Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Fully in character as a simpleton, An Ning held the stone in one hand, tapped it with the other, and said, ”It makes a pretty sound.”

Such an amateurish remark made the trio of scammers laugh to themselves.

”Alright, let’s go get it cut open.”

”I’ve got a good feeling about Little Sister An’s stone.”

”Let’s all go take a look.”

The three of them showered An Ning with praise as they led her to the backyard.

At the same time, quite a few other people were also in the backyard, where someone was having a stone publicly cut.

”Look, it’s showing green!”

”That color’s not bad at all.”

”Looks like Wang is finally turning his luck around.”

”The translucency is pretty good too.”

The surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion. In front of them, the half-bald man, Wang, stood with his arms ramrod straight, his eyes glued to the raw jadeite stone without a single blink.

He had bet his entire life savings on it—his very last nest egg.

It all came down to this. If he lost, he would truly have nothing left.

”WHOA—He’s struck it rich!”

”He’s hit the jackpot!”

”AHAHAHAHAHA—”

At the front, amidst the crowd’s cheers, Wang burst into wild laughter.

’Good thing he’s in decent health,’ An Ning thought. ’Otherwise, with a shock of joy this intense, a person could easily drop dead on the spot.’

This was the only conclusion An Ning drew after watching for a while.

Gambling was a hobby for people with strong hearts.

Wang’s successful cut was a feast for the eyes, letting the crowd share in the thrilling experience.

Amidst the bustling crowd, the simple-minded An Ning rushed forward, plopped her stone down, and yelled at the top of her lungs, ”My turn!”

”I’m definitely going to win!”

”When we drew lots as kids, I always managed to get the shortest stick!”

After those three sentences, the bustling crowd gradually fell silent.

But upon seeing her youth and unfamiliar face, they paid her no mind and went back to their conversations.

An Ning urged the cutting master, who picked up the machine and began to grind the stone.

The BUZZING of the machine had barely lasted a minute before it stopped.

Everyone in the yard was a regular. They knew that for the machine to stop so quickly, it could only mean one thing: they’d struck jadeite.

Any more force, and they risked damaging the jadeite inside.

The chattering onlookers spared it a glance, but that one glance was enough to keep their heads from turning away.

An Ning squatted in front of the machine, pointing a fair, neatly manicured finger at a black patch on the stone. ”Is it ruined? Why is it black?”

”Ugh—”

That single sigh made everyone around want to march up and slap her.

That’s Black Jadeite, for crying out loud!

The cutting master, however, replied good-naturedly, ”It’s not ruined. If the whole thing is this color, it’s very likely Black Jadeite—a type of black jadeite.”

Still squatting, An Ning put on a suitably shocked expression, cupping her face with her hands. ”Is it valuable?”

”Hahaha, if it’s really Black Jadeite, then yes, it’s very valuable.”

The cutting master laughed, amused by An Ning’s bluntness.

’After all, doesn’t everyone who comes here hope to strike it rich?’

’Why pretend to be all aloof and above caring about money?’

Upon hearing it was valuable, the squatting An Ning obediently shuffled back a step, put her palms together, and began to chant.

”Guanshiyin Bodhisattva, The Buddha, God of Wealth, Kitchen God, Yue Lao... please bless me with great fortune and let this be Black Jadeite!”

An Ning prayed to every immortal she could think of.

This act surprisingly made many of the older people in the crowd find her a little bit cute.

”Young lady, the Kitchen God and Yue Lao don’t handle these sorts of matters.”

With her palms still pressed together, An Ning looked back and said with disapproval, ”You don’t get it. They’re immortals. It doesn’t matter if it’s their job or not, they have Mana.”

An Ning’s deadpan delivery made the middle-aged man who’d asked the question burst out laughing.

The middle-aged man took a few steps forward and squatted down beside her. ”You’re right, my mistake. I was being shortsighted. My name is Zhao, and my family is in the jewelry business. Are you selling this jadeite?”

”Of course!”

An Ning’s reply was swift. Pointing at the stone as the master resumed work, she said, ”It’s no use to me at home. It’s too small to use as a weight for pickling vegetables.”

”Pickling vegetables? You’re a funny one, young lady. I’ll offer two hundred thousand for it. How about it? It hasn’t been completely cut open yet. There might be flaws once it is.”

An Ning seemed tempted. She tapped her chin with a finger. ”I spent two hundred on it. How many times more is two hundred thousand?”

She was starting to yield. Seeing this, others in the crowd grew interested.

Although the jadeite hadn’t been fully revealed, one window had already been cut.

The rich, translucent black was a sign of superb quality. The odds of it being a major find were high—it was worth the gamble.

”Zhao, that’s not very decent of you. Are you trying to bully a young girl who doesn’t know any better? A piece this big has to be worth at least five hundred thousand.”

”I’ll offer six hundred thousand.”

Someone had started the bidding.

An Ning looked a little lost, her gaze shifting to the trio of scammers.

The scammer trio snapped out of their dumbfounded disbelief at An Ning’s good luck and caught up to the developing situation.

The three of them actually knew a thing or two about jadeite; otherwise, they wouldn’t be using it in their scams.

Their method was a cautious one: devise a scheme and lure their mark into the trap.

They exploited people’s desire to get rich, making them gamble on stones of their own free will.

Except, in this game of stone gambling, they had already rigged the game.

But the buying and selling were all voluntary. If someone ended up blowing all their money, it had nothing to do with them.

On several occasions, people had realized they’d been scammed, but without concrete evidence—and since they had made the purchases willingly—reporting it to the police was useless.

The scammer trio weighed the pros and cons. A piece of Black Jadeite this rare was a once-in-a-lifetime find. If they could get their hands on it, it would be worth far, far more than any money they could scam from An Ning.

”Little Sister An, it’s your stone. You decide what to do with it.”

”Little Sister An, I’ll offer seven hundred thousand.”

One of the male scammers spoke up first. After making his bid, he rubbed the tip of his nose sheepishly and said, ”My family’s shop could really use a centerpiece like this.”

An Ning seemed startled by the trio’s offer, looking around at the crowd in bewilderment.

The price continued to climb. In the end, Xiao Zi, the female member of the trio, raised the bid to one million eight hundred thousand.

By now, two-thirds of the stone had been cut away. The rich luster and the crystalline, translucent black were driving the onlookers into a frenzy.

Just as someone was about to raise the price again, An Ning shot to her feet.

”I’m selling it to Xiao Zi! She brought me here to have fun, so I’m selling it to her.”

Her mind made up, An Ning gave Xiao Zi a sweet smile.

”Xiao Zi, you pay first. Once you pay, it’s yours.”

An Ning stopped the cutting master. The BUZZING of the machine ceased once more, and everyone looked at Xiao Zi with a mixture of envy and jealousy.

Xiao Zi’s face was filled with emotion as she thanked An Ning.

”Thank you so much. I really don’t know what to say.”

”Little Sister An, I don’t have that much cash on me at the moment. I need to contact my family. Let’s leave together, and I’ll transfer the money to you shortly.”

Xiao Zi sounded sincere and earnest, but An Ning wasn’t playing by her rules.

’Trying to get something for nothing? I don’t think so.’

”It’s fine. You can use that emerald jadeite of yours as collateral. If that’s not enough, you guys can just pool your money.”

An Ning added, feigning difficulty, ”You see, my family has an ancestral rule: in all transactions, absolutely no credit.”