Old Spencer nodded heavily. He swapped out the saw blade and firmly secured the rough jadeite stone.
SCREECH!
A cutting noise even more ear-piercing than before rang out, sounding as if it would tear through everyone’s eardrums.
Everyone’s hearts leapt into their throats.
Finally, with a soft CLICK, the machine stopped.
The rough jadeite was split in two.
Old Spencer carefully picked up the two halves and placed them on the workstation. The cut surface was entirely exposed for the crowd to see.
Everyone stared at the two halves in stunned silence, their minds completely blank.
The entire piece of rough jadeite was divided into three layers. The top layer featured about a centimeter of deep imperial green. Directly beneath that was roughly two centimeters of green mixed with moss impurities, and below the moss lay grayish-white, low-quality bean-grade jadeite.
The cruelty of stone gambling was laid bare before everyone’s eyes.
One cut to heaven! One cut to hell!
It was exactly as the saying went!
Seeing the interior of the rough stone, the crowd broke into sighs of disbelief.
"How... how is there only such a thin layer of imperial green?"
"Buying this piece of trash for three hundred thousand, Mr. Sutton took a massive loss this time!"
"With this little imperial green, he can probably only get two or three small ring faces out of it, right?"
"Three hundred thousand turned into thirty thousand. That’s a brutal loss!"
"I said earlier not to cut it, and sure enough, it completely collapsed!"
The onlookers, whether they were casual tourists or seasoned veterans, fell completely silent. Their gazes darted back and forth between the two halves of scrap stone on the cutting table and Wendy Lynch’s calm face, as if witnessing an unbelievable miracle.
One centimeter of imperial green, with the rest being impurities and the most worthless bean-grade jadeite. A stone bought for three hundred thousand had instantly depreciated to less than thirty thousand. Yet the person who sold it had securely pocketed the full three hundred thousand without losing a single cent.
This wasn’t luck; this was a miracle!
Charlotte Lynch covered her mouth tightly, her heart still pounding wildly. She looked at the scrap stone, then at her effortlessly composed sister beside her, her mind entirely blank.
Did her sister take a loss?
Hell no! She had made an absolute killing!
In the midst of this eerie silence, Mr. Sutton suddenly clapped his hands and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
His resonant laughter shattered the stagnant air.
"Good! Good! Good!
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
"Quit while you’re ahead and pocket the cash!
"The youth of today are truly formidable!"
Mr. Sutton didn’t spare another glance at the ruined stone. He turned around and walked straight toward Wendy.
"Young lady, you really taught this old man a lesson today!"
As he spoke, he reached into the inner breast pocket of his elegant Tang suit and solemnly took out a heavy, gold-embossed business card. He then offered it to Wendy with both hands.
"My young friend, my name is Vincent Sutton.
"This is my card. Whenever you visit Fairley in the future, you can find me for tea anytime.
"In the jade industry, this old man still commands a bit of respect."
This simple gesture was like a bomb dropped into the crowd, instantly throwing them into an uproar.
"Vincent Sutton?! Could it be?" a man with a local accent exclaimed, his voice cracking.
"Good heavens! Is he *the* Mr. Sutton from Jade Hall?"
"Jade Hall? The second-largest jadeite brand in Fairley?"
"Not just that! Mr. Sutton is also the vice president of the Fairley Stone Gambling Association!"
"If you know Mr. Sutton, you’ll never have to worry about sourcing goods if you want to do jade business in the future!"
Faced with this business card—one that would drive countless jade merchants mad with envy—Wendy’s reaction was surprisingly serene.
She reached out and accepted the card.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Sutton."
Her tone was neither humble nor arrogant, showing not the slightest hint of being overwhelmed by the favor.
She certainly understood the weight of this business card, but she understood her own background even better. The reason Mr. Sutton offered this card was that he assumed she was also a jade expert. He thought she had long seen through the flaws of this rough stone and decisively sold it for three hundred thousand instead of continuing to cut it.
However, in reality, she was far from being an expert. She wasn’t even a novice; she was an absolute amateur. If they chatted for even a couple more sentences, this supposed "master" would be completely exposed.
Moreover, she had absolutely no intention of getting rich through stone gambling. She had witnessed the risks of this game firsthand today. The only reason she came to try her luck was that it had been mentioned in the future email. Now that her goal was achieved, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to actually consider herself some grandmaster and linger in this circle.
However, in the eyes of the crowd, her tranquility served as further proof of her unfathomable depths.
"See that?! That is the demeanor of a true master!"
"Remaining unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before her! She completely disregards this bit of money and networking!"
"So badass!"
"This is the highest level of playing the pig to eat the tiger!!!"
Those who had previously mocked her for being foolish now swarmed forward, their faces plastered with fawning smiles.
"Beautiful lady! No! Master! Are you taking apprentices? The tuition fee is highly negotiable!"
"Master, could you help me look at this piece of raw material? Just one word of advice, just one!"
"Master, I’ve got my eye on a rough stone. Could you help me appraise it? If I lose, it’s just my bad luck, but if its value goes up, I’ll give you a ten percent cut!"
"Master, let’s add each other on WhatsApp! If I have any questions in the future, I’ll pay for your consultation!"
The cacophony of flattery almost drowned Wendy out.
Terrified by the commotion, Charlotte retreated repeatedly. She clutched Wendy’s arm tightly, completely dazed. The sudden shift in everyone’s attitude was too surreal.
Wendy’s head ached from the noise. She had no interest in dealing with these opportunistic, fair-weather people.
Pulling Charlotte along, she offered an apologetic smile to the crowd. "I’m sorry, but we have some business to attend to. We’ll be taking our leave now."
With that, she led Charlotte and struggled to squeeze a path through the throng.
Vincent Sutton watched her retreating figure, the admiration in his eyes deepening, though he made no further move to urge her to stay.
After leaving the market and getting into a DiDi rideshare, the two women finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Charlotte excitedly hugged Wendy’s arm.
"Wendy, you’re invincible!
"How did you know that rough jadeite stone was going to be a bust?"
Wendy offered a half-truthful explanation. "How would I know it would be a bust? I was just purely lucky.
"My target price from the beginning was three hundred thousand. Since Mr. Sutton happened to offer exactly three hundred thousand, I just sold it immediately."
Charlotte leaned in close to Wendy’s ear, her voice mysterious. "Wendy, tell me the truth. Did you suddenly acquire some super-luck system or golden finger cheat?"
Hearing Charlotte’s words, Wendy was startled.
However, before she could explain, the driver in the front seat let out a sudden laugh.
PFFT!
"Haha... hahaha...
"Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just couldn’t hold it in.
"I have to say, miss, you should probably uninstall Webnovel sooner rather than later.
"There’s no such thing as golden fingers or silver fingers. Your sister here simply had a streak of good luck.
"Every day, plenty of tourists come here to try their hand at stone gambling. Occasionally, someone gets lucky and makes some money!
"But the vast majority of tourists just come here to pay tuition!
"Let me give you a piece of advice. Once you’ve made a profit, quit immediately and don’t play anymore. The chances of losing money in stone gambling are even higher than in regular gambling."