The stone was at least the size of a basket. Zhou Xuan tried to hug it with both arms, but it didn't budge. It must weigh at least two hundred pounds.
To confirm, Zhou Xuan used his icy energy to carefully examine the large rock. The pool of emerald green inside the rock was not in the exact center, but rather on the left side, about one-third of the way down the left side of the rock. The vast majority of the rock on the right side was grayish-white and empty, while the pool of emerald green on the left side was a rectangular shape shaped like a palm, larger than a palm, about thirty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and about ten centimeters thick.
The icy air seemed to float comfortably in the emerald green, and Zhou Xuan liked the jade very much, regardless of its grade or quality.
Fu Ying, Yang Xuan, and Wang Jue were not paying much attention to Zhou Xuan's actions at the moment; their attention was drawn to Li Dagong's auction of his last few rough stones.
Zhou Xuan, having already gone this far, decided to use ice energy to test the raw stones that were considered the worst. The distance that ice energy could travel on an ordinary floor was only about two meters, but if it was centered on a point, it could travel four meters horizontally and horizontally. This way, the test wouldn't take long and there was no need to test each stone individually.
However, the number was still quite large, probably several hundred pieces of various sizes. Zhou Xuan was so tired that his forehead was covered in sweat when he finished the test. Fortunately, the combination of ice energy and internal energy had greatly strengthened him. He was tired, but he didn't feel like he had to lie down and sleep as soon as he used it before.
The tests were finished, but no more green appeared in any of the stones. In the huge hall, out of hundreds of stones, only two contained jade. One was the large stone that I tested, and the other was the one that Boss Yang bought for a sky-high price. However, Boss Yang's raw stone only had a small strand of gray sandy impurities, which was completely different from the one that I had just tested!
Fu Ying walked over at this moment and saw Zhou Xuan lying on the gray stones back and forth. She was both curious and amused and said, "Oh, little Zhou, do you really want to buy a couple of stones?"
Zhou Xuan blushed, but still nodded and said, "That's exactly what I meant!"
Fu Ying was taken aback. She had only meant it as a joke, but she hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to actually want to buy it. She hesitated for a moment and said, "You really want to take a gamble? But all the stones on those shelves are sold out. Besides, those stones cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, you..."
Zhou Xuan knew that Fu Ying meant he couldn't keep up financially, but she didn't know that she had more than three million yuan lying in the bank. However, she was a little hesitant about what price range she should pay to buy the stone. She didn't know how much the jade was worth. If it was too expensive, there was no need to buy it. She couldn't do a business that would lose money.
Li Dagong sold all the high-quality raw stones he had selected, and after calculating the total price, he made more than 10 million yuan. As for the remaining gray sandstone, he didn't care. If someone wanted them, he could sell them at a low price. If no one wanted them, he could leave them and have the workers cut them up when he had time. However, based on his experience, these stones were practically worthless and would most likely be taken to the quarry to be crushed and used to build houses.
Zhou Xuan smiled at Fu Ying and said, "I know. If it's suitable, I'll buy it. If it's too expensive, forget it. I won't buy those good ones. I'll pick out a few pieces from here!" He pointed to the row of gray sandstone in front of him.
Fu Ying was stunned again. She had just seen him touching and looking at these gray stones, and heard him say that he wanted to take a gamble, but she did not expect that he would want these seemingly useless stones.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then moved seven or eight small stones to the large stone with the jade, clapped his hands, and said, "These are all I want!"
The addition of seven or eight small stones was merely a smokescreen by Zhou Xuan. He couldn't possibly have chosen just one piece of raw stone with jade. If he had, it would have been difficult to explain it away as just good luck. After all, out of the hundreds of raw stones purchased for tens of millions in the hall, how could you possibly have chosen just one stone with jade?
Li Dagong walked over with a smile, clutching a stack of checks. The price he got for the raw stones wasn't bad. He was also checking if anyone wanted the remaining junk stones. Regardless of their quality, it was better to have someone buy them than no one.
Li Dagong then called out to the customers who had placed bets on the rough stones, saying that he could help them cut their stones if they wanted to be cut.
Yang Xuan and Wang Jue also came to Fu Ying's side. Seeing Zhou Xuan busy moving stones, Yang Xuan asked curiously, "Xiao Zhou, what are you doing?"
Zhou Xuan said awkwardly, "I want to buy these pieces. The atmosphere of gambling on stones is really tempting, hehe... I also want to try my luck!"
"Just these stones?" Yang Xuan asked, pointing to the gray stones he had moved together. Then she shook her head and sighed, "You're already excited about this atmosphere? What if you go to Ugan in Myanmar or Tengchong in Yunnan and see those thousands of tons of rough stones? Wouldn't you be willing to risk your entire savings for your wife?"
Zhou Xuan could only awkwardly laugh and say, "Big bets are for big bets, small bets are for small bets. I'm just playing around and trying it out. Don't take it seriously!"
Yang Xuan sighed, "Gambling on jade is addictive, so it's best to play less. I've seen too many cases, and every time I wanted to try it, I always managed to resist. It's better to just buy the cut jade. Although the profit is much less, it's safer and you won't lose money!"
Yang Xuan's words make sense. If it weren't for the special ability in his left hand, he would never dare to do this kind of work.
After Li Dagong sold all his rough stones, the group dispersed, each carrying their winning stones. Chen Chen, beaming with pride, walked over with a stone, put it down, and smiled at Fu Ying, saying, "I see that Miss quite likes jade. I wonder if you've ever gambled on stones before?"
