As soon as he entered the exhibition hall, Qin Xuan was attracted by the myriad of raw jade stones within.
They ranged from the size of a quail's egg to over a meter tall, with every kind imaginable.
A quick glance revealed that while not all of them would be profitable, most contained some form of jade.
Compared to the raw stones at the scattered stalls outside, these were indeed much better.
"Huh?"
"This raw stone?"
After only a few steps, Qin Xuan was drawn to a massive raw stone.
It was over a meter tall, un-windowed, and entirely black, very similar to the Moshi Sha material Yu En had mentioned.
However, the stone's inner voice was the primary reason for Qin Xuan's attention.
It declared: I am full of high-ice floating flowers!
"How much for this stone?"
Leading Yu En to the owner, Qin Xuan pointed at the black raw stone.
The owner glanced at it and then quoted a price, "Good Moshi Sha material, I'll sell it to you for 1 million, a bargain price!"
"How much?"
"1 million?"
Upon hearing the quoted price, Yu En immediately became displeased.
"Boss, aren't you ripping us off?"
"This un-windowed raw stone (a stone with no opened window) is only about a ton."
"At 300 yuan per jin, 600,000 is the absolute maximum."
"And you want 1 million? Why don't you just rob us?"
The owner saw that he had encountered an expert and said helplessly, "Alright, alright, 800,000, that's the lowest price."
"Just 600,000, not a cent more!"
Watching Yu En fiercely bargain with the owner, Qin Xuan almost burst out laughing.
Leave the professional matters to the professionals; having this little girl around was quite convenient.
After a long bargaining process, the owner ultimately couldn't outlast Yu En.
Finally, the raw stone was sold to Qin Xuan for the low price of 660,000.
Yu En huffed, a proud expression on her face as she ran to Qin Xuan's side.
Her expression seemed to say: See how great I am? Praise me!
Qin Xuan was not stingy with his praise, showering her with compliments until Yu En was practically bouncing on her toes.
After paying, Qin Xuan directly asked the owner to cut the stone at his shop.
The owner naturally had no objections and immediately called for the shop's stone-cutting master to begin the process.
The stone-cutting master, cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at the raw stone and then at Qin Xuan. "How do you want it cut?"
Qin Xuan gave a subtle glance, and Yu En immediately understood.
"Cut here, here, and here."
"These large cracks should have already entered. Just cut along the cracks."
The stone-cutting master nodded in agreement, and Qin Xuan gave him another thumbs-up, praising Yu En's professionalism again.
Seeing someone cutting a stone, the surrounding customers couldn't help but gather around.
They murmured amongst themselves, guessing the outcome of the stone cutting.
"Hey, did you see that?"
"A 660,000 yuan stone, I wonder what will come out?"
"That Moshi Sha material?"
"I looked at it, the material is good, but 800,000 was too expensive, I didn't have the heart to buy it."
"I glanced at it just now, there's a lot of white on the skin of this material."
"Probably nothing inside."
As time went on, more and more people gathered around the stall.
Some were simply there to join the excitement, while others wanted to witness the stone-cutting results firsthand.
Among them were several jade buyers, who quietly pushed their way forward to be the first to make an offer if jade was revealed.
Water on, power on.
The stone-cutting machine roared to life under the master's operation.
After locating the first cutting line Yu En had drawn, he slowly pushed the large circular blade towards the raw stone.
Chrrr...
With a piercing friction sound, the first cut was completed.
A slab of stone the size of a cutting board was sliced off.
The stone-cutting master removed the cut portion from the machine.
Instantly, everyone around gasped in unison.
"Holy cow, what the hell is this?"
"High-ice floating flowers, and a whole side of it?"
"This piece alone could make several bangles!"
"Yeah! And the color is so translucent, you can see light through the skin!"
"Incredible, just this one cut could earn at least 1 million!"
"1 million? A bangle of this quality high-ice floating flowers is worth 1 million!"
"This piece alone can make at least 8 bangles, plus jade pendants, rings..."
"Hiss!"
"Just this one cut is worth at least 8 million!"
What?
High-ice floating flowers?
And 8 million?!
The raw stone owner's legs went weak, and he immediately slumped onto his leather chair.
A stone bought for 660,000 had increased in value more than tenfold with a single cut.
He couldn't even imagine what would happen if they continued cutting!
"Wow! Mr. Qin, you really are a master!"
Seeing the high-ice floating flower jade, Yu En was also stunned.
But after a moment of surprise, she exclaimed excitedly.
It was as if she had bought the treasure herself.
Qin Xuan smiled, not bothering to explain further.
He turned to the still somewhat dazed stone-cutting master and said, "Keep cutting, I have a feeling everything inside will be like this."
The stone-cutting master nodded and returned to the machine.
This time, the cut was made in the middle of the raw stone.
The same piercing friction sound was heard, and in less than 10 minutes, the second cut was completed.
"Uniform texture, high-ice floating flowers!"
"Not only is the jade quality the same as before, but the thickness has also increased several times!"
The stone-cutting master's voice trembled slightly.
He took the second piece of raw stone from the cutting machine and slowly lifted it.
Under the spotlight above the shop, it was so bright that it cast a light!
"Holy cow, this quality is amazing!"
"I've never seen such large and translucent high-ice floating flowers!"
"This piece is so big, it can at least make twenty to thirty bangles, plus other jade pendants, rings..."
"40 million! These two cuts have yielded at least 40 million!"
"Forty million what, it's a waste not to make beads with such good material!"
"..."
Hearing that high-ice floating flowers had been cut here, the crowd of onlookers grew from a dozen to dozens.
Helplessly, the security guards in the venue had to come to the area to prevent any unforeseen incidents.
The merchants who had pushed their way to the front began to offer Qin Xuan their desired prices.
"Young man, your raw stone is exceptional. How about this, don't cut the rest. We'll make a deal, 60 million!"
"Even if the remaining half is all marble, I'll still buy it!"
"What do you say?"
After the first merchant made his offer, many scoffed.
"Your two pieces alone are already worth over 50 million, and you're only offering 60 million? Are you trying to fool a kid?"
"Young man, don't listen to him, I'm willing to offer 70 million!"
"I'll offer 71 million!"
"Don't compete with me, I'll offer 75 million!"
More and more people made offers, and the scene quickly turned into an impromptu auction.
In just two minutes, the price of the raw stone had soared to an astonishing 80 million!
"Young man, that's enough. The two pieces above you combined are only 48 million."
"If the bottom half is cut poorly, you'll lose a lot!"
The onlookers began to advise Qin Xuan to take the profit and stop.
But how could Qin Xuan be swayed by others?
Waving his hand at them, Qin Xuan turned to the stone-cutting master again and said, "Master, please cut open the rest."