Wang Kaiwen picked up the marking tool and started drawing lines on the stone, and after completing the lines, he couldn’t help but look up at Huo Sining, quietly seeking her opinion.
Huo Sining, holding the stone, stood next to the stone cutting machine. Seeing this, Boss Qi hurriedly said, "Ladies first, Miss Huo should go ahead. Do you want to cut the stone yourself, or shall one of my guys here help you?"
Huo Sining, without even lifting her head, declined, "No, I’d rather not embarrass myself. I’m planning to keep it as a memento. If I were to cut the stone here at Boss Qi’s place and it increased in value, I’d have to tip your guy, and that wouldn’t be cost-effective at all."
Boss Qi was at a loss for words; this was the first time he had encountered such a penny-pinching woman. It was bad enough that she asked for extras before, but now she was even calculating the cost of a tip. Did this woman understand that if her stone increased in value after cutting, she could earn several million?
Yue Meijun had just finished selecting her stone and walked out of the warehouse when she overheard Huo Sining’s words and couldn’t help but scoff. She really didn’t know what Wang Kaiwen saw in this clueless woman.
The crowd that was waiting to see the stone cutting and those who were there for the excitement also each showed a look of contempt towards Huo Sining.
Wang Kaiwen and Huo Sining didn’t have any special relationship, but after hearing Huo Sining’s startling remarks, his face still couldn’t help but show some embarrassment.
However, his embarrassment only lasted a moment. When he lifted his head and saw Huo Sining’s calm expression, not showing any embarrassment at all, Wang Kaiwen felt his own discomfort was completely unnecessary.
If the person concerned didn’t care, why should he be embarrassed?!
Under Huo Sining’s subtle hint, Wang Kaiwen moved the cutting line another centimeter inside the surface of the stone.
The first cut went smoothly, revealing only a white stone interior.
The onlookers, originally filled with anticipation, shook their heads in disappointment and fell silent after seeing the result when Wang Kaiwen’s stone was opened.
Wang Kaiwen also showed a look of disappointment, but he still followed the standard steps of stone cutting. He cut across several sides of the stone, finally slicing it up entirely as if cutting tofu blocks.
Regrettably, not a hint of green was seen on that stone.
Wang Kaiwen, with a somber face, looked at the shattered stone pieces scattered on the ground, full of gloom.
This stone was chosen with Huo Sining’s help, and even Huo Sining had lost the gamble. It seemed stone gambling truly was a game even spirits could not predict. After all, luck was never reliable; no one could depend on luck to win nine out of ten gambles.
Seeing Wang Kaiwen’s discouraged expression, Huo Sining didn’t show a hint of disappointment. She smiled faintly and gestured with her mouth,
"Boss Wang, isn’t it too early to draw such a conclusion? Isn’t there still one more stone?"
She moved the other stone onto the stone cutting machine and began to mark it with a pen.
Wang Kaiwen’s expression paused, and it was then that he remembered there was still one rough stone left uncut. He calmed his spirit, adjusted his mindset, and moved the other stone onto the stone cutting machine as well, starting to draw lines on it with a pen.
However, to Wang Kaiwen’s surprise, as he was drawing lines on this stone, Huo Sining’s expression seemed casual, yet it was definitely much more serious than when he drew lines on the previous stone. The faint smile on her face had disappeared as well.
Especially at the moment he touched pen to stone, a serious and solemn look appeared in Huo Sining’s eyes, which made Wang Kaiwen feel strange, and he also had a vague feeling cropping up in his heart.
Was there something extraordinary inside this piece of raw material?
Full of doubts, Wang Kaiwen still finished drawing the lines after several attempts, under Huo Sining’s guidance. He hesitated for a moment before finally pushing the stone towards the grinding wheel.
With one firm push, a thin, small piece of the rough stone was cut away. The cut face was blocked by the grinding wheel, and it was unclear whether any green had emerged. The few accompanying them were all eager to see if there was any green on the freshly cut face of the raw material.
At this moment, Huo Sining turned to the side, smiling at the young master helping with the cutting, as Wang Kaiwen was cutting the stone himself, leaving the apprentice idle and craning his neck to see the rough material in Wang Kaiwen’s hands. Noticing the apprentice’s anxious expression, Huo Sining laughed and said:
"Young master, you need to prepare some clean water for Boss Wang. How can you see the color without it?"
Upon hearing this, the stone-cutting apprentice was startled and hastily brought out a basin of clean water from the inner hall.
"Boss Wang, why are you keeping us in suspense? Hurry up and take out the stone so we can see!"
Unable to contain his impatience, Boss Qi’s eagerness was evident. The two pieces of rough material Wang Kaiwen had bought were amongst the better performing ones from his half gamble stones, and he was naturally eager to know whether Wang Kaiwen had made a profit on this cut. Seeing Wang Kaiwen play this suspenseful tactic made him somewhat anxious.
How could Wang Kaiwen not be tense? His heart was pounding like a drum as he saw everyone stretching their necks to see. Helplessly, he moved the stone aside to give them a clear view of the cut face of the raw material.
The whitish stone was revealed with not a hint of green in sight.
Disappointment was evident on everyone’s faces, and Wang Kaiwen’s heart sank. He couldn’t help but look up at Huo Sining to see what her expression would be — disappointment? Or regret?
But to Wang Kaiwen’s surprise, Huo Sining’s face was ambiguously smiling, utterly calm, and did not show any sign of disappointment. Compared to him, who had done the cutting, her expression seemed much more composed.
Why was this the case? Wang Kaiwen couldn’t help but wonder. Could it be that Huo Sining already knew there would be no green in this stone, which is why she wasn’t disappointed?
Wang Kaiwen’s thoughts suddenly went back to the incident at Mei Yuan a few days ago when Yan Yurou spent two hundred thousand yuan to buy Luo Jinzhi’s glass-type colorless jade pendant. Yan Yurou had offended Huo Sining and Luo Jinzhi, and Huo Sining hadn’t shown him any goodwill.
Wang Kaiwen’s mind hesitated. Could it be that Huo Sining felt the loss and lesson brought to him at Mei Yuan was not sufficient, so she deliberately set a trap for him in the warehouse, aiming to make him suffer another loss?
After all, Huo Sining had a reputation, and with her ability, if she really intended to help him, it made no sense for both pieces to break. If there was really no jadeite in either piece of rough material, Huo Sining should have stopped him from buying them a long time ago.
Thinking this over, Wang Kaiwen felt the possibility was even greater. It was as if something was scratching his heart, and he couldn’t help but glance at Huo Sining with a complex expression.