"No, I have an electric scooter. You lead the way, and I'll follow you," Zheng Jiaqi said somewhat cautiously, looking at his car.
Although this BMW was a few years old, it was still quite expensive. Ordinary people would definitely not buy it, nor would they dare to.
She was just an ordinary white-collar worker and didn't want anyone to think she was looking for an opportunity and deliberately trying to get close to this big boss.
Li Yang's lips curved, and he said with a smile, "Alright then, I'll drive slowly."
"Okay." Zheng Jiaqi's electric scooter was pink. It was hard to believe that such a straightforward girl also had a tender girlish heart.
Li Yang smiled and drove towards a nearby stone gambling shop.
As for the Fuhai Stone Gambling Field, it was a bit too far. It wouldn't be too late to pick up Shui Xiang after cooking.
"Yo, what would the boss like?"
Ordinary stone gambling shops were not large. In cities like Jiangcheng where housing prices were high, even smaller stone gambling shops were usually only two storefronts, with two or three rooms inside.
One was for buyers, one was a warehouse, and another was for employees and the boss.
As for the equipment for polishing stones, there was usually a polishing device placed at the entrance. It was a very small thing that looked like a stone mill, but it was actually made of metal.
This device could only polish stones the size of a palm. For stones that required both hands to hold, it wouldn't work.
However, ninety-nine percent of the stones sold by ordinary stone gambling shops were palm-sized, so they almost all used the small device outside.
Li Yang glanced at the stones in the shop. There was nothing valuable; they were all碎石 (suì shí - broken stones). Many of them were cut from larger raw stones and were unwanted pieces, yet they were being sold here.
He shook his head and, lifting the large stone slab in his hand, said, "Boss, I'm not here to buy anything. I want to borrow your stone-cutting platform."
"This..." The boss's expression immediately turned unpleasant.
Just as he was about to chase them away, Li Yang continued with a smile, "Five hundred yuan for usage, is that okay?"
"How much?"
"Six hundred."
"Deal!" The boss said happily, smiling, "Boss, please come inside. My small shop rarely stocks large stones, so this cutting platform is still quite new."
"Six hundred yuan for usage isn't expensive at all."
"It's not expensive," Li Yang smiled, not bothering to argue.
Seeing that he had paid directly, the boss said joyfully, "Come, come, let me help you carry it."
Saying that, he reached out to take the large stone slab from Li Yang's hand.
He thought that Li Yang was just carrying it casually and that this large stone slab wouldn't be too heavy. However, the moment he touched it, he almost ruined his old back, which had been cured by goji berries years ago. He quickly jumped back in fright and exclaimed, "Good heavens, it's so heavy! Seventy or eighty kilograms?"
"About that," Li Yang said with a smile.
This is unbelievable!
The boss's face became even more astonished. "Brother, what's your profession?"
"Me? You'd better not ask," Li Yang said with a slight smile, joking.
The boss was startled when he heard this, thinking he was in a profession involving killing or fighting. He immediately covered his mouth and said, "I won't ask, I won't ask!"
"Ah Huang, unlock the cutting platform restrictions for this boss and plug it in."
"Yes, boss. Who is this boss?" Ah Huang was one of the only two employees in the shop. He had yellow hair and was in his early thirties. He looked at Li Yang curiously.
He glanced at the large stone slab in his hand and exclaimed, "Wow, good stuff, are you here to cut foam stones?"
"Shut up and stop prying!" The boss glared at him, then said to Li Yang with a fawning smile, "Boss, my employee means no harm, please don't mind him."
"It's alright," Li Yang smiled and placed the large stone slab onto the cutting platform.
Ah Huang was a bit puzzled. After plugging in the power, he leaned closer to the boss and whispered, "Boss, why are you so nervous about him? Could he be our supplier?"
"Don't ask too many questions," the boss replied without explanation.
Ah Huang became even more curious due to his secretive attitude. He thought to himself, "How strange, cutting foam, why be so nervous?"
As a result, as soon as Li Yang started the cutting equipment and pressed the blade onto the stone, sparks flew. Ah Huang was immediately stunned, "Holy cow, this is a real stone?"
"Nonsense, do you think it's a prop from a TV show where an entire mountain falling wouldn't crush someone?" the boss said irritably.
Just as he was about to say more, he saw Li Yang's cut being steady and accurate, fast and fierce. In less than half a minute, the first cut was completely made.
The boss couldn't help but be surprised, "Such a fast knife, such a steady hand!"
"This is an expert, boss!" Ah Huang had also operated a knife and cut stones in the shop, but he knew he could never reach this level.
Immediately, he gave a thumbs up, "Awesome!"
"The water splash is really beautiful." Zheng Jiaqi's attention was on the water-like sheen that appeared with the sparks.
Li Yang smiled and said, "This is called 'water splash' in the industry. It's a phenomenon formed by the rapid rotation of jade fragments during cutting."
"Water splash, what a nice name." Zheng Jiaqi nodded. It sounded much better than 'water splash.'
Li Yang smiled, lifted the blade, unplugged the power, and beckoned to her, "Come and see, there's something even more beautiful."
"Really?" Zheng Jiaqi immediately walked over.
Li Yang pointed to the cut surface, "See?"
"Wow, so this unassuming stone slab has purple jade inside!" Zheng Jiaqi immediately saw a patch of deep purple. She didn't know that jade and jadeite were different things, and she exclaimed as such.
Purple?
The boss and Ah Huang exchanged glances, then quickly stepped forward. Upon seeing it, both of their expressions changed.
"Holy crap!" Ah Huang exclaimed, "Deep purple violet jadeite, ice type!"
"What ice type, look closely. This jadeite has the texture of glass. This is glass type!" the boss exclaimed, his voice even louder.
For his small stone gambling shop, let alone glass type, it was considered remarkable if they could produce ice type jadeite a few times a year.
Most of the time, it was waste material and glutinous jadeite. Better quality ones were glutinous apple green and tender bud green.
This kind of jadeite had at least some value for industrial processing. If ordinary grade ones were made into pendants, they could be sold in one-to-three-yuan shops; better ones could sell for fifty or sixty yuan.
As for very poor quality ones, they had no processing value at all. They were usually sold as waste to factories, crushed, and became part of industrial waste.
Industrial waste is something everyone often comes into contact with and often steps on, which is part of the material used for road construction.
The appearance of glass type jadeite made the boss's mind go blank.