enjoyebooks Chapter 2: A High-Stakes Gamble of Ten Thousand Yuan
Chapter 2: A High-Stakes Gamble of Ten Thousand Yuan
When Lin Yu went out, it was already completely dark.
Instead of going home, he took a taxi to a private clinic in the city center. It was owned by Su Qingge's family.
Su Qingge, one of his childhood sweethearts, was also the most rational and aloof among them. She studied law and finance, and although her family wasn't extremely wealthy, they owned several old houses in Kunming.
The clinic was still open, and Su Qingge was organizing the accounts. When she saw Lin Yu, who was soaking wet, walk in, her pen paused for a moment, and a barely perceptible worry flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly covered up by indifference.
"You still dare to go out?" Su Qingge pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her tone harsh. "There are debt collectors all over the place outside. Didn't Zhao Kun break your legs?"
"If I interrupted you, would I still be standing in front of you?" Lin Yu forced a smile, walked over and sat down opposite her. "Qingge, I need money."
Su Qingge sighed, opened the drawer, took out an envelope, and pushed it in front of him.
"Here's 50,000 yuan. It's the New Year's money and scholarships I've saved up over the years. Take it to pay your dad's medical bills. As for the rest... be careful with your money, and don't gamble it away."
Lin Yu looked at the envelope but didn't rush to take it. Fifty thousand yuan was nothing compared to a billion yuan.
"Qingge, that's not enough." Lin Yu looked directly into her eyes. "I need 100,000. And I need to borrow your membership card."
"One hundred thousand?" Su Qingge frowned. "What do you need so much money for? Lin Yu, these are critical times. Don't do anything illegal or disorderly."
"I'm going to gamble on jade," Lin Yu said in a low voice.
Su Qingge was stunned for a moment, then looked at him as if he were crazy: "Are you crazy? Your father went bankrupt because of failed investments, and now you want to touch that stuff? That stuff is all about luck, you're going to throw 100,000 yuan to your death?"
"It's not luck." Lin Yu pointed to his head. "I have a feeling. Qingge, trust me this once. If I lose this 100,000 yuan, I'll work for you for the rest of my life to pay off the debt. If I win..."
"How was it if we won?"
"If I win, I can clean up this mess." Lin Yu's eyes revealed a ruthless glint.
Su Qingge fell silent. She had known Lin Yu for twenty years and had never seen him with such a look in his eyes. It wasn't the gambler's frenzy, but a calm desperation born of a desperate gamble.
"My membership card?" Su Qingge asked.
"You're a VIP at the 'Emerald Edge' club, right?" Lin Yu said. "They have a raw stone trading area there, and it's relatively legitimate, so you won't get scammed."
Su Qingge gritted her teeth and finally took off a necklace from her neck, on which hung a black and gold card.
"This is my card. 100,000 is my limit. Lin Yu, if you lose, don't come looking for me again." She said coldly, but her ears turned red.
"Thanks." Lin Yu took the card, turned around, and rushed into the rainy night.
Half an hour later, at the "Cuiyuan" Club in Kunming.
This place appears to be a high-end club, but it's actually a distribution center for underground jade trading. Various luxury cars are parked outside, including Porsches, G-Class cars, and Bentleys.
Lin Yu, dressed in wet, old clothes, looked out of place. But he was holding a black gold card in his hand, and although the doorman gave him a strange look, he still respectfully invited him in.
"System, is this thing reliable?" Lin Yu asked himself silently.
The phone vibrated, and the black app interface popped up: [The system has detected that the host has entered a high-value item cluster. Basic "Eye of Treasure Appraisal" is pending activation. Please transfer 100 million yuan first.]
"I don't have money, but I have a card." Lin Yu took a deep breath. "Can I pay on credit first? Just for an hour, I'll leave after I'm done."
The system did not respond.
Lin Yu smiled wryly. It seemed that this system was also someone who only cared about money and not people.
He walked to the raw stone area. It was piled with stones of all sizes, some cut in half to reveal an enticing green color; others were gray and dull, like rotten stones by the roadside.
"Young man, buying stones?" A middle-aged man in a Tang suit approached. He was a broker here. "The rough stones over there are quite good. You can buy a pendant for a few thousand yuan."
"I want to see the betting odds," Lin Yu said.
"Betting tips?" The broker looked him up and down. "That's the entry-level area, the smallest bets are a few thousand, and the largest are only twenty or thirty thousand. That's the elite area, where bets are often hundreds of thousands or even millions."
Lin Yu walked towards the introductory area. His current abilities were only sufficient to look at the introductory area.
He squatted down in front of a pile of stones, silently praying, "System, give me a hand. If there's jade in these stones, I'll trust you."
Just then, his phone vibrated, and a faint electric current flowed through his fingers and throughout his body. Lin Yu felt a burning sensation in his eyes, and the scene before him suddenly changed.
Those dull, gray stones suddenly appeared translucent in his vision! And inside the stones, he saw a vibrant, colorful world—some were completely empty, some contained only a few impurities, and some…
His gaze locked onto a fist-sized piece of black ebony. Under the system's vision, the center of that stone was actually enveloped in a dense, almost impenetrable, emerald green!
Imperial Green!
Although it's only the size of a fist, its color and luster make it absolutely valuable!
Lin Yu's heart pounded. This system... it's real!
"How much is this stone?" Lin Yu asked, pointing to the piece of black jade, trying to keep his voice calm.
The broker glanced at it and curled his lip: "This material is a gamble, three thousand yuan."
Three thousand yuan? It's filled with imperial green jade! This is an absolute steal!
Just as Lin Yu was about to take out his money, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and pressed down on the stone.
"I want this stone."
Lin Yu looked up and saw a familiar, yet repulsive, face.
He is Xia Yao's cousin, Li Kai. A typical spoiled brat, he always disliked Lin Yu and felt that Lin Yu was not good enough for Xia Yao.
"Li Kai?" Lin Yu frowned.
"Hey, isn't this Young Master Lin?" Li Kai laughed exaggeratedly. "What, your family went bankrupt and you've been reduced to collecting scraps? You're even interested in three thousand yuan?"
"I was the one who had my eye on it first," Lin Yu said coldly.
"You saw this first? It's not even in the name here." Li Kai pulled out his wallet, tossed out three thousand yuan, and said, "Boss, I'll take this stone. By the way, I know this piece has a lot of cracks. This kid's trying to snag a bargain; he doesn't even know if he's got the luck."
The shopkeeper took the money and looked at Lin Yu with some difficulty.
Lin Yu stared at Li Kai, his eyes like knives. He could sense the value in that stone; he absolutely couldn't let this fool have it!
"Li Kai, are you willing to make a bet with me?" Lin Yu suddenly asked.
"How do we bet?" Li Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Now that you've bought this stone, do you dare cut it open and take a look? If there's no jade inside, I'll give you 30,000 yuan. If there is jade inside..." Lin Yu took a deep breath, "This stone is mine, and you give me another 70,000 yuan!"
As soon as these words were spoken, people gathered around. Thirty thousand against one hundred thousand? That's a huge bet!
Li Kai was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Lin Yu, are you crazy? I've looked at this piece of junk, the cracks are obvious, how could it possibly contain jade? Are you trying to scam me out of your gambling losses?"
"What? You're too scared?" Lin Yu provoked him. "Or is it that your cousin from Xia Yao's family isn't even willing to gamble 100,000 yuan?"
Li Kai was enraged. He cared most about his reputation.
"Fine, I'll gamble then! Pshaw!"