Pure jade and gold

In the northern suburbs of the Imperial Capital, Linglong Jade Market.

As the imperial city of past dynasties, there are naturally countless rich and precious things derived from the feet of the emperor. This market was first a collection and sales point for jade retail investors. Later, rich people contributed funds, and then the government cut into management, which formed the current transaction scale. ——

The open space outside is divided by white railings, and a small square is a stall for small items trading.Going inside is the modern Jade City. The first to third floors are full of regular shops, mainly large-scale jade, jade carvings, and jade wares.

It's Saturday, but the market is still as deserted as ever.

"Hey, sir, this price is already very favorable... Would you like to take a look again? Hey, please go slowly! I need to contact you."

The clerk in black satin overalls saw off the individual customers, and walked back to his counter dejectedly, "Come on, I finally got some signs, but I was scared away when I heard the price."

"I told you earlier not to make too much effort."

The store manager took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Why do rich people like to play with jade carvings these days? If there are a hundred of them, it would be nice if one of them can make a deal."

The clerk sighed, knowing that the jade carving business has become more and more difficult in recent years.

They Yuanshi Jade Wares are shareholders of this jade market anyway, they have opened several stores with their capital, and they have old customers in the jade circle to take care of them with their qualifications, but their performance has continued to decline over the years.

"Thanks to Master Yuan and Mr. Lu's ability, every piece of jade carving can be sold at a sky-high price. If..." the store manager glanced at the closed jade carving workshop, and lowered his voice, "Let the young master Yuan be in charge, It is estimated that our Yuan family has long been suspended."

The clerk also turned his attention to the workshop. He heard a slight movement from inside and muttered, "Shop manager, why do you think this little boy is willing to go into the workshop today? The sun is coming out from the west?"

The store manager shook his head, "Who knows."

Yuan's jade wares can be regarded as a famous brand in the jade circle of Shenjing. The jade carving products of several generations have swept the wealth circle. Now the seventh generation heir, Yuan Puguang, is still the leader in the industry.

Yuan Puguang was old enough to have a son. He only had a baby son when he was 45 years old. Now he is the "little son brother" in the shop assistants, named Yuan Rui. Not long after graduating from university, it is a good time to show his hands and feet.

It's a pity that Yuan Rui's jade carving skills are mediocre.

In the words of the industry, he is a piece of "rotten wood" that cannot be carved, but the longer his temper grows, the more rebellious he becomes. Every time he is kept in his own shop to study, it is like being locked up in a cell, and he has to find ways to escape.

But today is weird——

Yuan Rui came to their second branch at nine o'clock in the morning, and he never came out of the jade carving workshop, so he didn't know what he was trying to do.

The store manager glanced at the time, "There are still two hours before get off work. You can double-check the batch of jade carvings you bought the day before yesterday. Don't make any mistakes. Mr. Lu is very strict about this matter."

"Row."

...

In the inner studio, the setting sun came in through the small window on the top.

Yuan Rui wiped the carefully washed and polished jade plaques clean, with a look of joy in his eyes, "I have been busy all day, and I finally produced a finished product that does not drop in price."

He put the small jade carving plaque in his pocket, and put it in his pocket, then rubbed his stiff shoulders and neck to get up.

As soon as the door opened, the clerk who was busy finishing the work before closing the door raised his head, "Hey, Mr. Yuan Xiao, are you finally willing to come out? What are you working on inside all day?"

"I……"

The complacency in Yuan Ruimei's heart flashed, and he changed his mouth to nonsense, "I'm playing games and sleeping."

When the clerk heard this, he was taken aback, but he had no doubts.

Finding a place to steal leisurely is indeed in line with Yuan Rui's consistent style.

Yuan Rui rubbed his nose and asked tentatively, "Has Lu Zhaoan been here today?"

Faced with this name, the clerk unconsciously showed a trace of respect, "No, Mr. Lu didn't come to patrol the store today."

Yuan Rui nodded, clutching the small jade plaque in his pocket, and unconsciously looked at the wall clock on the wall.

There was only half an hour left before the market stalls closed, so he had to hurry up.

"I'm leaving first, by the way, don't tell Lu Zhao'an that I've been here today." Yuan Rui left this statement and hurried out of the shop.

