It was clear that while Matthew’s raw stones were fewer in number, they were larger in size. On the other hand, Sylvia had many smaller stones. From the jade extracted, Matthew’s jade was larger and of higher quality, appearing more lustrous. Sylvia’s stones produced less jade, and the quality was average. At this point, Matthew was temporarily in the lead.
No wonder he flaunted and provoked Sylvia.
Jasper parked the cart next to the stone-cutting machine and stood quietly. After a while, the stone-cutting master cut open a raw stone, revealing two pieces of average-quality jade. The onlookers immediately expressed their disappointment.
Franklin, standing by the stone-cutting machine, saw the ordinary jade and turned to Sylvia. “Do you feel uncomfortable? Our quality is much worse than Old Mr. Berry’s.”
Sylvia shook her head. “No! At least every one of our raw stones has produced jade; none are waste. Isn’t that good? Although our quality isn’t as good as theirs, we have more quantity!”
Franklin nodded. “Are you comforting me or yourself?”
Sylvia laughed. “Half and half. There are still a few raw stones left. Maybe we’ll get something particularly good. Let’s wait and see.”
Franklin nodded and looked at the stones Sylvia had bought for twenty to thirty thousand dollars.
The stone-cutting master quickly cut out the ordinary jade from his hands. Although the quality was average, Sylvia had bought it cheaply, for about three hundred dollars.
A three-hundred-dollar stone producing average-quality jade could still be made into a pendant or something similar and sold for a few thousand dollars, making it a profitable deal.
Soon, it was time to cut the stone Sylvia had bought for twenty to thirty thousand dollars. The stone-cutting master carefully wiped away some of the stone’s skin and rinsed it with water.
After rinsing, he was stunned to see a strong green color beneath the thin surface layer!
Someone with sharp eyes immediately shouted, “Oh my God! I see green!”
Matthew trembled all over at the shout, almost losing control of his legs and nearly falling.
“What are you shouting about? Scaring people! What green?”
But no one paid attention to him; everyone was focused on the raw stone in the stone-cutting master’s hands. He shone a strong light on it, examined it carefully, and then began to cautiously grind away the stone’s surface with renewed vigor. He rarely saw such intense green!
He was so excited that his hands trembled, making his movements even more cautious!
He believed that beneath this raw stone lay the most beautiful jade!
Everyone held their breath as they watched the master grind the raw stone. Before long, the jade wrapped in a thin layer of skin was revealed.
The master rinsed the jade with clean water and presented it to Sylvia. Jasper couldn’t help but exclaim, “Madam, this jade is so beautiful!”
Someone in the crowd started shouting, “Miss Andrews, is this jade for sale? Fifty thousand dollars!”
Another person looked at him disdainfully. “Only fifty thousand? I’ll offer a hundred thousand! Such a large piece of jade material is rare!”
“I’ll offer two hundred thousand! This large and green piece is extremely rare!” Someone loudly raised the price; this was the crazy allure of gambling on stones!
The stone-cutting master glanced at Sylvia, who calmly examined the jade in her hand before returning it to him. “Wipe it clean, especially here… focus on this spot.”
Sylvia pointed to a specific area. Hearing her words, everyone felt a bit disappointed; it seemed she wasn’t planning to sell this raw stone.
But then they became excited again because Sylvia had asked for a focused wipe. If the stone turned out to be flawed or if the color wasn’t as good as expected, its value would decrease. Maybe the jade was only on the surface, with stone inside? If that were the case, it would be worthless!
The stone-cutting master didn’t think much and started working.
He rubbed the material on the grinding machine, and after removing the thin green layer on the surface, a smooth and intense green was revealed underneath!
The master was thrilled and quickly rinsed it with water. Using a small flashlight, he saw that inside was all clear and intense green! The green was stunning!
He excitedly said, “This is ice jade! The entire piece inside is jade, not stone! It’s all jade!”
The crowd erupted in amazement.
Water jade and ice jade’s value depended on specific circumstances, but generally, ice jade of similar quality fetched higher prices in the market.
Hearing that ice jade had been found here, Matthew snorted coldly in anger. Although his jade was large, it only reached water jade quality at best, and only one piece was water jade.
