Bai Yuze said playing with five hundred million was just about saving face, no one could actually afford to lose that much without a care. The Bai Family was wealthy, but not to that extent.
Just by looking at Bai Yuanhao’s displeased face, it was clear that five hundred million had already dealt a significant blow to the Bai Family. Lin Tian also knew about another ticking time bomb for them—the batch of adulterated jadeite raw stones from last time. If both issues blew up at once, the Bai Family would certainly be hit where it hurt.
"Mr. Bai, don’t get agitated. Look around, everyone’s watching you. Keep an eye on your image," Lin Tian said with a smile, gesturing to the people around them.
Now that Bai Yuze’s stone cutting had failed, the sky-high bid had turned into worthless rocks within a few strikes, and people’s looks were filled with scorn. As a descendant of a Jade Stone family, one is expected to gamble on stones, but when one misjudges, the family behind them is similarly scorned.
Because the stone he cut wasn’t just any rough piece, it was the sky-high bid of this Gambling Stone Festival! With such a bid, the expectations of the public were exceedingly high.
"Brother Lin, you should start on the first piece of rough stone soon. Otherwise, we’ll end up dragging it out until it’s dark," Wan Gaoyuan suggested, glancing at his watch.
Just cutting the second piece had taken too much time. Lin Tian didn’t want it to drag on too late, so he had Master Liu clear the waste from the second stone aside and then hoisted his first stone onto the cutting machine.
"Brother Lin, do you know how to operate the stone cutting machine, or should I do it?" Zhou Botong was itching to have a go, thinking that personally cutting a high-grade jadeite would give him something to boast about to his grandfather.
If it had been an ordinary stone, Lin Tian might have let him try, but since it contained top-grade jadeite, it couldn’t be risked. So he loudly said, "A broken machine, what’s so hard about that?"
Previously, Lin Tian truly didn’t know how to operate the stone cutter, but after watching Bai Yuze do it for so long, it wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined. He went over and studied the control buttons briefly and quickly figured out how to use them.
"Hey, Lin Tian, don’t tell me you can’t even use a stone cutter," Bai Yuze, looking for someone to share in his humiliation, seized the opportunity and said sarcastically.
"I’ll cut..." Lin Tian gestured a cutting motion at Bai Yuze’s lower body with his hand, then suddenly pressed the start button.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." The blade whirred into motion, blasting dust into the air and right into Bai Yuze’s face. His high-end suit and meticulously styled hair were instantly covered with a layer of stone powder.
"Cough, cough... Lin Tian, you’ve gone too far!" Bai Yuze, fuming and coughing, stepped back to avoid getting hit again.
Lin Tian glanced at him, giving a sly smile. Spraying your face was just a small trick, be careful or I might really cut off something important. He averted his gaze and studied the rough stone intently with his x-ray vision again.
The jade in the huge stone was divided into three sections, each separated by ordinary stone. Lin Tian resolved to cut it into three segments with two strokes to speed up the process.
He pretended to draw two lines with a chalk, adjusted the position, and was ready to cut.
"Hey, Brother Lin, take it easy, you can’t be careless with such a large piece of rough," Song Yanan saw his casual line drawing and anxiously shouted, "I see this stone has a yellow sand peel, it could potentially yield red, green, and purple jade. What if you ruin it with such cutting?"
Although she was a Jade Carver, she often dealt with jadeite and had a certain understanding of stone gambling. She knew at a glance that such material could potentially contain "Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity" tricolor jade.
"Yeah, young man, even though the rough doesn’t look promising, there’s still a chance it could be tricolor jade. Better to be cautious," someone kindly suggested.
Song Yanan was a complete jade carving addict and couldn’t stand any action that damaged jade. Lin Tian knew that if he insisted on cutting so casually, she would certainly be up in arms.
"How about this, Brother Lin cuts, and I’ll be responsible for watching. If there’s any issue, I’ll call a stop immediately," Zhou Botong offered a suggestion.
After all, no one else could see the internal condition; Lin Tian’s seemingly random cuts were in fact the best positions to slice. But since others didn’t understand, he had to act according to their words.
"Let’s get started!" Lin Tian shouted and controlled the alloy saw blade, cutting into the stone.
The number one raw material weighed a total of ten tons and was over a meter thick. Lin Tian’s chosen spot to cut was precisely the thickest part. Cutting a ten-ton stone into three pieces was not an easy task, yet Lin Tian’s cuts were decisive and speedy.
This caused quite a struggle for Zhou Botong, who acted as the observer. He often hadn’t seen clearly when the rapidly descending saw blade had already passed.
"Don’t rush, Brother Lin; slow down, slow down." Zhou Botong, rinsing the cut with water and peering closely, kept calling out without stop.
But Lin Tian simply ignored him, instead speeding up even more. Soon, one saw blade’s depth was completely cut through. Lin Tian directed Master Liu to flip the stone, then without hesitation, he made another cut, his gaze unfaltering as if he weren’t cutting jade raw material but just ordinary stone.
"Mr. Qian, that young man’s cuts are so fierce and powerful!" the enchanting woman said, her gaze hooked on the scene, hands clasped behind her back.
This spectacle caused the thoughts of most men around to linger on her, with some casting wandering glances, imagining themselves in Fatty Qian’s place.
Twenty minutes later, Lin Tian finally cut off the first piece of stone. He shut down the stone cutting machine and jumped down from the operation platform.
"How did it go?" Lin Tian asked purposely, though he was clearer on the situation than anyone.
Zhou Botong used water to wash away the stone powder and looked at the cut for a long time but didn’t come to a conclusion. The impetuous Ou Mengmeng leaned over, pushing him away while muttering, "Are you up to it or not? You’ve been looking for so long."
Having his capability doubted by his own girlfriend, Zhou Botong definitely wouldn’t accept it; he glared and said, "In a sense, I have a brotherly relationship with Lin Tian as mentors and disciples, doubting me is doubting Brother Lin; he is my idol and there’s no way he can’t deliver! I trust him, there’s definitely jade inside."
"Alright, you lovebirds can hash out whether you’re up to it in private, don’t drag me into it," Lin Tian quickly disassociated himself, to avoid Ou Mengmeng making another explosive remark.
Bai Yuze, who had been silent, looked at the cut, and the discouraged expression on his face revived. He sneered, "No green on either side, and you still have the mood to joke around, heh, quite the self-entertainers, aren’t you!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a stone suddenly flew towards him, hitting him right in the forehead. Blood immediately oozed from his already injured forehead.
"Who?" people from the Bai Family demanded loudly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Tian caught Xiao Manxuan nonchalantly talking to her sister, yet her right hand was covered in dust—he could tell that the "little girl" had done it.
"Seeing red at the crucial moment, what a good omen!" Lin Tian exclaimed loudly, shifting everyone’s attention, and then he moved the piece of raw material, weighing over eighty pounds, to a small stone cutting machine.
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