At the sound of another stone-cutting machine starting nearby, several people in the middle, including Uncle Shen, turned to look. When they saw a girl of fourteen or fifteen operating it, apparently cutting worthless rough, several of them looked away.
The plump Uncle Shen, however, frowned at the sight of such a young girl preparing to cut a stone herself. He whispered a few words to the thin man beside him. The thin man glanced toward Jiang Chan a few times, then gave up when he realized he could not change his mind.
Jiang Chan awkwardly positioned the rough stone and was about to lower the machine’s blade when a voice came from beside her. “Young lady, that isn’t how you use this machine. If you don’t mind, shall I cut it for you?”
Jiang Chan looked up. Who else could it be but the plump man? She did not know why he wanted to help, but she was not foolish enough to refuse. She promptly stepped back. “Then I’ll leave it to you. Thank you.”
The plump man smiled and stepped up to the machine. Seeing the fist-sized stone on it, which was plainly worthless rough, the corners of his eyes twitched.
“Young lady, how would you like this stone cut?”
Although he doubted there was jadeite inside, he still had to ask. Jiang Chan thought of the craftsman’s movements earlier. He had cut away one or two centimeters at a time. Perhaps she should try that too?
“How about trying two centimeters at a time?” she suggested tentatively. The plump man glanced at her and said nothing. He secured the stone on the worktable and began cutting two centimeters at a time, as she had instructed.
The whole stone was only the size of a fist. By his estimate, two cuts of two centimeters each should finish it. But after the first cut, he sprinkled some clean water over the exposed face and gave a quiet exclamation of surprise.
It was not yet obvious, but a faint hint of green was already visible. The plump man immediately grew more cautious. He weighed the stone lightly in his hand. A third of it had already been cut away, making further cuts unsuitable. From here, he could only slowly grind it down with the grinding machine.
As Jiang Chan and the plump man worked on the stone here, the crowd around the thin man’s machine remained noisy, making their own corner seem particularly quiet. The plump man might be heavy, but he handled the stone very deftly.
In less than twenty minutes, before the other machine had produced a result, he had already exposed the jadeite. The fist-sized rough yielded a piece the size of a hen’s egg and the color of egg yolk.
Its color was vivid, but when Jiang Chan examined it carefully in her palm, she saw that its translucency was poor, with faint, cloudlike wisps inside. The two of them had made so little noise that no one else even knew yellow jadeite had been uncovered here.
The plump man inspected it carefully and gave his objective assessment. “Yellow jadeite has been very popular in recent years. Although this one isn’t very translucent, the color is vivid, so there’s still a good market for it. Young lady, would you be willing to sell it?”
Jiang Chan set it aside. “I still have five rough stones. I’m going to open all of them before deciding. When the time comes, Uncle, you’ll have to offer me a price I’m happy with.”
She had not expected a stone with such a faint glow to yield rare yellow jadeite. It really was a surprise. Remembering the other two stones, Jiang Chan’s curiosity immediately stirred.
She was now eager to learn what kind of jadeite those two contained. Of course, if she particularly liked it, she had no intention of selling.
The plump man had not expected this girl to be so sly. Wasn’t she tempting him into helping her open the rest? And he had taken the bait. He was simply too kindhearted to refuse people easily.
Jiang Chan had bought six stones altogether. After the first yielded egg-yolk-yellow jadeite, the next three produced nothing at all. The plump man had worried she would be disappointed, but Jiang Chan remained perfectly calm.
Seeing him reach for the smooth, oval stone the size of a goose egg, Jiang Chan quickly picked up the square one first. “Uncle, let’s open this one first. We’ll leave that one until last.”
He readily agreed. Watching him work, Jiang Chan suddenly added, “Be careful with it, Uncle.”
His hand paused. He had intended to cut it straight in half, but now he grew much more cautious, working inward two centimeters at a time. Even halfway through, all that showed was pale stone, with nothing else visible.
Jiang Chan stood beside the machine. “It’s alright, Uncle. Go ahead and cut. If it turns out to be worthless, so be it.”
He shook his head, amused that even as a bystander he was less composed than Jiang Chan. Gambling on rough jade truly tested the heart. Anyone without a strong heart was apparently unsuited to it.
When he had cut away two-thirds, he suddenly stopped. Jiang Chan’s eyes were sharp, and she immediately spotted a trace of pink.
She raised an eyebrow. Jadeite came in pink too? She wondered what it would look like once exposed. Twenty minutes later, Jiang Chan held a piece of pink jadeite as large as her fist, grinning from ear to ear.
Although she was not particularly girlish, even she thought the pink jadeite was beautiful. Any young girl who loved pretty things would surely adore it.
Her delight was purely over the money she would soon receive. Once she sold these two pieces, she could put many of her plans into action instead of struggling to make ends meet as she was now.
The plump man looked envious. But remembering Jiang Chan’s promise to consider selling only after all her stones were opened, he immediately became enthusiastic again.
Jiang Chan set the pink jadeite beside the little egg-shaped piece, then lifted the goose-egg-sized stone into his hands. “Thank you for your trouble, Uncle!”
“No trouble at all,” he said cheerfully. “Getting to see such rare jadeite is a reward in itself.”
“Uncle, let’s just grind this one down. It’s only this big. It would be a shame if cutting damaged the jade inside.”
By now, the plump man trusted Jiang Chan blindly and did whatever she said. After only five minutes at the grinding machine, he froze. What was he seeing?
In those few minutes, he had ground away a patch only the size of a ring’s face, yet the jade inside was already visible. It was exceptionally clear, and its color was an extremely rare blue.
If jade like this ran all the way through, how much would it be worth? At the thought of this piece being revealed through his own hands, his heartbeat quickened.
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