Chu Qianli didn't know what expensive jewelry was, so she wandered around in annoyance, and was suddenly attracted by an uncle who was bragging not far away.

"Let me tell you, this jade bracelet is not ordinary. Many people think that green is the most valuable, but this one has green, orange and white, three colors that gradually become beautiful. That is Fu Lu Shou jade, and sometimes it is more valuable than pure green!" the middle-aged man introduced energetically.

Tourists passing by nodded and said, "So that's how it is."

"This one is also good. It's natural pigeon blood red. Ruby rings of this size have been sold for tens of millions in the past..."

"You know a lot."

"Hahaha, if you can't buy it, at least you should understand it. Once you've seen it, you own it!"

"Just kidding."

The preview hall was filled with men and women of all kinds. They were wealthy enough to come and see the exhibits, but even fewer would actually pay a deposit to participate in the auction. Some people came to the exhibition with the mentality of viewing the treasures collected from all over the world, but they did not necessarily have to buy them.

Auction previews are also social venues, where people can chat and make friends. There are many knowledgeable people here, and they will exchange views with each other.

Chu Qianli quickly set her eyes on the middle-aged man. She treated him as a museum guide and followed him silently, listening to his explanation calmly.

The middle-aged uncle was very energetic and knowledgeable, and he could basically introduce all the jewelry in the hall. He was like some car experts. Even if he didn't buy a car himself, he knew all kinds of brands, performance and price at will, and he knew more about cars than those who own cars.

Some people will respond politely, but some people will feel embarrassed when introduced and quickly make excuses to leave, trying to avoid the person as much as possible.

Not long after, the middle-aged man noticed Chu Qianli following him, and he took the initiative to greet him, "What do you want to hear? I see you've been following for a while."

Tan Muxing said hurriedly: "I'm sorry..."

They had been secretly following the middle-aged man and eavesdropping on him discussing the exhibits with people around him.

Chu Qianli was not afraid of being discovered. She said openly, "I want to hear everything. I don't understand anything."

Some people are afraid of showing their weakness and won't reveal that they don't understand, but they don't dare to look any further and just want to leave in a hurry. Chu Qianli, however, doesn't care about losing face and simply exposes himself as a rookie.

The middle-aged man laughed and said, "Okay, okay, let's go for a walk. If you don't understand it the first time, you will understand it after listening to it twice. I will explain it to you!"

"Thank you."

The middle-aged uncle was called Li Like, he was a jewelry merchant who had been doing business in City G for many years. Chu Qianli looked at his face and knew that he was a talkative person, who was quite familiar with others and liked to talk about jewelry with others.

As expected, Li Like gained two listeners. He became more and more enthusiastic in his explanation, wanting to cover everything. He said, "This is a pear-shaped blue diamond. You should be able to try it on. Let them take it out and show it to you..."

Chu Qianli watched the staff carefully taking out the blue diamond ring wearing white gloves, and asked curiously, "Can I wear it even if I don't buy it?"

Li Like said decisively: "You can wear it, you can wear it. The preview is an appreciation session, so that everyone can observe the jewelry up close. Otherwise, who would dare to take a photo?"

"Of course, some special items are hard to touch, but they can basically be taken out. If the staff refuses, you can complain." Li Like said with a smile, "I go to too many jewelry exhibitions every year, so I can't spend money to buy everything."

Chu Qianli nodded: "So that's how it is. The villagers have learned it."

Tan Muxing: "Do you come here often for work?"

"That's about right. You have to know it before you can talk to others about it."

"So what do you usually buy?" Chu Qianli found someone who knew the trade and humbly asked, "Which ones are more suitable to buy?"

Li Like: "Alas, I don't usually deal in antique jewelry. These are all priced by the auction house. They are value-preserving and can be held for a long time, but they are not suitable for making quick money. If you are really interested, I will take you to another place later."

Chu Qianli heard that the treasures in this hall were not making money fast enough. She was not in the mood to even look at the blue diamonds. She couldn't wait to see them with Li Like.

Tan Muxing had no objection and accompanied her on the whole stroll.

"Okay, let's go next door, where most people are in the same industry."

Li Like led them away and moved to the exhibition hall next door. As soon as Chu Qianli entered, she found that the atmosphere in the room was very different. The exhibition in the hall was all kinds of raw stones, not finished jewelry.

The people around him were much more nervous, some even brought their own tools and studied the stones carefully. They were not tourists strolling around, but were basically like Li Like, specializing in the gemstone business.

Many people seemed to know Li Like and took the initiative to greet him.

"Old Li, don't you want to come and take a look? This ruby ​​is amazing. It can be used to make many things."

Li Like was accompanying Chu Qianli and the others. He quickly declined, saying, "No, no, I'm short of money lately."

