Chapter 27: Six Division Assessment (5)

In the past, Zhou Bokang would never have spoken such thoughtless words, but now that he had secured a powerful backer, he had no reservations whatsoever. His tone became increasingly rude.

“Say that again if you dare!” Meng Jianlin slammed the table and stood up, his emotions running high.

“Enough arguing!” Old Feng shot Zhou Bokang a displeased glance and said slowly, “Let’s proceed with the assessment for now.”

Zhou Bokang couldn’t care less about what these old-timers thought of him. He chuckled, “My test is simple—stone cutting.”

Stone cutting?

Lin Manxuan’s expression shifted slightly, while Meng Jianlin, Old Feng, and the others turned ashen. Yang Ning, on the other hand, looked a bit puzzled. “What’s stone cutting?”

“Stone cutting, also known as gambling on stones, involves slicing open raw stones that might contain jadeite. If there’s no jadeite inside, it’s considered a bust. But if you strike jadeite, you’re in for a fortune,” Minister Niu explained kindly from the side. “Stone cutting can be seen as a form of gambling. Luck plays a part, but only half. The other half relies on sharp eyesight, experience, and a solid foundation of knowledge.”

Yang Ning nodded in realization. Though he had never tried stone cutting himself, he had heard his second uncle mention it before.

“So, how do I pass the assessment?” Yang Ning asked.

“It’s simple. I’ve got a batch of raw stones here. Pick three. As long as you cut out jadeite—regardless of quality—you pass,” Zhou Bokang said with a smile, laboriously hauling a large box onto the conference table.

“I can choose any of them?” Yang Ning was quite curious about stone cutting.

“Any at all,” Zhou Bokang replied with a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile. “But let me be clear—these raw stones are my personal property and have nothing to do with the company. If you want to cut them, you’ll have to pay for them.”

“Zhou, don’t go too far! Everyone knows the raw stones you spent a fortune on are nothing but trash!” Meng Jianlin slammed the table again, cursing.

Zhou Bokang shrugged nonchalantly. “This is my assessment method.”

Meng Jianlin was so furious he could burst. “Do you really think the company cares about the votes you hold?”

“Rules are rules. Besides, I didn’t make them. I’m merely following the company’s regulations. Why does it sound like I’m in the wrong for abiding by the law?” Zhou Bokang spoke with righteous indignation, leaving Meng Jianlin speechless.

Old Feng frowned slightly. He felt something was off about Zhou Bokang today. This was clearly a move to burn bridges with them. Could it be that he was planning to leave the company?

“Three stones, right?” Yang Ning spoke up. “Can I take a few more?”

“You might not have understood me. What I meant was…”

Before Zhou Bokang could finish, Yang Ning cut him off.

“Let’s stick to your rules. Three stones with jadeite.” After a pause, Yang Ning added, “But I’m pretty interested in stone cutting and would like to try a few more for fun.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Bokang rubbed his chin, feigning hesitation.

In truth, he was laughing inside. He had been wondering how to offload these worthless scrap stones, and now he’d stumbled upon a spendthrift. Today was truly a double blessing.

Since you’re so cooperative, I’ll take a liking to you. Once the deal is done, letting you pass won’t be a problem.

“Don’t buy them! These are all trash! This bastard is clearly trying to scam you!” Meng Jianlin shouted anxiously.

Zhou Bokang’s face stiffened. Seeing Yang Ning hesitate, he hurriedly said, “Don’t listen to this old fool’s nonsense. These are genuine old-pit raw stones, absolutely authentic. I’m not cheating anyone, young or old!”

“You praise them so much—do they even know it?” Meng Jianlin sneered.

Hmph!

Zhou Bokang’s face flushed. He caught the implication in Meng Jianlin’s words: if you’re so confident, why don’t you cut them yourself?

“Let me take a look first.”

Yang Ning showed a flicker of interest, though he also displayed plenty of caution and hesitation.

In reality, these emotions were all a deliberate facade. Deep down, he was thrilled beyond measure!

