Hearing that Kong Xiuyao wanted to earn money himself, Qiu Lingruo patted her waist pouch and said, "Master, with me by your side, you don't have to worry about money. I've worked hard for the past two years and have saved up a lot of money. It's enough for you to squander!"
Qiu Lingruo was indeed not lying. The information she gathered was timely and accurate, and the quotation in the industry belonged to the top of the industry. Moreover, she had opened a black market. Even if she accompanied Kong Xiuyao to farm in the countryside all day, she would still earn a lot of money every day. Logically speaking, Kong Xiuyao did not have to worry about money at all.
It was a pity that Kong Xiuyao was not used to reaching out to people. Otherwise, he would not have pushed away his private plane and taken a civilian flight.
"You're giving me money? Can you give me forever?" Kong Xiuyao said indifferently.
"Why not?!" Qiu Lingruo raised her voice and leaned on Kong Xiuyao's shoulder. She said lovingly, "As long as Master is willing, I'm willing to follow you from heaven to hell. I'm even willing to follow you in my next life!
"Eh—" He moved his shoulders and squeezed Qiu Lingruo out. "All of you, you haven't been growing your abilities, but you're so good at saying corny things. You're really taking it as a tonic."
"Hehe, who asked you to be our master? We all admire you!" Qiu Lingruo blinked her big eyes and said.
Even though her words were mushy, she was indeed sincere, so there was no doubt in her speech.
After all, Kong Xiuyao had taught his disciples everything and given them the ability to settle down and survive, creating one success after another. Otherwise, with their own abilities, they might still be struggling somewhere.
Sometimes, Qiu Lingruo even felt that Kong Xiuyao was treating them like outsiders. Even though he could earn a lot of money with just a flick of his finger, he still had to earn it bitterly.
But she did not understand Kong Xiuyao's true thoughts.
It was not that Kong Xiuyao and his disciples were polite. Kong Xiuyao was still confident in giving money. However, what he earned and what he wanted were completely different.
Money was easy to obtain but hard to obtain. At Kong Xiuyao's realm, money was really just a worldly possession. As long as he moved his hands, he could earn it easily. There was no need to waste favors.
"Let's go and take a look around to see where we can get money," Kong Xiuyao said.
Qiu Lingruo nodded and followed behind him. At the same time, she sent a message to her fellow disciples in the capital to prepare for her master's arrival.
...
Guangjin Antique Market was located in an ancient town ten kilometers away from Quanhe Province.
This was a tourist attraction that Quanhe Province had focused on developing in the past two years. It was famous for its historic old city and strange antiques. Tens of thousands of tourists visited it every day, greatly boosting the economic development of the ancient town.
Most importantly, there was a special item in the Guangjin Antique Market that was not available elsewhere—stone gambling!
The ancient town even specially cleared a street for this.
Every morning, the vendor would carry the uncut quarry stones he claimed to have transported from the border of Myanmar. They were placed on top of the unrolled stones. The stones were of various sizes and looked like they had arrived at a riverbank.
Selling stones here was like selling watermelons. The sound of grinding stones could last from morning to night. It was very lively. Every time a stone was opened, there would be a burst of screaming. Either they would cry tears of joy and not have to work hard for five years, or they would beat their chests and lose everything.
More importantly, there was a jade acquisition shop called "Treasure Court" on the stone gambling street. The owner was "Golden Eyes Wan Lang".
He was both an archaeologist and an expert in appraisals. The purchase price in the shop was also very fair. As long as he offered good jade materials, he would be paid in cash on the spot. There had never been any fraud.
Therefore, even if the guests did not gamble on stones, they would still come to take a look and broaden their horizons.
If Kong Xiuyao wanted to get money in a short period of time, not only would he have to pay for the plane tickets, but he would also have to pay for his expenses in the capital and his uncle's medical fees. His parents' tens of thousands of yuan would most likely not be enough. After all, when he was outside, money was everywhere.
He first brought Qiu Lingruo around the streets twice and realized that there were indeed a few good untrimmed quarry stones. However, because of their abnormal appearance, almost no one cared about them.
"Master, based on my years of experience gathering information, that piece! It's guaranteed to be a good piece!" Qiu Lingruo pulled Kong Xiuyao and said softly, "Look, a clear aqua color is exposed at the corner!"
Kong Xiuyao saw the stone that Qiu Lingruo was pointing at. It looked like a larger dark cobblestone, but there was a flat surface facing the tourists. It was so flat that it looked like it had been cut from stone. The aqua colour that Qiu Lingruo found was in the lower right corner. If one did not look carefully, they would not be able to tell.
"Do you want it?" Kong Xiuyao asked.
"My observation skills are extraordinary. Don't worry, Master!" Qiu Lingruo was full of confidence.
When the old man selling stones saw the two of them stop in front of the stall, he immediately stood up and greeted them. "Sirs, I brought all my stones from the mountains of Myanmar. I'll open the ones you choose right now! Which one do you like?"
"That piece!" Qiu Lingruo said anxiously. She didn't even have time to listen to Kong Xiuyao's analysis.
"Aiyo!" The old man's narrowed eyes widened in surprise. "Miss, you have good eyesight! One look and I can tell that you're an expert! This stone is 3,000 yuan! I'll open it for you for free!"
Qiu Lingruo lost herself in the old man's words. The smile on her face was even brighter than the sun at noon in August. She reached into her pocket and was about to pay.
Seeing this, Kong Xiuyao immediately squeezed her hand that was holding the money and said, "20 yuan."
???
The old man's facial features twisted together. He craned his neck and tilted his ear. "Say that again?"
"15 yuan to buy a lesson for my disciple." Kong Xiuyao's expression remained unchanged as he haggled.
The old man stared at Kong Xiuyao in shock. If it weren't for the fact that he was dressed decently, he would have thought that he was here to cause trouble. He held the stone like it was a supreme treasure and smiled bitterly. "You negotiated too fiercely. Add a bit more if you have the sincerity, I will not refute your price!"
"Ten yuan. If you don't give it to me, I'll leave." Kong Xiuyao turned around and pretended to leave.
The more the old man said, the lower the price. The old man didn't dare to say anything and hurriedly stopped Kong Xiuyao. "Don't go! Ten yuan it is. Just treat it as me making a friend at a loss. But let me make this clear first. If the material is good, I'll introduce you to Boss Wan. You have to give me some intermediary fees. Otherwise, I'll suffer a huge loss."
"Stop nagging and open the stone." Kong Xiuyao turned around and handed the ten yuan to the old man.
After this set of actions, Qiu Lingruo did not even dare to breathe loudly.
Kong Xiuyao's bargaining method could be said to be ferocious! If it were anywhere else, he would definitely be beaten up. However, the magical thing was that the boss actually agreed! After all, the boss did not have X-ray vision. He did not know what was inside before it was opened.
Qiu Lingruo licked her lips and stared at the old man as he placed the raw stone on the stone-cutting machine. Her heart was pounding. She thought to herself, "What can we get for 10 yuan?"