I changed the world.

When she saw Zhang Jing walking towards her, her gaze lingered for a moment on Zhang Jing's clothes, which were much cleaner and without any damage than those of the locals. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she walked towards Zhang Jing.

"Sir, would you like some corn?" The girl walked up to Zhang Jing, glanced at him, and then lowered her head to whisper.

Zhang Jing had noticed the girl long ago, and stopped when she walked up to him. However, he was taken aback by her question and subconsciously asked in return, "Corn?"

“Um, corn…” The girl’s Mandarin was heavily accented with the local dialect. She tried her best to pronounce it clearly so that Zhang Jing could understand her. Then, she picked up the bag in her hand, opened it, and showed it to Zhang Jing. Zhang Jing saw that there were some shriveled corn kernels inside, but not many.

Zhang Jing looked at the girl's thin face, which revealed her cheekbones, and her expectant eyes. He paused for a moment, then squatted down and asked gently, "Tell your uncle, have you encountered any difficulties? Why are you out selling corn?"

Perhaps it was the gentleness in Zhang Jing's tone that touched the little girl's sensitive nerves. She stared at Zhang Jing blankly for a moment, and suddenly, tears streamed down her face: "Mommy... Mommy is sick... I want to buy medicine... but... but we don't have any money. All we have at home is this corn..."

With a sigh inwardly, Zhang Jing thought for a moment, took out his wallet, rummaged through it, took out three hundred-yuan bills, folded them in half, and placed them in the little girl's hand, while staring into her eyes: "Take this, but be careful not to let anyone see it."

Zhang Jing spoke slowly so that the little girl could hear him clearly. Then he took out all the loose change, without counting it, and put it all in the little girl's hand: "Use this first, don't take it all out at once, don't let bad people see it."

"Did you understand what your uncle said?"

"Yes!" The little girl held the money, looked at Zhang Jing, and nodded vigorously. Then, she handed over the bag of corn.

Zhang Jing accepted the corn without hesitation, then reached out and patted her head: "You're a wonderful child. Remember, difficulties always pass, and everything will be alright."

"Ok!"

"Alright, go ahead... Remember, don't let anyone see your money." Zhang Jing stood up and reminded him again.

"Yes!" The girl nodded vigorously, then turned and left. After running two steps, she stopped, turned around, and bowed almost 90 degrees to Zhang Jing: "You are a good person, Uncle!"

Was this... being friend-zoned? Zhang Jing watched the girl's departing figure, his heart heavy. But that was all he could do; after all, similar situations were quite common in the world, especially in underdeveloped areas like this.

Zhang Jing stuffed the bag of corn into his backpack and continued forward. He soon found a shop selling naan and roasted meat, bought some grilled naan and roasted meat, and ate it with a bowl of yogurt. After eating and drinking his fill, he continued towards the Grand Bazaar.

When Zhang Jing arrived at the Yutian Jade Bazaar, the bazaar was already quite lively, with many merchants stopping in front of the stalls and asking about prices from time to time.

The Grand Bazaar originated spontaneously. Later, as it grew in size, the local government built an indoor trading market for easier management and tax collection. However, many small merchants and local farmers with jade still preferred to set up their stalls outside. This was because outdoor stalls were rented on a daily basis and could be set up whenever needed, unlike indoor stalls which were rented annually and were mostly occupied by more established merchants.

Zhang Jing mingled in the crowd, looking at each stall one by one, occasionally stopping to listen to the bargaining between buyers and sellers, which allowed him to better understand the approximate prices of jade in the market.

The stalls mainly sold raw stones; as I walked around, each stall was filled with raw stones of various sizes and shapes.

Generally speaking, Khotan jade has two main varieties: mountain jade and pebble jade. Mountain jade refers to jade directly mined from jade mines, hence the name. Mountain jade typically presents as irregularly shaped, angular blocks, and is generally quite large. Pebble jade, on the other hand, refers to jade that has separated from the mine due to weathering and erosion, rolling into the Baiyu River at the foot of the mountain, where it is washed by the river and sloshed along the riverbed, eventually forming a weathered outer layer. Pebble jade is mainly obtained by digging or scavenging in the riverbed. Due to the soaring price of jade, the pebbles in the riverbed have already been thoroughly searched by locals.

