Chapter 76: What Kind of Jade Is This?

“I am Yun Xiaobao, the owner of this teahouse. May I invite you all upstairs to sit for a while?” As soon as the middle aged man came up, he smiled warmly, introduced himself briefly, and then invited us upstairs.

“Master, what is up on the second floor? Why does everyone keep asking us to go upstairs?” I was a bit confused and asked directly. With Master by my side, I felt like I had nothing to fear.

“The second floor is a set of private tea rooms, more convenient for discussing business,” Old Man Jiang said casually, biting on his dry tobacco pipe, not really caring.

But while Old Man Jiang did not care, someone else did. Ma Dudu spoke up. “Xiaobao, even if Brother Baochun is here, this kind of cutting in line should not be done, right? Everyone in this line knows Brother Baochun is the most rule abiding one.”

“Who is Brother Baochun?” I asked my master quietly from the side.

That question immediately drew a sharp glare from a teahouse waiter. Cao Er broke into a cold sweat. Ma Dudu showed a faint amused smile, while Yun Xiaobao remained calm and composed, still smiling gently.

As for me and Old Man Jiang, we were not the type to take a loss. We immediately glared back in perfect sync.

The waiter could not handle it and quickly coughed twice, turning his head away. Could he out glare us? What a joke. My master and I stared each other down out of boredom all the time. We were trained for this.

“Haha, interesting, interesting. The Brother Baochun this Master Ma is talking about is Yun Baochun, my father,” Yun Xiaobao laughed and answered my question himself.

I gave an “oh” and lay back on the table again. I had been listening to Old Man Jiang tell stories all the time, so I had picked up some understanding of how things worked. I more or less understood what Ma Dudu meant. He was basically reminding the son to also follow the rules since the father was a rule abiding man.

Sure enough, Yun Xiaobao turned to Ma Dudu and said, “Master Ma, our Yun family has some reputation precisely because we follow the rules. How could we do something like cutting in line? It is just that this gentleman is carrying something extraordinary. It is not convenient to talk downstairs, so I invited you all upstairs. Master Ma, business is for everyone. How about this? If this gentleman is willing, he can let you appraise his item first. If you recognize it and give a suitable price, and he is satisfied, then our Yun family will not interfere. If you cannot reach an agreement, and our Yun family happens to recognize it, then…”

Ma Dudu was also extremely proud. He immediately slapped the table and said, “Fine, let’s do it that way!”

At this moment, Old Man Jiang chuckled twice and said, “You two are interesting. I have not even spoken yet, and you have already arranged my business for me. Fine… this thing of mine, the two of you may not be able to see through it, but you can try.”

With that, he took my hand and led me up to the second floor first.

His tone was not exactly modest, but it was not restrained either. Yun Xiaobao and Ma Dudu could not figure out our background. Both of them were old foxes, so they merely smiled and endured it, following us upstairs.

On the second floor, there were indeed private small tea rooms. Yun Xiaobao arranged for the most secluded one and led everyone inside to sit.

The most uneasy one was Cao Er. He normally never had the chance to come upstairs, let alone witness a scene like this. He had heard that every deal here was worth a fortune. Today not only had he come upstairs, he was also surrounded by big figures. He felt like he had burned incense at the right temple and could not help feeling nervous.

Less than three minutes after sitting down, a tea waiter brought in a pot of hot tea and several cups. As the host, Yun Xiaobao personally poured tea for everyone and said, “Nothing special, just ordinary Mingqian tea. Please have some.”

Being personally served tea by Yun Xiaobao, and even drinking rare Mingqian tea, Cao Er was already overwhelmed with fear and respect. Ma Dudu’s expression also softened quite a bit. Only me and my master looked completely relaxed.

After hearing it was Mingqian tea, Master said, “Just average.”

After I took a sip, I added, “Master, it is not as good as our tea.”

Even with Yun Xiaobao’s good upbringing, his facial muscles twitched slightly when he heard us master and disciple. He probably thought we were either ignorant bumpkins or people with extremely deep backing.

He might have stubbornly assumed that I, a child, did not understand tea and was just praising what I was used to.

Ma Dudu had taken a sip of tea and could no longer hold back. It looked like he was about to speak, but unexpectedly Old Man Jiang chuckled and said, “You can all take a look at the item. But let me say this first. If you cannot recognize it, then go call Yun Baochun.”

