LABMY CH28

When a snowflake drifted down onto Jian Yuanbai’s hand, he suddenly realized that winter had arrived. He turned around and looked at the building behind him. The cold wind and snow hit his brow and eyes, but it couldn’t conceal the tenderness between his eyebrows.

During this period, he and Wei Zhenge had been sleeping together. Both of them seemed to have completely ignored the master bedroom that had yet to welcome a bed. For convenience, Jian Yuanbai’s clothes, which were originally placed in the master bedroom, gradually invaded Wei Zhenge’s wardrobe.

He had fully infiltrated Wei Zhenge’s life. Sometimes, it even gave him the illusion that maybe, just maybe, Wei Zhenge liked him a little too.

When he arrived at the company, Jian Yuanbai was greeted by two unexpected visitors.

“What’s the matter?”

When facing people he didn’t like or care about, Jian Yuanbai was much colder. He frowned slightly, asked the question, and then lowered his head to handle his work, completely ignoring whether the two would feel awkward.

Fu Pengyi’s face flushed red. He was already fat, and when his face turned red, he looked even more like a pig. He never expected that in just a few months, he would have to lower himself to apologize to someone he once looked down on.

Unable to speak, Wei En next to him stepped in with a smile, “It’s like this, President Jian. Previously, there might have been some misunderstandings between Fu Pengyi and Wei Zhenge. Today, we came here specifically to apologize.”

Hearing this, Jian Yuanbai looked up and fixed his gaze on Fu Pengyi. “If bullying a classmate can be considered a misunderstanding, then if I break his leg and throw him out, would that also be a misunderstanding?”

Fu Pengyi retorted, “I didn’t even do anything. It was just some harmless teasing.”

Jian Yuanbai sneered, “It seems your apology lacks sincerity. Is it because your family can still barely hold on?”

He tapped the pen in his hand lightly on the table, the sound echoing like the death knell of a grim reaper, striking fear into Fu Pengyi’s heart.

“Within three days, the Fu family will go bankrupt and be burdened with debt.”

“I said it. And I will do it.”

Fu Pengyi stared at Jian Yuanbai in horror, knowing he was capable of such a thing. “No, you can’t! That… that bastard Wei Zhenge doesn’t even deserve to—”

Seeing Jian Yuanbai’s expression grow colder, Wei En quickly signaled to Fu Pengyi and pushed him out.

Wei En smiled charmingly. His fox-like eyes had a seductive allure. “President Jian, don’t be angry. I brought a gift for you.”

He opened the delicate little box he brought, revealing a jade bracelet made of the finest jade beads, with a meticulously carved Pixiu in the center. The beads on both sides were full and flawless. A bracelet like this would easily cost tens of millions.

“A small token of appreciation.”

“I personally cut this from raw jade. I heard that President Jian made his first fortune through stone gambling. So when I got such fine jade, I hired the best craftsman to carve and polish it.”

As he spoke, Wei En approached Jian Yuanbai, “I hope you won’t find it lacking.”

When he got closer, he noticed that under the sleeve of Jian Yuanbai’s coat, there was already a bracelet on his wrist. However, unlike the one he brought, Jian Yuanbai’s bracelet was made with only an ordinary jade bead in the center, while the other beads were plain and unremarkable.

Not to mention, the carving technique was crude and wasted such fine jade.

Wei En was not worried. He even reached out to remove the bracelet from Jian Yuanbai’s wrist. “President Jian, where did you find such an unskilled jade carver? This bracelet doesn’t match your status at all.”

The moment his fingers touched Jian Yuanbai’s wrist, they were forcefully slapped away.

Jian Yuanbai frowned in disgust and looked at him coldly. “My wife carved it. Take your filthy hands off.”

“I don’t need your apology. As for the Wei family, I won’t let them go.”

Wei En froze.

Wife?

He clearly felt that Jian Yuanbai was just like him. He even thought that the reason Jian Yuanbai treated Wei Zhenge so well was because he liked men.

If Wei Zhenge could do it, why couldn’t he?

But now… Jian Yuanbai said “wife”?

“President Jian got married at such a young age? How many women out there must be heartbroken,” Wei En said, pretending not to hear Jian Yuanbai’s last words, testing him.

Jian Yuanbai actually felt a bit guilty when he said those words, but facing Wei En, he spoke with righteous confidence, “My wife is the most beautiful person in the world.”

“Don’t bother me here. Just seeing you ruins my mood.”

This wasn’t a request or an inquiry. Jian Yuanbai directly called security.

Wei En’s expression stiffened. If he were thrown out by security, it would be utterly humiliating. He quickly left a business card on the table, “Next month, my newly established jewelry company will be hosting an auction. If President Jian is interested, you’re welcome to bring your… wife.”

With that, he hurried out, not even bothering to care about the anxious Fu Pengyi who was still waiting at the door.

The Wei family was already struggling to survive. How could they have the energy to care about a worthless dog like the Fu family?

Even if it were a loyal dog.

This time, Wei En came for two reasons: first, to offer a gift and build a connection, and second, to establish his image as an independent entrepreneur, hoping to gain Jian Yuanbai’s recognition. However, he left Zhenge Group with a dark expression.

