Chapter 121: She's Not the Thief
Note: This chapter contains some detailed descriptions of a sexual activity. If you do not want to read it or are under 15 years of age, skip the section between the double lines.
After the police had left, both Zhang Bing and his father had a tacit understanding to not mention anything about the prostitute. However, Zhang Jiefang still felt that things were awkward. He felt sorry for Yang Ming.
Yang Ming felt that the ambiance in the room was off, so he pulled Lan Ling back into his own room
"Yang Ming, I feel that the whole case is strange." Lan Ling told him once she went back to the room. Do not speak of it, but when this little girl was serious she looked completely different.
"What do you mean?" Yang Ming asked.
"The missing imperial jade was strange. Even though I was a prostitute for only a day, whenever I chatted with the others before, I know that most prostitutes wouldn't go and search their client's luggage. Even the greediest prostitute would only take the cash from their client's wallet. Everyone knows that normal people wouldn't place their expensive items into their luggage." Lan Ling analyzed, "Thus, it's rather bizarre."
"Do you mean that Uncle Zhang stole from himself?" Yang Ming shook his head. He had suspected Zhang Jiefang a while ago. Even though Zhang Jiefang seemed like a nice person, but the heart to guard others should never be gone [1]. A hundred thousand yuan wasn't a small amount! Therefore, Yang Ming used his x-ray vision to look through the room and realized there was no trace of the imperial jade. This also meant that it wasn't Zhang Jiefang who hid the imperial jade away.
"That wasn't what I meant. I have told you before. I have a sharp intuition. I don't feel like there was anything wrong with Uncle Zhang." Lan Ling shook her head.
"However, it's truly unlucky that we lost that imperial jade. Initially, I wanted to make you some imperial jade jewelry." Yang Ming smiled as he shook his head.
"Make me some jewelry?" Lan Ling was stunned. Then she remembered that Yang Ming mentioned how he wanted to keep a piece of imperial jade yesterday. It was actually for her! Lan Ling felt a sense of sweetness in her heart. "It's alright. I am already extremely happy that you have this intention!"
"No worries Lan Ling. Even if we can't recover the imperial jade, I will get you another one." Yang Ming felt that this wasn't something hard at all.
Ordinarily, people would be pretty anxious when they lost their item, especially Yang Ming who lost an imperial jade that was worth 200,000 or even 800,000 yuan. Yet he still felt rather peaceful as he lay down on his bed and continued to study his book,.
Lan Ling continued to study some "live-action movie." Because there was a variety of programs daily, today's was Japanese. The main character was a lot more reserved compared to the United States one. But there were still many patterns, and Lan Ling was completely engrossed in it. She would also occasionally ask Yang Ming a few questions, just like a good student who was studying seriously.
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"Yang Ming, what is that?" Lan Ling pointed at the screen.
"Oh? That is a vibrating egg." Yang Ming raised his eyebrow and threw a glance at it. Then, he proceeded to read his book.
"Vibrating egg? What's its use?" Lan Ling asked again.
"Just learn it by watching the TV!" Yang Ming ran out of words. This Lan Ling, is she doing it on purpose?
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"Xixi... " Lan Ling smiled cunningly.
"Lan Ling!" Yang Ming became so aroused that he stared at her. If you don't want to use it, then don't use it. Why are you telling me?
"En? My love, you want me?" Lan Ling happily climbed onto the bed to Yang Ming's side.
Finally, Yang Ming had run out of patience. Or he no longer needed to be patient...
That night, Deputy Director Li who was sent out from the nearest police station made a call to get Zhang Jiefang to the police station. They found Li Moli.
In the interrogation room of the police station, Yang Ming saw Li Moli, a woman who was dressed up rather flirtatiously with heavy makeup. Yang Ming started to doubt Zhang Jiefang's taste in women. Wasn't that standard a bit too low?
Li Moli was slightly nervous. Moreover, this was a case about 200,000 yuan. She was just a prostitute. How could she not be nervous?
... "I didn't take any imperial jade. Is this f**k**g fat guy setting me up?"
Suddenly a voice floated into Yang Ming's mind. Yang Ming was stunned. When he saw how everyone else didn't have any reaction, he knew that he had "seen" someone's thoughts!
This thinking was obviously by Li Moli. Even though Yang Ming wasn't clear how his special power appeared, he still believed that he had this ability. Since Li Moli was thinking this way, then she would not be the person who had stolen the imperial jade away.
The f****** fat guy in her mind should be Zhang Jiefang.
