Gambling on Stones (Part 2)

Chu Chen was surprised that there could actually be jade inside such a "rough" stone. It was truly astonishing. What delighted and excited him even more was that his supernatural ability could really be used to identify jade. He was so happy that he almost laughed aloud.

After steadying his emotions, Chu Chen secretly glanced at Li Guodong. Fortunately, Li was still focused on selecting the "rough" stones and apparently had not noticed him, which made Chu Chen sigh in relief. Otherwise, if he really cut out jade later, it would be difficult to explain himself to Li.

Next, he carefully examined the raw stone in his hand again. It was slightly larger than two adult fists, gray all over and no different from an ordinary stone. Not to mention seeing any python patterns or pine flowers on it.

Chu Chen secretly shook his head. As the saying went, one could not judge a person by appearance, and the same applied to "rough" stones used in stone gambling. Who would normally expect jade to emerge from a brick-like stone such as this?

He immediately circulated his supernatural ability, intending to see whether the spiritual energy in jade differed from the spiritual energy in antiques. After the spiritual energy in the "rough" stone was absorbed by his left hand, he really did discover several differences.

First was the matter of time. The spiritual energy in jade seemed to take exactly one second to be absorbed, which differed from the pattern Chu Chen had previously deduced for antiques. He guessed that the time for jade was probably fixed.

There was also a difference in how the spiritual energy manifested. The spiritual energy in jade seemed slightly finer than that in antiques. After thinking about it, Chu Chen felt that "dense" was an apt description. Perhaps the spiritual energy in jade was of better quality than that in antiques.

This was actually somewhat similar to the spiritual energy he had previously absorbed from the Jade Ruyi. The spiritual energy in the Jade Ruyi had been gentle and refined. At the time, Chu Chen had thought he was merely imagining it, but now it seemed that this was a unique characteristic of treasures formed by nature. Moreover, this type of spiritual energy was probably of even better quality.

As for the spiritual energy's intensity, it was just as he had previously calculated: it represented the item's value. The intensity of this piece of jade was about the same as that of the Three-Fruit Pattern Bowl he had seen at Uncle Wu's place earlier, so its value should be around sixty to seventy thousand yuan.

Savoring the lingering aftertaste of the spiritual energy, Chu Chen felt as though he had drunk honey. He quickly squatted down and began rummaging through the pile of "rough" stones again. Since I found one piece of jade here, perhaps there are more.

Perhaps fortune truly favored him that day. Only a few minutes later, he sensed a reaction from another piece of "rough" stone. He immediately used his supernatural ability, full of anticipation, but the result caused his expression to freeze.

At that moment, Chu Chen felt as though a flock of crows had flown across his forehead. The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment. The spiritual energy inside this "rough" stone was actually even weaker than what he had absorbed from the copper coin at the very beginning, leaving him utterly disappointed. But after that disappointment, he quickly came to his senses.

Thinking back, he had truly been blinded by profit. Finding one valuable piece of jade in this pile of scrap was already a stroke of extraordinary luck, yet he had actually fantasized about having even more good fortune. That was unreasonable. Not only had the result disappointed him, but he had also wasted one use of his supernatural ability for nothing.

Although finding jade when gambling on stones depended on luck, most "rough" stones that yielded jade had more or less some distinguishing features. As for the brick-like stone in Chu Chen's hand, which showed no features at all, the chance of it yielding high-value jade was practically negligible.

His supernatural ability was limited each day. Although unimpressive-looking "rough" stones could potentially bring enormous profits, the chance of finding high-priced jade in them was far too slim. Rather than waste time like this, it would be better to use his supernatural ability on "rough" stones with good external features. That way, he could maximize its effect.

If he used his supernatural ability every time as he had just done, he might as well use it on antiques, where the chances of finding a bargain were much greater.

After reflecting on his behavior, Chu Chen casually selected several more "rough" stones and placed them in the cart nearby. Then he said to Li Guodong, "Brother Li, how's your selection going? Did you find anything worthwhile?"

Li Guodong pointed at the "rough" stones by his feet. "I only have a feeling about these few. The others really aren't worth looking at. Forget it, let's just take these. Picking any more would only waste time."

Zhang Guosheng's store had two stone-cutting machines, both located in the rear courtyard. After the two of them paid, they brought the "rough" stones to the courtyard together and prepared to cut them.

There was a shade canopy on each side of the courtyard, east and west, with one stone-cutting machine beneath each. Since a new shipment had just arrived, both machines were running. A middle-aged man in his thirties or forties and a young man around thirty, both wearing protective glasses, were cutting "rough" stones on the two machines.

Several people were gathered around the machines as well. Zhang Guosheng and three others were on the east side, while two people stood on the west side. All of them were watching the results from the machines nervously, their expressions solemn.

"Green!"

A sudden cheer came from beside the stone-cutting machine on the west side. The two onlookers danced and embraced each other, looking so delighted that they seemed nearly mad with joy.

Of the four people watching on the east side, only one glanced enviously at the opposite side before continuing to stare at the stone-cutting machine. The other three immediately sprinted over upon hearing the cry, led by Zhang Guosheng, who shouted as he ran, "What kind of jade is it? What kind?"

Chu Chen and Li Guodong immediately followed them over.

After water was sprayed over the raw stone, which was about the size of a volleyball, a faint trace of green could be vaguely seen on the cut surface. The owner of the raw stone shone a high-powered flashlight on it, and the green instantly filled the entire cut surface.

Seeing this, the raw stone's owner's hands began to tremble slightly. In a hoarse voice made husky by excitement, he said, "Glass type!"

After saying that, the man covered his face with both hands and began to sob, while his companion comforted him from the side.

Glass-type jadeite was, as its name suggested, as clear as glass. Its quality was extremely fine, its crystal grains dense, and it was among the finest grades of jadeite. This type of jadeite usually possessed a glassy luster, with a fine, pure, flawless texture and a pure, bright, rich, evenly distributed emerald green color.

Under normal circumstances, glass-type jadeite came from old mines, so the industry also commonly called it "old-mine glass type."

Seeing the raw stone's owner in that state, Chu Chen asked Zhang Guosheng what had happened. Zhang Guosheng quietly explained the circumstances to him.

The man's surname was Liu, and he was also an experienced stone gambler. In the past, however, he had always gambled on stones at another jadeite shop on Antique Street, Juyuan Pavilion. Unlike Zhang Guosheng's small-scale operations, stones worth tens of thousands of yuan were commonplace there. The higher the stakes, the easier it was to become rich overnight—or lose everything.

Mr. Liu belonged to the latter category. He had originally owned a small company, and his family had lived a fairly comfortable life with his wife and children. However, several years ago, after hearing about stone gambling, he plunged into it without knowing whether he had studied it or not, believing that luck alone could make him fabulously wealthy.

The result was predictable. Although he sometimes won and sometimes lost, he won little and lost much. In the end, he lost everything, and both his wife and child ran off with someone else. Even then, he refused to give up. But with no money left, he could only come to Zhang Guosheng's shop to gamble on stones.

After hearing Mr. Liu's story, Chu Chen thought that it was no wonder people often said that in the stone-gambling trade, "madmen buy, madmen sell, and madmen wait." It really was exactly like that.

After Mr. Liu had steadied himself, an elderly gentleman from the crowd stepped forward and asked, "Mr. Liu, are you interested in selling this jadeite? I'll offer six hundred thousand."

Chu Chen also knew this elderly gentleman. He was the owner of Qian Ji Jewelry Store, a jewelry shop on Antique Street. His name was Qian Yiyou, and from the name of his store alone, it was clear that Qian Ji Jewelry Store had considerable strength.

Seeing this, Chu Chen asked Zhang Guosheng beside him in confusion, "Brother Zhang, why aren't you bidding? Judging from the size of the rough stone, this glass-type jadeite shouldn't be very large. You should be able to afford it, shouldn't you?"

Zhang Guosheng smiled. "Xiao Chen, you don't understand. It would be a lie to say I'm not tempted by such high-grade jadeite. But fine jade needs a skilled craftsman to carve it, and I happen not to have one. Hiring someone to carve it after buying it would cost a great deal. Besides, if I joined the bidding, the price would definitely rise. It simply wouldn't be worthwhile."

Chu Chen secretly sneered. Zhang Guosheng was somewhat petty. If it had been him, as long as he would not lose money, he would have done everything possible to buy this piece of jadeite. Once the shop had glass-type jadeite, its reputation would certainly rise. He could then use that opportunity to bring in some mid-grade jadeite, raising the quality of the entire shop.

One had to understand that in the jadeite business, only high grades could bring in large profits. Hadn't the rise in jadeite prices over the past few years shown that top-grade jadeite had risen the most, mid-grade jadeite somewhat less, and low-grade jadeite hardly at all? Since one was doing business, making money was always the guiding principle. If an opportunity appeared, how could one not fight for it?

Of course, Chu Chen only thought these things to himself. Zhang Guosheng was not related to him, so he had no intention of telling him.

By then, the jadeite's owner, Mr. Liu, had already settled his mind. After hearing Qian Yiyou's offer, he smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for your favor, Old Qian, but I'd like to cut a little more and take a look."

Old Qian nodded and said nothing. Although cutting more might mean that he would have to pay more later, it would eliminate his risk. After all, this was a deal worth several hundred thousand or even over a million yuan, so it was better to be cautious.

Mr. Liu discussed the cut with his friend, then asked the stone-cutting master for his opinion. After that, he drew a line on the raw stone and had the stone-cutting master begin cutting.

Amid the machine's rasping noise, everyone present waited solemnly for the result of the cut. At that moment, Chu Chen noticed that the stone-cutting machine on the east side had stopped. The owner of the raw stone was staring gloomily at its cut surface. If nothing unexpected had happened, he had probably lost the gamble.