Chapter 113: The Value of Jade
"Not yet. Do you have a cheaper card for emergencies?" asked Yang Ming. "We probably won't be staying here for long!"
"Then buy the China travel card. There's no need to register and no monthly plan. You can use it as long as you reload the points," recommended the salesman. "Dialing fees are just two yuan. There's no charge to receive calls. A long-distance call with 12595 was three yuan!" (The author didn't know about the local prices, so he made it up.)
"Right, give me this then." Yang Ming nodded his head and thought this was affordable.
"The card number was thirty yuan; reloading the card was a hundred yuan. The total is one hundred thirty yuan." The salesman said, "This is the number card; pick a number as long as it doesn't end with a star or triangle symbol. The ones with a symbol are lucky numbers and cost more. If it's for emergency use only, those aren't necessary!"
Yang Ming picked a number that he liked. The number ended with 3401; Lan Ling's number ended with 3402. There was no wait when using a credit card to buy a phone card. It was usable right after reloading. After he tested the phone, Yang Ming paid right away.
Because the phone card had no warranty, there was no invoice, and the payment was straightforward.
Yang Ming took out the warranty card and accessories and put them into Lan Ling's small bag. They discarded the packing box. Although they could sell these things as second-hand items, Yang Ming didn't plan to resell a two hundred yuan phone.
After he went outside, Yang Ming called Zhang Bing.
"Hello? Who is this?" Zhang Bing looked at the unknown number and asked cautiously.
"Hello, sir. This is the Hong Kong Big Shore Group. Your phone number had won the second prize..." Yang Ming said in a serious tone.
"F*** off. I don't believe it! If you call again, I will report you to the police... En? Yang Ming?" Zhang Bing suddenly felt that the voice sounded familiar. "Oh f***, it's you!"
"Ha! I didn't expect you to have such a big reaction. Did you get fooled before?" Yang Ming laughed.
"Only stupid people would be fooled!" Zhang Bing said, "Ever since I got my cell phone, I've gotten more than ten of these messages and harassment calls."
"This is a local number. I just bought it. If you need to find me, call this number!" Yang Ming said.
"Okay, where are you?" Zhang Bing asked.
"I'm going to a bookstore!" Yang Ming said, "Why? Is there a problem?"
"It's nothing. You guys have fun. I'm going to sleep later so don't call me if you don't have anything!" Zhang Bing made it clear.
After he disconnected, Yang Ming asked Lan Ling, "Do you know of any bookstores nearby?"
"You want to buy books?" Lan Ling froze slightly. Who would buy books while on a trip?
"En. I want to buy a few books about jadestone." Yang Ming didn't hide it from Lan Ling.
"Is that so?" Lan Ling nodded her head. "There is a Xinhua Bookstore near Fifth Street and South Gate Street. Right, Yang Ming, you haven't told me what happened this morning! Previously in the hotel, I was busy doing 'that' with you. I completely forgot about it!"
"Who asked you to be dirty minded! You horny little girl!" Yang Ming said as he slapped Lan Ling's a**.
"I only think by myself. I can't do anything if you don't want to do it! If you didn't get hard, I couldn't do anything to you even if I was tired to death!" Lan Ling said lightly to Yang Ming.
F***! Isn't she seducing me now? Yang Ming felt that he was hard again!
Lan Ling easily spotted Yang Ming's bulge. She scanned his lower body part. "Look at you. I'm not sure who the one with the dirty mind is. You even want to do it in the street!"
"Let's see how I punish you tonight!" Yang Ming glared at Lan Ling.
"Welcome! Welcome! I welcome you warmly!" Lan Ling jumped like a child with a delighted expression.
Yang Ming was helpless. He could only change the subject. "What was the issue in the morning?"
"When you were gambling stones in the morning, how did you know the quality of the jade in the stone? This should be your first time gambling, right?" Lan Ling asked curiously, "Do you have the same instinct as me?"
"No, I don't. I was just a little lucky!" Yang Ming hadn't decided whether to tell Lan Ling about his abilities. After all, it wasn't a small case!
"If you're not telling then, fine!" Lan Ling flattened her mouth and showed an unhappy expression.
"It's not like I'm not telling you. It's just that my situation is rather special. It's not easy to describe!" Yang Ming gave an excuse. The thing that happened to Yang Ming was indeed strange, but it wasn't impossible to describe. It was just troublesome to explain.
"Alright!" Lan Ling only forgave Yang Ming after he explained but she didn't worry about it and even forgot about it after a while.
Because of Tengchong's geographical location and specialty in trading, Xinhua Bookstore had many books about the field of jadestone. Jade was like a tradition here. As a Tengchong local, if the person didn't know anything about jade, that would be shameful!
Following the signage on the door, Yang Ming and Lan Ling easily found the cabinet that stored books about jadestone. There were a few readers already standing here. There was a person who looked like a scholar among them. He was about fifty years old.
Seeing the variety of books, Yang Ming had a headache. He had a similar feeling when he bought the books about lip-reading. Now, the living standard of citizens was too high; the spiritual culture was too rich. However, correspondingly, there a growth in the fake cultural products as well.
If the book was prose, novel, comic or a picture storybook, it was okay to concoct some nonsense. However, if you bluff on an academic book, that would be ridiculous!
For now, such "professional" books weren't a minority in number. If the book was purely a patchwork of other books, it was harmless. If after reading the book, you learned nothing, you wouldn't have learned anything incorrect either. It would be dangerous if the author created the wrong facts and the contents of the book were all mistakes. Wasn't this misleading?
