While my master was cutting stones, I picked out a few more moderately sized rough stones. Ang Cai was right; these stones were all from old mining sites, and the rough stones were choice, collectible-grade pieces.
Lan Ya mentioned wanting to build a rough stone museum in the park, and I intended to pick out a presentable one to serve as a display piece.
Generally, halls prefer to display jade cabbages, symbolizing wealth. The rough stone museum we are preparing will be quite large, and we require this cabbage to be bigger than those typically displayed in halls.
Conservatively, it needs to be over a hundred catties.
I stated my requirements, and Ang Cai said, "Follow me."
Although these bags weren't all opened, judging by their shapes, the largest ones were only a few dozen catties. What I needed was clearly not here.
I followed him upstairs to where the safes were kept.
He pointed to a cabinet and said to a nearby assistant, "Open this cabinet."
The assistant stepped forward, opened the large lock of the safe, and forcefully lifted the lid.
I walked over and saw several rough stones over a hundred catties inside.
You immediately took a liking to a stone shaped like a winter melon. Setting aside the mining site for now, its shape was excellent. As long as the quality was good, it would be more than enough to carve a cabbage.
A cabbage requires white flesh, not necessarily highly translucent. However, it must have white meat. The white should be fine and lustrous, and the green should be vibrant and dripping with dew. This piece of material would be considered top-grade.
I asked two assistants to help me move this plump winter melon out.
This was an Old Pakan piece. Old Pakan material is quite varied; it can be as small as a fist, or one might encounter pieces weighing several hundred catties or even over a ton.
The two assistants moved the rough stone down and placed it on the ground. I shone my light in a few spots and then asked Ang Cai, "What's the price for this? Let's be clear. You've already charged me for the pieces downstairs. Considering you mentioned the special nature of these rough stones, I didn't haggle. This particular rough stone is just large. Whether it yields anything or not is still uncertain. If you still want a high price, I'll have them move it back."
"How could that be? We've done business more than once. I won't overcharge you. Besides, who are you? You can tell the value of this thing at a glance. If I state a price, it would show my dishonesty. How about this? This stone is over one hundred and twenty catties. My marked price is three thousand per catty. I'll give you a discount and charge you two thousand. That will be two hundred and forty thousand."
Honestly, rough stones kept in a safe wouldn't be too bad. His price was quite fair. I didn't haggle further and asked two assistants to deliver it downstairs for me.
Ang Cai watched the two assistants carry the stone away and asked, "Do you want to look at anything else?"
"That's all for today. I came out to relax. These few pieces are enough."
Downstairs, I saw that the previous Mu Na stone had been cut and was waiting for me on the counter.
I ignored the Mu Na stone and directly instructed the stone cutter on how to cut the large winter melon. Then, I found a rag, dipped it in water, and wiped the cut surface.
It was about as I expected: a bright green, though the translucency wasn't quite sufficient, and there were some cotton-like inclusions. I couldn't see any cracks from the cut surface.
Mu Na material isn't afraid of large cracks, but it is afraid of fragmentation. If the fragmentation spreads throughout, then this stone would be ruined.
I said, "Don't cut it anymore, just put it in the car."
Jing Lei and Lan Ya were still a bit unsatisfied, waiting for me to cut a showstopper to satisfy their curiosity. Who knew I came today just to pick stones and didn't care about what was cut.
In reality, as long as these stones were cut, whether they yielded a showstopper or not, they wouldn't be too bad. The initial cost would definitely not be lost. It's just that I was preoccupied with the matter of Bei Cheng Lao Hei, so my mind wasn't on this. Hence, I wasn't like before, like a true gambler, rubbing and cutting, trying to achieve something astonishing.
Seeing that I had no intention of cutting further, they didn't say anything.
I, however, was a bit interested in this large winter melon, wondering if I could bring out something special.
The biggest fear for large stones is breakage. After all, being so large, it's easy for internal defects to occur. The meat quality might suddenly change halfway through, or it might just be a surface layer, and inside it turns into a piece of marble. This would be equivalent to buying architectural material at an exorbitant price.
Such things happen often. If all of them were jade, why would people open shops? Wouldn't they just cut them themselves?
Since it's gambling, there are too many uncertainties, and the boss makes money from these uncertainties.
Another taboo for display pieces is cracks. Whether large or small, as soon as they appear, the value is discounted, or they might even be ruined.
Then there's the issue of not having a black core. Poor quality white flesh is not a major problem; subsequent polishing can compensate for some dryness. However, if it turns black, it's unusable. Have you ever seen a jade cabbage displayed in a hall that is black? Jadeite, jadeite, emphasizes red and green, followed by translucency and minimal impurities. These are important factors that satisfy people's senses. No one likes a black or grey object; it looks unlucky.
Of course, some people will argue with me. Many gemstones in the classification are black. Black jade has a very deep color, as does obsidian, which is characterized by its blackness. However, you haven't seen a jade cabbage that is black, have you? Black has its uses, but for this jade cabbage, white is the main color. If there's any green, it's the icing on the cake.
I first asked the master to make a cut on the smaller end of the winter melon to check the quality.
Jing Lei paid and came to stand beside me, watching the master at work.
Lan Ya stood a bit further away; the sound of the cutting machine was too piercing and uncomfortable.
At this moment, Wen Siqiang came over with a phone, asking me to take a call.
I took the phone and glanced at him. He pointed to the phone without saying anything. It was too noisy in here, and I wouldn't be able to hear clearly.
I took the phone and walked towards the door. Once outside, I covered the phone and asked him, "Whose call is it?"
Wen Siqiang walked a few more steps and, seeing that no one was paying attention to us, said, "Did you rough up someone last night?"
I nodded. He pointed to the phone and said, "This person called. They want to talk to you."
I didn't question why this call went to him. After all, it wasn't difficult for them to find me. I put the phone to my ear, curious to hear what this unfortunate soul wanted to say.
I said, "Hello," and a man's voice came through. It didn't sound like the person from last night; it was a slightly hoarse baritone.
"Li Hua, is that you?"
"It's me. What's up?"
"You messed with my people last night. You owe me an explanation."
"What kind of explanation do you want?"
I didn't waste time with him and retorted directly.
"I don't care how formidable you are. You messed with my people, and I'm going to settle this score with you!"
"Then tell me, how do we settle it?"
"Starting today, my people will cause trouble at your establishment, one day no, two days, until the day you close your doors."
"Alright, I'll be waiting. Come one, fight one, until you're subdued!"
After saying that, I hung up. This wasn't like doing business where I'd bargain with him.