Both Qiao Yifan and Chen Bin were filled with disbelief at his words. After all, even seasoned jade selectors couldn't guarantee picking out stones that would definitely yield jade.
Yet, here was Li Se, as if he could tell at a glance which of the fifty million yuan worth of raw stones would produce jade.
"Fine, as you wish!" Qiao Yifan sneered. This Li Se was truly a fearless newcomer. Even he couldn't achieve such a feat, let alone a novice.
"Li Se, do you have confidence?" Chen Bin asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
Li Se smiled confidently. "I don't do things I'm not sure of."
Chen Bin was a bit stunned. For some reason, he felt Li Se had changed drastically since their last meeting, as if he were a different person, even making him feel like a stranger.
Li Se walked over to the raw jade stones. Although the total value was fifty million yuan, there were only about fifteen stones in total. It had to be said, raw jade was quite expensive. He picked out four stones and set them aside, saying, "These four are it. The rest will likely be duds."
He could sense spiritual energy fluctuations from the raw stones. Those with fluctuations were the ones that would produce jade; the others were essentially stagnant.
"Pfft..." Qiao Yifan couldn't help but laugh when he saw the four stones. "Two of these stones are fine, their quality is not bad. But the other two were just filler stones for me. A novice is indeed a novice."
"We'll know after cutting, won't we?" Li Se retorted coldly.
A jewelry store like Chen Bin's, with its vast business, naturally had its own cutting machines. Soon, the four raw jade stones were taken for cutting.
"Jade!"
The first raw stone yielded jade, and its quality was decent. However, no one attributed it to Li Se's skill but rather to Qiao Yifan's prowess.
"Master Qiao, you truly are remarkable," Chen Bin praised.
Qiao Yifan, however, was dismissive. "If I weren't skilled, how could I pick out raw stones for you?"
The second, third, and fourth stones all yielded jade.
This meant all four stones Li Se had chosen produced jade.
The combined value of these four was about fifteen million yuan, still far from covering the cost.
Qiao Yifan's brow furrowed slightly, but he said no more. Since the four stones Li Se had casually picked all produced jade, the remaining eleven stones, any one of which could yield jade, would likely result in a massive profit.
Chen Bin thought the same. His mood was somewhat excited because the first four stones had yielded jade, and this time, they were truly going to make a fortune. Of course, he didn't believe Li Se could accurately pick out only the jade-yielding stones; it was primarily because the remaining eleven raw stones had excellent appearances, and it would be a shame if they didn't yield jade.
"Just you wait, you've lost for sure!" Qiao Yifan declared smugly.
Next was the cutting of the raw stones that Li Se had deemed unlikely to yield jade, starting with the fifth stone.
It was a dud!
Then came the sixth, the seventh... all the way to the last stone.
All of them were duds!
Some had a hint of green on the surface, but once the cutting machine went in, only that surface layer contained the green, which was no different from being a dud.
Fifty million yuan, with a loss of approximately thirty-five million!
Chen Bin's expression changed slightly, feeling as if he were experiencing extreme temperatures. He had just felt like they were going to make a fortune, and now they were facing a huge loss.
Li Se remained calm throughout. He glanced at Qiao Yifan and said, "Apologize and return the money."
Qiao Yifan felt as if he had swallowed a fly. Out of fifteen raw stones, only four had yielded jade, and the rest were duds. While he wouldn't have felt too bad about this on a normal day, even skilled jade selectors had losing days, but this time, he had been completely defeated by Li Se.
"Jade selection, jade selection, the key is the 'selection' part. It's normal to have profits and losses," Qiao Yifan defended himself.
Li Se smiled. "What, are you trying to renege on the deal?"
Qiao Yifan's expression flickered between anger and uncertainty. He gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, I will return the five million yuan to you. However, I will not cooperate with you again in the future!"
With an apology and the return of the money, Qiao Yifan couldn't stay any longer. He had had enough and left in a hurry.
"Li Se, how did you do it?" Chen Bin asked, his face full of shock.
"I can just tell," Li Se replied, finding it difficult to explain. The concept of spiritual energy was too profound, and even if he explained it, Chen Bin wouldn't understand.
"I'll give you these five million yuan. You pick the stones for me!" Chen Bin said excitedly. "I won't cheat you. If the stones you pick yield jade, I'll buy them from you!"
"This..." Li Se hesitated.
"Whether you help me or not, we're brothers!" Chen Bin didn't seem too bothered by the tens of millions lost. It was already lost, and nothing could change that now. However, if they could acquire a batch of fine jade, it could compensate for the losses.
"Alright!" Li Se agreed.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow!" Chen Bin said with excitement.
After parting ways with Chen Bin, Li Se returned home and gave the newly purchased protective amulet to his mother.
"This is jade, it must be very expensive?" Chen Xiulian asked, her heart aching a little.
"Mom, I've earned quite a bit of money recently. This is just a small amount," Li Se said with a smile.
Chen Xiulian cautioned him, "You're not married yet. You need to save your money for marriage and starting a family."
Li Se couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and helplessness. If his mother knew he had tens of millions in his bank account, she might be scared to death.
He still had another protective amulet. After a moment's hesitation, Li Se went next door and knocked.
"Oh, you miss me, sister?" Zhang Aimin looked at Li Se with surprise, thinking the guy might be interested in her.
Li Se coughed lightly and handed the protective amulet to Zhang Aimin. "This is a protective amulet. It's been blessed."
"Oh my, jade? This isn't cheap, is it?" Zhang Aimin asked, a little surprised.
"It's not expensive. I bought it at a friend's store, and they gave me a discount, buy one get one free," Li Se replied with a smile.
Zhang Aimin pouted. "This one of mine isn't the free one, is it?"
"You don't want it?" Li Se made a move as if to take it back.
Zhang Aimin immediately put it around her neck, not giving Li Se a chance to retrieve it. She then said, "Sister doesn't know how to thank you. How about this, I'll let you be a man for once?"
Li Se shivered all over and quickly retreated to his own home. This widow was becoming increasingly bold. He was truly afraid that if they continued to chat, he might lose control.
The next day, Li Se received a call from Chen Bin and immediately went to the entrance of the residential complex. Shortly after, Chen Bin's car arrived.
"Whether we can get good jade today depends on you!" Chen Bin said with anticipation.
Li Se smiled without saying a word. With his current abilities, it shouldn't be a problem to extract good quality jade.