Yan Aohan was right. Although she lived in this society, she had always remained independent. She kept herself apart because she had seen too much. Perhaps because she had been a writer in her past life, having written countless novels and read endless stories, her heart had grown cold. Even when she did good deeds, she handled every matter with calm detachment. Only the world of soldiers stirred her blood, for that was the world she yearned for.
"How should I change?" Zhu Yanyi frowned. She knew that staying this way would do her no good, so she decided to fix this flaw.
Yan Aohan looked at the confused Zhu Yanyi, heard her words, and chuckled softly. "No need to change. Calmness is a good thing. You just need to blend in a little more while staying calm. Humans are social animals. Do not exclude yourself, especially since you are only eleven, not seventy-one. So, occasionally, you can be a bit wild. Come, first, pick a stone to try out the excitement here."
Zhu Yanyi was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "You have money and nowhere to spend it, so you want me to squander it. Is that how it works?"
"Squander?" Yan Aohan repeated softly. A light flashed in her eyes as she smiled at Zhu Yanyi. "You could never spend all my money. Besides, I only suggested you buy one to try. Just join the fun." She pointed to the people around them who were enthusiastically choosing stones. "If you come here and don't buy a stone, you’d be letting down their enthusiasm."
Zhu Yanyi saw that everyone around was looking at stones with great interest. Some used flashlights, others used magnifying glasses. Zhu Yanyi rubbed her forehead. "I don’t understand stone gambling."
"Just joining the fun," Yan Aohan said with a smile.
Zhu Yanyi glanced at Yan Aohan. "You told me to choose, so I really will choose."
Yan Aohan raised an eyebrow and nodded, giving her a look that said, Go ahead, I’ll pay.
Zhu Yanyi chuckled softly. Fine. She knew Yan Aohan was doing this for her own good. As she said, humans are social animals, not lone wolves. Even wolves have packs. So, she thought, picking one wouldn’t hurt. However, she didn’t have the skill for this. Although she had special abilities, they were not the "Golden Eye" from novels, so she couldn’t see through these stones. Therefore, she couldn’t use her abilities. She would just pick one randomly, just for fun.
Having made up her mind, Zhu Yanyi started looking. She noticed there were quite a few people in the stone yard, but one corner was empty. Zhu Yanyi pointed to the corner. "Why is no one looking at those stones?"
A staff member watching the crowd smiled and explained, "Because nine out of ten stones over there are waste. They are just plain rocks, belonging to the scrap area. Whether jade comes out of them is purely up to fate." In other words, there was likely no jade inside; they were just there for decoration.
Zhu Yanyi smiled. "Since I don’t know which stone is good anyway, my choice depends on luck regardless. I’ll go pick one from there. Are they expensive?"
"Not expensive. Those stones are only one yuan each," the staff member said, seeing that Zhu Yanyi was sincere. Those stones were discarded scraps, so the price was fixed at one yuan each, with no room for negotiation.
Zhu Yanyi nodded and looked at Yan Aohan. "Actually, I don’t squander money. I am still very frugal."