Chu Qianli looked at the strangely shaped, rough and dull raw stones in the display cabinet and asked in confusion: "Are these all gemstones?"

"Yes, we bought these stones, cut and polished them, and then hired someone to carefully design them. Only then did they become the jewelry in the hall just now. The raw stones didn't look very good in the beginning." Li Like said.

"Old Li, you really don't want to see it? This piece is really good!" Others shouted again.

Li Like looked embarrassed.

Tan Muxing: "Don't you want to go and take a look?"

Li Like said awkwardly: "I usually buy one piece at a time. I don't dare to stock up too much. The last batch I made hasn't been sold yet. It's a bit risky to buy more raw stones. So I didn't come to see it today. I didn't plan to enter this hall..."

He was really upset that he couldn't buy the book after reading it.

Don’t be fooled by the plain appearance of the rough stones, they are genuine gems. The larger the rough stone, the more expensive it is. There is also a "carat premium" in the industry, and the price of huge gems also increases exponentially.

The company has too much raw diamonds in stock, and if it is not operated in a timely manner, the capital chain will easily break.

Chu Qianli looked at Li Like carefully, and she moved her fingers slightly, and said suddenly: "You can go and have a look now. I see that you have a large amount of money coming in recently."

"Ah? What big money coming in?"

Chu Qianli thought for a moment and explained, "It was just a sum of money that was received. It felt like a transaction, and it was done very quickly."

"It would be great if this were true." Li Like smiled bitterly, "I haven't received any payments recently, so I have nowhere to make money!"

"I'll go shopping with you guys, but I really can't buy any goods today."

Li Like did not push forward, he simply walked around and explained gemstones to the two of them. Because the room was filled with raw gemstones, he also talked about the textures of common gemstones and how to distinguish between real and fake gemstones.

The three of them walked around and suddenly heard a bell.

"Sorry, I have to take a call." Li Like took out his cell phone, gestured to the two of them apologetically, and walked to the corner to answer the call. "What's the matter?"

"Have you sold it? When did you sell it? It's been on hold for a long time."

Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing were standing not far away and heard Li Like's excited and joyful voice.

"Okay, okay, you've really helped me a lot this time..." Li Like couldn't hold back his joy. He heard the request clearly on the phone and said quickly, "It can be customized. Everything can be customized. I'm looking at the stones now. I can order whatever you like right away!"

"Okay, okay, they can tell me what they want, including the color of the gemstone they like."

A moment later, Li Like came back in high spirits, and said with emotion: "Luckily I accompanied you for a tour, otherwise I would have left too early today, and the set of jewelry that was in high demand in the store would have been sold out!"

"They want to order it custom-made, so I have to pick a good one." Li Like looked at Chu Qianli with admiration and asked curiously, "You are simply so predictable? How did you know that?"

Chu Qianli just said that he had a large sum of money coming in, and Li Like thought she was just being polite and flattering, but he didn't expect it to actually come true.

Chu Qianli waved his hands humbly: "Professional athlete, just play normally."

Li Like was stunned when he heard this. Seeing that Chu Qianli was not surprised by the insult, he looked at the two again and felt that they were extraordinary. He had a vague premonition and asked tentatively, "I've heard people say that fortune-telling..."

"It's either fortune-telling or Ziwei."

"Hey, it's actually the Imperial School..." Li Like looked at the two in surprise, "I didn't expect to bump into the master by accident!"

Due to historical reasons, Zi Wei Dou Shu is much more well-known in G City than in the mainland, even more well-known than Four Pillars and Eight Characters. Businessmen are more or less exposed to it, so businessmen like Li Like naturally know a little about it.

Li Like didn't know what he was thinking about. His eyes suddenly lit up and he asked eagerly, "If I buy stones or something, can that also be counted?"

Chu Qianli said honestly: "I can calculate whether it is suitable to buy, but I don't know much about gemstones."

"That's enough, that's enough, I know gems." Li Like said hurriedly, "But in this business, sometimes knowing can also make you lose money, it all depends on whether it's suitable or not!"

Li Like immediately took out his mobile phone to add contact information. Tan Muxing didn't expect Chu Qianli to have developed clients here, so he began to perform his duties as a broker and established contact with the other party.

"That's great. I'm going to pick out a rough stone right now. I can tell you how to choose." Li Like asked the staff in the hall for tools and said, "Let's squeeze forward so that we can see it clearly."

There was a crowd of people gathering in front of the high-quality raw stones. These people were not just tourists strolling around. They basically had the ability to pay a deposit and got a number plate to bid for the raw stones for business.

Li Like took the two of them to look around, and he quickly circled out the rough stone of his choice, waiting to see if he could successfully bid for it tomorrow.

Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing also held tools in their hands. They imitated Li Like and experienced a day in the life of a gem merchant.

