Chapter 231: 230: Nine Losses out of Ten Gambles
Chapter 231: Chapter 230: Nine Losses out of Ten Gambles
Fu Xiaoxue, Zeng Yan, Yu Xiangwan, and Gu Qingning were complete amateurs when it came to picking jadeite roughs. They relied entirely on their intuition, choosing whichever stone felt right to them.
It didn’t take them long to pick their stones.
Yu Zhiming noticed that Fu Xiaoxue and Gu Qingning primarily chose smoother, rounder-looking roughs.
The fifteen stones Zeng Yan picked were all about the same size.
As for Yu Xiangwan, she just went for the biggest ones, picking out the ten largest roughs.
In her words, a bigger stone meant a bigger potential find.
It was already past 11:30 AM, and since cutting the roughs would take time, the group decided to go for lunch first. They would leave the stones there and come back to watch them being cut after their meal.
Yu Zhiming made a token polite invitation for Lin Qingyan to join them for lunch, not expecting him to accept. To his surprise, Lin Qingyan agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
This truly vexed Yu Zhiming…
Led by Yan Ling, Yu Zhiming’s group of five, plus Lin Qingyan and his glamorous companion, Wang Min, were seated in an exquisitely decorated private room at the restaurant.
A waiter began serving the food almost immediately.
The first dish to arrive was a creamy, white-colored lamb soup served in a large ceramic tureen.
Yu Zhiming ladled a bowl for himself and took a sip. It wasn’t gamey or fishy in the slightest, but full of a rich, fragrant lamb aroma.
After two small bowls of the soup, Yu Zhiming felt his stomach settle. A pleasant warmth spread through his body, and he felt completely at ease.
This made him greatly look forward to the lamb feast that was to follow.
They didn’t have to wait long before a variety of lamb dishes were brought out in a steady stream.
There was hand-pulled lamb, charcoal-grilled ribs, stir-fried lamb with scallions, lamb skewers, baked lamb buns, braised lamb, and even a lamb hot pot served in a traditional copper pot. For staples, there was baked naan and a special lamb pilaf…
The lamb was succulent and flavorful, and Yu Zhiming ate with great satisfaction.
Amid the casual chatter while they ate and drank, Lin Qingyan suddenly mentioned that he was learning to scuba dive, which sent a jolt through Yu Zhiming.
“Scuba diving?”
Yu Zhiming warned, “I happen to know that’s a very dangerous sport. I’ve heard that students die every year from all sorts of accidents.”
Lin Qingyan laughed dismissively. “Dr. Yu, you can get into an accident just by walking or eating.”
“As long as you’re fully prepared and avoid water that’s too deep or has a complex underwater environment, nothing will happen.”
He then pointed to his glamorous companion, his tone full of swagger. “Don’t let Ah Min’s petite and delicate appearance fool you. Once she’s underwater, she’s like a slippery mermaid—you can’t imagine how agile she is.”
“She’s a veteran diver with five years of experience. She can dive twenty to thirty meters without any gear and can even hold her breath underwater for up to six minutes.”
“With her by my side, even if some unexpected situation arises, there’s nothing to fear.”
Yu Zhiming took a long, hard look at Wang Min, who was nibbling on her lamb with remarkably elegant movements.
He suspected that, nine times out of ten, this woman was the reason Lin Qingyan had taken up the rather dangerous sport of diving.
Having previously overheard the suggestive conversation between two men, and now coincidentally running into Lin Qingyan, the diving student, Yu Zhiming was certain there was a profound, hidden connection between these events.
Realizing that Wang Min, the expert diver, might have been deliberately placed by Lin Qingyan’s side, Yu Zhiming decided not to press the issue with him any further.
Besides, he had already notified the police and had warned Lin Qingyan about the dangers of diving.
’Now it’s just a matter of seeing if the guy can escape this disaster…’
Around one in the afternoon, full and satisfied, Yu Zhiming, Lin Qingyan, and the others cheerfully returned to the jade counter in the gift area to watch the cutting of the jadeite roughs.
The staff had already prepared two cutting machines and were getting busy, the air filling with the sound of WHIRRING and GRINDING…
Finding the noise too grating, Yu Zhiming went outside the building, and Gu Qingning followed him.
“Zhiming, that guy is just a college classmate. We’re just regular friends. He pursued me once, but I turned him down without a second thought.”
Yu Zhiming waved his hand dismissively. “I wasn’t questioning your relationship with him, nor was I reading too much into it.”
“Hey, is his family really rich?”
Gu Qingning hummed in affirmation. “They own a few factories that make car parts and accessories.”
“I also heard that when the real estate market was booming a few years ago, his family seized the opportunity and made a fortune flipping properties.”
Yu Zhiming said, “Oh,” and then asked, “Is he an only child?”
Gu Qingning said, recalling, “He’s never mentioned any brothers or sisters, so he might be an only child.”
Her face broke into a wide smile. “Zhiming, why are you so concerned about him? You’re not actually getting jealous, are you?”
Yu Zhiming scoffed, a look of disdain on his face. “I’d be thrilled if someone took you off my hands. Then you’d finally stop bothering me.”
“Hey, Qingning, how come so many people who know you—like your cousin from the Furong Club, and now this guy—just automatically assume I’m your boyfriend?”
Gu Qingning gave a mischievous chuckle. “It must have been after that one party. Someone with a big mouth must have spread it around.”
Yu Zhiming grunted a couple of times in protest.
Gu Qingning took Yu Zhiming’s hand, then raised her other to point at the lake ahead and the mountains all around.
“Zhiming, what do you think of the scenery here?”
“Green mountains and clear waters… it’s refreshing for the mind and soul. Very nice.”