He hadn’t expected Sylvia’s luck to be so good, directly getting ice jade. It was infuriating!
What made Matthew even angrier was that two of his raw stones turned out to be waste material with nothing inside.
He was furious!
But what Matthew couldn’t tolerate most was that after Sylvia found one piece of ice jade, she found another!
She had found two pieces of ice jade in a row!
Matthew trembled with rage!
Sylvia was far ahead of him.
Cassandra stood beside Matthew, clutching her chest. She had been so angry yesterday that she spat blood; today she felt slightly better but still looked pale.
She forced herself to stay to see how Matthew would deal with Sylvia.
But now… it seemed Matthew couldn’t handle Sylvia either, making her even angrier.
Madam Virginia saw Cassandra’s face and knew she was upset again. She quickly comforted her, “Cassandra, don’t get angry. Your lungs haven’t healed yet. The doctor told you to stay in the hospital, but you refused. You mustn’t get angry again…”
“Mom, look at Sylvia’s side; there are still many stones left to cut, but Master only has five left.” Cassandra spoke weakly; her face grew paler as if she might collapse at any moment.
Matthew also felt he might not win. He looked at Sylvia contemptuously. “I didn’t expect someone your age to be so insidious and despicable as to cheat.”
“What did you say? Cheat? Everyone is here; do you have any evidence that I cheated?” Sylvia sneered at Matthew. “You’re considered a senior; you shouldn’t make baseless accusations.”
Matthew’s face contorted with anger. “None of your raw stones are waste material; if that’s not cheating, what is?”
Sylvia found it amusing and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Everyone is watching! I bought these raw stones in front of everyone here at this venue. How could I cheat? Besides, if you have the ability to find a bunch of raw stones that can produce jade, go ahead! It’s all about luck; even the staff who collect these stones don’t know if they’ll contain jade.”
“Yes, yes! It’s rare for every piece to be jade; it’s all about luck. Who can guarantee every piece will be jade?”
“Even experts can’t guarantee that!”
“Exactly!”
Some knowledgeable onlookers began supporting Sylvia. “I think Miss Andrews didn’t cheat; it’s really just good luck.”
Matthew felt a bit guilty but wasn’t completely ignorant. After some hesitation, he said, “Then how did you manage to get jade from every piece?”
Sylvia looked at him calmly. “I had good luck and happened to buy raw stones that all contained jade. Is that not possible? It’s really about luck; otherwise, why call it gambling on stones? It would just be buying stones.”
Matthew rolled his eyes in anger. “Impossible! You must have some method! What method did you use?”
Sylvia laughed again. “There are definitely techniques in gambling on stones; otherwise, what is your advisor next to you for? So yes… I have methods and skills, but I won’t share them.”
It was clear to everyone that Sylvia had strong abilities and keen insight!
Matthew was speechless with anger and sat down furiously. Fortunately for him, his expert advisor wasn’t too bad either because one of the last five stones also produced ice jade.
But compared to Sylvia’s two pieces, he was still behind.
Matthew was fuming with anger.
At this moment, another cheer erupted from the crowd.
“Oh my God! Another piece of ice jade! The color is perfect!”
“Incredible!”
Sylvia had found yet another piece of ice jade! This dealt a heavy blow to Matthew; he was almost on the verge of collapse.
He had lost three million dollars; although it wasn’t his money, he would have to become Old Mr. Thompson’s apprentice after losing. He would never do that!
It was too humiliating.
And he deeply suspected Sylvia had cheated but had no evidence.
The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He called over one of his apprentices and whispered a few words before sitting patiently in his chair.
It seemed like Matthew’s bad luck continued because his last piece also turned out to be waste material; he was doomed to lose!
His face turned ugly.
Cassandra started coughing violently from discomfort.
Seeing her suffer, Matthew glared at her and vented his anger on her. “If you’re feeling bad, go back to the hospital instead of being an eyesore here! Don’t cough up blood again; it’s bad luck!”
Cassandra’s face grew even paler; she dared not stay any longer and left with Madam Virginia supporting her.
As they exited the stone-cutting area, Cassandra unwillingly glanced back at the still bustling scene inside. “Mom, we can’t leave yet; Master sent someone to investigate earlier. Let’s wait for the results.”