"I, I don't know." Hearing the price of forty-five million, Lin Xiaoyu's entire mind was in a daze.
Her business was different from Shui Xiang's. Shui Xiang primarily dealt in gambling stones, supplemented by finished jade products, and also operated restaurants and other shops. Lin Xiaoyu, on the other hand, almost entirely relied on selling finished jade products for a living.
This way, Lin Xiaoyu completely avoided the risks inherent in gambling stones. She would generally purchase raw jade materials that had been extracted, have them processed into ornaments, and then sell them.
Compared to Shui Xiang, her risks were very, very small. Coupled with the fact that her shop wasn't large, her profits naturally weren't as substantial as Shui Xiang's.
After years of hard work, she only had five million in her pocket.
Today, after a brief visit to the gambling stone market with Li Yang, she opened a stone, and her net worth immediately increased by more than eight times!
It was no wonder Lin Xiaoyu felt dizzy.
However, others were unaware of this. They thought she found the price too low. Immediately, someone shouted, "Forty-seven million! That's the highest it can go! Madam Boss, you have to let me make a little profit after buying it, right?"
"Xiaoyu, I think this price is good for selling," Li Yang said.
Lin Xiaoyu hummed in agreement, "I'll listen to you."
"Oh, thank you, Madam Boss, thank you, sir, for fulfilling my wish! I'll pay now!" The jade merchant who had been staking out the place happily took out his money.
While buying raw stones, he naturally wouldn't make a profit in the short term, but the price after processing was a different matter.
As everyone knows, the higher the grade of jade, the astonishingly higher the premium.
It was like pre-prepared dishes entering a restaurant. Pre-prepared mapo tofu, costing eleven or twelve yuan per portion, is heated by the restaurant, served on a different plate, and then priced at eighty-eight yuan, making a profit of seventy yuan with tears!
But that's a rip-off. The premium for finished jade products is high for two reasons: firstly, the scarcity of high-quality raw jade materials, and secondly, the scarcity of skilled artisans who craft jade.
This piece of high-ice-grade double-colored jade could be considered a rare, high-quality raw jade material. The merchant who bought it would definitely find a renowned craftsman to create finished products, thus achieving a double premium, and the selling price would certainly far exceed the current raw material purchase price.
As for who would buy it?
Where there's a price, there are always wealthy buyers!
The only fear is if there's no price, making it impossible to buy.
The merchant paid the money and picked up the stone, saying, "Ah, there's still a section of this stone whose true face hasn't been seen! Young man, young lady, I don't think you need to splash it anymore. Forty million, I'll take it all."
"Dream on! I want this stone, forty-one million!" someone immediately shouted loudly. "You bought one and want to take the whole lot? That's too much!"
"Exactly, handsome, I bid forty-two million."
"Thank you all for your support, but this stone here cannot be sold at that price. I don't want to cheat anyone." Li Yang shook his head and looked at the stone-cutting master, "Please help me clean it."
"Certainly, sir." The stone-cutting master splashed some water to clean it, and his expression suddenly changed, "White?"
"Grayish-white?"
"What's going on? Not even glutinous grade. Is this waste material?"
"It's not entirely white, there's a bit of light green. Probably bean grade. But it's also not very valuable. Such a large piece, probably not even worth two hundred yuan."
"It's perfectly separated!" Amateurs watched the excitement, while insiders saw the skill. With just one glance, Professor Ning's eyes immediately sharpened as he carefully examined the stone.
Soon, he was quite certain that this section of the stone contained no valuable jade at all!
Compared to the previous double-colored jade, it was like one was in heaven and the other in hell!
Some people with discerning eyes also noticed the clue at this moment, exclaiming, "This cut is simply divine!"
"What amazing eyesight, what incredible marking ability, master, how are you so awesome!"
"I, I'm not that awesome. It was this gentleman who said to cut it in half." The stone-cutting master blushed slightly from the praise and quickly looked at Li Yang.
Professor Ning took a deep breath and said to Li Yang, "Mr. Li, you knew this would happen beforehand, didn't you? You are truly remarkable."
"I apologize for my earlier underestimation."
"Hey, Professor Ning, what are you saying? Didn't you guide us to cut it in half?" Li Yang said with a loud laugh. "Xiaoyu, you've made such a fortune, you must give Professor Ning a red envelope."
"Yes, yes!" Lin Xiaoyu quickly fumbled in her pocket for some cash and handed it to Professor Ning. "Professor Ning, thank you for your guidance."
"No, I didn't do anything. Wasn't it Mr. Li..." Professor Ning was a bit bewildered. When did he say to cut it in half?
Before he could finish speaking, Li Yang stuffed the red envelope into his hand and then said loudly to everyone, "Everyone knows Professor Ning, right?"
"Yes, it was Professor Ning who previously unearthed the Imperial Green."
"Professor Ning is a renowned figure in the entire gambling stone circle of Yun Province. Who doesn't know this esteemed scholar!"
"So it was Professor Ning guiding from behind. I thought to myself, no matter how good the eyesight of these two young people is, it couldn't possibly be this amazing. Professor Ning, could you guide me sometime too?"
"No, it's not like that." Professor Ning was sweating profusely and quickly tried to explain.
But a person's reputation precedes them, and the influence is immense, especially since he had recently unearthed the Imperial Green, becoming a legendary figure known to everyone here. When they saw him deny it, they became even more convinced that he was the expert guiding Li Yang and Lin Xiaoyu from behind the scenes.
Seeing that he couldn't explain clearly, Professor Ning looked at Li Yang helplessly and said with a wry smile, "Mr. Li, I rarely admire anyone, but today I truly admire you."
"Before cutting the stone, you had already planned for me to take the spotlight for you, didn't you?"
"How could that be?" Li Yang smiled and shook his head.
Professor Ning chuckled twice, "You won't admit it! But I know what's going on."
"However, since I'm in the spotlight now, I'll help you bear it. But if you do this again next time, our friendship will be over."
"As for the red envelope, take it back."
"Since you say so, I definitely won't dare to do it again in the future." Li Yang said with a smile, "You must accept this red envelope. Although the money isn't much, it's for good luck. We'll treat you to a meal when we have the chance."
"Alright." Professor Ning looked at him, accepted the red envelope, and then said, "But you have to tell me the truth. This skill of marking and cutting stones, did you learn it from some great master?"
"Half of it is due to family background, and half is from my own tinkering," Li Yang replied with a smile.
Lin Xiaoyu chimed in, "Big Brother Li's family has been in the antique industry for generations. He naturally has a talent and specialty in this area."
"A descendant of an antique family? No wonder you're so impressive. I can't even compare to you in this regard." Professor Ning was surprised and gave him a thumbs-up, saying, "If you talk more about it, you might even become a 'One-Cut God'."
"Professor Ning, what is a 'One-Cut God'? It sounds a bit strange," Lin Xiaoyu asked, confused.