Chapter 151 A Benevolent Act
“It’s a unique gem, but its attribute is unclear…” Yue Dingtian opened his mouth and uttered with difficulty, “A Fine Grade
gem.”
He turned to look, but he neither looked at He Liangce nor at the furious and regretful white-haired elder. He fixed his gaze on the Yi Pavilion’s new head shopkeeper, Lin Yichen.
When Ou Yangming first acquired a Fine Grade gem, Head Shopkeeper Lin was delighted
Although he had lost the valuable gem, he managed to ruin He Liangce’s reputation, hence the merit offset the fault. Nonetheless, when the second Fine Grade gem appeared, Lin Yichen’s face took on a ghastly expression.
Letting Ou Yangming have the first Fine Grade gem was still within Lin Yichen’s authority limit, but if Ou Yangming were to take both Fine Grade gems, the head shopkeeper would likely lose his position.
This was because he could not hide the matter even if he wanted to.
There was only one thing that Lin Yichen lamented about at that moment…
‘Young Master Ou, can you not have such nature-defying luck!’
Nevertheless, deep down, he could not help but wonder, ‘Is everything really a result of his luck?’
“N-nice one, a Fine Grade gem! Brother Ou, we’ll meet again if we’re fated to,” He Liangce said out loud while looking deeply at Ou Yangming. Following that, he nodded at the crowd and left in a hurry with his people. As for the white-haired elder, who had spoken a few times, he lowered his head with a sullen look on his face without saying a word.
He was probably full of regret at the moment.
If the last raw gemstone was not opened, Ou Yangming would still be victorious for having obtained one Fine Grade gem, but the two-ninth success rate would be a big flaw. As long as one was not dumb, one could tell that something was fishy.
However, everything became different when the second Fine Grade gem was attained.
As clueless as a person was, one would think Ou Yangming was superior to He Liangce in raw gemstone appraisal.
In and out, the effect of it was huge and unimaginable.
Once He Liangce and the other people were far away, the backyard was dead silent for a moment before loud cheers filled the air.
Not everyone who stayed were the Yi Pavilion’s supervisors and workers, they were from the prefecture, so they sincerely hoped that the store could defeat their opponent. Therefore, shouts of joy were inevitable when the result was decided.
Many known figures even approached Lin Yichen to congratulate him with complicated looks.
They knew that the Yi Pavilion’s reputation would ascend to a higher level without a limit from then on.
Despite that, Lin Yichen did not look very cheerful. He dismissed the crowd with a few words, and he looked even more displeased when he returned to the backyard because Ou Yangming was fiddling with the 2 Fine Grade gems. Ou Yangming smiled and asked, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, are you reluctant to give them away?” “Frankly speaking, the headquarter notified us a month ago that all Fine Grade gems, if found, had to be purchased at all costs.” Lin Yichen sighed and smiled bitterly. “Though I don’t know why they gave such an order, there must be a reason behind it.”
“What do you plan to do, Head Shopkeeper Lin?” Ou Yangming tossed the gems in his hand.
On the other hand, Ni Yinghong smiled sweetly. “Head Shopkeeper Lin, are you planning to go back on your word?”
Lin Yichen was stunned. “Miss… Ni, you’re kidding. Since I promised him, why would I break the promise?”
He addressed Ni Yinghong as he should because He Liangce had revealed her identity.
“Master Ou, please take the Fine Grade gems away.” Lin Yichen lowered his head and waved his hand. He looked dismayed.
Ou Yangming chuckled and pondered before he said, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, if you’d like to purchase these gems, it’s possible.”
“What?” Lin Yichen suddenly looked up at him in disbelief.
He would be confident about purchasing the gems from Ou Yangming if they were only High Grade gems, but they were Fine Grade gems. Gems of such a grade could not be measured with gold and silver anymore. Normally, they could only be exchanged with treasures of a similar grade.
“Brother Ou, don’t you want these Fine Grade gems?” Ni Yunhong could not help but laugh. “If you don’t want them, you can exchange them with the Ni family, we won’t let you suffer a loss!”
Lin Yichen looked gloomy right away. Even if he thought with his toes, he knew who Ou Yangming would choose to deal with.
That said, Ou Yangming shook his head and responded, “I found these gems at the Yi Pavilion, and Head Shopkeeper Lin is an old acquaintance, so I can’t harm him.”
Lin Yichen was startled. His lips trembled a little, and his heart was warm. ‘How loyal, Ou Yangming is such a loyal friend.’
Ou Yangming turned and asked with a smile, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, if I give you both Fine Grade gems, how are you going to repay me?”
“Master Ou, you can just tell me anything you want.” Lin Yichen gritted his teeth.
