Actually, it wasn't just at that spot from a moment ago. As Gu Changsheng walked around, he discovered many piles of stones contained fakes. They weren't jade at all, but weathered stones of the same type, accounting for at least thirty percent.
"A den of thieves!"
"It's not just Zhou Jianmin. I'm afraid many people have been swindled out of all they had."
Jade roughs are valuable, but pricing ordinary rocks in the tens, or even hundreds of thousands, is downright insane.
Of course.
Gu Changsheng had no intention of pointing it out and merely focused on whether there were any more good finds at the scene, sending out his spirit sense.
Lu Guangyi and Tian Dong weren't idle either, frequently exchanging glances.
The two had collaborated for many years and had developed an understanding; now, a meeting of the eyes was all it took to reach a consensus—
Tonight they had to scam Gu Changsheng out of everything.
Even if he had no money on his card, they must make him cough up the glass-type jade worth one million two hundred thousand.
"Nephew Gu, haven't you found a piece to your liking yet?" Tian Dong asked, egging him on.
A sly smile flickered across Gu Changsheng's lips as he stopped walking, "Why not, let's have Mr. Tian give some advice. If it hadn't been for your remark earlier, waking me up to the principle of 'risking a little to win big', how would I have cut this piece of jade?"
Tian Dong's mouth twitched, "FML, by that logic, I should get half of the jade."
"Ahem, why not try that one, priced at eighty-eight thousand? The number is also very auspicious."
Upon hearing this, Gu Changsheng immediately said, "Good, I won't cut the one for eighty-eight thousand... "
"... I want the one beside it, the sixty-six thousand one! I don't like the number eight."
Snort.
MMP, are you playing me by not following the rules?!
Tian Dong was about to burst a blood vessel,
Lu Guangyi chuckled, "Nephew Gu really has personality."
He didn't care at all. As long as money was spent, that was fine. Eighty thousand and sixty thousand were only a twenty-thousand difference after all.
Swipe the card, pay the money.
The stone now belonged to Gu Changsheng, and like before, he went straight to the cutting bench. When he activated the blade, his spirit sense had already discerned the interior, knowing it inside and out in an instant.
He aimed for a third of the way down the stone.
Schlack, a decisive cut.
The rough stone split in two once more.
This time it wasn't green. Tian Dong was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but in the next second, his focus sharpened, and he almost bit his tongue, "Ice... ice-type, FML, it's ice-type jade!"
Lu Guangyi's body shook, a rush of blood going to his head, dizzy almost to the point of collapsing.
First glass-type, and now ice-type?!
FML, is this kid an incarnation of the God of Wealth?
Others who had followed because Gu Changsheng had earlier cut out a piece of glass-type jade came to join in on the excitement. Little did they expect to witness this scene.
"Damn, that's beautiful, I've, I've never seen someone cut out ice-type before!"
"And, isn't this luck just too outrageous? One minute he's making a clean profit of one million two hundred thousand, the next he cuts ice-type..."
So-called ice-type jade, is like ice in quality.
Lacking in color, it only has a pale and gentle touch of green, leaning more towards a faint blue, like the jade formed beneath a glacier that's thousands of years old, possessing an intrinsic appeal for admiration.
Value-wise, it might not compare to glass-type.
But—
"This piece is much larger than the previous glass-type. Ice-type shows best in pendants and earrings, and with such a large piece of ice-type jade, you could make over thirty pieces of jewelry. Any one of them could easily be worth over one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand."
In other words, its total value had already surpassed six million.
And moreover, those estimating the value were no experts.
In his state of shock, Tian Dong began to calculate the value of the ice-type jade. In his estimation, if he hired the best master craftsmen to minimize waste, he could create at least forty ice-type jewelry pieces. And if he could find the right wealthy buyers to carve out a complete ice-type ornament and use the scraps to craft more jewelry, the total value might exceed eight million.
Whish, whish, whish...
The onlookers swarmed around to gaze upon this miraculous scene.
Then, the bidding began anew, "Four million, I'll take it!"
