"Does the second room have them too?" Ye Tian asked.
"Of course," the youth replied. "The ones in the middle building are the most expensive, with the cheapest on the second floor costing fifty million each. The east building is next, with melon stones on the second floor priced at fifteen million."
Ye Tian chuckled, "It seems Mr. Wu has quite a few melon stones in his possession. I'll start with the west building then."
The youth nodded and walked to another row of tiled houses not far away, calling out, "The melon buyers have arrived!"
A man in his forties emerged, a wide smile plastered on his face. He cupped his fist towards Ye Tian and said, "I'm the manager. You wish to purchase melon stones?"
"That's right," Ye Tian confirmed.
The man nodded, "Please follow me." Together with the youth, each holding a key, they opened the safe door located on the first floor.
After the door was opened, the two men accompanied Ye Tian and his companions into the stairwell and up to the second floor.
The second floor was about a hundred square meters, filled with melon stones piled up haphazardly.
This was Ye Tian's first time seeing melon stones. He noticed that these so-called melon stones were distinctly different from ordinary rocks. They were generally oval or spherical in shape, with a rough surface. When held, they felt lighter than regular stones.
Lin Ziyi inquired, "Are all the stones here fifty thousand?"
The middle-aged man chuckled, "That's correct. One costs fifty thousand, and ten would be five million."
Ye Tian scanned the room. There were quite a lot of stones, at least a thousand. Most were directly in boxes, with some scattered on the floor.
He picked up a melon stone the size of a basketball and weighed it. He channeled his True Qi into it. His True Qi had reached the Xuan realm, allowing him to quickly simulate an internal image of the melon stone in his mind, with precision exceeding that of an MRI.
Inside this melon stone, there was indeed a spherical object, likely also made of stone. To verify his judgment, he struck the melon stone with his palm, shattering its outer shell. As the stone skin cracked open, a blue-gold stone was revealed within. Its texture was similar to jade, but its hardness was significantly greater.
Upon seeing the blue-gold stone, the youth's eyes widened. "You're quite lucky," he exclaimed. "You found a blue-gold gem on your first try!"
Ye Tian asked, "Is this a gem?"
The middle-aged man smiled, "These gems are usually found only within melon stones and are more valuable than jade. This one in your hand is worth at least ten million. If you wish to sell it, we can buy it back."
"So, it's a gem," Ye Tian said with a smile. He handed the stone to Zhang Jiliang to hold.
He then picked up another melon stone, only to find it hollow with a small cavity, thus having little value. He set it aside and picked up the second one.
Meanwhile, in another small building, Huang Sandong was engaged in lively conversation with a man in his early fifties. This man was portly, with fair skin, no beard, and thinning hair. He was the owner of the establishment, Wu Lao Liu.
Through the window, the two men saw Ye Tian and his group enter the small building. Huang Sandong remarked with a smile, "I know this person. He asked me about melon stones a few days ago. I told him if he wanted to buy melon stones, he should go see Wu Lao Liu, as he has the most and the best quality."
Wu Lao Liu inquired, "Oh, how strong is this young man?"
Huang Sandong chuckled, "Initially, I didn't want to bother with him, but after chatting, I realized he's no ordinary person. He has assets in the tens of billions and owns several very powerful companies."
Wu Lao Liu's eyes began to gleam. "Tens of billions? That's impressive. To possess such wealth at such a young age, his future is limitless."
Huang Sandong added, "This young man doesn't know much about melon stones, Old Wu. You've hit the jackpot again."
Wu Lao Liu smiled, "Later, I'll take him to the backyard."
Wu Lao Liu kept his truly high-end melon stones in the backyard.
Huang Sandong said, "I've only met this person once, so I don't know him well. Old Wu, be a bit restrained, don't cheat him too badly."
Wu Lao Liu scoffed, "No matter who he is, once he's here, he'll obediently hand over his money!"
At this moment, Ye Tian was still selecting melon stones. He handled each melon stone. In this entire room, only thirteen of them contained anything of value.
Seeing that he had touched all the melon stones, the youth grew impatient. "Are you buying or not?"
Ye Tian smiled, "Of course, I'm buying. This one I opened, plus these thirteen, I'll take them all."
Fourteen stones, totaling seven million, was not a small sum.
The youth asked, "Just these?"
"Not enough," Ye Tian replied. "We're going to the second floor."