Because the river washes and tumbles the jade, stripping away the loose parts and leaving only the densest ones, generally speaking, when comparing jade of the same type, pebble jade is of higher quality than mountain jade in terms of density and luster, and its price is naturally higher.

For Zhang Jing, mountain jade generally has visible stone inside, so the gamble is minimal, and there's little chance of finding a bargain, which he doesn't consider. Pebble jade, on the other hand, is generally rounded and weathered due to long-term exposure to wind, sun, and water. However, the skin of nephrite is unlike that of jadeite; jadeite has a thick skin that makes it almost impossible to see inside. Most pebble jade, even with a skin, has a thin skin, and an experienced person can easily judge its quality by looking through it. However, there are some special types, such as black skin and sugar skin. These types have deep, thick skins, making it difficult to see the internal color of the jade, requiring experience to determine its quality. Zhang Jing mainly wants to find this type of jade. Because it's invisible to the naked eye, his secret techniques will come in handy.

After looking at more than a dozen stalls without finding a suitable jade material, Zhang Jing was not in a hurry and continued to look at each stall one by one. Finally, at one stall, he saw an oval jade material about the size of a fist. He used his secret technique to observe it, and a white and bright halo shone from the center of the jade material.

Zhang Jing immediately withdrew his secret technique, and with the help of his sunglasses, no one could notice his unusual behavior. He then squatted down, pointed to the jade piece, and asked the stall owner, "How much is this?"

The stall owner was a local farmer dressed in a straw hat to shield his eyes from the sun. He had dark skin. When Zhang Jing asked him a question, he held up one finger and said, "Good stuff, 10000 yuan."

“Your skin is too thick, I can’t see the flesh. I’ll offer 3000 yuan, and I’ll take it if you agree.” Zhang Jing said, while picking up other jade stones on his stall and looking at them, pretending not to care.

The stall owner clearly knew that his jade was a gamble, and besides, that's how transactions are here, with a lot of room for bargaining. After thinking for a moment, he held up five fingers: "5000, you can take it."

After a brief standoff, the two parties eventually compromised and agreed on a price of 4000 yuan.

After asking the stall owner if he could pay by mobile phone, Zhang Jing transferred 4000 yuan to him, thus earning his first prize of the day.

Zhang Jing put the jade into his backpack and continued walking forward.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhang Jing acquired a piece of black jade weighing three kilograms from an old man's stall. He spent 1 yuan to get this piece.

Continuing forward, by the time Zhang Jing had roughly looked through the open-air stalls, it was already past noon. Zhang Jing's backpack was bulging. In just one morning, he had collected a total of 9 pieces of jade, the smallest of which was about the size of an egg, while the largest was a 3-kilogram piece of black jade.

These jade materials cost him a total of 49000 yuan.

During this time, Zhang Jing also saw many different kinds of counterfeit goods, including dyed, burned, acid-etched, etc. However, all these counterfeiting methods were exposed under Zhang Jing's True Fire Refining Eyes.

His backpack was almost full, but luckily Zhang Jing had a better idea. He found a secluded and deserted spot, used the jade token to travel back to Lishan Cave Heaven, and then placed all the jade materials inside the cave heaven. Afterward, he returned to the Grand Bazaar with the empty backpack on his back.

The cave can be used as a mobile warehouse for the time being.

Zhang Jing is now basically certain that as long as he is on Earth and is not affected by anything special, he can freely travel between the cave heaven and Earth using the jade tablet. This is based on some kind of anchoring principle, which he can vaguely sense with his divine sense, although he cannot fully understand this technology yet.

Back at the Grand Bazaar, Zhang Jing planned to find a place to eat first. After repeatedly using the secret technique all morning, he felt he needed to replenish his nutrition.

At a barbecue restaurant near the Grand Bazaar, Zhang Jing ordered a whole roasted lamb. The lamb was made from local small sheep, roasted to a golden brown on a huge, constantly rotating iron rack. The owner then made fine cuts in the lamb, sprinkled it with spices, and it was crispy, juicy, and quite delicious. If the wait hadn't been a bit long, Zhang Jing would have even ordered another one.

With some naan bread and mutton soup, Zhang Jing devoured enough food for two or three people before paying and leaving satisfied. He planned to come back for another meal before leaving, since it was hard to find such authentic whole roasted lamb in the south.