The 'Lu Zhao'an' that Yuan Rui said was Yuan Puguangshou's apprentice and also Yuan Rui's nominal senior brother.

The clerk who stayed at the spot reacted slowly, "Aren't these two senior brothers? Why do you always meet a cat like a mouse every time, wishing not to see each other for eight lifetimes?"

...

Yuan Rui covered half of his face with a mask, and stood in front of a small stall in the stall area in front of the market, "Boss, do you recycle small jade carvings here? I have a good piece of good material here."

The middle-aged bald boss looked him up and down, and said with a Beijing taste, "Take it, show me the goods."

Yuan Rui took out the black kit from his pocket, and handed over the freshly baked white jade ingot inside.

The boss looked at it twice and asked, "How much do you pay?"

Yuan Rui saw that something was going on, and immediately said, "One thousand!"

When the boss heard the price, he burst out laughing, "I said, little brother, why is your product worth a thousand dollars? It is carved like the most common ingot, and the wiring is not outstanding."

"..."

Yuan Rui's hand hidden in his pocket unconsciously closed up, but accidentally touched the scratch on his fingertips, and the pain was excruciating.

The corner of his mouth covered under the mask slightly pursed, "Babai, boss, don't bully me for being young and ignorant, at least this is not bad."

"It's just a medium leftover material, coupled with this carving technique, it can't charge a high price..."

The boss was determined to lower the price, and rolled his eyes, "Little brother, this market is going to be closed, so let's take a step back, four hundred, will you make a deal?"

Yuan Rui looked at the market that had almost closed, and stuck to the bottom line, "Five hundred, no less."

He held his breath, and unconsciously lowered his tone, "I admit that this carving is worthless, but if I can't pay this price, then I won't sell it."

As he said that, he wanted to take back the jade carving from the boss.

When the boss heard this, he quickly laughed, "Okay, my little brother is still short-tempered, five hundred is five hundred, I'll take it."

Although this item is small, its material is above average, and it can make a lot of money by reselling it.

Soon, five hundred cash arrived.

Yuan Rui left the market and went to a specialty store in a nearby business district with ease. He found a familiar salesperson and took off his mask.

"Miss, please pack the massage pillow I liked yesterday."

With that said, he gave out all the cash that had just been warmed up.

The salesman recognized Yuan Rui, and responded with a smile, "Okay, wait a minute, I almost thought you changed your mind and didn't plan to buy this thing as a birthday present."

"need."

Yuan Rui leaned against the counter, looking at the few red cuts on his hands, he exhaled indistinctly.

Today is Yuan Puguang's birthday, as a son, he should prepare some presents no matter how disappointing he is on weekdays.

Yuan Rui knew that his jade carving skills were not top-notch, and he couldn't make any interesting things. If the jade carvings he gave were not the same, he might be scolded, but he didn't want to spend money and give gifts casually, which seemed casual.

So, he came up with such a compromise——

Take the jade ingots carved by yourself to exchange for money, and then use the money to buy massage pillows, at least you can hide your heart in it.

After a while, the salesperson brought over the packed massage pillow.

Yuan Rui took the heavy packing box, finally showing a satisfied smile on his face, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, you go slowly."

...

The Yuan family can be regarded as a jade family, and it has taken root in the imperial capital for several generations. Now it lives in a renovated traditional courtyard house, which is also a good location in the eyes of outsiders.

Yuan Rui sneaked into the courtyard, and after confirming that no one was paying attention, he quickly returned to his room. He hid the massage pillow in the closet childishly, vaguely looking forward to the later family gathering.

On such a good day as his birthday, he has carefully prepared presents, so he can always get a compliment, right?

The corners of Yuan Rui's mouth curled up, and he pretended to be calm when he left the room. He limped to the kitchen, and as expected, he saw his mother and the servant's aunt.

The two are working together on today's dinner.

"Mom, Aunt Chu."

"Xiao Rui is back?" Meng Xuehua looked at his son immediately, and called him in with a smile, "I just told your Aunt Chu that I was going to call you, in case you forget what day it is."

"I remember, Dad's 68th birthday, what about others?"

"I went to play chess with Uncle Sun next door."

Meng Xuehua thought of the father and son who didn't get along well on weekdays, so he couldn't help pulling Yuan Rui aside and confessing, "Xiao Rui, be good at the dinner table tonight, and say a few sweet words, don't make your father angry, he is old It's..."

