Chapter 21: The Mist is Appearing
Lin Ruoxi bluntly exposed the stall owner’s lie. "Mister, who do you think you’re fooling? This is clearly black-skin stone from Mamo. The transparency is usually poor. You’d be lucky to even find a waxy-grade piece."
Old Zhang chuckled. "I didn’t expect the pretty lady to be an expert! This is indeed black-skin stone. For you, five thousand a pound."
Cheng Yuan thought, ’Damn, Ruoxi just slashed the price by 90%. People who don’t know anything about jade really shouldn’t mess with it.’
Lin Ruoxi pursed her lips. "Normal black-skin stone is about five thousand a pound, but these have all been picked over. Their quality is mediocre. I even doubt they’re actually from Mamo. Two thousand a pound, at most."
"Fine, two thousand it is!"
Lin Ruoxi was in charge of haggling, while Cheng Yuan was responsible for picking the stones.
Soon, Cheng Yuan had swept up every raw stone in the market that was waxy-grade or better.
Over thirty raw stones in total.
It completely wiped out Cheng Yuan’s meager savings.
"Cheng Yuan, be straight with me. Are you really confident? If you’re not, let’s not cut them today. I can help you sell the raw stones later, and you probably won’t lose much. But if we cut them open now and they’re duds, they’ll be worthless."
"We’re cutting them now!"
"Alright!"
As Cheng Yuan and Lin Ruoxi arrived at the stone-cutting area, Lin Xinghe and Hua Yao came over, pushing a cart.
Lin Xinghe glanced at the stones Cheng Yuan had chosen and shook his head repeatedly.
"Cheng Yuan, just look at this junk you’ve picked! The quality is abysmal. Look at these—they have fissures, deep, nasty ones too. If you can get any green out of this, I’ll eat the whole damn stone!"
Cheng Yuan smiled faintly. "That won’t be necessary. Just as long as Uncle Lin doesn’t interfere with Ruoxi and me."
Lin Xinghe sneered, a look of disdain on his face. "Forget it. There’s no point getting worked up over a layman like you. In any case, after these stones are cut, you’ll be divorcing Ruoxi."
A short distance away, a few jewelry merchants overheard them and ambled over, eager to watch the show.
"The stones this young man picked really aren’t promising. As the saying goes, ’Better to gamble on the mist than on the fissures.’ Especially fissures this deep and nasty. This kid is about to lose a fortune."
"Huh? But this older gentleman’s stones look pretty high-quality! He should have a huge win!"
"Sir, if you strike it rich, are you selling? I’ll pay top dollar!"
Lin Xinghe felt a thrill hearing everyone’s comments. He raised his head, feigning modesty. "Sorry, but I’m in the jewelry business myself. If there’s green, it won’t be for sale."
After speaking, Lin Xinghe turned to the stonecutter with a broad smile. "Could you please cut these stones for me?"
"Yes, sir. Which one should I start with?"
Lin Xinghe said with immense confidence, "Pick any of them!"
"You got it! I’ll start with this one."
The stonecutter grabbed a random stone, switched on the cutter, and carefully began to grind away at the edge.
One layer, then two.
At first, the stone dust had a hint of green, but as he kept grinding, the green soon vanished. The core of the stone was a dull, yellowish-brown.
The surrounding jewelers all sighed in unison.
"What a shame, what a shame. Such a promising-looking stone turned out to be a bust."
"Sir, don’t cut the rest. Sell the whole lot to me. I’ll give you two million for them."
Lin Xinghe was still counting on this batch to make a comeback, so he refused without a second thought. "I paid five million for these! You want to snatch them up for two million? So what if one was a bust? I’ve still got dozens more! Master, stop grinding. Just cut it straight down the middle!"
"You got it!"
SCREEE! SCREEE!
Soon, the stone was sliced in two. The core was a grayish-white, without a single speck of green.
The jeweler chuckled. "See, pal? It really was a bust, wasn’t it? Think about my offer. I’ll even add another five hundred thousand. Two and a half million!"
Lin Xinghe flew into a rage. "You’re the idiot! I’ll be damned if I sell! Cut them! Cut them all! I have to get a top-grade piece today!"
SCREEE... SCREEE...
As the stones were cut open one by one, the jewelers who had made offers began to see what was happening and promptly shut their mouths.
These weren’t raw stones at all—they were man-made!
’Thank god that fellow was too stubborn to sell!’
’Otherwise, they’d be the ones wanting to jump off a roof right now!’
In the blink of an eye, more than half the stones had been cut. Lin Xinghe’s forehead was slick with sweat. He, too, had figured it out and glanced subconsciously at the jewelers, hoping someone would take the remaining stones off his hands so he could recoup at least some of his losses.
But unfortunately, everyone avoided his gaze.
"Sir, there’s something off about these stones. Do you want me to keep cutting?"
"Cut."
SCREEE... SCREEE...
All the raw stones were cut open. Their insides were remarkably uniform: all just yellowish-brown stone, without a trace of jadeite.
Lin Xinghe’s vision went black, and he staggered, nearly collapsing.
’How could there not be even a single speck of green?’
’That was the last five million he had. Now it’s all gone. What is he going to do now?’
"Dad," Hua Yao said, "Cheng Yuan told you not to buy them earlier. He said they were all Waste Stones or man-made. You just wouldn’t believe him. Now look! Cheng Yuan was right, wasn’t he? They really are all man-made!"
Lin Xinghe was so mortified he wanted to die, but he still refused to admit he was inferior to Cheng Yuan. He stubbornly stuck his neck out. "Cheng Yuan just made a lucky guess! Just look at the junk he picked out. If he gets even a sliver of green from that lot, I’ll admit I’ve lost!"
Cheng Yuan casually picked up one of his stones and handed it to the cutter. "Master, if you please."
The stonecutter took the stone and examined it. He found three fissures on its surface, two of which were very deep—a full ten centimeters.
"Sir, this stone has some nasty fissures. The chances of finding green aren’t high. Should I just slice it open?"
Cheng Yuan quickly waved his hands. "No, no, absolutely no slicing. First, cut away the fissured sections, then start grinding it slowly. You’ll see the goods soon enough!"
A snort of laughter escaped from one of the onlookers, and soon the other jewelers couldn’t help but chuckle.
"That kid’s way too confident. Expecting to find green with fissures that deep?"
"And the best part is, he wants him to grind it. A stone like that? He’ll work the cutter to death."
The stonecutter was starting to get annoyed. "Sir, we’re very busy. For stones of this quality, we usually just slice them open. If I cut it the way you’re asking, it’ll take forever. You trying to work me to death?"
Lin Xinghe was losing face and snorted coldly. "Cheng Yuan, stop wasting everyone’s time! Just slice it open!"
Cheng Yuan didn’t argue with Lin Xinghe. He looked the stonecutter straight in the eye. "Do it my way, and I’ll give you an extra two hundred for each stone."
Hearing there was extra money involved, the stonecutter’s mood instantly brightened.
"You got it! A generous boss! We’ll cut it exactly as you require, sir."
WHIR! WHIR!
The stonecutter sliced off the fissured sections and, following Cheng Yuan’s instructions, started grinding down the surface with all his might.
WHIRRR!
Layers of stone dust flaked away.
Two minutes passed. The stonecutter’s forehead was beaded with sweat from the effort, but there wasn’t the slightest sign of green.
The surrounding jewelers were starting to lose interest. ’Grinding a stone with such nasty fissures? What a joke.’
Just as the jewelers were about to walk away, the stonecutter suddenly cried out in surprise. "There’s a mist! A mist is appearing! This might be a win!!"