"Can you make finished products from this piece of jade for me?" Xin Rui asked.
"Yes, but I'm not free these two days. We'll have to wait until Mr. Guo's ring is done. If you trust me, you can leave the jade here. When I have time, I'll make a pendant, a pair of earrings, and a few ring faces for you."
Xin Rui glanced at Xia Li and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
"It's no trouble."
"How much will it cost?"
"Cost for what?"
"The processing fee."
"You're a friend of Ms. Xia, and also a friend of Mr. Guo. How could I possibly charge you a processing fee? Don't worry, Ms. Xia will contact you when it's done."
"Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Then I won't see you out." Old Xu then picked up the ring blank and began to study it intently.
"Shall we go upstairs? Let's not disturb Master Xu," Xia Li tugged Xin Rui and whispered.
"Alright. Can I see the rough stones here? Master Xu mentioned earlier that he cut all the rough stones himself. Where are they?"
"Upstairs. I'll show you." Xia Li led Xin Rui into the rough stone warehouse.
"Good heavens, why are there so many stones? Is there jade inside all of them?"
"It's hard to say. Some have it, some don't. But most do."
"How much would the jade inside a stone like this be worth?" Xin Rui pointed to a rough jade stone weighing several hundred pounds.
"It's hard to say. We have to cut it open to see the quality inside. If it's high ice or above, tens or hundreds of billions are normal. If it's glass type, it will be even higher."
"This one stone is worth tens or hundreds of billions? Then the stones in here are amazing?"
"What I said earlier is under the premise that high-quality jade is found. If it's something like a bean green type, it won't be worth much. Also, if there's no jade at all, this stone is just scrap."
"That's still quite a lot."
"Have you dealt with rough jade stones before? There's a saying in this business: 'One cut to poverty, one cut to wealth, one cut to rags.' Ordinary people can't tell if there's jade inside these stones."
"You mean Guo Xuyang isn't an ordinary person?"
"You could say that. You'll understand when you spend more time with him."
"Can you tell me about him?"
"Let's go upstairs to chat. It's not appropriate to talk here," Xia Li gestured towards the surveillance cameras.
"Alright. There are so many security measures here? We saw several guards when we came up from below, and these monitors are fully covered."
"Of course. There are over a hundred billion worth of stones stored here, and not a single one can be lost."
"But you told me earlier that the company only had tens of billions. Were you deliberately deceiving me?"
"I didn't deceive you. The company's account only shows that much in transactions, with money coming and going. It rarely exceeds tens of billions."
"But buying these stones must also cost a lot of money, right?"
"Spending tens of billions is easy."
"Then wouldn't you go bankrupt if there was no jade inside?"
"That's why I said earlier that ordinary people can't do this business."
"What did you mean by Guo Xuyang not being an ordinary person? Can he see if there's jade inside the stones?"
"Perhaps. I'm not sure about that either. However, Yangzi rarely loses money on the rough jade stones he buys. He received several hundred million in dividends before the New Year."
"Only a few hundred million? Didn't you say a single stone could be worth tens of billions?"
"It costs money to buy these stones. The dividends were just that much in less than a month."