Manager Gao stood by with an awkward smile, unsure of what to say. When the gambling on stones began, he was heartbroken that Mr. Yang had tricked him into taking away five of the best stones, leaving him speechless. But now, with Mr. Yang cutting the stones on the spot, there was no fluctuation at all, and the stones plummeted to rock bottom, making him feel very embarrassed. An ordinary person would naturally ignore this, but this Mr. Yang was someone of considerable influence, which made him somewhat panicked.
Eighty million is no small sum. It's gone in an instant. According to the rules of jade gambling, there's nothing to say. You have to accept the loss. Moreover, everyone knows that jade gambling is risky. Manager Gao's business is also legal.
Mr. Yang's experience made other people who wanted to have their stones cut open very uneasy, especially a few people who were gambling with their entire fortune and luck. If they lost, they would be penniless, and their fear was indescribable.
Manager Gao paused for a moment, then asked, "Is there anyone else who needs their stone cut?"
Everyone seemed a little taken aback. Zhou Xuan took half a step forward and said calmly, "Perfect, untie me."
Manager Gao immediately ordered the workers to bring out Zhou Xuan's rough stone. It was good that Zhou Xuan had stepped forward to ease the awkward atmosphere just now. Moreover, he saw that Zhou Xuan's expression was very calm, which was the opposite of Mr. Yang's dark face and the worries of others. He admired Zhou Xuan's youthful composure. Most young people don't have this kind of composure. Most of the customers who gamble on stones are experienced people over thirty years old.
Just now, Manager Gao arranged for the most experienced and skilled craftsman to work on Mr. Yang's five rough stones. He was tired after a while, and although he didn't manage to cut out any jade, it doesn't mean his skills were lacking. It was due to the nature of the stone itself, and it had nothing to do with him.
According to Manager Gao, and probably everyone else, Zhou Xuan's rough stone was not worth mentioning. It was a stone with a rather inconspicuous color; the color itself wasn't bad, but there was just too little of it.
The stone-cutting master this time was less skilled. After the workers brought the rough stone over in a handcart, he first visually assessed it and then drew several cutting lines. The first and second cuts were fine, but the third cut just missed the jade inside. This was because the rough stone was quite large, while the jade inside was only slightly larger than a fist. If it weren't for Zhou Xuan's special ability, he certainly wouldn't have been able to make that precise cut. It's normal for the master to have some deviation; it would be abnormal if he were perfectly accurate.
If we cut from the other side, that wouldn't be a problem. We'd have to make at least five or six cuts to reach the jade inside. Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then instead of giving the craftsman his opinion first, he said, "Master, go ahead and cut it."
This was Zhou Xuan's deliberate act. If he raised his opinion now, it would give others and the craftsman unnecessary ideas. He would wait until the second cut was made before bringing it up. Once the third cut was made, people's attention would not be on him, but on the rough stone.
The foreman didn't say much. He instructed the workers to lift the raw material onto the cutting machine, align the blade with the outermost line of the material, turn on the power, and cut it off steadily in one go.
The value of the raw jade was far less than that of Mr. Yang's five pieces of raw jade. No one cared much about how it was cut, as everyone was still immersed in Mr. Yang's crushing defeat.
The result of that cut was exactly as everyone expected. Zhou Xuan himself waved his hand expressionlessly, instructing his master to cut again. After the second cut, a faint voice came from the crowd: "Still a failure. I wonder who will be lucky enough to win today."
Zhou Xuan remained unmoved and calmly said to the chef, "Master, don't cut this 250,000 too quickly. Cut it thinner this time, and cut it slowly."
The craftsman chuckled. They naturally wouldn't object to the customer's request, but they found Zhou Xuan's words somewhat amusing. However, this was normal; there weren't many young people gambling on stones, almost all of them were middle-aged or older. Zhou Xuan probably scraped together all the money he could to take this gamble. Seeing that Mr. Yang's five rough stones, each worth a whopping 80 million, had all been ruined, how much better could he possibly fare? The idea of cutting slowly and thinly was understandable.
The craftsman extended the blade about two-tenths of an inch, pressed it down to that position, and then cut it a tiny bit shallower. He couldn't cut to the very edge of the jadeite, but he could still get the green color out.
"Is this spot okay?" the chef asked Zhou Xuan, pointing to where the blade was. Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, cut it here."
The craftsman remained silent, turned on the power, and steadily sliced down again. Slicing slowly like this, he figured in the end it would all be the same as trying to fill a basket with water.
After he cut the knife, he turned off the power, then ran his hand over the cut surface. He was about to ask Zhou Xuan if he should continue cutting at the same distance when he glanced at it and suddenly froze. He quickly wiped his eyes, his gaze fixed on the green. Yes, it was turning green.
"We've won! We've won!" someone in the crowd shouted. Everyone looked over and sure enough, a small square of green, about an inch in size, appeared near the top of the cut surface. This green was the best green in jadeite, and the surface of the green seemed to be watery, with a lot of translucency.
Although the green area is small, only a tiny portion of this rough stone has been cut. Who knows how much more is inside? Perhaps this is just the tip of the iceberg?
Furthermore, the color is extremely alluring; just based on this luster and translucency alone, Zhou Xuan's gamble on this piece of jade is definitely going to pay off.
The craftsman stopped moving and took a small step back. Now that he had found green jade, he had to wait for the owner's approval. If it were just a gamble, then this one cut might have been enough to stop the price going up. Besides, those who gamble on jade understand the principle of knowing when to stop.
If you're too greedy, the next cut might snatch away all the green, leaving only grayish-white stone. This happens all the time; it's a classic case of one cut bringing life, another ending in death.
