Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 318: Chapter 315: Discerning Jade

Hearing the commotion, Huo Sining and a few others turned their heads.

Upon looking, they immediately saw a Wei District man fiercely confronting the Ji Kun who had earlier been followed by Huo Sining.

”This is seed material! Its oiliness is a bit lacking, but it will improve after some handling. If you don’t understand, then don’t spout nonsense and ruin my business!”

Huo Sining paused, seeing that Ji Kun and the merchant were on the verge of a conflict, she quickly signaled to Li Quan and the other two, got up, and hastened over.

It wasn’t that Huo Sining loved to meddle, but having just followed behind this man for so long, she had learned quite a bit. He was humble, refined, and very courteous, which made Huo Sining quite fond of him.

By the time they pushed through the quickly gathering crowd, Huo Sining and her companions finally clarified the crux of the issue.

It turned out that Ji Kun had been looking to buy jade materials from a Wei District merchant, had looked at a few and, dissatisfied, shook his head intending to leave, when a young man seeing this urged Ji Kun to help him choose by lending his expertise.

Ji Kun saw that the piece the young man had selected and immediately determined it was Qinghai material. However, as soon as he said this, the Wei District merchant disagreed, insisting his material was Hetian seed material, which led to the two starting a conflict, becoming red-faced as they began to argue.

The so-called Qinghai material refers to Kunlun Jade. Kunlun Jade and Hetian Jade are derived from the same mineral belt, but their geographical locations differ, and the quality of their finished jade products are worlds apart.

East of Kunlun Mountain lies Kunlun Jade, to the north lies Hetian Jade. Although the straight-line distance between the two is just 300 kilometers, Hetian Jade is renowned for its delicate and immaculate quality, its touch warm and soft; whereas Kunlun Jade often has defects like white flecks, waterlines, and cotton-like impurities, all of which affect its density and moistness, making it inferior to Hetian Jade.

Huo Sining looked down at the pile of jade materials at the feet of the Wei District man, which indeed seemed lighter in color than those of other peasant vendors. However, there isn’t an absolute distinction between Hetian jade material and Kunlun jade material, no wonder the Wei District merchant refused to admit it.

But Ji Kun was clearly angered, furrowing his brow and scrutinizing the Wei District man as he questioned, ”Qinghai material is Qinghai material. This one’s texture doesn’t make the grade, its whiteness is dull and its texture stiff. There should be limits to deceiving people. Can you conduct business without any bottom line, without fearing the reproach of your conscience?”

With just a few words, Ji Kun had exposed his connoisseurship. The vendor who had been glaring at Ji Kun with fierce momentum flinched, clearly embarrassed, but quickly regained his composure and gestured covertly to a few bystanders nearby.

After speaking his mind, Ji Kun seemed to calm down and with a cold expression glanced at the young man standing next to the Wei District merchant, saying, ”This is just my opinion. Whether you believe it or not is up to you! In the end, it’s not my money that’s being cheated!”

His words made the young man hesitant; he had already agreed on a price with the merchant, but now he dared not make a hasty decision. He examined the piece of jade from all angles and, finally, carefully placed it back where it came from.

Ji Kun turned to leave, but he had barely taken two steps when suddenly, from the crowd that had been watching the fuss, six or seven Wei District men began to stir, seemingly poised to encircle Ji Kun.

Huo Sining’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

She had witnessed the merchant signaling to the onlookers, and it appeared that these individuals were certainly local thugs from the Wei District, likely specializing in passing off inferior Kunlun Jade as superior to swindle outsiders.

Now that Ji Kun had unveiled the mystery, the young man was awakened, but Ji Kun had disrupted the merchant’s business, and the vendor was certainly not going to let it go easily.

However, the young man had not noticed anything amiss. Seeing Ji Kun ready to leave, he quickly grabbed Ji Kun’s shoulder and asked,

”Big brother, could you please wait a moment? You said this is from Qinghai—could you explain in more detail? I’m sorry, I’m a novice and don’t really know how to recognize jade. All these pieces of jade look pretty much the same to me. Do you have any other evidence?”

When Ji Kun heard this, he turned to look at the Wei District merchant. The trader was staring at him with cold eyes and pursed lips, but his gaze was leaking a ferocious light.

Clearly lacking social experience, the young man did not realize the inappropriateness of his question, nor did he sense that the merchant was on the verge of exploding.

Before coming to Hetian, Huo Sining had researched online and learned that the situation in Wei District could be quite chaotic. Taking advantage of their local superiority, they bullied outsiders from the Han ethnicity, deceiving and coercing them, and even resorting to violent threats.

Yesterday, when Huo Sining arrived in Hotan County, she found it very peaceful and the people very welcoming. She thought the online comments were somewhat exaggerated, but now, witnessing this situation, she realized it wasn’t an overstatement.

If it weren’t for the young man’s sincere expression, Huo Sining would have suspected that he had a grudge against Ji Kun and was intentionally setting a trap for him.

Huo Sining silently cursed the young man’s inability to read the room while also having a bad feeling inwardly.

If Ji Kun really started to analyze the evidence with the young man, he would definitely not be able to leave afterwards.

Huo Sining frowned in concern. Ji Kun, either oblivious to the danger or for some other reason, had walked a few steps away but suddenly smiled at the merchant, turned around, and picked up the piece of jade the young man had put down. He then took out a flashlight and a magnifying glass from his backpack and began pointing out the grain and spots on the jade to the young man while elaborating on his explanation.

”The so-called Qinghai material mostly appears in gray or wax white due to its poorer oil content and weaker gel-like texture, which gives it a thieving glow, meaning its sheen is somewhat porcelain-like!”

”Although the translucency of Qinghai material is better than that of Hetian Jade, it is not uniform. Inside, due to reasons such as ’water lines’ and ’water dew,’ it will show vein-like, striated, and cluster-like structures.”

”Furthermore, Qinghai nephrite has a slightly coarser grain, and the texture isn’t delicate enough, so it feels quite rough when handled and is difficult to smooth out with wear. So don’t believe this boss when he says it’s just lacking a bit of oiliness and will improve with some wear — he’s just fooling you novices.”

The situation was still manageable until the last part, but after those words, the merchant’s face turned completely dark. Huo Sining inwardly sensed trouble; with what Ji Kun had said, the merchant was definitely not going to let him off.

Indeed, as soon as Ji Kun finished speaking, even those present who didn’t understand the trade, like Bai Yishan and Su Qingqing, knew Ji Kun’s words were true. The few jade traders who were watching nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Ji Kun.

The young man had a look of sudden realization and turned his head to glare at the merchant, clearly angry at having been deceived. However, since he hadn’t actually spent money on it, he couldn’t really cause trouble for the merchant. He put the jade down and, without another word, turned and left.

A vicious glint flashed in the merchant’s eyes, but he didn’t make it difficult for the young man. Seeing this, Ji Kun put the Qinghai material down and prepared to follow the young man and leave. But after just a couple of steps, he was stopped.