"Mom, I see."

Yuan Rui took the vegetable bowl from Meng Xuehua's hand, and imitated her movements to choose the vegetable leaves.

"... I didn't have that jade carving skill since I was a child, so in his eyes, I'm an out-of-shape. Don't worry, I'll never pick a problem tonight, as long as he doesn't dissatisfy me."

The wound on the fingertips was soaked in water, and it was a little stinging.

Yuan Rui hid the wound, and subconsciously said, "Forget it, anyway, his attention will not be on me tonight."

Hearing her son's boring words, Meng Xuehua's heart ached, "Xiao Rui, your father still loves you very much, but he is a bit older and has been stuck in jade carvings all his life. Brothers are all the same."

As soon as the words fell, there was another sound of footsteps at the kitchen door.

Aunt Chu, the servant, was the first to look away, and said with a smile, "Zhao'an is back too? These two children came back very early today."

Yuan Rui unconsciously shifted his gaze, landed on the tall figure at the door of the kitchen, moved his gaze upwards, and coincidentally met those quiet eyes precisely.

"..."

The two met each other, and the atmosphere suddenly froze.

The Yuan couple had been married for many years and could not have children of their own, so they asked someone to adopt Lu Zhao'an, who was only six years old, in a local orphanage.

As a result, just as the husband and wife brought Lu Zhaoan home, Meng Xuehua unexpectedly found out that she was pregnant. Everyone knew that it was not easy to have a child in old age, but they were not willing to let Lu Zhaoan go back to the orphanage.

Therefore, Lu Zhaoan became Yuan Puguang's apprentice to the outside world, and he was actually raised as a son.

After Yuan Rui was born, the two got along with each other as "teacher brothers".

Yuan Puguang is a well-known jade carver in the industry, so he naturally hoped that both Lu Zhaoan and Yuan Rui could stand out, but unfortunately things backfired——

If it is said that Yuan Rui is a rotten wood that cannot be carved in jade carving, then Lu Zhao'an is the first-class good material. As the age grows, the skill gap between the brothers and sisters is getting bigger and bigger.

While Yuan Puguang is proud of his apprentice Lu Zhaoan, he also hates his son Yuan Rui.

Now the Yuan clan's jade industry is all managed by Lu Zhao'an, and Yuan Rui, as a blood relative, has become an unaffordable idiot among outsiders and a secret joke.

Even though Lu Zhao'an and Yuan Ruijian never had a big conflict, there was still an indescribable gap between them.

Yuan Rui quickly withdrew his gaze, breaking the vegetable leaves indiscriminately with his hands.

Lu Zhaoan lowered his eyes, frowned slightly and then raised them quickly, "Master, Aunt Chu, I'm back, where is Master?"

His voice has a calm and gentle taste, which makes people feel good.

"Look at you two brothers, you both said exactly the same thing when you entered the room."

Meng Xuehua explained it again with a smile, and then told, "Zhao'an, you've been busy in Linxing these days, go back to your room to take a rest, and talk to your master slowly after arriving at the dining table later."

"it is good."

Lu Zhaoan nodded and left quickly.

Yuan Rui paid attention to the back of the other party leaving from the corner of his eye, and he didn't come back to his senses until the hand that fell in the vegetable bowl was slapped lightly.

Meng Xuehua asked, "You child, where did your soul fly to? You almost crushed the good vegetable leaves."

"what?"

Yuan Rui was stunned, only to realize that a vegetable leaf had been trampled by him in an unreasonable way.

Aunt Chu approached him and laughed at him, "Xiao Rui, don't be a disservice to the kitchen, go back to your room and rest, just leave it to us."

Meng Xuehua also agreed.

Yuan Rui had no choice but to wash his hands, and returned to his room peacefully.

...

It was not completely dark yet, but the street lights outside the courtyard came on early.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Yuan Rui thought it was Meng Xuehua who came to call for a dinner party, and ran to open the door excitedly, only to find that Lu Zhaoan was standing at the door.

The other party seemed to have just taken a shower, and his body was still covered with the steaming aroma of the bath. He was wearing a simple black T-shirt, and was carrying a small medicine box in his hand.

"..."

The smile between Yuan Rui's eyebrows froze quickly, and after a while he asked uncomfortably, "Why are you here?"

