Chapter 12 Value of A Five-hundred-yuan Stone

Elly thinks that Boss Zhang has gone mad. Li Anping also frowns, “Mr. Zhang, we all see that there is nothing in there.” Even Baojia doesn’t believe that the price of this stone can rise. Only Lin Luoran, the owner of the stone, and Boss Zhang, the ex-owner, are very sure that the value of this stone really rises! Concerning about angles and with their common sense, everybody pays attention to the larger piece of the stone. Boss Zhang sees that nobody believes him. He dusts the smaller piece with his hands shaking mildly. All of the people there are so astonished that their eyes nearly pop out. “Is there a... jade inside?” Mrs. Cui feels that it is difficult to believe. “It is apple green, closing to the ice species.” Boss Zhang nods his head and makes a rough judgment. His hands are shaking because, on the one hand, the cut is so accurate; on the other hand, he is a little bit regretful for this great stone has stayed in his yard at least for five years. Oh god, and he doesn’t even bother to try to cut it for all these five years. Boss Zhang pours some water on the smaller piece, which reveals the green part. The section of this jade looks so fabulous. It is a round section with a diameter of 15 centimeters, all covered with green jade... If anyone happens to rub this stone for fun can definitely find the jade that is so close to the outer layer! Baojia is the happiest one, “Luoran, we find a treasure that others once ignored!” Elly is still unwilling to believe it and sneers, “Better to cut a line than a section. Don’t speak too soon.” Fatty Cui looks at the green jade. As long as it is a little bit thick, there will definitely carve out a bracelet in the center. “One million yuan. Miss Lin, sell it to me, okay?” Fatty Cui asks Lin Luoran with a big smile. That is just the way how business is done. Only with risks will there be harvests. If there is only a thin slice of jade, then Fatty Cui can do nothing but suck on it. With just a capital of five hundred yuan, the value of the stone increases 2000 times after only one cutting! Baojia is aware of the risks of gambling on stones. Everyone in the industry knows that one cutting can decide whether you will be poor or rich. She also knows about Lin Luoran’s financial situation and thinks that it is an excellent deal to sell it for one million yuan. Lin Luoran catches Baojia’s expression in her eyes and gives her a glance back to tell her to calm down. “Boss Zhang, could you please help me to cut the whole jade out?” This jade is absolutely more than just a slice on the surface. Lin Luoran decides to cut it all out and then sell it. “At this time, it is better to rub it, not cut it.” Boss Zhang would rather do it himself. He is so into these raw stones deep down inside, which is hard to be understood by the layman. It is normal to see big bosses cutting stones on their own. Lin Luoran gives an apologetic smile, “If Boss Cui still wants this jade after fully cutting out, I will sell it to you first.” Fatty Cui waves his hand and does not really care about Lin’s words. Although the price might be much higher after entirely cutting the stone, the risks disappear. The deal is totally fair. Everybody wants to hoard good materials, including Fatty Cui, for good materials are never enough. Rubbing stones is a job requiring fine workmanship, which is obviously slower than cutting. But everyone there is working in the industry. Many of them are willing to spend several days cutting stones. So, waiting for several minutes or hours is just fine for them. While Boss Zhang is rubbing the stone, Fatty Cui and his wife start to talk with Lin Luoran and Baojia, and others are also discussing. All of their discussions are about the annual gems emporium in Myanmar this year, in which a lavender raw stone has been auctioned a price of nearly two hundred million yuan. Liu Zheng also says, “This year, there is too much hot money in the gems emporium. Bosses from Wenzhou and Shanxi Province chartered planes to go there and hyped the price of the raw stones, which makes us jeweler both laugh and cry.” Lin Luoran does not understand what they are talking about at all, so she is just listening with a smile. Baojia can barely reply. Finding that they cannot blend in the conversations, Mrs. Cui switches the topic to beauty and skincare. “Sister, how do you maintain your skin?” Mrs. Cui has dark skin, and she works in the field all the time, just like a man. So, she envies Lin Luoran’s for her fresh skin very much. Lin Luoran