Zhou Xuan smiled, and his icy aura unintentionally pierced through the air. However, when the icy aura touched the stone, he was stunned!
Volume 1, Chapter 155: The Crazy Stone Gambling (5)
Si Xuan was both surprised and amused. The small piece of jade that Zhao Lao Er had moved to cushion the machine was actually Xiao Cui. This piece of jade wasn't large, only about the size of a small bowl, but its texture was two-thirds glassy and one-third icy. The upper half was a watery emerald green, while the lower half was green with hints of blue. The quality was slightly inferior, but even that was only compared to the icy upper half. Compared to the rough stones on the shelves in the factory, this was undoubtedly excellent.
Apart from the piece that Zhao Lao Er brought over, Zhou Xuan had tested all the other rough stones. The vast majority of them did not contain jadeite. Even the ten or so pieces that did contain jadeite were of extremely poor quality, such as oily green or grayish sand. At most, they would not be worth more than five thousand yuan. However, the price of the rough stones themselves would never be less than fifty thousand yuan. No matter how you gamble, it would be a losing proposition.
Seeing that Zhao Lao Er was still sweating, Zhou Xuan wondered if it was from being mocked by everyone or from being too tired from moving stones. An idea struck him. Pretending to examine the rough stones, he slowly moved to the machine, activated the ice-cooling system, and tested several other stones used to support the machine. By sheer coincidence, none of the remaining stones contained jade. This Zhao Lao Er had truly struck gold; a blind rooster had stumbled upon a silver coin!
Zhou Zi walked back slowly with his hands behind his back, while Zhao Lao Er simply plopped down on the rock. The other merchants continued to look at the raw materials.
Fujimoto Tsuyoshi and Ito Kinji seemed to be looking to leave. They weren't interested in this kind of game that was just about spending money.
Zhou Xuan smiled and said to Zhao Lao Er, "Lao Er, I've already said it before, you can play around with it. Try your luck, give me a red envelope, whatever the cost is, it's mine, and whatever you earn is yours. Name your price with Boss Zhou."
Zhou Bo, who was standing nearby, naturally heard Zhou Xuan's words. He chuckled and said, "Brother Zhou, I won't lie to you, the stones your friend wanted weren't selected rough stones, but rather stones used to prop up the machines. Useless waste stones. If you want them, hehe, I'll give them to you as substitutes for those rough stones we just saw outside."
Zhou Bo wasn't stupid. In his eyes, this piece of waste stone was worthless, but he spoke as if he were giving it away for free, as if he were doing Zhou Xuan a great favor. This made Zhou Xuan feel embarrassed, because since he came into the factory, he hadn't sold any of the good quality rough stones. He hadn't even bid against anyone else for them, and Zhou Xuan was counting on him to make a fortune.
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Brother Zhou, Boss Zhou. Hehe, business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships. At the dinner table, you say you're treating people to food and drinks. That's your intention, but in this place, even the smallest stone is still a piece of raw material. There are rules in the industry, so don't talk about anything else. A high price or a low price is one thing, but having a price and having no price are two different things!"
Zhou Bo was taken aback; Zhou Xuan's words were watertight. He wouldn't take advantage of this, nor would he intervene later; there was no question of saving face.
After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Bo could only manage a dry laugh and say, "Well, since Brother Zhou has said so, then... how about a few dollars a year as a token?"
Zhao Lao Er's heart skipped a beat!
One thousand yuan, that's a thousand yuan already! It'll cost a thousand yuan!
Sigh, I think I'll pass. Trying to save face by pretending to be rich isn't fun; this kind of saving face is bought with money, it's meaningless. It's much better to keep the thousand yuan for food and drink!
But before Zhao Lao Er could say anything, Zhou Xuan had already taken out his wallet, took out a thousand yuan, and given it to Zhou Bo.
Zhou Bo casually took it and stuffed it into his pocket without even glancing at it. Zhao Lao Er reached out, wanting to ask Zhou Xuan to take back the thousand yuan. He was unwilling, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He was still a little embarrassed. He was trying to act like a boss, but he couldn't even afford to put on a show with a thousand yuan.
What's more, there's Zheng Bing, Jiang Jin, Zhang Shan, and Wu Feng and the others watching. Most importantly, there's the beautiful Zhong Qin there. They can ignore everything else, but they can't lose face in front of a beauty!
"Brother Zhou, this stone of my brother's!" Zhou Xuan said with a smile, "Could you please have one of your factory's workers cut it open for us on the spot?"
Zhao Lao Er naturally didn't know the difference between cutting stones and not cutting them, but Zhou Xuan made all the decisions, so he naturally wouldn't object to Zhou Xuan's wishes.
Zhou Bo chuckled and said, "Of course, no problem. The machines up ahead are for customers who want their stones cut on the spot." He then waved to the side, and two workers immediately came over, lifted Zhao Lao Er's stone, and carried it to the stone-cutting machine.
Zhou Bo has three master stone cutters. The one present is his second uncle, Zhou Lixing, an elderly man in his sixties, but whose skills and experience are the best among the three.
