Volume 1 Chapter 10: Breaking the Seal

  The old man beckoned the store staff to bring out the stone mill and place it at the entrance, and he personally took up his post.

  The originally quiet street now had a lot of people flowing, seeing this shop put out the stone removal machine, they all understood that someone was going to remove the stone, and one by one surrounded it, with faces full of interest.

  This special form of gambling is more thrilling than the kind in casinos, it's really a matter of one knife cutting both ways. The so-called "one knife to poverty and one knife to wealth" comes from this. If you win, you can get ten or even hundred times the return; if you lose, you'll lose everything.

  The onlookers, some of whom were familiar with jade gambling, and a few of whom were even jade merchants, all stretched their necks to size up the piece of rough stone in the old man's hand. After careful observation, each of their faces revealed a hint of disappointment - this stone didn't look like it would produce any jade at all.

  The old man also heard the words of the crowd and expressed his agreement, but in his heart he was thinking about Lin Jiehan's words just now. For no reason, the old man suddenly had expectations for this grayish stone in his hand. Maybe, this rough stone really could produce jade!

  With that in mind, the old man's hands didn't stop moving, carefully positioning the stone at one-third of the way, just as he was about to make the cut, Lin Jinghan suddenly jumped out.

  Lin Jinghan had been paying attention to the old man's movements at the door, and she didn't care about the discussions of the crowd outside. She was confident that it was a piece of jade, and its grade wouldn't be low, at least better than those on the counter in the old man's store. Seeing the old man preparing to cut the stone at one-third of the way, Lin Jinghan was startled, she could clearly feel that if he cut from there, the jade inside would be damaged, and the overall quality would be severely impaired. So, Lin Jinghan hurriedly spoke out to stop him.

  "Grandpa, don't cut from there!" The little girl's crisp cry startled everyone, and everyone stared intently at the knife.

  The old man's hand with the knife paused, also startled, looking at Lin Jinhuan with a hint of anger. This little girl really didn't know her limits, speaking up at this time. If he hadn't steadied his hand quickly, that stone might have been ruined.

  "Girl, what did you say? Don't cut from here?" Although he was a bit angry, the old man's temper was still good and wouldn't bother to argue with a little girl, so he asked kindly.

  "Uh, Grandpa, you have to cut it from here, like this. If not, the jade inside will be damaged." Lin Jinghan squatted beside the old man, her slender index finger carefully tracing a curve.

  "Haha, this little girl is interesting! Just by looking at it, I can tell it's not going to produce any jade. Cutting from one-third, that's already being conservative. And yet, this little girl says there's jade inside, and she only removed the edges? Isn't that saying the jade inside is as big as a fist? Haha, this is hilarious!" A man wearing a suit, with his hair combed to the side and a greasy pompadour, looking sleek and oily, with a big belly sticking out, had an arm holding a leather bag, one hand holding a cigarette, clearly looking like a big boss, was now pointing at Lin Jinhuan and laughing so hard that his belly meat was shaking.

  The people around all smiled and nodded in agreement, one by one echoing the fat man's words.

  "This fabric is hopeless at first glance."

  "Right! Mr. Chen is absolutely right, what does a little girl like her know?"

  "Zhang Lao, just cut it, this piece of material can't possibly have such a large jade. Even if there is jade, it won't be bigger than the size of a thumb."

  "Right, right! I don't see any thumbs, Old Zhang, hurry up and cut!"

  Lin Jinghan calmly swept her eyes over the first fat man who spoke, with a hint of disdain in her gaze, but it was deeply hidden. Except for the man wearing black clothes on the opposite side of the store, whose body was shrouded in shadows and saw it, no one else noticed.

  "An unusual woman." The low voice came from the man's mouth, deep and elegant, with a hint of ambiguous smile.

  Lin Jinghan felt like someone was staring at her, but after scanning the surroundings, she didn't find anything unusual. Lin Jinghan thought to herself that maybe she was just being too sensitive.

  Ignoring the noisy crowd, Lin Jinghan looked up and stared at the old man's seemingly turbid but clear eyes, affirming her own views.

  The old man looked at Lin Jinghan for a while, lowered his head, and adjusted the position of the stone according to the line Lin Jinghan had drawn earlier.

  "Ah, even if it's wrong, it's just a waste of time, but if this girl is right...". Just thinking about Lin Jiehan's words "will cut to jade", the old man's heart began to beat violently.

  "Eh, eh, Old Zhang, you really believe what this little girl says? You're wasting your effort!" Chen Laoban exclaimed in surprise as he saw the old man actually cutting along the line drawn by Lin Jinghan. His eyes looked at the old man as if looking at a fool.

  The old man didn't pay attention to the fatty either. After taking a deep breath, he slowly cut down with both hands holding the knife.

  "Ka ka ka, ka ka ka......" The sharp blade cut through the stone block, and the debris fell down with a rustling sound. The onlookers also quieted down with the sound, their eyes fixed intently on the cut section, waiting to see if that bright color would appear.

  "Ah, no green is coming out, it's indeed a waste material." The person with the slanted eyes could just see the part after cutting off the stone block, didn't see any green color, and spoke out with a disappointed face. Although he had basically confirmed that the stone block was a waste before, but before it was solved, there was still a little expectation, what if there was a miracle? But now that it's been solved, no green is seen, confirming the previous judgment.

  "See, I told you so." Chen Baozi said with a self-satisfied expression, gloating at the old man, humming, who asked you not to listen to me!

  The old man's hands were still moving, his expression unchanged, but his heart was slowly sinking. Following Lin Jinhuan's instructions to cut it open, he still didn't see even a hint of green. The old man's heart hit rock bottom, and his face turned solemn.

  "Grandpa, your craftsmanship is really good, not a single cut was bad." Lin Jinghan's words made the old man's heart skip a beat, what does this mean?

  Everyone was stunned, what does this mean? This little girl didn't even mention green, what is she talking about? Or is it that this little girl actually doesn't understand?

  "Haha, you little girl, you don't understand anything at all, and yet you still want to pretend...” Mr. Chen pointed at Lin Jiehan, laughing wildly, but his voice suddenly sounded like it was being strangled, becoming hoarse.

  It turned out that Lin Jinghan told the old man to be careful and wipe the stone, and the jade would come out. The old man held onto the idea of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, picked up the sandpaper and slowly and gently started wiping the skin. In just a moment, the emerald green color emerged from the stone, dazzling everyone's eyes.

  "Ah, ah, it's really, really green!"

  "What? Is there really jade?"

  "Wow, this color is really good! Quick, quick, wash it and see what kind of hair it is?"

  The onlookers were excited and crowded forward one by one, wanting to see what kind of water it was.

  The old man was even more excited, but at this time he suppressed the excitement in his heart, carefully wiped a larger piece of skin, washed off the layer of ash on his face with water, carefully dried it with a handkerchief, and held it up to the sunlight.

  "What kind of glass?"

  Digression

  Friends, how many of you know about jade? Today, I specially looked up information on jade and found that there's a lot to learn, which is why the time was delayed, sorry!

  Alas, where have these diving kids gone? Why don't they come out?

  Come out quickly, come out and send jade!