I lent my brother 500 yuan, and he offered his wife as collateral.

……

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The grinding wheel spun rapidly, and amidst the ear-piercing friction sound, stone chips flew everywhere.

Zhang Qiang stood to the side, arms crossed, a mocking look on his face: "Grind! Grind harder! If you can grind a fart out of this broken stone, I'll eat this grinder right here and now!"

Most of the onlookers shared the same sentiment, craning their necks to see the poor boy make a fool of himself.

In the antique trade, "gambling on stones" is the most exciting, but it also requires the best eye.

Anyone like Qin Feng, who tries to rub against a dark, unremarkable "asphalt stone," is either out of their mind or obsessed with money.

Qin Feng was focused, completely blocking out the noise from the outside world.

He could already "see" the thickness of the outer shell.

Three millimeters.

All that's needed is to grind away these three millimeters of asphalt and impurities...

"Sizzle—"

Qin Feng flicked his wrist slightly, and the layer of dark, dead skin peeled off.

A warm, rich orange-yellow light was revealed!

"The fog has come out!"

In the crowd, a sharp-eyed old man suddenly shouted.

"Holy crap! This color...it's such a perfect yellow!"

Those who were just laughing at Qin Feng had their smiles frozen on their faces, their necks involuntarily craning forward, and their eyes widening in disbelief.

Qin Feng did not stop.

He picked up the water pipe next to him and rinsed off the stone dust on the surface.

That touch of yellow was fully revealed—a rich, golden hue, a translucent, jelly-like texture, with faint, delicate radish veins visible inside.

"Tianhuang! This is Tianhuang!"

The knowledgeable old man was so excited his beard was trembling. "This color...it's Tianhuang jade! Top-grade! And such a big piece, at least fifty grams!"

"What? Tianhuang stone? The kind of Tianhuang stone that's worth ten taels of gold for every tael of Tianhuang stone?"

"This isn't a stone, it's a gold nugget!"

The crowd erupted in chaos, the noise nearly lifting the roof off.

All the mockery turned into the sound of swallowing saliva, their eyes greedily fixed on the stone in Qin Feng's hand.

Zhang Qiang's smile also froze on his face.

Although he didn't know much about the industry, he could tell from the reactions of the people around him that Qin Feng... had really hit the jackpot!

Qin Feng turned off the machine, picked up the Tianhuang stone that had revealed its true form, and glanced at Zhang Qiang's stiff face with a playful look.

"Young man, I'll take this stone!" The old man from before was the first to squeeze forward, his eyes shining. "Don't grind it anymore, grinding will cause too much damage! I'll offer you 80,000 right now! Cash on delivery!"

"Eighty thousand? Old Liu, are you taking advantage of this young man because he doesn't know the going rate?"

A middle-aged man in a Tang suit shoved the old man aside, his eyes gleaming with greed: "Young man, sell it to me! This quality, this size, more than enough to make two seals! I'll offer 100,000!"

"120,000! I'll offer 120,000!"

Bidding calls came one after another, and prices soared.

Su Qingxue stood behind Qin Feng, her mouth slightly agape, too shocked to speak.

That freebie stone I bought for fifty yuan is actually worth so much money?

120,000...

This is an astronomical figure that she never dared to even imagine!

Zhang Qiang's eyes were almost bleeding from redness.

120,000!

The tens of thousands of dollars in gambling debts he owes are nothing compared to this 120,000!

If this stone belongs to him...

Greed clouded his judgment.

Zhang Qiang charged forward like a mad dog, shoving aside the man in the Tang suit who was making an offer, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Don't buy! Don't buy any of them! This stone isn't for sale!"

He turned to look at Qin Feng, put on what he thought was a friendly expression, and reached out to snatch the stone from Qin Feng's hand.

"Brother Feng! It had to be you! I knew you had good taste! Come on, here, take this stone, brother. I'll pay you back the five hundred right away. Let's go for a drink and split the money!"

Qin Feng dodged Zhang Qiang's dirty hand by sidestepping.

