155: Go to a temple to find a bargain on jade!
Time reached twelve o'clock, and Chen Kai refreshed today's intelligence right on time.
"Ding!"
"Today's intelligence refreshed!"
"Today's Intermediate Intelligence refreshed: In the tourist souvenir shop at the popular Lingyun Temple in Jiangnan City, a white jadeite Guanyin is mixed in with the jade Guanyins. Due to the souvenir shop manager's negligence, and because the jadeite's texture is fine, they mistook it for jade, accidentally placing the jadeite Guanyin worth 53,999 from the shelf into the 3,999 jade Guanyin section."
"Suggested selling price: 34,000."
Chen Kai gasped. You can actually Score a Bargain like this?
Placing jadeite in the jade section—this manager was indeed a bit negligent.
However, the difference between this suggested selling price and the retail price is huge.
Making a small profit of 30,000 yuan is not bad, but what excites him more is that when he wakes up today, he can sell his shares of maotai liquor.
That's equivalent to 130,000 yuan coming in today! Awesome!
Chen Kai was instantly excited. After casually setting an alarm, he fell into a deep sleep.
...
Early the next morning, Chen Kai got up early. The Temple was quite far from his place; it would take over an hour to drive there.
It was almost in the suburbs of Jiangnan, and he had to drive on a section of the ring expressway to get there.
Chen Kai immediately got ready, went downstairs, put on his clothes, and drove straight towards Lingyun Temple.
In less than an hour and a half, Chen Kai parked his car at the entrance of Lingyun Temple.
As soon as he got out of the car, he saw that Lingyun Temple was packed with people; there were hardly any parking spaces left.
It was almost filled with luxury cars, and compared to them, his mercedes-benz gle felt a bit unremarkable in the parking lot.
Chen Kai smiled and shook his head, then walked straight towards the main gate of Lingyun Temple.
At the entrance, there were people selling incense and tour guides giving explanations, but as usual, he bought nothing and headed straight for the tourist center.
He was afraid that if he arrived too late, this great bargain on the jadeite would be snatched up by someone else.
As for burning incense and such, sincerity is what matters.
Soon, he squeezed through the crowd to the entrance of the first Temple, took a quick glance at his navigation, and realized he was still far from where the tourist souvenirs were sold.
Without looking back, Chen Kai continued walking upwards.
He didn't remember how many steps he climbed or how many small hills he crossed before he finally arrived at the tourist souvenir center.
Unsurprisingly, the souvenir center was also completely packed with people.
There was even a long queue at the place selling Bodhi bead bracelets at the entrance.
Chen Kai naturally didn't have the patience to queue up for a bracelet, so he squeezed directly into the tourist souvenir center.
Inside, the souvenir center looked like a small museum, containing all sorts of things, including sarira and ritual implements.
Near the exit, there were two rows of display cabinets filled with various Guanyin statues. On both sides of the Counter stood two abbots, smiling as they welcomed guests and waved goodbye to them.
The display cabinet on the left cost 3,999 to invite one, and the one on the right cost 53,999. The materials were exactly as the system described: jade and jadeite, respectively.
However, despite the crowd in the tourist souvenir center, not many people were inviting Guanyin statues at the Counter; there were just a few scattered people standing there with their heads down.
But without exception, they were all discouraged after seeing the price. This was, after all, a souvenir center; souvenirs costing a few dozen yuan were fine.
Inviting such an expensive Guanyin statue back home—who knew if the material was authentic?
Seeing this, Chen Kai immediately moved closer, preparing to check if there was any glowing jadeite in the display cabinets on either side.
"Huh? Why isn't there any?"
Chen Kai was stunned. In the 3,999 cabinet, among so many statues, there wasn't a single piece of glowing jadeite.
Moreover, the jade quality in the 3,999 section felt mostly the same, whereas the jadeite side had various colors like cyan and green.
It's unlikely they put it in the wrong place, right? Or maybe the time hasn't come yet?
Chen Kai took a few more looks, and after confirming there was none, he continued wandering around the tourist center.
He planned to wait and see if someone would come to change shifts, and by the way, enjoy the air conditioner, as it was really too hot outside.
But after wandering around the tourist souvenir center for half an hour, Chen Kai didn't see any sign of anyone coming to change shifts; the two abbots were still smiling and sending people off at the entrance.
They were also taking the opportunity to introduce the Guanyin statues that had been consecrated.
Chen Kai listened from the side for a long time but didn't pick up any clues.
Just then, two women walked towards the entrance hand in hand and greeted the two abbots.
"Wow, you were already sending off guests at the entrance when we came last night, and you're still here today."
"Aren't you tired from standing the whole time? Won't you go take a break?"
The two abbots smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, benefactor. We will rest once the Temple closes today."
"Thank you for your concern."
Chen Kai was stunned; he felt something was not quite right.
This... they weren't rotating shifts at all. That meant it was impossible for someone to come over later to change a batch of jadeite or accidentally misplace the jadeite into the jade section.
Besides, the system's intelligence didn't say these were consecrated.
That means... maybe there's a surprise among the ones that haven't been consecrated?
Chen Kai thought for a moment, then walked quickly towards the two abbots and stopped beside the Counter displaying the jadeite again.
The abbot in charge of the left Counter looked very calm, neither sad nor happy. "Benefactor, would you like to invite a Guanyin statue? The texture is also jade; Lingyun Temple would never fake it."
Chen Kai nodded. "I do have some intention of inviting one. But... my request is a bit strange."
The abbot was stunned. "What request does the benefactor have?"
"Are the jadeite statues here consecrated?"
Chen Kai asked curiously, deliberately pretending not to know.
"Yes! All the ones displayed on the Counter have been consecrated!"
The abbot said proudly, his tone very firm and full of vigor.
Chen Kai nodded. "I don't want the consecrated ones."
Abbot: ???!
The abbot's expression was like he had seen a ghost. That look of disbelief seemed to say, "In all my time at Lingyun Temple, I have never seen someone specifically ask for un-consecrated items."
"Benefactor... what did you say?"
"I said I don't want the consecrated ones. Do you have any that haven't been consecrated? I just want to put one at home as an ornament; I don't have that many thoughts about it."
Chen Kai shrugged indifferently, his face full of composure.
"Oh... yes, we do. The ones not displayed on the Counter haven't gone through the consecration ceremony. You can choose which one you want to invite."
Chen Kai was instantly delighted. He watched as the abbot slowly bent down and opened a hidden door under the Counter.
Looking into the hidden door, there was a small space hidden under the display stand.
Inside the small space were many Guanyin statues.
Among them, one statue was emitting a faint glow from under the Counter!!!