The eyes of the crowd followed him enviously, lamenting that they did not get their hands on the stone first.

Sadly, there is no medicine for regret.

A portly, bald man jumped over the fence and began rummaging through the pile of rocks. "I want one of those too, d.a.m.n it! Here, this one looks good," he held up a stone.

Other gamblers chose their own stones one by one, lining up for the cutting master to reveal their fate. For a time, the courtyard became as noisy as a bustling market.

"What a profit! This is much easier than doing business." Lin Qingwan licked her lips. She was ready to buy her own stone.

"I'd say so," Qin Xiaogang nodded. "The stones at The King's Court look very good. Miss Lin, would you like to buy one?"

"Yes, but I don't really understand all this." Lin Qingwan looked around excitedly.

Qin Xiaogang grinned. "It's like playing mahjong. The less you know, the better luck you have, and the more money you can win. Besides, I will help you."

"Well, then I'll pick one." Lin Qingwan had always considered herself lucky.

"No, don't," Ye Fei suddenly interrupted.

Lin Qingwan turned her head to him with a look of mild puzzlement. "Hmm? Why not? I can afford it."

"You will lose no matter which stone you choose," he firmly said.

"How are you so sure?" she pouted. "You just said you didn't know anything about jade stones."

"I don't, but it's not hard to see through a common scam like that!"

Ye Fei walked over to the cutting machine and picked up a flake from Old Xie's stone, examining it closely.

Lin Qingwan frowned. "Scam? What are you talking about?"

"People always cheat in gambling," he said in a low voice. "I saw this trick a few times in Myanmar about ten years ago. At first, I didn't think a big and respectable-looking store like this would resort to scamming people in broad daylight!"

Ling Qingwan's eyes widened incredulously. "Are you saying these are fakes?"

Ye Fei quietly explained, "Any good jade mined out in Myanmar would be immediately bought up by jewelry manufacturers, so how did these stones end up in Shanghai? These stones, I wouldn't call them fakes, but they are definitely defective, or just low-quality. Not worth much."

Lin Qingwan didn't buy it. "What? They look pretty good to me. Besides, that old guy just won some serious money."

Ye Fei sneered. "Looks can be easily 'enhanced' with a paintbrush. And the old man - he secretly works for the store, to keep up the appearance that there really is a chance to win big here. His stone was the only one in this whole courtyard worth anything."

She remained skeptical. "How do you know all that? You said you didn't understand."

"I have eyes. If you don't believe me, here, look at this," he handed her the stone flake. "It's not even the same type of rock as the rest."

She stared at the stone for a long time, but couldn't really see anything unusual about it.

"Nonsense!" Qin Xiaogang interjected angrily. "The owner of this store is my friend. I know him well, and I won't take this slander lightly! You think Old Xie's stone wasn't like the others? Let me see that!" He s.n.a.t.c.hed the flake from Lin Qingwan fingers and methodically examined every millimeter of it with his flashlight before firmly proclaiming, "There's nothing wrong with it!"

Lin Qingwan nodded in agreement.

A small crowd was attracted to the commotion, shaking their heads at Ye Fei with contempt once they realized what the fuss was about.

Ye Fei sighed. Even the eyes of the cutting master were not sharp enough to notice what he'd seen. He was certain - these gambling stones had been artificially modified.

Gambling on stones depended on insight. If you had weak insight, you couldn't complain if you lost.

Unfortunately, everyone present, except Ye Fei, had weak insight.

"Mr. Qin, this friend of yours looks very knowledgeable." The owner of The King's Court, Xu Tongda, made his way to the fore of the crowd, his features grim.

"Not really," Ye Fei told the truth.

Xu Tongda stuck his finger at Ye Fei's face, shouting, "In that case, keep your trap shut! Do you know how much damage you could do to my business if you keep spreading these unfounded rumors?! How are you going to make it up to me?"

Lin Qingwan quickly stepped in. "Mr. Xu, we were just talking quietly among ourselves, why are you so angry? Is Ye Fei correct?"

"d.a.m.n it, you'll answer for this! I don't care if you run the Ya Lai Group, you'll answer for this!" the old man bellowed with almost hysterical anger.

Clearly, Ye Fei had been right.

"How dare you talk to me like that!? I'll see to it that you never do business in this city again!" Lin Qingwan shouted back. "In fact, my boyfriend, Ye Fei, has figured out your scam. These are all just rocks, without any jade!" She pushed Ye Fei forward, "Come on, tell them!"

"Manager Lin, I was telling the truth, I really don't know much about stone gambling."