Of course, Deputy Director Li shook his head apologetically to Zhang Jiefang, "According to our investigation, this Li Moli would basically be completely excluded from suspicion. We had already seen her handbag. Even though on the outside, it may look big, but the actual space in her handbag is rather small. It wasn't large enough to contain an imperial jade. Moreover, the key thing is if she truly took away the imperial jade, she wouldn't dare to come back to the same place to sleep again. When we arrived at her home, she was putting on makeup and preparing to go accompany another client at night. This way, it reduced our doubts tremendously. Especially this type of prostitute who belonged to a group, they are rather different from a prostitute who is on her own. As long as you could trace back to the boss who was in charge, you would be able to find them! This type of people wouldn't steal from others!"
Zhang Jiefang nodded his head disappointedly. He knew that what Deputy Director Li said was true.
"The case had already been reported to other stations. Tomorrow there would be others from the other stations who would be here. Boss Zhang, they would want to understand a few situations from you. My advice to you is to not move anything in the hotel room, especially your luggage." Deputy Director Li instructed.
"No problem. I understand." Zhang Jiefang nodded his head.
Yang Ming had already predicted this outcome, so it wasn't anything unique for him. But Zhang Jiefang was rather disappointed. He thought the police would have already prosecuted Li Moli, and the imperial jade would be back. But it was all an empty joy.
Zhang Jiefang is a person who was pretty forthright. Once he was out of the police station, he wanted to bring Yang Ming to the bank and pass him the 200,000 yuan.
"Uncle Zhang, what are you doing? The police haven't even come to crack the case. Why are you in such a hurry!" Yang Ming rejected it immediately.
"Yang Ming, your Uncle Zhang doesn't care about this little bit of money. I don't feel good in my heart. This whole afternoon I was thinking about this case. If you don't take it, I won't be able to fall asleep at night!" Zhang Jiefang shook his hand, asked hesitantly, "… Yang Ming, you can't be thinking that Uncle Zhang was stealing my own imperial jade, can you?"
"Of course not, Uncle Zhang, why would you be thinking like this?" Yang Ming shook his hand.
"This piece of imperial jade, after processing, could be worth 800,000 yuan. Would you think that Uncle Zhang was going for your money?" Zhang Jiefang still felt somewhat insecure in his heart.
"How could it be, Uncle Zhang? If you wanted to trick me, all you had to do at that time was tell me that this was a low-quality imperial jade that was not worth a lot of money. Then you just had to buy it at a lower price from me. You didn't have to put up so much effort. I have never doubted you!" Yang Ming continued.
"If you can put it that way then I feel better." Zhang Jiefang nodded his head, "But no worries, if we really can't find the imperial jade, I will pay you back according to the original price."
Yang Ming could only nod his head.
Even though the imperial jade was gone, the business must continue. Thinking about how to best make up for the loss was the most important thing. The next day, Zhang Jiefang and Yang Ming came to Liang Jinya's Jade Stone Company.
Liang Jinya saw that the people at the front weren't his common customers. He asked, "Boss, how do you know that I have a pile of new raw stones here?"
"A business friend of mine told me. He is one of your clients who comes here pretty often." Zhang Jiefang had already thought of his excuse.
"Your friend is?" Liang Jinya asked.
"Sun Laoer!" Zhang Jiefang said, "I am not sure of his real name. You know it as well that people who are in retail don't like to broadcast their names. If there's no need, you may not want to continue asking."
Liang Jinya nodded his head. He also understood that many of the traveling merchants would use an alias for their own safety. Since one of his clients recommended Zhang Jiefang, he shouldn't deny him entrance. Therefore, he said, "Boss, since it is the first time you are here, let me explain the rules. For the new stock that you are taking, at the bare minimum you need a purchase of 100,000 yuan!"
"No problem." Zhang Jiefang nodded his head indifferently. 100,000 yuan was a small number for him.
Liang Jinya gave Zhang Jiefang a few large sized sacks after writing some numbers on top. Then, he signaled him to start picking up the rocks inside and weighed it.
"Boss Liang, I want to gamble a few rocks too, but I can't reach 100,000 yuan, is that okay?" Yang Ming asked.
"Since you both are together, it's fine. Let me bring you another sack, and you can pick yourself." The reason Liang Jinya stated the rule for a minimum purchase of 100,000 yuan was to avoid some merchants who were just there to blend with others. However, for Yang Ming, this type of person who came with another client, he didn't have to follow the rule strictly.
"Why, Yang Ming, you still want to gamble for rock?" Zhang Jiefang felt a bit surprised listening to it.
"Yeah, I'm pretty interested in this line. I would like to test my luck again." Yang Ming smiled as he nodded.
"Okay, I will pay for your bill!" Zhang Jiefang smiled.