"Sharing the money?"

Qin Feng looked at Zhang Qiang with the gaze of someone looking at a clown, "What does this stone have to do with you?"

"It's alright!"

Zhang Qiang got agitated, spitting as he spoke, "We grew up wearing the same pants! What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine! Besides, the fifty yuan we spent on the stones, wasn't that leftover money from the loan I gave you before?"

"If I had lent you six hundred back then, would you still have the money to buy the stone? So, this has to be considered my principal!"

Shameless.

The onlookers couldn't stand it anymore and frowned, spitting out their contempt.

But these days, shamelessness knows no bounds.

But Zhang Qiang didn't care about what others thought at all.

"Qin Feng, don't push your luck! If I hadn't mortgaged my wife to you, would you have this kind of luck?" Seeing that Qin Feng didn't speak, Zhang Qiang immediately revealed his menacing side, rolled up his sleeves, and pressed forward. "Give me the stone! Otherwise, you're not leaving this antique market today!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Qin Feng's collar.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap echoed throughout the room.

Zhang Qiang was spun halfway around by the slap, covering his face, completely stunned.

"This slap was for Qingxue."

Qin Feng shook his hand.

Before Zhang Qiang could even react...

"Snapped!"

Qin Feng slapped him hard across the face again!

Zhang Qiang's other cheek also swelled up quickly, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"This slap was for myself."

Qin Feng pulled out the crumpled "Debt Offset Agreement" from his pocket and threw it directly at Zhang Qiang's face.

"Want a share of the money?"

Qin Feng stepped forward, forcing Zhang Qiang to retreat repeatedly. "You dare to challenge me?"

"Good! Well done!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, followed by a thunderous roar of cheers.

"This kind of scum deserves to be beaten!"

"Selling his wife to pay off debts, and now that he's made a fortune, he's trying to rob us. What kind of trash is he? Bah!"

Zhang Qiang's face turned a deep shade of liver, filled with both shame and anger.

He wanted to fight back, but seeing Qin Feng's murderous gaze and the unfriendly looks from those around him, his inherent tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong made him back down.

"Qin Feng! You think you're so great? Just you wait!"

Zhang Qiang covered his face and glared maliciously at Su Qingxue, "And you, you jinx, just you wait and see..."

"You dare touch her and see what happens."

Qin Feng brandished the stone in his hand. "I can easily hire someone to cripple your leg with just a little money, you believe me?"

Zhang Qiang shuddered.

The ruthlessness Qin Feng exuded now filled him with an unprecedented fear.

"We'll see!"

Zhang Qiang threw out a polite remark, then slunk away from the crowd.

Qin Feng turned around and looked at the middle-aged man in the Tang suit, his face regaining its composure.

"120,000, this piece of Tianhuang stone is yours."

"Great!" The man in the Tang suit didn't hesitate either, immediately pulling out his phone. "Transfer the money!"

"Alipay payment received, 120,000 yuan."

A pleasant sound rang out.

Looking at the extra string of zeros on his phone, Qin Feng let out a long sigh.

Become!

He turned around and pulled up Su Qingxue, who was still in a daze, his tone softening: "Come on, I'll take you to get a good meal."

Su Qingxue stared blankly at Qin Feng's figure, the warmth from his palm making her feel somewhat dazed.

The scene of Qin Feng standing in front of her and slapping Zhang Qiang was deeply etched in her mind.

No one has ever protected her like this before.

……

Stepping out of the antique market, the bustling atmosphere of the city hits you.

[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully snagged their first bargain. System experience points +10, treasure value +10.]

Qin Feng turned his head to look at the dark red birthmark on Su Qingxue's face.

A line of small print appeared.

[Note: Removing the toxins from Su Qingxue's face requires 100 points of Treasure Energy. Current Treasure Energy: 10 (Source: Tianhuang Stone).]

Qin Feng narrowed his eyes.

90 points short?

That means there are still nine more opportunities to find treasures like Tianhuang stone.

or……

Finding a great bargain?!