Chapter 283: 282, Skimming stones Chapter 283: 282, Skimming stones Song Yan Ning turned her head and glanced at Zhang Yun, then winked at Liu Xin.
Zhang Yun, who had been hesitant, saw Song Yan Ning’s expression and said, “51 million!” Since Song Yan Ning was willing to bid 50 million, she must be absolutely confident. If the jade in that rough was glass jade, he would regret not bidding. Moreover, the rough jade from the Yellow Zone mostly appeared very promising, with a high probability of yielding jade.
Song Yan Ning angrily glared at Zhang Yun, furrowed her brows, and hesitated whether to continue bidding.
Seeing Song Yan Ning’s hesitation, Zhang Yun grew more confident.
After a moment of hesitation, Song Yan Ning gritted her teeth and said spitefully, “55 million!”
“60 million!” This time Zhang Yun did not hesitate. He was determined to get that rough.
Song Yan Ning, unwilling to give up, glared at Zhang Yun again, looked at Liu Xin, shook her head and sighed, and stopped bidding.
Zhang Yun smiled smugly. The object he wanted, no one else could take away.
Old Xu waited a while and asked, “Is there anyone else who wishes to continue bidding?” Seeing that no one in the crowd responded, he announced, “I declare that this rough belongs to gentleman number 250.”
When Song Yan Ning heard Old Xu announce Zhang Yun’s seat number, she couldn’t help but snicker. How ironic.
Qin Yushen reached out and stroked Song Yan Ning’s hair, his deep eyes filled with indulgence and gentleness. If Zhang Yun knew that none of the roughs he had won contained jade, he would probably go mad.
Liu Xin glanced at Zhang Yun and lowered his head, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. At first, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now, he realized that the seat number was indeed very fitting for Zhang Yun.
Watching Song Yan Ning and Liu Xin laugh uncontrollably, Zhang Yun had a bad feeling. Could it be that they had tricked him?
For the rest of the auction, Song Yan Ning did not bid again.
Zhang Yun’s heart grew increasingly uneasy. He always had a bad feeling, but he knew it was too late for regrets now.
“Mr. Liu Xin, please go handle the transfer procedures. We’ll head back to the hotel first,” Song Yan Ning said as she checked the time, instructed Liu Xin, and then stood up and left the venue with Qin Yushen.
Just as Liu Xin was about to handle the paperwork, Zhang Yun called out to him, “Wait a moment!”
“Do you need something?” Liu Xin stopped and looked at Zhang Yun with a smile.
“Did you guys set me up?” Zhang Yun asked, face stern. He had a feeling that things were not that simple.
Liu Xin’s smile faded, “Mr. Zhang, I don’t understand what you mean.” Even if it were true, he wouldn’t admit it; besides, they hadn’t forced Zhang Yun to bid for the rough.
“Did you intentionally lead me to bid on that rough?” Zhang Yun stared into Liu Xin’s eyes, wanting to know if he really didn’t understand.
“The rough was something you were eager to bid on, what does it have to do with us? Besides, if you hadn’t kept outbidding us, we would have won that rough long ago,” Liu Xin huffed unhappily and stepped towards the exit of the venue.
Zhang Yun pondered for a moment and then also walked out of the venue. After handling the paperwork, he had to get the rough cut open; he was feeling too uneasy. The rough had cost him a whole 60 million, and it would be a big setback for him if it turned out to be worthless.
Liu Xin saw Zhang Yun approaching, ignored him, and walked straight past him.
“I’m going to have that rough cut open later,” Zhang Yun spoke as Liu Xin passed by him.
“That’s your business,” Liu Xin replied cheerily. In that case, he would stay and watch; seeing Zhang Yun’s face once the rough was cut open would definitely be interesting!
After completing the transfer procedures, Zhang Yun headed to the stone cutting area.
At that moment in the stone cutting area, many people were waiting to get their stones cut.
Seeing Zhang Yun approach, many greeted him.
“Boss Zhang truly has bold spirits! If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have your courage to bid 60 million for a rough. It’s incredible!”
“Who are we to compare ourselves to Boss Zhang?”
“Boss Zhang, you’re not here to cut that 60 million rough, are you?”
“Um,” Zhang Yun nodded. Everyone could see him getting the rough cut, and there was no point in denying it.
“We really look forward to it.”
“Boss Zhang has such confidence in that rough; the jade inside must be extraordinary.”
Zhang Yun smiled. His heart had no foundation, and he was somewhat panicky. If it yielded top-grade jade, that would be a huge profit, but if it yielded nothing, his 60 million would be wasted.
“Boss Zhang, you go first.” Knowing that Zhang Yun was about to have the 60-million jade cut, everyone was somewhat expectant. They all wanted to know what kind of top-grade jade could be inside Zhang Yun’s rough.
Zhang Yun had intended to refuse yet seeing everybody looking at him expectantly, he could only reluctantly nod. Now, he could only hope for a good outcome.
He had someone move the rough in front of the stone cutting master. Zhang Yun examined it under a strong flashlight, marked a line on it, and said, “Cut along this line.” He had just checked it, and the rough indeed appeared promising, and from the window that had been opened, he could see hints of green.
“Okay!” The stone cutting master nodded, started the cutting machine, and began the process.
Liu Xin stepped outside the crowd, glanced at Zhang Yun in the center of the crowd, and then focused on the rough being cut open. He was curious about what the rough would yield. Although the boss was not optimistic about this rough, its appearance was indeed good.
The sound of the cutting machine continued nonstop; the rough gradually split into two halves.
“Crack!” After nearly an hour, the rough was finally cut open.
Zhang Yun hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to inspect the cut rough on the ground.
When he saw the cut surface of the rough, his face changed dramatically, “How could this be?” The part of the rough that had been cut open was plain white, completely worthless.
“Is it cut waste?”
“60 million just gone like that?”
“Boss Zhang really took a hard hit this time.”
“The rough looked good from the outside, but it seems just a thin layer on the surface was jade,” everyone around looked at Zhang Yun with sympathetic eyes.
“Cut another slice here,” Zhang Yun, pale-faced and filled with reluctance, pointed to the middle of the rough. He couldn’t believe this was the outcome.
The stone cutting master shook his head helplessly but still made another slice as requested by Zhang Yun, only for the result to remain unchanged.
Zhang Yun looked at the still unyielding white surface, helplessly collapsed to the ground. His 60 million, just gone.