“It’s gone up! It’s gone up!”
Someone in the crowd shouted excitedly.
“This looks like glutinous-rice jade,” Elder Qi said with a hearty laugh.
The stone cutter splashed water over the exposed surface, revealing a pale green color.
“It really is glutinous-rice jade.”
Su Cheng’s expression remained calm. “Keep cutting.”
The sound of the cutting machine rang out again.
Shen Xiangyi glanced back at Su Cheng, wondering to himself: Was she really just lucky?
Before long, they uncovered a piece of jade about the size of a basketball. It was a pale green with a slight yellow tint, though the inside was somewhat cloudy with traces of cotton-like inclusions.
“Glutinous-rice jade. It’s not as translucent as ice jade, but a piece this large is already quite rare,” Elder Qi said with a smile.
“We have Miss Su to thank for this,” Shen Xiangyi said with a hearty laugh as he looked at her.
Su Cheng smiled.
Taking advantage of the moment, she placed both hands on the glutinous-rice jade and silently activated the Five Spirits Art, absorbing the faint strands of spiritual energy within it.
Perhaps, she thought, she would finally be able to open her spatial dimension once she returned.
Su Cheng then had the remaining raw stones placed on the cutting machine.
“Go ahead and cut it directly, Master.”
The blade came down.
A mass of plain white stone was revealed.
The cutter looked at Su Cheng.
“Make another horizontal cut,” Su Cheng said calmly.
With a sharp crack, another section of white stone fell onto the worktable.
Su Cheng remained expressionless and pointed at several of the smaller pieces.
“Cut those directly.”
One cut after another.
They split open several pieces in succession, but every single one was nothing but ordinary stone.
Su Cheng deliberately put on a disappointed expression.
“Gambling on jade really is a matter of one cut making you rich and the next making you poor.”
“She lost the gamble.”
The onlookers whispered among themselves, casting glances at Su Cheng.
Gambling on jade really was unpredictable. One cut could make you rich, the next could leave you penniless, and another could have you wrapped in sackcloth.
Zhang Zishu came over at that moment, carrying a stone shaped somewhat like a chamber pot.
He looked at the table covered in white stone, then at Su Cheng’s disappointed face.
Trying to comfort her, he said, “Don’t take it too hard, Miss Su. Losing nine times out of ten when gambling on jade is perfectly normal.”
The people watching him stared as though he were an idiot.
Did he really not know that Miss Su had already made tens of millions today?
Zhang Zishu genuinely thought Su Cheng had lost everything.
He had gone off to the corner to pick out raw stones as soon as he arrived. By the time he heard that someone had cut out Imperial Green, what did that have to do with him?
Other people had uncovered Imperial Green, while in all his years of gambling on jade, all he had ever found was plain white stone. He had never even seen a hint of green.
Su Cheng’s face had gone stiff.
She could barely keep up the disappointed act anymore.
The stone cutter was beginning to grow anxious.
“Miss Su, should I draw the cutting lines?”
“Mm. I’ll draw them.”
The cutter followed the lines she marked and lowered the blade.
Bzzzzzzzz—
Again, nothing but white stone.
“Looks like today just isn’t a good day for me to have stones cut,” Su Cheng said gently. “I’ll leave these two for now and have them cut another day.”
Zhang Zishu looked at her sympathetically.
“Miss Su, you can bring them to my place another day. I have a polishing machine there.”
“Mm, all right.”
Su Cheng answered gently, barely able to keep pretending she was disappointed.
“Are you heading back to the Dihao Hotel now? I can help you load the raw stones into your car.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mr. Zhang. The security company will be here soon. You can return to the hotel with them. I still have something to take care of.”
“All right.”
Zhang Zishu gave Su Cheng a thoughtful look.
Just what kind of background did Miss Su have?
She had even hired bodyguards.
“Miss Su, shall we go to the bank and make the transfer now?” Shen Xiangyi asked with a smile.
“Do you know where I can buy yellow talisman paper and cinnabar around here?”
“You’ll have to ask Elder Qi. He should know,” Shen Xiangyi said, giving Su Cheng a strange look.
“I know,” Elder Qi said. “There’s a shop not far ahead. But why do you want to buy yellow paper? Could it be that Miss Su also knows about metaphysics?”
“A little,” Su Cheng replied with a faint smile.
Elder Qi was even more surprised.
Such a young woman actually knew about this kind of thing?
