It was already afternoon when the four of us drove here.
The streets of the small town give people a lazy and gray feeling.
The low-rise buildings are occasionally mixed with Burmese-style buildings, which give people an exotic feeling.
Most of the plaques on the shops are written in Chinese characters and Dai script.
You can often see a tin display sign on the roadside that says "Illegal immigration, fined 500 yuan".
Mr. Hong asked me while driving the car:
"Xiao Liuye, where are we going now?"
I took out my mobile phone and dialed the number Fang Chu gave me.
After just a few rings, the person on the other end hung up the phone.
I continued to type, and after a while, an impatient voice came from the other side.
"Are you anxious to be reincarnated if you still fight after being hung up?"
Fang Chukai told me before that Uncle Wang has a weird temper.
But I didn't expect that he would have such a short temper and would curse at others whenever he opened his mouth.
But I still said hastily:
"Hello, Uncle Wang. I am a friend of Fang Chu, the landlord. When I came to Lirui this time, he specially asked me to come and visit you!"
I tried to speak as tactfully as I could, and at the same time, I lifted Fang Chukai out.
"If someone named Fang asks you to come, there must be no good things going on!"
Uncle Wang didn't seem to buy it. He muttered dissatisfiedly, but then said immediately:
"I'm at the entrance of the Shajin Jade Market. Just come here and let's have a quick look. Don't bother me with the ghost things outside..."
I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Uncle Wang obviously already knows that there must be nothing good going on for me to come to him.
Needless to say, he issued an eviction order in advance.
Putting down our mobile phones, we drove straight to the jade market.
When we got to the door, we didn't wait for the car to park.
I saw a large, dark group of people in front of me.
A few of us got out of the car and walked towards the crowd.
When I got there, I discovered that a bunch of people were surrounding a big rock, making comments.
I have heard that stone gambling is popular here.
But I know nothing about this business, and I'm not in a hurry.
Just stood aside and watched the excitement.
Among the crowd, there were three men in their fifties, holding cigarettes and wearing slippers.
Hold a flashlight and shine it back and forth on the rocks.
After a while, one of them said to a skinny man whose fingers were burnt yellow by smoke:
"Uncle Wang, how are you? Do you want a knife?"
This smoker-like person is Uncle Wang.
Master Hong listened and whispered from the side:
"I thought Uncle Wang was a gangster, but I didn't expect him to be an old gambler..."
I was mentally prepared for this.
Because Fang Chu made friends with others and never cared about status.
He has friends from all kinds of religions and schools.
Uncle Wang squinted one eye and took a flashlight to shine on the stone again.
Then, he looked up at a middle-aged man who looked like a boss next to him and said:
"Agui, this stone is risky. If it's cheaper, I'll open it!"
The boss bared his big yellow teeth with black teeth, shook his head and said:
"One knife will make you poor, the other will make you rich, and the other will live in a villa. My stone is half pine flower, half python. Everyone who plays with stones knows that this is a good product. If you cut it with one knife, it will definitely rise. A few days ago, someone gave me 220,000 yuan.
They haven’t even come out. You are all regular customers, so giving you twenty is considered cheap..."
Mr. Hong and I looked at each other. Who would have thought that such a stone could be worth so much.
It can be felt that Uncle Wang is still hesitant.
The cigarette holder he was holding was almost chewed to bits.
Seeing that Uncle Wang was still hesitating, the man just said:
"Uncle Wang, why don't I open it if you don't? It's rare to see such a good stone..."
Uncle Wang thought for a moment, looked up at this man, and discussed:
"How about we both work together?"
The man immediately shook his head without even thinking about it.
"No, I just like to play by myself. It's not exciting to play with others!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another person followed and said:
"Uncle Wang, is it because you don't have enough money to open a business recently? Or just forget it and leave it to others..."
No money?
Mr. Hong looked at me again.
Uncle Wang used to be a capable person on the border, but now he seems to be a little down and out.
But what interests me most are the two people who persuaded Uncle Wang.
If my guess is correct, these two people should be the boss's shills.
The purpose is to lure people like Uncle Wang to gamble on stones.
There was a "pop" sound.
Uncle Wang spit out the cigarette butt from the corner of his mouth to the ground, wiped his mouth and said to the boss:
"Agui, I'll open this stone. I'll give you 80,000 yuan first, and I'll give you the remaining 120,000 yuan tomorrow. Come on, get on the machine!"
Uncle Wang said, picked up a green schoolbag next to him and handed it to the boss.
The boss took the schoolbag, opened it and looked at it.
Then, he shook his head and said:
"Uncle Wang, let's do this. This 80,000 yuan is a deposit, and I will keep the stone for you. I won't sell it to anyone. You can bring the money over tomorrow, and we can open it on the spot..."
Uncle Wang was immediately speechless.
He didn't expect that the other party would not give him any face.
And the people watching were whispering.
"I didn't expect that Uncle Wang would be in such a miserable state, and he couldn't even afford this little money!"
"Yes, how glorious it was in the past, but how miserable it is now!"