Because after he got off the elevator, a security guard caught up with him and handed him the business card he had left on Jian Yuanbai’s desk. At the same time, the security guard skillfully pulled out a loudspeaker and repeated Jian Yuanbai’s words loudly:

“Since you know it’s a small jewelry company, stop handing out business cards and embarrassing yourself.”

Feeling the stares from all around, Wei En nearly crushed the business card in his hand, his face darker than the bottom of a pot as he stormed out of Zhenge Group.

The security guard put the loudspeaker back on his belt and returned to his post. He couldn’t help but say to his colleague, “I have to say, this loudspeaker the company gave us is really useful, especially for situations like this.”

“Exactly. Ever since Zhenge went public, all sorts of people have been coming to bother President Jian. If we don’t use the loudspeaker to humiliate them, some of them would just refuse to leave.”

“But I heard that one of the managers was given a hundred loudspeakers. They said he was supposed to use them for something. What exactly is he supposed to do with a hundred loudspeakers?”

The security guard who had just driven away Wei En was stunned. “A hundred loudspeakers? With that many, the one who ends up embarrassed would be the manager himself, right?”

“Exactly. Apparently, the manager boasted that he was incredibly persuasive. Now he’s been having a headache over it for days.”

Jian Yuanbai merely glanced at the business card and told the security to return it to Wei En. He disliked this half-brother of Wei Zhenge, finding him scheming and manipulative.

However, the business card reminded Jian Yuanbai of something. In the original plot, Wei En did have some talent in stone gambling and had clashed with Wei Zhenge before, only to be humiliated by him.

Thinking of this, Jian Yuanbai immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Wei Zhenge:

“Do you have enough money to buy raw jade? If not, I can transfer you some.”

Wei Zhenge was already on winter break. A while ago, he told Jian Yuanbai that he was interested in stone gambling and wanted to visit the raw jade market. Since Jian Yuanbai knew he had a “golden finger” (a special ability to identify high-quality jade), he naturally didn’t stop him.

So, during this time, one of them was working while the other was wandering around the stone gambling market.

On the other end, Wei Zhenge’s phone chimed. When he saw Jian Yuanbai’s message, a subtle smile appeared in his eyes as he replied:

“I have enough. Focus on your work.”

Staring at the words “Focus on your work”, which seemed a bit cold and distant, Wei Zhenge hesitated for a moment and then sent an emoji:

“A little cat hugging its tail with starry eyes.jpg.”

After waiting for a while with no response from Jian Yuanbai, Wei Zhenge pursed his lips, put his phone away, and squatted down again to carefully examine the pile of raw jade on the ground.

This wasn’t an official raw jade trading market. The vendor simply laid out a cloth on the ground and displayed all kinds of raw jade, with prices ranging from a hundred to a hundred thousand.

However, what caught Wei Zhenge’s attention wasn’t the low prices but the fact that most of the raw jade here contained jadeite.

Although the quality wasn’t great, mostly ordinary water types, they could still be made into jewelry and sold for a few thousand each.

Intrigued, Wei Zhenge asked the vendor, “Where do these raw stones come from?”

The vendor was a rough-skinned middle-aged man. When questioned, he became nervous and avoided eye contact, “Why do you care where I got them from? I’m selling, you’re buying. Why ask so much?”

Wei Zhenge smiled, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m just curious. How about this — I’ll buy all the raw jade here. In exchange, could you take me to your supplier?”

“I’ll even pay you extra. What do you think?”

The vendor looked at him in disbelief, “All of them? Even these few pieces that cost ten thousand each?”

Wei Zhenge nodded, “Yes. Can you do that?”

The vendor was still hesitant.

Wei Zhenge glanced at the raw stones. Some already showed traces of imperial green jadeite, but they were too thin and small to be valuable.

However, since these stones all came from the same source, there might be top-quality jade in that place.

Therefore, he wasn’t discouraged and continued to negotiate with the vendor.

After a long hesitation, the vendor finally agreed, “Alright… but that place is quite remote, and also…”

He paused but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he said, “Transfer the money first, and I’ll take you there.”

Wei Zhenge transferred the money and arranged for the raw stones to be sent to a temporary warehouse he rented.

Then he asked, “You said the place is remote. If it’s far, let’s go tomorrow instead.”

The vendor nodded, “That works. It’s in the mountains. You’d better bring some spare clothes.”

“But let me make this clear — once we get there, even if you don’t find what you’re looking for, I won’t refund the money.”

With his back turned to Wei Zhenge, the vendor’s hesitation gradually turned into determination.

He was originally just a lazy troublemaker from the mountains. When he accidentally discovered that people were paying high prices for these stones, he decided to try his luck.

But he never expected that someone would buy all his raw stones in one go.

Now, he just needed to take this fool to that abandoned mining area and leave him there.

What happens after that?

It had nothing to do with him.

He had never seen anyone cut open jade stones before; he had only heard that jadeite could be found inside them. Those stones looked no different from the ones in his mountain village. He had personally chiseled a few pieces but found absolutely nothing. So, he simply dug up some and brought them to the city to sell.

Knowing he couldn’t fool real experts, he chose to set up a street stall in a place like this. It was his first time doing this, so he felt somewhat uncertain.

But since this guy insisted on going, it had nothing to do with him.

Wei Zhenge agreed without hesitation. After all, it was already winter break, or he wouldn’t have been able to go.