In the afternoon, Zhang Jing continued his treasure hunting trip at the Grand Bazaar. Since he had already seen most of the open-air stalls in the morning, he mainly went to the indoor market to find bargains.

Upon entering the indoor trading market, Zhang Jing discovered that the situation here was different from that of Tongbao City in Linzhou. Tongbao City had well-decorated interiors with air conditioning, and its shops were neatly arranged. The interior here was basically undecorated, with simply whitewashed walls and plain cement floors. Vendors had laid carpets on the floor, each carpet serving as a shop. In reality, apart from providing shelter from the wind and rain, it was no different from the open-air shops outside.

However, Zhang Jing still found that, overall, the quality of the raw stones here was indeed at least one grade higher than that of those outdoors.

He even saw several huge pieces of white jade, each weighing over a hundred kilograms, which must have been very valuable. The afternoon's bargain hunting went more smoothly than the morning's. In just fifteen minutes, Zhang Jing bought a large piece of deep jujube-red jade weighing five kilograms, which cost him 20000 yuan.

In addition, he also casually bought a few small, exquisite-looking jade pendants at a shop, intending to give them away later.

Continuing to look ahead, Zhang Jing suddenly noticed a large crowd gathered around a stall in the corner. Nearly ten people were arguing animatedly. Curious, he went over to take a look and found a huge piece of jade with a jujube-red skin mixed with black skin in the very center of the stall. The surface of the jade was smooth and had been handled countless times. Zhang Jing estimated that the jade must weigh no less than 200 jin (100 catties).

“This material isn’t clear material. If it turns out to be mixed colors, you’ll lose a lot of money…” a fat man speaking with perfect Mandarin stroked his beard.

"That's right, boss, why don't you cut it up? If it turns out well, you'll be rich..." someone chimed in.

Clearly, such a large piece of jujube-red jade is very rare, and many people are curious about it.

"No, no..." The boss, dressed like a local businessman with a heavy accent, sat there cross-legged, waving his hand.

"300,000, if you can afford it, I'll take it and gamble it out." An old man who had been squatting nearby pressed his hand against the jade and stared at the shopkeeper.

"At least one million, not a penny less," the jade merchant said stubbornly, shaking his head.

"Your price is too high. This piece of jade is too risky to sell. You'll have a hard time selling it. You have to lower the price a bit."

"Boss, cut it up. Cut it into pieces; it'll sell better that way."

There were quite a few onlookers, especially a few who shouted loudly. Although they kept saying the boss's price was too high, they were reluctant to leave. Zhang Jing carefully examined the jade and roughly understood what they were thinking. The jade had a smooth, oily skin. Although the skin color was extremely dark, completely obscuring the interior, it must be said that jade with this kind of skin, if you're lucky, can yield white jade, or even the highest-grade mutton fat jade. Many of these have a jujube-red skin, as the saying goes, "A pebble with red skin is priceless." While I wouldn't dare say it's mutton fat jade, the possibility of finding white jade in this piece is quite high. Of course, if it's not white jade but a mixed-color jade, then the price will definitely be a loss. If the purity inside is also poor, then it'll be a huge loss…

So the key issue is that the price is too high, the owner is unwilling to lower it, and the jade is too big, so even those who want to take a gamble dare not make a move.

Zhang Jing secretly activated his secret technique and looked at the jade. He then saw that the jade was completely enveloped in white light, which was much stronger than the other stones he had seen before. It even had a faint red glow and showed a light pink color.

Having put away his secret technique, Zhang Jing had already made his judgment. He stepped forward, squatted down, and pointed at the jade, asking, "Boss, how much does this piece of jade weigh? How much is it?"

"230 jin, one million, no bargaining." Seeing another person inquiring about the price, the owner, with a heavy accent, quoted the price without making any sales pitch, giving off an attitude of "take it or leave it."

“Young man, this jade is too risky. If the price is too high and it doesn’t turn out to be white jade, then you’ll lose money…” The old man who had previously quoted 30 sighed. At the same time, he gritted his teeth and quoted again, “50. Boss, if you lower the price a bit, the deal will be done.”

"No way, I won't sell it for even a penny less." The jade merchant, looking like a complete scoundrel, simply shook his head.

Zhang Jing understood that the old man genuinely wanted to buy, which was why he was lingering there, trying to pressure the shop owner to lower the price. His earlier attempt to dissuade him stemmed from the same reason.

