58: Holy crap! Top-grade Ice Green!

As soon as Chen Kai spoke, the stone cutting machine operator and several jade merchants waiting nearby all turned their gazes toward him simultaneously.

"Hey, Young Man, are you looking to mess around with this pile of waste stones?"

Chen Kai smiled, "I want to pick a few that I like and cut them for fun."

"This... Young Man, I have to warn you. There is basically no possibility of Scoring a Bargain in this Waste Stone Pile. If you want to Score a Bargain, go check the defective goods area."

"If you insist on buying, it's fifty yuan each. Regardless of size, I'll sell them to you in a bundle. Sliced ones are fine, half-cut ones are fine too; either way, it's fifty per piece."

The old master chuckled; why not sell them if he could?

"Master Sun, no need to persuade him. This little brother is an expert. It's just that he looked at the stone I'm cutting right now and couldn't see any value in it. An expert indeed!"

Zhou Haoyu said sarcastically, leaning against the corner and laughing.

Upon hearing this, the crowd of jade merchants burst into laughter, "So that's how it is! He truly is a master!"

"This little brother ignores real opportunities to Score a Bargain and comes to the Waste Stone Pile instead. He's quite a character. Hahaha."

"Let him play around. What if he strikes it big? What if he's that one-in-a-million king of Scoring a Bargain? Hahaha, just don't scramble to buy his material when that happens."

"Don't worry! Rest assured! Even if an Imperial Green were to be cut from this pile of scrap, I wouldn't scramble to buy it!"

"What if he just misjudged it? You talk as if none of you have ever lost money or misjudged a stone before."

"Heh, either way, I'm waiting to collect Young Master Zhou's material. His judgment is absolutely flawless."

"Don't you dare scramble to compete with me; Young Master Zhou promised to give the material to me this time! When it comes to Young Master Zhou's judgment, everyone here combined isn't as good as him, right?"

Zhou Haoyu cupped his hands with a modest smile on his face, "You flatter me. It's all thanks to the support of my peers."

Listening to the surrounding discussion, Chen Kai felt the jade-like hand of Liu Yunshang that was holding his becoming restless, so he hurriedly patted her hand.

"Then should I scan your QR code to pay?"

Chen Kai pointed to the payment code printed on the machine and asked calmly.

"Sure, fifty per piece. See how many you want to buy."

Chen Kai nodded, scanned fifty, and then squatted down next to the Waste Stone Pile, picking through the Jade Rough Stones.

He wouldn't pretend this time to avoid being accused of relying on luck later.

He would just buy this one piece of jade scrap.

He squatted and carried away the large stone that was pressed at the very top of the scrap pile.

"Not this one... and not this one either."

"Huh? It's clearly glowing, why haven't I been able to find it?"

"Found it!"

Chen Kai took a palm-sized Jade Rough Stone that was stuck in the gap between some thin, phone-sized jade waste stone shards.

It had a yellow jade rind and had been cut in half from the middle. Looking at the cross-section, it was no different from marble.

But it was emitting a faint, subtle glow.

"This is the one. Master, please help me cut it."

Chen Kai slowly stood up, patted the dust off his palms, and walked slowly to Liu Yunshang's side.

"Little brother, it's one hundred yuan per cut. That's more expensive than the stone itself, and it's a stone someone else already cut. Are you sure?"

The stone cutting machine operator, who was about to turn off the power and remove Zhou Haoyu's stone, asked with confusion.

"I'm sure."

A slight smile hung on the corner of Chen Kai's mouth, and he readily scanned one hundred.

"Little brother... do you want to buy a few more to play with?"

"This looks so small, can it really contain anything?"

Liu Yunshang took the half-cut Jade Rough Stone from Chen Kai's hand to examine it, then shone her flashlight on it, only to find nothing unusual.

There was no reaction under the light.

"It's about the same, much better than that scrap in the machine."

Chen Kai smiled slightly, speaking with confidence.

"Heh, does your material even amount to a fraction of mine?" Zhou Haoyu gave a cold smile.

Seeing that the master had turned off the stone cutting machine, he reached out, lifted the lid, took a sprayer from the side, and poured some water onto the stone that had already been cut in two.

After taking the stone out of the machine, the crowd swarmed around it.

"Tsk! Young Master Zhou is truly impressive. I bid 260,000!"

"This material is Yellow Wrapped Green; I have no use for it, so I'll pass."

"I can use this Yellow Wrapped Green material, but the jade quality and price... are just average. I bid 270,000. You probably bought this material for over 100,000, right? Making over 100,000 is decent."

Zhou Haoyu's face darkened. He held the material, rubbing it constantly with his fingers, and squeezed a few words through his teeth, "I bought it for 250,000."

The crowd was stunned, "Ahaha... then... that still means you made 20,000! Anyone in the jade business knows how much making a profit tests one's judgment. Young Master Zhou's judgment is still impressive!"

"It's still better than buying material from the Waste Stone Pile and losing 150 outright!"

"Yes, yes, exactly. Anyone who can make a profit has sharp judgment."

Liu Yunshang giggled. Didn't he misjudge it after all?

But his judgment did have some merit; she had never heard of him losing money.

Making tens of thousands is a profit for others, but for him, it felt like a loss.

"Young Man, it's your turn. Your palm-sized piece will be cut in a few minutes. How do you plan to cut it?"

The old master took the material from Chen Kai's hand and looked it up and down; no matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like a money-maker.

"Go with your experience; you're more experienced."

Chen Kai said calmly. Seeing that the crowd had no intention of leaving, he simply prepared to show them what it meant to Score a Bargain.

"Alright, then I'll just cut it in half again."

The old master casually placed the material on the machine, fixed it casually, closed the lid, and started the machine.

He didn't even shout the slogan, "The machine roars, ten thousand taels of gold."

Hearing the machine start running, Chen Kai simply stood in front of the machine with a smile, waiting.

People around started discussing again, "I remember this stone; it seems it was bought in the defective goods area. It wasn't worth much to begin with. Do you guys think he can actually get something out of it?"

"Hard to say. Who can make a definitive judgment on jade?"

"I can! Since even Young Master Zhou only made such a tiny profit, it shows that there really isn't anything left to Score a Bargain at this year's Jade Exhibition. Waste is waste; even if you grind the waste into powder, it won't produce jade!"

Zhou Haoyu smiled faintly, his expression uncertain, "Who knows? My judgment is just average. Making 20,000 isn't much. What if he makes more?"

Seeing this, Liu Yunshang held Chen Kai's hand, "It's okay, we're just here to have fun. Don't have any psychological pressure."

Chen Kai nodded. Hearing a "thud" from the stone cutting machine, he knew the stone had been cut in two!

After waiting for the stone cutting machine operator to stop the machine, he walked over impatiently and lifted the lid.

He took out the Jade Rough Stone that had been cut in two from the machine.

"Holy crap!"

"Holy smokes! I'll buy it for 150,000!"

"Top-tier Ice Yang Green! It's just too small!"