Chapter 30

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"Unless there are no more bids, I hereby announce that the piece of old pit jade rough from the Bai Bi Factory at booth eighteen will belong to this gentleman!"

As the staff member of the jade shop finished speaking, a bald uncle stepped out from the crowd. He walked to the front, and the staff member asked him, "Sir, would you like to have it shipped or processed on-site? If you choose to process it on-site, our jade shop has a complete set of tools and the best stone-cutting masters, and we will also buy the jade at a high price on-site."

Generally, there are two types of people who gamble on jade: one is jade merchants who come to take a chance on buying rough jade for business; the other is professional gamblers who bet on whether the stone contains jade.

Clearly, the bald uncle was the latter. Without any hesitation, he said, "Process it on-site."

Just like the most exciting moment in gambling is revealing the cards, the most thrilling moment in jade gambling is the moment of cutting the stone.

Cutting the stone involves slicing off the weathered outer layer of the rough stone to see if there is any jade inside. If there is, it means a big win; otherwise, it could result in a total loss.

Indeed, when the bald uncle announced he would cut the stone, the onlookers immediately became excited. Even the gamblers from the neighboring booths gathered around to see the result.

Watching the staff member of the jade shop skillfully move the stone to the cutting machine, Lin Muqing asked Zhou Ming in disbelief, "Are those beautiful jade and emerald really taken out from these ordinary stones?"

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Yes, but whether there is emerald inside depends entirely on luck."

While Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing were talking, the stone cutting had already begun. The stone-cutting master skillfully operated the machine, cutting along the largest crack as the bald uncle requested.

The scene was extremely quiet, with everyone holding their breath, eyes fixed on the rough stone under the cutting machine.

As the harsh sound of the cutting machine rang out, the rough stone was gradually sliced open. However, to everyone's disappointment, even after the stone was split into two, not a trace of the green color of emerald was found.

The bald uncle's face was grim. Lin Muqing let out a long breath and said to Zhou Ming, "It seems he lost the bet. It's just an ordinary stone."

Before Zhou Ming could respond, a middle-aged man interjected, "Miss, it seems you're a first-time observer of jade gambling. This is actually a very normal phenomenon. Even though the rough stone is so large, getting even half of it to be jade is already a blessing. Usually, there's only a small piece. The side with pine flower patterns hasn't been cut yet. Maybe that side will yield green."

Lin Muqing turned to Zhou Ming with a puzzled look. Zhou Ming said, "Maybe, but it could also be just ordinary stone."

The middle-aged man, wanting to appear knowledgeable in front of Lin Muqing, immediately countered Zhou Ming, "Young man, don't talk nonsense. Do you see the pine flower patterns on the left side of the rough stone? That's a sign of jade underneath. I've seen so many jade gambling events and more rough stones than you've crossed bridges. I've never seen a stone with pine flower patterns that didn't yield jade."

Zhou Ming chuckled, "Well, you might see the first one today."

The middle-aged man frowned, about to say something, but at that moment, the cutting machine started again. Clearly, the bald uncle was not giving up and wanted to continue cutting.

However, as the machine made one, two, and three cuts, the left side of the rough stone was cut into various-sized pieces, but still, no green was found.

The bald uncle sat on the ground in despair, and the crowd sighed, "It seems this guy lost the bet. Five ten thousand dollars, and it's all gone in just a few cuts. But there's no way to know. Who would have thought such a good-looking stone wouldn't yield any green? It's like the heavens are playing a joke on him."

The middle-aged man who had been acting superior in front of Zhou Ming was now speechless, muttering, "Impossible! How can a rough stone with pine flower patterns not have any jade underneath?"

Zhou Ming said, "I know you're an expert, but nothing is absolute, right?"

The middle-aged man still wasn't convinced, "The right side hasn't been cut yet. Maybe the jade is on the right side?"

"Is that so? But from his expression, it seems he doesn't plan to cut it anymore. Why don't you buy the right side and cut it to see?" Zhou Ming deliberately suggested to the middle-aged man, who shook his head hurriedly. Zhou Ming sighed, "If you don't want it, I'll go buy it. Maybe the side without pine flower patterns will yield jade, as you said."

With that, Zhou Ming walked toward the cutting machine. Lin Muqing quickly pulled him back, "Zhou Ming, are you crazy?"

Zhou Ming turned and patted Lin Muqing's hand, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Zhou Ming's confidence wasn't baseless. The jade gambling scenario was unfolding exactly as described in the biography he had read. The previous person who bought the rough stone and cut the wrong side, not finding any jade, was very disappointed. At that moment, the jewelry tycoon would bet on the remaining half of the stone. Now that Zhou Ming was here, the tycoon had no part in it.

