Chapter 113
"That's it."
The staff member paused for a moment, then exclaimed, probably because Song Jianshe looked unfamiliar and they were worried that a hothead might cause trouble. They kindly offered a reminder: "In this place, we're not responsible for whether the stones we sell turn out well or poorly, and we don't tolerate trouble. The last person who caused trouble had both legs broken!"
"Don't worry, I know all these rules. How could I possibly cause trouble?"
Song Jianshe was full of confidence.
His confident smile puzzled everyone. Could there be something special about this ugly stone?
Chapter 104 The 104th Day of Being Eavesdropped On
"Master, could you please polish this jade for me?"
Gu Jinshui moved the stone next to the stone-grinding machine.
The craftsman was stunned upon hearing this, and instinctively asked, "How should I clean it? This stone is so big, and you didn't draw any lines on it."
Gu Jinshui laughed and said, "I'm not sure exactly where the water source is either. Why don't you open a window on all four sides for me and see how the quality is?"
Upon hearing this, Douzi knew that his brother knew quite a lot.
He said, "Yes, you can just open the window for me. We'll give you a big red envelope if the price goes up later."
Those around couldn't help but laugh.
Boss Zhou shook his head with a smile and said, "A big red envelope, my foot! This stone is ruined. The top part is alright, though. I'll just take it back and make a bracelet for my child to wear and play with."
"This young man is just daydreaming. What good color can come out of this stone?"
"Go and call Old Xu quickly, there's something interesting to see here. I wonder where this stubborn brat came from."
More and more people gradually gathered around.
Seeing that Gu Jinshui insisted, the craftsman let him have his way and opened the front part first. After wiping it open, the inside was all black, and it was obvious that it had collapsed.
The crowd gasped in surprise and shook their heads.
Boss Zhou felt a little happier; seeing others suffer was more enjoyable than his own misfortune. He feigned comforting Gu Jinshui, "Young man, don't be sad. Just consider it a lesson learned."
I'm not sad.
Gu Jinshui remained calm. The appearance of the black spot gave him even more confidence. "Brother, please continue."
The mechanic opened the back and left sides as well; they were both black.
The surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion; some laughed at Gu Jinshui, while others sympathized with him for losing three hundred Gu Jinshui.
Douzi was sweating profusely. The taller man asked in a low voice, "Douzi, why don't you ask your brother if we really want to cut it again? This material looks really bad to me. If we keep rubbing it, people will just laugh at us."
Douzi quickly went to ask Gu Jinshui.
Gu Jinshui's expression was firm. "Keep cleaning. We've already opened three windows. Even if people laugh at us, it won't make a difference."
Upon hearing this, the craftsman looked helpless and was about to polish the stone Gu Jinshui suddenly called out to him, "Brother, could you please turn this stone upside down and polish it from the back end?"
"It's possible, but do you really want to cut any further?" the master asked.
Gu Jinshui's fingers twitched slightly, a little nervous, but he still nodded, "Yes."
The craftsman had no choice but to do as he was told and have someone help him turn the stone over. The stone was quite large, probably weighing about 20 kg.
It made a thud when it was turned upside down.
Everyone shook their heads, looking at Gu Jinshui as if he were a madman or an idiot.
The tall man couldn't stand it anymore and turned to leave.
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly heard a gasp behind him, "It's green! It's gone up! It's gone up!"
The tall man quickly stopped, turned around, and pushed his way through the crowd. He saw the stone polishing machine in the craftsman's hand slowly polishing the outer shell of the stone, gradually revealing a lush, moist green underneath. The green was like the tender leaves on a branch in March, or like a lake in a quiet valley...
"How... how is this possible?!"
Boss Zhou was filled with disbelief.
He quickly and decisively said, "It's definitely not going to work out below. This stone has so many black spots, how can it yield good material? As the saying goes, rubbing it doesn't count as a success, cutting it open is what truly matters."
Although Boss Zhou's words were unpleasant to hear, many people nodded in agreement.
