Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were still communicating telepathically when Shao Qingge saw Mo Xuemin's confused expression. He chuckled and touched his nose, saying, "Old Mo, don't worry about them. I need to ask you something first."
Mo Xuemin, who had been in a daze, snapped out of it and quickly said, "Okay, okay, go ahead and ask."
Shao Qingge asked, " Does Moon City have any jade processing factories or raw jade purchasing stations?"
Mo Xuemin nodded: "I know there's a company in the northern suburbs that specializes in buying raw jade stones, as well as private buyers. Are you buying or selling?"
Judging from his expression, he seemed completely unaware of the jade rough stones in Liuxi Village. Obviously, Lao Mo hadn't perfectly completed Spade 4 and hadn't obtained the hidden reward.
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "I'd like to gamble on stones. I'll ask about it another day. Thanks."
Hearing CEO Shao's words, Xiao Lou finally ended his eye contact with Yu Hanjiang and turned to Mo Xuemin, saying, "Old Mo, thank you so much for recommending such a great place to stay and for telling us so much about the World Weekly Routine. How would you like to collect the consultation fee? Cash or bank transfer?"
Mo Xuemin smiled and waved his hand, "No need. I feel a connection with you all, let's just consider it making friends. You can call me again if you have any problems in the future." He paused, sighed softly, and a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes, "On the contrary, in this world, how long one can live is unknown. If it weren't for my daughter, I might have given up long ago..."
Liu Qiao suddenly said, " Uncle Mo, you can't give up. Your daughter must be waiting for you to come back." Mo Xuemin looked up abruptly and met the young girl's clear, bright eyes. She looked at him earnestly and said, "Just like my father is waiting for me to come back."
Mo Xuemin was stunned for a moment, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He awkwardly looked away and said in a trembling voice, "The young lady is right. My daughter is only a few years younger than you. I'm her only family left. How can I give up? I must go back!"
Xiao Lou gently reached out and patted Lao Mo on the shoulder, saying, "Don't be discouraged. According to you, tens of millions of people participate in the Weekly Routine, and only a few million are eliminated. The elimination rate of nearly 10% is not particularly high. As long as you find a good team, you will definitely be able to pass this week."
Old Mo laughed and said, "Thank you for your kind words. Take care, everyone!"
After everyone returned to room 311, Xiao Lou told the other three the results of his telepathic communication with Captain Yu: "We want to upgrade the contract book and add Lao Mo and the couple we met in Liuxi Village. What do you all think?"
Liu Qiao said, "I don't think Lao Mo is a liar. The expression on his face when he talks about his daughter is something even an Oscar-winning actor couldn't pull off."
Ye Qi said, "Old Mo is a bit like our guide when we go to the unfamiliar world. He knows a lot, and I don't think it's a bad thing to have someone like him in the team. Besides, Professor Xiao said that he got an A in all the escape rooms before, which means he's an all-rounder!"
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "The most crucial point is actually his profession."
Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement and said, "He's a designer at a renovation company. He owns his own renovation company in the real world and also works part-time at a renovation company in Card World. Designers are very sensitive to space, and our team doesn't have anyone who is particularly good at mazes yet."
Xiao Lou chimed in, "That's right. Think about it carefully. Last week's ' Rotating Maze ' Weekly Routine rotated 90 degrees every so often. Old Mo's world was also unlucky enough to encounter the Hunter. While running for his life, he had to find the maze's path, which increased the difficulty several times over. 80% of the people were eliminated, and his team was almost completely wiped out. How did he survive?"
Liu Qiao's eyes lit up: "This means he is very good at mazes. He probably used the complex paths of the Rotating Maze to avoid the massacre and found the exit within the time limit."
Xiao Lou said, "The team needs someone like that, but our current understanding of him is only based on what he tells us, which is too one-sided. So after discussing it with Captain Yu, we decided to go to the Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday to help Xiao Liu find his sister, and at the same time, spend some money to investigate this Lao Mo's background. If he's okay, we'll try to invite him to join us. Does everyone have any objections?"
With a nonchalant expression that said, "I'm just going to lie down and win," Shao Qingge said, "I don't care."
Ye Qi said, "I support Professor Xiao's decision."
Liu Qiao: "I agree."
And so the matter was decided. Shao Qingge said, "Today is Monday, and tomorrow is Tuesday. We'll go to the northern suburbs to find that raw jade purchasing company and sell all our raw jade pieces to save up some funds. Staying in hotels all the time isn't a solution. My suggestion is that if we have enough money, we should rent a villa and live together. It's better than the chaotic atmosphere of a hotel."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Okay, let's meet downstairs at 8:30 tomorrow morning. It's getting late, everyone go to sleep."
