Chapter 140: Resolution

Stunned by the slap, Zheng Shitian stood frozen on the spot, blankly staring at Ling Tian. He even forgot to cover his swollen cheek. As the young master of the Zheng family in Pengcheng, Zheng Shitian had always been a prominent figure accustomed to being fawned over like the moon surrounded by stars; never had anyone dared to treat him in such a manner.

Holding a lofty position as a member of high society, Zheng Shitian consistently maintained a strong sense of superiority when dealing with others. Even when facing descendants of other prestigious families, he always struck an arrogant posture of being second only to the heavens. But now, all of that had been shattered by Ling Tian's slap.

"You... you..." Zheng Shitian could not even speak coherently. His expression was extremely complicated—a mixture of terror, fury, disbelief, and a trace of astonishment. "You... you're a lunatic," Zheng Shitian said indignantly.

*Slap...*

Without a second word, Ling Tian raised his hand and delivered another resounding blow to Zheng Shitian's face. This time, he struck the opposite cheek. Looking at Zheng Shitian's symmetrically swollen face, Ling Tian said calmly, "It looks symmetrical this way. What can I say? I happen to be a perfectionist."

Zheng Shitian was dumbfounded once again. He had not expected Ling Tian to refuse to back down, let alone strike him a second time without the slightest hesitation. Seized by sudden rage and humiliation, he pointed a trembling finger at Ling Tian and shouted, "Lunatic! How dare you hit me? Do you have any idea who I am? I am the eldest young master of the Pengcheng Zheng family! Let me tell you, offending the Zheng family is tantamount to suicide."

Seeing that Ling Tian remained silent, Zheng Shitian assumed he was frightened. Emboldened, he continued his tirade, "It is An Qi's supreme honor that this young master has taken a liking to her. All I need to do is give the An family a word, and they will gladly deliver An Qi to my bed for my personal amusement."

Too lazy to pay any more attention to this idiot, Ling Tian beckoned to Zhang Ding.

Zhang Ding trotted over eagerly and asked, "Boss, what are your orders?"

"Would you like to experience the thrill of giving a billionaire a thorough beating?" Ling Tian countered.

Zhang Ding nodded repeatedly, his eyes shining. "Of course I would! That must feel incredible, but I've never had the chance."

Ling Tian pointed at the ranting Zheng Shitian and instructed, "Now the opportunity has arrived. Beat him to within an inch of his life."

Having just heard Zheng Shitian's disrespectful remarks toward Ling Tian and An Qi, Zhang Ding was boiling with rage and itching to flatten him on the spot. The boss who had given him everything he had was someone whose insults he would never tolerate from anyone.

"You got it!" Zhang Ding cracked his knuckles with excitement, grabbed a small wooden stool from the ground, and charged straight at Zheng Shitian.

Busy with his boasting, Zheng Shitian completely failed to notice, still deeply intoxicated by his own inflated ego. By the time he saw Zhang Ding rushing toward him, it was already too late. All he saw was a stool flying through the air, striking him squarely on the forehead. Zheng Shitian was knocked dazed on the spot. Before he could even react, Zhang Ding straddled his waist, imitated Ling Tian's technique, and unleashed a flurry of ferocious back-and-forth slaps as if slaps were completely free.

Ling Tian and An Qi sat down opposite each other. He personally brewed a cup of clear tea for her and said, "The shop's supreme treasure has been taken care of. Next, I'll help you solve the problem regarding part of your raw material supply."

An Qi had already developed absolute trust in Ling Tian. If he were to tell her right now that he could conjure a mountain of jade out of thin air, she would have believed it without a doubt.

"Ordinary sources of supply are not an issue. What worries me most is the supply of mid-to-high-grade jadeite. Our current inventory can sustain us for a while, but if this goes on for too long, it's hard to tell what will happen." At this point, An Qi paused, her expression turning complicated.

Ling Tian had already guessed what was on her mind.

The vast majority of jadeite in the domestic market originated from Myanmar, simply because Burmese jade possessed the finest quality and the largest output. The Zheng family in Pengcheng had practically monopolized the jadeite import channels from Myanmar, colluding with local armed factions there to rake in massive profits. Now that Ling Tian had offended the Zheng family on An Qi's account, Zheng Shitian would inevitably transfer his hatred onto An Qi and the An family.

Once the Zheng family choked off the An family's supply routes, the An family would be forced to rely on supplies from places like Yunnan. However, the quality and yield of domestic jadeite fell far short of Burmese jade. Consequently, if the stalemate dragged on, their supply lines would be severed. Coupled with the Zheng family's ruthless suppression, the An family's bankruptcy was only a matter of time, or they would be forced to abandon the industry altogether.

One had to understand that the popularity of jadeite far surpassed that of any other jewelry, and sixty percent of the An family's revenue came from jadeite alone.

For a jewelry business like the An family, abandoning their core trade and switching industries would be no different from starting completely from scratch.

An Qi was well aware of this, which explained her heavy expression. Of course, even if today's incident had not occurred, the Zheng family would not have let the An family off the hook anyway.

The two great clans of Pengcheng had been competing in the same industry for a century, and now that the Zheng family had finally gained the upper hand, they would never let slip an opportunity to crush the An family completely. Defeating the An family would allow the Zheng family not only to annex their massive assets but also to eliminate a formidable rival once and for all.

