Under the illumination of the phone flashlight, the interior of the cut surface became clearer. A red hue appeared in the middle of the deep brown cut.
Among the onlookers, there were people with excellent eyesight who saw the red in the middle of the cut and immediately exclaimed, “It’s red!”
This exclamation instantly drew back those who had left earlier.
“From the color revealed by the cut surface, it seems to be… red jade!?” Nicola looked astonished.
Cutting a red jade from such a low-grade rough stone was truly surprising.
Red jade, as the name suggests, is a type of jade with a red color. Under strong light, you can see the interior, but under sunlight, it can’t be seen through. Red jade is also known as “ruby” in jade because of its red color. The fewer impurities it has, the higher its grade. High-grade red jade is just as valuable as ice-type jade.
Red jade symbolizes love, and many merchants craft it into heart shapes, adding to its value with the connotation of love, making it highly sought after.
“To cut a rare red jade from it…”
“This young man’s luck is beyond words. It’s simply extraordinary!”
“I need to shake hands with him later; maybe his good fortune will rub off on me!”
“I’ll buy some rough stones and come to this cutting machine later if it has brought three big rises!”
“It’s hard to imagine that such a poor-quality rough stone could yield red jade.” Keith thought to himself, feeling unlucky compared to Leo, who seemed to have the universe on his side. But he, had sold a “waste” stone containing glass jade for eight thousand.
“I envy this young man’s luck.” Madame K sighed.
Amidst the amazed voices, Nicola pondered as she looked at the cut stone, murmuring to herself, “From the color of the cut surface, the outer layer of this rough stone isn’t a genuine rind. Could this be the ‘stone within a stone’ my father used to talk about?”
Leo picked up the polishing machine and was about to start polishing the stone.
But Nicola stopped him, saying, “The skin of your rough stone is too thick. By the time you finish polishing, the sun will have set. Let me mark the specific location of the interior jade with a line, and then you can cut accordingly.”
Leo nodded in agreement. After Nicola marked the line with a marker, he began cutting again.
Ten minutes later, Leo successfully removed the jade from the rough stone.
The red jade was enchanting and radiant, like a ruby, emitting captivating brilliance in his hand.
“Miss Pater, how much is this red jade worth?” Leo asked Nicola.
“Let me take a look.” Nicola took the red jade, turned on her phone flashlight, and examined it carefully.
“The texture is quite good, almost close to nine-grade clarity,” Nicola commented.
“Close to nine-grade clarity means it’s nearly high-grade ice jade,” Coral added.
Nicola handed the jade back to Leo and said, “You lucky fellow, judging from the current market, this red jade should be worth…”
“Seven million and six hundred thousand! I bid seven million and six hundred thousand!” someone shouted.
“I bid eight million!”
“I bid eight million and five hundred thousand!”
Red jade is rare in the market and belongs to high-grade gemstones. It is generally not used to make bracelets but pendants or ornaments. It can also be used as the face of a ring, and its price is higher than that of ice jade.
“Nine million!” Keith gritted his teeth and called out the price.
Nicola couldn’t help but look at Keith with a doubtful gaze. In her opinion, this red jade was worth around eight million five hundred thousand at most. Buying it for nine million would lead to a loss after deducting costs. It seemed Keith’s store was running low on inventory.
After Keith made his bid, no one else followed.
Leo had already scanned this piece of red jade and knew it contained some spiritual energy, although it was scarce. So he turned to Coral and asked, “Miss Wilde, do you want this piece?”
“Leo, since Keith bid nine million, just sell it to him,” Coral replied.
“All right, I’ll sell it to you.” Leo looked at Keith.
Keith took out two contracts from his briefcase, filled in the type and price of the jade, and asked Leo to sign them. Though payments and goods were usually exchanged directly on the spot in a gambling market, for such large transactions, contracts were often drafted to prevent either party from reneging on the deal.
Once both parties signed and confirmed, the contract became legally binding, and neither could back out.
After Leo signed his name on the contract, Keith handed him a cashier’s check. Once the transaction was completed between Leo and Keith, Nicola looked at him with a skeptical expression and asked, “Tell me honestly, how did you know there was jade inside?”
“What if I told you I have X-ray vision? Would you believe me?” Leo chuckled.
“Hmph, if you have X-ray vision, then I have telescopic vision!” Nicola rolled her eyes.
“You see, I told the truth, and you still don’t believe me. I can only attribute it to luck,” Leo shrugged.
“You, lucky devil! I’ve been playing with stone gambling for so long, and I’ve never seen anyone luckier than you.” Nicola had to admit that Leo’s luck was off the charts.
Leo smirked, “I bought the rough stone for seven thousand and sold it for nine million. That’s more than a 1, 200 times rise, higher than yours. I won.”
With a victorious gleam in his eyes, Leo glanced at the jade bracelet on Nicola’s wrist.
“Hmph, fair and square, I accept my defeat!” Nicola said, taking off her jade bracelet and handing it to Leo.
Feeling the strong spiritual energy emanating from the jade bracelet, Leo didn’t hold back and directly put it in his pocket.
Keith walked up to Coral and said politely, “Miss Wilde, thank you very much.”
“No need to be so polite,” Coral replied.
Antony, standing aside, glared at Leo. This guy must have used some tricks to make Nicola give him her bracelet.
Antony decided that no matter what, he would teach Leo a lesson.
At this moment, Jim brought over the half-gambled rough stone.
Antony’s face cleared up as he looked at the rough stone in Jim’s hand. As long as he could cut a rise from this rough stone, he could overshadow Leo.
Thinking this, Antony walked over to the cutting machine.
Many people recognized Antony; upon seeing him going to cut, they gathered around.
“Is that the half-gamble rough stone from the auction? It seems to be from the old factory area in Myanmar. ”
“Ten million! He’s willing to spend a fortune!”
“Well, Starry Gem Jewelry is loaded; you can see the ice jade’s vibrant color in the window position.”