Novel Bin Chapter 95: Strange Stones
Qin Haodong stepped into the hall of the Feng’s Group only to find that the staff and customers there were fewer than the last time he went there. At first, he was afraid to be recognized by the staff there, however, no one took a look at him even after he wandered around inside it for a while.
It made sense as the last time he went to the place, there were so many people and the staff was busy receiving the customers, therefore, few noticed him at that time. Moreover, later after that, when he pushed himself forward, he was surrounded by jade traders and Feng Tianda’s bodyguards; the staff could not make it to the front of the crowd to see him.
After hanging around the hall, Qin Haodong found less than ten people there. He walked through the zone a, b, c, and d only to find that there was a newly set area full of raw jade gemstones that he did not see the last time. The area was simply isolated from other places by a boundary line with a sign “Out of Bounds”. It looked that visitors could not enter the area.
Looking at these new gemstones, Qin Haodong guessed that they were the raw jade gemstones from Myanmar which Lin Momo had mentioned. He was so confused about why the Feng’s Group did not advertise its new merchandises to let more people know about it like other merchants always did.
The Feng’s Group did not advertise these raw jade gemstones but put them aside and did not allow customers to observe and buy them. What was going on?
There were always unknown secrets behind every anomaly. Qin Haodong pretended to select raw gemstones in the zone d, but in fact, his eyes were fixed on the raw jade gemstones in the isolation section. Soon, he found something strange about these stones.
Maybe because the merchandises did not sell well, no seller came to serve Qin Haodong even though he had been there for a while. The staff seemed to not care about the gemstones outside, but, there always were people walking around the isolation section, looking as if they were guarding it.
Besides, these people all spoke Burmese. It looked that they were Burmese, not the local people in the south of the Yangtze River.
“What’s going on? Could it be that those raw gemstones are of high quality, so, they are guarded?” However, soon, Qin Haodong realized that there was no Spiritual Qi from those gemstones. As a result, these could not be the raw jade gemstones of high quality from Myanmar.
Qin Haodong was even more confused. “The Jade Gang has a good relationship with the Feng’s Group, so, they should sell lots of raw jade gemstones of high quality to help the group out of trouble. Why did they transport so many useless stones here?
“No wonder the Feng’s Group took none further action after they got two batches of raw gemstones. They knew very well that if they sold these stones of poor quality in the market, it would not turn things around but would lead them into a passive position.”
“Since they knew that the quality of these gemstones is poor, why did they still transport them from Myanmar to Huaxia?”
With these questions, Qin Haodong came to the place nearest to the isolation section and started to observe these gemstones again. Because he had a strong Spirit, he could feel the aura of the gemstones clearly from where he stood. Before long, he found something strange again.
Though these gemstones contained little Spiritual Qi, most of them gave a natural smell, indicating that they were naturally formed. About one-tenth of the gemstones did not give such a smell. The only explanation was that they were man-made.
“Why did they put these man-made gemstones in an exhibition hall? There must be something strange about these stones.” Qin Haodong could not figure out the reason at the moment. “It looks that I have to get a gemstone and analyze it to find the answer.”
With this thought, Qin Haodong quickly entered the isolation section and approached the raw gemstones when the attention of the guards was not on the area.
“Hey! What are you doing here? Who let you in? Didn’t you see the sign ‘Out of Bounds’?”
A staff about twenty saw Qin Haodong and immediately ran over at the moment. He was very angry because their boss had told them if someone approached the isolation section, they would be fired and could not get a penny from him.
Thinking of this, the staff pushed Qin Haodong hard by the shoulder and yelled at him. “Get out of here!”
Qin Haodong was seeking for a chance to get near to the raw jade gemstones, therefore, he took the chance to retreat backward several steps with the force and fell on the gemstones behind him.
He made an angry face and said, “I’m here to select raw jade gemstones. Why did you beat me?”
The staff shouted at him. “What the hell are you selecting? Can’t you see the sign here—Out of Bounds?”
“Are you bullying me for I can’t read? There is another person in the section. Why did you just not let me in?”
Qin Haodong pointed to a direction as he said this.
The staff was startled, thinking that he had let someone else in the section when he was mind-wandering. He looked toward the direction Qin Haodong pointed at, however, Qin Haodong took the chance to collect one piece of strange stone underneath him into his Storage Ring.
When the staff found that the person Qin Haodong referred to was one of the patrolling Burmese, he was relieved and said, “Get out of here quickly. That guy is our men, not a customer.”
“Ok, I’ll go, but haven’t you ever heard that the customer is always right? With money, I can buy raw jade gemstones wherever I go. Your group will have to suffer the loss of a customer.”
Qin Haodong got up and left the place in rage.
“What’s going on?”
A man who seemed to be a manager went over.
The staff immediately put on a smiling face and answered, “Nothing. Just a guy who can’t read. I told him to leave.”
The manager looked at Qin Haodong’s empty hands and was convinced. He turned to the staff, “Keep your eyes open. If I see someone approach the section again, you’ll definitely be fired.”
“Yes… yes, I’ll be careful from this moment on.”