At 11 p.m., the five of them went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning at 8:30, everyone gathered downstairs on time and took two taxis to the northern suburbs.
Shao Qingge led everyone to the factory Lao Mo had mentioned. The factory owner was a middle-aged man with a beard. Upon hearing that Shao Qingge wanted to sell raw jade, the man said disdainfully, "Someone brought me raw jade to sell just now, but when I opened it, all I found inside were some worthless pieces of jade. Is your raw jade any good? This isn't a junkyard; I don't buy all sorts of rubbish!"
Shao Qingge said with a smile, "Boss, how about we take a gamble?"
The boss raised an eyebrow: "How do you want to bet?"
Shao Qingge turned to look at their workshop where they processed raw jade and said, "If my raw jade can yield top-quality jade, boss, you can pay the market price."
"You'll pay us 70%, and the remaining 30% will be your processing fee. If we can't cut it open, I'll compensate you one million for each piece of raw material."
The shopkeeper looked at Shao Qingge like he was an idiot: "If you can't win, you'll pay me back? Are you out of your mind to gamble like this?"
Shao Qingge pointed to his head and laughed, "Very clear-headed."
The boss thought to himself, if he found a top-grade jade, the split would be 30/70, much higher than usual, but still acceptable. If he didn't find anything, the other party promised to pay him out of pocket—this gamble was practically a guaranteed win!
The boss nodded: "Okay, come with me, let me see your goods."
The five of them followed him to the workshop.
Shao Qingge brought the jade rough stone in the card holder to life. The shop owner frowned and examined it carefully. The rough stone looked ordinary and was quite small; it didn't seem like it could yield a top-quality piece. However, because the other person was smiling and extremely confident, the shop owner still invited the most skilled craftsman to come and cut the rough stone.
To his surprise, when the rough stone was opened, it turned out to be a top-quality jadeite!
The emerald green jade was crystal clear under the light, and the shop owner's eyes lit up. He excitedly reached out and touched the small piece of jade. Realizing that his emotions were too obvious, the shop owner immediately coughed and said indifferently, "Your jade is just average. I'll give you 100,000 at most."
Shao Qingge smiled as he took the stone back, examined it against the light, and said, "This piece of jade is relatively small, so it can be used to make a jade pendant. When judging jade, you generally look at its type, color, and clarity. Boss, look at this jade. It has a fine texture, even color, and is very transparent and clear. It's the most transparent glass type, and its quality is definitely top-grade. If you take it and have it processed and carved into a beautiful shape, it could easily fetch several million, right?"
The boss became increasingly alarmed as he listened. He had thought these people were unaware of the market and he was trying to fool them into buying it at a low price... He never expected to encounter an expert, and his face immediately turned somewhat embarrassed.
Shao Qingge said seriously, "I don't want much, four million. You can take this rough stone. If not, I'll go find another one."
The shop owner's expression changed, and he quickly stopped him: "Let's talk this over. Do you have any other raw materials? Let's take another look!"
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "Then it depends on your sincerity, boss."
Realizing he might have stumbled upon a jade gambling expert, the boss immediately ordered his men to serve tea and water and respectfully ushered the group into a separate office next door.
Shao Qingge then asked Xiao Lou and the others to bring out their raw materials as well.
Several pieces yielded jadeite, and there were also several pieces of cat's-eye rough stones. The shop owner was dumbfounded: "Where did you get so many top-quality rough stones?"
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "Don't worry, the source is absolutely legal. Will the boss accept it?"
The boss nodded vigorously: "Buy it all! Buy it all!"
There are many inferior jade and gemstones on the market, and their prices fluctuate greatly. You can buy a bracelet for a few thousand gold coins, but top-quality jade is usually bought and collected by knowledgeable people. With some promotion and packaging, the income can be dozens of times higher.
The boss practically wanted to give Shao Qingge a shoulder massage and a back rub—he was practically a god of wealth!
Shao Qingge wasn't greedy. They needed to make money quickly. They could have earned more by processing the raw materials into finished products and then selling them, but their weekly routine was approaching, and they hadn't gathered all their teammates yet. Selling the raw materials directly to the boss, letting him process and sell them himself, would save time and effort. Besides, they also had a priceless cat's-eye stone bracelet.
The 30/70 split was too high, and the boss's face turned ashen. He said, "Sir, I was blind to have brought so many top-quality items! How about we discuss it again? How about a 50/50 split? I handle the raw material extraction, processing, and carving—all skilled work. My craftsmen are all handmade; they need to make a living too!"
I thought Shao Qingge would refuse outright, but to my surprise, he said very readily: "Alright, boss, if you buy them all, I can give you a discount. All the raw materials together will cost 30 million."