It's clear that this situation, where swelling can be cut open but then collapses, is not uncommon.
Therefore, someone had an idea and asked Gu Jinshui, "Young man, don't bother cleaning this stone, sell it to me, I'll give you a thousand!"
One thousand?!
Douzi's breathing became heavy.
He was so excited he almost agreed, but the stone wasn't his.
Douzi looked at Gu Jinshui, wishing she could agree for Gu Jinshui. They only paid three hundred, but made seven hundred in one go. That's making money too fast.
Gu Jinshui didn't even blink. "Not for sale."
Douzi was stunned, but then heard the tall man say, "Brother, I'll offer two thousand, sell us this stone!"
Gu Jinshui smiled. "Sorry, I don't plan to make a move. I'm determined to cut this stone open; I'll take full responsibility if it turns out to be worthless."
He was clearly full of confidence and was not swayed by the words of those around him.
Gu Jinshui said to his master, "Please continue wiping!"
The master was much more careful this time, wiping with extra care. As the grayish-brown outer shell gradually peeled away, the water inside became increasingly translucent, revealing a pure and flawless green hue. The surroundings were quiet, except for the sound of everyone swallowing their saliva.
The mechanic was drenched in sweat after wiping the watch case.
When everyone saw that ring of green water, the atmosphere in the factory was almost like the moment before an explosion.
"I'll offer 100,000 for this stone!" the skinny old man shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I'll offer you 200,000, young man. If you agree, I'll call someone to bring the money right now!"
The tall man quickly spoke, his eyes burning as he looked at Gu Jinshui.
The way he looked at her was like she was looking at a god of wealth.
Gu Jinshui completely ignored the ever-increasing amounts.
Douzi was terrified, but he acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. He walked over, squatted down, took out a pen, and drew a line on the stone. "Cut along this line!"
"You... you really want to cut this?" The chef looked at Gu Jinshui in disbelief.
He had previously thought Gu Jinshui was probably crazy, but now he felt that Gu Jinshui's madness was somewhat unusual.
Gu Jinshui nodded slightly, "Yes, don't worry, I trust you."
"Good!" Upon hearing this, the stone cutter, who had been working for several years, was so excited that his face turned bright red. He didn't rush to cut the stone; instead, he reached for a cigarette in his pocket. Gu Jinshui had already handed him a Zhonghua. The stone cutter lit one, finished it, and stood up with a radiant face, just like he had eaten his fill. He then changed his tools.
The grinding stone slowly cut down along the crack, and this cut was like the creation of heaven and earth, turning green back to green and gray-black back to gray-black.
It was actually a single piece of Top-Grade Imperial Green Jade.
The piece of material wasn't large, but it was about the size of a bowl. Although it had some impurities, its beauty was undeniable, and its crisp green color was like a spring breeze blowing into everyone's hearts.
"Damn it, this is actually Imperial Green!" Someone's cigarette had fallen to the ground without them noticing.
Everyone's eyes were red at this moment.
The tall guy was completely dumbfounded. Damn it, this piece of junk could actually yield such Top-Grade Imperial Green Jade! He was filled with regret.
If this stone doesn't sell, but if the people below keep a close eye on it, it could easily fetch several million!
"Damn, kid, sell it to me! I'll give you a million!"
The skinny old man immediately called out a high price, his eyes fixed intently on Gu Jinshui.
One million?
Douzi was so overwhelmed by the money that she almost wanted to agree on Gu Jinshui's behalf.
But when he looked at Gu Jinshui's expression, although he had a smile on his face, he didn't look smug at all.
As expected of his brother, he's definitely more capable than him!
He made a million and he's still so calm!
Boss Zhou's eyes were red, and his lips were trembling like someone with Parkinson's disease. One million?!
One million.
He actually threw away a million!
"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm not selling."
Gu Jinshui said decisively, "I'm giving this away as a gift. I can't explain selling it. Douzi, come help me."
He gave Douzi a look, Douzi reacted quickly, taking out all the money in his pocket without even counting it—just a few hundred yuan—and stuffing it into the man's hand. Then, he and Gu Jinshui hurriedly ran out with the stone in their arms.
