With twenty minutes left before the agreed time, Nancy decided she’d done enough selecting and led Linda and the others toward the cutting room.

Just as they were about to enter, a quarreling couple suddenly blocked their way.

"Jason! You’re gambling on jade again? Do you realize that’s the last of our savings?!"

The woman was sobbing uncontrollably, clutching Jason’s hand to keep him from leaving.

Jason, clearly agitated, pleaded with her, "Just let me cut this raw stone! What if it turns out to be a jackpot and we become rich overnight?"

"Rich overnight?!"

The woman’s grip tightened like a vise. Jason tried to break free, but she dropped to the ground, refusing to let go.

"You’re a walking disaster, that’s what you are! You’ve gambled away tens of millions of our family’s assets, and now you want to bet what little we have left? Do you even remember that our son is in the hospital waiting for this money to save his life?"

Their shouting had already drawn a crowd, but at the mention of the boy’s illness, curiosity piqued even further.

"Your son’s sick?" someone asked from the crowd.

"Yes!"

The woman wailed even louder. "My son has leukemia. He needs a bone marrow transplant, but it costs so much money! This disaster of a man gambled away all our savings, and the last bit of money—my son’s lifeline—he stole to buy raw stones! Waaaah!"

"Stop crying!"

Jason, noticing the crowd’s judgmental stares, shouted irritably. "If this raw stone turns out to be valuable, forget the transplant—our son will have the best life, and so will you!"

The crowd finally lost their patience.

"And what if it’s worthless? Will you just let your son die?"

"Exactly! No matter what, saving your son should come first. Who in their right mind gambles with their child’s life?"

The woman, emboldened by the crowd’s support, cried even harder. "Waaaah… This money was my secret stash, saved from years of scrimping and saving, and he stole it to gamble! Why is my life so miserable?"

Then, suddenly, her tears stopped. A determined expression crossed her face as she gritted her teeth.

"Jason, if our son can’t be saved, then I don’t want to live either. If my son and I can’t survive, you’re coming with us!"

With that, she suddenly pulled a knife from her waistband and lunged toward Jason, aiming for his stomach.

The sudden action startled the onlookers, and several screamed in fear.

Just as the knife was about to strike Jason, a hand appeared out of nowhere, firmly gripping the woman’s wrist.

With a twist of the wrist, the knife clattered to the ground, and the woman’s arm went limp.

Jason stumbled backward, his face pale and covered in cold sweat. He had narrowly escaped death, all thanks to the stranger who had intervened.

The woman looked at the man who had stopped her, and then burst into tears again. "Waaaah! Why did you stop me? Let me kill that disaster of a man!"

Nancy shook her head and walked forward calmly. "Ma’am, my brother did the right thing stopping you. I sympathize with your situation, but no matter how desperate you feel, you can’t kill someone."

The woman looked up and saw Nancy’s beautiful face. At that moment, Henry bent down to pick up the knife and returned to Nancy’s side.

Seeing they were together, the woman’s grief turned into fury. "Why are you meddling?! My son and I can’t survive anymore! Let me kill this disaster and take him with us to the grave!"