Chapter 17

“Honey, do you know Ruili?”

“who?”

“It’s not a person, it’s a place,” Bai Jing said. “There are several very famous jade gambling markets in Yunnan, such as Ruili, Yingjiang, and Tengchong. I once led a tour group to Ruili, and the itinerary included the jade gambling market. The streets of the jade gambling market are filled with jade gambling shops; a pile of stones and a scale—simple yet incredibly sophisticated. Actually, there are many jade gambling stalls near the Mu Palace in Lijiang Old Town, some of which sell by weight. In Ruili’s jade gambling market, raw jade stones are generally 60 yuan per kilogram, and high-quality stones are sold individually, ranging from a few hundred to several million yuan.” Yes, all of them. That time, a tourist wanted to gamble on rough stones and even asked me for advice. I knew absolutely nothing about it, so I told him to take it easy. As a result, several tourists followed suit. They chose to gamble on untreated rough stones. Because of their encouragement, I bought one too. I spent a little over four hundred yuan on mine, and when it was cut open, I won! I remember selling it directly to a shop there for a whopping four hundred and fifty thousand yuan. As for the other tourists, they weren’t as lucky as me; they basically wasted their money, so I treated them to a big meal.”

Han An had also heard a little about jade gambling.

With good luck, you can become rich overnight.

If you’re unlucky, you could lose everything overnight.

But Han An didn’t believe his wife’s explanation at all.

Is it possible to earn 450,000 yuan by spending 400 yuan?

In fact, this is entirely possible when it comes to gambling on jade.

However, Han An simply didn’t believe his wife could be so lucky.

Because the incident occurred five years ago and was far away in Ruili, Han An had no way of verifying whether what his wife said was true or false.

That’s why Han An wanted to go to the Huazhu Inn as soon as possible.

By simply reviewing the surveillance footage, we can determine whether his wife was alone or with another man at the time.

The inn is less than 500 meters away, but because he couldn’t get his wife away, Han An couldn’t rush over immediately.

How exactly do you get his wife away?

“Honey, should we go to the Mu residence?”

What are you going over there for?

“Spend several hundred yuan to gamble on jade stones.”

“Forget it,” Han An said. “I don’t believe I have that kind of luck.”

“Actually, if you really want to gamble on stones, it’s best to go to Ruili.”

How long does it take to get there?

“It takes about eight hours by car.”

“It’s too far,” Han An said, “and I don’t like gambling.”

“Luckily, you said you didn’t like it, otherwise I would have been worried,” Bai Jing said, taking her husband’s arm. “Let me tell you, many people have gone bankrupt because they are obsessed with gambling on stones, so you can’t do something that is even more terrifying than stock speculation. Some people dream of getting rich overnight, so they take tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan in savings to gamble on stones, and what they get in return is a pile of stones that are not worth much.”

Let’s part ways here.

“Wh…what?!”

Looking at his wife’s astonished face, Han An said, “When we got married, we made a vow to each other. No matter what difficulties we encountered, we would not deceive each other, let alone betray each other. But I always feel that you are hiding something from me. I even feel that you came to Lijiang not to visit your parents, but to find another man. Otherwise, you would not have needed to stay in the city for three days.”

“I’m just in a bad mood, that’s why I’m staying here for three days.”

“In a bad mood? Who told you to be in a bad mood?”

“Because of your mom,” Bai Jing said. “You know, ever since we met, your mom hasn’t had a good impression of me. No matter how hard I try, she still doesn’t like me. Although she hasn’t said anything, I know she’s bothered by my past as a tour guide. What’s wrong with being a tour guide? Does being a tour guide necessarily mean being sexually harassed by drivers or tourists? I don’t know why your mom looks down on the tour guide profession, but I did work as a tour guide, and that’s an undeniable fact. Although your mom doesn’t argue with me, she sometimes gives me strange looks, which makes me very uncomfortable. Over time, I feel depressed, so I came to a familiar place to relax. As for why I didn’t go back to my parents’ house first, it’s because I’m afraid my mom will ask about having a second child. That would really bother me, because I haven’t been able to get pregnant yet.”

“That’s just my mom’s personality, what’s there to suppress?”

You don’t understand.

“Then tell me why.”

“I don’t know how to put it, because this kind of repression is emotional.”

“So you came straight to Lijiang because you felt repressed?”

“Hmm,” Bai Jing paused, then said, “Honey, we don’t need to argue over such trivial things, so let’s leave this topic here. Let’s go for a walk in the old town; I quite like it.”

“Go by yourself,” Han An said. “I’ll come pick you up this afternoon.”

“Wherever you go, I will go.”

“Can’t you just leave me alone?” Han An yelled. “I’m really upset right now! I just want to be alone!”

Startled by her husband’s shout, Bai Jing took two steps back and looked at him as if he were a monster.

Normally, Han An would never get angry with his wife.

This time, however, he couldn’t resist because his wife had come to Lijiang to meet her lover.

Of course, there was another reason for his anger: he wanted to go to the Flower Bamboo Inn while separated from his wife.

“Let’s part ways here,” Han An said. “You can wander around the ancient city or go straight home, it’s up to you.”

“Honey, you’ve really misunderstood me,” Bai Jing said, taking her husband’s hand. “I came to Lijiang to relax, not to find other men. I’m not a shameless woman like Xiao Ru.”

Han An was startled when he heard his wife say that Xu Xiaoru was a shameless woman.

Xu Xiaoru is his wife’s best friend. She works in the finance department of a construction company as a deputy manager.

Although they didn’t have many opportunities to interact, Han An had a very good impression of Xu Xiaoru because she often recommended Hanji Hot Pot Restaurant and many of her regular customers were brought by her.

In Han An’s memory, Xu Xiaoru, apart from liking to wear heavy makeup, didn’t seem to have any scandals.

However, because his wife and Xu Xiaoru’s best friend used the word “cheap” to describe Xu Xiaoru, Han An knew that Xu Xiaoru must have done something extremely despicable.

Perhaps because his wife was probably cheating on him, he naturally assumed that Xu Xiaoru was also a cheating slut!

After thinking for a moment, Han An asked, “What’s wrong with Xu Xiaoru acting so shamelessly?”

“N-nothing…”

“Don’t take back what you’re saying halfway through; it makes me very uncomfortable.”

“She’s a good sister, but not a good wife.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“She cheated on me.”