Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 38

Xue Hening gained fame at a young age. When Jiang Rui became his apprentice, Xue Hening had already been famous for over twenty years.

Currently, Jiang Rui was only sixteen. Calculating the time, Xue Hening would be under thirty, not yet as renowned throughout the country as he would be later, but he was absolutely a legendary figure in Qingshi’s jade carving world. Not only was he peerless in the industry, but people from other professions also gave him three points of respect.

To commission a master jade carver to work, the quality of the jade stone must be top-notch, and how could ordinary people casually acquire fine jade? Therefore, many great jade carving masters only associated with the wealthy and powerful, let alone a top-tier figure like Xue Hening.

Others might not know, but Jiang Rui was very familiar with his master’s temperament. To get Xue Hening to accept a commission, he must first find the person pleasing to the eye, and second, the jade stone must also be pleasing to his eye.

If either of these two points failed to meet Xue Hening’s standard, not even the Son of Heaven could get him to carve a single stroke.

Because of this rule, even now, very few of Xue Hening’s works circulate in the world. In later generations, his pieces were speculated to astronomical prices. It is no exaggeration to say that after his death, some so-called upper-class families used his works as family heirlooms.

Since his rebirth, Jiang Rui had never abandoned this skill. He often practiced in the secret realm to compensate for his lack of experience. His current craftsmanship was nearly on par with Xue Hening’s level at this time. Even the most skilled appraiser would not dare to definitively claim that the dragon pendant was not made by Xue Hening. It was absolutely indistinguishable from the real thing.

High-quality Imperial Green jade has become increasingly scarce in recent years. Since this pendant was an authentic piece personally carved by Xue Hening, it was unobtainable in Qingshi even with money.

After Wang Chenghui rose to prominence, he was always viewed as a nouveau riche. He once visited Master Xue, requesting his work. Even carving a small ornament would undoubtedly earn him higher regard from those families who considered themselves Qingshi’s elite. However, Master Xue refused his request after meeting him once.

Wang Chenghui took the dragon pendant from the appraiser’s hand, caressed it for a moment, and agreed to Jiang Rui using the pendant as the stake with almost no hesitation.

Jiang Rui took the pendant back. He glanced sideways at Jiang Jianlin, who was being treated as the stake. The man’s eyes initially held a bit of fear, but then he might have felt that Jiang Rui’s odds of winning this gamble were low, so his back straightened a bit.

Wang Chenghui opened the casino, but he himself was not skilled at gambling. Instead, Huaiqing, who followed him, was an expert gambler.

Jiang Rui clearly understood that gambling skill was a mandatory skill for those who followed Wang Chenghui. Many who subsequently became addicted to gambling were abandoned by Wang Chenghui.

Huaiqing had a pair of very beautiful hands, with slender, pale fingers, full, rounded, and slightly pink fingertips.

Jiang Rui looked at these hands and couldn’t help but think of another person’s hands. That person’s hands were as flawless as his appearance, mesmerizing to look at, and one couldn’t help but want to hold those hands and gently kiss them…

“We can begin.”

Huaiqing’s voice interrupted Jiang Rui’s fanciful thoughts. Realizing his distraction, the awkwardness quickly flashed across Jiang Rui’s face. Was his current body still in its hormonally active phase? Why else would he think of such a scene?

Jiang Rui gathered his thoughts and looked at the young man, who was about his age, in front of him, giving him a gentle smile.

Huaiqing was young, but his gambling skills were excellent. In the first round, with Jiang Rui intentionally giving ground, Huaiqing won without a doubt.

Wang Chenghui seemed to have great confidence in Huaiqing. He sat by the side, casually watching the game while chatting with his subordinate about work.

However, after Jiang Rui won the second round, Wang Chenghui’s relaxed posture disappeared.

Huaiqing was under great pressure. He knew that this gamble was not just about the one hundred thousand kuai that Jiang Rui owed in Huidu; it also concerned Wang Chenghui’s reputation. Jiang Jianlin was still useful to Wang Chenghui, so this stake could not be lost.

Furthermore, the stake Jiang Rui had put up was something Wang Chenghui deeply desired. If he could win this gamble, a brilliant future awaited him!

Jiang Jianlin hadn’t expected this young man to actually defeat the gambling expert beside CEO Wang. The moment the outcome was decided, his mind went blank.

He even found it hard to believe. He should have been the winner tonight. Why did it feel as if every move of everyone tonight was under the control of this “Tang Xuan”?

How did things escalate to this point?

“Where are you taking me?” Jiang Jianlin’s voice trembled. His hands were tied, and his eyes were blindfolded. He had no idea where this person was taking him.

Jiang Rui focused on driving and ignored him.

This SUV was acquired through Xiao Jinnan earlier. He wasn’t old enough to buy a car yet, nor did he have a driver’s license. This was his first time driving, and the feel was pretty good.

Jiang Rui drove the car to an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of Qingshi, then pushed Jiang Jianlin inside.

Jiang Rui stayed in the warehouse for about two hours before leaving. He left alone. He didn’t linger in the vicinity and drove back to the city.

Not long after Jiang Rui left, another group of people entered the warehouse. After searching around, they couldn’t find any trace of Jiang Jianlin.

