Old Madam Su thought this was a good idea. "Rongrong, if you want to go, Grandma will find a way."
Su Rong had just finished her junior year when she was sent to prison, so returning to A University to study was virtually out of the question. To establish a firm footing in high society, getting some credentials from Socialites Hall seemed like a decent choice. "Then I must trouble Grandma."
The instructors at Socialites Hall were invited experts renowned in their respective fields, and they frequently hosted talent competitions. It was said that many wealthy and powerful families prioritized talented young women from Socialites Hall when selecting spouses for their heirs.
Su Xuer thought to herself that Socialites Hall had strict rules and had never made an exception for anyone. No matter how much the old hag doted on Su Rong, there was no way she could forcefully shove Su Rong in.
She had brought it up merely to show off and step on Su Rong in the process. "Grandma, I'm heading to Yugong first."
With that, she drove off in her Ferrari.
Old Madam Su smiled at Su Rong. "Go test drive your new car and take it out for a spin."
"Mmm, thank you, Grandma." Su Rong got into the red Porsche parked in the courtyard and dialed Liu Xu's number. Liu Xu was her best friend, the daughter of the Liu Family, and had always been her closest confidante.
The two agreed to meet at the international shopping mall.
Liu Xu greeted her with a huge hug before she noticed the injuries on Su Rong's body, and she almost burst into tears. "Who did this to you? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
During Su Rong's three years in prison, only Liu Xu had visited her regularly, always bringing her something. Not wanting to burden Liu Xu, Su Rong had always carefully concealed her injuries.
"I happened to go abroad these past few days, and things got a bit hectic. I rushed back and only arrived home last night, so I didn't even have time to pick you up. I'm so sorry."
"It's fine, I know you've been busy." Old friends meeting up had an endless stream of things to talk about. As they strolled and chatted, Su Rong told her about what had happened last night.
Liu Xu was furious. "Ever since Su Xuer came back, I knew she was no good, but I never expected her to plot against you the moment you got out. Good thing you were smart enough."
"Why don't you move out of the Sheng Family? I'll rent a place for you. With your intelligence and capability, making a living on your own will be a breeze."
"I can't move out of the Sheng Family just yet. I still have things to do." Su Rong and her stepped into a brand boutique; she needed to buy some clothes.
After lunch, Liu Xu took out two admission tickets. "There's a jade auction later. I'll take you to check it out."
The Liu Family was in the jewelry and jade business, and Su Rong had grown up playing in jade shops with Liu Xu. She had once received guidance from a veteran master craftsman in the shop and had a profound understanding of the field.
The two went to a club in the suburbs.
A sizable crowd had already gathered in the hall. Dozens of raw jade stones, ranging in size, were displayed on a mutton-fat jade exhibition stand, and people stood around chatting and laughing.
Su Rong caught sight of a familiar figure—Sheng Qiye. What was he doing here?
Liu Xu followed her gaze. "That's the heir of the Sheng Family. I heard the old master of the Sheng Family loves collecting jade, and today's auction is hosted by Old Buddha, the president of the Jade Association. Old Buddha has a discerning eye, and these raw stones were all meticulously handpicked by him. Who knows, there might be unexpected surprises."
Su Rong approached the exhibition stand, stared closely at the raw stones on it, and as she turned her head, her gaze met Sheng Qiye's. She nodded to acknowledge him, but Sheng Qiye frowned slightly and shifted his gaze past her back to the stones.
Leng Xiao stood beside Sheng Qiye and smiled at Su Rong, to which Su Rong responded with a polite smile.
The auction began, and everyone found seats. Sheng Qiye sat in the middle of the front row; with him there, everyone else consciously yielded the prime seats.
Su Rong pulled Liu Xu along and managed to grab a seat directly behind Sheng Qiye.
The first raw stone appeared on the big screen, priced at twenty thousand. The auctioneer raised his gavel and shouted, "Starting bid at twenty thousand, with increments of one thousand each."
Bids went up one after another from the crowd.
It was eventually sold for thirty thousand.