“Is there no need to trouble Brother Baochun?” someone asked.

“Probably no need to invite my father,” Yun Xiaobao also said almost at the same time.

Ma Dudu and Yun Xiaobao spoke almost in unison. Old Man Jiang said nothing more, casually reached into his chest, took out a piece of jade, and tossed it onto the table.

At the same moment the jade landed, all three pairs of eyes on the table locked onto it. Less than a minute later, their expressions became strange. Especially Cao Er, whose mouth formed a perfect O, showing extreme shock.

Cao Er did not dare speak. Instead, Ma Dudu picked up the jade and examined it carefully for a long time. The more he looked, the stranger his expression became. In the end, he even showed faint anger.

He looked at Old Man Jiang and said, “The material of this jade is decent, but nothing exceptional. It is mutton fat white jade, newly formed material, not more than fifty years old. It is not ancient jade at all. The only good thing is the wateriness, which is surprisingly fine. It must have been handled by someone skilled in jade appreciation to achieve such warmth and polish. But… but…”

Old Man Jiang smiled faintly and said, “Stop the buts. I carved it.”

Indeed. When he said that, even I felt a bit embarrassed.

The jade was carved into a jade plaque, irregular in shape. One side had a crooked character for fortune, and the other side had a poorly drawn chubby child. It looked like a stick figure. The original idea was the child holding a fish, but on this piece it was holding something like a potato instead. I had asked Master before what it was, and he said he originally wanted to carve a fish, but it was too detailed, so he just roughly shaped it like this.

“Wasting jade, this is simply wasting jade…” Ma Dudu slapped the jade back onto the table angrily. He did not seem to care only about money. He was genuinely someone who loved jade. Probably because Old Man Jiang had been too mysterious earlier and his background was unclear, he had restrained himself.

I thought to myself, if he knew my master once wanted to carve hot pot on jade because he felt like eating hot pot, or carved lamb hotpot on another piece, he would probably lose his mind. At least this one still had a lucky fortune character on it.

Yun Xiaobao also looked confused, but still picked up the jade and asked, “Has Master Ma finished looking at it?”

“Of course I have. Do I need to tell you?” Ma Dudu snorted.

After getting his confirmation, Yun Xiaobao examined the jade carefully. Seeing the childish carving style, he could not help frowning. He looked at it much longer than Ma Dudu did.

After about ten minutes, he gently placed the jade down and said with confusion, “It is clearly ordinary mutton fat white jade, but it gives an unusually spiritual feeling. The luster makes people reluctant to let go. It must have been handled by some expert jade player. But all of this is vague. After all, jade itself is priceless. Even an ordinary piece, if it meets a true master, can become warm and beautiful. Then in that person’s eyes it becomes priceless. Sir, are you trying to tell us this? Are you a jade expert?”

“I thought you could see something. Turns out your view is the same as mine,” Ma Dudu said angrily again.

But Old Man Jiang was not having it. He said, “Nonsense about jade. You think jade is something that is ‘nurtured’. You do not understand. Go call Yun Baochun.”

His tone was extremely rude.

After seeing the jade, Yun Xiaobao became even more uncertain whether this old man was just pretending to be mysterious or actually causing trouble. But he still controlled his temper and said, “This jade is basically like this. I am confident I did not misjudge it. There is no need to invite my father. If this gentleman is short on travel expenses or something, I can help a little. After all, everyone in Jianghu has difficulties sometimes.”

“Ha, no wonder you cannot recognize it. If I were willing to sell this jade, even your grandfather Yun Fengzi would fight to get it. Go call your father. Just tell him one sentence: Old Li’s disciple has come.”

Yun Xiaobao’s expression suddenly changed.

His father’s reputation was well known, but by his generation, after ten turbulent years, not many people knew about his late grandfather, Yun Jiajin, let alone the nickname Yun Fengzi.

Yun Fengzi, crazy for jade. And his grandfather’s earlier identity was not something that could be spoken openly. In Sichuan terms, he was involved in underground grave digging work.

After a long silence, Yun Xiaobao finally spoke and sent someone to fetch his father, delivering the message exactly as instructed.

The tea waiter left quickly, and the atmosphere in the room became heavy.

Yun Xiaobao turned to Ma Dudu. “Aren’t you leaving? Haven’t you already seen the jade?”

“I am not leaving. It is rare for Brother Baochun to personally appear. I must see this to the end.”