In the past two days, Minglan's jade market has been bustling with activity. A constant stream of people have come to select rough stones and admire the priceless jadeite. Li Baolong, in particular, has been incredibly busy. In just two days, relying on his keen eye and extensive experience, he has carefully selected a piece of jadeite rough stone each for Cai Lun and Chen Zu. To everyone's surprise, once cut open, both stones revealed themselves to be exquisite jadeite of extremely high quality, their color and texture exceptionally rare.
Faced with such a miraculous performance, Cai Lun and Chen Zu's admiration for Li Baolong was overflowing, to the point of complete adoration and reverence. Every time Li Baolong's name was mentioned, their faces would reveal a sincere expression of respect.
As night fell, Li Baolong, who had been busy all day, would come to Minglan's side. The two would lie in each other's arms, savoring their deep affection, their love lasting all night. As they spent more time together, their feelings for each other quickly intensified like dry tinder. At this moment, Minglan's eyes were filled with endless love as she looked at Li Baolong, as if the whole world had shrunk to just the man who captivated her heart.
The two-day jade exhibition finally came to a close, showcasing a multitude of rare and exquisite jade pieces that were truly eye-opening. Following this grand event, after repeated communication and negotiations with his family in Hong Kong, Chen Zu finally decided to purchase the unparalleled jadeite from Li Baolong. He offered an astonishing price of 150 million yuan!
When Li Baolong heard Chen Zu's astronomical figure, his heart stirred. Initially, he had intended to keep the stone for his own cultivation, but seeing Chen Zu's obvious fascination with the jade and his determination to acquire it, and considering that he would have many more opportunities to find high-quality jade in the future, and that obtaining similar treasures wouldn't be difficult with his own spiritual power, Li Baolong, after some deliberation, resolutely agreed to transfer this rare treasure to Chen Zu. After all, helping others achieve their goals is a virtue!
Without hesitation, Chen Zu instructed his family to immediately transfer 100 million RMB to Li Baolong's Hong Kong account. Several days later, after the rough stone was transported to Hong Kong and cut, the remaining 50 million RMB was paid. Chen Zu and a shop assistant worked together to lift the heavy jadeite rough stone, weighing dozens of kilograms, and carefully placed it into the rented vehicle.
After everything was arranged, Chen Zu waved goodbye to Li Baolong and told him that he would be taking a flight to Thailand that evening, and then transferring back to Hong Kong. He also instructed Li Baolong to come and find him after arriving in Hong Kong.
During this time, Minglan diligently helped Li Baolong inquire about his cousin, Huang Jian. After two days of effort, they finally obtained an important clue: it turned out that Huang Jian and his friend, who was in the jade business, had suffered huge losses due to gambling on stones. Left with no other choice, they mortgaged one of their jade mines to Yang Dayong of the Bai family. However, even this was not enough to pay off their debts, so the two were imprisoned in the jade mine as forced laborers to settle their debts. Without anyone offering help, they would likely be trapped there for life, eventually dying from exhaustion.
Upon learning of this, Li Baolong was furious and secretly vowed, "This Yang Dayong is absolutely doomed! I, Li Baolong, have already cultivated the Tao and am unwilling to kill too many people, but this time I will definitely make him pay a terrible price for this!"
As night fell, in the quiet of the night, Li Baolong and Minglan had just gone through a fierce yet tender "battle." The two embraced tightly, enjoying each other's warmth and love.
However, just then, a rapid ringing of the telephone shattered the sweet atmosphere. Li Baolong lazily reached out, fumbled for his phone on the bedside table, and pressed the answer button. "Hello? Is this Mr. Li?" came an anxious voice from the other end of the line.
Li Baolong instantly snapped out of his daze, frowning as he asked, "Yes, that's me. Who are you?" "Mr. Li, something terrible has happened! Mr. Chen Zu was kidnapped on his way to the airport, and all the precious jade and gemstones he was carrying were stolen! I'm the sales manager at his shop. They released me and told me to call and raise money for his ransom. They said… they said they'd demand 50 million before releasing him, and they've only given us three days!"
Upon hearing this news, Li Baolong was struck dumb, and his previous weariness vanished instantly. Minglan, who was standing beside him, was also startled awake. She sat up nervously and looked at Li Baolong with concern.
"How could this be?" Minglan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Li Baolong took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and said to the sales manager on the other end of the phone, "Don't worry, tell me what happened in as much detail as possible."
After hanging up the phone, Li Baolong turned to look at Minglan, who said with a firm gaze, "Baolong, I'll go find out who kidnapped Chen Zu first, and see if I can find any clues or make a deal with them."
Li Baolong nodded and replied, "Okay, then be careful. I'll go meet with Chen Zu's sales manager first to get more information." After saying that, the two quickly got dressed and went their separate ways.
Li Baolong met Chen Zu's sales manager from Hong Kong, who was two or three years older than him. "Mr. Li, you can just call me Xiao Chen. I'm Chen Zu's nephew." Li Baolong nodded and said, "I've already had someone inquire who kidnapped Chen Zu. We should have news by tomorrow. It's too late today, you should get some rest."
The next morning, a steward from the Minglan family called, informing Minglan that Yang Dayong, the Bai family's top henchman, and his gang had kidnapped Chen Zu, stolen the jade, and demanded a ransom of 50 million. Upon hearing this, Li Baolong thought to himself that Yang Dayong was incredibly arrogant and reckless. Li Baolong asked Minglan if she knew where Yang Dayong's gang was based, saying he would go and meet them sometime. Minglan, her eyes filled with worry, said, "Brother Long, don't be angry. I've already asked my father to find some friends to go to the Bai family manor and demand Chen Zu's release from Bai Cheng. We should have news this afternoon. After all, this jade was sold through our mall, and Chen Zu is our esteemed guest; we have a responsibility to protect his safety." Li Baolong nodded, saying, "Then let's wait until this afternoon and see what your father says. If the Bai family is willing to release him, this matter can be resolved peacefully. Otherwise, I don't mind making the Bai family pay the price." Minglan could only nod, her heart filled with worry, because she knew the Bai family was incredibly powerful; their small gang of a few thousand was simply too much for ordinary gangs to handle.
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