“I’d like to pick ten more raw gemstones here and take them away. What do you think?” Ou Yangming answered.
The other people were surprised, and they cast a strange look at him.
‘He’s actually exchanging 2 acquired Fine Grade gems for ten raw gemstones.’
While the 2 Fine Grade gems were also obtained from the raw gemstones in the backyard, nobody dared to guarantee that another gem of the same grade could be found from the remaining gemstones.
Thus, no matter how they viewed Ou Yangming’s suggestion, it was highly beneficial toward the Yi Pavilion.
Li Yichen’s eyes glowed as he wanted to accept the deal, but he somehow could not let a word out.
Ou Yangming had gotten 2 Fine Grade gems from 10 randomly selected raw gemstones, so if he were to choose from the pile again, would he gain more and better gems?
If anyone else had given the suggestion, Lin Yichen would accept it without any hesitation, but he could not make up his mind because Ou Yangming was the one who proposed the idea.
Lin Yichen turned to look at Zheng Ziwen, Yue Dingtian, as well as the supervisors in the store. He noticed that they looked uncertain too.
Ou Yangming looked at them calmly without rushing them to make a decision as though he was not very concerned. Ni Yinghong suddenly asked with a smile, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, these raw gemstones in the backyard are going to be sold to outsiders too, right?”
Lin Yichen was dumbstruck but casually answered, “Yes, other than those with a special price, each of them will be sold at 50 taels of gold each.”
“Head Shopkeeper Lin, that’s so immoral of you! You’re making more than twice their original cost…”
“Master Ou, if you visit the Immense Forest Town, I’ll sell them to you for 20 taels of gold each, but 50 taels of gold is the lowest price in the prefecture,” Lin Yichen quickly explained.
“Okay.” Ni Yinghong smiled brightly and offered, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, I’ll give you 500 taels of gold, and you let me pick ten raw gemstones.”
Lin Yichen’s face changed because he instantly understood the reason behind it, so he bowed deeply at Ou Yangming with an apologetic smile on his face. “Master Ou, please forgive me for being ungrateful when you were being kind. For the sake of General Deng and Master Ziwen, please forgive me this time.”
Zheng Ziwen’s face changed as well, and he apologized embarrassedly, “Brother Ou, we weren’t content with what we were given, please forgive us.”
Yue Dingtian and the other people blushed too because they were ashamed.
They had been thinking about how Ou Yangming might receive greater benefits after making the exchange, but they never realized he could pay just 500 taels of gold to purchase 10 raw gemstones from the 10,000 stones left. If they were to compare 500 taels of gold with 2 Fine Grade gems… Could they even be compared? Besides, those were 2 Fine Grade gems!
If they rejected Ou Yangming’s suggestion and accepted the 500 taels of gold instead, the bosses from the headquarter would certainly cut them into pieces.
“It’s fine as long as you change after realizing your mistake,” Ou Yangming commented with a smile and asked, “Can I choose the raw gemstones now?”
Lin Yichen quickly answered, “Master Ou, please.”
Ou Yangming entered the pile of raw gemstones again, but he did not pick them randomly. He had fixed his targets, so he retrieved ten of them very quickly.
Lin Yichen and the other people naturally watched him, but they were puzzled after seeing what he did.
Ou Yangming had picked ten raw gemstones that did not have a notch. It was far more difficult to get good gems from them as compared to half-naked raw gemstones. They began wondering again as they looked at Ou Yangming.
‘Is he extremely confident, or is he really that lucky?’
Subsequently, Ou Yangming left the Yi Pavilion with ten raw gemstones and got onto the carriage with the Ni family siblings.
The siblings had wanted to bring ou Yangming around the bustling night market, but due to the incident that took place, they no longer had the mood to do so.
However, just before they boarded the carriage, Ni Yinghong scoffed and left on her own.
Ni Yunhong spread out his hands helplessly and said, “Brother Ou, please forgive my younger sister, she can’t board the carriage with you.”
Ou Yangming felt like he had lost something, but he could not express it.
Once they returned to the Ni residence, Ni Yinghong invited a stone-cracking master after getting Ou Yangming’s agreement.
The stone-cracking master was not as powerful as Yue Dingtian, but he was also a Yang Grade martial artist. As he cracked the ten raw gemstones one by one, 1 High Grade gem and 2 Common Grade gems were found.
When the news spread, everyone praised Ou Yangming and the Ni family siblings for their benevolent act, but they also had better judgments about Ou Yangming’s skills. After all, he had chosen flawless raw gemstones this time, but he achieved a 30% success rate and secured 1 High Grade gem.
Though the result could not be mentioned on equal terms with the 2 Fine Grade gems, it was enough to convince the other people and shut their mouths.