Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 169: What to Carve (Second Update)

Feng Jun had just encountered such an accident, feeling very displeased in his heart.

Having been splashed with instant noodle soup, he was already really irritated. Then he discovered his beloved goddess looked down on him and even wanted to set him up with a random match, a sense of frustration that was almost like being cursed by a dog.

He found a gas station, added some gas, wiped the car’s hood, and incidentally had someone spray it with a water gun. Even though the soup had oil in it and wasn’t washed off completely, at least the red color dispersed, so it didn’t look like a murder scene.

Then he drove to Li Dafu and went inside. He saw Ye Qingyi sitting behind the counter, propping up her cheek with one hand, seemingly dozing off. Getting closer, he noticed her other hand was fiddling with something under the counter.

Feng Jun tiptoed over and cleared his throat—”Hey, what are you doing?”

“N-nothing,” Ye Qingyi stood up abruptly, her hand under the counter moved, followed by a soft “snap” sound.

“It’s you!” She recognized Feng Jun at a glance, then turned her head with a wail, “My mobile phone…”

Apparently, she was playing with her phone. Li Dafu forbade staff from playing with their phones during working hours, so she played secretly. Just now she thought a leader was inspecting and hurriedly stood up, wanting to hide the phone with one hand.

The result was a fumbled move, sending the phone straight to the floor.

Too upset to blame Feng Jun, she quickly bent down to pick up the phone. A glance at it and her face was filled with despair, “Terrible, the screen’s shattered.”

Seeing this, Feng Jun also rolled his eyes helplessly, “Xiao Yezi, isn’t your mental fortitude a bit weak?”

Hearing that, Ye Qingyi glared fiercely at him and spoke angrily, “At Li Dafu, no one dares to come here pretending to be a leader. And you still have the nerve to say that!”

Damn! Feng Jun also felt a twinge in his heart. Xiao Yezi’s phone was a flagship model. Although by now he no longer cared about the money, it was still a bothersome issue.

“Heh,” he chuckled lightly, trying to speak nonchalantly, “Then just buy another one, right? Flagship model, isn’t it?”

“Not really,” Xiao Yezi shook her head sadly, extending her hand, “Look, this is a five-star phone.”

Feng Jun glanced at the five-star phone, the large screen’s cracks resembling a spider web, “Where’s your flagship model then?”

“Lost,” Ye Qingyi answered morosely, “I lost two flagship models in a month, one Xia Xiaoyu phone got water damage, so I could only buy a five-star.”

The five-star phone wasn’t cheap either, though not as expensive as the flagship, it was a bit pricier than Xia Xiaoyu. Clearly, she was out of money.

Feng Jun’s eyes widened in surprise at this response, “No way, are you always this careless?”

Whether I’m careless or not, what does that have to do with you? Ye Qingyi glanced at him irritably. Indeed, she was quite a scatterbrain, and this had always been what people said about her since she was young. Precisely for this reason, she disliked hearing it from others the most.

However, when she remembered the water-damaged Xia Xiaoyu phone was a gift from Feng Jun right in front of her, she couldn’t fuss over it and had to reluctantly answer, “I’m about to receive my paycheck. I’ll buy a new phone then.”

Feng Jun was somewhat responsible, “Don’t worry about it, I caused it, I’ll compensate you… I’ll go buy it now.”

“No need,” Xiao Yezi shook her head, quickly indicating, “You gave me a phone already, forget about this time.”

How could he just forget about it? The situation was different this time, and Feng Jun was about to speak when he remembered that she was quite opinionated. Last time, it had been really hard to even give her the Xia Xiaoyu phone.

Reflecting again on his annoyance with Xia Xiaoyu and Qingzhu, he felt that his charity mindset was a disrespect to her—You have self-esteem, don’t others as well?

But, he wasn’t easily deterred. He chuckled lightly, “You don’t need to wait for your paycheck. I came to ask you for a favor, if you can get it done, I’ll have my thanks for you, enough for you to buy another flagship phone.”

Ye Qingyi was not the pretentious type, her eyes lighting up at his words, “Really? That would be great, I’m so used to flagship phones that using anything else is sheer torture… What do you need?”

Feng Jun wasn’t a fan of the brand, but understood the mindset, so he didn’t bother to argue. With a gesture, he placed his backpack onto the counter, “There’s a piece of jade I want to give to someone… needs to be carved.”

Ye Qingyi immediately grasped the concept, after all, Li Dafu handled such services quite frequently.

She nodded, her eyes brightening with anticipation, “Okay, then, show me.”

Feng Jun unzipped the backpack and took out the jade. It wasn’t pure Mutton Fat White Jade, as it bore a slight hint of green, but jade like this was still quite fine, especially since the green shade was very uniform, giving the entire piece of jade a very haughty and icy feeling.