Sheng Qiye sat motionlessly through the first few raw stones. When lot number nine came up, he raised his paddle and directly called out fifty thousand.
Su Rong leaned in behind him. "President Sheng, this stone is worthless. Bid on number twenty-five instead. No matter how much it costs, you must win it. Trust me."
A trace of surprise flashed across Sheng Qiye's stern face. "You understand jade?"
Su Rong replied, "I know a thing or two."
Sheng Qiye didn't take her words entirely to heart, but he stopped bidding on the number nine raw stone. When number twenty-five came up, Su Rong reminded him in his ear once more, "President Sheng..."
As if possessed, Sheng Qiye raised his paddle and immediately bid fifty thousand. This was a dusty, ash-gray thunder-struck stone, slightly larger than a fist, its surface covered in honeycomb-like depressions as if it had been eroded by acid rain for a century.
As soon as he shouted the price, it drew a wave of laughter from the surroundings. "What kind of eye does President Sheng even have?"
"Everyone misjudges things sometimes. The man just has money to burn, maybe he's just playing around."
"I wouldn't want this broken stone even if someone paid me a dollar."
Leng Xiao was puzzled. What was wrong with his boss? Had he been bewitched by Su Rong? "Young Master, this isn't about the money..."
Spending a huge sum of money on a useless stone would only invite ridicule.
Sheng Qiye wasn't in this specific trade, but he had an exceptionally unique eye for it, having previously bought several valuable pieces of jadeite and gemstones. What was wrong with him today?
"Just this one." Sheng Qiye didn't bid on any other jade.
After all the raw stones were auctioned off, the cutting began. This type of auction inherently involved an element of gambling; some people rejoiced while others wept.
The raw stone Sheng Qiye had initially started to bid on turned out to be imperial green jadeite. Because of Su Rong, he had given up on that piece, and the boss who won lot number nine beamed with joy. "President Sheng, I yield to you, I yield to you! Hahaha..."
Everyone else looked utterly confused. Why would Sheng Qiye abandon such fine jadeite and choose a worthless, unwanted rock instead?
Finally, it was the turn of Sheng Qiye's stone. When the diamond saw blade started up, everyone formed a semi-circle to watch the joke unfold.
The first cut sliced vertically into the densest part of the honeycomb area. Amidst the splashing stone dust, blue-purple sparks burst forth, and beneath the gray-white rock strata lay web-like red mineral veins, crawling like red hematite through blood vessels.
Someone shouted, "Bloodstone? Twenty thousand at most. Looks like even President Sheng can trip up?"
Sheng Qiye turned his head to look at Su Rong.
Su Rong didn't have a hundred percent certainty and felt a bit nervous herself. "Don't rush, hasn't it reached the core yet?"
Sheng Qiye stared closely at the cut jade, stood up, walked over, and pointed at the crack in the mineral. "Master, switch to a 0.1-millimeter diamond blade..."
The veteran master followed his instructions and gently rubbed along the path of the red veins using the diamond blade.
When the thirteenth layer of stone skin peeled away, a gasp of astonishment rose from the crowd. A pigeon-blood ruby was embedded within a cluster of transparent crystals, resembling a frozen fire-meteor, with hair-thin gold threads suspended inside the crystal.
Old Buddha, the president of the Jade Association, cried out, "Stellar pigeon-blood!"
The appraiser tremblingly raised a tenfold magnifying glass. Those gold threads turned out to be naturally formed gold crystals!
"It really is stellar pigeon-blood! I saw one at an auction in Country M that sold for the astronomical price of twenty million US dollars, and this one's volume is at least..."
"As expected of President Sheng, his eye is simply too sharp!"
"I told you so! President Sheng almost never misses. How could he possibly spend a high price on a useless stone?"
Sheng Qiye picked up the extracted gemstone. Now, he couldn't help but admire Su Rong's discerning eye, though he still didn't understand how a young girl like her knew all this.
Su Rong let out a breath of relief, her hanging heart finally settling.
Seeing Sheng Qiye's retreating back, she hurried after him. "President Sheng, I helped you get the gemstone, and you're just going to leave like this?"