Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 316: Chapter 313: Going to the Market

Though Su Qingqing was a bit careless, she had good ideas about this matter. If Liu Bei needed three visits to the thatched cottage to ask Zhuge Liang for assistance, then Bai Yishan would have to attempt a second or a third time to seek Master Yan’s help.

Even though Bai Yishan felt frustrated, there was nothing he could do. After slurping a bowl of noodles by himself at a nearby noodle shop, he went back to the hotel to rest.

In places with high latitude, the winter days are short, so Huo Sining and his companions killed time at the hotel by sleeping.

Early the next morning, just as they had gotten out of bed, they heard Uncle Liu from the hotel mention that it was market day and they could go out for a stroll.

In the Uighur language, ”Bazaar” means a market.

In the Wei District, due to the sparsely populated expansive lands, shopping for goods can be quite inconvenient. Therefore, usually every several dozen kilometers, there is a market where local trade happens at regular intervals.

When the time comes, people from dozens of miles around will come to the market. The small vendors seize the opportunity to occupy a spot in the bazaar and hawk their goods, while ordinary folks will also carry the produce, poultry, and handicrafts from their own homes to sell at the market.

Certainly, what Hetian doesn’t lack is Hetian Jade. Some farmers who make a living by digging Hetian Jade will, after a whole year of digging, use the last two months of the year to sell their jade in the market. They convert a year’s worth of jade material into paper currency for a prosperous New Year celebration at home.

These stalls piled with jade stones aren’t much different from the markets in Pingzhou where jadeite rough is sold. Tarps are laid on the ground, and rocks are sorted into several piles by size and color. The swarthy-skinned small vendors and farmers sit behind their stands, quietly waiting for buyers.

Many out-of-town jade businessmen precisely target this opportunity to travel a long way to Hetian to buy jade. One by one, Han jade businessmen with their leather bags walk in front of these stalls, casually selecting from the heaps of Hetian jade materials, squatting down only for the pieces that interest them to take a closer look with magnifying glasses and flashlights.

Huo Sining was not interested in the stalls selling lamb, poultry, or handicrafts. Rather, he was quite fond of the Hetian Seed Jade, following behind those jade businessmen, looking here and there, curious and somewhat eager to try his hand.

Li Quan understood a bit about antiques, but he didn’t know much about Hetian Jade. Seeing Huo Sining looking around, he immediately grasped what she wanted to do, and said somewhat embarrassedly, ”Boss, do you know how to choose Hetian Jade?”

Huo Sining shook her head, ”I’ve recently crammed on some information about Hetian Jade, but it’s all theoretical without practice. How about you?”

Li Quan scratched his head and replied awkwardly, ”I don’t understand much either. I rarely deal with it.”

Huo Sining waved her hand unconcernedly, ”No worries, let’s just take a look first.”

That Li Quan didn’t understand this was already within Huo Sining’s expectations. She wasn’t expecting him to master it all at once. Besides, she had the Water-Repelling Pearl, so she wasn’t worried about making mistakes. With that said, she squatted down in front of a stall.

She chose this spot because there weren’t many people looking at jade on this stall, only one man in his thirties. He was carefully examining the jade raw materials with a magnifying glass and a flashlight, occasionally picking up a piece to look it over and feel it.

The man spent a good quarter of an hour looking before picking out three pieces of jade from the stall. He then haggled over the price with the seller, finally settling on a deal and leaving with his purchase.

Huo Sining just squatted next to this person, not striking up a conversation, but quietly taking note of how this man chose his stones.

Seeing the man pack away his purchased jade materials into a carry-on bag and then turn to walk towards another direction, Huo Sining continued to follow him stealthily.

At this moment, Su Qingqing and Bai Yishan felt something was amiss: ”What is Ningning doing?”

Li Quan hesitated: ”Maybe she’s stealthily learning the trade?”

Su Qingqing widened her eyes: ”You’re joking, right?”

Huo Sining didn’t explain, but she was indeed stealthily learning. She had read a lot of materials on Hetian jade recently, but there’s always a gap between theory and reality. She was bewildered by so many pieces of jadeite raw materials and had no idea where to start, so she decided to follow that man, to see what kind of conditions the jade raw materials he picked had.

Following behind the man, Bai Yishan felt somewhat guilty and couldn’t help but tug at Huo Sining’s clothes and whisper, ”Ningning, doing this so openly isn’t very nice, is it? Let’s not let someone discover and get into trouble.”

Huo Sining just shrugged her shoulders and feigned innocence: ”Discover what? I’m also buying raw materials, it’s just that I happen to be going the same way as him. Plus, I haven’t snatched the jade from his hands or disturbed him in selecting the raw materials; I’m not breaking any rules.”

Su Qingqing and Bai Yishan were both left speechless. Bai Yishan thought Su Qingqing was unreliable enough, but she did not expect Huo Sining to have such a rascally moment too.

After following through several stalls, basically every time the man squatted down to look at the raw materials, Huo Sining would move in closer. Even if the man was slow to catch on, with Huo Sining constantly following, it was impossible for him not to notice.

However, the man was strange; upon seeing Huo Sining following him, he just turned his head to take a few glances at Huo Sining and then ignored her as if he hadn’t seen her.

Even after being discovered, Huo Sining didn’t feel embarrassed; instead, she followed with a calm face, as nonchalant as if she truly was a colleague of the other person.

Bai Yishan and Su Qingqing had both been sweating over the possibility that the man would get angry at Huo Sining.

But to everyone’s surprise, although the man clearly realized Huo Sining was tailing him to learn his skills, he didn’t seem annoyed at all and continued browsing the jade stalls.

Moreover, as he continued to look at the raw materials, unlike before when he just silently observed the stones, he started mumbling every time he picked up a piece of Hetian seed material:

”Though they are all Hetian jade, the difference between seed material and mountain material is substantial. Mountain material is from the primary mine, while seed material is from the secondary mine. The latter is at least ten times more expensive than the former. Mountain material doesn’t have a high investment value, whereas seed material is rare and suitable for collection. Therefore, when buying jade, one must definitely determine if it’s seed material...”

Huo Sining was momentarily stunned, but she quickly caught on and realized the man was teaching her how to distinguish Hetian jade. A smile appeared on her face, and she listened attentively.

”This is Russian material, this is Qinghai material and that is Korean material. Although these jades have almost the same composition and are classified as Hetian jade by appraisal organizations, their prices differ vastly. These farmers only care about making money and won’t tell you which of these raw materials are dug out from the Tarim Basin, so to distinguish, you need to keep your eyes wide open and look closely.”

The man held three pieces of jade material of completely different colors and shapes in his hand as he introduced them, mumbling without turning to look at Huo Sining.

The three people following behind Huo Sining were stunned, with Bai Yishan and Su Qingqing exchanging glances, both finding it unbelievable.

Is this really happening?