Manager Sun, who was in his early forties, always wore a deferential smile. Since Cliff Fu knew Ian Song didn’t know how to pick rough stones, he had Manager Sun explain things first.
From Manager Sun’s introduction, Ian learned that the rough stones in the selection area were divided into ‘bright material’ and ‘dark material’.
So-called bright material referred to rough stones with an opened window showing green. These stones were priced high—none under five hundred thousand—and naturally, the odds of cutting out jade were much better.
Dark material, on the other hand, meant stones with no window opened; whether they produced jade depended entirely on luck. Of course, experienced jade gamblers could judge by the stone’s appearance, the coarseness of the sand, and the place of origin, but as the saying goes, ‘even gods can’t see the jade inside stone’. So even the most seasoned experts could be wrong.
Thanks to Manager Sun’s explanation, Ian gained a much better understanding of jade gambling.
Just then, Zoey Su and Shelly Song walked over arm in arm. Zoey, quite excited, said, “Ian, have you picked yet? Shelly and I already chose a rough stone and sent it to the cutting area. If we cut out emperor green, we’ll strike it rich!”
“Cutting out emperor green isn’t that easy. Stop daydreaming.” Ian teased.
“Hmph, I’ve always been lucky.” Zoey glared at him in annoyance, then pulled Shelly toward the cutting area.
“Mr. Song, why don’t we pick a bright stone? The odds are much better,” Manager Sun suggested.
“No need. I’ll go with dark material.”
Ian waved off the suggestion. Although Cliff Fu hadn’t restricted the price of the rough stone he could pick, Ian wasn’t the type to take advantage. He wandered around the selection area, then pointed to a basketball-sized rough stone in a dark corner, its surface black and covered in moss. “Manager Sun, I’ll choose this one.”
Seeing Ian’s choice, Manager Sun looked troubled. From Cliff Fu’s attitude, it was clear he valued Ian and wanted him to pick a high-value stone. But Ian insisted on choosing a piece everyone considered worthless. Manager Sun worried he wouldn’t be able to explain this to the boss.
“Mr. Song, that stone has been here for over a year and is basically written off as waste. Why not pick another?”
“It’s fine. I’ll stick with this one,” Ian said stubbornly.
Seeing Ian insist, Manager Sun didn’t argue further and ordered the staff to move the ‘waste stone’ to the cutting area.
When Cliff Fu saw Ian’s choice, he was surprised and suggested he pick another, but Ian just smiled and shook his head. Cliff’s opinion of Ian changed a bit; it seemed Ian had picked a worthless stone on purpose, not wanting to take advantage.
There were over ten cutting machines in the area, and enough space to cut all three stones at once.
“Mr. Song, would you like a professional to operate the machine, or do it yourself?” Cliff asked. Normally, it took quite a bit of strength to rotate the rough stone, but as an Innate Master, Ian had more than enough.
“Let me give it a try.”
Ian, quite interested, agreed. The stone-cutting master gave him a quick rundown on how to use the machine, then stepped aside.
Meanwhile, Zoey and Shelly had already started cutting their stone.
Hiss—hiss.
Stone powder flew as Ian sliced his rough stone cleanly in half. Both cut faces were grayish-white—no green at all. Cliff felt a bit disappointed; he’d hoped Ian would cut out some jade.
“Ah! My stone’s got green!”
Suddenly, Zoey cried out in surprise. Everyone looked over as the stone-cutting master finished clearing the cut surface. Sure enough, a patch of vivid green appeared, mixed with a hint of watery white.
Then the master shone a flashlight on it and said with certainty, “Judging by the watery color, this is glutinous-type jade, and it’s a decent size. Congratulations, miss.”
Hearing the master’s confident tone, Zoey couldn’t help throwing Ian a smug look. She declared, “Isn’t my luck amazing?”
“It really is.”
Ian nodded. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of rough stones in the selection area, and using Clairvoyant Vision, he’d seen that fewer than one in ten contained jade. Zoey really was lucky to pick one with jade on her first try.
“Young lady, I’d like to buy your stone for five hundred thousand. What do you say?” As soon as someone cut out jade, a crowd gathered at the cutting area. A well-dressed, pot-bellied middle-aged man made Zoey an offer.
“Not selling, not selling! I want to keep cutting.” Zoey waved impatiently.
The pot-bellied man didn’t get upset and simply stepped aside. Ian couldn’t help but smile; Zoey could afford a sports car worth millions, so she obviously wasn’t interested in a mere few hundred thousand. She was clearly in it for the thrill, not the money.
“Mr. Song, why don’t you pick another stone to cut?” Cliff suggested again.
“No need.” Ian refused, then split his stone into four pieces. The cut faces were still grayish-white—obviously, the stone was a total bust.
But Ian didn’t seem ready to give up and kept cutting.
The first quarter he cut still showed no green.
The second quarter was the same.
But when he cut the third piece, one face was suddenly full of green.
Since everyone had already written off Ian’s stone as worthless, Cliff and the others were busy watching Zoey’s stone and didn’t notice what was happening on Ian’s side.
When Ian stopped cutting, Cliff glanced over. “Well? Any green?”
Ian picked up the stone and tilted the cut face toward Cliff. “Looks like there really is green.”
“Whoa, there really is! Let me see!”
Cliff hurried over, took the fist-sized stone from Ian, and saw the whole cut face was lush green with even color. Excited, he called to Manager Sun, “Give me a flashlight!”
[Irrelevant filler line about reading the next page—skip translation.]
Cliff took the flashlight and shone it on the cut face. The green was deep; apart from the outer layer, the whole fist-sized stone was jade, and not just any jade—it was glass-type. Who would have thought a piece written off as waste would yield such high-quality jade?
Putting away the flashlight, Cliff beamed at Ian. “Congratulations, Mr. Song. This is glass-type—it should be worth five or six million.”
Ian was a bit tense at first—just a fist-sized piece of jade was worth five or six million—but quickly calmed down. He said, “I’ll sell it to you for one million. Do you dare accept?”
Using Clairvoyant Vision, he knew that except for the outer layer, the whole stone was jade.
Cliff was briefly stunned—he’d just valued it at five or six million, but Ian was offering it for one million, clearly not wanting to take advantage since the stone was a gift. Cliff laughed, “Of course I dare! But that price is too low—I’ll pay five million!”
“Just one million. If you offer more, I won’t sell.” Ian smiled.
Seeing Ian insist, Cliff didn’t push. He immediately wrote a cashier’s check for one million and had the stone-cutting master polish the jade. As expected, apart from the outer layer, the whole stone was glass-type jade with deep water content.
Once carved into jewelry, it would be worth at least ten million.
Cliff deliberately glanced at Ian, but saw he was perfectly calm, with no trace of regret. Secretly, Cliff thought, no wonder someone so young could become an Innate Master—he really was extraordinary.