The four master craftsmen were all highly experienced, but when they saw the lines Zhou Xuan drew, some were reasonable and some were not. However, Zhou Xuan was the boss, so he could decide how to interpret them.
After several workers adjusted the position and aligned the beveling machine wheel with the line drawn by Zhou Xuan, they started the machine and began cutting.
Li Wei and Zhou Ying were seeing stone cutting for the first time, and they found it very novel and watched with great interest. Fu Ying had seen it before in Shenzhen, but she still felt a sense of excitement. Although she had never gambled on stones, she knew that all the rough stones Zhou Xuan brought back must contain jadeite, because she knew Zhou Xuan's capabilities.
However, looking at these tons and tons of rough stones, I couldn't help but feel a little surprised. So many stones contain jadeite. Based on the price I paid for the jadeite that Zhou Xuan bought, how much would the jadeite in these ten tons of rough stones be worth?
Even with the wealth of the Fu family, it's unimaginable—how astonishing is Zhou Xuan's rate of wealth accumulation!
Of course, Fu Ying couldn't have predicted that although the value of Zhou Xuan's batch of rough jade was astonishing, there were only ** pieces of the finest jadeite with a glass base. The others were of slightly lower quality, but still quite valuable.
Master Chen's three friends included his cousin, who also bore the surname Chen, and two others surnamed Zheng and Wang. The four of them cut four pieces of raw jade at the same time.
According to the first cut line drawn by Zhou Xuan, no green jade could be cut out. The second cut produced green jade. So after the first cut, several master craftsmen blew the cut surface clean, and it was grayish-white with not a trace of green.
To be honest, in the eyes of these experienced craftsmen, none of the rough stones in this large factory were good quality. Almost all of them looked unappealing. If a merchant who specializes in gambling on stones could cut out a decent piece of jade from such a large batch of rough stones, he would consider it a successful gamble. However, not a single piece of rough stone like Zhou Xuan's looked green. Master Chen was quite worried.
With so much stock, they had jobs and work to do, but if the boss didn't make money, no job would last long. So they all hoped the boss could make money. Besides, Zhou Xuan didn't seem stingy. If the boss could make a lot of money, he certainly wouldn't be stingy with them.
After the first cut, the four people examined the cut surface and all shook their heads inwardly. Of course, they tried their best to remain calm on the surface and not show it, so as not to discourage Zhou Zhi. People who gamble on stones dislike it the most when others say unlucky things.
But Zhou Xuan remained silent with a smile, neither surprised nor regretful, his expression calm, as if he were unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.
At this moment, the gatekeeper ran in and reported to Zhou Xuan, "Boss, it seems a man surnamed Xu is here to see you. He said he had an appointment." Zhou Xuan smiled and nodded, "Quickly invite him in. It's Boss Xu!" This gatekeeper is newly hired and doesn't recognize the previous boss, Xu Juncheng. A few minutes later, Xu Juncheng arrived at the factory building, led by the gatekeeper.
Xu Juncheng was taken aback by the scale of the operation. These rough stones were far more numerous than the amount he had gambled on before. He was momentarily confused about Zhou Xuan's wealth and connections. However, seeing Li Wei still standing respectfully to the side, examining the stones, he became even more certain that Zhou Xuan's personal status was no lower than Li Wei's. Otherwise, Li Wei, known as the "Desperate Saburo," would never have been so respectful and courteous to Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan said to Xu Juncheng, "Mr. Xu, would you like to wait a while or go to the office now?"
Xu Juncheng wanted to advise Zhou Xuan, because gambling on stones could wipe out any fortune, and he was a prime example of this. Just because of Zhou Xuan's kind gesture to him yesterday, he wanted to prevent Zhou Xuan from ending up like him.
