"iPhones cost money, but knock-off phones can cost your life!" No one knew how much time had passed before Lin Tiancheng slowly woke up.
Lin Tiancheng had been charging his newly bought phone, but as soon as he plugged it in, it exploded. Lin Tiancheng only felt as if his brain had been struck by something, and he fell into a deep stupor.
He opened his eyes, but there was no light—everything was pitch black. However, in his mind, he could clearly see a blue phone screen with an 'App Store' on it. At the top right corner of the screen was a battery icon, displaying 33.
"Is this... a phone?"
Immediately, a wave of terror shot up his spine, straight to his head.
"Have I turned into a phone?!"
"Lin Tiancheng, get down here!"
Hearing Wang Mengxin's lion-like roar from downstairs, Lin Tiancheng shuddered and his mind instantly cleared up. Using the faint light coming from the street outside, he hurried downstairs.
"What were you doing upstairs? Why is the power out in my shop?" Wang Mengxin, with her hands on her hips, looked fierce.
"I was just charging my phone upstairs, and then it exploded..."
"I don't care, I don't care! Do you know how much I pay for this shop's rent every day? This is prime time for business. You have one minute to fix it, or I'll dock your pay for a month."
Lin Tiancheng figured the power outage was caused by a short circuit from charging, so he said, "Sister Xin, let me use your phone, I'll go check the main switch."
"No battery."
Hearing Wang Mengxin say her phone was dead, Lin Tiancheng could only obediently grope his way back upstairs in the dark.
There was nothing he could do. Wang Mengxin held all the power over him—if she said she'd dock his pay for a month, she'd do it, and Lin Tiancheng couldn't argue at all.
Although Lin Tiancheng's body hadn't changed in any noticeable way, the phone screen in his mind never disappeared—it felt so real.
"I haven't turned into a phone... Could it be that the phone has merged with me?"
Everything around him was pitch black, and Lin Tiancheng suddenly thought of the 'App Store.' He wanted to try if the flashlight app in the 'App Store' would work.
With just a thought, he easily opened the 'App Store,' found the flashlight app, and selected it for download.
A prompt popped up on the screen: downloading the flashlight app requires 20 units of power. Without thinking, Lin Tiancheng confirmed the download.
Soon, the flashlight app was downloaded, and in the blue screen in his mind, a flashlight icon appeared.
Lin Tiancheng hesitantly chose to turn on the flashlight.
There was no light, but Lin Tiancheng found that his eyes had become exceptionally clear, and everything before him was now vividly visible.
Lin Tiancheng reached the main switch and, upon focusing, saw that the switch had indeed tripped.
He opened the plastic cover of the main switch and flipped it back on. Instantly, the power was restored.
Just as Lin Tiancheng turned around, his body froze for a moment.
"Wait, did I just see inside the switch without even opening the plastic cover? Could this be... X-ray vision?"
"Why are you still up here? Get down and stop slacking off!" Wang Mengxin had come upstairs to check on the situation. Seeing that Lin Tiancheng had restored the power, she urged him to get back downstairs to manage the shop.
Wang Mengxin was the owner of Fortune Stone Betting Shop. Although she called herself the owner, she was actually a few months younger than Lin Tiancheng. Her skin was smooth like cream, her features were delicate, and she wore a black knitted sweater that fit snugly, accentuating her perfect curves. Her ample chest formed a flawless M-shaped curve beneath the tight sweater.
Looking at Wang Mengxin in front of him, Lin Tiancheng's expression suddenly stiffened, and his face flushed red.
Just now, his gaze had been fixed on Wang Mengxin, and her clothes seemed to turn transparent one by one, revealing the snowy, surging waves beneath.
To Lin Tiancheng's surprise, despite Wang Mengxin's petite figure, she was quite well-endowed—at least a C-cup, judging by the impressive sight.
"What are you staring at? Where are your eyes wandering?!" Wang Mengxin demanded coldly when she noticed Lin Tiancheng staring blankly at her chest.
X-ray vision!
It was really X-ray vision!
Lin Tiancheng ignored Wang Mengxin, his face brimming with excitement as he quickly rushed downstairs.
Wang Mengxin's shop specialized in stone gambling.
Jadeite rough stones, when first mined, were covered in a layer of weathered skin, making it impossible to tell the quality inside without cutting them open. Only after cutting could one determine the quality of the jadeite.
No technology existed that could determine whether a rough stone contained jadeite or what kind it contained. People could only judge the value of the stone by its external features.
However, even the most experienced veterans relied mostly on luck when gambling on stones.
Lin Tiancheng wanted to know if his flashlight and X-ray vision abilities could let him see through the rough stones. If they could, then he would be unstoppable—he could win every bet and make a fortune!
In Wang Mengxin's shop, the stones were divided into two categories: full-gamble stones and half-gamble stones.
Full-gamble stones were completely untouched, and no one could determine whether they contained jadeite or what kind of jadeite might be inside—it was all up to luck.
The second category was half-gamble stones. For these stones, the seller had polished a small window into the stone, allowing a partial glimpse of what lay inside.
However, half-gamble stones that seemed promising were often expensive. Even if the jadeite inside turned out to be valuable, the profit was usually limited.
Especially with Wang Mengxin—she never cut full-gamble stones herself. If she thought a half-gamble stone had potential, she would secretly cut it once. If it turned out to be valuable, she kept it; if it wasn't, she would mix it in with the full-gamble stones and sell it, tricking inexperienced buyers.
Lin Tiancheng was, of course, interested in the full-gamble stones, which offered the possibility of immense profits.
After coming downstairs, Lin Tiancheng focused intently on a full-gamble stone, and his heart surged with excitement—although this particular stone had nothing inside, it confirmed that he could indeed see through jadeite rough stones!
Next, Lin Tiancheng used his X-ray vision to examine several other full-gamble stones in Wang Mengxin's shop.
To his disappointment, out of so many stones, only a few contained jadeite, and even those had poor quality.
With no other choice, Lin Tiancheng turned his attention to the half-gamble stones.
When his gaze landed on a basketball-sized half-gamble stone, his heart skipped a beat.
Inside the stone, there was an egg-sized piece of jadeite of excellent quality. Based on Lin Tiancheng's experience, it was worth at least a hundred thousand yuan.
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Tiancheng casually pointed to the half-gamble stone and asked, "Sister Xin, how much is this one?"
"Don't you have eyes? Look at the price tag," Wang Mengxin rolled her eyes at him.
Feeling embarrassed, Lin Tiancheng said, "I mean, if I want to buy it, how much would it be?"
"You have money now?" Wang Mengxin's interest was piqued, and she eyed Lin Tiancheng suspiciously.
Lin Tiancheng had recently bought his girlfriend an iPhone 7 on an installment plan, and he himself was using a knock-off phone—he was practically broke.
But if he could cut this rough stone, he would have money. At least a hundred thousand yuan—that would be an astronomical figure for him.
Lin Tiancheng said, "Could you perhaps..."
"Nope, absolutely not."
"I haven't even said what I want yet."
"Whatever it is, the answer is no. I don't want to hear it."
Lin Tiancheng had originally wanted to ask Wang Mengxin to let him buy the stone on credit, but judging by her attitude, there was no way she would agree.
As long as he had X-ray vision, there was no rush to gamble on stones. After thinking for a moment, Lin Tiancheng said, "Sister Xin, it's my girlfriend's birthday today. She invited some classmates, and I might need some money. Could I get an advance on my salary for this month?"
Wang Mengxin gave Lin Tiancheng an incredulous look and said, "Advance on your salary? What salary? Do you know your pay is docked until 2026?"