8 a.m., Front View Street.

Lu Li drove a Porsche 911, arriving here with Liu Kexin.

Just as they parked the car, a melodious female voice came from behind.

"Pretty girl, is that your boyfriend? He's quite handsome."

Lu Li recognized the voice and knew it was Liu Kexin's girlfriend.

He and Liu Kexin turned around at the same time, seeing a young woman standing behind.

The young woman was wearing a high-end floral dress, a sun hat, and large sunglasses, with a pure smile on her face.

Lu Li took a brief look her way.

The woman was about 1.65 meters tall.

She was shorter than Liu Kexin.

A typical oval face.

With big blonde curls.

Her figure was perfectly proportional.

Nothing particularly stood out.

She was quite pretty.

And gave off an innocent vibe.

She didn't look like a married woman at all.

Lu Li roughly understood why she married a wealthy businessman.

This type of innocent woman, to be honest, is very attractive.

Of course, he had no interest in disrupting other people's families.

Lu Li didn't entertain any thoughts about this woman, just appreciated her for a moment.

The woman also glanced at Lu Li a couple of times, then her gaze returned to Liu Kexin.

Liu Kexin glanced at Lu Li and firmly denied, "No, this is Lu Li, my friend."

"Boyfriend or just a friend, look at you being all secretive." The woman smirked.

Liu Kexin earnestly explained, "Truly, he's not."

"Okay, okay, if you say so."

The woman didn't argue with Liu Kexin, instead she looked back at Lu Li.

She removed her sunglasses and tucked them into a small white Chanel bag as she approached Lu Li.

Soon after, the woman extended her right hand, adorned with red nail polish, showing a charming smile and said, "Hello, Mr. Lu, I'm Kexin's friend, Chen Man Ni. Nice to meet you."

Lu Li shook hands with her, "Hello, Miss Chen."

They briefly introduced themselves.

Chen Man Ni withdrew her hand and looked to the side, "Aren't you busy working today? Usually, when I ask you to go shopping, you always have excuses, making it seem like your company can't function without you."

Liu Kexin, expressionless, casually fibbed, "The company gave us a day off this morning."

Lu Li naturally knew that Liu Kexin was lying.

For a girlfriend date, she wouldn't bother taking leave.

It was only for Chen Man Ni to introduce a gemstone dealer for him.

Yet she took leave to accompany him?

He was truly surprised.

Chen Man Ni said, "Ah, so it's a day off then, no wonder you have time."

Liu Kexin nodded, "Yes."

Chen Man Ni, with the opportunity, linked arms with Liu Kexin and asked, "Why does a wealthy woman like you need to meet a jadeite merchant? You don't lack money, just buy whatever jadeite you want."

"It's not me buying jadeite, it's Lu Li who's interested."

Liu Kexin seemed to be very close to Chen Man Ni.

Her tone was softer, not as stiff as usual.

"Are you very interested in jadeite?" Chen Man Ni turned her head and looked over.

This woman was very skilled in social dealings; although speaking to Liu Kexin, she still managed to suitably include Lu Li in the conversation.

Lu Li smiled and said, "A lot of people online say jadeite speculation is intriguing, so I thought I'd check it out and see what it's all about."

"Betting on jadeite, nine out of ten bets are losses." Chen Man Ni kindly reminded him, "If you just want to give it a try, that's fine, but don't get too caught up."

Nine out of ten bets are losses because they don't have X-ray vision.

But I do have X-ray vision.

There's no way I'd lose nine out of ten bets.

Of course, these were thoughts Lu Li would never voice.

He nodded, pretending to agree, "Alright, thank you for the advice, Miss Chen."

Chen Man Ni withdrew her gaze and looked to the right, saying, "We'll go over later, Brother Gu just opened up, and some people might rush to open up materials, things can get chaotic, let's sit at a nearby coffee shop for now."

Liu Kexin said, "Sure."

Lu Li asked curiously, "What does it mean to open up materials?"

"There's a cat café up ahead, let's go pet some cats."

Chen Man Ni pointed forward and then turned her head to explain to Lu Li, "People in the jade gambling business often have to get their supplies from Myanmar, but during transportation, the stones can inevitably get bumped and wear down their outer shells, affecting their selling price. So, the merchants usually wrap the good quality rough stones with thick duct tape. Initially, this was to prevent damage, but eventually, because when the early market opens, merchants directly unwrap these stones, these duct-taped rough stones came to be known as 'kaibaoliao' (raw stone package)."

Oh.

So, that's what 'kaibaoliao' is.

But why do they fight over 'kaibaoliao'?

Lu Li was puzzled.

But since he wasn't well-acquainted with Chen Man Ni, he felt embarrassed to ask directly.

Liu Kexin glanced at his face, as if she saw his doubt.

