The surrounding people all nodded in agreement. "Indeed! Don't get too carried away before the final moment!"
"Exactly! Your two pieces combined are only a little over forty million, less than what Young Master Tang's third piece sold for!"
"That's right! Young Master Tang's piece is the number one jadeite from Mingshi Pavilion, valued at seventy million! A simple cut could easily fetch over a hundred million..."
The crowd, remembering Tang Zhiyang's seventy-million-yuan jadeite, couldn't help but speak up.
Ye Feng shrugged upon hearing this. "Is that so? Then hurry up and cut it! Today, I will make you lose wholeheartedly!"
Hearing this, Tang Zhiyang immediately looked at Master Wu and said, "Hmph! Master Wu! Cut it!"
"Alright!"
Master Wu nodded and then carefully examined Tang Zhiyang's stone.
The number one jadeite from Mingshi Pavilion, priced at seventy million, was quite famous. Master Wu naturally knew about it; he had even gone to see it but hadn't made a move.
After carefully examining it, he frowned and said, "Young Master Tang, your jadeite rough is too large. Shall we start cutting from the middle?"
Tang Zhiyang's jadeite rough was nearly a meter long. If they were to slowly polish it, it would take ages.
"No! Didn't you see that jadeite has already appeared on the left? What if you cut it badly? Cut it from the right, little by little!" Tang Zhiyang said loudly.
Everyone looked to the left, and indeed, they could see jadeite there. Although it was only a small piece, the clarity was excellent at first glance, a definite glass-like quality. Moreover, the color was greenish, and its quality was clearly superior to Ye Feng's second piece of transparent glass-like jadeite.
"Yes, yes, Master Wu, it's better to start cutting from the side!"
"Indeed! It's already showing signs of jadeite, and it's a glass-like quality with good color! Why would you think of cutting from the middle?"
"Exactly! This piece of jadeite is priced at seventy million! If it's cut badly from the middle, even you, Master Wu, couldn't afford to compensate..."
The surrounding people spoke up, which left Master Wu feeling quite exasperated. As the most skilled stone-cutting master present, he knew these principles. His unspoken intention was that the other side clearly had no goods, and they shouldn't waste time. However, jadeite rough was unpredictable, and even a master like him dared not make a definitive judgment, hence his tactful suggestion. He hadn't expected to be met with mockery, so he had no choice but to agree to cut from one side slowly.
"Alright, then let's cut five centimeters from the right first!" Master Wu said.
Hearing this, Tang Zhiyang immediately retorted, "What? Five centimeters? Do you even know how to cut stones? You're going to cut five centimeters thick right away when jadeite has already appeared?"
The others agreed with Tang Zhiyang and expressed their confusion towards Master Wu.
However, Ye Feng smiled upon hearing this. Master Wu's suggestion to cut five centimeters was already very conservative, because this rough stone, let alone cutting five centimeters, could be cut fifty centimeters right away without any issues. This was because, apart from the left side showing some jadeite, the other side was just waste stone.
Hearing this, Master Wu said helplessly, "Then how much do you want to cut?"
"Cut one centimeter first!" Tang Zhiyang replied.
Master Wu reluctantly agreed to cut one centimeter first. Due to the large size of this jadeite, even cutting one centimeter took considerable time. Amidst the roar of the machine, one centimeter from the right was cut off, revealing a cross-section. Everyone looked expectantly at the cross-section and was stunned. Because it was just stone, and stone only, with no trace of jadeite.
"Damn it, there's nothing? Cut another centimeter!" Tang Zhiyang said angrily.
Master Wu didn't waste any words. A few minutes later, another centimeter was cut off. The people present again looked with anticipation, but the result was equally disappointing.
"Damn it, what's going on! Cut another centimeter!" Tang Zhiyang said, unwilling to accept it.
However, Ye Feng couldn't watch anymore and said, "Tang Zhiyang, at this rate, we might as well stop competing!"
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Tang Zhiyang asked.
Ye Feng smiled. "What do I mean? Your jadeite rough is nearly a meter long, and you're cutting only one centimeter at a time, which takes nearly ten minutes per cut! It will take over ten hours to finish this piece! What's the point of competing?"
The surrounding people were stunned and then realized. "Hey! That's right! This jadeite is too big! This won't work!"
"Exactly! If you only cut one centimeter each time, won't it take until tomorrow night?"
"Right, right, we can't cut it like this..."
Tang Zhiyang was momentarily speechless. At this moment, Zhao Yanxuan, standing beside him, spoke up. "Brother Zhiyang, let's cut it in half from the middle first!"
"Alright!"
Seeing that Zhao Yanxuan had spoken, Tang Zhiyang had no choice but to agree.
Thus, Master Wu made a cut from the middle. The moment it was cut, everyone's breathing quickened. This cut was crucial; if no jadeite appeared, Tang Zhiyang's seventy million would essentially be lost.
The next second, the jadeite rough split into two halves, but the onlookers were once again stunned. Because there was still nothing! Forget glass-like quality, not even the lowest grade glutinous or bean-like jadeite was visible.
"Damn it! How, how could there be nothing?" Tang Zhiyang's mouth twitched, finding it hard to believe.
At this, Zhao Yanxuan said, "Master Wu, you continue cutting this side, and let others cut the other side. This will save a lot of time!"
"Alright!"
Master Wu nodded and handed the other side to another stone-cutting master.
"How should we cut this side?" Master Wu asked.
Tang Zhiyang took a deep breath, recovered, and said, "Cut from the middle! I don't believe there's still nothing!"
"Alright!"
Master Wu agreed and started cutting without further ado. The first cut from the middle split it in half, with each side reaching over forty centimeters in length. After this second cut, each side was only over twenty centimeters long. But to Tang Zhiyang's bewilderment, this second cut still revealed only stone, with no sign of jadeite.
"How, how could this happen?" Tang Zhiyang was stunned, a bad premonition surfacing.
Master Wu saw this and asked, "What next?"
"Continue cutting from the middle!" Zhao Yanxuan, seeing Tang Zhiyang dazed, had to speak up.
A few minutes later, the left side with the jadeite was again split into two halves, each about ten centimeters. But the result was still the same: no jadeite at all.
Seeing this, Tang Zhiyang became numb and collapsed onto the ground, looking utterly dejected.
"Alas! Continue cutting from the middle!" Zhao Yanxuan sighed, knowing they had likely lost.
Master Wu made another cut, splitting the ten-centimeter piece with jadeite into two five-centimeter pieces. This time, jadeite was finally visible! But no one cheered or shouted, because the jadeite only appeared now, and only a small amount. This meant the actual thickness of this jadeite was only about three to four centimeters. Although the quality and clarity were excellent, being glass-like and greenish, how much could such a small piece be worth?
Seeing this, Zhao Yanxuan sighed, but then he suddenly thought of something and quietly found a vendor to say something...