"Excuse me, folks, let me through, please." An enthusiastic spectator parted the crowd and brought in a basin of water.
He hopped onto the crossbeam of the stone-cutting machine with the water, startling the people nearby into quickly stopping the alloy blade. Without needing anyone from the Bai Family to do anything, he used the water to rinse the newly cut surface of the rough stone clean.
"Damn, who’s cutting the stone that they have to be so excited about it?" Lin Tian had seen the extent of their enthusiasm, which seemed boundless.
"It’s pretty normal, everyone wants to know the result sooner." Xiao Manxue glanced at the cut on the rough stone and casually responded, not finding the Bai Family’s success in cutting green to be a happy occasion.
Xiao Manxuan knew even less about stone gambling, and upon hearing the crowd’s exclamation that it was indeed green, the little girl wasn’t pleased and huffily said, "Lin Tian, they’ve cut jadeite, should we sneakily..."
She clenched her little fist and made a smashing gesture, and Lin Tian, amused, flicked her forehead and laughed, "Second Miss, you’re thinking about sabotage again, that’s not very fitting for your ladylike image, is it?"
"What do you mean ’again’?" Xiao Manxuan protested, touching her forehead, and said discontentedly, "When have I ever caused trouble? Plus, I don’t want to be some lady, I want to be like the Heavenly Master sister, become powerful, and only beat up the bad guys!"
Hearing her "lofty aspirations," Lin Tian had a face full of black lines, feeling as if another violent woman was about to emerge. Indeed, when adults fight, children shouldn’t watch, it’s too violent, and they might learn bad habits.
By this time, the enthusiastic spectator had already rinsed the cut clean. A few people equipped with powerful flashlight beams leaned over the stone to inspect it.
"Ice type, sun green, definitely high-grade jadeite. If even half of the rough stone is this kind of jadeite, then it’s definitely worth more than 500 million. Shame the stone is too big to see clearly."
After looking it over, they all agreed, and Bai Yuze revealed a smug smile when he heard this. Of course, he knew how valuable this grade of jadeite was, but he still held back his smile and asked everyone to step down.
With such a promising start, everyone was even more anxious to see the result. Bai Yuze drew another line on the other side of the rough stone’s window and restarted the stone-cutting machine.
Amidst the "kaka" noises, the saw blade once again sliced into the stone. The area to be cut this time was a bit large, so it wasn’t until 15 minutes later, with the ground littered with stone powder, that a corner of the stone was cut off. Bai Yuze had also learned his lesson, directly turning off the stone-cutting machine to avoid a possibly tragic bloodshed incident in his moment of joy.
"Eh..." Before the cut was even cleansed, someone already uttered a puzzled sound. Bai Yuanhao, who had been silent, came closer and frowned at the cut.
Lin Tian and the others also moved around to the cut’s side to take a look. The new cut, about the height of a saw blade, was green as well, but something wasn’t quite right. Under the white light of the flashlight, the green of the window seemed to extend downward.
This was a good sign, as if the green could continue all the way to the bottom, it would mean a significant increase in value, because that would indicate the entire massive rock was filled with jadeite. However, the green only extended down about twenty centimeters before disappearing, as if growing inward, and below that was coarse crystalline stone.
"It’s a nail-biter, really uncertain!" Someone from outside murmured.
"Not necessarily, the stone is so massive, and no matter if the jadeite extends horizontally or vertically, the content should be considerable."
"What the hell, stop the nonsense, just cut it right down the middle and we’ll know!" An impatient voice rang out.
Lin Tian turned to look and saw that Boss Qian was rudely pushing through the crowd, forcefully squeezing his way in. The garishly dressed mistress was still with him, dressed as provocatively as ever. Her bare long legs, pert buttocks, and the ever-so-low neckline were all on display.
Because the crowd was too dense, a creepy middle-aged man reached out to grope her butt, hoping to take advantage. However, the woman was quick, she grabbed his hand as soon as it landed and then slapped him hard across the face.
"Hmph, you dare to take advantage of me!" The flamboyant woman, furious, landed a slap squarely on the lecherous man’s cheek.
The sleazy man didn’t dare linger, bowing his head and scuttling away, because Boss Qian had already raised his fan-like fat palm.
"Hmph..." Boss Qian, with his bulky body, couldn’t possibly catch up. His eyes carried a threat as he coldly surveyed his surroundings.
The people nearby quickly distanced themselves, lest they be mistaken for the culprit, and just like that, a path was cleared for him to enter.
"Lin Tian, that woman seems to have taken a fancy to you, eh? She didn’t even resist when you took advantage of her," Xiao Manxue whispered into Lin Tian’s ear.
Ugh, he had already forgotten that touch, but Miss reminded him, so Lin Tian pretended not to hear.
Boss Qian made his way into the venue and pointed loudly at Bai Yuze, who was beside the stone-cutting machine, "Hey, you’re the successful bidder for number two, I hear you’re from the Bai Family. Hmph, nothing special though, cutting the stone so cautiously. Dammit, losing the bid to you really is a disgrace!"
It wasn’t clear if he was a coal boss or not, but his mannerisms were extravagantly bold, and he didn’t care who the other party was. Bai Yuze, taken aback by the shouting, didn’t know how to respond, as he had never encountered such behavior from wealthy individuals before.
"Boss Qian, I know you," Bai Yuanhao, already worried about the raw jade material, replied with a frown and a cool demeanor, "How we cut the stone is our business. You can just watch from the side. As members of a jade stone family, I think we have more say in how it’s done."
This was not exactly polite— it implied that the layman had no right to comment. Boss Qian’s eyes bulged, and he pinched his cigar into several pieces, not buying into what Bai Yuanhao had to say, yelling, "Pah, so much for a jade stone family, cutting the stone with such trepidation, it’s embarrassing. I say we cut it right at the intersection, let’s see if it rises or collapses with one cut. What do you all say, huh?"
Boss Qian was referring to the boundary where the cut jade stone disappears, his words having a bit of logic to them.
"Yeah, this boss has a point."
"Make a clean cut with one strike, this slow cutting is so frustrating!"
Many people echoed Boss Qian’s words— as the saying goes, the voice of the people is powerful, and the Bai family trio suddenly found themselves in an awkward position.
"Dad, what do we do, should we cut?" Bai Yuze was hesitant, not wanting to offend the crowd.
"A ten-centimeter-deep cut to start, and we’ll observe before continuing to cut," Bai Yuanhao was an old hand in Jianghu, not one to lose his composure, and he made a decision within half a minute.
"Okay!" Bai Yuze nodded, then directed Master Liu, who was operating the forklift, to flip the rough jade material over, putting its side face up.
After securing it, Bai Yuze started the stone-cutting machine and cut towards the edge of the jade.
"Heh, the tragedy is about to start," Lin Tian chuckled to himself.
"What did you say?" All three ladies and Mr. and Mrs. Wan Gaoyuan looked at him curiously. Lin Tian spread his hands innocently, indicating he hadn’t said anything.
"Hmph, acting all mysterious," Xiao Manxue, who heard him most clearly, huffed dissatisfiedly.
But there was no time to ask further, for the ten-centimeter depth was quickly achieved. Bai Yuanhao personally took water to clean the cut, then turned on a flashlight to shine inside.
"Nothing? How can this be?" A foreboding feeling rose in Bai Yuanhao’s heart.
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