I Spy With My Secret Eyes

Chapter 5

Hailey sobbed sorrowfully.

Oliver handed over a tissue to Hailey and she took it to wipe away her tears. With swollen, red eyes, she asked him, “Tell me! What did I do to offend Samuel, Tiffany, and Ariana? Why did they lie to me and trick me?”

Oliver sighed and replied after a while. “Who knows? People’s hearts are hard to read. I need money to save my father, who’s in the hospital. I went to borrow money from relatives. My aunt said she would give me some pin money, another uncle gave me 100 dollars, and my youngest uncle… forget borrowing money from him. He hasn’t even returned the 2,000 dollars he borrowed from us!”

“You need money? I…”

The thought that came to Hailey’s mind was to write him a check right away, but in an instant, she remembered the lessons Samuel, Tiffany, and Ariana had given her. Her thought was dismissed immediately.

After pondering for a while, she asked, “Oliver, have you heard of stone gambling?”

Oliver nodded knowingly. “Of course. It’s the art of gambling on raw jadeite, isn’t it? Even with the so- called experience, skill, and keen eye, they only offer a mere 15% certainty. A correct bet can lead to overnight riches, while a wrong one can send you back to square one.”

Hailey turned her head and looked at him. “You seem to know quite a bit. Why haven’t I seen you try it before? Were you hiding your skills? Besides, I think you have good eyes for identifying luxury goods. How about stone gambling?”

After thinking for a moment, Oliver replied, “It’s hard to say. I have to see it to know. Maybe I do know a little.”

Hailey immediately pointed to the intersection. “Well, since you’re in urgent need of money, I’m going to offer you an opportunity to carn some. Willie Cox, the largest jade ware merchant in Jeahron, has just returned with a shipment of raw jadeite from Radford. He invited me over, which is why I set out so early this morning. Originally, I had planned to bring Samuel along, but now I’m giving you a chance. It’s your moment to prove yourself and maximize your earnings. I’ll take care of the bidding expenses, and we’ll split the profits equally. What do you say?”

Oliver agreed without any hesitation. “Okay, Ms. Fox. Thank you very much!”

Hailey replied calmly, “Don’t thank me just yet. Whether you can make money or not is still uncertain.”

Oliver was excited, nevertheless. He said with a grateful and eager expression, “Ms. Fox, no matter what, I’m very grateful to you for your timely help!”

Even though Oliver had acquired a surreal ability out of the blue, it wasn’t easy to come up with a large sum of money all at once. Little did he expect Hailey to present him with such an opportunity to make a big and quick profit!

Hailey couldn’t resist asking him, “Why didn’t you just ask me for money?”

Her question already hinted that she was willing to lend him money. Hailey would have agreed if Oliver had taken the opportunity and asked her for money.

However, Oliver responded with genuine sincerity and said, “Ms. Fox, if I can earn money on my own, why should I resort to borrowing? I have an aversion to borrowing money unless necessary. It can taint many matters. I’ve already learned my lesson after dealing with my relatives yesterday, which only

reaffirmed my reluctance to borrow. I cannot express enough gratitude for the opportunity you’re offering me to earn money!”

Oliver’s words sent a shiver down Hailey’s spine.

This was true. Did she not treat people like Samuel, Tiffany, and Ariana well enough?

Monetary interests could taint one’s relationship.

Hailey sent a few text messages and then made a phone call. “Mr. Ackerman, please help me to prepare a lawsuit against Ariana and Golden Motors. They sold me a Rolls-Royce Dawn that was involved in a water damage incident and passed it off as a new car. The total cost was 1.44 million dollars. The contract I signed for the car includes a clause that guarantees triple damages. I’ll claim 4.32 million dollars!”

Oliver’s heart tightened as he listened. He thought to himself, “Darn it! The more beautiful a woman is, the more brutal she

can be!”

Willie’s factory was located in the eastern suburb of the city and not further in. It had moved there because operating machinery for stone cutting and carving was not allowed in urban areas.

Willie’s factory occupied a large space of nearly three and a third acres. However, a bulk of it was still undeveloped land and surrounded by a wall.

Willie was a legendary figure. He used to be a hooligan who had nothing and remained single in his thirties. It was during a visit to Radford that he discovered the business opportunity of stone gambling.

Willie brought back a batch of scrap that nobody wanted from Radford and organized a raw stone exchange session. It was during that session that an owner of a gold store won a valuable stone.

From a few hundred dollars’ worth of stone, he got some ice jadeite. With the stone, he was able to craft three bracelets and create seven or eight pendants, ultimately raking in more than 600 thousand dollars in earnings.

After that, Willie devoted himself to the business, and over a few years, it flourished on a substantial scale. With each venture, he could make profits of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, Willie himself was well aware of one thing-he never gambled personally. Instead, he focused on profiting from the price differences in auctions.

Once someone started gambling, it would have turned into an insatiable pit they could not escape from. No matter how much they earned, it was never going to be enough to fill the void created by their gambling habits.

As soon as Oliver arrived with the Rolls-Royce Dawn, the staff member immediately rushed over to greet him. No one needed to be reminded that anyone driving a 1.4 million dollar luxury sports car was undoubtedly wealthy and influential.

Willie’s factory was divided into the east zone and the west zone. The east zone housed the area for raw stone auctions, as well as the trading of semi-finished and finished products. The west zone, on the other hand, was dedicated to processes such as cutting, polishing, and carving.

Oliver accompanied Hailey to the east zone, where most of the visitors were gathered.

With her stunning beauty, Hailey immediately became the center of attention. It was easy for her to captivate people’s gazes since beauty had a way of effortlessly drawing attention.

Many people recognized Hailey and approached her to exchange greetings.

The east zone was spacious, spanning at least 10,000 square feet. The auction area for raw stone covered about 5000 to 6000 square feet, with a few thousand square feet occupied by glass display cabinets showcasing semi-finished and finished jadeite items.

As Oliver glanced around, he noticed that the jadeite pieces in the display cabinets were predominantly green or white. With so many cabinets, there must have been at least eight or nine thousand products on display, if not ten thousand products.

When Hailey was finally free from the interactions, she approached Oliver and whispered, “Oliver, go and have a look at the raw stone exhibition area. It’s up to your skills now. As for the bidding price… I’ll give you a maximum limit of 1 million. dollars. It’s up to you to decide.”

“Okay, I understand.” Oliver nodded and made his way to the raw stone exhibition area.

At the raw stone exhibition area, there was a long counter padded with red carpet, and raw stones were displayed on top.

Every piece of raw stone in the area had an accompanying information plaque, detailing its origins and providing essential information about the stone, much like a person’s identity card.

There were at least a few hundred people gathered around the exhibition arca, inspecting and examining the raw stones.

Oliver maneuvered through the crowd until he reached the first showcased raw stone. This time, Willie got Manchernius through Radford and obtained three pieces of old mine materials from Morrowton Pit in an official auction there. These old mine materials were the main attraction of the day.

Nearly two-thirds of the people present were fixated on the three pieces of old mine materials.

Oliver took a glance and saw a stone about the size of a basketball with faint green veins running across its surface.

The accompanying plaque wrote: [Originated from Morrowton Pit. Weight: 90 pounds. Three veins of green on the surface. Evaluation: Extremely excellent.]