After they came out, the two grabbed a coat, wrapped their belongings in it, and hailed a taxi to go straight back to the city without saying a word.
The journey from the suburbs to the city wasn't cheap; Gu Jinshui paid a full three hundred yuan for the fare, even though most people only earn a little over fifty yuan a month these days.
"Hey, thanks, buddy, you guys are really rich."
The taxi driver even joked with Gu Jinshui and his group, "You're all locals, why bother taking a taxi? It would only cost a few yuan to take the bus back."
Douzi glanced at the stone in Gu Jinshui's arms and muttered to himself, "What does this bastard know? His brother is holding a full million dollars! That's enough to drive all the way from Beijing to United States!"
"Douzi, you go back first, I'll treat you to dinner later."
Gu Jinshui patted Douzi on the shoulder, "You've had a tough day today, I won't forget you now that I've made a fortune."
"Brother, what are you saying?" Although Douzi was greedy, he was also clear-headed. "Your fortune today is due to your own abilities. I didn't help at all. I'm just glad you didn't mind my mess. I'm actually glad I didn't urge you to sell it. It would have been a fool of me to sell it. The boss who sold it to you must be furious."
Gu Jinshui couldn't help but laugh at this thought.
The way Boss Zhou looked at him just now was as if he wanted to devour him whole.
It's fortunate they ran fast, otherwise, something really might have gone wrong.
Gu Jinshui said to Douzi, "Do me a favor and tell your friend not to tell anyone who I am, so that those people won't insist on buying this material from me."
"Definitely, but brother, are you really not planning to sell this material? How many houses could you buy with the money from this?" Douzi asked in surprise.
Gu Jinshui shook his head decisively.
He's not stupid. He already owns several houses, and there are plenty of houses in Beijing, but Imperial Green Jadeite with such good clarity is something you can only come across by chance.
"Up, up, up..."
On the other side, Song Jianshe watched his master cut a stone, sweating profusely. The heavy stone had gradually been reduced to the size of a palm in just half an hour.
As the final blow fell, everyone could clearly see that the inside was a dark grayish-brown color; obviously, the stone had completely collapsed.
Forget about the inclusions and cracks; there's no jade in this stone at all, it's just an ordinary stone.
"How... how is this possible?!"
Song Jianshe felt as if a thunderbolt had struck the top of his head, and he stood there stunned.
At the jade gambling market, people had seen this kind of thing many times before and were used to it. They just shook their heads and said, "Seeing how confident this guy was, we thought this stone would yield a good return. Sigh, what a waste of half an hour of our time."
Song Jianshe's face flushed red, and he clenched his fists, feeling embarrassed and annoyed.
He turned to leave, but the foreman behind him called out, "Hey, don't go! You ruined this stone, so you still have to pay me double the wages!"
Cutting such a large rock completely would naturally take a lot of time.
Song Jianshe had promised to pay double the wages before they agreed to take the job.
He awkwardly pulled fifty yuan from his pocket, handed it to the driver, and muttered, "I... I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you."
The driver ignored him, took the money and stuffed it into his pocket, then tossed the pile of rubble behind him as if he were throwing Song Jianshe's get-rich-quick dream into the trash heap.
Song Jianshe walked home dejectedly, not even willing to take the bus.
In just over an hour, he suffered a direct loss of more than five hundred.
What devastated him even more was that his dream of getting rich quick and turning his life around was shattered.
Song Jianshe had just arrived home when he ran into Gu Jinshui, who was just coming out of his house.
His anger and jealousy instantly clouded his judgment, and he immediately rushed forward, grabbing Gu Jinshui, "Gu Jinshui, was it you... was it you...?"
Gu Jinshui reacted instinctively, almost immediately grabbing his wrist, kneeing him in the stomach, and slamming him against the wall with a loud bang. "Are you crazy? Don't come looking for me if you're going to have a fit! I'm not someone to be trifled with!"