"Lao Li, come and take a look at this, what can you tell?" Someone suddenly waved and called out, "Is this a ruby? Aren't you the one who knows the most about red?"

When Chu Qianli and others heard the sound, they followed Li Like and came to the original stone wrapped in stone layers.

Li Like frowned slightly. He took a quick look at the raw stones in the cabinet and saw some clues: "Isn't this a ruby?"

The original stone in the display cabinet is not large, numbered 1134. It is only the size of a baby's fist, wrapped in a thick layer of stone, with only a few gaps showing red light. If it were not placed in the brightly lit preview hall, it would be like an ordinary cobblestone in the riverbed and would not attract any attention at all.

"We have been studying this for a long time and want to know what it is."

"Ruby crystals are plate-shaped or columnar. Look at the texture, it's obviously wrong..." Li Like came closer to observe, "Have them take out the stone and have a look."

The staff member shook his head apologetically: "Sorry, this is an auction item that cannot be touched."

"You can get a closer look at the gambling stones. You are just kidding!"

"Then can you please introduce what kind of raw stone this is?"

The staff member said tactfully: "Based on the current identification results, this is a rough stone of some unnamed rare mineral. Specific identification requires destroying its surface, so unfortunately we don't know more information."

"It's the same whether you said it or not." Li Like lost interest in it. He turned around and called Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing, "Let's go back there."

Li Like and others value valuable gemstones. The rough stones they pursue may even change with market preferences, so they naturally won't fall for the "rare minerals" rhetoric.

Chu Qianli felt that this sounded familiar. She still remembered that Tan Muxing once said that red crystal was not ruby. When he helped to appraise red crystal tarot and compass, the appraiser in the company also said that he didn't know what red crystal was.

The others had already left the rough stone No. 1134, but Chu Qianli was lying on the counter, trying hard to identify it.

Tan Muxing noticed that she was watching attentively and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Xingxing, can you see that red spot clearly?" Chu Qianli couldn't touch the original stone, so she couldn't compare it. She hesitated and said, "It's covered with stones on the outside. I can't see inside it."

The other rough stones can be touched and illuminated by strong light, but rough stone No. 1134 is locked in the counter, limiting the space for outsiders to explore. No wonder Li Like and others did not stay for long.

Tan Muxing guessed what Chu Qianli was thinking. He also thought of the unknown red crystal and tried to identify it carefully, but unfortunately he did not have the ability to see through things.

Tan Muxing put down his tools, thought for a moment, and said, "If we just want to know whether it is or not, maybe we can tell the fortune?"

Chu Qianli cannot identify gems, but she can tell by divination whether the red crystal and the rough stone No. 1134 are the same thing.

Chu Qianli immediately dropped the magnifying glass and realized, "Yes, I was misled by them. I am a fortune teller, not a gemstone researcher!"

Li Like and others were hammering away with flashlights and magnifying glasses, causing Chu Qianli to almost forget his professional identity.

She cast a divination on the spot to verify whether the two were related, and the result was "yes".

Chu Qianli hurriedly said: "Stars..."

Tan Muxing didn't wait for her to finish, he nodded in understanding: "I'll go get the license plate."

At the entrance of the preview hall, Li Like met the two after finishing his work. He was stunned when he saw the number plate in Tan Muxing's hand and asked, "What did you like?"

Chu Qianli: "A stone."

"Which one? Let me show you. Don't buy rashly on your first visit. The rough stone is a bit deep."

"No. 1134."

"I have no idea." Li Like scratched his head in confusion. "What type of gemstone?"

Tan Muxing reminded: "It's the rare mineral that cannot be touched."

Li Like was surprised and said, "You guys want to buy that? I feel it's not worth the money. Not all rare minerals can be sold at that price. Especially since the appraisal results are unclear, it's basically difficult to resell it."

Tan Muxing confessed: "We didn't plan to sell it, we just took it back to take a look."

Chu Qianli: "Well, I have money, so I just want to have fun."

Li Like didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Okay, you guys really know how to play. You want to play with rough stones right away. I don't dare to spend money like this in my line of work."

"Then we can meet again tomorrow. Your rock should be easy to photograph. I don't know if I can take more photos than them. There are too many people competing for it..." Li Like said goodbye, "See you tomorrow!"

The two waved goodbye to Li Like, and then went to get Lyle Gadbury's manuscripts and drawing supplies, finally getting the matter done.

In the car, Chu Qianli had just sat down when she ruthlessly tore open the package, looking for the inheritance left by the astrologer. She searched everywhere and took out the old leather pencil case, squeezed it slightly, and felt something strange.

The pencil case was already tattered, so she decisively opened it and fished out a deck of broken cards, which were the remaining Minor Arcana!

"This thing is amazing. The leather pencil case is all rotten, but the tarot cards are not rotten at all." Chu Qianli counted the remaining cards neatly and put them together with the Major Arcana. Sure enough, not a single card was missing.

