Mr. Yang's face darkened, his expression one of utter dismay. The rough jade he had his eye on, the one with the best color, had yielded nothing; he'd lost everything. And with that other piece, if Zhou Xuan hadn't insisted, perhaps Manager Gao would have persuaded him to sell, and Mr. Yang could have recouped some of his investment. Even if he hadn't, at least he'd feel better; he'd won back a genuine piece of jade, and that would have saved him some face.
"I'll offer six million, sir. Are you interested in making a purchase?"
At this moment, a businessman seriously asked Zhou Xuan, "Six million is indeed not an unreasonable price. It's not because of Mr. Yang's bid of five million. Just now, Mr. Yang was purely trying to intimidate people with money. That little bit of green wasn't worth five million. Now, although six million is a bit low, it's a realistic price. After all, it hasn't been fully cut open yet, and no one knows how long the jade inside is. Right now, the main thing to look at is that the color, water, and transparency are all excellent, and the quality is good, so we can take the gamble."
Six million is a conservative price for both parties. They are not greedy and neither side will suffer any losses. The buyer will need to design and polish the jadeite material to make suitable ornaments, and then cooperate with the market to promote it in order to achieve the best price.
So, having already seen the quality, the only remaining bet between the two parties is on the size of the jadeite.
"Six million five hundred thousand"
Another person raised the price, and the situation was developing in a direction favorable to Zhou Xuan. However, Zhou Xuan would never give up at this time. He planned to have the craftsman cut in another direction. The jade inside was relatively small, and the surface was too large. Cutting in another direction would allow for a slightly larger cutting distance, which would shorten the time required.
But at that moment, Mr. Yang hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke: "Eight million."
The bid wasn't too high this time, but everyone was wary of him. As soon as he made a bid, everyone would naturally panic. They wanted to get the jadeite, but with Mr. Yang, such a formidable person, even if they got it in the end, it would be a loss.
However, Zhou Xuan could tell that although Mr. Yang had made an offer, he didn't dare to go too far now. If he offered too high a price, Mr. Yang might sell the jade. The price of eight million was already close to the maximum. It was because of this concern that Mr. Yang hesitated. The size of the jade could not be guaranteed. If he offered too high a price, he might not make any money. He had already lost eighty million today, and it wouldn't be surprising if he lost a hundred million.
But Zhou Xuan surprisingly shook his head and said, "Master, let's cut it from the other side. I want to try my luck again."
Zhou Xuan picked up the pen, walked to the stone-cutting machine, drew four lines on the other side of the stone, and said, "Master, cut from this side. If it doesn't cut in one cut, make a second or third cut."
The craftsman was taken aback. Zhou Xuan's four cuts had already reached less than ten centimeters from the cut edge. Wasn't cutting like that a great danger of ruining the jade?
The most experienced and skilled craftsman, the one who had cut the stone for Mr. Yang, approached. After examining it, he shook his head and advised, "Young man, this isn't the way to cut it. Now that you've found jade, you have to be much more careful when cutting from the other side. The first one or two cuts can be a little larger, but afterwards you have to cut little by little to avoid damaging the jade. Under normal circumstances, even twenty cuts would be too many. How could you cut it in just four? It's too dangerous, too dangerous!"
For rough stones that haven't yielded any green, it doesn't matter how big or small the cut is, as long as it's done quickly. But for stones like Zhou Xuan's, which have already yielded green or even revealed the jadeite itself, it's a delicate task. You have to take your time and carefully remove the jadeite as safely as possible. There's no need to rush it.
Volume 1, Chapter 593: The Contest
Chapter 593 Showdown
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Start slowly and then speed up. Now that it's all cut out, the jade inside probably isn't very big. Cutting it from the back, one cut at a time, would be too much trouble. It's better to make a few big cuts first, and then cut more slowly after that."
The craftsman simply shook his head. Zhou Xuan's words revealed him to be an amateur, a complete novice. This stone-cutting work couldn't be rushed; it had to be done slowly and carefully. Slow and steady wins the race.
However, Zhou Xuan is the owner of the rough stone, and he can cut it however he wants. The stone-cutting master can only offer a well-intentioned suggestion. You can listen if you want, or not. If the stone is damaged, you can't blame them.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then took a pen and drew four more lines on the back of the cut edge of the rough material, each line about fifteen centimeters apart.
Not only did the craftsmen shake their heads, but the other merchants and Manager Gao also chuckled. Zhou Xuan's cuts could ruin the rough stone in just three strokes. After three cuts, only about ten centimeters would be left to reveal the jade. Cutting it like that was simply disregarding the rough stone. Moreover, this was the only rough stone that had yielded jadeite so far. Even revealing just a small portion of jadeite was an extremely high-quality jadeite in every aspect. Given the increasing scarcity of top-grade jadeite, its value was self-evident.
The craftsman shook his head slightly, staring at Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan naturally understood what he meant, smiled, pointed at the rough stone, and said, "Go ahead and cut it. If you ruin it, it's my fault."
With Zhou Xuan's words, the master immediately stopped talking, nodded, and said, "Let him cut it. If it's bad, it's his problem. There's no point in saying more."
It's such a pity to waste such a fine piece of jade. The craftsmen all sighed. Manager Gao was now somewhat surprised by Zhou Xuan. Was this person really rich? Otherwise, why would he ignore Mr. Yang's high price of eight million and insist on cutting it himself?