Earlier, when he activated his Eye of Appraisal, he noticed three of the raw stones in the box emitting a green glow, and four with a white glow. The rest were a dull gray-black.

Yang Ning picked out seven raw stones and hesitated. “I’ll take these. How much?”

“One million.”

As soon as Zhou Bokang spoke, Yang Ning’s expression changed drastically. He pushed the seven stones away, shaking his head like a rattle. “No way. One million is enough to buy a car. These lousy rocks are worth that much?”

Yang Ning looked at Zhou Bokang with disdain, muttering, “I didn’t quite believe Old Meng at first, but now I see he wasn’t wrong. You’re clearly trying to rip me off. Do you take me for a sucker?”

Zhou Bokang’s face reddened, and he gave an awkward laugh. “Alright, fine. I’ll give you a discount—seven hundred thousand.”

He also felt that one million was a bit steep. After all, the people here weren’t easy to fool. If it were just him and Yang Ning, he’d probably stick to the million without budging.

“I’ll pay fifty thousand at most. Any higher, and I’m out. You can keep them to sell to someone else.” Yang Ning held up five fingers.

Zhou Bokang hesitated. This box of raw stones had cost him a whopping eight million, but after appraisal, several jade masters tactfully pointed out that these stones had a high gambling risk.

The implication was clear—they weren’t optimistic about them.

Zhou Bokang had originally planned to quietly offload these raw stones, but one of the jade masters who appraised them got drunk and let the news slip. Soon, many in the circle knew he was stuck with a batch of worthless stones.

The box held just over twenty stones. Yang Ning taking seven was nearly a third of them. Back when he bought them for eight million, that portion would’ve been worth at least two and a half million. Selling them for a fraction of that made Zhou Bokang reluctant.

“How about we switch to a different test?” Yang Ning said with a sly smile. “Minister Zhou, if you’re not willing to sell, that’s not my problem.”

That smile, no matter how you looked at it, seemed like Yang Ning was deliberately cornering him, forcing him to back off and choose another test.

Zhou Bokang sneered inwardly. Kid, you’re too green to play tricks in front of me. Trying to outmaneuver me is like showing off your skills before a master!

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Bokang smiled. “Fine, fifty thousand it is.” After a pause, he added, “Hold on a moment. Let’s sign a transaction agreement first.”

In truth, he was worried Yang Ning might back out later. Stone gambling wasn’t a guaranteed profit. If luck wasn’t on your side, you could lose everything. Some unlucky souls even ended up in debt. And for those who hit rock bottom—well, they might as well clean themselves up and head to the rooftop. Twenty years later, they’d be reborn as a new man.

Since Zhou Bokang took the initiative to propose signing an agreement, Yang Ning was naturally willing. If the other party was worried about him reneging, wasn’t he just as concerned?

“Are you really going to play this game?” Meng Jianlin’s expression was grave. After all, this was stone gambling, and these were appraised trash stones to boot.

“It’s just fifty thousand. Besides, the money came pretty easily.” Yang Ning shrugged with a carefree smile, turning to Lin Manxuan. “Miss Lin, isn’t that right?”

The corner of Lin Manxuan’s mouth twitched imperceptibly. She caught the hidden meaning in Yang Ning’s words. “Minister Zhou, I’ll have the finance department transfer the fifty thousand to your account immediately.”

“No rush, no rush,” Zhou Bokang said politely on the surface, though inwardly, he was already over the moon.

After both parties signed the transaction agreement, Zhou Bokang suddenly said, “I’ll consider this test passed for him.” After a pause, he added, “Miss Lin, please have the finance department calculate my salary and bonus for this quarter and send it all to me at once.”

“What do you mean?” Lin Manxuan’s delicate brows furrowed. She had a vague suspicion.

Old Feng and Old Xu nearby showed expressions of realization, as if they’d expected this. Meng Jianlin quickly caught on as well and was about to curse this ungrateful wretch when a female voice suddenly rang out in the conference room.

“Since Mr. Zhou has made up his mind to leave, the company won’t try to keep you. We wish you all the best in your new position.”