The leader among them had to take out his phone and dial a number: “CEO Wang, we personally saw that kid named Tang bring Jiang Jianlin into this warehouse and then leave alone. But now that we’ve searched, we’ve practically turned the warehouse upside down and haven’t seen a single person.”

“…I’m sure he brought the person into the warehouse, and I’m sure he left alone without taking anything. All the brothers can vouch for it.”

“Alright, then I’ll take the brothers to search the vicinity again.”

Jiang Rui was currently driving back to the city. After confirming that the group of people made no other moves, he retracted the spiritual consciousness he had deployed.

Jiang Jianlin was now inside the Miaoxuan Secret Realm, trapped by the Nanke Dream Array set up by Jiang Rui.

The Nanke Dream Array is divided into the Seven Emotions Array and the Six Desires Array. Jiang Rui had spent quite some effort setting it up. However, his skill level was limited, so the array’s power was only one or two tenths of its normal capacity. This one or two tenths was sufficient to deal with Jiang Jianlin.

Unless Jiang Jianlin could break the seven emotion arrays and six desire arrays within it, he could never leave without Jiang Rui’s permission.

Jiang Rui knew that trying to lecture a person like Jiang Jianlin would be futile, and frightening him would only work temporarily. Therefore, he decided on this method of tempering him.

To leave the array, he must break it. To break the array, he must, to a certain extent, control his seven emotions and six desires.

If Jiang Jianlin loses himself in the array, he will be attacked by the array itself. It won’t kill him, but it will be enough to bring him back to his senses.

Given Jiang Jianlin’s nature, he was still far from meeting Jiang Rui’s standard, but there was plenty of time in the Miaoxuan Secret Realm. As for reality, it was common for Jiang Jianlin not to return home for months after starting loan sharking. As long as Jiang Jianlin sent household money back on time every month, Li Xiuzhi didn’t care about his whereabouts. She was already busy enough with Jiang Min.

Moreover, because Jiang Jianlin was often not home, Li Xiuzhi was young and quite good-looking. Men would occasionally pay her compliments. She had recently met a man who was very understanding of a woman like her, who was “carrying the family burden alone,” and the two shared much in common…

It was likely that in a little while, the two would progress from soulmates to “intimate friends.”

Jiang Rui periodically had money sent to Li Xiuzhi in Jiang Jianlin’s name and occasionally had news about Jiang Jianlin relayed back to Ningping to dispel Li Xiuzhi’s suspicions.

While Li Xiuzhi and her lover were deeply involved, Jiang Rui mentioned to his mother that he wanted to bring Jiang Min to live with them.

Even though Li Xiuzhi and the restaurant owner in town tried their best to keep their affair a secret, walls have ears. Clues were discovered and spread, reaching even Jiang’s mother, who didn’t often go back to the village.

Jiang Jianjun and He Fulan, as Li Xiuzhi’s elder brother-in-law and sister-in-law, once confronted Li Xiuzhi, hinting for her to stop doing things that disgraced the Jiang family. However, Li Xiuzhi not only showed no remorse but cried and cursed He Fulan for falsely accusing her and ruining her reputation! She acted completely unreasonable.

After a few such incidents, the couple gave up on their sister-in-law. Since their own son was still in school, they didn’t want to make a big scene at the Li family and let everyone know about the scandal.

At most, they would just cut off contact in the future. They absolutely could not let such a person taint their son’s reputation.

Li Xiuzhi had poor morals, but Jiang Min was just an innocent child, a pure bloodline of the Jiang family. He Fulan and Jiang Jianjun couldn’t stand by and watch Li Xiuzhi corrupt their nephew.

The couple chose a day and went to see Li Xiuzhi.

Li Xiuzhi never liked taking care of children. Now that she had a lover, she would have hired a nanny if she wasn’t so reluctant to spend the money. Now that Jiang Jianjun and He Fulan were willing to take over, she was naturally more than happy.

“But Brother and Sister-in-law, you are Minmin’s birth uncle and aunt. I’m certainly relieved that you’ll be taking care of Minmin. However, Minmin is so young; there’s no need to give you monthly living expenses, right? He doesn’t eat much at this size.” Li Xiuzhi laughed.

Jiang Jianjun didn’t even bother to look at Li Xiuzhi. If he hadn’t been afraid of this shameless woman bullying his wife, he wouldn’t have come along. Hearing Li Xiuzhi not express any reluctance about Jiang Min leaving, but instead worrying that they would ask her for living expenses, his anger flared up immediately.

He Fulan’s expression was also displeased. Holding Jiang Min and comforting him, she said to Li Xiuzhi, “Third Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Although our family’s finances are average, we can afford to raise an extra Minmin. Besides, he is our dear nephew. It is right for us to take care of him, both emotionally and logically.”

Only then did Li Xiuzhi seem relieved, saying, “Sister-in-law, that really speaks to my heart. Don’t worry, Sister-in-law. Our Jianlin said he wants to buy a house in Qingshi soon. Since Rui Rui is going to high school in Qingshi, just let him live with us then. That way, I, as his third aunt, can do my part as an elder.”

Upon hearing this, He Fulan couldn’t stand it anymore. She stood up, held Jiang Min, and bid farewell to Li Xiuzhi.

After leaving the house and walking far away, He Fulan couldn’t help but complain to her husband: “Look at the wife your third brother married…”