The next step was cutting the stone, and Bai Zhengchu, upon seeing Lin Tian had chosen a cobblestone, concluded that he really didn’t know how to gamble on stones. Declaring the start of the stone cutting, he appeared relaxed and cheerful.
The cutting machine and grinding tools had been prepared by the servants early on. Since none of the rough stones weighed hundreds of pounds this time, a small cutting machine would suffice. The Bai Family had arranged for a master stone cutter, and if anyone lacked confidence in their own cutting skills, they could ask the professional cutter for help.
A confident young man stepped up, he took the cutter in his own hands, secured the rough stone, switched on the cutting machine, and carefully pressed down the handle.
The cutting machine’s diamond wheel spun rapidly, slicing into the stone. After a piercing noise, a slice of the rough stone was cut off. The guests crowded around to observe, but after looking, they all shook their heads in disappointment.
The man’s confidence immediately crumbled, he switched off the power of the cutting machine and nervously picked up the stone. Lin Tian saw that though jade had appeared at the cut, its texture was rough and its transparency poor, showing a grayish-white color.
"Low-grade dry white jade, how could this happen?" The man wore a look of disbelief on his face.
"Xiao Zhao, move aside, is there any point in cutting more of this stuff?" Another person pushed the dazed Xiao Zhao aside and took it upon himself to cut the stone.
But when his stone was cut, the crowd let out an even louder round of boos, as not only was his stone dry white jade, but it also had fine cracks.
After two consecutive failures, panic started to set in among those waiting their turn. That’s how stone gambling goes, before cutting, everyone believes that they would be the one to increase the value, but a few failures, and a wave of panic spreads.
In the room, only Lin Tian, Zhou Botong, and Bai Yuze were able to maintain a leisurely posture, all three showing great patience and letting the others go first.
As the failures mounted, people began to feel the pressure and dared not cut the stones themselves, having no choice but to ask the nearby master cutter for help.
The person who made the biggest mistake asked the master cutter to help him, and ended up with a failure—a dry white kind with cracks. Enraged like a mad dog, he blamed the master cutter, pushing all the responsibility onto him. His father couldn’t stand watching this and came over to slap his son, knocking him to the ground before ordering the bodyguards to drag him away.
The people who followed didn’t dare show any arrogance and cut their stones earnestly. However, Lin Tian also realized that these jade stones had been picked over by the Bai Family and were not likely to contain anything valuable—only the stone he held was an exception.
In other words, the Bai Family had also overlooked this cobblestone during their selection, and Lin Tian was very much looking forward to seeing their reactions once jade was cut from it.
Soon, most people had finished cutting their stones, leaving only Lin Tian and two others. Zhou Botong, looking to challenge Bai Yuze, took his stone to the cutting machine to start the process. He made his cut decisively, not bothering to wipe or inspect the window, but cutting directly a third of the way through. Lin Tian did not stop him because he had seen that although some jade would be cut, the issue was not significant.
"Oh..." An unexpected sound came from the guests after the cut.
"It’s gold-thread jade, the green color is not bad, and the transparency is quite good—it can reach a mid-grade level," a knowledgeable middle-aged man commented with a nod.
"Such good luck, this gold-thread jade is the best piece that has come out so far, Elder Zhou’s grandson might take the win."
Elder Zhou sat in the main seat, nodding contentedly. If the remaining two couldn’t cut better jade out of their stones, Zhou Botong would win.
"Mrs. Xiao, Botong is getting increasingly impressive, he has your stature!" Mrs. Xiao gently complimented Elder Zhou. Elder Zhou’s eyes were full of mirth, and perhaps due to Lin Tian’s influence, he did not put on an air of keeping others at a great distance, something Bai Zhengchu noticed with a slight frown.
In some sense, Elder Zhou was not a qualified businessman. Often he would make decisions based on his personal preferences, and he was aware of this. Therefore, he barely interfered with the family business, which he left to his son, that is, Zhou Botong’s father.
However, he held the most authority when speaking at home, and the Zhou Family also controlled certain jade trading channels. If the Xiao Family got involved with these channels, it would be very disadvantageous for the Bai Family. The enormous profits from the jade rough the Bai Family sold to the Xiao Family each year could be significantly reduced.
What was more important was that it brought too many uncertainties to the plans in the pipeline, which was why Bai Zhengchu was worried. It seemed that all these changes were triggered by the arrival of the young man, Lin Tian.
"Brother Lin Tian, my judgment isn’t bad, right?" Zhou Botong said, holding his piece of gold-threaded jade, brimming with pride, yet his gaze was fixed on Bai Yuze with a provocative intent.
"Gold-threaded? You’re proud of that? I think you two better keep a low profile, lest you lose too disgracefully later on," Bai Yuze said dismissively, glancing at the gold-threaded rough before turning to the stone-cutting machine.
Bai Yuze’s stone cutting was quite skilled; he started by using a grinding wheel to remove the outer rind. Lin Tian used his X-ray vision and saw that Bai Yuze was indeed working on the side that contained jade.
As the stone debris fell away, a tender green hue appeared before everyone’s eyes, and Bai Yuze stopped the grinding just in time.
"The color is a tender green and pure, although not dense, what’s rare is that it’s of icy glutinous quality. Mr. Bai, your eyesight is truly remarkable; it looks like you’re going to win the competition again!" A guest lavished praise upon him.
"Hehe, just scraping the surface doesn’t count for much, Yuze, make another cut on the other side," Bai Zhengchu said modestly, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
"Sure thing, Grandfather," Bai Yuze said as he flipped the rough stone over and opened another window.
This side would definitely reveal green too; Lin Tian had already seen through it and knew it clearly.
"Green on both sides; the victory is pretty much assured," the guests concluded, entirely disregarding Lin Tian, each feeling there was no need to waste more time cutting a worthless stone.
Their looks towards Xiao Manxue were teasing; previously she had talked a big game, and now it looked like she was slapping her own face.
"Bai Yuze, do you think you’ve got the win in the bag?" Lin Tian approached, speaking calmly, "I suggest you extract the jade before celebrating, to avoid any unexpected results that might embarrass the Bai Family completely."
"Hmph, speaking any more to you, a layman, would be an insult to jade assessment. I’ll cut it out just to make you give up hope!" Bai Yuze snorted coldly, his tone heavy with disdain.
The surrounding guests also felt Lin Tian was being unreasonable and failing to recognize reality; any slight positive impression they had from the lion dance had vanished.
"A bodyguard is just a bodyguard. If you have no insight and can’t take a loss, you shouldn’t come out to play. Just keep a low profile and stick to your duties; at least you’re an Ancient Martial Artist, how can you be so oblivious to the situation!" The guests’ murmurs grew increasingly harsh.
These remarks infuriated Xiao Manxuan, who shouted loudly, "How can you people speak so harshly, does it befit your status?"
This little girl truly feared neither heaven nor earth. Hands on hips, she scolded the onlookers, leaving them too embarrassed to make a sound.
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