Regardless, now that he was in Lugaw City, he needed to start looking for people with strong yin physiques. For all he knew, he needed to wander around places where lots of people gathered. In other words, busy locations like train stations and bustling commercial streets.
With that in mind, he knew that now was a good time as any to begin the search.
From what he could see, Lugaw City was a lively place, and as he was walking around, he saw a few stalls selling small pendants that had once been owned by the sellers’ ancestors. Some of them seemed to be selling what seemed to be radios from back in the 1970s as well.
While looking around, Gerald noticed several people—rather excitedly—gathering around one of the stalls. Following that, he heard a voice saying, “Sir, please! I need the money urgently to treat my sick child! Know that this jade has been passed down by several of my ancestors! Even though my mother passed it down to me, I really have no choice but to sell it! I’m only selling it for eight thousand! Eight thousand, I say!”
Despite the large crowd, Gerald had sharp and precise hearing, allowing him to accurately listen to the voice. Sensing that something wasn’t right, he quickly slipped into the crowd to see what was happening for himself.
“The hell? You’re telling me that this broken piece of jade is worth eight thousand dollars? I’ll have you know that I’ve seen many jade pendants before in my life, so I can easily tell that this is only a fake! How dare you try to cheat me! From the quality of this thing, eight dollars would already be a massive profit for you! Now that you’ve angered me, however, not only am I not going to give you a single cent, but I’m also going to beat you up!” declared the rich young man as he instantly began kicking the seller.
The seller himself was a middle-aged man, and beside him, stood his young daughter.
Not wanting the rich young man to take his jade away, the man instantly knelt, clearly begging for mercy.
From what he had observed, Gerald managed to get the gist of the situation. In short, the man was in desperate need of money to treat his seriously ill daughter. As a result, he was selling the jade pendant that his ancestors had passed down to him for a relatively low price just to get enough to treat his child While a rich young man took a liking to said pendant, he wasn’t willing to cough up the money that the middle-aged man was pricing it at. As if that wasn’t enough, the rich youth was even threatening him so that he could just take the pendant by force! With all that happening, the old man really didn’t have any other choice but to kneel and beg for mercy while holding onto the rich youth’s trousers.
“Hey now, didn’t you hear what my husband just said? He’s an expert when it comes to appraising jades, you know? Since he’s already confirmed that you’re trying to sell a fake for such a high price, you should be glad that we’re letting you off easy by not calling the cops! Now let go of him already!” shouted a woman with heavy makeup on—who had been standing by her husband’s side this entire time—as she began striking at the middle-aged man’s face with the sharp corners of her LV handbag.
“I’m telling you that that jade pendant is worth at least fifteen thousand dollars! I’m only selling it at this low a price because I have no other options! If you’re unwilling to buy it at that price, then please return it to me already! I’m not selling it anymore!” cried out the man as he continued begging.
“Oh? You’re not selling it anymore, you say? Do remember that you’ve already taken my fifty dollars earlier and the jade pendant is now in my hands! That means that our transaction has already been completed! If you want to buy it off me again, then you’ll first have to pay me thirty thousand dollars!” declared the youth’s girlfriend in a cold tone as she held onto the jade pendant.
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