Chapter 31 – A Debt of Ten Million?

Su Xue’er leaned close to Qin Yu’s ear and whispered a few words. Qin Yu laughed.

“Su Rong, didn’t you say that the broken stone you picked up is worth more than ours? Today’s auction also counts as a gamble on jade. How about this: if your useless stone produces a gem, we’ll pay out… five million. If we win, you’ll pay us ten million. After all, we spent sixty million on ours, while you only spent ten thousand to pick up yours…”

Liu Xu interrupted, “You’ve got it backward. Su Rong only spent ten thousand. If she can beat something worth sixty million, the odds should favor her much higher, right?”

Others chimed in, “That makes sense. The lower the probability, the higher the payout.”

Qin Yu puffed her cheeks in anger. “Fine, then we’ll reverse it. If Su Rong wins, we’ll give her ten million. If we win, she owes us five million. But Su Rong, do you even have five million?”

Su Xue’er smiled at Su Rong. “Sister, you’d better think carefully—where will you get five million?”

Su Rong indeed didn’t have five million. Besides, to use a stone bought for ten thousand to compete against one bid for sixty million was, in anyone’s eyes, hopeless.

Just as she was troubled, Sheng Qiye spoke up:

“This stone has already been given to me by Su Rong. I’ll cover the five-million wager.”

Su Rong looked uneasy. “How can that be? I caused this, so I should bear the responsibility.”

Sheng Qiye replied, “I believe in your judgment.”

Su Rong froze for a moment, even more embarrassed. What if her judgment wasn’t that good? Wouldn’t she be betraying his trust? No matter how sharp her eyes were, these two stones weren’t on the same level at all! But since the words had already been spoken, she couldn’t take them back.

“…Alright then. Thank you, President Sheng.”

At worst, she thought, she’d just make a few more trips to the black market. She didn’t want to owe Sheng Qiye too much.

Qin Chufeng, having just spent sixty million, still felt his heart pounding. Though he had participated in auctions before, he had never successfully bid on a truly valuable gem. Before he could even calm down, Qin Yu and Su Rong had finalized a bet. But compared to that picked-up scrap stone, he was still confident.

Yet… why would Sheng Qiye pay for Su Rong? What was their relationship now? Sheng Qiye already had a fiancée, so why was he so close to Su Rong? His mind was in chaos. He could only hope his stone revealed something extraordinary—otherwise, it would be a huge loss.

The bidding ended. Everyone paid for their items, got their invoices, and the real moment began—the thrilling stone-cutting.

Everyone politely let Su Rong and Qin Chufeng’s stones be cut first. They too were eager to see what surprises two stones of such drastically different prices would bring.

Su Xue’er couldn’t wait to wear a gemstone necklace. “Let’s cut ours first.”

The auction master personally came, glanced at Sheng Qiye, who gave a nod.

The stone master placed Qin Chufeng’s No. 2 raw stone—twenty kilos of old pit Mo-wan-ji material—onto the machine. The moment the first slice revealed its surface, the hall went silent.

Beneath the dark-purple mist layer, a tender cherry-pink glow shone through. When mineral water splashed over it, a palm-sized window opened, showing a violet base with floating green “flower” patterns. The spring-colored hues spread like ink bleeding into rice paper.

A cry of surprise erupted. “If it keeps cutting like this, there will definitely be more surprises inside!”

The gem appraiser’s voice trembled, magnifying glass showing snowflake-like cotton fibers. “Glutinous ice variety, water content above two degrees! What a treasure…”

Su Xue’er clutched Qin Chufeng’s hand. “This is great, Brother Chufeng—we actually got a gem!”

Qin Yu smirked at Su Rong. “Just wait to lose! Sister-in-law, let’s celebrate later—someone’s about to pay us five million. That’s enough to buy a lot of things.”

Su Xue’er was thrilled. She didn’t understand jade or its value, but judging from everyone’s reactions, she could imagine wearing bracelets worth as much as a mansion. She looked smugly at Su Rong.

“Sister, don’t blame me for being blunt—you really don’t understand this at all. Don’t try to give advice in the future. Look, you even dragged President Sheng into this, making him lose five million for nothing.”

Su Rong only stared at the raw stone. “What’s the rush? The cutting isn’t finished yet.”

Qin Chufeng clenched his fists, cold sweat on his forehead, his body tense. He had spent sixty million—if it was only worth five million, the loss was enormous. He could only pray for another miracle.

But no such miracle appeared. The stone turned out decent enough: high-ice clarity with imperial purple, market value above five million, with collectible worth.

A faint smile flickered across Sheng Qiye’s lips. Su Rong had said anything over four million wasn’t worth bidding for.

Qin Chufeng felt dizzy. Tens of millions, just gone like that.

Qin Yu’s face fell. “Only worth this much? We lost big then?”

Su Xue’er was still excited. “It’s fine, Brother Chufeng. As long as it’s from you, I’ll love it. We can have this cut into several bracelets, and maybe a necklace too. It’s our first gem from an auction!”

Seeing his expression worsen, she panicked. “Brother Chufeng, what’s wrong?”

Veins bulged on Qin Chufeng’s arm as he shook her hand off.

Su Xue’er’s heart skipped. “Don’t worry, Su Rong still owes us five million. Her worthless stone can’t possibly reveal anything good.”

Qin Yu agreed. “Right! Our stone cost a fortune—it’s impossible to lose to her!”

The stone master placed Su Rong’s chosen rough jade onto the machine. As the grinder shaved off the crust, a wash of vivid green seeped through. His hands trembled. When mineral water splashed over it, the exhibition hall exploded in chaos.

“Ice variety, imperial green!” someone shouted.

Su Rong signaled the master to polish another window. The green gleamed under the lights, so transparent that fingerprints could be seen through it, with cottony threads dissolving like snow in spring water—a sign of glass-quality jade.

“Cut along the tail of the vein!” Su Rong instructed.

Qin Chufeng’s face went slack. Since when was she this skilled?

The appraiser cried out, “Glass-quality imperial green! With this size and color… it’s worth tens of millions!”

Su Rong said bluntly, “A bet is a bet. Young Master Qin, you can transfer the money now.”

Qin Chufeng staggered, nearly falling. He had just paid sixty million, and now he had to cough up another ten million? His heart bled. But with so many people watching, he couldn’t act like a sore loser.

Qin Yu panicked. “Impossible! How could this happen? It must be fake! A random scrap worth more than ours?”

Su Xue’er’s face was pale. “There must’ve been trickery. This can’t be real!”

Qin Chufeng swayed with dizziness, unable to hold himself steady. “I… I don’t have the cash flow right now. I’ll owe the ten million for now and pay later when I have the money. President Sheng, is that acceptable?”

Sheng Qiye’s voice was cold.

“The wager was between you and Miss Su Rong. How you pay is her decision, not mine.”