Xu Juncheng's abilities are beyond doubt, especially his vision and courage in the jewelry industry. If he hadn't failed in the jade gambling business, he would still be one of the most prominent jewelry merchants in Beijing.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Juncheng decided to try to persuade Zhou Xuan with the reality of the situation, so he said, "Mr. Zhou, I'm not in a hurry anyway, so let me take a look at these few pieces of raw jade that you have identified correctly."
"Hehe, that's fine too. Anyway, there's no rush. Let's take a look together!" Zhou Xuan wasn't interested in whether there was really jadeite; he already knew that result. He just wanted to reassure Master Chen and the others that they could continue working here with peace of mind after the jadeite was found. In fact, in terms of value, the jadeite extracted from these four rough stones alone would be enough to cover their entire year's worth of jadeite cutting business. This is because the jadeite contained in these four rough stones is of the highest quality. In jade mines that are becoming increasingly rare, it might be difficult to find such a top-quality piece of jade even in eight or ten years.
Xu Juncheng glanced at the factory where a frightening amount of raw materials were piled up, but the color and shape of the materials were not good enough to look at. He couldn't stand it and thought it was just throwing money away. He couldn't help but sigh again.
Then, Master Chen and the other three cut along the second line drawn by Zhou Xuan. The four cutting machines roared to life, the sound extremely piercing.
The four experienced craftsmen were very skilled; their movements were steady and deliberate, without the slightest tremor. After the grinding wheel cut the bottom, it took only a little over ten seconds before the power was turned off.
After the grinding wheel stopped turning, the four men wiped the cut surface with their hands, preparing to clean it and take a look. But as soon as they wiped it, they were all stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed in surprise, "It's green...it's green..." The voices rose and fell, and the old master craftsmen all shouted.
Xu Juncheng was also surprised, and he was somewhat skeptical. When he first came in, he had looked at the four rough stones being cut open. Their outer color was not much different from those piled up. They were basically unremarkable rough stones that he would not even notice. If they were auctioned, they would only be sold by the ton as old mine rough stones, and the price would be relatively low, far less than the price of a single piece of green rough stone.
Xu Juncheng leaned closer and saw the piece that Master Wang had cut. The cut surface was indeed green, and the green leaves were as green as willow branches, which was really tempting. The green surface looked as if a basin of water had been poured on it, and the water was very abundant.
Just based on the green on this cut surface, this stone could fetch millions in J1 grade. Xu Juncheng then looked at the cuts of Master Chen and Master Zheng; the other three had very similar cuts, and their green areas were even larger. Xu Juncheng was stunned!
Is it really possible for someone to be this lucky? Judging from Zhou Xuan's appearance, it seems like he just randomly picked up four rough stones, cut them open, and then all four of them turned out to be green, and all of them were green with good water content and good color. This is probably even harder than winning the lottery. To be able to cut out one such stone is something that a stone gambling player might only encounter once in their lifetime, but Zhou Xuan was able to get four of them in a row!
If a single piece of raw jade in its current state were auctioned off, it would fetch at least five million. All four pieces together could sell for tens of millions!
In the past, when Xu Juncheng was lucky, he once found such a good piece of jade. He cut out a piece of top-quality jade material that could be made into three bracelets and six rings. After making the finished products, he made 100 million yuan in one go. The initial investment he made from gambling on jade that time was only 3 million yuan.
That one time propelled Xu Juncheng's business to a new level, but it was also that one time that plunged him into hell!
The experienced craftsmen and Xu Juncheng were stunned. This was indeed unexpected. They had never thought of it. Even if they had such thoughts, they would have thought that they might get a piece, which would be extremely lucky.
Because it seemed that Zhou Xuan just randomly picked out four rough stones for them to cut, and there were hundreds of stones piled up in a factory like this. Even if you were lucky, there was no reason why you could randomly pick four stones and each one would contain jadeite, and the color and clarity of these stones were so good!
