Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 549: Chapter 546 Jade Gambling King

Seeing the newcomer, Huo Sining was puzzled about why her senior brother had also come to Ruili, and then she saw Qin Lianshan and his party greeting the Range Rover.

Beside her, Jiang Xiaoqin let out an exclamation upon seeing the old man getting off the Range Rover, ”Ah, it’s the Jade Gambling King!”

”What Jade Gambling King?” asked Su Qingqing, curious.

Su Jinyuan explained, ”The Jade Gambling King is the most formidable person in the gambling stone circle. Every three years, there’s a betting stone competition to determine the Gambling King.”

”The person who got out of that car is Liu Chongren, the most skillful gamble expert in the country. Back then, Liu Chongren had a record of winning nine out of ten bets on the public betting stone platform and then continued to win the title of Gambling King for five consecutive terms.”

”Such achievements are unparalleled by any other Gambling King, and although he has been retired for many years, many people still remember his reputation.”

This Jade Gambling King is surnamed Liu? Huo Sining frowned and couldn’t help but look at Liu Yuxuan, who was affectionately holding Liu Chongren’s arm, guessing their relationship thoughtfully.

Jiang Xiaoqin was right. Although Liu Chongren had stepped down from his position as the Gambling King many years ago, his reputation was still present. Seeing him appear at the plaza stone, the old gamble experts caught sight of him, and immediately, there was a buzz of excitement. Their eyes shone with eagerness and anticipation as they raised their hands high and shouted the Gambling King’s name.

Everyone naturally cleared a path, allowing Liu Chongren and his entourage to pass through without impediment. Witnessing such a scene, Huo Sining couldn’t help but admire the man.

So many people adored him; it was clear that Liu Chongren was indeed very impressive in the gambling stone field.

Liu Chongren might have aged, but his prestige remained. Many had made their fortunes following his bets, and these gamble experts had little regard for the newly-emerged young Gambling King, only recognizing Liu Chongren.

Su Qingqing listened to the deafening shouts around her and couldn’t help but purse her lips.

No matter how remarkable Liu Chongren once was, he was old now. Even the most glorious past accomplishments couldn’t stand against the relentless march of time. His age had dimmed his vision, and even plentiful experience couldn’t match the vigor of his younger days.

Although the Gambling King had a renowned name, it wasn’t necessarily the case that he was better than the younger generation. At least in the hearts of Su Qingqing and a few others, Huo Sining’s jade betting skills were definitely no less than those of the Gambling King.

At eight o’clock, the public betting stone event officially kicked off, with a swarm of gamblers rushing in. Huo Sining and her group were getting ready to enter when Ji Kun called: ”Are you at Ruili attending the public betting stone event?”

”Yes, you didn’t see me, but I’ve already seen you,” laughed Huo Sining. ”However, we haven’t entered yet.”

”Alright, I’ll wait for you in the hall,” Ji Kun said from the other end.

As they were talking, Huo Sining and her group entered the hall and, indeed, saw Ji Kun looking around. His eyes flickered with a glimmer as he saw Huo Sining enter and smiled as he came forward to meet her.

”The teacher said you’ve been in Ruili for several days. As soon as I got here, I heard you’ve been stirring up big things in Ruili these past days. You’re really not being fair, not calling your senior brother over to check out the excitement.”

Huo Sining wasn’t embarrassed at all; she glanced coolly at Ji Kun and said indifferently, ”You didn’t tell me you were coming to Ruili.”

A fleeting look of concern passed in Ji Kun’s eyes. Seeing so many people around, he decided to swallow what he was going to say, smiling, ”You guys go ahead and look at the marks. I’ve got some things to take care of here, and I’ll talk to you later.”

Huo Sining noticed Ji Kun seemed to have something to say to her, but clearly, this occasion wasn’t suitable for discussing matters, so she didn’t ask further.

After parting ways with Ji Kun, the group started to look at the lots on the public market.

What irritated Huo Sining was that after she entered the jade gambling market, she caught people’s attention. When she went into the Bright Bid Area, those shop owners, in tacit understanding, knowing that Huo Sining was a gamble expert, invariably jacked up the prices whenever she showed interest in their rough jade stones.

Any rough stone that Huo Sining took interest in was priced several times higher than original, and she couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth, finding the situation both suffocating and speechless.

That was the burden of fame. Being a celebrity wasn’t easy. Huo Sining felt she had made some miscalculations. Given the current circumstances, she should have disguised herself to be unrecognizable before entering.

However, there are countermeasures for every policy, and Huo Sining grew wiser after these shop owners had collectively tried to fool her. Instead of selecting stones to inspect, she touched every piece and inquired about the price for each.

The shop owners couldn’t figure out which piece Huo Sining truly wanted to buy, and her actions foiled their plans to inflate prices.

”Miss Huo, which one do you really want? Can these lots actually produce jadeite or not? Can you please give me a clear indication?”

The shop owners roared in their minds, but they didn’t dare to make it too obvious. For one, Ruili’s gambling market relied on experts like Huo Sining to boost its reputation; secondly, they understood that the woman in front of them was not someone they could afford to offend.

Having encountered such price-boosting tactics often, Huo Sining simply chose not to buy. When she found suitable rough that she wanted to buy, she wouldn’t handle the purchase herself. Instead, she would secretly instruct Wu Jun or others to buy it on her behalf, avoiding others who might speculate and follow her lead, snatching away the rough she had her eyes on.

There wasn’t much to see in the Bright Bid Area; rough stones that could potentially produce jadeite were very few, and even if jadeite was present, most of them weren’t very valuable.

Huo Sining had looked at no less than a thousand lots, but only a handful were worth her making a move.

Of course, this was also because Huo Sining’s standards were too high. She simply wasn’t interested in raw stones that could produce ordinary, low to medium-grade jadeite.

As Huo Sining browsed through the Bright Bid Area, she became increasingly faster and more bored, eventually turning around and heading straight to the second hall to see the hidden bids.

Once at the hidden bid area, Jiang Xiaoqin seemed very excited, pulling Huo Sining directly towards a certain spot:

”Sister Huo, come quick and look—lot number forty-nine and one hundred seventy-five were provided by my Uncle Sibo!”

The young girl’s face beamed with pride as she spoke.

Huo Sining was somewhat surprised, remembering that day when Jiang Xiaoqin ran to Jiang Jikai’s store, Huo Sining indeed heard her talk about someone from the Jade Association coming to their house to pick up rough stones. It seemed these two lots were the ones they picked up.

Indeed, on the price tags at the bottom of these two hidden bids, Huo Sining saw Uncle Sibo’s name.

”These two rough stones were acquired by Uncle Sibo from a Myanmar farmer’s house during his earlier years in Myanmar. They showed great potential, and there were people willing to pay a high price to buy them at that time. But Uncle Sibo didn’t want to sell and has kept them uncut until now.”