Yang Ming only read a few books, and he was confused. The opinions were indeed based on people. Every author had a different understanding about jade; these were so hard to read!
Lan Ling's ability to differentiate jade was based solely on instinct so she had no technical knowledge about jade.
"What's wrong, kid? Why do you have such a sour face?" The scholar who stood beside Yang Ming asked suddenly.
"Sir, I want to study about jade, but I don't know which book I should read!" Yang Ming noticed that he was looking at books for quite some time now, so he tried his luck and asked. "I realize now that many books have differing opinions. I don't know what to do!"
"Hehe! So that's your predicament!" The old man laughed. "There is nothing to worry about! The books you're talking about are the appreciative type. Collectors usually write these books. Their personal interests differ, so their opinions are naturally diverse!"
"But the price of jade, isn't it decided by these collectors?" Yang Ming questioned.
"Not all are like that! Their words have a certain power in a price evaluation of jade, but it's not like that!" As he spoke, the old man took out
Yang Ming took a look. The old man was right! Both had similar quality, but the estimated prices differed by about two million yuan!
"Did you see that? Do you want to know why this connoisseur appraised the bracelet, while the other only talked about it briefly?" The old man asked.
Yang Ming shook his head. How could he know about this? If he knew, then he wouldn't be distressed!
"Hehe. Kid, although the jadestone quality is important, the person who carved it is important as well! These two jade bracelets have distinctive artistic carvings. If you look carefully, the one with higher evaluation has exquisite carvings while the other is still rough!" The old man explained.
"Ah! So that's why!" Yang Ming was enlightened! He only focused on the difference between the quality of jade but didn't bother about the artistic carving. "That's why the same quality jade can get such a different price!"
"Yes, the sculptor of this bracelet might be a newbie. To put it bluntly, he ruined this jade!" The old man shook his head feeling sorry for it.
"I understand!" Yang Ming nodded. "Then sir, which book do you think I should read as a beginner?"
"If you're interested in jade, you can learn about the texture of jade first. For example, this book suits you better!" The old man took out a book that was not very pretty from the cabinet's corner and passed it to Yang Ming.
Chapter 114: Old Mister Liu
Yang Ming grabbed the and looked at the publication date.
Year 1988 - First edition.
Year 1997 - Second edition.
Year 2008 - 36th edition.
This book was released before Yang Ming was born! Yang Ming was from the 90s, and this book was older than him by two years!
"Hehe, isn't it surprising? The book had some history already?" The old man smiled as he looked at Yang Ming's expression.
"En, yes. The book is two years older than me. Could it be outdated?" Yang Ming voiced out his concern.
"Outdated? Knowledge wouldn't be outdated!" The old man shook his head and said, "Youngsters like you who buy books would always prefer the new editions! That wouldn't be bad with fashion books. However, regarding books with knowledge, that wouldn't be the case!
"For example, the addition and subtraction that we use in daily life were invented by our ancestors a few thousand years ago. Could you say that is outdated?
"Here's another example. The poems from the Tang dynasty and the verses from the Song dynasty, are those out of date?
"Knowledge won't be outdated. Take this book, for example. It was reprinted for the 36th time. This proves its value!"
Yang Ming nodded his head. Not bad. He truly had benefited a lot. Aside from that, the old man knew a lot about evaluating the quality of jade. Also, he shared a book that was suitable for Yang Ming. He was pretty happy. "Old man, thank you. I understand. I will study hard with this book!"
"En, initially, I wanted to explain more to you, however, I have something else I need to attend. This is my name card. If you have anything you don't understand, just call my phone! It is rare to see a youngster who likes to learn more!" The old man took a card from his pocket and passed it to Yang Ming.
Yang Ming felt shameful with what the old man said. I don't really like to study but, I study to earn money! However, he acted respectfully and accepted the name card from the old man with his two hands.
The name card was simplistic. It showed a name and a phone number without any other details such as occupation and address. It looked to be a private name card.
Those who gave name cards to others were usually successful people of some industry. They already disregarded fame and fortune!
Liu Weishan, Yang Ming had never heard this name before, but he reckoned that old man Liu must be an expert in the jade industry!
After he bid farewell to Liu Weishan, Yang Ming and Lan Ling browsed around the bookstore. Yang Ming simply skimmed books about Qigong[1] and special abilities. The content was only superficial. It wasn't related to x-ray vision. However, Lan Ling's sixth sense was mentioned in many books. The explanation basically was summarized as:
Damn, what sort of explanation is this! Yang Ming was disappointed with what he read. Yang Ming could read in more detail on Qidian. The books in the bookstore didn't seem to be professional.
"Lan Ling." Yang Ming turned around and realized that Lan Ling wasn't there. This girl, where did she go?
Finding a person in the bookstore was a challenge. The bookshelves blocked the line of sight. It wouldn't be possible to see a person behind a bookshelf.
Of course, that was for normal people. This kind of obstacle was ineffective against Yang Ming! His eyes were like an x-ray telescope and cannot be compared to a normal person's.
Yang Ming straightaway used his special ability. He quickly noticed that Lan Ling was behind a distant bookshelf focused on a book.
Yang Ming swiftly walked there. It seemed that Lan Ling was absorbed in it. She didn't notice that Yang Ming suddenly appeared behind her.
"Lan Ling, what are you looking at? You are so absorbed in it!" Yang Ming slapped her but*.
"Ah!" Lan Ling was surprised. She was relieved when she found out it was Yang Ming. "You shocked me!"
"Heh?" Yang Ming saw the book in Lan Ling's hand and couldn't help but be surprised.