The boss did the math, his eyes lit up, and he immediately called the finance department to transfer 30 million yuan directly from the company account to them. He personally saw Shao Qingge and the others out, and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, if you have any more top-quality raw materials like this in the future, feel free to come to me!"
Shao Qingge smiled and waved: "Okay."
Xiao Lou remained silent throughout. He didn't want to get involved in things he didn't understand. Anyway, CEO Shao was an expert, and the boss couldn't cheat them. This batch of raw materials sold for 30 million, which is nearly 300,000 RMB, a huge sum of money.
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "Let's go to the bank and split the accounts first. We'll transfer 6 million to each person's account so that if something happens to me during the later stages of the secret room, you'll all be penniless."
As they were talking, they suddenly saw two familiar people coming out of the factory—coincidentally, they were the same couple they had met in Liuxi Village.
The two men looked dejected; clearly, they hadn't sold their rough stones for a good price.
Xiao Lou had intended to go to the Intelligence Bureau to find the two men, but unexpectedly ran into them here. The man was slightly taken aback when he saw Xiao Lou, but quickly ran over with great joy and said, " Brother Xiao, you're here to sell wool too?"
Those Challengers who completed the challenge perfectly all received a gift from the village chief. However, they had to choose the raw materials themselves. Shao Qingge was knowledgeable and picked the best ones, while the other two picked only average ones.
The woman smiled and asked, "How much did you sell it for? We only sold it for 500,000."
Five hundred thousand gold coins is equivalent to five thousand yuan, which is considered the lowest quality rough stone in the real world. Although the stone they picked was large, its quality was extremely poor.
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "We're about the same."
The others were too embarrassed to mention that they had sold for 30 million, lest they get into a fight.
Shoot down these two people.
Xiao Lou said, "It's fate that we met in Moon City. Let's have lunch together. I have something I want to discuss with you two."
The couple couldn't have been happier and immediately followed.
After chatting, I learned that after leaving Liuxi Village, the two of them also went to Plum Blossom 4. They lost a lot of gold coins in Plum Blossom 4, but won a lot of cards and even copied two S cards, [ Chameleon ] and [ Long Jump Master ]. After arriving in Moon City, they went to the northern suburbs and found a jade factory there. The two of them stayed there overnight to investigate and confirmed that the factory was fine. This morning, after the factory opened, they came to sell raw materials and happened to run into Xiao Lou and his group.
The man said, " Brother Xiao is right. It's really fate to meet in such a big city! Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Long Sen. I 'm missing the element of wood in my birth chart, so my dad named me Sen, which means forest. This is my wife… no, I should say my fiancée, Qu Wanyue. We are both 25 years old this year."
Qu Wanyue smiled helplessly: "It's really unlucky. We were in a car accident on our wedding day. The wedding car was smashed to pieces, so we haven't been able to hold the wedding yet."
The group exchanged glances, thinking to themselves – that was indeed incredibly unlucky.
The hall was filled with guests who were supposed to be attending a wedding banquet, but instead, the joyous occasion turned into a funeral. How heartbroken both sets of parents must be...
Seeing their somber expressions, Xiao Lou changed the subject, saying, "Well, we're short of teammates right now because of our contract book upgrade. Would you two be willing to join our team?" He looked at them and added with a smile, "We've worked together in Liuxi Village before, so we know each other quite well. I'd like to invite you to join us for this week's Weekly Routine."
Long Sen exclaimed excitedly, "Yes, yes! We couldn't be happier! We wanted to team up with you guys right away, but when that Masked Man asked Old Han, Officer Han said there were no spots available, so we were too embarrassed to ask..."
Qu Wanyue readily agreed, "That's right. If Old Han is leading the team, we'll definitely follow his orders. I know your strength; Spade 4's win was too easy."
Shao Qingge said with a smile, "If you join us, maybe we can continue to win without lifting a finger."
Long Sen chuckled, "It's not good to always win by doing nothing. I copied the [ Chameleon ] card in Plum Blossom 4. Leave the scouting to me from now on! What if there are no tall buildings in the secret room, and it's just a desert terrain? The little girl won't be able to jump." He looked at Liu Qiao, who nodded, "Yes, I can only jump by using the landing point in the air."
Qu Wanyue said, " Chameleon has no restrictions. We each have one now, and we can go to any terrain, underwater, desert, snowfield. We can blend into the environment completely in 2 seconds. From now on, Xiaolong and I will be in charge of reconnaissance."
Long Sen nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, we're no good at fighting, but we're top-notch at escaping!"
Xiao Lou laughed and said, "I believe you have seen it all in Liuxi Village."
The couple were very easygoing. Xiao Lou upgraded the contract book and gave it to them, and they signed it very readily—clearly, they were afraid that Xiao Lou would change his mind.
After all, following these guys means you get a win every time, and it's great to keep winning.