Chapter 49: 49, waste stone Chapter 49: 49, waste stone Yang Lisheng looked at Song Yan Ning, paused for a long while, then spoke, “Do you really want to buy it?”
“Uh-huh!” Song Yan Ning nodded affirmatively.
“Alright, but don’t tell your grandma when we get back. She’s used to saving money, and if she finds out we bought a useless stone, she’ll definitely get angry.” Yang Lisheng smiled as he stroked Song Yan Ning’s head, then looked at the stones on the stall. “Pick one.” As long as Xiao Ning is happy, spending a bit of money is fine, as his money was going to her eventually anyway.
Song Yan Ning nodded happily, walked forward, crouched down, and began selecting raw stones from the stall. There were five raw stones at the stall, all containing Spiritual Energy with varying strengths. The strongest Spiritual Energy was in the stone the stall owner was sitting on.
With a playful glint in her eyes, Song Yan Ning made her decision and pointed at a stone that had already been cut and was about the size of a basketball. “Grandpa, let’s buy that stone.” Though the Spiritual Energy in that stone wasn’t as strong as the one the owner was sitting on, it was the most abundant among the remaining stones with Spiritual Energy, and the jade inside should be decent.
Yang Lisheng followed Song Yan Ning’s pointing finger and when he saw the raw stone, his brow furrowed, “That stone has already been cut, it’s waste stone.” A cut waste stone wouldn’t yield any jade, although he hadn’t hoped for jade, but since they were buying, they might as well buy an uncut raw stone. Even if nothing came out of it, it wouldn’t be as disappointing, considering stone buying is all about luck.
“Grandpa, I want that stone,” Song Yan Ning said, tugging at Yang Lisheng’s sleeve, looking at him with pitiful eyes.
Yang Lisheng examined the raw stone carefully for a moment, “Alright, that one then.” As long as Xiao Ning was happy.
Looking at the stall owner, Yang Lisheng pointed at the raw stone, “Boss, how much for that stone?”
The Boss followed Yang Lisheng’s pointing direction, saw he was pointing at a piece of waste, and almost burst out laughing. He bit his tongue, managing to restrain his laughter from spilling, “US$ 1,000.”
“A piece of waste also costs that much?” Yang Lisheng looked at the stone in surprise. He wasn’t knowledgeable about stone buying, but he knew waste wasn’t valuable.
Song Yan Ning glanced at the Boss, then tugged Yang Lisheng’s sleeve, “Grandpa, let’s go. We only have 300 dollars on us, we can’t buy that stone.” Even for waste stone, 300 dollars was more than enough.
Yang Lisheng turned to look at Song Yan Ning, caught the cunning sparkle in her eyes, and immediately understood, nodded, and started to walk away holding her hand.
“Wait a minute! I’ll sell that raw stone to you for 300 dollars,” the Boss called out as Song Yan Ning and Yang Lisheng really started walking away. The waste was something others paid and didn’t want after cutting it open and finding no green, he was initially planning to throw it away, selling it for 300 dollars still made him a small profit.
Song Yan Ning and Yang Lisheng looked at each other and smiled, then walked back to the stall, Yang Lisheng took out 300 dollars and handed it to the Boss.
“Alright, you guys can take that raw stone away,” the Boss happily took the money.
“Boss, may I cut open this stone to see?” Song Yan Ning caressed the stone, quietly absorbing the Spiritual Energy from the raw stone.
The Boss paused, then burst out laughing, “You want to cut open this stone? Little girl, don’t joke around, cutting this stone isn’t cheap.” She wouldn’t think that every raw stone would yield jade, right? But then again, what would a child of seven or eight know.
“I advise you not to cut it, it’s just waste, don’t dream of getting rich off it.”
“I’ve seen many daydreamers, but never someone who buys waste hoping to strike it rich.”
“Boss, just let them cut it, maybe they’ll have dumb luck, and actually find a piece of Imperial Green.”
Hearing the jeering crowd, Yang Lisheng felt embarrassed, “The kid is just joking, everybody, don’t take it seriously.” He didn’t believe that there would be jade in the stone either.
He moved forward to pick up the stone, “Xiao Ning, let’s go back.” Fortunately, the stone wasn’t very heavy, otherwise, with his old arms and legs, he really wouldn’t have been able to move it.
“Grandpa, can we give it a try? I really want to know what’s inside,” Song Yan Ning pleaded with her big, watery eyes full of desire.
Yang Lisheng sighed helplessly, “Really, I can’t do anything with you!” This child was really just like her mother, incredibly stubborn.
“You’re the best, Grandpa!” Song Yan Ning said with a flattering smile.
Yang Lisheng shook his head with a smile, his eyes full of indulgence and leniency, and turned to the boss, “Boss, we’d like to cut this stone open, where can we do that?”
The boss pointed to a shop behind him, “You can cut inside, but cutting a stone costs two hundred yuan; you should think it over.” Just now, that little girl said they only had 300 dollars, he naturally didn’t believe it, he stopped them only because that waste stone was originally unwanted by others.
Yang Lisheng glanced at Song Yan Ning and nodded.
Seeing Yang Lisheng and Song Yan Ning carry the raw stone into the shop, the onlookers followed them as well. They knew there was certainly nothing in the waste stone, but they were still curious, curious about what expression the grandfather and granddaughter would have when they found out there was nothing inside the raw stone.
Walking into the shop, they saw a small door at the back leading to a not so large courtyard.
In the courtyard, surrounded by many people, a middle-aged man was cutting a raw stone. The stone-cutting machine slowly slid through the raw stone, making a hissing sound as sparks and stone shards flew about.
Seeing Yang Lisheng carrying a cut stone inside, people showed their surprise. He couldn’t be here to cut that waste stone, could he?
The middle-aged man set down the stone cutter and carefully looked at the raw stone he had just cut, then shook his head with a sigh. He had bought three raw stones today, but not one had shown any green.
“Oh no! Still no green, Boss Lu really took a hit today.”
“Yeah, not one of the three raw stones had any green.”
“The three raw stones were worth several million, and just like that, it’s all gone down the drain.” Seeing the last raw stone cut to waste, everyone felt sorry for Lu Hui.
Yang Lisheng, holding the raw stone and accompanied by Song Yan Ning, came over to Lu Hui, “Are you the stone cutting master? Could you help me cut this stone?”
Lu Hui looked at the raw stone in Yang Lisheng’s hand, his brow instantly furrowing, “This is a waste stone.” There was absolutely no need to cut a waste stone.
Yang Lisheng smiled and nodded, “I know.”
“Then why cut it?” Lu Hui asked, not understanding.
“My granddaughter has never seen stone cutting, and I want her to see it, to make her happy, since we’ve already bought it,” Yang Lisheng said as he placed the raw stone on the ground.