Chapter 27: Another Hit, How Outrageous

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Another Hit, How Outrageous

Boss Wang grunted. This time, he had truly misjudged.

"It’s just three million. What’s the big deal?"

The surrounding crowd started shouting their praises.

"Boss Wang is so generous!"

It was Jiang Fan’s turn to have his stone cut.

When Jiang Fan brought his stone up, everyone was stunned.

"Stone #008."

"Buddy, you actually dared to buy that."

"The ones starting with ’0’ are all waste rock."

"That #72 you bought for a million, that one’s at least worth a look, but it’s just too small."

"What a shame. Over a million, probably down the drain." The crowd buzzed with discussion.

Jiang Fan chuckled and replied, "Just go ahead and cut it."

Wang Chong was also watching from the side, looking at this particular stone with great interest.

He had seen this stone before; it was just an ordinary piece of worthless rock.

The sound of the angle grinder whirred to life.

In just a moment, a thick layer of the stone’s outer skin was ground away.

As expected, the one-centimeter-thick rind was just... rind.

"It really is waste rock, haha."

"I knew it."

"Brother, you’re a little out of your league," someone laughed.

A smirk played on Jiang Fan’s lips. "Is that so?"

Jiang Fan stepped forward and instructed Old Zhou to make another cut along the edge.

Customers could make requests for how they wanted their stone cut and how many cuts to make.

The stonecutters like Old Zhou had to cooperate fully.

Although Old Zhou also didn’t think much of this stone, he did as instructed.

"Just a waste of time." Wang Chong was clearly unimpressed.

However, as the black stone skin fell away, a deep green pattern was stunningly revealed within.

"Well, I’ll be."

"No cracks, its texture is incredibly translucent, and the color is vibrant."

"How could a piece of waste rock possibly yield something like this?"

Everyone gasped.

Those first few characteristics already met the criteria for a top-grade ice-type Ink Jade jadeite.

If it really turned out to be top-grade ice-type Ink Jade jadeite, the value of this piece of jade would multiply by several dozen times, at least.

Now, the people in the crowd could no longer remain calm.

Those who had been pointing fingers and making comments didn’t dare to look down on Jiang Fan anymore.

Old Zhou swallowed hard. The last time he’d cut a top-grade ice-type Ink Jade was last year, but that had come from a huge stone a buyer had spent five million on.

But the piece before him now, whether in terms of texture and clarity or its coloration, was far superior to last year’s.

"Brother, how do you want to cut it next?" Old Zhou didn’t dare to decide where to cut on his own.

If he made a wrong cut and the man before him held him responsible, he would have to bear the consequences.

Jiang Fan pretended to ponder for a moment before continuing, "Make a cut here."

"And another cut here."

...

During the process, Jiang Fan deliberately created some misdirection so the crowd wouldn’t realize there was something special about him.

Otherwise, with his ability, he could have had Old Zhou make every single cut perfectly.

Before long, a piece of top-grade ice-type jadeite was cut out.

"Holy crap, this can’t be real."

"Top-grade ice-type jadeite, and it’s even Ink Jade."

"And it was cut from a piece of waste rock!"

"This is so fucking unbelievable."

"If I’d been more decisive back then, I would’ve just bought it. At worst, I’d just smoke a few fewer packs of premium smokes."

"Sigh, missed out on a million."

Wang Chong was also completely stunned, staring blankly.

The Ink Jade in Jiang Fan’s hand was only about half the size of a palm, and around four centimeters thick.

At current market value, it could be made into at least four large Ice-type Ink Jade bracelets.

Top-grade ink jade bracelets were a rare, sought-after commodity on the market.

One was worth at least five hundred thousand, so four would be worth over two million.

And that wasn’t even counting the leftover ice-type scraps, which could be made into Buddha Amulets and the like.

With this single move, the young man before them had just netted a profit of at least three million.

Truly impressive.

"Amazing."

"Looks like today’s Jade King will most likely be this young man."

Soon, the professional appraisers came over to begin their valuation.

The valuation was to determine the day’s rankings.

The appraisal was done on-site, so there was no need to worry about it being lost or anything.

Before long, the appraisal result was out.

"Valued at 3.5 million."

"This piece of jade is, without a doubt, today’s Jade King."

Inside the stone gambling hall, a crowd watched as the large screen refreshed.

"The first-place spot has been updated!"

"What? That piece of jade, barely half the size of a palm, is worth 3.5 million?"

"Oh my god."

In the lounge, Li Qian’Er, who was in the process of exchanging cut jade for cash, was also quite astonished when she saw the jade on the big screen.

’To cut out such a large piece of ice-type jade, it’s simply outrageous.’

’I wonder what the purchase price was.’

Li Qian’Er took a closer look, but when she noticed which raw stone it had been cut from, she was shocked.

"Th-Isn’t that the stone that simpleton bought?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

"That was clearly a piece of waste rock, yet it produced something like this."

’This is just too ridiculous.’

Meanwhile, the stone gambling hall, as the host, wanted to celebrate and attract more business.

They immediately brought out Jiang Fan’s second stone.

This drew a large crowd of onlookers.

"Didn’t you all just say you didn’t think much of this stone?"

"But a treasure like this was cut from waste rock."

"So everyone, don’t lose heart! Sometimes, stone gambling is all about daring and luck."

"When your luck’s in, not even the gods can stop you."

"If your luck’s bad, it’s one cut to riches, one cut to rags."

On Jiang Fan’s side, Old Zhou was originally the one cutting the stone, but the gambling hall had swapped him out for someone else who also provided commentary.

Jiang Fan had wanted to keep a low profile; after all, one shouldn’t flaunt their wealth.

The current situation was clearly beyond his control.

"Stone #72, also purchased by this customer for one million!"

"This customer first bought #008, netting a profit of 3.45 million."

"And now with #72, it’s highly likely we’ll see another great find!"

The new stonecutter, Old Zhao, was egging on the surrounding crowd, trying to stir up their interest.

’Same old tricks,’ some people thought to themselves.

Seeing that few people were paying him any mind, the thick-skinned Old Zhao wasn’t bothered and asked Jiang Fan, "Brother, where would you like the first cut?"

Jiang Fan used the same trick as before, having the first cut avoid the valuable part of the stone.

It came out completely black.

Everyone was greatly disappointed.

However, just as the crowd had given up hope, the second cut revealed the skin of an ice-type jade.

Jiang Fan had done this on purpose.

This stone, #72, was also an ice-type, but to avoid seeming unnaturally accurate, Jiang Fan had deliberately instructed the stonecutter to cut in the wrong place.

"It’s an ice-type again!"

"Although this top-grade ice-type jadeite isn’t as good as the top-grade ice-type Ink Jade from before..."

"...it’s huge!"

"And it’s also full-bodied in texture and clarity, with no cracks."

"This is so rare."

"What a shame, that last cut was a mistake."

"It knocked a fifth off the price right there."

"Such a large top-grade jadeite with this quality is incredibly hard to come by."

Someone immediately offered three million on the spot.

"Three million? Are you kidding me?" Wang Chong shot the person a disdainful look.