The stonecutter inspected the rock for a while, then used his tools to carefully open a small window at a corner of the rock.
The crowd rushed forward to take a look. They were shocked.
From the small window in the rock, they could only see a deep green color.
This was not the green of typical jade. Rather, it was a pure, uniform, deep shade of green. Its surface had a mirror sheen, and its insides were free from impurities as if it were transparent.
“Oh… oh my god! This… this is imperial jade!”
Everyone looking exclaimed with a trembling voice. They could not believe their eyes.
Imperial jade was the highest grade of jade.
“It’s not only imperial jade. Look at this mirror sheen. It’s also glass-type!” Someone exclaimed excitedly.
“Glass-type imperial jade?”
The woman was thoroughly dumbfounded. She was caught in a trance and could not differentiate real life from fantasy anymore.
Imperial jade and glass-type jade were considered to be the pinnacle of jade types.
With both top-grade characteristics in one, Tang Hao’s find was considered the ultimate form of jade. It would fetch an astronomical price at auctions.
Everyone went crazy at that instant.
“Hey, little brother, sell me this rock! I offer fifty million!”
“Pah! Don’t you have any shame? You think that this brother here doesn’t know jade and you want to scam him? How is fifty million enough? I offer eighty million!”
The crowd shouted their offers, looking like fanatics.
Tang Hao was surprised. He did not know the jade market that well, though he had searched on the Internet before he left for the jade market and knew that imperial jade was the highest grade. He was not expecting to strike the jackpot with his first purchase.
‘Ha! Guess I’m in luck!’ Tang Hao thought.
Then, he concluded that a raw stone with high-quality jade within would emanate a strong qi aura.
‘I guess this is because jade is a spiritual substance and can absorb to a certain degree of the qi present in the heavens and the earth. The higher quality the jade, the more qi it can absorb.’ Tang Hao contemplated.
Tang Hao only smiled at the offers from the people around him.
Indeed, without fully uncovering the jade, one could not say with confidence that the jade within was glass-type imperial jade. Some opportunists would have sold the rock as it is.
Gaining eighty million from three million was already a handsome profit.
Tang Hao was not like that. For him, it did not matter whether the jade inside was glass-type imperial jade or not. If it was, then he was in luck. If it was not, it did not bother him too much either. He was not going to sell it anyway.
“Sorry, I’m not selling this!” Tang Hao said casually.
The people around him looked disappointed.
“Cut it open, Master!” Tang Hao said.
“Alright!” The stonecutter was also excited. He had not seen a masterpiece like this in his years of cutting jade.
He inhaled deeply to calm himself down, then operated the machinery to remove the outer layer of rock. A big piece of jade was uncovered. It was deep green all through and was clear. It shimmered with an enchanting hue under the light.
“Masterpiece! This is a masterpiece!”
“This is too beautiful! That’s glass-type imperial jade for you. The beauty is unearthly!”
“This kid has struck a fortune! This big piece can easily fetch three or four hundred million yuan!”
Everyone crowded around to behold the beauty of this piece of jade. They were extremely emotional with their cheers and exclamations.
The woman stood there, dumbfounded. The scene that unfolded in front of her was like a dream.
After a while, she shifted her gaze to look at Tang Hao.
She was filled with admiration as well as awe. She was in the trade for more than four years and had never seen such a lucky individual.
Her first reaction was to ask the boy if he wanted to sell the jade, but as the words reached the tip of her tongue, she realized that the store would not be able to afford it.
Tang Hao was overjoyed when looking at this piece of jade.
‘I can’t make jade talismans out of a masterpiece like this. That would be too much of a waste. I should use it for ornaments. Right, I can make a necklace for Sis Xiangyi. It should be gorgeous.’
Then, he was immediately puzzled. His money was almost depleted after buying this rock. How was he going to afford more jade for talismans?
“Um… can I look around and pick a few more stones?” Tang Hao scratched his head and asked awkwardly.
“Pick whatever you like!” The woman was stunned, then replied urgently.
“Alright!” Tang Hao went around the store one more time.
The other stones in the store did not have strong qi auras. Tang Hao picked five bigger stones that cost between four hundred and five hundred thousand yuan.
Then, they were cut open. Two of them were ice-type transparent jade. The third piece was also ice-type but had impurities within. Another was a rare red jade. The final piece was fully green, but its grade was slightly inferior to ice-type.
The results had shocked all the observers.
Everyone thought that the kid had a lucky break when he opened a piece of glass-type imperial jade. With five more pieces of high-grade jade in a row, that was obviously not luck anymore.
‘This guy is a real pro!’
“Three ice-types in five stones. That’s incredible!” Everyone exclaimed.
Ice-type jade was not common like iceberg lettuce. It was rare enough to encounter them on a normal day. Three pieces in a day was a momentous occurrence.
“Hey brother, let’s be friends! This is my name card.”
“Hey brother, can you tell me what secrets do you have?”
The group of people crowded around him and introduced themselves eagerly.
Tang Hao finally handled all the inquiries. Then, he sold one of the ice-type transparent jade pieces to the store for seven million. After paying five million and five hundred thousand for the raw stones, he was left with one million and five hundred thousand yuan.
“Mr. Tang, my name is Wen Rong. Please visit us more often!” The woman introduced herself hospitably while handing Tang Hao her name card.
“Of course, of course!” Tang Hao smiled.
The jade pieces were wrapped up and placed in a few bags. Tang Hao left the stone-gambling store with the full bags.
After taking a few steps, he stashed them into his pocket dimension when no one was looking.
Then, he dialed Liu Dajun’s number on his phone and asked him if he knew any jade craftsmen.
“Why are you asking this, Lil Tang?” Liu Dajun was curious.
“Oh! I went to the stone-gambling store at the jade market earlier. I’ve acquired some nice pieces of jade and I want to make ornaments from them.”
“Stone gambling? Wow, why didn’t you invite me along? You sound like you had a lucky streak!” Liu Dajun laughed.
“Yup! I was a little lucky!”
“You did the right thing by asking me. I know just the right person. No complaints about his handiwork, he’s a real master craftsman. I’ll hook you up with him later. Right, what kind of jade did you get?”
“Not bad. Glass-type imperial jade!” Tang Hao said casually.
“Pfft!” Liu Dajun did a spit take. “F*ck me, are you for real?”
“Yup! I got a big piece too!”
Liu Dajun was speechless. He could only think that Tang Hao’s luck was heaven-blessed. He bought himself a string of thousand-year blood jade beads the last time, and now he was lucky enough to gamble a piece of glass-type imperial jade.
“Well… Lil Tang, since you said you got a big piece… heheh! Do you think you can save some for me? You see, I’m thinking of crafting a ring for myself… Just think about it, wearing a ring made out of imperial jade. That would be so extravagant! Don’t worry, I’ll pay the full price for it!”
“Alright!” Tang Hao replied.
“OK then, I’ll get in touch with this master craftsman soon. He won’t be able to sit still if he knows that you have such a masterpiece.”
They ended the call. A while later, President Liu called him again.
“It’s a deal, Lil Tang. He will be coming in from the province tomorrow and meet us.”
“Alright! Thank you, Big Bro Liu!” Tang Hao agreed and ended the call.