Chapter 305: Chapter 298 Gem Level Chapter 305: Chapter 298 Gem Level The tree hollow where Zheng Tan was hiding was a bit high off the ground. When the man fell, he landed on another, older man below him. The forest floor was thick with grass and littered with many leaves, so although the man screamed in pain when he fell, likely fracturing or spraining something, his life was not endangered.

The older man got up cursing and muttering. Zheng Tan couldn’t understand what he was saying, only guessing from his tone that it was nothing pleasant.

The older man, having been fallen on, was also in discomfort. He got up and rubbed his shoulder and neck before seeing the younger man still groaning on the ground. He kicked him and chided quietly, probably telling him to keep it down because he didn’t want to be discovered.

The young man’s voice quieted considerably as he slowly got up, rubbing his lower back and several other spots. Then, touching his hand, he realized the stinging area on the back of his hand was sticky, evidently bleeding.

For human eyesight, it would have been hard at that moment to notice that what had scared the young man into falling from the tree was actually a cat. At most, he might have sensed a very brief blur of a shadow passing by, and the sound Zheng Tan made was not like a cat’s. Therefore, the two men must have thought a bird had occupied the tree hollow, and the injury on their hand came from a peck. Angry, the young man stepped on a hard object, bent down to pick it up—it was a rock the size of an egg. He then threw it towards the tree hole where Zheng Tan was, but since he had hurt his arm in the fall, the throw lacked strength and the rock only hit the trunk.

The older man, seeing this, cursed under his breath again and slapped the younger man on the back of the head, then carefully scanning around, he asked something. The younger man shook his feet and replied, “Can’t.”

After having startled them, Zheng Tan immediately retreated back into the hole and kept his ears alert to the noises below. After some low conversations, the two men did not stay under the tree for much longer and walked off to another location.

When the two men had moved about ten meters away, Zheng Tan cautiously stretched his head out and saw them approaching a clump of low shrubs, a place rarely frequented by people, with grass taller and usually abundant with mosquitoes when the temperatures were warm.

The two men huddled around the low shrubs, whispering something, while Zheng Tan also heard rustling noises from the bushes.

Maybe the opposite party couldn’t climb the tree because the fall was so bad they had to choose another place to hide their stuff?

Zheng Tan watched the two busy themselves for a while, then stood up and carefully scouted the surroundings, seemingly memorizing the topography and exact location before they left the area reluctantly, adjusting some of the surrounding weeds to make them appear more natural.

Once the two men were far enough away, Zheng Tan listened carefully, hearing no footsteps, he slid down from the tree and made his way over to the shrubs.

Carefully moving the weeds in front of the shrubbery, Zheng Tan sniffed the air. There was an unusual scent, different from the bushes. Following the scent, Zheng Tan pried apart the shrubbery with his paw.

Hidden in the dense shrubbery was an inconspicuous little bag, similar to those bags students use to carry MP3 players.

The bag’s drawstrings were tied around several branches of the shrubbery, secured tightly, presumably to prevent it from falling and causing an incident. It took Zheng Tan about half an hour to untie the bag, no wonder the two men spent so much time crouched in front of the shrubs.

After taking out the bag, Zheng Tan tugged at the shrubbery a bit more, realigning the twisted weeds, then ran off holding the bag.

Arriving at a tree, Zheng Tan felt the bag. It was ordinary, and the material wasn’t particularly expensive; similar material bags were sold at student stalls for just 1 or 2 yuan.

Opening the bag, Zheng Tan looked inside. It contained some small hard objects: the smallest around a millimeter or even smaller, and the larger ones about three millimeters. Upon closer inspection, Zheng Tan realized these objects looked very much like diamonds.

Diamonds? Fake, perhaps?

Looking at the small granules inside the bag, as someone who couldn’t tell the difference between diamonds and crystals, Zheng Tan felt a tremendous pressure.

But if they were fake, why would those two be so careful? Why would they sneak around in the dead of night to hide their items?

And if they were real, these diamonds could be worth a lot of money. Why would they just leave them here?

Put the bag back where it was?

Considering the behavior of those two, Zheng Tan decided to play a trick on them. He wasn’t planning to take the bag back to the Jiao family, as it might bring trouble to them. So, Zheng Tan decided to hide the bag somewhere else. It was late, and no one would see him anyway.

Hm?

He seemed to have forgotten something…

Looking up at the night sky, Zheng Tan cursed under his breath, then tightened the opening of the bag with a simple knot, and climbed up to the tree hollow where he had stored the cell phone. Since those two had come here to hide their stuff and had found the hollow, for safety reasons, Zheng Tan decided to temporarily move the cell phone.

As for a hiding place, Zheng Tan thought for a moment and decided to hide both the cell phone and the bag containing the undetermined diamonds there.

After Zheng Tan had hidden the items, he checked the phone: 11:40.

He turned the phone off and immediately sprinted towards the East District courtyard.

Even before entering the courtyard, Zheng Tan could see the building where the Jiao family lived. On the fifth floor, the lights in the Jiao family’s living room were still on.

Zheng Tan took a deep breath and continued to run back. A scolding was inevitable.

Jiao family’s living room on the fifth floor.

Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma were sitting in the living room, the television was on, but there was hardly any sound, almost muted. One was expressionless, the other had worry in her eyes, occasionally glancing at the wall clock. Little Youzi sat at her desk in her room, with a workbook spread out in front of her, but she had no intention of writing, just daydreaming.

Mr. Jiao switched the channels with the remote control, stopping on a channel that was showing a horror movie. In it, a cat was baring its teeth at a monster. Mr. Jiao’s face twitched, not because he wanted to watch this movie, but because the time was displayed in the corner of the channel.

Good, it was ten minutes to midnight.

The wooden door at the Jiao family’s entrance wasn’t shut, and the security door was only left ajar.

A “click” sounded from downstairs, causing Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma to become alert and then look towards the door.

After a while, a furry paw pushed the ajar door open, revealing a cat’s head that cautiously peeked into the living room.

The moment she saw that black cat paw, Jiao Ma’s hanging heart finally settled.

“All right, all right, he’s finally back!” Jiao Ma came over and picked Zheng Tan up. After checking and finding no injuries, she set Zheng Tan down, yawned, and walked into the bedroom to sleep, as they usually would have been asleep by this time.

This time, Mr. Jiao, including the last time in South City, had a serious talk with Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan obediently crouched on the couch, being lectured by Mr. Jiao pointing at his forehead.

With his head hanging and his ears drooped, Zheng Tan knew he had to show a sincere attitude in admitting his mistake, and act pitiful, otherwise, the scolding would be even harsher. Moreover, he genuinely felt guilty about coming home late, with everyone waiting for him. Tomorrow, all three of them had to wake up early, whether for school or work, he wasn’t sure if they would be affected.

As a result of his late return, Zheng Tan tried several times to squeeze into Little Youzi’s bed but failed and ended up being thrown into Jiao Yuan’s room; meanwhile, Mr. Jiao took away Zheng Tan’s cat card. Without the cat card, Zheng Tan couldn’t open the entrance control downstairs, making it inconvenient for him to come and go, signifying he was grounded. This lasted for three days, and whether the cat card would be returned afterward depended on his performance. Thus, during these three days, even if Zheng Tan could sneak out following someone else, he preferred to stay home for a quicker recovery of his cat card.

Thinking about how the three of them stayed up late waiting for him, Zheng Tan didn’t harbor any resentment. As for the cat card, it was just for three days; staying home to sleep and daydreaming was fine, watching TV, secretly playing on the computer, or rummaging through the cardboard box under Jiao Yuan’s bed for something to amuse himself.

Zheng Tan spent the night on Jiao Yuan’s bed. The next day, he obediently stayed at home, flipping through comics and novels from the cardboard box under Jiao Yuan’s bed. Those magazines featuring beauties were gone, handled by Jiao Yuan somewhere along the line; he only saw the new magazines once, and no matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find them again. That kid Jiao Yuan had grown up, becoming more cunning and his hiding skills had become more sophisticated.

While flipping through the comics, Zheng Tan thought about the bag he picked up last night and was curious about how those two people would react when they discovered their belongings were missing.

But were those items real or fake?

Zheng Tan thought about it and suddenly remembered something Jiao Ma had mentioned about diamonds a while ago. At the time, Zheng Tan hadn’t paid attention, but upon recollecting, it seemed Jiao Ma had started talking about it after seeing something in a newspaper.

Thinking back to the approximate date of that day, it must have been the “Chu University Journal.” Various issues are published at different times, and although Zheng Tan didn’t read the newspaper much, he had become familiar with their schedule over the years with the Jiao family.

Since it was recent, it could be either on Jiao Yuan’s desk or next to Mr. Jiao’s computer.

He jumped onto Jiao Yuan’s desk and searched through it. Only other issues were there, not seeing the “Chu University Journal,” Zheng Tan then ran to the main bedroom and rummaged through the stack of newspapers next to the computer and found what he was looking for.

Pulling out the newspaper, he didn’t need to search; just unfolding it revealed a large picture displaying three diamonds.

They were synthetic diamonds created by a materials research lab at Chuhua University’s Chemistry Department. According to the report, they all reached gem level.

The enormous commercial value of the gem-grade diamond crystals had long kept the synthesis techniques highly confidential. Some research facilities and commercial institutions in the country were also exploring this area. After the campus lab mastered the core techniques to synthesize high-quality gem-grade diamonds, they showcased their three excellent synthetic products — three differently colored synthetic gem-grade diamonds, varying in size from six to seven millimeters.

Zheng Tan didn’t have the patience to read through the lengthy academic terms and explanations. He skimmed it and only understood that these items were made from carbon, graphite, and diamond were related, but unfortunately, their value was incomparable.

Long ago, Su An jokingly said to Jiao Yuan, “Your cat’s named Heitan, might as well call it Graphite,” and Zheng Tan hadn’t understood it at that moment. Now thinking about it, he suddenly felt his name was incredibly uncool. He just didn’t know when he could become a “Diamond.”

The article stated that many synthetic diamonds had now reached a level of authenticity that could easily deceive. It also noted that their lab had specialized equipment for identification. Their subtext suggested they could help with the identification, but the fee was a different matter.

Zheng Tan couldn’t just carry those suspected diamonds over and knock on the lab’s door.

The article also mentioned some identification methods. Zheng Tan thought about testing them out once his grounding was lifted. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it with recommendation and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep