Chapter 87

When Old Tang heard this, he became interested.

"What? You have more treasures?"

Wu Di and the fatty lifted the large piece of colorless old pit glass seed from the car and placed it on Old Tang's table. Old Tang had seen many colorless glass seeds, but such a large piece was unheard of. He smiled and said,

"Wu Di, you always bring things that others can't get. Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Hehe, I want you to help me cut it. What it will become will be clear after it's cut."

"Good kid, you're still playing hide and seek with the old man. Hmm? This white cotton seems interesting. Bring me the flashlight!"

Old Tang, being a jade carving expert, immediately noticed something was off with the white cotton. However, after examining it with the flashlight for a long time, he still wasn't sure how to handle it and hesitated.

"Old Tang, try shining a strong light from this angle."

Following Wu Di's guidance, Old Tang shone a strong flashlight on the stone. After a while, he hesitated and said,

"It seems to look like a snake?"

"That's right. I found the white cotton here to be very interesting. I was thinking, if we cut it into jade pieces resembling screens, with each piece containing a piece of white cotton, and select the ones with better shapes to make a set of screens, it should be a rare and valuable collection. Giving it to the master for his birthday would also show my sincerity."

"Then let's give it a try. I'll act as the cutter today and see how many screens we can get from this big piece."

Jade is hard and cannot be cut with diamond tools, but this didn't bother Old Tang. He called Wu Di and the fatty to carry the stone to the room with a small laser cutter, marked the dimensions, and started cutting.

The laser cutter cut the jade very quickly and without wasting material. This time, Old Tang was different from when he was examining the field yellow stone. He drew the lines and cut decisively, without hesitation. In just a few minutes, he cut out the first piece of jade, a large jade plaque 25 cm high, 10 cm wide, and 5 cm thick.

When they took out the jade, both the fatty and Old Tang were stunned. It was a large snake, with scales faintly visible on its long body, fierce eyes, and a long, forked tongue, as if a live snake was about to catch its prey and was suddenly sealed in transparent jade!

The fatty, unable to believe it, touched the slightly rough surface of the stone and said in a daze,

"If this glass seed is full of such patterns, how much would this stone be worth? Oh my God, I remember you only paid 300,000 for it!"

Old Tang's expression was no longer calm. He urged Wu Di and the fatty to lift the stone and find the cutting path for the second piece. At this moment, Old Tang seemed to have made up his mind and said to Wu Di,

"Wu Di, there's something I want to ask your opinion about. I have a disciple, who is a good person with no issues. I was thinking..."

"No problem, Old Tang. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have brought the things here. You decide."

Old Tang looked at Wu Di gratefully and took out his phone, saying only four words,

"Come over quickly!"

Seeing Wu Di and the fatty staring at him in shock, he couldn't help but laugh,

"I'm old, and my children aren't around. I tend to spoil this disciple a bit. This kid, if not properly disciplined, will get out of hand. I can't show him any favor."

Old Tang's words were full of affection.

The three of them studied the cutting path together. In less than ten minutes, hurried footsteps were heard, and a middle-aged man with a loyal face and casual attire ran in,

"Master, what's the new treasure..."

Before he could finish, his gaze was drawn to the field yellow stone on the table. His body moved like a puppet, and he turned to the stone without a second thought.

"This kid is extremely passionate about jade carving and aspires to become a master like Lu Zigang. However, he was recently dealt a heavy blow."

"What happened?"

"The Palace Museum somehow got a Lu Zigang stone carving called 'River and Mountains.' Under the light, it can show the mountains and cities along the Yangtze River during the Ming Dynasty. The country plans to use it as a National Day gift. They invited us, so-called jade carving experts, to study its principle, but we were all clueless. After arguing for half a month, we were all kicked out. When you see it, you'll know it's a miracle! A true miracle!"

Wu Di didn't dare to speak, knowing that if the news leaked, it would be disastrous. The fatty, not knowing what was going on, said he would definitely take a good look.

Old Tang's disciple, holding the stone, said,

"Master, let me carve this stone. I will make it a national treasure!"

"Look at you, put down the stone and meet Wu Di and Mr. Qian."

"I am Jiang Jialang, meeting Mr. Qian and Brother Wu Di."

The three of them exchanged pleasantries. Wu Di found Jiang Jialang to be a very humorous and witty person, wondering how such a personality could be devoted to the tedious work of stone carving for twenty years.

"When I was young, my friends always called me to go shopping. I never understood why until one friend told me, 'Who calls you Jialang (讲价郎, meaning 'bargain hunter')? I think you're a fool for always being taken advantage of!' I went home and asked my father who gave me this name. My mother shouted, 'Who calls your father Jiang Jiajia (讲佳佳, meaning 'good bargain')? If I didn't get some compensation from you, wouldn't I be at a loss?'"

Bargain hunter? Good bargain? It seems this family is quite interesting! The fatty couldn't help but laugh. Jiang Jialang seized the opportunity to say,

"This stone must have been brought by the two of you. Can I have the honor of carving it? I will make it a treasure that will be remembered for a thousand years."

Wu Di, understanding Old Tang's intention, smiled and said,

"Sure, if you're not afraid of getting a beating for taking Old Tang's job, I have no objections!"

Old Tang sighed gratefully,

"Then I'll thank Brother Wu Di on behalf of this unworthy disciple. Jade chooses its master, and Jialang's skills are already on par with mine, and he is even better at design and layout. Unfortunately, good materials are hard to come by, and those big bosses only care about fame, making it harder for young people to stand out. Thank you, little brother."

Jiang Jialang also thanked profusely, making Wu Di almost unable to handle it. He quickly changed the subject,

"Let's focus on this jade. We should try to finish it in a day or two so I can give it to the master for his birthday."

After half an hour of discussion, guided by Wu Di, they cut out another jade plaque with a tiger pattern. It was a fierce tiger climbing a mountain, with every detail visible in the almost transparent glass seed, making it incredibly powerful!

"Dragon and Tiger Battle! Goodness, this jade plaque, once polished, will be priceless!"

Jiang Jialang sighed, half in admiration and half in flattery.

"Priceless? Wait until the whole stone is cut, and see what you have to say!"

After spending most of the day, the four of them finally cut the glass seed into sixteen equally sized jade plaques. As one by one, vivid animals were placed on the workbench, the four of them became numb. Strange things happen every year, but this year is particularly unusual. This stone is like a zoo!

"Could there have been the twelve zodiac animals tens of thousands of years ago?"

After sorting them out, there were three dragon plaques, two tiger plaques, two pig plaques, and one each of the other zodiac animals: rat, ox, rabbit, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, and dog, making a complete set of the twelve zodiacs!

"For this, you'll have to ask the heavens. Look at these animals; they still have some subtle differences from their current forms. I suspect that these are living creatures that were sealed in the jade by immortals back then!"

Jiang Jialang said this with a serious face, and Old Tang gave him a slap,

"You kid, have you been reading too many fantasy novels?"

Old Tang had the nanny bring out the reheated food and laughed,

"We get so engrossed in our work that we forget to eat. Today, you'll get a taste of leftover food."

After eating, Wu Di and the fatty said goodbye. Old Tang told Wu Di to come back the next day to pick up the jade plaques, as the processing was simple and could be done in a day.

Wu Di sent the fatty back to Panjiayuan, and the fatty laughed,

"Wu Di, your stones are almost here. Where do you plan to store them?"

"Oh, that's a whole truckload of stones. If I bring them to the master's yard, I'll be scolded to death. Fat Brother, can you help me find a warehouse?"

"Warehouse? After seeing these two stones of yours, I dare not find you just any warehouse. Who knows what other amazing things are in that pile of stones? People already treat you like a money tree, and I think they see you as their ATM!"

"If there's no other choice, I'll just pile them in the master's yard. My house will be ready in a month anyway."

"Hehe, Fat Brother's warehouse is large and has good security. I can lend it to you. Just, hehe..."

"You're probably eyeing that jade plaque, right?"

The fatty extended a fat finger and smiled sheepishly,

"I just want one, just one. My wife and I are both pigs, and her zodiac year birthday is coming up. I want, I want..."

"Didn't you see the look in Old Tang's eyes? He probably wants one too. Oh well, I'll give you the pig plaque! What a mistake, what a mistake!"

"Thank you, thank you, little brother! If you need anything in the future, Fat Brother will do anything for you..."

"Only to take another treasure from me in the end?"

"Hehe, hehe, just this once, just this once!"

Wu Di suddenly remembered the stone with the tiger descending the mountain. He couldn't ask anyone for help with this, as his ability would be exposed. He asked the fatty,

"Fat Brother, do you know where I can buy the kind of knife Old Tang used? The one for cutting field yellow stone."

"I have it in my store. I'll give you one. What do you need it for? Not planning to cut another field yellow stone, are you?"

"How could I? I just want to practice on some inferior stones and make some seals and stamps in the future."

"Brother, that's not something we can do. Look at how Old Tang does it so effortlessly; that's decades of practice. We ordinary people don't have such steady hands. For ordinary stones, it's fine, but if it's a top-quality one, you'll cry if you mess it up!"

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