Next to the bearded man were dark gray, yellow-brown, and copper-green stones in various sizes, some as small as a fist and some over two meters tall and three feet wide.
These stones were also known as jadeite ore, from which the colorful and stunning jadeite gems were born.
Upon hearing this, the bearded man snorted with a hint of meaning:
"If you can afford the price, of course they're for sale."
"Then let me choose first."
Yu Xian did not argue with him about quick wit, letting him have his moment of pride for now.
He walked into the booth, gently touching the raw ores with his palm.
Although his spiritual sense could barely extend beyond his body, extending it through his body helped conserve his energy.
As his spiritual sense penetrated the ore, he felt a strong resistance and could only vaguely perceive some images.
Furthermore, every time his spiritual sense delved deeper, he felt his mental energy being consumed more rapidly.
Fortunately, he only needed a quick glance with his spiritual sense. Jadeite and stone had different physical properties, so the resistance to his spiritual sense was naturally different as well.
Soon, an image of the dissected ore took shape in his mind.
In just a moment, he had reviewed all the more than thirty raw ore pieces in the bearded man's booth.
It was indeed worthy of being exhibited for trading, with high-quality ore; almost every piece contained jadeite.
"These, these, and this... I want them all!"
Yu Xian picked out a few pieces with the largest and most abundant jadeite, but ironically, the largest raw ore had only a few pieces of jadeite inside.
Lan Xiaohe immediately approached the bearded man to negotiate the price in secret.
"Sir, in total, these seven ores will cost you one thousand eight hundred taels."
"Give it to him." Yu Xian took out the silver bills and handed them to Lan Xiaohe, "Also, find someone to help me cut open all these stones, right in front of him."
Yes, he could be that petty.
Lan Xiaohe understood what Yu Xian wanted to do, which was nothing more than to choose a few good materials to make the man regret his words.
However, she wasn't very optimistic because the ores the man brought out were ones even he couldn't be sure of, and the good ones they were confident about would have already been cut open.
The ones that even the experts couldn't guarantee and were brought out randomly were unlikely to contain anything good.
Even if they did find something good, as long as it doesn't hurt him, why would he regret it?
But at this time, she could only follow the wishes of Yu Xian.
"No problem, sir, I'll personally oversee it here."
"Leave it to you then, Yulan. Let's go around and pick some gifts for you and Sister Xiao Yi."
Yu Xian's temper came and went quickly, and as long as no one touched his taboos, he would generally let things go.
After all, he often provoked others as well.
That kind of attitude where someone would have to kill a whole family just because of a glare wasn't suitable for him.
"Master, we have already spent so much money today. Let's not buy any gifts, okay?"
Yulan leaned on Yu Xian's arm and spoke softly.
Yu Xian couldn't help but laugh, "What? We haven't even entered yet, and you're already thinking about saving me money?"
"Master..."
Yulan's cheeks turned slightly red, shaking her arm attached to Yu Xian's as a sign of protest.
"Money is like a rotten egg; if you don't spend, it won't come."
As he said this, Yu Xian had already brought Yulan to another booth, pointing at a fist-sized, wasted piece cut in half on the ground.
"Boss, this material is quite nice. Let me have a look."
If he hadn't sensed it wrong, the spiritual energy was currently leaking out of the stone piece, which would dissipate in a few days if not discovered.
Compared to the weak spiritual energy inherent in the jade itself, this spiritual energy could be absorbed by the human body.
"Uh? Are you mistaken, dear customer? This is a waste material, worthless. I was just about to clean it up."
The booth owner was a portly middle-aged man wearing a blue official's costume, looking quite surprised at the moment.
"I am a person who likes to collect strange and bizarre stones, like the one you have here. Look at all the black spots inside it, doesn't it look like a unique fruit?
There's only half of it here, where's the other half? Give me both halves and name a price."
Yu Xian acted like a rich and willful person.
The middle-aged boss looked down and quickly found the other half of the waste material,
"This is a stone that has been cut and discarded. It was originally meant to be thrown away, but since you like it, sir, I'll give it to you."
"I don't want to take advantage of you. Here are ten taels of silver to pay for it."
Yu Xian wrapped up the two stones and handed over a silver ingot.
"How strange, someone rushing to give me silver. Heh, thank you for your generosity, Young Master."
The boss muttered a word, took the silver, and even made a respectful bow, making Yu Xian burst into laughter.
"Yulan, put these away. These are gifts for your sister Xiao Yi."
Yu Xian tossed the stones to Yulan.
Yulan held the two stones, dumbfounded, and whispered, "Sir, we don't have to be that thrifty."
"You just advised me to spend less, but now you think I'm being too thrifty?" Yu Xian said with a grin.
Yulan blushed and stammered, "Then, then the gift you buy for me later can cost no more than ten taels of silver."
"No way!"
Yu Xian resolutely refused and rubbed Yulan's face with both hands.
"I must spend at least one thousand taels on you!"
"Boss, you heard him. Give me a suitable gift for one thousand taels."
"Alright, sir, please wait a moment."
The middle-aged boss was all smiles, immediately bent down and began looking for a gift.
A thousand taels was already a big deal for him, but it paled in comparison to the deals worth tens of thousands of taels today.
"Sir, what do you think of this Dragon and Phoenix Jade Pendant?"
The middle-aged boss held out a brocade box, inside which were a pair of dragon and phoenix jade pendants with a soft luster.
"This pair of jade pendants is a work from Master Cai Qiang of Norblue County when he was young, made from the finest smooth white jade. They are translucent, lifelike, and happen to be a pair, perfect for the two of you.
The original price was one thousand two hundred taels, but now only one thousand taels will do."
"Alright, I'll take it."
Yu Xian didn't mention buying it at the original price; it's still a difference of 200 taels after all.
He knew when to save and when to spend, he wasn't stupid.
Yu Xian paid and collected the jade pendants, putting the phoenix pendant on Yulan's waist and wearing the dragon pendant himself.
He tapped the jade pendant with his finger, making a crisp sound, and joked:
"This can also be considered our token of affection."
"Yes!"
Yulan nodded earnestly, looking down at the jade pendant swaying at her waist, her face unable to hide her delight.
Next, the two walked around the second-floor booth for several more rounds.
This time, Yu Xian wasn't so lucky to sense spiritual energy within cut stones, so he had to have a closer look at each one, taking it slow.
Meanwhile, he also saw the other jade pieces mentioned by Lan Xiaohe.
One was larger than the one at the bearded man's booth, a white jade piece; another was smaller, made of red jade, and had been carved into a money tree, both treasures of the shop.
The money tree had been sold for a price of one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.
Yu Xian looked on enviously.
Damn, awfully rich man!
It wasn't until an hour later that Yu Xian found the second jade stone containing spiritual energy and bought it for eighty taels of silver.
Suddenly.
There was a series of exclamations from a corner, drawing everyone's attention.
"Holy sh*t!"
"Holy sh*t!"
"What happened?"
"I heard someone opening stones over there, and the fourth one turned out to be a full green!"
"Isn't that normal? Today, there have been at least thirty full green stones found."
"Damn it, you don't understand. That person only opened five stones, and none of them were duds. Four of them were full green. What kind of godly luck is that?"
"Holy sh*t! I've got to go and get some of that luck."