Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's shout, the white lion barely opened its eyes, letting out a whimpering sound before quickly closing them again, its breath growing weak.
Upon seeing that the white lion was still alive, a surge of joy welled up in Zhuang Rui's heart. He struggled to pull his body out from under the white lion and hugged it tightly, ignoring the continuous explosions around him. His spiritual energy rushed into the white lion's body like a madman.
From a puppy slightly smaller than the palm of his hand, Zhuang Rui and the white lion have grown to be like family. At this moment, Zhuang Rui no longer cares about hiding the spiritual energy in his eyes. As long as the white lion can live, he is willing to lose the ability to generate spiritual energy in his eyes.
Chen Zhi looked at the man and dog on the verge of exploding and said to his men, "Pull them away..."
Immediately, four or five people stepped forward and carried Zhuang Rui and Bai Shi into the courtyard. They didn't know if Zhuang Rui was injured, so they had to carry him in as well. Zhuang Rui only had eyes for Bai Shi and had no time to care about anything else.
The reason why White Lion's injuries were so severe was not due to the gunshot wound, but rather because the shockwave from the explosion damaged White Lion's internal organs. However, under the nourishment of the spiritual energy that Zhuang Rui poured in, the injured parts of White Lion were gradually recovering.
"Bring me a pair of needle-nose pliers..."
Zhuang Rui stroked the white lion's scorched fur with heartache, and called out without even raising his head.
"Youngest brother, what do you need the pliers for?"
What happened in those few minutes was simply too unbelievable. It wasn't until Zhuang Rui's voice rang out that the guests in the courtyard seemed to wake from a dream. The third brother, Liu Changfa, hugged his wife and whispered words of comfort.
The two happiest people at this moment were none other than the drunken Wei Ge and Lao Si. The earth-shattering explosion couldn't wake them up; they were still rhythmically snoring under the table.
"Do you have it or not? Go get it now!"
Zhuang Rui yelled impatiently, startling the third brother. He didn't even bother to comfort his wife in his arms and rushed into the house to search.
Chen Zhi came into the courtyard, squatted down, and said somewhat apologetically to Zhuang Rui, "Mr. Zhuang, well, I'm really sorry..."
"It's our fault for not doing well; we haven't trained enough. The responsibility lies with us..."
The local police's criminal investigation team also arrived. The person who fired the shot was his subordinate. The first shot missed the target, but the subsequent shot, after hitting the target, triggered an explosion. For a sniper, this is an unforgivable mistake. Regardless of the outcome, that sniper will never be allowed to take on this mission again.
"Get out, all of you, get out of here..."
Zhuang Rui shouted hysterically as spiritual energy was continuously channeled into the white lion's body, but the white lion's eyes never opened again. Zhuang Rui was afraid, afraid of losing the white lion, which would be unbearable for him.
Since the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes turned purple, he had never been so depleted as he was today. The long-lost stinging sensation returned, and he also felt somewhat dizzy. However, this was not caused by a lack of spiritual energy, but rather by a cut on the back of his head from the glass that had been bleeding.
"Call someone to bandage him up."
Chen Zhi also noticed the wound on the back of Zhuang Rui's head. He gave an instruction to the people around him, saying that although the matter was not resolved perfectly, it was fortunate that no civilians were injured, which was a blessing in disguise. As for the loyal Tibetan mastiff that saved its master, it was overlooked by everyone.
"Youngest brother, here you go. It's your third brother who's wronged you."
The third brother found the pliers and handed them to Zhuang Rui. This happened at his wedding and almost cost Zhuang Rui his life. The third brother blamed himself for everything.
"Third brother, this is none of your business. Go and comfort your wife."
Zhuang Rui gave a forced reply, but did not look up, for fear of interrupting the flow of spiritual energy into his eyes.
A special police officer came over with bandages and was about to bandage Zhuang Rui's injured head when Zhuang Rui snatched the bandages away.
While examining the white lion's wound, Zhuang Rui discovered the bullet lodged in the lion's forelimb, but the bone was not broken. Zhuang Rui was also careful not to use spiritual energy to heal the wound, because that would make it impossible to remove the bullet.
The 9mm bullet was indeed powerful, almost blasting a bloody hole in the white lion's shoulder. Zhuang Rui inserted pliers into the wound and removed the bullet stuck in the bone. The white lion's body trembled violently. It opened its eyes, saw Zhuang Rui, and then wearily closed them again.