“Another piece of fine jade,” Ye Qingyi smacked her lips in admiration, examining the jade non-stop, “Feng Jun, I’ve noticed you have quite the collection of quality goods.”

Seeing this, the staff around started to gather to take a look, with several customers following suit.

As everyone was admiring the jade, Ye Qingyi looked at Feng Jun, “For this jade’s design, we’ll handle it, right?”

“That won’t do,” Feng Jun shook his head decisively, “I have a design already, and you’ll have to follow my design.”

The employee at the neighboring Li Dafu shop couldn’t help but speak out, “When it comes to designing jade shapes, we are the experts. It takes countless pieces of jade to achieve this level of skill, and ordinary people don’t have the means.”

Feng Jun actually agreed with this viewpoint, but he didn’t blindly follow it. Instead, he said with a mix of laughter and tears, “Look, is there any flaw in this piece of jade? No! So, what’s the use of your experience?”

This was indeed a hard truth. The reason jade artisans chose designs was not only for the crafting fee—even that wasn’t the main factor—it was chiefly to avoid any flaws, maximizing the value of the finished jade piece.

And the piece of jade Feng Jun brought was a naturally occurring cyan and white color, translucent throughout, and without a single blemish.

You have experience? Sure, that’s impressive, but my jade is entirely uniform in color. I don’t need any of those fancy design experiences, just roll right over them with the best craftsmanship available.

At that, the person fell silent. Ye Qingyi seemed to want to say something. Her lips moved a couple of times, but in the end, she just went along with his line of thinking and asked, “Then what kind of shape do you want to carve?”

Feng Jun looked around, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered into her ear.

To others, Xiao Yezi’s face looked a bit unnatural. However, as soon as he finished whispering in her ear, it wasn’t just unnatural—her face even turned a bit red.

But Feng Jun stepped back with a smile, took out a cigarette, and leisurely lit it.

Smoking was prohibited in the hall of Li Dafu, but after all, it was a commercial place, and more than one person knew the details about Boss Feng. Then someone came over and said, “Sir, please come to the VIP room to smoke.”

To go to the VIP room was not just for smoking, the two sides still had to discuss the processing price of the jade.

Soon enough, the jade carving master hurried over. He was a man roughly forty years old, probably not even reaching one meter sixty in height, but was quite sturdy.

He first closely examined the jade, then turned to Ye Qingyi, “This is a rare and valuable piece, indeed. What do you want to carve?”

Ye Qingyi’s lips twitched, and she nudged her chin towards Feng Jun, “Ask him, Master Zhang.”

Master Zhang turned his head, smiling at Feng Jun, “You really do have some good stuff… What do you want to carve?”

He was familiar with Boss Feng; he had even attended the last highly discussed tendering conference.

Feng Jun looked at Ye Qingyi in astonishment, “Didn’t I already tell you?”

Xiao Yezi rolled her eyes and huffed, “I didn’t understand, you tell Master Zhang yourself!”

Seeing this, Master Zhang was also a bit puzzled, “What’s going on with you two?”

Feng Jun knew Xiao Yezi was too embarrassed to repeat it, so he had no choice but to whisper into Master Zhang’s ear again.

After listening, Master Zhang also looked shocked and cried out loud, “Are you kidding? You want to carve that thing?”

“Lao Zhang!” The shop manager couldn’t agree with such an outburst. She frowned and spoke, “Boss Feng is a valued guest, our partner at Li Dafu. What kind of way is that to talk?”

“I didn’t say anything wrong,” Master Zhang was taken aback, then slapped his thigh, “Hey, I’m really not cursing, Boss Feng…”

Upon hearing this, everyone was first stunned and then looked at the jade on the table.

Although the shop manager was a woman and over forty, she was straightforward and had no reservations, “I say, Boss Feng, what’s the idea with this fine piece of jade?”

Now that it was out in the open, Feng Jun didn’t hide it, “This… it’s normal, right?”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other, at a loss for words. While the reason might seem peculiar, it wasn’t entirely unjustifiable.

“About this job… you should seek someone more capable,” said Master Zhang with a mix of laughter and tears, shaking his head, “Using such good jade to carve that sort of thing… my master would be furious if he knew.”

The jade carvers at Li Dafu were mainly there to serve their own enterprise, and although they also took on external jade processing, that was considered an expansion of their services, not a core business. If he didn’t want to take the job, nobody could say anything about it.

Seeing this, Feng Jun quickly called out, “Wait, Master Zhang… we can discuss the price.”

Master Zhang shook his head firmly, yet his response was still polite, “Boss Feng, it’s not about the money. I really can’t use my skills on this kind of thing. This won’t be a difficult carving, you can just find someone else.”

It’s not about the money? Feng Jun sneered to himself. If I offered ten times the money, I bet you’d take the job.

But this was just him thinking to himself; Feng was not the type to coerce anyone.

Just then, someone walked into the VIP room, “President Feng is here, huh? What do you want to carve?”