Master Chen was stunned for a moment, then smiled and congratulated Zhou Xuan, saying, "Young Master Zhou, they say good people have good luck and good fortune. You have such a kind heart, and now you're getting your reward from God. I never imagined that all four rough stones would yield such high-quality green jade. I think we should find some jewelers to auction off these four rough stones. With just these four, we can probably earn more than 20 million!"
Xu Juncheng thought the same way. Those who gamble on jade should be quick to accept a good deal when something seems valuable, as there's a possibility of it becoming even more valuable, but it could also plummet to worthless. That's the thrill and excitement of jade gambling!
Li Wei asked in surprise, "Master, these four broken stones are worth twenty million?"
Volume 1, Chapter 210: Purple Spring
"Broken stone?" Old Master Chen said irritably, then looked up at the hothead and snorted, "What are you yelling about!" Li Wei wanted to curse, but seeing Zhou Xuan glare at him, he quickly swallowed his words. Zhou Xuan saw that the four masters and Xu Jun were all looking at him, their eyes showing the kind of expression that said, "Know when to stop."
Waving his hand, Zhou Xuan smiled faintly and said, "Master Chen, you can continue cutting. To tell you the truth, I will cut all these rough stones. All the jadeite that is cut will be processed by ourselves, so I need to hire a highly skilled carving master."
Zhou Xuan's meaning was very clear: he wanted to establish a complete jade processing enterprise, from procurement to cutting stones, to finished products, and finally to sales. However, this required extremely large financial and material resources.
These were not things that Zhou Xuan was actually very clear about. He was someone who hated complexity and trouble, and if he had known how troublesome it would be, he definitely wouldn't have wanted to do it.
The reason Zhou Shi wanted to do this was entirely due to the rapid advancement of Ruo Bingqi's supernatural ability, which made him stronger and stronger. For others, gambling on stones was a matter of risking their lives and fortunes, but for him, it was as simple as eating.
Xu Juncheng opened his mouth, wanting to persuade Zhou Xuan, but seeing from Zhou Xuan's eyes that Zhou Xuan would never be moved by them, he swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Zhou Xuan's gambling instincts were even greater than his. Just because these four pieces of raw jade had such good quality green color, Zhou Xuan didn't know when to stop and still wanted to keep cutting. This was something that ordinary gamblers could not compare to!
"Keep cutting!" Zhou Xuan instructed again. Old Chen and the other three masters seemed unwilling to continue cutting. Zhou Xuan understood their good intentions, but how could they know the real story?
Master Chen sighed. It seemed that Zhou Xuan had made up his mind. There was no point in saying more. He nodded to the other three, and the four of them started cutting from another direction on the stone. When the green appeared after cutting the other stones, they began to polish the stone.
On the other sides, there were also lines drawn by Zhou Xuan, some deep and some shallow. When Zhou Xuan drew lines on each side, he drew two or three lines. If the distance from the jade was too far, he drew three lines; if it was close, he drew two. In this way, even if the jade was cut and the green color appeared, it wouldn't cause too much of a stir among Master Chen and the others. However, it would undoubtedly earn them their respect, because Zhou Xuan's eyesight and experience far surpassed theirs. In this society, if you want others to respect you, you have to be stronger than them.
After Old Chen and his three companions cut the stone again, some with three cuts and some with two, the stone revealed a delightful green color once more. At this moment, Old Chen and his companions, along with Xu Juncheng and his group, were filled with admiration for Zhou Xuan's composure!
Almost 99% of people would choose to take their profits and run, because just one green leaf can bring in a huge sum of money. Twenty million is an astronomical figure for an ordinary person, and they probably couldn't earn that much money even if they devoted their entire life to it!
But Zhou Xuan remained unmoved and continued cutting. One reason he could do this was that he had exceptional experience, skill, and eyesight, far surpassing so-called experts. Another reason was that he was a gambler who sought extreme thrills.
However, judging from Zhou Xuan's expression, Old Chen and the others felt that Zhou Xuan was a hidden master!