The staff hurriedly answered, and the manager snorted before leaving.
When Qin Haodong went back into his car, Qin Haodong smiled, and a stone at the size of a volleyball appeared in his hands.
He held the stone with both hands and did not spot anything strange from it, but he was sure that the stone had to be man-made. Besides, the stoned was produced with advanced technology, so, normal people could not tell it’s man-made. If it had not been for he could sense its aura, he would not have been able to tell it either.
He thought there must be a reason behind these people producing these fake stones as it would take a great cost to make these stones look like real ones.
“But what’s wrong with it actually?” Qin Haodong could not find any problem by observing the stone, so, he decided to dig into it. He stretched out two fingers and pinched a raised part of the stone off.
Feeling it in his hands, he could tell this kind of man-made stone was not as hard as naturally-formed stone. Moreover, the grain on its cross-section was different from that of a natural one.
“Where does the problem lie?” With this question, Qin Haodong moved his finger and squeezed the small stone that he pinched off the stone into powder.
He raised his hand and looked at his fingers—the power was white. An idea suddenly struck him.
He recalled a case that the last time, some drug dealers merged the drugs into leather suitcases through chemical methods. Nalan Wuxia had just told him that a great number of drugs had entered into Jiangnan City but they did not know its whereabouts.
Putting these two things together with the fake stone in his hands, Qin Haodong almost came to the conclusion that the stone was probably made of drugs.
He was thrilled by his findings and drove to the criminal unit of Jiangnan City at once. Meanwhile, he called Nalan Wuxia.
“Madam, are you in the criminal unit?”
“No, I’m out carrying a mission with others. Why did you call me?” Nalan Wuxia asked.
“Come back now, hurry! I have good stuff for you.”
“For me?” Nalan Wuxia was a little surprised and continued to ask, “What stuff?”
“A great treasure!” Qin Haodong burst into laughter.
To Nalan Wuxia, who was anxious to crack the drug case, this stone was indeed a treasure.
Nalan Wuxia replied, “I’m busy, so, don’t joke with me. It will be a disaster if we can’t find these drugs in time and let them circulate in the market. It will bring our country endless troubles.”
“I’m not joking. This stuff is significant to you. Come back quickly. I’m arriving at the criminal unit.”
Qin Haodong ended the call after finishing his words, confident that Nalan Wuxia would be back soon.
Not surprisingly, just as he parked his car at the criminal unit, Nalan Wuxia stormed back in a patrol wagon.
She got off the car and said to Qin Haodong with resentment, “For what reason you insisted on my coming back? Are you in trouble in wooing girls again?”
“You’re talking nonsense. I’m an honest man.”
“Aren’t you ashamed of describing yourself as an honest man? Every time you’re in trouble, you are with a woman. Can you tell me an exception?”
Qin Haodong thought it for a while and found her words true. He answered in embarrassment, “Well… I’m so handsome, and it’s not my fault.”
“All right, cut the crap. Why did you call me back?”
“I’ve told you I have good stuff for you.” Qin Haodong took the stone out of the car and handed it to Nalan Wuxia as he said that.
“You urged me back just to give me this stone? Is it an April fool’s joke?”
Nalan Wuxia thought that Qin Haodong was making fun of her, and she had a desire to smash Qin Haodong’s head with the stone.
Qin Haodong replied, “I’m serious. This stone is a treasure.”
Seeing his serious look, Nalan Wuxia received the stone and turned it over carefully in her hands but did not find anything different.
“It’s just a stone and nothing like a treasure,” Nalan Wuxia grumbled, “I don’t have time to joke with you. I’m leaving if there is nothing else.”
“What you are looking for is exactly in this stone. Where are you off to?”
“What do you mean?” Nalan Wuxia was smart, and she also experienced the case where the drugs were merged into leather suitcases, so, after a while in thought, she looked shocked and exclaimed, “Do you mean that there are drugs in this stone?”
Qin Haodong answered, “I guessed so. Have it tested in your laboratory and we’ll know it soon.”
“I’m on it.”
Nalan Wuxia stormed out the criminal unit carrying the stone and delivered it to the laboratory of Technology Division. To test drugs was always very easy, so, she carried the stone out of the lab several minutes later.
She exclaimed in a thrill, “Tell me, where did you get this stone?”
“You haven’t told me the results of the test yet.”
Qin Haodong was much calmer than Nalan Wuxia.
“We got it tested and the results show that it contains a lot of diamorphine of high concentration, which means that you’re right. There are many drugs in this stone.”
Seeing that his guess was confirmed, Qin Haodong could not help but be impressed by the crafty drug dealers, who could think of such an unusual way to smuggle drugs.
If it had not been that Lin Momo noticed something unusual with the Lin’s Group, and that he happened to be involved in the case, and that he had a Storage Ring, they would not have been able to find the secret.
Justice had long arms. These criminals accidentally fell down because of Qin Haodong in the end.
While Qin Haodong was still in mixed emotions, Nalan Wuxia was impatient and asked him, “What are you smiling at? Tell me quickly where did you get this stone? Don’t delay my case.”