There was a moment of silence in the crowd, then a voice rang out: "Five hundred thousand, will you sell?"
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly. If he had only recently acquired his superpowers last year, he might have done something like this—making half the price in a single transaction—because he didn't really understand the true value of jade. But now, besides his greatly enhanced superpowers, Zhou Xuan's experience and shrewdness were on a completely different level. If this piece of jade were fully polished, its wholesale market price alone wouldn't be less than twenty million. Five hundred thousand? Heh heh, that'd only fool a greenhorn.
Of course, Zhou Xuan already knew the final value. But now, he had only cut out a small patch of green, about an inch in size. With just that little bit of green, it couldn't compare to the value of a whole piece of jadeite. However, based on that little bit of green, the value should be around 1.5 to 2 million. If he cut a little deeper, he would just reach the edge of the jadeite. Of course, he would only cut to the very edge, revealing an area about the size of a fingernail. But this was different from cutting out green. Cutting out green didn't necessarily mean that jade was found, but cutting out jadeite meant that it was 100% found. He just didn't know how big the jadeite would be in the end. However, Zhou Xuan believed that as long as a jade connoisseur saw that tiny bit of exposed jadeite, they could tell that the jade was of excellent quality.
Zhou Xuan did not answer, his expression neither surprised nor pleased, making him seem somewhat unfathomable.
Another person has offered "one million".
Before Zhou Xuan could respond to the initial bid of "five million," Mr. Yang next to him unexpectedly raised the price to four million, startling everyone once again.
To be honest, based on experience, the amount of green that has been cut out of Zhou Xuan's rough jade is indeed too high and too risky at five million.
But Mr. Yang was really annoyed. The 80 million yuan rough stone was cut into a pile of waste paper and stone chips in less than ten minutes. When he saw that Zhou Xuan had actually cut out green, and that the 250,000 yuan cost was still higher than his huge value of nearly 80 million yuan, he was really angry. He raised the price by 4 million yuan with one word, which shocked others and silenced them. Just like the situation at the beginning, as soon as he opened his mouth to bid, he sealed off his opponents. No one dared to gamble with him.
Manager Gao was also envious. Zhou Xuan had only spent a mere 250,000 yuan, yet he hadn't expected to cut out a green one. Moreover, someone had offered him a staggering 5 million yuan, making him twenty times his initial investment in one go. If this was gambling, then Zhou Xuan had gambled his way to riches. If the 250,000 yuan was Zhou Xuan's scraped-to-earn money, then he had instantly won back 5 million yuan, a net profit of 4.75 million yuan—like winning a 5 million yuan lottery ticket. Such an opportunity was incredibly rare.
Almost everyone present, including Mr. Yang himself, imagined that Zhou Xuan would immediately resell the raw materials, making it the best option to transfer the risk to Mr. Yang, a wealthy and powerful man.
But Zhou Xuan calmly said, "Master, let's cut it again, cut it a little more. Since it's turned green, I should cut it even more slowly and try my luck again."
The craftsman almost wanted to advise the young man to "quit while he's ahead," but Manager Gao gave him a look, and he kept quiet. Mr. Yang had already gambled away all five rough stones; adding this one would be too risky. It was better to let Zhou Xuan cut the rest himself. If he lost, it was his problem; he wouldn't let Mr. Yang lose too. Besides, Mr. Yang's offer of five million was clearly driven by a sense of defiance. With that kind of mentality, he was bound to lose even faster and more thoroughly. Luck can't be won back through gambles.
Everyone present sighed and felt sorry for Zhou Xuan.
The craftsman placed the razor blade in the exact spot Zhou Xuan had indicated. This time, he was much more tense and careful. It was a green blade, and one that someone had offered five million for but hadn't sold—how could he not be careful?
Almost everyone noticed this strike, but Zhou Xuan himself remained unconcerned, as everything was under his special ability's detection and could not be hidden from him.
The craftsman made a cut, nervously turned off the power, wiped the stone chips with his hand, and his eyes lit up. He quickly told the workers to bring a towel and used it to wipe the stone chips clean.
The crowd watching from the sidelines stared wide-eyed as the green area, after being cut, more than doubled in size, and in the very center of the green spot, a crystalline substance the size of a little finger appeared.
This is jade.
The jadeite was a translucent, emerald green, as if the craftsman had wiped it with a damp towel. Even though only a tiny bit of the jadeite's surface had been cut out, anyone who saw it could tell that the jadeite seemed to be visible inside. Its transparency was extremely high, the color was pure, there were no impurities, and it was very translucent and had excellent water content.
The value of jadeite lies in its color, clarity, transparency, and size. Even this tiny bit of exposed jadeite was enough for the craftsman and Manager Gao to understand that it was glassy, top-grade jadeite.
Based on the extension of this texture, the jade inside is definitely not just a tiny piece the size of a fingernail. Of course, even if it were only that small, it could be used to make a ring insert, which would be worth the five million and wouldn't result in a loss. However, even a blind person could tell that there's probably more than one ring insert inside.
"The bet won! The bet won!"
The crowd erupted in excitement, several people shouting simultaneously—a much louder sound than when the green had just been cut.
Based on this piece of jadeite itself, the price is completely different from before. Before, everyone thought that Mr. Yang's offer of five million was a risk, a loss, a gamble. But now it's different. The jadeite has been cut out, and it's a top-quality piece with the best quality. Asking for five million is not a loss at all.
Manager Gao was truly embarrassed, blushing. He hadn't intended to drag Mr. Yang into this mess too deeply, but who knew that this rough stone, which he hadn't thought much of, would yield such fine jade? He hadn't expected it at all; his good intentions had inadvertently blocked Mr. Yang's path to wealth.