The transaction went smoothly. After the transfer was complete, those three rough stones officially belonged to Ian Song.
Since he'd already paid the commission, he could have the stones cut for free this time—but Ian still chose to do it himself.
He started with the rough stone that was worth the most.
Although it was just low-grade jadeite, the piece was huge. When Ian Song cracked it open, it caused quite a stir. Someone even offered two million to buy it halfway through the cutting.
But since he knew the rough stone was actually worth more than five million, he naturally turned down the offer.
"Friend, how about selling it to me for 5.2 million?" the jewelry merchant waiting nearby offered as soon as Ian finished cutting out the jadeite.
Since the jadeite was big but not high in quality, no one else made a bid after the merchant named his price.
After a brief hesitation, Ian agreed to the price. His account balance instantly grew by 5.2 million.
Once the deal was done, Ian started cutting the second rough stone.
He revealed a piece of mid-grade jadeite, and the same jewelry merchant immediately offered 310,000, which was about what it was worth.
This time, someone else joined in the bidding, but the merchant won with a final offer of 350,000.
Of the three rough stones, two had already produced jadeite. So when Ian started on the third, more than a dozen people crowded around to watch.
"It's risen!"
After Ian wiped open a side, someone in the crowd shouted.
The way people looked at Ian changed—three rough stones, three wins. He was clearly a stone-gambling expert.
"Friend, how about selling me this rough stone for 100,000?"
A young man said to Ian, sounding a bit anxious.
"I'll pay 120,000!" someone else immediately called out.
Ian stayed calm. He hadn't cut this stone open right away because he wanted to maximize its profit. Sure enough, his streak of two wins had made people trust his eye for jade.
"I'll pay 300,000!"
A young man strode over with two bodyguards, sweeping his gaze arrogantly around the crowd and declared loudly.
"Deal!"
Ian agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Selling a rough stone only worth fifty thousand for three hundred thousand—what's not to be satisfied about? Besides, this young man was clearly a rich fool: arrogant, flashy, with two bodyguards in tow. Ian didn't feel the least bit guilty about taking advantage.
After the transfer, the young man couldn't wait to hire a stone-cutter to finish opening the stone.
But when he saw the jadeite inside was only worth fifty thousand at most, his expression turned sour. He glared coldly at Ian. "Did you scam me?"
Ian just shrugged helplessly. "How could I scam you? I don't have x-ray vision."
"Hmph. I'll remember you!"
The young man snorted coldly and stormed off with his two bodyguards.
"Friend, the guy who bought your rough stone is Zhou Lang. He's notorious for holding grudges. You should be careful." The jewelry merchant who bought Ian's other two jadeites whispered a quick warning before hurrying off—clearly not wanting to cross Zhou Lang.
Ian just smiled, not taking it to heart.
With four rough stones, Ian had earned 5.58 million. He was pretty satisfied and decided to make one last purchase before calling it a day.
Stall No. 99.
As soon as Ian arrived, a crowd followed. The stone-gambling scene might be huge, but the circles were small. News of Ian's four rough stone purchases and his five-million-plus windfall had already spread, and everyone now saw him as a stone-gambling expert.
Some people followed out of curiosity, others with different motives.
The owner of Stall No. 99 was ugly, but his small eyes were sharp. As soon as he spotted Ian, his eyes darted around, and he eagerly started pitching his rough stones.
Since this would be Ian's last move of the day, he dropped all pretenses and swept his Clairvoyant Vision across all hundred-plus rough stones at the stall.
His heart skipped a beat—he'd found a rough stone containing high-quality jadeite, and it was a sizable chunk. Its value was definitely over thirty million.
But noticing the heated looks from the crowd and the stall owner's shifty eyes, Ian decided not to go straight for the real prize.
Instead, he casually pointed at a good-looking rough stone and asked, "Can you lower the price a bit?"
The rough stone Ian pointed at was priced at 86,800 yuan.
"Haha, of course! Knock off the change and you can take it for 180,000!" the stall owner laughed loudly.
Ian couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Good thing he'd stayed alert, or the stall owner would have fleeced him.
So he put on a dissatisfied look and said, "Boss, you must've misread the tag. This rough stone is marked at 86,800 yuan—knock off the change and it's 80,000 at most."
But the stall owner was thick-skinned. He stared at the price tag for a while, then apologized, "Sorry, my friend, I must've written it wrong. It should be 186,800, I just forgot the '1.' But since it's my mistake, I'll drop another 20,000—so you can have it for 160,000."
"Ha, you really think I'm a sucker?" Ian mocked.
The stall owner quickly replied, "You've got me wrong, friend! Ask around—Old Zhou here is famous for honesty. And 160,000 is truly the lowest. Just look at this rough stone, the quality is excellent—it's sure to rise!"
"Plenty of good-looking rough stones end up as dead loss," Ian retorted, keeping up the haggling.
Some of the people gathered around started thinking. Normally, anyone else would walk away from such a shady stall owner, but Ian wasn't leaving. What did that mean?
It meant he was interested in this rough stone.
He'd bought four rough stones and all of them had risen. If I can buy this one, the odds are good it'll rise too.
The one getting ideas was a middle-aged man in his forties. Seeing Ian still haggling, he waved his hand boldly and said, "I'll take this rough stone for 160,000!"
Sure enough, someone jumped in to snatch the stone. Ian was even more impressed with his own foresight, so he pretended to be angry and said, "Hey, what's your deal? I was the first to spot this rough stone!"
"You haven't paid yet, have you?" the middle-aged man said disdainfully, then ignored Ian and turned to the stall owner. "Hurry up, let's finish the deal."
"Heh heh," the stall owner chuckled. "Sorry, friend, 160,000 was only for him because of my earlier mistake. If you want it, it's 186,800—no less!"
"...You...!" The middle-aged man was speechless with anger, while Ian found it all rather amusing.
"Buy it or don't, your call. If you can't afford it, don't pretend to be a big shot!" the stall owner said disdainfully.
The middle-aged man's face flushed red with anger. "Hell, you think I don't have money? I could buy every rough stone here if I wanted! Fine, I'll take it for 186,800!"
"Haha, you're clearly loaded! I must've been blind not to see it. Please, don't hold it against me!" The stall owner saw his provocation had worked and quickly switched to flattery.
"Now you know not to look down on people! Let's go finish the deal!" The middle-aged man felt pleased as the stall owner bowed his head.