Chapter 6 Gambling on Stones
Siming didn't even look at her, but turned to look at Adjutant Qi: "I bought it."
Adjutant Qi stepped forward and handed over a small yellow croaker, then took the stone that Juanjuan mentioned and handed it to the soldier behind him.
Seeing him behave like this, Liu Ruyan was so angry that her face turned blue: "General Si, just wait for you to lose everything you have."
"You don't need to worry about whether I compensate you or not. As long as my daughter likes it, that's enough." Si Ming said and looked down at Juanjuan.
"Juanjuan, is there anything else you like?"
Juanjuan pursed her lips, looked at Liu Ruyan, then looked up at Siming: "Dad, did Juanjuan do something wrong?"
Siming took her little hand and said, "That's right, as long as Juanjuan likes it, Dad will buy it for you."
"I want to see if you can still be so stubborn when the stone is cut. If the Governor's Mansion runs out of money, don't ask our Liu family for help."
Liu Ruyan twisted her waist and turned around and left.
Adjutant Qi walked up to Siming and said, "Commander-in-Chief, if you don't give her face, what if..."
Siming raised a hand to stop him from continuing: "No one can lose face for my daughter. If I give in today, Juanjuan will have a harder time fitting into this circle in the future."
Juanjuan didn’t quite understand what they were saying, but she was just very happy to be able to buy a gift for her brother.
My brother seemed to have told me that she also had a grandmother, two uncles and an aunt.
Should I buy them gifts too?
"Mr. Pei, I didn't expect you to know about gambling on stones. I'm sure the stone you chose will yield good stuff."
Geng Taining watched Pei Jingming holding a flashlight and shining it at a stone for a long time.
Pei Jingming pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and turned off the flashlight in his hand: "I don't really understand it, I just heard about it from a friend, so I thought I would give it a try."
He saw Liu Ruyan walking towards him angrily: "Who made our Miss Liu angry?"
"He's not even General Si, just some bastard I picked up from somewhere. He just randomly pointed at a stone and said he wanted to buy it. I kindly reminded him, but he actually gave me face."
As Liu Ruyan spoke, she looked in the direction of Si Ming, her face full of anger.
Geng Taining had a smile on his face and did not respond.
"There is such a thing. I didn't expect that General Si would come to participate in gambling on stones." Pei Jingming said as he walked towards Si Ming.
"I didn't expect that Governor Si would come here to gamble on stones." He stretched out his hand to shake hands with Si Ming.
Siming didn't even look at his hand: "Bring my daughter here to buy a gift."
"The governor is really generous. This move is just a small yellow croaker. If you don't know, you would think this is your biological daughter." Pei Jingming withdrew his hand indifferently.
"Mr. Pei, if you have nothing to do, please move aside and don't block my daughter from choosing a gift." After saying that, Si Ming pulled Juanjuan's little hand and prepared to pass him.
"General Si, since we are gambling on stones, how about we add some prizes?" Pei Jingming looked at the people walking past him.
Siming: "Not interested."
"Don't you have the courage of the Beiyang Governor?" Pei Jingming took off his glasses with one hand and wiped the lenses with a towel.
"What are you betting on?" Siming turned and looked at him.
Pei Jingming smiled and said, "Let's bet on whoever finds the most valuable jadeite today. The other person will have to pay for the original stone."
Adjutant Qi felt a pang in his heart. They had never dabbled in gambling on stones before. If Pei Jingming chose a bunch of high-priced stones, the money they brought might not be enough to pay for it.
Siming held Juanjuan's hand a little tighter.
Juanjuan pulled Siming's hand and said, "Dad."
Siming realized that his grip was too heavy, so he quickly loosened his grip, squatted down, and put his arm around Juanjuan: "What's wrong?"
"Dad, I want to bring gifts back for grandma, second uncle, third uncle and aunt, is that okay?" Juanjuan looked at him expectantly.
"Okay! Has Juanjuan chosen one?" Siming's voice was very soft.
Juanjuan nodded vigorously. She had just seen a lot of beautiful stones and she thought her brother and grandmother would definitely like them.
Siming stood up and looked at Pei Jingming: "One hour is the limit."
He then looked at Geng Taining and the old man beside him and said, "Then please ask Chairman Geng and Elder Dong to be witnesses. I'll also need you to make the judgment later."
Geng Taining's face was full of smiles. He turned to look at Elder Dong and said, "Of course I have no problem with that. What do you think, Elder Dong?"
"That's interesting. Let's bear witness together."
Geng Taining took out his pocket watch and checked it. "Then I'll time you two. In one hour, please have everyone present bear witness, and we'll cut the stone together."
Siming looked down at Juanjuan: "Juanjuan, where is the thing you just said you wanted to buy?"
Juanjuan took his hand and walked towards the stones piled aside, her little mouth still chattering.
"It would look nice if it were green for the emerald," she said as she placed her hand on a stone.
Siming smiled helplessly and looked at the price tag of fifty silver dollars for the stone.
This stone is a size bigger than the one she just bought: "Does Juanjuan like this one?"
"This piece is for grandma." Juanjuan nodded with a smile.
Adjutant Qi paid the money without any nonsense. Forget it, he could just find a way to solve the money problem tomorrow.
Juanjuan then took them to buy a bunch of stones. The most expensive one was a big yellow croaker, and the cheapest one was ten dollars.
An hour passed quickly.
Juanjuan was a little tired: "Dad, these are all very good!"
Siming looked at the stones held by the soldier behind him and shook his head helplessly: "I think these stones are all the same."
Juanjuan tilted her head and pointed at a stone and said, "This one looks like a yellow duckling!"
Geng Taining and Old Dong were both amused and helpless when they saw this, and they were already silently lighting a candle for Sima Ming in their hearts.
It seems that he is doomed to lose today.
The cheapest stones selected by Pei Jingming were only a few dozen dollars, while the most expensive was a large yellow croaker.
"The time has come, so let's ask the two of you to help cut the stone together!" Although Geng Taining felt that Siming was bound to lose, he still had to put on a full show.
Seeing that Juanjuan was tired from walking, Si Ming reached out and picked her up.
Juanjuan yawned, put her arm around Siming, and rested her little head on his shoulder.
Pei Jingming looked at the stone in the soldier's hand and said, "Sir, should General Si go first, or should I go first?"
"Mr. Pei is so confident, then let Mr. Pei go first. I would like to learn from you your gambling stone skills." Siming was not at all intimidated.
Mr. Dong has already asked the stone-cutting master to start cutting the stone for Pei Jingming.
Juanjuan watched the machine turning rapidly. Everyone gathered here, waiting to see Pei Jingming's first stone.
Soon the first stone was solved.
Elder Dong took it, looked at it, nodded, and handed it to Geng Taining: "Yes, the first piece is bean-type jadeite."
Geng Taining nodded repeatedly as he looked at it. "Although it's a bean seed, it's a good start. The first piece turned green."
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