Then she proactively asked, "Man Ni, why do those jade merchants fight over 'kaibaoliao'? Can't they just buy them one by one?"

Noticing that Liu Kexin asked on his behalf, Lu Li quickly pricked up his ears to listen to Chen Man Ni's explanation.

Chen Man Ni led them into an alley and said, "There are many reasons. Once we get to the café and sit down, I'll explain slowly."

...

Soon, they arrived at the café where they could pet cats.

This café had many cats.

For example, British Shorthairs, Ragdolls, Scottish Folds, and others.

Maybe because they're pet cats, or perhaps because the cats here meet many guests every day, they've grown very familiar with humans.

So, when Lu Li walked in with Chen Man Ni and Liu Kexin, he noticed that every cat here wasn't afraid of people and seemed very adorable.

The three of them sat by the window, and the coffee was served quickly.

Chen Man Ni seemed to come often, sipping coffee while holding a British Shorthair on her lap.

She put down her coffee cup, stroked the cat, and said, "Although jade hasn't been as popular domestically in recent years, there are still many people who get rich from this industry. Getting good material is very important for those jade merchants."

Lu Li took a sip of coffee; it didn't taste great.

Hearing this, he looked across and asked, "Then why the fight?"

Liu Kexin and Chen Man Ni sat on the same side, and she seemed rather uninterested, not showing much curiosity.

But hearing Lu Li's question, Liu Kexin feigned a curious look and glanced to the side.

Chen Man Ni continued petting the cat and casually explained, "Rough stones are the lifeblood for jade merchants. Because auctions like the Myanmar and Pingzhou Public Auctions have relatively high thresholds, most of the jade circulating in the market today didn't come from these auctions. That's why the early markets are the main channels for jade circulation..."

She explained it thoroughly.

After a while, Lu Li roughly understood the specifics.

Because many old mines in Myanmar have been depleted, the price of materials has soared.

It's challenging for jade merchants to secure stock and transport it.

Only some financially powerful major jade gamblers can bring back some material from Myanmar, and it's often through smuggling.

Naturally, those less powerful jade merchants all want to get some good stuff from the major material dealers.

And there's an unwritten rule at the early market: whoever grabs the package first can open it and look at the rough stones inside, then haggle with the seller.

The seller's counter is usually small, with only a tiny spot to reach in and grab the package.

As a result, people are unusually anxious and intense when grabbing the package.

Shoving is a minor issue.

Some people even get beaten half to death just to grab a few good stones.

Simply put, if you don't fight to grab the package, you'll only get others' leftovers.

And what does eating leftovers mean?

It means you might not get good jade and your business could fail.

Lu Li roughly got it. In the end, it was all about profit.

While petting the British Shorthair's head, Chen Man Ni summed it up, "Opening the package doesn't necessarily guarantee good goods, but from a profit margin perspective, it does offer some advantage."

The British Shorthair was so comfortable it was sticking out its tongue.

She added at the end, "A side note: there's an unwritten rule for opening packages. If you open three packages in a row without buying anything, the seller will blacklist you, and no one will want to sell you rough stones in the future."

Lu Li pondered, "I didn't know there were so many ins and outs in jade gambling."

Liu Kexin looked at Lu Li and nonchalantly asked, "If grabbing the package is so crucial, why don't we go earlier and have Lu Li grab it?"

"He's just playing around, he's not a jade merchant, so why grab the package?" Chen Man Ni said, making a funny face, "We wouldn't want him to get beaten like I did, that wouldn't be worth it."

She was quite amusing, talking while making funny faces.

Lu Li was amused by her, yet puzzled about how Chen Man Ni, with such a lively personality, ended up hanging out with someone as introverted as Liu Kexin.

Liu Kexin, slightly indignant, said, "Lu Li is quite good with his hands, I don't think those jade merchants could beat him."

Chen Man Ni rolled her eyes, "I never said your boyfriend is incapable, no need to get so worked up."

Liu Kexin gave her an eye roll back, "I've told you, he's not my boyfriend, we're just ordinary friends."

"Ah, it doesn't matter if he's your boyfriend or not, as long as it's safe to go later." Chen Man Ni glanced at Lu Li, half-jokingly said, "Look at Lu Li, all gentle and refined, doesn't seem like someone who'd get into a fight. Besides, when those jade merchants go crazy, it's more than just a physical fight—some might use stones as weapons. I've seen a jade merchant in his forties get hit so badly his head was split open; the scene was gruesome and terrifying."

Hearing how awful it could get, Liu Kexin was a bit scared too, "Hmm, you're right, if we can't get the 'kaibaoliao', we can't. Safety first."

I don't look like someone who'd get into a fight?

Lu Li couldn't help but smile; little did she know my combat prowess could frighten you to death.

He couldn't help but reflect, too bad Chen Man Ni refused to take him to grab the package, no chance to show off his formidable fighting skills.

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