Lin Muqing finally let go of Zhou Ming's hand. Zhou Ming pushed through the crowd and approached the bald uncle, saying, "Brother, are you still going to bet on the remaining waste material? If not, can you sell it to me?"

Zhou Ming's voice wasn't loud, but to the others, it was like a bomb had been dropped, instantly igniting everyone's nerves. All eyes were on Zhou Ming, and the crowd was filled with jeers.

"Is this young man crazy? That's already waste material, and he still wants to bet on it? Isn't he just throwing money away?"

"Exactly, you only bet on rough stones that have the potential to yield jade. This is already waste material, what's there to bet on?"

"From his accent, he's from the mainland. In my opinion, mainlanders are disgusting. They always try to get small benefits, and a few cents can make them happy. Now they think this waste material is cheap and want to buy it, hoping to find jade. But they don't think logically. If it were possible to find jade, why would anyone sell it to him? They're so greedy they can't even think straight."

"Who said it better? Mainlanders are ignorant and greedy!"

Zhou Ming, seemingly oblivious to the jeers, asked the bald uncle again, "What do you say? Are you selling or not?"

The bald uncle thought for a moment and held up two fingers, "I bought this stone for fifty thousand Hong Kong dollars. Now it's cut in half. If you give me twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars, I'll sell it to you."

Zhou Ming laughed, "You're really a greedy snake trying to swallow an elephant. This waste material for twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars? Tell you what, I'm from the mainland, and I don't have much money. I only have six thousand Hong Kong dollars. If you sell it to me, I'll buy it. If not, you might as well take this waste material back and use it as a decoration."

The bald uncle clenched his teeth, "Fine, I'll sell it!"

"Deal!" Zhou Ming's lips curled into a slight smile. He knew the bald uncle had no choice but to sell. Selling it would at least bring back some money, whereas not selling it would mean a total loss.

Zhou Ming then asked the crowd to witness the transaction, handed over six thousand Hong Kong dollars to the bald uncle, and officially bought the waste material. He then asked the jade shop staff, "I'll also process this on-site. If I find jade, will you buy it?"

The staff member nodded, "We will buy it, but if no jade is found, we will charge a one hundred Hong Kong dollar processing fee."

"No problem," Zhou Ming said.

After negotiating with the jade shop, the staff member cleaned the cutting machine and placed the waste material Zhou Ming had bought on it.

"Quick, go see! A mainlander bought some waste material to process!"

The news spread among the gamblers in the jade shop, and more people gathered around, pointing and whispering about Zhou Ming.

"Is this mainlander being scammed? Spending six thousand Hong Kong dollars on useless waste material? He might as well pick up a stone from the roadside and cut it!"

"You're wrong. No one scammed him. This mainlander is just stupid, trying to get a cheap deal, thinking any rough stone will yield jade!"

"Exactly, mainlanders are all like that. They always try to get small benefits and dream of getting something for nothing. I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds out he spent six thousand Hong Kong dollars on an ordinary stone."

"What else? He'll probably roll on the ground and make a scene! Do you really expect a mainlander to accept the loss?"

The jeers made Lin Muqing feel very uncomfortable. She knew that people in Hong Kong had a strong bias against mainlanders. She felt it was useless to defend Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming understood Lin Muqing's thoughts and turned to her with a smile, "Don't worry. I just hope that when I find jade, they don't roll on the ground and try to cheat me."

Zhou Ming's words caused more jeers. A few Hong Kong residents raised their middle fingers and thumbs down at Zhou Ming, shouting, "Mainlander, go back to your mainland. Hong Kong is not a place for you. Don't bring your dirty thoughts to our free land! Making a scene is your specialty. How dare we compete with you?"

The jade shop staff member also came over to Zhou Ming, saying, "Don't worry, sir. Your transaction is witnessed by our jade shop, and no one can deny it."

Zhou Ming nodded, "That's good. When you're ready, just start cutting the stone. But don't cut it in the middle with one slice. It's best to peel off the outer layer layer by layer to avoid damaging the jade inside."

Zhou Ming's words caused even more jeers, "Mainlander, you don't know anything. Why are you here? Go back to your mainland. You're embarrassing yourself here! This mainlander really thinks there's jade in the waste material and wants to cut it slowly. I think you should just cut it in one go. Quick death, quick rebirth. Don't waste time here. If you die of a heart attack, no one will bury you!"

The staff member also smiled, "Sir, you mean peeling the stone? No problem, but are you sure you want to do it this way? It's very slow, not as fast as cutting it in one go."

Zhou Ming ignored the jeers and said to the staff member, "Just peel the stone. I'm sure there's jade underneath, not very deep."

The staff member had no choice but to say, "Alright, but if it takes too long, we will charge extra fees."

"No problem," Zhou Ming said.

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