"It's alright. I have cash." Yang Ming didn't want to have any conflicts when it came to cashing out later on. This type of case is rather common on the internet or television. For example, if two friends went out together, A wanted to buy some lottery tickets but he didn't have any change, so he spent B's money. But once the lottery hit the jackpot, B wasn't so willing and went to court to sue A. B had spent the money, and he felt that the prize should belong to him.
Chapter 122: Carrying a Sack of Jade
Although Zhang Jiefang was forthright, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't have bad intentions for money. One or two pieces of jade were still fine, but one big sack, what logic was that?
Yang Ming didn't want to quarrel with Zhang Bing over such external things like money. As the saying goes, close brothers keep a careful accounting. This way, he wouldn't cause too much unnecessary trouble.
"If you come out with Uncle Zhang, how will he let you spend your own money?" Zhang Jiefang tapped on Yang Ming's shoulder. "What? Do you have any opinion of Uncle Zhang?"
"No, Uncle Zhang, you misunderstood me. I'm just trying to earn some money through gambling for rock. Only if the capital is mine that I will have a sense of achievement after earning the money!" Yang Ming made up a reasonable excuse.
"En, you're right. Only our own money will be appreciated!" Zhang Jiefang nodded his head and thought the same.
When he looked at the warehouse's mountain of rocks, Yang Ming was dumbfounded. He was hoping to pick out a sack of imperial jade, but now it seemed complicated.
Yang Ming could look for rocks that contained imperial jade through x-ray vision, but most of them were at the bottom. He couldn't push away all rocks on top and pick only the middle one. If he did that, it would be strange to not be doubted by others!
There were a few customers who came to the warehouse. They surrounded the stacks of rock and started picking. Sometimes they discussed lightly. This time, Zhang Jiefang didn't bring any Eyes [1], because the Eyes were with Wu Facai. The goods that the Eyes picked weren't so good. It became a break even trade. It was a waste of energy and returned nothing.
So Zhang Jiefang was trying his luck this time. The middle-aged Zhang Jiefang believed deeply in luck. If not, why would there be so many people who had gone through similar experiences but lived such different lives? Some were at the top of society, while others were still struggling to make ends meet.
The difference caused by human IQ is just between genius and mental retardation. Most people have similar IQs. As for Zhang Jiefang, he thought that he wasn't smarter than others, so his success was based solely on luck.
Back in the days, he and another laid-off employee went to the South and prepared to do business on accessories. Both of them simply took some items to sell. Zhang Jiefang's items sold well, but the items of another man were stacked on the vendor's stand without anyone asking for it. In the end, he had to sell them at a loss. With such an experience in failure, the man honestly bought a tricycle and did hard work. As for Zhang Jiefang, he only picked his items, but they all sold fast. If this wasn't luck, then what was luck?
Zhang Jiefang and Zhang Bing, Yang Ming and Lan Ling. They split into two groups and started gambling for rock.
Yang Ming scanned in a big circle the rocks on the surface. There was only one imperial jade. The others were primarily nephrite, but there were still some gemstones with better quality.
After the previous conversation, Yang Ming knew the net price of a rock was five hundred yuan. He estimated that ten thousand yuan could buy twenty kilograms of gemstones. Even if there wasn't much imperial jade, one bag of good quality gemstones could still earn a lot.
As he thought about this, Yang Ming felt briefly relieved. Currently, there was one imperial jade on the surface. Yang Ming wouldn't let it get away of course. It was just that the position of the jade rock was near another group of people who were picking rocks. If I purposely squeeze through, why does it feel like I was taking the bread out of someone's mouth?
Surely, Yang Ming was overthinking it. A business like gambling rock was a dog-eat-dog business. If you preferred this rock, then you should grab it in your hand as soon as possible. If others took it before you, then you could only look. As long as the rocks weren't in anyone's hand, anyone could grab it.
Yang Ming was afraid that it was impolite to do so as he didn't know the rules. Therefore, he was waiting for them to leave, then he would go. But, when Yang Ming was hesitating, one of them picked up the rock with imperial jade!
Yang Ming had a heartache and regretted it. If I knew it would turn out like this, I wouldn't care so much about politeness. This imperial jade was much bigger than the imperial jade that he lost!
Lan Ling looked at Yang Ming's regretful expression. She couldn't understand. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Yang Ming shook his head. Money! It was as if Yang Ming saw the money grow a pair of wings and fly away.
Lan Ling was far away, so she couldn't feel the quality of rock. Her intuition power only worked in a limited range. If it was too far, then it would be ineffective. Therefore, she didn't know that Yang Ming had missed a chance to earn a fortune.
