CHAPTER 625: CHAPTER 624: INVITING GUESTS TO GAMBLE ON STONES (8/10)

Just by the sound, Yang Chen knew it was Bai Zhuang.

Yang Chen looked around and saw shelves filled with various raw stones, and even in the corner of the workshop, a pile of raw stones was stacked, quite an impressive scale!

Bai Zhuang approached and shook hands with Yang Chen, saying, "Didn’t expect, didn’t expect, brother is such a punctual person, coming right on time!"

Yang Chen laughed, "Of course, we agreed on it, didn’t we? We wouldn’t miss it for the world!"

"Right, right, right!" Bai Zhuang was overjoyed, laughing loudly, "Wouldn’t miss it! Wouldn’t miss it!"

Yang Chen also chuckled along.

Bai Zhuang held Yang Chen’s hand and asked, "Brother, what’s your name? I am Bai Zhuang."

"Yang Chen." Yang Chen replied.

"Younger Brother Yang!" Bai Zhuang said to get closer to him.

Yang Chen smiled but didn’t commit to it.

Not just anyone can call him "Younger Brother," at least Bai Zhuang isn’t qualified!

"Where are you from?" Bai Zhuang asked again.

"Ningchuan!"

"Oh! Not far!" Bai Zhuang laughed.

Not far? Over a thousand kilometers, alright!

Yang Chen snickered, "You’ve got a big place here, so many raw stones, I bet they cost quite a bit?"

"No, no, it’s just small business!" Bai Zhuang said modestly, but his following words were not modest at all, "These raw stones are from various mines, and I, well... it’s not much, just have some good connections. They send the raw stones here first, and I settle accounts later, kind of like borrowing a chicken to lay eggs!"

Hearing this, Yang Chen knew that Bai Zhuang was probably no simple character.

The jade business is inherently bloody, almost impossible to do on credit. But Bai Zhuang can manage this, so his backing must be impressive!

"Oh! Should we take a look first?" Yang Chen suggested.

"Sure! Sure! Feel free to look! Feel free to look!" Bai Zhuang said generously.

Yang Chen nodded and left with his people.

After Yang Chen left, a trace of fierceness flashed on Bai Zhuang’s face. He said coldly, "Dare to mess with me! Today, I’ll make you pay! Not driving your Bentley, are you? Today you walk home!"

He then focused his gaze on Wei Xueqing’s silhouette, licking his lips, "Didn’t expect you to bring such an attractive woman, interesting! Interesting! So fresh, spicy, and full of temperament, tsk tsk, I’m lucky today!"

...

Yang Chen and his group wandered idly in the workshop, looking at all the different stones.

Chen Siyan felt overwhelmed, pointing at a watermelon-sized stone laughing, "Brother, are people crazy now, selling such a big stone for four hundred thousand?"

Yang Chen glanced at it and laughed, "This isn’t just any stone; it’s a jade raw stone, there could be jade inside."

"What if there’s none?" Chen Siyan asked.

Chen Xiaohuo interjected, "That’s why they say, gambling on stones, one cut to poverty, one cut to wealth, with a single cut you’re a millionaire, another and you’re left with your underpants!"

Yang Chen glanced at Chen Xiaohuo, coldly, "You know this logic, huh?"

"Hehe!" Chen Xiaohuo was slightly embarrassed, "Stone gambling, it’s all about the thrill, the heartbeat! Every raw stone holds hope for people, and every cut is full of hope, so what if it reveals something like glutinous ice or imperial green, then I’m rich instantly!"

Yang Chen snorted and ignored Chen Xiaohuo.

He had the typical gambler’s mindset, which was never viable.

Chen Xiaohuo got excited, caught up and said, "Brother, don’t doubt, there’s skill in stone gambling, like how the surface looks, where it’s from... these are all things to study!"

Yang Chen walked up to a fist-sized stone, this small stone alone was priced at a hundred thousand.

He pointed to this stone, "Do you think there’s jade in it?"

Chen Xiaohuo immediately crouched down, studying it meticulously.

After a while, Chen Xiaohuo nodded, "Very likely, this is material from the old Pak Ka mine, with a yellow-white skin, good transparency, and green water, there should be jade inside!"

Yang Chen said, "Take this one to cut, on me, if you win, it’s yours, if not, it’s on me!"

"Really?" Chen Xiaohuo rejoiced.

"Go ahead!" Yang Chen nodded.

Chen Xiaohuo was overjoyed, grabbed the stone, and dashed to the cutting machine.

Watching Chen Xiaohuo leave, Chen Siyan clung to Yang Chen’s arm and asked, "Brother, that stone costs a hundred thousand, why were you so generous to just give it away?"

In the past, forget about a hundred thousand, they couldn’t even come up with ten thousand, not even a thousand one hundred was easy. Now Yang Chen casually gave away something worth a hundred thousand, Chen Siyan really couldn’t get used to it, and it pained her a bit.

Yang Chen laughed, "Spending money to learn a lesson, what’s wrong with that, come on, let’s go watch!"

Yang Chen took them to the front of the cutting machine.

Chen Xiaohuo was quite familiar with the stone-cutting master here, discussed how to cut the stone, then stepped aside for the master to start the cut.

As the material from the old Pak Ka mine features a thin skin, and the light penetrates the material, the method used was to edge it, to avoid cutting into the jade inside as much as possible.

The master skillfully operated the machine, edging the stone.

But after a while, no green was revealed inside at all.

The master glanced at it, looked up at Chen Xiaohuo, and asked, "Xiaohuo, should I cut?"

Chen Xiaohuo frowned at the stone, "Something’s not right! It looks like there’s green flair!"

But nothing had appeared yet, making Chen Xiaohuo a bit anxious, he told the master, "Just cut from the side carefully!"

"Alright!" The master agreed and continued cutting.

One slice down, still white inside.

"It ruined..." Chen Xiaohuo felt a wave of disappointment.

The second cut, still nothing came out.

The third cut was the same.

Slice after slice, it was like cutting meat, but not a bit of green was seen inside.

In the end, the stone was completely sliced, not a trace of green was seen.

The stone was thoroughly ruined, utterly worthless!

"Impossible!" Chen Xiaohuo felt incredulous, "There was clearly green water, I didn’t see it wrong!"

Chen Siyan, astonished, said to Yang Chen, "Brother, is the stone just gone like that after being cut?"

Yang Chen nodded, with a heavy tone, "That’s it, one cut and it’s all lost."

"This is terrifying!" Chen Siyan found it unbelievable, "Just one cut, and a hundred thousand is gone, how long does it take to save up a hundred thousand?"

To Chen Siyan, saving up a hundred thousand seemed like an impossible dream.

Yang Chen patted Chen Siyan’s hand, signaling her to let go.

He walked up to Chen Xiaohuo, asking, "Have you figured out what happened?"

Chen Xiaohuo shook his head, unconvinced, "There was green flair!"

Yang Chen asked the master, "Master, could you give me the cut stones?"

The master obliged, handing the cut stones to Yang Chen.

Yang Chen held the stones, sliced like Mei Cai Kourou, and borrowed a professional flashlight from Chen Xiaolong, shining it on the stone, revealing a streak of green.

"See it?" Yang Chen said.

Chen Xiaohuo saw this, his eyes widened in surprise, "How is this possible!"