Master Zhou had two workers lift the round stone onto the stone-cutting machine, then examined it carefully. After determining its position, he moved the stone, aligning the machine's wheels with the left third of the way down. Once the stone was secured, he prepared to turn on the power.
Zhou Xuan suddenly said, "Master Zhou, I'd like to start by unraveling it from the right side, is that alright?"
Old Zhou paused for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Of course! The stone is yours. You can decide how to handle it!"
Generally speaking, when cutting stones on-site, unless you are an experienced veteran, you will usually hand over ownership to the stone-cutting master. Usually, the stone-cutting master is much more experienced than the person gambling on the stone. However, some customers insist on cutting the stone according to their own ideas, which is also possible.
Zhou Xuan wasn't just spouting nonsense. If you were to cut the stone from the left, the jadeite inside would be located at about two-tenths of an inch from the left edge. Cutting it would damage the jadeite and affect its integrity, undoubtedly lowering the price significantly. On the other hand, the right side, the edge is more than fifteen-tenths of an inch away from the jadeite. The right side has a thick layer of stone, while the left side has an extremely thin outer layer.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with Lao Zhou Song Fu's cutting method. According to common sense, this cut of three-tenths of an inch will not damage the jade. If green is found, you can cut in other directions or rub the stone from the left. However, there is such a large piece of stone skin covering it. Rubbing the stone will undoubtedly increase the time required.
It's really a matter of luck. Master Zhou has the skills and experience, but not the luck.
Zhou Xuan had nothing, but he possessed ice energy, which granted him almost the ability to see through things. However, one could also say he was extremely lucky, because the ice energy was the tool that brought him all his luck.
Master Zhou moved the stone around, aimed the cutting knife at the right third of the way, turned on the power, and then made a cut.
By this time, the peak season for jade gambling had passed, and dozens of merchants, having nothing else to do, gathered around to watch. Although they all considered it a useless piece of junk, the thrill of cutting it open on the spot was the most exciting part of jade gambling.
Zhao Lao Er himself didn't care at all. Firstly, he had just messed around with this thing and it wasn't worth much money. Secondly, he had never seen gambling on stones before, nor had he ever witnessed the scene of cutting a stone that could bring life or death with a single cut. So he wasn't nervous at all.
Fujimoto and Ito Kinji, however, stood on the sidelines, watching with a bored expression, as if they were just joining in the fun.
Aside from Zhou Xuan, who knew the final result, everyone else shared the opposite thought and watched the stone being cut indifferently.
After Old Zhou made a cut, he cleared away the rubble, blew on the cut surface, and looked at it. It was exactly as he had imagined. The cut surface was a grayish-white stone surface, without a trace of jade or even a hint of green.
Master Zhou glanced at Zhou Xuan again. Zhou Xuan understood what he meant, waved his hand, and casually said, "Master Zhou, keep cutting. Cut it every three-tenths of an inch each time. Anyway, it's probably just a piece of waste stone. Don't worry about damaging it."
Seeing Zhou Xuan speaking, Old Zhou felt no pressure at all. He smiled faintly, said nothing, moved the stone-cutting wheel a third more, and then made another cut.
Logically speaking, the edge should be cut to about three-tenths of its original size, and then the distance should be narrowed further inwards; otherwise, the jade is very likely to be damaged. Of course, this is assuming there is a small piece of jade inside the stone.
However, Zhou Xuan himself said that since it was a piece of waste rock anyway, he would just cut it down to one-third of its length, and it would be done in about ten cuts. This stone was basically a waste of his time.
After four cuts, the cut surface remained grayish-white. Master Zhou stopped trying to advise Zhou Xuan based on his experience, since he himself believed that there was no way the stone could contain jade and it didn't matter how it was cut.
The fifth cut was again made three-tenths of an inch further in. After making the cut, Master Zhou, as usual, cleared away the stone chips and moved the cut surface over to take a look. Then he prepared to make the next cut, estimating that there would be four or five more cuts before it was over.
Unexpectedly, when Master Zhou took a look, he jumped up as if he had been pricked in the foot by a nail!
The onlookers were startled by Master Zhou's action, thinking that he might have injured his hand with the stone-cutting wheel. But upon closer inspection, they saw that Master Zhou was staring blankly at the cut surface of the stone!
Everyone turned their attention to the cut surface of the stone. Upon seeing it, almost everyone froze. Then a chorus of voices cried out, "We won! We won! We won!" Zhao Lao Er, however, didn't pay much attention. He wasn't very familiar with the meaning of "we won," partly because he hadn't realized it, and partly because he didn't quite understand.
Just now, when Master Zhou made that cut, a palm-sized patch of green appeared on the cut surface. This patch of green was exactly where Zhou Xuan had measured the upper half, the large section of glass. Moreover, the cut was just right. If it had been cut any less, only a little bit of green would have been visible, or perhaps not a trace of green at all. If he had cut any further, he would have damaged the jade!
The cut was just too perfect; the green that appeared on the cut surface wasn't the jade green that seeped through the stone, but rather the very surface of the jade that was exposed!
Master Zhou examined the cut closely for a while, then felt a chill run down his spine. Even a fraction of a second more would have damaged the jade!
Volume 1, Chapter 156: The Crazy Stone Gambling (6)