However, it must be said that he wasn't wrong; at the current price, one million was indeed a bit too high. Zhang Jing, after a morning of haggling, had gained a general understanding of the jade prices in the area. To be fair, the old man's 50 was a relatively reasonable price.

"You're too stubborn, you won't give in at all..." The old man was clearly a little annoyed.

"If you can't sell it, just leave it. It's a good piece of jade, I won't sell it cheaply!" The jade merchant seemed determined.

"One million? I'll buy it. I'll take the gamble." Zhang Jing pretended to think for a moment, then slapped the stone and gritted his teeth.

“Young man, have you thought this through…” The old man was also taken aback when he heard this, but before he could say anything more, Zhang Jing shook his head and said, “This jade is not bad. I think it’s worth taking a gamble. If I lose, I’ll just consider it tuition.”

His words were so bold that the old man was speechless. If he were to try to persuade him further under these circumstances, it would be against the rules. This place was located on the frontier, and the people were known for their fierce nature. Even among merchants, there were many who dared to draw their knives and attack people directly.

The jade merchant, however, seemed very happy to have sold the jade. He quickly took out his mobile phone and told Zhang Jing that he could pay by mobile phone, cash, or bank transfer.

Because the amount was relatively large, Zhang Jing ultimately used a bank transfer. After the transfer was completed, he waited for a while before the jade merchant announced that the funds had been credited to his account, thus completing the transaction.

The jade merchant stood up happily and extended his palm. Zhang Jing then gave him a high five according to local custom.

Because of the large transaction amount, the commotion was quite significant. A crowd of people gathered around, discussing the matter. Some said it wasn't worth it, while others urged Zhang Jing to cut the stone open and take a look.

Seeing this, Zhang Jing simply laughed and said, "Alright, then I'll cut it open and take a look. Anyone else who's interested can come and take a look too."

At this moment, the jade merchant dragged a small trailer with four omnidirectional wheels from the side. Such trailers are often seen in the Grand Bazaar and are considered public property. Anyone can use them to haul large items, but they cannot be taken out of the Grand Bazaar.

The piece of jade was extremely heavy, and normally one or two people wouldn't be able to lift it. However, upon hearing that Zhang Jing was going to cut the jade on the spot, more and more people gathered around to watch the spectacle. At this moment, several people came up to help and lifted the jade onto the trailer.

Zhang Jing thanked him, pulled the trailer, and headed towards the jade processing shop not far away.

In a large jade distribution center like the Grand Bazaar, there are naturally many jade processing shops.

Unlike jadeite, where almost every piece requires gambling, Yutian jade is less gamble-worthy. Pieces like the one Zhang Jing bought, with its uniform color and color throughout, making it impossible to see the inside, are relatively rare. Therefore, jade processing here mainly focuses on carving, although cutting jade is also an option.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: A Fortune of Tens of Millions

The indoor trading market has four floors. There are about five or six jade processing shops, one or two on each floor. These shops are actually small independent workshops, ranging from about 30 to 50 square meters, with many workstations inside, where a jade craftsman is working with his head down.

Zhang Jing was heading to the nearest shop, which was just a few steps away. The shop owner helped tow the tow truck inside, and then a crowd of onlookers rushed in, filling the small shop to capacity.

The shop owner immediately knew what Zhang Jing was going to do and asked directly, "How do you want it cut? Should I cut it open directly or peel it first?"

"Let's peel off the outer layer first." Zhang Jing pointed to a corner of the jade. "Let's start from here."

“Okay, whatever you say.” The boss brought over a specially made grinding wheel and started working. The skin of Yutian jade is very thin, and with a little polishing, the stone can be seen through the skin. The boss polished the jade back and forth for a while and then stopped the machine. He took a damp cloth and wiped it. People around craned their necks to look, and even Zhang Jing stared intently at the spot that had been wiped.

Then you can see that the stone skin has been rubbed open, with a cut about two fingers wide and the length of a thumb. Right below the stone skin, the pure white and oily jade color, like mutton fat, is revealed to everyone.

With a loud commotion, the crowd erupted in excitement. In that one move, Zhang Jing had made a substantial profit.

"Is this mutton fat jade?! This means we're going to make a fortune!"

"It's hard to say whether it's mutton fat or not, but it's at least level one. This is really a treasure..." Someone squatted down and leaned closer to take a closer look.