It seemed that Miss Su was someone he could only befriend. She absolutely could not afford to offend her.
“Thank you, Elder Qi.”
Su Cheng gave him a slight nod.
“Wait a moment, Miss Su. May I have your contact information? Here’s my business card.”
Su Cheng accepted the card.
“I’ll contact you. I don’t have a phone yet.”
“Oh, all right. All right.”
Elder Qi nodded repeatedly.
Su Cheng gave him another slight nod before leaving.
She had barely walked a short distance from the jade market when she came across an antique shop.
The place was rather quiet.
A man around fifty years old was sitting in a rocking chair.
“Feel free to have a look around, young lady.”
“Boss, do you have yellow talisman paper, cinnabar, and a good calligraphy brush?”
Su Cheng casually glanced around the shop.
There were quite a few old antiques inside.
“Yes, I do. Let me get them for you.”
The shopkeeper took out a stack of yellow paper and a large box of cinnabar.
“Yellow talisman paper is 200 yuan per sheet. Cinnabar is 650 yuan a box. As for the brush, this is the best one I have. It’s 150 yuan.”
Su Cheng glanced at the brush.
She didn’t have an actual talisman brush right now, so she would just have to make do with this one.
“Two sheets of yellow talisman paper, two boxes of cinnabar, and this brush. Ring me up.”
“Miss, do you know how to draw talismans?”
The shopkeeper looked at Su Cheng with keen interest.
“Hurry up. I’m in a rush.”
But before she could finish speaking, the hand reaching for her money froze.
She only had 300 yuan on her.
Su Cheng looked at the shopkeeper and frowned.
“What kind of talisman do you want? A Peace Talisman? I’ll give you a Peace Talisman in exchange for these things.”
“Two Peace Talismans.”
The shopkeeper bargained firmly.
Su Cheng nodded.
She put the cinnabar and yellow paper into a bag, then picked up the brush.
Her movements were smooth and effortless, flowing like clouds and running water.
The shopkeeper’s eyes widened as he watched.
He really had struck it lucky today.
He had actually encountered a genuine master.
“Master, once you’ve used up the yellow paper and cinnabar, come back anytime. I’ll give you half off.”
Su Cheng responded indifferently.
The shopkeeper enthusiastically escorted her to the door.
The moment Su Cheng stepped outside, a black Mercedes pulled up in front of her.
“Get in first, Miss Su.”
Su Cheng looked up and saw that it was Shen Xiangyi.
“You’ve already finished cutting your raw stones? That was fast.”
“The ones selected by the company’s experts need to be taken back to the company. We have our own polishing machines and stone cutters there.”
He paused before adding, “The two pieces you selected belong to me personally. The security company’s people have already arrived.”
“I had them take those two raw stones to the Dihao Hotel.”
Shen Xiangyi smiled faintly.
His refined, scholarly face carried a hint of genuine warmth, and the car was filled with the faint scent of cologne.
“Thank you.”
Su Cheng smiled slightly.
The group went to the bank to make the transfers.
Su Cheng received the 30 million yuan Elder Qi had transferred to her account.
Shen Xiangyi also handed her a check for 42 million yuan.
Su Cheng looked at him in surprise.
Shen Xiangyi smiled.
“Four million of that is your commission.”
“Then thank you for your generosity, President Shen.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you, Miss Su.”
Shen Xiangyi’s refined face was filled with a warm smile.
Su Cheng nodded.
She thought he was right.
He really should thank her.
She followed a bank employee to the counter to withdraw some cash and change the account password as well. She didn’t feel comfortable continuing to use the original owner’s password.
Elder Qi smiled broadly.
“Miss Su, if you come across any good jade next time, be sure to look for me. I’ll be leaving now. I’ll invite you for tea another day. You must do me the honor of coming.”
“Mm. I definitely will.”
Shen Xiangyi said gently, “Let me take you back to the Dihao Hotel, Miss Su.”
Su Cheng nodded slightly.
“Then I’ll trouble you, President Shen.”
The car stopped in front of the Dihao Hotel.
Su Cheng thanked him before getting out.
She entered the lobby of the Dihao Hotel.
On the left, not far away, two men in black suits were sitting on a sofa.
It was obvious at a glance that they were trained fighters.
Two raw stones were sitting beside them.
Su Cheng thought to herself:
These must be the bodyguards arranged by the security company.