An Qi let out a soft sigh and said, "The Zheng family has long coveted the An family. Even without today's events, they wouldn't have let us go. You've merely accelerated the timeline slightly, so you shouldn't feel any guilt."

Ling Tian said indifferently, "Based on your calculations, how much longer can the An family hold out?"

As a capable businesswoman, An Qi had considered this question long ago. Hearing Ling Tian's inquiry, she replied directly, "Our current stock can meet market demand for three months. Beyond that, the An family will plunge into a crisis with nothing left to sell."

Ling Tian calculated mentally. Three months was more than enough time for him to settle his affairs in Yunhai City. When the time came, he would travel to Myanmar himself; once he dismantled the Zheng family's monopoly, all these problems would resolve themselves effortlessly.

"For now, I'll help you solve part of the material supply issue." Ling Tian stood up, walked over to the cutting area, and told the master cutters, "I'll pay each of you a hundred thousand in wages to cut raw stones for me."

A hundred thousand in wages?

Faced with such an enormous temptation, the cutters did not hesitate in the slightest and nodded in agreement.

Ling Tian looked around. The raw stones inside the exhibition hall were still piled high in considerable numbers. Even with a twenty percent chance of producing jade, it would still amount to a significant quantity—enough to sustain their operations for a period of time.

To Ling Tian, even a mosquito's leg was meat.

One of the golden rules of being a mercenary was never to miss any opportunity, because opportunities accumulated over time and ultimately forged your success.

An Qi watched Ling Tian with curiosity. Could it be that he intended to buy every single raw stone here?

This was no laughing matter. Buying them all out would require an astronomical sum of money, and there was no guarantee that every raw stone would yield jade.

Leading the entire crew of stone cutters in a grand procession, Ling Tian marched straight into the raw stone section and commenced a frantic shopping spree.

Upon reaching each zone, Ling Tian would stand in one spot, light a cigarette, and scan the area with his spiritual perception. He would then mark the stones containing jade, and the trailing cutters would immediately load them onto carts. Afterward, he would move to another spot to continue scanning...

Throughout the entire process, Ling Tian appeared to be making marks quite casually, as if he weren't even selecting anything specific.

Having witnessed Ling Tian's miraculous feats firsthand, and considering this was essentially a clearance sale, the stone vendors readily agreed to let him pay later and even offered a twenty percent discount.

After all, a grand imperial green jadeite valued at four or five hundred million was sitting right there, so the vendors felt completely at ease with Ling Tian and An Qi.

Of course, the primary reason was that their ringleader, Zheng Shitian, was still being beaten nearby. Someone who dared to beat the eldest young master of the Zheng family was simply not someone they could afford to provoke. It was far wiser to do a favor and clear out their inventory at the same time.

Having finished selecting the stones, Ling Tian, whose spiritual perception had been heavily drained, returned to An Qi looking slightly fatigued and sat down to meditate quietly. Not daring to disturb him, An Qi turned her gaze toward the surrounding handcarts. The dozen or so carts were practically overflowing with well over two hundred stones.

Aided by the Void Brightness Stone, Ling Tian emerged from meditation ten minutes later, his mental energy largely restored.

"I've marked every single stone. Your men just need to cut along the markings," Ling Tian instructed. To save a massive amount of time, he had personally drawn cutting lines on the stones, sparing the cutters the need for cautious grinding. This would cut the required time by at least half.

With the precedent of the King of Stones still fresh in their minds, the cutters harbored no doubts. They efficiently wheeled away the carts of raw stones and operated their machinery. In an instant, the vast plaza was filled with the deafening roar of machinery.

"I just calculated. Including the King of Stones, the total cost for purchasing these raw stones is a little over five million," Ling Tian said to An Qi.

"Well within my budget. I'll go pay right now." An Qi stood up, ready to settle the bill.

Ling Tian stopped her with a smile. "Wait, Zheng Shitian will pay for us. Don't forget, he lost three million to me in our two wagers. As for the remaining two million, we'll make him cover that as well—consider it the cost for his underhanded schemes earlier."

An Qi glanced over at Zheng Shitian, who had been beaten black and blue by Zhang Ding. Finding it almost too pitiful to watch, she averted her eyes.

"Zhang Ding, that's enough. Take a break and bring Young Master Zheng over to settle the bill," Ling Tian shouted to the sweat-drenched Zhang Ding.

Zhang Ding stood up, panting heavily, and yelled back, "What if he refuses to pay?"

"Keep beating him!"

"You got it!"

Under Zhang Ding's "friendly persuasion," Zheng Shitian had no choice but to pay up, though he secretly swore a blood oath that the moment he returned to Pengcheng, he would unleash a devastating offensive against the An family and have both Ling Tian and Zhang Ding killed.

"Gosh! It's showing green!"

"Me too..."

Less than ten minutes later, bursts of ecstatic cheers erupted across the plaza, drowning out even the roar of the machinery.

Hearing the commotion, An Qi could no longer sit still. Like an excited little fawn, she bounced over to the cutting station. When she laid eyes on the emerging pieces of jadeite, she felt as though she didn't have enough eyes to take it all in, and immediately began tallying the data.

When the final tally came out, An Qi found it hard to believe. She rechecked the figures three times before confirming that her statistics were entirely accurate.

Virtually every single raw stone had yielded jadeite, and the quality of the jadeite was exceptionally high. The lowest grade reached the tens of thousands, while the highest ones soared into the millions.