Chapter 67: Gambling Stone Incident
The antiques exchange fair was held in a replica of an antique manor on the outskirts of the city. When Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and their three children arrived, the venue was already packed. Jade, calligraphy, and porcelain shone warmly in the display cases, and the air was filled with the scent of sandalwood and antiques.
"Wow, this is the antique exchange fair? It's much more lively than I thought." Lan Jingyi looked around with his eyes wide open. He found everything he looked at new.
Jin Ling sneered: Can you please stop looking so naive?
"Why do you care about me? Do you have it at home?" Lan Jingyi immediately retorted.
"Okay, stop arguing." Si Zhui pulled their sleeves and pointed to a nearby booth. "Look, they're looking at stones over there." The two people, who were arguing, looked in the direction of Si Zhui's finger. It was very lively up ahead. A woman was pulling a man to stop buying, but the man refused to listen and threw her to the ground.
The three of them squeezed over and saw a group of people gathered around a few tables with a pile of gray stones on them. Some were shining flashlights, while others were scraping with knives. The atmosphere was tense, as if they were holding an important meeting.
“Is this gambling on stones?” Wei Wuxian leaned closer to Lan Wangji and whispered, “I’ve seen it in TV dramas, the kind where one cut can make you rich or poor.”
Lan Wangji nodded. "It's extremely risky and depends entirely on luck. Don't get caught up in it."
As he was speaking, a man in a flowered shirt slammed a stone on the table and shouted to the stall owner, "This is it! Open it!"
The vendor picked up the cutting machine, and with a humming sound, sparks flew everywhere. Everyone around held their breath, even the three children watched intently.
After the first cut, only a gray area was left in the stone, and the face of the man in the flowered shirt turned pale instantly.
"Cut again! Cut again!" he shouted with red eyes.
The second cut was still scrap. The man's legs went limp and he almost collapsed to the ground, muttering, "My money... My money..."
There was a flurry of regretful discussions around him. Some people shook their heads and walked away, while others whispered to him, "Forget it. This is how gambling on stones works. Nine out of ten times you lose."
Lan Jingyi was stunned: "How much can such a broken stone be worth?"
"That man just bet five million," someone whispered nearby, "and now he's lost it all."
"Five million?!" Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling exclaimed simultaneously, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads. Coming from well-off families, they naturally knew how much five million meant. Five million for just this one cut of stone was truly a bit shocking.
Si Zhui frowned and whispered, "This is too dangerous, betting all your money on a stone..."
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji walked over and saw the man being helped away by his wife in a daze. The cut piece of waste stone was still on the ground.
“See?” Wei WuXian squatted down and looked at the three children. “This is gambling. That guy just lost five million in the blink of an eye. It could be his life savings.”
Lan Jingyi opened his mouth, speechless for a long time: "This...this is too scary, right? Just a few glances, a couple of cuts, and the money is gone?"
"That's what gambling is like." Lan Wangji's voice was low and serious. "It makes people think, 'What if I win?' but forget 'What if I lose?' You just saw that luck won't always be on your side. Once you get caught up in it, it's hard to turn back."
Jin Ling recalled the man's red-eyed shout of "One more cut!" and felt a chill in his heart. "Then why would anyone still want to gamble? They know they might lose."
"Because of greed." Wei Wuxian picked up a small stone that no one wanted. "I always want to exchange small coins for big ones, and I always think I'm luckier than others. But remember, what you can truly rely on is never luck, but the skills you have, earned step by step."
He placed the stone on the table and said, "Just like this stone, it's worthless in itself, but if someone can carve it into a beautiful ornament, it will have value. This value is earned through craftsmanship, not gambling."
Lan Wangji added, "There's a rule in the Lan family rules that forbids gambling. It's not just because it costs money, but also because it can ruin a person's mind. Once you become addicted to gambling, you become obsessed with quick success and forget the principles of practical work."
The three children all lowered their heads, lost in thought. The man's distraught look had been more impactful than any sermon.
"Let's go, I'll take you to see something serious." Wei Wuxian took Sizhui's hand, while Lan Wangji patted Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling's shoulders respectively.
Walking to the calligraphy and painting area, Lan Wangji pointed to a landscape painting and said, "This is the work of a Qing Dynasty painter. He spent his entire life painting landscapes, which is why he has such skill. Look at the brushstrokes, every stroke is so solid, there is no trickery."
Wei WuXian picked up a small bronze ornament from the Republican era. "Look at this little lion. The carving isn't particularly intricate, but you can tell the craftsman put a lot of effort into it. It's not worth a fortune, but it's more reassuring than those gambling stones I just saw."
The director filmed the entire scene. In the footage, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji didn't speak harshly, but just softly taught the three children what they saw. The three children listened attentively, and the impatience on their faces disappeared.
"This is the best education! It's not about preaching, but letting children see and understand for themselves."
"This segment about two fathers educating their son is amazing! It not only illustrates the dangers of gambling, but also teaches the importance of hard work."
"Si Zhui, Jing Yi, and Jin Ling all took it in. That scene must have been quite shocking to them."
[Ding! Audience recognition of positive education detected, likeability +120,000. Current total progress: 3,455,000/100,000,000.]
As they left the gambling area, Lan Jingyi glanced back. Someone was still arguing fiercely over a single stone. He suddenly tugged at Jin Ling's sleeve and whispered, "Let's play basketball from now on. Win or lose, it's all fair and square."
Jin Ling snorted, but nodded: "Yeah, it's more reliable than this."
Si Zhui looked at the ordinary jade pendant Wei Wuxian had just bought and said softly, "When we get back, I'll polish it and give it to Brother Wen Ning."
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji smiled at each other, relief in their eyes.
Some truths can only be truly ingrained in their minds after they have witnessed them with their own eyes. Just like this antiques exchange, some have found treasures, while others have stumbled. But for these three children, perhaps the greatest reward was understanding the importance of being down-to-earth.
As the sun set, the group left the manor. Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling stopped playing around, occasionally discussing the calligraphy and paintings they had just seen in low voices. Si Zhui carefully protected the jade pendant in his hand, as if holding something precious.
“It wasn’t a wasted trip today.” Wei WuXian leaned back in the car seat, watching the scenery pass by outside the window. “At least let them know what they can’t touch.”
Lan Wangji held his hand, his fingertips slightly cold: "Hmm."
Education is never something that can be achieved overnight, but as long as the seed of "working hard" is planted in their hearts, it will take root and sprout one day.
Outside the car window, the sunset dyed the sky red, like an unfolding splendid scroll. This scroll lacked the excitement of gambling on stones, but it contained something more precious than any treasure—the traces of growth.
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