Zhuang Rui threw the pliers and bullets on the ground and hurriedly wrapped the gauze around the white lion's wound. He then used his spiritual energy to heal the wound. Only after seeing the wound slowly close up did Zhuang Rui feel relieved. The white lion's life could be considered saved.
Exhausted, Zhuang Rui plopped down on the ground. His eyes were stinging from overusing his spiritual energy, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He could only close his eyes and wait for his spiritual energy to recover on its own.
Suddenly, Zhuang Rui felt the white lion in his arms move. He quickly opened his eyes and found the white lion looking at him. Its big eyes showed gratitude, affection, and reluctance. He gently stroked the white lion's head and felt a touch of emotion. He hugged the white lion tightly.
"What? One escaped? Issue an arrest warrant immediately, nationwide. Police in all provinces are requested to cooperate in the manhunt."
Upon hearing that Yu Laoba had not been found in the village, Chen Zhi's expression immediately turned grim. After interrogating Yu Laosan and Yu Laoqi, he knew that apart from Yu Laoda, who had been killed on the spot, only Yu Laoba, who had escaped, possessed all the information about this tomb raiding gang.
Because it was always Yu Laoba who went down into the tombs to retrieve the burial goods over the years, he knew the quantity and whereabouts of these items best. If Yu Laoba managed to escape, the case would be handled in a very anticlimactic way.
After entering Liujiazhuang, Yu Laoba immediately stole a child's clothes, changed into them, and then, under the cover of night, boarded a carriage that was leaving Liujiazhuang.
Just as the explosion rang out, three or four miles away from Liujiazhuang, Yu Laoba, sitting at the back of a carriage, revealed a sinister look on his face. He knew that his elder brother had fallen here, and he had nowhere to go in the country.
Yu Laoba didn't smuggle himself from Guangdong to Hong Kong. Instead, he went to the China-Myanmar border, crossed the border illegally, and then managed to get to Thailand. After contacting his supplier in Hong Kong, he reopened a new route for smuggling cultural relics within China. Of course, that's a story for another time. ...
The white lion was seriously injured this time. Even with Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy to soothe and heal it, it was still two days before it could walk again. However, to others, it already seemed like a miracle.
The excavation of Emperor Wenzong's tomb went very smoothly. According to Professor Meng's preliminary exploration, it was determined that Emperor Wenzong's tomb is the best-preserved imperial tomb of the Tang Dynasty since the joint tomb of Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Gaozong.
In just two days, more than a thousand burial objects have been retrieved from the tomb, including more than twenty national first-class cultural relics. This is only what was obtained from the first two burial pits. The harvest in the main tomb chamber of Emperor Wenzong is expected to be even greater.
However, these cleanup tasks weren't really Zhuang Rui's concern, and he wasn't focused on them right now. Besides, no matter how many treasures were inside, they weren't his, especially after what had happened. Zhuang Rui was starting to have some thoughts about whether or not to pursue a master's degree in archaeology.
However, when he was on the phone with Uncle De, he was scolded by Uncle De. According to Uncle De, tomb raiders always avoid archaeological teams. Such a thing is almost a once-in-a-century occurrence. Besides, he sent Zhuang Rui to school to systematically learn about the customs and social structures of past dynasties, not to learn how to excavate in the field.
Thinking about it, that made sense, so Zhuang Rui gave up his idea.
However, given Bai Shi's current condition, he definitely wouldn't be able to attend the International Tibetan Mastiff Exchange Conference in Shanxi. He called Liu Chuan and told him about it, which scared Liu Chuan so much that he almost immediately sent Zhou Rui over. Zhuang Rui then told him not to tell his family, as this matter was already worrying enough, and he didn't want any more people to worry about him.
On the third day of his stay in Liujiazhuang, Zhuang Rui prepared to return to Pengcheng. Yesterday, he asked Wei Ge to go to Xi'an to buy him a car, a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Zhuang Rui was quite familiar with this model and was already quite comfortable driving it.
As for the totaled car, the insurance company will handle it. Moreover, after pressure from the local public security department, the compensation has been received. Some friends said, "This is not a traffic accident, so the insurance company will not care. What a joke! The whole car was burned to a skeleton. Isn't this an accident?"
After saying goodbye to Professor Meng and Lao San, Zhuang Rui drove back. However, since the new car hadn't been broken in, he didn't drive very fast and it took him two days to get home. In total, he had been away for ten days, but for Zhuang Rui, it felt like ten years, because he had once again experienced a life-or-death ordeal.
