But what they didn't know was that although Lu Ming claimed it was intuition, he actually possessed a very strong ability to discern raw stones.
Five years ago, Lu Ming rescued an old man, covered in scars, from a group of fierce bandits. After some treatment, the old man's life was saved.
Later, he learned that the old man was a world-renowned raw stone merchant.
This old man had spent his entire life studying raw stones and possessed an extremely sophisticated skill in discerning them.
To repay the life-saving grace, the old man gave Lu Ming and his comrades many raw stones. The soldiers were happy, but Lu Ming did not accept them.
Lu Ming deeply understood a principle: giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish.
Lu Ming refused the raw stones and instead asked the old man to teach him the skill of discerning raw stones.
The old man agreed.
However, this skill was very difficult to master. The old man himself had spent a lifetime to grasp only seventy to eighty percent of it. Whether one could learn it depended entirely on personal talent.
For the entire following month, Lu Ming fought battles while learning the technique from the old man.
Astonishingly, in just one month, a mere month, Lu Ming completely mastered all of the old man's raw stone discerning techniques.
On one hand, it was due to Lu Ming's outstanding talent. On the other hand, it was also because Lu Ming possessed superb medical skills. The principles of observation, inquiry, and examination could also be applied to raw stones, yielding similar results.
Even the old man marveled at Lu Ming's exceptional talent, calling it rare throughout history!
Since learning this technique, Lu Ming had been invincible. He acquired a large quantity of high-quality raw stones at extremely low prices, turning them into various gemstones.
Now, Lu Ming's private vault still held various top-tier gemstones worth tens of millions.
Those were all earned by Lu Ming using this very skill back then.
However, Lu Ming had been visiting graves in the cemetery for the past few years and hadn't dealt with raw stones for a long time. Seeing so many raw stones today brought back some nostalgic feelings.
His experiences were unknown to others.
Therefore, in the eyes of Xiao Zhan and the others, Lu Ming was simply talking nonsense.
Xu Qin even sneered, "Lu Ming, are you jealous that we're going to make a fortune? You're still the same old you, with a mind smaller than a needle's eye, utterly hopeless."
Lu Ming forced a wry smile and said nothing.
Following this.
Xiao Zhan, using the same method, employed a ring and a detector to assess the quality of raw stones. In the end, he spent 1 million yuan to buy 10 raw stones, averaging 100,000 yuan each.
Seemingly expensive, Xiao Zhan was actually beaming with joy.
These ten raw stones were all 4-5 star quality, each starting at 400,000 yuan! Buying raw stones worth at least 4 million yuan for 1 million yuan was an incredible profit.
Lu Ming, standing nearby, just shook his head and sighed.
During this time, Lu Ming advised Xiao Zhan multiple times, but Xiao Zhan simply wouldn't listen.
Jiang Mengxin and Xu Qin also rolled their eyes.
In the end, they even told Lu Ming to get lost, not to disturb their raw stone purchases. Helpless, Lu Ming quietly moved to the side by himself.
He watched with a heavy heart as Xiao Zhan wasted his money.
"Alas..." Lu Ming shook his head, unsure of what else to say.
Just then, a little girl approached Lu Ming, tugged at his sleeve, and said, "Uncle, would you like to buy a bouquet of flowers?"
Hmm?
Lu Ming looked down and saw a little girl, who looked no more than five or six years old, holding a large bouquet of fresh flowers and trying to sell them to him.
The little girl's eyes were clear, innocent, and adorable.
However, her face was alarmingly pale, clearly indicating long-term malnutrition that had weakened her body.
Lu Ming thought to himself: She must be from a poor family.
As he was contemplating, he heard an aunt from the shop next door say, "What a pitiful child. Her mother died six months ago, and her father is critically ill and bedridden. The family's income has completely stopped, and they probably can't even afford to eat. She comes to sell flowers every day, just to earn a few coins. To experience such suffering at such a young age, it makes my heart ache just thinking about it."
The aunt took out 100 yuan from her pocket, walked over, and stuffed it into the little girl's hand, saying, "Sweetheart, Auntie is buying all your flowers today."
The little girl's face lit up with joy, "Thank you, Auntie."
She handed all the flowers to the aunt and happily ran out.
There are still many good people in the world.
However... 100 yuan is just a temporary fix; it won't solve the little girl's family's livelihood problems, nor will it cure her father's illness.
How many days can 100 yuan last them?
The little girl and her father would still live a hard life, and might even be trafficked.
"Little sister," Lu Ming called out.
The little girl stopped and looked at Lu Ming blankly, saying, "I'm sorry, Uncle, I've sold all the flowers. If you still want some, I'll come back tomorrow to sell them to you."
Lu Ming chuckled softly and said, "Is your father ill?"
The little girl nodded heavily.
Lu Ming continued, "100 yuan isn't enough for medical treatment. If you want to cure your father's illness, you'll need more money. Do you want to earn more money?"
Huh?
The little girl and the people around them were stunned.
What's going on?
Is this a human trafficker?
The aunt immediately stepped in front of the little girl, her voice fierce as she scolded, "What do you want? I'm warning you, don't have any wicked ideas about her!"
Lu Ming waved his hand, "Auntie, you've misunderstood. I just want to help the little sister earn some money so she can afford the medical expenses and help her family solve their livelihood issues."
"Oh?" The aunt asked, half-believing, "How are you going to help her make money?"
Lu Ming pointed at the mountains of raw stones and said, "Since we're on Shangyuan Street, if you want to make money, it's by buying raw stones. We'll use the little sister's 100 yuan to buy a raw stone. If we can open a top-grade raw stone, their family's livelihood will be solved."
Upon hearing this, everyone shook their heads.
A pipe dream!
The raw stones that 100 yuan can buy are all of extremely poor quality, trash stones that can yield nothing.
To expect to open a top-grade raw stone with 100 yuan, the probability is even lower than winning 5 million yuan with a 2 yuan lottery ticket!
The aunt cursed, "Stop trying to fool people. If you could open a top-grade raw stone with 100 yuan, we raw stone merchants wouldn't be able to make a living."
Lu Ming didn't explain further.
He looked at the little girl and asked, "What's your name?"
The little girl said timidly, "Chen Xian, everyone calls me Xian'er."
"Well, Xian'er, are you willing to trust me?" Lu Ming extended his hand to Chen Xian, "Give me the 100 yuan, and I'll help you make money."
Chen Xian tightly clutched the 100 yuan, hesitating.
The aunt advised, "Be good, Xian'er, don't be fooled. He's a swindler, he just wants to cheat you out of 100 yuan!"
Others were also trying to dissuade Chen Xian.
Some hot-tempered individuals had already picked up stools, preparing to strike Lu Ming on the head.
A moment later.
Chen Xian gritted her teeth, walked out from behind the aunt, and handed the 100 yuan to Lu Ming, saying earnestly and with certainty, "I believe you!"