En? Yang Ming froze. The man who picked up the imperial jade didn't put it into his bag, but he threw it on the ground instead! It looked like this person had dismissed the rock.
Yang Ming was delighted. Looks like this guy is another newbie! Since he had missed his opportunity once, Yang Ming didn't care about politeness this time around. He broke into the group right away.
Yang Ming had a sturdy figure, so he easily shoved those people to the side.
"Why are you pushing? There are so many places. Why must you come here!" One of the people who got pushed complained with a boss' look.
Yang Ming didn't bother with him. He was afraid that someone would grab the rock again. He immediately bent down and took the imperial jade in his hand. Only then did he settle down and put the stone into his bag like a precious treasure.
Ha, there goes few hundred thousand! Earning money is so easy! Thinking back on what he read on Qidian International in the past, Yang Ming was proud of himself. It's so cool to use special abilities to earn money!
Watching Yang Ming picked up the rock under his leg, those bosses who got pushed aside couldn't refrain from mocking him, "Picking up a rock that Master Wang discarded, this guy has too much money to spend doesn't he?"
Of course, Yang Ming understood what he was saying. He was scolding Yang Ming for his bad choice in a euphemized manner! The person who rejected this rock was probably Master Wang.
Yang Ming scolded a word idiot in his heart! What is being overly optimistic? This guy is a typical example of it. He threw a few hundred thousand yuan piece away, and still acted cool!
Yang Ming didn't have the heart to strike this idiot down, so he pretended to hear nothing and left.
Lan Ling went with Yang Ming, so she naturally heard them. But she knew that Yang Ming had picked up a good rock, so she couldn't keep herself from laughing. "That boss is really stupid!"
"En, he's only moderately stupid. I have seen people dumber than him!" Yang Ming nodded his head.
Yang Ming patrolled around the rock stacks a few times and picked out the rocks with better quality. Of course, he didn't forget to put some defective stones in it, if not, it would surely be too fake.
After picking out a small sack, the proportion of good and inferior jade was about half and half. After they sealed their bag, they weighed it. It was twenty-three kilograms, so the total was 11,500 yuan. Yang Ming paid immediately.
He noticed Zhang Bing hadn't finished picking rocks, so Yang Ming decided to help them. Yang Ming picked a few rocks with better quality and put them into Zhang Bing's sack. Of course, it was just a few pieces. He didn't want it to be too ridiculous.
Zhang Jiefang didn't specialize in these either, so two hundred kilograms of gemstones was enough for him. He didn't do any unnecessary actions. He sealed, weighed, and paid, then he left.
"Yang Ming, what about your sack of rocks? Are you opening it here or going back first?" Zhang Jiefang said.
"Uncle Zhang, how about you?" Yang Ming didn't know what to do.
"I'm preparing to consign them for shipment. I'll deal with them after I go back to Song Jiang." Zhang Jiefang said, "I have my own factory. It's easier to go back and do it."
"Then I'll ship my sack to Song Jiang as well!" Yang Ming nodded his head. Yang Ming didn't want to make the same mistake twice. Before the imperial jade was polished, it was no different than other rocks. So he wouldn't worry about losing it during shipment. Therefore, for safety purposes, he will wait until he got back to Song Jiang.
After all, Yang Ming earned quite a lot this time! If the other businessmen heard this, they would probably be stunned. Using ten thousand yuan to gamble for an imperial jade and you say this was a large investment?
As for the previous imperial jade, it had vanished. The police didn't make any progress. The police had checked the hotel staff as well, but there were no new developments.
Although more time was needed to solve the case, Zhang Jiefang and Yang Ming had already stayed here for about a week. They haven't yet gone to other places in Yunnan. After Zhang Jiefang asked for Yang Ming's opinion, they decided not to wait for it. On the second day, they checked out of their rooms and went to Lijiang.
Lijiang is located on the border between the Yungui plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in the northwest Yunnan province. The altitude is about 2400 meters. It is also known as one of the four most well-preserved ancient cities together with Sichuan Province's Langzhong, Shanxi Province's Pingyao, and Anhui Province's Shexian. They are the second batch of famous national historical and cultural cities.[2]
If you come for a tour in Yunnan but didn't visit Lijiang, it is almost equivalent to not visiting Yunnan at all.
Although Zhang Jiefang was in his middle years, his interest in traveling wasn't diminished at all. The four of them visited these famous sites: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Old Town of Lijiang, Lashi Lake, Spruce Plateau, White Water River, Ganhaizi, Yufeng Temple, Baisha Murals, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yangtze River First Bay, Lugu Lake, Yak Plateau, Laojun Mountain, and Serac Forest. After that, they set foot on the return journey. [3]