Fu Ying said indifferently, "Never gambled before, this is the first time we've met." Her tone was indifferent, and she didn't seem to care much about Chen Chen's attempt to strike up a conversation, replying casually.
Chen Chen originally wanted to show off in front of Fu Ying, but seeing Fu Ying's cold and indifferent attitude, he was a little bored. He also saw the man with them carrying a few gray sandstones and piling them together, so he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother, you want to gamble too? With your few stones, hey, brother, it seems you're still a newbie. You should learn more. Gambling on stones isn't something just anyone can do!"
Zhou Xuan felt a strange aversion to Chen Chen, not because he disliked Fu Ying, but perhaps because of his instinctive dislike for those self-proclaimed dashing and handsome scions of noble families.
He glanced at Chen Chen and said indifferently, "Yeah, how can I compare to a master like you? It's just for fun. When it comes to learning, you have to pay tuition no matter where you go!"
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Volume One: The First Signs of Growth, Chapter Forty-One: On-site Stone Cutting
Chen Chen naturally didn't take Zhou Xuan's words seriously, because he could tell from the few rough stones Zhou Xuan had chosen that he was a complete novice with no experience!
Zhou Xuan gathered seven or eight small stones together with the large rock, then asked Li Dagong, "Boss Li, how much do you think these stones cost? It's my first time playing this game, so I should at least make a sale, hehe!"
Li Dagong couldn't help but chuckle at Zhou Xuan's expression. He said with a smile, "Young man, is this your first time gambling on rough stones? Hehe, normally I don't sell these rough stones with poor color and quality individually. Because the color is relatively poor, the price is naturally lower. Do you think I'd sell them individually for a few hundred yuan? Hehe, if you want to buy, you have to buy them in bulk all at once. weNXU"
Li Dagong glanced at Zhou Xuan and said, "As the saying goes, gambling on stones is like gambling with your life. Young brother, you should be careful when you enter this industry. Today, I'll give you a taste of the good stuff. Although these rough stones are colorless and of poor quality, they still come from the old mines. Transporting them all the way from Myanmar, even just considering the fuel costs, there must have been a lot of losses. Hehe, young brother, if you want them, then it'll be 20,000 yuan!"
As soon as Li Dagong said this, many people in the hall secretly cursed him for being unscrupulous. He was asking for 20,000 yuan from an ignorant newbie. Although 20,000 yuan was nothing to these people, this was not how money should be spent. Money should be spent openly. If it is necessary, then he is willing to spend more than he should spend. But if he feels that it is not necessary, then he is not willing to spend a single penny!
Li Dagong picked out all the slightly decent rough stones from this batch of transported stones. The rest of these junk stones were obviously worthless, even to the most clueless person. Yet Li Dagong still wanted 20,000 yuan for just a few of them.
He even brought up the cost of fuel! Those raw stones just sold for over 30 million, and we made over 10 million in profit after deducting the cost. What fuel costs could be so high? Even if you used a plane to transport them by air, cutting off a fraction of that would be enough!
Fu Ying frowned. She didn't know if Zhou Xuan was stupid, but sometimes he did things like a master of pretending to be weak while actually being strong. Why was he selling these few pieces of waste stone now?
Zhou Xuan pondered. No matter what, that piece of jade was definitely worth more than 20,000 yuan. He definitely wanted it, but he couldn't be too blatant. In fact, even if Li Dagong asked for a higher price, he would still buy it. In this whole hall, besides him, who else would understand the secret behind this?
Zhou Xuan nodded and was about to speak when Yang Xuan interrupted, saying, "Boss Li, Xiao Zhou is someone I brought along, so he's practically my friend. Even if things don't work out, I can't let him waste money. But if he insists on getting it done, then fine. Let me say something, Boss Li. You know this stone very well. Let him buy it for five thousand yuan to use as a bed frame!"
Yang Xuan was angry that Zhou Xuan insisted on buying it. Since she had brought it, she couldn't help but speak up even though it seemed hopeless. Five thousand yuan was a drop in the ocean for someone like her, but Zhou Xuan didn't seem to be well-off, so she decided to help him save money.
Li Dagong chuckled and said, "Alright, I'll be straightforward too. Since Miss Yang has asked, five thousand it is. Consider it making friends!"
Zhou Xuan took out his bank card from his wallet and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Mr. Li, can you accept cards? I don't have that much cash, and I don't have any checks either..."
Li Dagong hesitated for a moment and then said, "Yes, there are, but they're not here; they're inside the pass. This..."
Most people who come to him to buy and sell jade usually pay by check. Almost no one pays in cash or by card. After all, most of the people who come here are industry insiders he knows, and the amounts are usually in the hundreds of thousands or more, so naturally no one would bring that much cash.
Yang Xuan snorted, took out a large wad of cash from her handbag, and handed it to Zhou Xuan, saying, "Here, I'll lend you this. It's exactly five thousand." This money was what she had withdrawn from the ATM that morning to prepare for food and gas, but she hadn't used it. However, it came in handy for Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan took it and handed it to Li Dagong. Anyway, he wasn't taking it for free, so he wasn't embarrassed. But this girl was kind-hearted and knew to warn him not to be fooled.
Li Dagong then asked the crowd, "Is there anyone who needs my help to cut stones?"
No one in the hall answered. Based on past experience, people who bought rough stones from him usually wouldn't have them cut right there, unless the raw materials were quite cheap, because the buyers weren't that nervous.