“Look, the freshly polished area also has waxy texture. I feel like this stone is going to soar in value.”
“I’m not so sure. What if the jadeite is only on the surface? That would be a huge loss.”
At this moment, someone from the crowd stepped forward and politely asked, “Excuse me, sir, you don’t need to keep polishing it. I saw earlier that you bought this material for 1. 8 million. How about this, I offer two million and take it off your hands. I’ll bear the risk from now on.”
“I’ll offer two million one hundred thousand!” Another person in the crowd raised their hand and called out.
Keith smiled, “Sorry, I’m not selling it.”
In Keith’s view, he had just ruined an entire gambling stone, and he believed that he had used up all his bad luck. Up until now, the chances of this half gambling stone soaring in value were high. If it really did, then he would have a stable supply of goods for his shop this year.
Keith wiped the sweat from his forehead, switched on the polishing machine, and continued polishing.
With Keith’s actions, more and more jadeite showed on the surface of the half gambling material. Madame K timely splashed water on it, making the jadeite even more lustrous and attractive.
“Look, the traces of jadeite keep going. I’m sure it’s going to soar,” said someone from the crowd.
“No need to keep polishing. I offer two million five hundred thousand. Bro, sell it to me,” another person called out.
“I offer two million six hundred thousand!”
The sound of people bidding made Keith’s face light up with excitement. The earlier disappointment from the ruined stone vanished.
The longer someone played with gambling stones, the better they could sense the stones. With years of experience in this field, Keith’s feeling grew stronger. He was becoming more and more convinced that this stone was going to soar.
Madame K, who was helping him, had her eyes sparkling too. If the polished area turned out to be entirely waxy green, the value of this gambling stone would increase at least tenfold, reaching around eighteen to twenty million.
She felt a bit jealous and regretful. If she had known, she would have taken the half gambling material from Keith earlier at the stall.
Polishing was more tiring and time-consuming than cutting, but Keith was full of enthusiasm and didn’t even stop to take a drink of water.
Soon, about two-fifths of the surface of the half gambling material was polished, and as everyone expected, it was filled with tempting jadeite.
Suppressing his excitement, Keith turned off the polishing machine, wiped the sweat off his forehead, took off the gloves, and drank some water.
“Bro, I’ll raise my offer. I offer six million. Sell it to me,” someone called out.
“I offer six million five hundred thousand!”
“Bro, if the jadeite on the surface breaks, you’ll face a huge loss. Let me take the risk for you. Six million six hundred thousand!”
Keith smiled and didn’t bother responding to them. He put on the gloves again and continued polishing.
A few minutes later, Madame K splashed water again.
“Hey, quick, look! It seems like the jadeite broke, and there are small cracks,” the observant person shouted loudly as before.
“No way, let me have a look…”
The crowd gathered even closer, craning their necks to get a better look at the half gambling material on the cutting machine.
Keith’s excited expression immediately changed, and he said in a low voice, “Bring some water.”
Madame K handed over a ladle of water.
Keith slowly poured the water on the area that was just polished, and as the water flowed down, the surface became clearer.
The person in the front finally saw it clearly.
“There are indeed small cracks; this is an ominous sign.”
“Good thing this gentleman didn’t agree earlier; otherwise…”
The appearance of even tiny cracks was a heavy blow to the gamblers. And the fact that these cracks didn’t reveal any jadeite made it an even more unfavorable omen.
“Keith, don’t lose heart. Maybe it’s just a small area,” Madame K consoled.
Keith composed himself, held the polishing machine, and continued to polish.
This time, his movements were quick. After three minutes, the entire side of the gambling stone was polished.
Madame K splashed water on it again.
After the water washed away the stone debris, the interior was revealed once more.
After the water washed away the stone debris, the interior of the material was revealed again.
“Look, more and more cracks!”
“Yeah, and there’s no jadeite on the polished part. Could it be that the entire gambling stone has only that tiny bit of jadeite?”
“What a stone with such great potential. Could it really crumble like this?”
The discussions from the crowd pierced Keith’s nerves.
“This can’t be happening!” Keith’s heart screamed in pain, and his expression turned blank.
Once envious of Keith, Madame K now felt sorry for him and sighed, saying, “Keith, why don’t you cut it open and see?”
Keith took two deep breaths, forcefully suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and moved the half gambling stone to the cutting machine’s blade.
He turned on the power, and the cutting blade started spinning at high speed.
Holding the handle, Keith pressed it down, and the cutting blade sliced through the gambling stone, emitting a sharp and unpleasant sound.
Soon, the half gambling stone was split into two under the cutting machine.
Madame K quickly poured water on it.
After the water washed away the cut surface, there was not a trace of jadeite inside.
“Ah, it’s really nothing.”
“There’s only jadeite on the surface around the window area; this stone is such a deception.”
“A stone with such good appearance could turn out to be a bust. This gentleman’s luck is just incredibly terrible.”
The discussions of the crowd turned into a buzzing sound in Keith’s ears. He couldn’t hear anything else now, only his own voice echoing in his mind: “This can’t be, this can’t be…”
The earlier whole gambling stone cost four hundred thousand, and now this half gambling material cost one million eight hundred thousand. The total amounted to two million two hundred thousand, and it all went to waste.
The feeling was like being on a roller coaster.
“Keith…” Madame K reached out to pat his shoulder, wanting to console him, but she couldn’t find the right words at the moment.
In her heart, she felt more sympathy for Keith. After such a great joy came great sorrow, no one could handle it well.
“It’s okay. It’s just two stones.” Keith took a deep breath and tried to stabilize his emotions.
Although he lost more than two million, it wasn’t enough to cripple him financially. It was just hard to accept psychologically.
Most gambling stone players believed in luck.
Keith’s luck was truly terrible, so the onlookers subconsciously moved away from him, trying to avoid catching his bad luck.