Tan Muxing watched her lay out the tarot cards and said, "The card I got today is not the starry sky."

The two of them had originally seen the starry sky painting at the exhibition, which was later broken down by Chu Qianli into the Major Arcana. However, the Minor Arcana card was not the night sky, but rather a blood-stained underground. The minor cards also had an abstract beauty, like sparks blooming in the dark.

Although the two designs are different, they were created by the same artist and have similarities.

"The color of this pattern is a bit like red crystal..." Chu Qianli looked at the small arcana in his hand and took out the red crystal compass for comparison. "I don't know what this stone is. Even those who study gemstones don't know."

Tan Muxing comforted him, "Before, I was afraid of damaging the compass. I will buy the rough stone and send it for appraisal tomorrow. Then we will know."

The two were interested in rough stone No. 1134 and wanted to explore the truth about the red crystal. With the rough stone, they didn't have to sacrifice the compass or tarot cards.

On the other side, in a high-rise building near the auction, Shi Zhuoqu entered the room, took the number plate on the table and asked, "How is the sample stone now?"

"No one should be paying attention at the moment. We have told them not to touch the sample stone. We will take the picture according to the procedure tomorrow. Rosya doesn't know either."

Rossya Auction House and Chojar Auction House are rivals, and their operations are indeed not as convenient as before.

"That's good. Try not to alarm Russia. The fewer people who know about this, the better." Shi Zhuo said, "The boss is coming to G City soon. It will probably be in the next few days."

"It should be in time. Go take a picture tomorrow and get it out quickly."

"Okay, then I'll go myself." Shi Zhuoqu nodded. He looked down at the number plate on his palm, then reached out and held it tightly.

The next day, Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing were going to an auction. Uncle Qi was about to open the car door for them when he unexpectedly bumped into Jin Xiaoyuan who had been waiting for a long time.

When Jin Xiaoyuan saw Tan Muxing, he immediately showed a reproachful look and complained: "Muxing, I heard that you guys talked for a long time with Old Li who plays with stones yesterday. If you like gems, why don't you tell me in advance? Why go to such a long way?"

Jin Xiaoyuan has quite a few connections in the local area and knows about any little movement. Naturally, he heard about Tan Muxing's acquaintance with Li Like.

This made Jin Xiaoyuan very anxious. How could he let someone get ahead of him?!

Tan Muxing didn't expect the other party to be here. Hearing the complaint, he hurriedly said: "Uncle Jin, we just got acquainted and chatted for a while. We have never met before..."

"I heard from them that you changed your license plate?" Jin Xiaoyuan said, "What do you want to buy? Why don't you just let me change it? There's no need to do it yourself. I'm very familiar with them!"

Chu Qianli overheard Jin Xiaoyuan's exaggerated tone, and she whispered to Uncle Qi: "Is this the anxiety of the flattery world? Seeing us hanging out with others makes us feel like we're lagging behind."

Uncle Qi: "So anything that can be achieved at the top will lead to success."

Facing Jin Xiaoyuan's sad accusation, Tan Muxing felt that he was being labeled as a traitor, so he quickly came up with a shield. He stole a glance at Chu Qianli, blushing again, and said, "Uncle Jin, no need, I bought it for her..."

The subtitle is that Jin Xiaoyuan doesn't need to change his license plate.

Jin Xiaoyuan was not put off by this this time. He hugged Tan Muxing warmly and said, "Okay, okay, I won't stop you when you perform, but I will accompany you today. I have also changed my license plate. Let's go shopping together!"

Tan Muxing said in embarrassment: "Ah, this..."

Jin Xiaoyuan did not give him a chance to decline, and said decisively: "It will be inconvenient for you to have only two children. If I fail to entertain you well when you come to G City, I will not be able to face your grandmother!"

Uncle Qi was standing next to Chu Qianli, listening from behind, and added, "No, the old lady didn't remember his face in the first place."

Tan Muxing couldn't persuade Jin Xiaoyuan to leave, so she had to agree to go with him.

Jin Xiaoyuan's face immediately showed joy. He pushed forward the way all the way and wished he could provide VIP service to Tan Muxing and others.

The group arrived at the auction house by car. Jin Xiaoyuan showed his status as soon as he entered and asked for a private room. He acted as if he was just about to call the boss of the Rossya auction house to come out to receive the guests. He was completely like a gang boss, and he really was the style of a local tyrant!

Chu Qianli witnessed the chaotic scene. She understood why Tan Muxing always rejected Jin Xiaoyuan and commented honestly, "We seem to be the overbearing villains."

Tan Muxing couldn't hold Jin Xiaoyuan back at all, and said weakly: "... Be more confident, and get rid of the "as if"."