"Four million, are you FML kidding me? Who doesn't know that such a large piece of ice-type jade could easily turn into over thirty fine pieces of jewelry... I offer five million five hundred thousand. After all the labor and materials, I'd just make a profit of four to five hundred thousand. What do you think, young man?"
Tian Dong took a deep breath and decided not to let this opportunity slip away. He shouted out his limit in one go, "Gu Xianzhi, one price, seven million!"
Sigh.
The entire room was filled with the sound of people sharply inhaling in shock.
In Yun City, if one were to talk about a jade industry mogul, it would undoubtedly be Tian Dong. Once he made a bid, nobody else could possibly compete.
However.
Gu Changsheng was unimpressed and left a remark before turning around to completely strip the jade stone, removing all its skin, "Not selling. You people are so strange, ah. If you want jade, cut it yourself. Why are you all fixated on buying mine? Are you sick?"
Sick, sick?
Who is actually sick here?
You're not even in the jade business, what do you need so many pieces of jade for?
Everyone was left speechless by his comment, at a complete loss.
Nearby.
Lu Guangyi's heart was bleeding, "What's actually going on? The value increased upon cutting twice in a row? Could it be that this batch of rough stones is extraordinarily good? Impossible, the ones I come by are the rejects that nobody else wants, how could there be such a high rate of prime quality?"
To say that selling rough stones is massively profitable was one thing, but even so, it was not as fast as the money Gu Changsheng was making.
Two thousand turned into one million.
Sixty thousand turned into seven million.
This series of transactions had nearly netted him ten million. Lu Guangyi, wracking his brains to fleece the fat sheep, would only make this much in a month.
Very soon.
Gu Changsheng had discarded all the stone skin, revealing the full appearance of the ice-type jade, attracting the envious gazes of everyone present.
When he carried the stone out and handed it over to the staff behind Lu Guangyi, he said, "Here, take good care of it for me."
Then, Gu Changsheng turned his gaze back to Tian Dong, "Mr. Tian, you truly are my lucky star. It's because of you that I've made a huge fortune twice in a row. Come on, show me another path. If I cut it and it turns out good, I'll definitely sell it to you, how about that?"
Tian Dong was near tears.
To say that the first time was related to him was far-fetched—it was clearly Gu Changsheng messing around.
But the second time, he pointed out a stone worth eighty-eight thousand, and Gu Changsheng picked up the one next to it, priced at sixty-six thousand, which really did yield a great piece. Although there was a difference from what he had suggested, there was some connection.
"Then, then cut this one. It's not expensive; just twenty thousand!"
Gu Changsheng glanced over…
Huh.
Old Tian had something this time, accurately selecting good material on the first try.
Gu Changsheng stepped forward and extended his spiritual sense to feel the stone carefully but then sighed internally. "All show and no substance, just a pretty face!"
But still.
"Alright, let's cut this one!"
Swipe the card, pay!
This time, the people around didn't leave; they were all waiting to see if Gu Changsheng would keep creating miracles.
As he reached the cutting table, everyone once again held their breath in anticipation, awaiting the outcome.
The cutting machine roared to life.
This time, however, Gu Changsheng did not decisively start cutting, but instead gently brushed the surface of the stone skin, peeling it off layer by layer.
The process was comparatively slower than the previous two times, but paradoxically, that made it even more captivating and increased the anticipation.
About five minutes went by.
Approximately fifteen centimeters of stone skin had been brushed away when a stroke of green suddenly erupted from the stone dust and debris.
Someone in the crowd had sharp eyes and immediately shouted, "Stop, stop quickly! There's green, there's green again!!"
Whoosh~!
The entire place was astir.
Green again? How could there be green again?!
Everyone saw Gu Changsheng stop the cutting machine and wipe off the dust and debris from the surface of the stone. As expected, a thick layer of green was incredibly dazzling.
"Water type, water type, this is the third time the value has increased upon cutting!"
"Judging by the size of this rough stone, if it's fully revealed, its value won't be less than the previous ice-type one!"