Lu Zhaoan looked down, "Did you carve something today? Why is your hand hurt?"

Yuan Rui subconsciously hid his injured hand, "No, I went drinking with my friends, and I was scratched by a smashed beer bottle."

Ever since the fight with Yuan Puguang last time because of "not good at learning", Yuan Rui vowed that he would never touch jade carvings again. If Lu Zhaoan and the others knew now——

In order to prepare a birthday present, he carved another cheap jade carving, so maybe how to make fun of him for not living up to expectations.

Hearing Yuan Rui's words, Lu Zhao'an's eyes darkened slightly, and he wrapped his arms around the other's wrist in the next second, "Go in and sit down, I'll give you medicine."

Lu Zhao'an's palm just after showering was a little hot, just enough to wrap his wrist around, rubbing his callused fingertips against the inside of his wrist.

Yuan Rui felt as if he had been branded with some kind of mark, and he was so hot that he even became nervous.

"I don't need it, Lu Zhao'an, let me go, who allowed you to enter my room? You..."

Before he finished speaking, he was sat on the edge of the bed by the other party's shoulders.

Lu Zhaoan squatted down, and healed him with a calm tone without any ups and downs, "When I was a child, I took the initiative to pester me and let me hug you to sleep on a bed, but now I'm not even allowed to enter the room?"

"..."

Yuan Rui got stuck, he couldn't tell why he was so nervous.

During the brief silence, Lu Zhao'an had carefully opened his palms, and there were more than one wound. Although it was small and not deep, the wound that had not been treated for a long time was still swollen and red.

Lu Zhao'an clearly saw that the injury was caused by a carving knife, but he did not expose Yuan Rui's rough lie just now.

He picked up a medical sterile cotton swab and grabbed Yuan Rui's hand, "Hold on, it will be fine soon."

"..."

Looking from the top down, Lu Zhao'an focused on cleaning and disinfecting his wound. He was obviously used to holding a carving knife and using gravity, but the manner in which he treated the wound was not gentle.

Obviously well hidden, how could this person's eyes be so sharp, and he could still find this wound?

Yuan Rui bent the corners of his mouth unconsciously, put away his forced arrogance, because of this unique care, he lost the struggle just now.

Actually, Yuan Rui didn't know how to summarize his relationship with Lu Zhao'an.

When he was young, he thought that Lu Zhao'an was his own elder brother, so he naturally expressed his younger brother's coquettishness and intimacy.

Later, when he grew up, he followed Yuan Puguang to learn carving skills, and only then did he understand what the word "Master" in Lu Zhaoan's mouth meant——

The other party is not his real brother, but he is still a close senior brother.

In the few years when he first learned the jade carving technique, he was used to hearing the compliments from Yuan Puguang and other masters in the same industry to Lu Zhaoan, and he felt happy, proud and adored in his heart.

But gradually, more and more suppression and criticism from Yuan Puguang.

While constantly denying himself, Yuan Rui watched Lu Zhao'an become more and more excellent and his position higher and higher.

The other party has become his unattainable goal, and even the "senior brother" in the eyes of outsiders has become a laughing stock.

As long as you mention Lu Zhao'an, a leader among young jade carving masters, you will definitely step on Yuan Rui, a worthless junior.

But who can be blamed?

It's not that he doesn't live up to expectations, but in the end he only dares to use "rebellious publicity" to retain the only remaining self-esteem, which is really useless.

Yuan Rui suppressed the choking impulse in his throat, and only when he came back to his senses did he feel that the wound on his fingertips gradually became numb.

He looked down at Lu Zhao'an, looked at the man's smooth and handsome face under the projection of the light, and an inexplicable and somewhat uninspiring thought flashed through his mind——

I don't know who will be Lu Zhaoan's partner in the future, anyway, they must be equally good.

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Thanks for reading!

--

① I am afraid that I will be pigeon for too long, so let the little cuties have a taste of the new chapter first!

② Extra episode of "Flash Marriage" next door, free short stories, updated from time to time (as stable as possible)

③Yuan Rui needs to grow up, the process is bloody and abusive, and the ending is sweet and HE!

④The author's heart is made of bubbles (bushi) does not accept writing guidance, if you don't like it, just click quit, everyone will not suffer from free articles~