Boss Jin glanced at Old Yu and Old Zheng. Seeing the two elders unmoved and firmly on Chu Yi’s side, he turned without hesitation. “Apologies, everyone. I have some business with this young brother. Please step out for a moment, enjoy some tea in the VIP lounge—we’ll only need a few minutes.”
He signaled his staff to escort the guests to the tea room. The onlookers, sharp as they were, gave Boss Jin face and withdrew promptly.
“Now, can we talk?”
Chu Yi beckoned Boss Jin over and pointed at the stone before them. “Boss Jin, take a look at this Fine Sand Skin’s mist layer—isn’t it a bit off?”
Boss Jin, figuring Chu Yi knew his jade, turned to inspect it. “How so—hiss…”
Chu Yi applied a bit of deft force with his hand and peeled off the windowed section. What had appeared as Glass-Type was merely a thin veneer; beneath lay nothing but cottony inclusions.
Old Yu and Old Zheng exchanged stunned looks, Old Yu especially—he’d nearly chosen that very stone! The surface Glass-Type was genuine enough for him to spot, but as for raw stones, he was only half-baked at best.
He gambled stones merely to keep up with his old buddies, aping elegance. With Boss Jin’s reliable quality, he seldom cut waste and always profited somewhat, so he’d never suspected the stones here of being fakes.
Old Zheng, though a collector, specialized in antiques; raw stones were beyond his true ken.
Boss Jin’s face darkened as he checked other stones, growing graver by the moment. This young man had been spot-on—his shelves were filled with shoddy fakes!
Chu Yi said, “From your physiognomy, Boss Jin, your family recently welcomed joyful news—a new addition. No wonder you had no time to mind the business, letting villains exploit the gap.”
“Dad, I heard someone say you’re…” A handsome young man hurried in, sweating profusely. He caught sight of Boss Jin before the unmasked stone and froze, lips trembling. “Dad, Dad… let me explain.”
“What is there to explain!” Boss Jin, rage boiling over, grabbed the man’s collar. “Where’s the money for the raw stone shipments? You swallowed it all yourself?”
“No, I didn’t…” The man’s mouth opened and closed. Under relentless questioning, he finally admitted he’d used the funds to gamble on stones, losing most of it. To make good with Boss Jin, he’d devised this scheme.
“I figured… these windowed premium stones cost tens of millions—nobody buys them anyway. Once I earned the money back in a bit, I’d… I’d replace the raw stones for you…”
“Jin Shu risked her life to bear you a daughter, and here you are scheming against the Jin family fortunes! I’ll beat you to death, you Chen Shimei!” Boss Jin slapped the man across the face, sending him stumbling to the ground in a heap.
The man snapped then, going all-in with broken defiance. “Bear me a daughter? She takes your surname, not mine!”
A mere girl not taking his name was one thing, but crucially: “My brother’s getting married and needs a house—just two million borrowed from you. You’re so rich, why refuse? Jin Shu drops tens of thousands on a single bag; two million isn’t even enough for you to bust one stone…”
He’d given in to greed, thinking after so long at his father-in-law’s side, he’d picked up seventy or eighty percent of the man’s skill… Alas, he’d lost everything!
Qiu Zijun glared venomously at Boss Jin. “If you hadn’t refused to help, if you hadn’t withheld your real techniques from me, why would I take such risks and gamble away the procurement funds?”
Boss Jin pointed at him, too furious for words, finally squeezing out: “You… you get out!!”
Qiu Zijun knew Boss Jin’s temper well. In this state, no sweet talk would work. He simply got up, dusted off his rear, and left.
Relying on the daughter he’d had with Jin Shu, he felt emboldened. No matter how angry his father-in-law got, he’d come crawling back eventually—just as his parents had advised. No more groveling!
Boss Jin staggered, but Chu Yi steadied him in time. Turning to Chu Yi with a bitter smile, Boss Jin said, “Young brother, you nailed it. Old Jin here truly fell victim to a petty villain!”
Chu Yi helped him to a seat nearby. Boss Jin sighed. “I opposed Jin Shu marrying him from the start. In all my years in business, what sort of person haven’t I seen? Whether he chased her for love or money—I could tell.”
“But alas, Jin Shu insisted. She’s my only daughter. I thought of having him join the family, passing the business to our grandson later. Who knew he couldn’t even wait a year!”
Elder Yu took that in stride—his own granddaughter was romancing the Young Master of Gao Family, both from elite houses; no such issues there.
But Old Zheng was different. He’d planned to groom Xiao Rui as successor; her husband could be of humbler status, so long as he tended the home… Now witnessing Boss Jin’s ordeal, was it a warning?
He glanced at Chu Yi, then at Old Yu, suddenly realizing Yu Zhensheng wasn’t so bad, age aside?
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