Upon returning to his new home, Zhuang Rui discovered that the once empty villa had been completely renovated, and the white lion, who had seemed somewhat sickly, had become more energetic.
Having likely faced death again, Zhuang Rui wasn't in a good mood after returning home. He didn't inform his family that he was back and slept all day. If Zhuang Min hadn't come to tidy up the room, they probably wouldn't have known that Zhuang Rui was back.
Knowing that Zhuang Rui had returned home, Zhao Guodong picked up Zhuang's mother and rushed to the villa that evening. He also bought a lot of groceries to celebrate the first meal in their new home. The once quiet villa became lively, filled with Nannan's laughter.
"Uncle, is White Lion sick? He won't play with me today."
Nannan blinked her big eyes and looked at Zhuang Rui, asking, "Usually when I hug the white lion, it always holds its head high and acts all haughty. But today, the white lion actually obediently lay down, which makes the little one very uncomfortable."
"What? You went to tease the white lion again?"
Zhuang Rui was startled upon hearing this and quickly picked up the little one and put her on his lap. He said seriously, "The white lion is sick. Don't bother it, little girl. We'll play with it when it gets better, okay?"
"Okay, I'll go feed the White Lion White Rabbit Milk Candy. Mom said that eating White Rabbit will make you feel better when you're sick."
The little guy, who usually wouldn't share the candy in his pocket, suddenly changed his ways today when he heard that the white lion was sick.
Looking at his adorable niece and his smiling mother serving him food, Zhuang Rui felt much of the gloom in his heart dissipate, and a gentle warmth rose within him. Family is always the best haven for healing wounds.
It was clear that Zhuang Rui had something on his mind. After having dinner early, Zhuang's mother decided to stay overnight. Such a big house would feel a bit lonely with only one person.
After clearing away the dishes, Zhuang's mother, daughter, and granddaughter watched TV in the living room, while Zhuang Rui took the white lion for a leisurely stroll around the pond. Zhuang Rui discovered that the spiritual energy's therapeutic effect on the internal organs didn't seem to be very good; now, the white lion would become breathless if it ran even a little faster.
Walking over to a wicker chair, Zhuang Rui saw Zhao Guodong sitting there smoking. He joked, "Brother-in-law, what's wrong? Got kicked out for smoking?"
Zhao Guodong tossed Zhuang Rui a cigarette and said, "Xiao Rui, you don't seem very happy today. By the way, the small stone cutting machine you ordered has arrived. Since you weren't home, I left it at the repair shop's warehouse."
Zhao Guodong is a car mechanic. The first thing he noticed when he arrived was that Zhuang Rui's car, which didn't have license plates yet, wasn't the same one as before. Something must have happened on this trip. However, Zhuang Rui has always been very opinionated and wouldn't say anything, so no one could get it out of him.
Zhuang Rui smiled bitterly to himself upon hearing this. This trip to Shaanxi had yielded nothing and he had almost lost his life. How could he be happy? However, when he heard his brother-in-law say that the stone cutting machine had arrived, Zhuang Rui's eyes lit up.
Before going to Shaanxi, Zhuang Rui asked Zhao Guodong to order a set of stone-cutting tools. He did not hide the fact that he had made over 100 million yuan in gambling on stones in Guangdong from his family. Even the piece of red jadeite he brought back was studied by Zhao Guodong for a long time. He almost made the same mistake as Zhuang Rui did back then, picking up a hammer and trying to crack it open.
How much did the items cost?
Zhuang Rui asked casually.
"The stone cutting machine cost 42,000 yuan. It was made in Xiamen. I also bought three different models of grinding machines, which cost a total of 45,000 yuan. You gave me 50,000 yuan, and I still have a little left. Here, the invoice and the money are all here."
As the saying goes, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. Zhao Guodong came today to return the remaining payment for the stone cutting machine to Zhuang Rui. He is a man of principle and doesn't think that just because Zhuang Rui has become a billionaire, he can swallow this money and refuse to pay it back.
"Brother-in-law, take this and buy some toys for Nannan. I, as her uncle, have never bought her anything."
Zhuang Rui took the invoice and tossed the five thousand yuan to Zhao Guodong. He admired this quality in his brother-in-law the most: regardless of wealth or poverty, he always adhered to his principles. In today's society, there are very few people who can do this.
Chapter 253 Stone Cutting
The next morning, Zhao Guodong didn't go back to the repair shop. Instead, he called his apprentice and asked him to send the stone-cutting tools to the resort. He wanted to stay and see how an ordinary-looking stone could be cut into a piece of jade worth hundreds of millions.