Gu Qingning chuckled. “Waking up in the morning to walk along a mountain path, with the sound of birds and the scent of flowers… you can’t imagine how wonderful it feels.”
“We’ve finally managed to get away for a vacation. We should just put everything else aside and focus on eating, drinking, and having fun.”
Yu Zhiming hummed in agreement, his gaze drifting toward the distant blue sky and white clouds…
Just then, his phone rang.
It was a call from He Yingjun.
Yu Zhiming’s brow furrowed slightly as he answered the call.
“Secretary He, what’s up?”
He Yingjun’s voice came through the phone. “Dr. Yu, I’m sorry to bother you during your vacation.”
“It’s like this, Dr. Yu. A while back, you diagnosed Dr. Gede Kant from Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States with pancreatic cancer while he was here for a medical exchange, correct?”
“After Dr. Gede Kant returned to the States, the news caused quite a stir at his hospital.”
“Now, Johns Hopkins Hospital has sent another medical exchange team. They came straight to our hospital, saying they’re here specifically for you, Dr. Yu.”
“Dr. Yu, what are your thoughts on this?”
Yu Zhiming let out a soft scoff. “Aren’t foreigners the ones who are so particular about separating their personal time from work time?”
“Vacation is vacation, and work is work. Why would they rush over during our National Day holiday?”
He Yingjun’s voice on the phone was laced with sarcasm. “Dr. Yu, that’s the arrogance and double standards that are ingrained in them. That whole separation of vacation and work? It only applies to them.”
“As far as they’re concerned, the moment they decide they want to work, people from other countries are expected to come scurrying over to accommodate them.”
Yu Zhiming couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sounds like you got an earful.”
He Yingjun sighed softly. “Those guys were polite enough on the surface, but they made no effort to hide their doubts about your medical skills, or their condescending attitude.”
Yu Zhiming chuckled. “In that case, let them wait. If they’re willing to, that is.”
“Secretary He, please tell them for me that I’m currently on vacation out of town and I’m not free to rush back.”
He Yingjun’s excited voice came through the phone. “Dr. Yu, can I really tell them that?”
“Tell them exactly that. It’s not like I’m begging them for anything…”
Yu Zhiming ended his call with He Yingjun, only to hear Gu Qingning’s voice right beside him.
“Sounds like this Secretary He is trying to fan the flames.”
Yu Zhiming smiled. “Anyone would be stewing with resentment if their vacation plans were cut short and they had to rush back to the hospital to work.”
“Those Americans really picked a bad time to show up.”
Gu Qingning hummed in agreement, then added with a smile, “But on the other hand, it also shows how highly they regard you.”
“Once they confirm your abilities, their next step will definitely be to offer you extremely generous terms to come to the United States.”
Yu Zhiming shook his head. “I’m not going.”
“For one thing, the ultra-early-stage cancer project has only just begun and will still take several years to complete.”
“And for someone like me, the environment abroad is too different. I wouldn’t be able to adapt right away, and I might just go crazy.”
“Also…”
Yu Zhiming said languidly, “My parents went to so much trouble to give birth to me and raise me. They did it so I could carry on the family line and take care of them in their old age.”
“If I were to run off to another country, my dad would probably take a stick and break my legs.”
Gu Qingning giggled. “He wouldn’t actually do that, would he?”
“When I chat on the phone with your mom and older sister, I sometimes get to say a few words to your dad. He seems really kind, doesn’t he?”
Yu Zhiming smiled. “I was just exaggerating. If I went abroad, my parents might say they agree, but deep down, they’d definitely be unhappy.”
“There’s a saying that kids who don’t do well in school are actually the filial ones sent by heaven to repay their parents’ kindness.”
“I think there’s a lot of truth to that.”
“As for those who go abroad and never come back, it’s like their parents raised them for nothing.”
After a moment’s pause, Yu Zhiming suddenly realized something and quickly asked for confirmation, “Qingning, you’ve spoken to my mom, not just my older sister?”
Gu Qingning said with a smug look, “Not that often. Just for the past month or so, whenever I video chat with your sister, I always end up chatting with your mom for a few minutes, sometimes even ten or more.”
“Well, whose fault is it that you don’t call your parents more often?”
Yu Zhiming retorted defensively, “I call home at least once a week.”
Gu Qingning called him out on it. “And you hang up after less than five minutes every time.”
“Hey, Zhiming, since you have time now, why not make a video call to your family with this beautiful scenery as the background…”
With Gu Qingning chiming in and cracking jokes from the sidelines, Yu Zhiming’s video call with his parents and older sister lasted for over an hour.
When the two of them returned to the jade counter, the stone cutting wasn’t finished yet, but both Xiaoxue and Zeng Yan looked dejected.
“No jade?”
Fu Xiaoxue pouted. “All thirty of our stones have been cut open, and not a single one has any green in it.”
“So far, only one piece of jadeite has been found. They said it’s only enough to make a few small pendants, worth no more than three thousand yuan.”
Yu Zhiming chuckled. “With this kind of gambling, you lose nine times out of ten. You can’t expect to strike it rich…”
By nearly three in the afternoon, all of their chosen roughs had been cut. In the end, they only yielded three small pieces of very ordinary-quality jadeite, with a total value of no more than ten thousand yuan.
Fortunately, they were just doing it for fun, so the money wasn’t the important part. It didn’t put a damper on the group’s vacation mood.
They decided to go for a swim.
But when they asked about the price of swimsuits, Yu Zhiming started cursing internally.
A single pair of men’s swim trunks cost seven or eight hundred yuan.
’Even if it’s a luxury brand, it’s still just a pair of swim trunks. This is daylight robbery…’