Such actions can only mean one thing: Zhou Xuan doesn't care about Mr. Yang's eight million. Logically speaking, Zhou Xuan shouldn't be considered greedy at this time. A stone that only cost two hundred and fifty thousand was sold for eight million in the blink of an eye. At this price, no one should be able to refuse.
But Zhou Xuan refused, and it was clear that he was not tempted by Mr. Yang's eight million dollars at all; it seemed that money had no influence on him whatsoever.
Mr. Yang also set his sights on Zhou Xuan. As soon as he arrived at this place, he immediately lured Manager Gao into a trap and forced dozens of merchants to stop daring to negotiate with him, displaying his domineering nature.
In fact, Zhou Xuan could see later that Mr. Yang wasn't just randomly raising prices; he was skillfully using his methods combined with his substantial financial resources. Among the merchants present, there were naturally many wealthy individuals who were unwilling to compete head-on with Mr. Yang and spend unnecessary money. However, they later realized that they had fallen into Mr. Yang's trap. But in the end, they couldn't guarantee that if they actually bargained, Mr. Yang wouldn't pull another stunt.
Despite Mr. Yang's domineering presence, which intimidated everyone present, Zhou Xuan remained completely unaffected. He seemed unmoved, as if Mr. Yang would not budge even if he offered 80 million, let alone only 8 million.
In terms of both psychology and momentum, Mr. Yang failed to subdue Zhou Xuan; this was Mr. Yang's opinion.
At this moment, no matter how much Mr. Yang stared at Zhou Xuan in thought, Zhou Xuan remained unmoved, and the other merchants' attention was now focused on the stones under the hands of the stone-cutting master.
The craftsman shook his head, looking somewhat helpless, but he aligned the grinding wheel with the black line drawn by Zhou Xuan, turned on the power, and then cut it off with one stroke.
This cut was about 15 centimeters thick. After one or two cuts, everyone estimated that it would be difficult to find green or jade in the raw stone, since the rough stone was too big. However, the cut side was very shallow from the surface, less than 10 centimeters. If jade was found on such a shallow surface, then the other side was uncertain. Maybe the jade was very big.
However, after the craftsman cut the stone and wiped away the debris, there was no need for him to confirm. Everyone was staring intently at that spot, and it was obvious that there was nothing on the cut surface, just a grayish-white area. But the raw material was still quite thick, so it was normal that nothing had appeared.
Everyone was somewhat apprehensive. The first cut into the stone was round on the surface, so it was expected that it wouldn't be able to cut through. However, the second cut had already penetrated 30 centimeters into the stone, reaching the inner layer of the rough stone. The leap was so large that it was still quite worrying.
The craftsman glanced at Zhou Xuan, who smiled nonchalantly and gestured for him to cut along the lines he had drawn. With a sigh, he still aimed the blade at the lines and cut. His hand trembled slightly with each cut. As soon as he finished, he quickly turned off the power and stared intently at the surface of the stone without even wiping away the stone chips.
It was still a grayish-white color. The craftsman wiped the stone chips with his hand again to make sure there was no green inside. He was relieved that he hadn't ruined the jadeite itself. No matter what, even though he wouldn't be responsible if it was ruined, it would certainly not be a pleasant thing for him to ruin such a piece of jadeite of excellent quality.
Following Zhou Xuan's line, another cut of about fifteen centimeters was made. Such a long distance was truly a daring cut. No stone cutter would ever be so bold. If no jadeite was found, it would be better to treat it as a waste stone. Because in countless stone cuttings, the number of rough stones that actually yield jade is extremely small. Even if jadeite is found, it is usually of ordinary quality. It is difficult to find jadeite of slightly better quality, and the highest quality jadeite is as rare as one in ten thousand.
However, Zhou Xuan remained silent with a smile, which naturally meant that things would proceed as usual.
Amidst sighs and regrets, the stone-cutting master made a third cut. His heart pounding, he was relieved to see the result: he hadn't cut through it, not even a trace of green appeared. He was relieved, but everyone exclaimed "Oh!" It was good that the cut hadn't damaged the jade, but the remaining rough stone was only twenty or thirty centimeters thick. According to Zhou Xuan's drawing, another cut would reduce the remaining thickness to only twelve or thirteen centimeters. This meant that if the jade wasn't damaged, it would only be twelve or thirteen centimeters thick at most—a prediction far different from their previous assumptions.
With only this much thickness left, the master and the others stared at Zhou Xuan, thinking that at this point, they should use an extremely thin cutting method or a stone-grinding technique, rather than cutting a very thick piece.
But ownership was in Zhou Xuan's hands, and he could do whatever he wanted, and Zhou Xuan remained unwavering at this moment.
At this point, even Manager Gao spoke up to advise, "Sir, I think... it's better not to make such a big cut. Cut slowly, cut slowly..."
This was actually what Zhou Xuan said at the beginning, but after cutting out the green part, the process was completely different when cutting the rest. Instead of being slow, it became wide and fast.
"cut"
This time, Zhou Xuan simply uttered a single word, but that single word conveyed his unwavering resolve to everyone, as if nothing could affect his mood or change his mind.
The craftsman was truly helpless. He couldn't calm down at all, because the previous section had already been cut out, which meant there would definitely be jadeite inside, just a matter of size. This cut was extremely likely to damage the jadeite itself, and if it was damaged, its value would be drastically reduced.
But Zhou Xuan's unwavering composure made them all realize that this cut had to be made this way. They understood why Mr. Yang was unmoved by the eight million price offer.
The craftsman's hands were trembling slightly. It took him a while to finally cut with the blade. After he finished, he turned off the power and moved the grinding wheel away.