Each shed is equipped with a stone-cutting machine to facilitate contestants to cut stones on site.
Stone cutting can be said to be the most anticipated part for the onlookers.
However, most of the audience focused on a few popular contestants, while few people paid attention to Xue Huan.
But she still has several audiences, the Zheng family and Huo Kang.
You can ask a stone-cutting master to do the stone-cutting, or you can do it yourself.
The pink jade in the rough material that Xue Huan chose was located right in the center of the rough material. According to the general stone-cutting technique, the stone-cutting master would definitely cut it from the middle with one knife. In this way, a complete piece of pink jade would be cut in half, which is a pity.
So she decided to take matters into her own hands.
She can clearly "see" the position and shape of the jade, ensuring that she avoids the jade perfectly during the stone-cutting process without damaging the jade inside.
When she made the first cut, the gong sounded, indicating the end of time, and it sounded three times in a row, spreading throughout the square.
The contestants who have not yet chosen the raw material have no choice but to pick a piece at random.
Those who have been selected are either having their stones cut at their leisure or waiting in line for their stones to be cut.
In front of so many people, it is impossible for anyone to bring in jade and pretend that they have cut it themselves. Not to mention whether anyone can avoid the inspectors and bring in the jade, even if someone is lucky enough to bring it in, the circle of yamen officials around the square will keep a close eye on the process of everyone cutting the stone.
To take a step back, even if the yamen officials were bribed, there are still several judges waiting.
The jadeite that the contestants have unearthed will be submitted to the judges for review. Several of the judges are experts who have been dealing with jade for decades and can tell at a glance whether the jadeite has just been unearthed from the stone.
Besides, there are so many sharp-eyed spectators outside the fence.
Take Xue Huan's case for example. There weren't many people watching at first, but when the jadeite from the rough material was revealed, the audience rushed over.
"Look, the bets are going up here!"
"Why does that jade look pink to me? There are pink jades?"
"Well, how could there be none? Jade doesn't just come in green and red. There are also black, yellow, purple, blue... there are so many colors. There are even some jades that have three colors in one piece, like the Fu Lu Shou jade."
"I see. This pink jade is so lovely. It would look amazing if it were made into a bracelet."
The onlookers were discussing enthusiastically.
When Xue Huan took out the entire piece of jade and washed off the layer of debris on it with water, the crowd exclaimed in surprise.
"How beautiful! I wish this was mine..."
"It's so big! How many bracelets will it take out?"
"This young man is so lucky! He actually found such a rare piece of pink jadeite."
Someone even couldn't wait to bid: "Sir, will you sell that pink jadeite? I'm willing to pay three thousand taels!"
When others heard this, how could they be willing to fall behind?
"I'll give you three thousand five hundred taels!"
"Four thousand taels! Sir, please sell the jade to me."
Before Xue Huan could say anything, everyone started arguing.
She raised her voice and said, "I'm sorry, I won't sell this jade."
The commotion here attracted the attention of people in the private room on the third floor of a street-side teahouse.
"Mom, it seems someone over there found a piece of pink jadeite. It's really rare."
"Lian'er, do you want it? After this competition is over, I'll have someone buy it for you. It will be a great way to add another dowry to yours."
"Mother~"
"Haha, why are you shy? Lian'er will get married sooner or later, so the dowry should be prepared early."
"Brother Zhao, congratulations!" Zheng Feibai was sincerely happy for Xue Huan and felt very proud of her.
Xue Huan picked up the jadeite she had untied and said, "It's your turn now. Do you need my help?"
Zheng Feibai shook his head. "I've done a lot of stone cutting for people. I'm very familiar with this."
He didn't hold out much hope for the rough stone he had picked out. Although he often came into contact with rough stones, it didn't mean he would be able to gamble on stones. He was just a little better than the average person.
Therefore, when he cut the rough material with a knife and revealed the jadeite, he still suspected that he was dazzled.
When he confirmed that his bet had really won, he was pleasantly surprised.
The onlookers were also very surprised.
"Two people have bet on the price going up. This wool shop is really good. Why haven't I heard of it before?"
"Junzi Wool Shop? I'll go to the shop later and buy a piece of wool to try."
The effect of betting on price increases was immediate and immediately attracted customers.
After the jadeite is taken out, it must be brought to the front for review by several judges and registered.
Xue Huan and Zheng Feibai each walked over holding their own jade.
There were already some people queuing up in front, but the number was not very large, or even very small.
Nearly a thousand people signed up for this competition, but more than 90% of them lost money, and only less than 50 people bet on a higher return, to be exact, 48 people.
When it was Xue Huan's turn, several judges saw the jade in her hand, but they did not show much surprise like ordinary people. After all, they had been immersed in the gambling stone circle for decades and had seen many kinds of rare jade.
A piece of pink jade was not enough to make them look surprised.
"Number 981, a piece of pink glutinous jade the size of a Cuju ball was opened, and you advance." After looking at the wooden sign presented by Xue Huan, the registrar wrote down her information.
Following closely behind is Zheng Feibai.
"Number 457, a gourd-sized piece of clear water jadeite was opened, and I advanced."
When the two walked out of the competition venue, the audience outside swarmed over, all coming for the jade in their hands.
"Sir, are you willing to sell your jade?"
"I'll pay you eight hundred taels. Please sell me this jadeite."
"I'll give you one thousand taels!"
Xue Huan didn't plan to sell the jadeite, and Zheng Feibai didn't want to either. This was the first jadeite he had ever unearthed, and it was of great significance. He had to keep it as a family heirloom!
Besides, after selling two pieces of raw material to Wu De, their family was no longer short of money.
So he kept shaking his head, "No, no, please let me go."
There were too many people, and some even tried to take advantage of the situation and steal the jade from the two men. However, with Xue Huan around, how could those people succeed?
She used magic to divert everyone's attention and successfully broke through the human wall with Zheng Feibai.
The people behind him were not as lucky as Zheng Feibai, and were surrounded and unable to move.
He looked back and saw the sea of heads, and his heart shuddered.
The Zheng family was already waiting at the exit. When they saw the two people coming out, they hurried over to greet them.
"Mr. Zhao, congratulations."
"Brother Zhao, you're so awesome!" Fu Ge'er came running over, staring at the pink jade in her arms with sparkling eyes, "Can I touch it?"
Xue Huan handed the jadeite to him and said, "Feel free to touch it. Do you like it? How about I use this to make you a pink piggy?"
Zheng's father quickly declined, saying, "Master Zhao, this is unacceptable."
Zheng Feibai also said, "That's right, Mr. Zhao, you should keep the jade for yourself. I have one here too. Although it's not as good as yours, it's still big enough and can produce a lot of things, hehe."
Zheng Xiujin picked up Fu Ge'er and said, "Master Zhao, I've already booked a table at the restaurant to celebrate you and Fei Bai's advancement. Shall we go over now?"
At this time, a woman dressed as a maid came over and bowed to Xue Huan. "Sir, our lady wants to buy this jadeite from you. What's your price?"
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