perspires from embarrassment. She cannot tell Mrs. Cui that she changes into what she looks like now by eating a magical fruit, right? Elly and Li Anping are standing off from everyone. There are no women who hate to be beautiful. Actually, she is also curious about how Lin Luoran changes her skin in such a short time and how she can reach this effect without replacing all of her skin. Li Anping feels bitter inside. There has been a boss who would like to offer one million yuan for Lin Luoran’s stone. If only there had been one million yuan for them earlier, they could have bought a house in R city. If only Lin Luoran had been as beautiful as now, he would not have left her. Meanwhile, Baojia is saving Lin Luoran’s blushes: “Mrs. Cui, Luoran told me before that eating many green vegetables, sleeping well, and keeping a good mood, all of these can help to maintain good skin!” Mrs. Cui glares at Baojia, “Don’t call me Mrs. I am not patient enough to hear your elegant speech. Just call me Sister Wang!... Fatso, next time, we should also buy vegetables from farmers. If anything is being sprayed pesticides, you’re dead meat.” Mrs. Cui, oh, no, Sister Wang just gives Fatty Cui a mission. Fatty Cui gets her order and promises to do it obediently, which makes Lin Luoran and Baojia laugh. They have a pleasant talk together. Time flies with not being noticed. “This is definitely a piece of good material. Miss Lin’s made a great choice!” These words are from Boss Zhang, who has been working on rubbing the stone. He has rubbed the jade out while others were chatting. Hearing that the jade has been rubbed out, which turns out to be very good, people gather together to watch it. Lin Luoran and Baojia are not the ones who run fastest, instead, Elly and Li Anping are running in most front, for they are unwilling to see this to different degrees. The jade, which is about 7 or 8 centimeters thick, is round on the bottom with a diameter of 13 or 14 centimeters and small on the upper part. This jade has the same shape as that smaller piece. It seems that after peeling off the outer layer, there is plenty of jade inside. The jade shines brightly in the sunshine after washing off the dust. Although it is apple green, the species is ice species without crack. The color is penetrating and pure, with no noticeable gray in the middle. It is indeed a great material. People have already started to think about how to make jewelry from this jade. The upper part is smaller, but it is not like the sharp corner of a circular cone but like an arc of a great circle. How many bracelets can be made from it? And how many oval cabochons can be cut from the rest? What about other hanging decorations? “Four million yuan!” A boss with Cantonese accent says. No one knows why he comes all the way to R city to find what he wants. Sister Wang puts her hands on hips and despises, “Are you deceiving them for they don’t know our business? Shame on you for just offering four million yuan to buy this jade. Let me buy it for five million!” That Cantonese boss does not fall out even if he is disclosed. And he is upset the moment Sister Wang said that she would like to add one more million. He speaks in Mandarin with Cantonese accent, “Miao’e, how could you do business like that?” That Cantonese, who called Sister Wang’s maiden name, sees that Fatty Cui is rubbing his hands. He can’t do nothing but withdraw. A couple bid for the jade together. There is no chance of winning. It seems that Liu Zheng also is interested in this material. Seeing that the Cantonese boss stops bidding, he offers a price of 5.5 million yuan. Five million yuan, there are so few chances to get such a large amount of money without any reasons except winning a prize in a lottery. Lin luoran would be lying if she said she is not excited. She gives a chuckle of delight. Baojia is muttering to herself. She forgets that Lin Luoran also chose two stones for her. She just feels happy for her friend with the thought that Lin Luoran finally becomes lucky after suffering all the bad things. As for Li Anping, every time the price goes higher, he feels like there is a knife cutting his flesh. After he goes together with Elly, he only looks nice on the outside. Although Elly often gives him some brand-name clothes, he has to give something back. So just for a few months, he only gets a heap of clothes and credit cards that are already maxed out. Now he only has negative assets. Millions of yuan... If he doesn’t break up with Lin Luoran, he can take them all. This thought wrings his heart.