closed right away, and his twenty years of effort would be wasted, turning him into an ordinary person.