Zhuang Rui's attitude towards this was indifferent. He had already gambled away hundreds of millions of yuan worth of jadeite, so winning on this rough stone was nothing. He thought, "I'm just lucky. Let people think what they want. The more you try to hide these things, the more people will speculate. On the contrary, if you're open and honest, people will think you're just lucky."
There was some trouble when they entered the gate. The dutiful security guards did not allow the delivery pickup truck to enter. It was only after Zhuang Rui went out to negotiate that the pickup truck driven by Zhao Guodong's apprentice was able to park next to the villa's garage.
"How about it, Xiao Rui? This stone cutter was brought over from Nanjing by someone. You can't buy it in Pengcheng at all."
After the three men worked together to unload the stone cutter from the pickup truck, Zhao Guodong handed the instruction manual to Zhuang Rui.
"Brother-in-law, this is good, but..."
Looking at the stone-cutting machine in front of him, Zhuang Rui smiled wryly.
The stone cutting machine that Zhao Guodong bought was actually for cutting slabs. It was quite advanced, fully automatic, with a single-arm cantilever structure. In particular, the spindle box component used a pair of helical gears for two-stage speed change, and it also had the ability to achieve fully automatic cutting by computer remote control according to the preset cutting depth.
However, the gears of this type of stone cutter are inside the single arm, and the stone is pushed in by the conveyor belt for cutting. For those who gamble on stones, there is no way to observe the cut. Although this type of stone cutter is convenient to operate and saves time and effort, no one in the stone gambling circle uses it.
Zhuang Rui was quite satisfied with the three grinding machines, each about the thickness of an arm. The largest one could be fitted with both alloy saw teeth and diamond gears, making it almost equivalent to a small stone cutter.
Zhao Guodong noticed that Zhuang Rui's expression wasn't good when he looked at the stone cutter, and asked, "Xiao Rui, is this thing not working well?"
"It's okay, it works, but it's a bit of a hassle."
Since he had already bought it, Zhuang Rui was too lazy to bother with returning it. This kind of stone-cutting machine was completely unusable for experts in gambling on rough stones, but it didn't affect Zhuang Rui much. He could see the jade inside the rough stone, and when cutting it, as long as he adjusted the cutting depth beforehand, it was much less strenuous than a manual stone-cutting machine.
However, this meant that the piece of red jadeite could not be cut in front of Zhao Guodong and the others, otherwise Zhao Guodong would definitely question the accuracy of its cut surface after it was cut open.
“Brother-in-law, the stone cutting machine we used before wasn’t this model. I’ll think about it some more. Let’s cut these rough stones open first.”
Zhuang Rui made an excuse not to touch the red jadeite rough stone on the ground, but instead took out the black jadeite rough stone from the Ma Meng factory that he had bought from Yang Hao's stall.
Of these pieces, only two contain green. One is the glassy imperial green jadeite, and the other contains a hibiscus-type jadeite slightly larger than a thumbnail. The base color is good, almost reaching a bright green, and it can be polished into a small cabochon. Its value is around 70,000 to 80,000 yuan. As for the other pieces, Zhuang Rui bought them to match, fearing that Yang Hao would suspect something.
"Xiao Rui, did the jade really come from here?"
Not only was Zhao Guodong full of doubt, but his apprentice also picked up a fist-sized piece of hemp material, examining it over and over, his face clearly showing disbelief.
No wonder Zhao Guodong and the others didn't believe it. When Zhuang Rui first saw this kind of rough stone from the Ma Meng factory, he almost threw it away. He grabbed the piece of rough stone containing imperial green and said with a smile, "Hehe, brother-in-law, this stuff is cheap, only a few hundred yuan each. You should all pick one and cut it, have a go at it."
Zhuang Rui dared not let them cut that piece of imperial green jadeite rough. You see, the piece inside, the size of an egg, could be made into at least five cabochons, worth around ten million. The process of cutting the stone could not tolerate the slightest mistake.
"No, Xiao Rui, you should do it yourself. I heard that stuff is really expensive. What if we cut it badly?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Zhao Guodong quickly put down the stone in his hand, as did his apprentice, who did so with great care, making Zhuang Rui chuckle.
"Brother-in-law, that's enough. Don't scare yourself unnecessarily. There aren't that many valuable raw materials. I already said that these few pieces are cheap. I just bought them for everyone to cut and play with."
"real?"
Zhao Guodong was still somewhat incredulous.
"Really, go ahead and cut it..."