The spring rain in March had been falling continuously for five or six days, but finally, the weather cleared up. The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze blew, bringing warmth. As the temperature rose, people shed their heavy winter coats and happily switched to lighter jackets and T-shirts, enjoying the sunshine and breeze. The warm sunlight and soft wind made everyone feel incredibly relaxed.
Not far from Xingcheng University, the Huimin Clinic saw a surge in business as the weather improved. The injection room was already filled with five or six patients receiving IV drips.
Xu Ze carefully inserted the needle for the last patient, adjusted the drip rate, and then said goodbye to Nurse Luo before stepping out. He walked into the consultation room and looked at Dr. Zhang, who was reading a book. He spoke cautiously, “Dr. Zhang, I have something to do tonight, so I might not be able to come in.”
Dr. Zhang looked up at the respectful Xu Ze and nodded with a smile. He opened a drawer, took out an envelope, and handed it to Xu Ze. “This is last month’s salary. Take it.”
Seeing the thin envelope, Xu Ze’s eyes lit up. This was what he had been waiting for. He smiled and took the envelope, saying, “Thank you, Dr. Zhang. I’ll head out now.”
After happily counting the eight hundred yuan in the envelope, Xu Ze went to the ATM near the school and withdrew his entire savings of five hundred yuan. He then hopped on his bicycle and headed straight to Tongzi Street.
Tongzi Street was Xingcheng’s largest antique and jade market. Xu Ze had visited a few times with his classmates, so he was somewhat familiar with the area.
However, today he wasn’t here to browse. It was his girlfriend Zhang Linyun’s birthday, and as her boyfriend, he wanted to give her a special gift. After saving up for over a month, Xu Ze was ready to splurge to make her happy.
He knew Linyun had always wanted a jade Buddha pendant, but the better ones were quite expensive, so she had never bought one for herself. Xu Ze planned to pick one out for her as a birthday surprise. After all, they had been together for a few months, and he had never given her anything.
He remembered a well-established jade shop on Tongzi Street that had been around for over eighty years. The owner was a craftsman with a family tradition of jade carving. Xu Ze had accompanied some local classmates to this shop before. Although the store looked small, his classmates had assured him that it was trustworthy and offered better prices than the big jewelry stores.
With this in mind, Xu Ze headed straight to the shop after withdrawing his money.
Tongzi Street was bustling as usual. Xu Ze pushed his bicycle through the crowd, passing by colorful storefronts until he finally spotted the small, antique-looking sign of Wang’s Jade Shop.
After parking his bike, Xu Ze pushed open the slightly worn glass door and walked in.
Seeing the familiar shop owner, Xu Ze breathed a sigh of relief. He had come to the right place. The same gray-haired old man was behind the counter.
The owner nodded at Xu Ze and smiled, “What can I help you with, young man?”
Xu Ze walked over and said, “I’d like to buy a jade pendant, preferably one shaped like a Buddha.”
The owner smiled and looked at Xu Ze. “Men usually wear Guanyin pendants, while women wear Buddha pendants. Are you buying this for your girlfriend?”
Xu Ze scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly, nodding.
The owner laughed softly. “No need to be shy. What’s your budget? I’ll pick out a few for you to choose from.”
“Uh… around seven or eight hundred yuan.”
The owner stroked his sparse beard, then bent down and pulled out three or four boxes from the counter. He opened them and placed them on the counter. “Take a look. These are all in the seven to eight hundred range. Let me know which one you like. Since you came straight to me, you know I won’t overcharge you.”
Xu Ze nodded with a smile. “Of course. I’ve been here with my classmates before, so I trust your prices.”
Without hesitation, Xu Ze leaned over the counter and carefully examined the pendants. There were a few light green jade Buddhas and one milky white jade Buddha. Xu Ze frowned as he looked at them. The green jade looked beautiful, but he remembered Linyun preferred white jade.
So, he pointed at the white jade Buddha and asked, “How much is this one?”
“That one is 850 yuan,” the owner replied.
“850 yuan…” Xu Ze frowned. He thought about the 1,300 yuan in his pocket and decided he needed to save some for living expenses. He looked up at the owner and said, “Can you lower the price a bit? 850 is a bit steep…”
The owner smiled. “For this quality of jade, 850 is already a fair price. I guarantee you won’t find this for less than 1,500 yuan in a jewelry store. Since you’ve been here before, you know I don’t haggle.”
“But it’s still a bit expensive.” Xu Ze hesitated as he looked at the white jade pendant.
Seeing his hesitation, the owner took out two more boxes and placed them on the counter. “How about these? They’re also white jade. One is 680 yuan, and the other is 750 yuan.”
Xu Ze looked at the two white jade Buddhas but wasn’t satisfied. The 850-yuan one was clearly more beautiful. Since he was buying it for Linyun, he wanted to get her the best. He shook his head and said, “Can’t you lower the price a bit? I really like the first one.”
The owner shook his head. “You know our shop’s policy. We don’t haggle. But I can see you really want it, so if you decide to buy it, I’ll throw in a free gift.”
He then took out a small silk bag from the counter and placed a light green jade pendant on the counter. “As the saying goes, men wear Guanyin, and women wear Buddha. I noticed you don’t have a Guanyin pendant. This one came as a freebie with my last shipment. The carving isn’t great, but the jade quality is decent. If you like it, you can have it as a bonus. But the price for the white jade Buddha stays at 850 yuan.”
Xu Ze sighed as he looked at the pendant. The jade looked somewhat translucent, but the carving was undeniably poor. It was hard to tell it was even a Guanyin. But he knew the owner was telling the truth—Wang’s Jade Shop never haggled. Getting a free pendant was already a good deal. Plus, it would make a nice pair: Linyun with the Buddha pendant and him with the Guanyin. It would be like a couple’s set.
Thinking this, Xu Ze felt a sweet warmth in his heart. He decided not to push further. He still had a few hundred yuan left, so he could manage.
After paying, Xu Ze hung the poorly carved green jade pendant around his neck and carefully placed the white jade Buddha in its box. He thanked the owner, got on his bike, and happily rode back to school.
As Xu Ze rode back, he started sweating, and the moisture seeped into the jade pendant around his neck. Unbeknownst to him, the pendant began to emit a faint, strange glow upon contact with the sweat. The jade turned transparent, and a spectrum of colorful lights swirled inside. After a few seconds, the light faded, and the pendant returned to its original state. However, a strange message now resided within it: “System carrier activated. Awaiting initialization…”