How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 240

That’s the Joy of Stone Gambling

Based on the size of the raw jade stone, the master cutter will suggest the best cutting method.

The main methods are wire cutting, slice cutting, and abrasive cutting.

Smaller raw stones are generally cut with an abrasive cutter to avoid crushing any jade inside.

Larger stones are cut with wire or slice cutting.

The stone selected by Hong Junle was about half a person’s height, so the cutter chose slice cutting.

The slicing machine blade cut ten 10-centimeter slices, but still no green was visible.

Hong Junle clenched his fists tightly, praying that jade would appear.

Ning Shao, standing nearby, wore a smile that seemed to hint at gloating.

The blade continued to cut about 5 centimeters deeper, and a hint of green finally appeared on the stone.

The cutter immediately stopped and shouted, “It’s green!”

Everyone straightened up and crowded around to watch the spectacle.

Hong Junle laughed excitedly and said, “Ning Shao, you looked at it for more than half a month and didn’t take it. Don’t you feel like you missed out now?”

Ning Shao looked annoyed and glared at Hong Junle, rendered speechless.

Others congratulated Hong Junle.

“Brother Le, awesome! It really turned green.”

“That’s why you have to be decisive when playing this game. If you think it has potential, take action immediately and don’t hesitate. Look at Ning Shao, he missed out even when fortune was smiling at him.”

“It’s green, but we don’t know what kind of green it is.”

…

Hong Junle immediately said confidently, “With my luck, it must be Emperor Green [the highest grade of jadeite]!”

“Ah…” Everyone laughed.

The cutter continued to cut, and everyone stared intently.

Soon, everyone could see the quality of the jade. It was not the Emperor Green that Hong Junle had hoped for, but a vibrant, positive green.

Everyone sighed, seemingly disappointed.

Ning Shao said with a smile, “Brother Le, what you’ve cut out is positive green. I’m afraid you’re going to lose money.”

Hong Junle’s face was very ugly, and he stared at the stone without saying a word.

Before long, the entire jade was cut out. After simple polishing, it weighed 403 grams.

The appraiser from Mingcui Workshop offered a price of 20,000 yuan per gram for jade of this quality.

This meant that if Hong Junle sold the jade to Mingcui Workshop, he would get 8.06 million yuan. [Approximately $1.13 million USD]

He spent 25 million yuan [Approximately $3.5 million USD] to buy this stone, but only got 8.06 million yuan back. He lost so much that he couldn’t even recognize his own grandmother.

Ning Shao laughed and said, “Better safe than sorry. You have to be careful and consider everything when playing this game. Be cautious and think twice before acting. Decisive? Those who lose everything are decisive people. If they had hesitated a little, they wouldn’t have lost everything. Haha…”

Hong Junle’s face was very ugly. Even though he had cut out positive green jade, he felt even worse than if he had gotten nothing at all.

The onlookers quickly comforted Hong Junle and flattered him.

“I think Brother Le’s judgment was right, just his luck was a little off. After all, no one can see how big the jade inside the stone really is.”

“That’s right, I think so too. This time his luck wasn’t good enough, but it will definitely be better next time.”

“Brother Le at least got some jade. I didn’t get anything for my five million. In comparison, Brother Le is much better than me.”

…

No matter how much others flattered him, Hong Junle had lost more than ten million yuan, so he couldn’t possibly be in a good mood.

Hong Junle turned to look at Yang Chen. He felt that his impulsiveness had something to do with Yang Chen.

Because he had asked Yang Chen if he thought there was anything good inside that stone, and Yang Chen had told him that there was.

Also, because Yang Chen had paid 67 million yuan so decisively to buy those three stones, Hong Junle thought he knew a lot, and that if he said there was something good inside, there definitely was.

Therefore, Hong Junle had snatched this stone worth 25 million yuan from Ning Shao without hesitation.

Now that he had lost 17 million yuan, he felt very uncomfortable and wanted to find someone to blame.

Hong Junle said to Yang Chen, “It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t told me there was something good inside, I wouldn’t have snatched it so decisively.”

Yang Chen smiled and said, “Did I say something wrong? There is something good inside!”

Hong Junle: “But you didn’t tell me I would lose money.”

Yang Chen: “You didn’t ask me if you would lose money!”

Hong Junle was speechless.

Ning Shao was in a great mood and said, “Brother Le, I think this brother is right. You only asked if there was something good, but you didn’t ask if you would lose money. He said there was something good, and there is indeed something good.”

Hong Junle’s face was livid and said, “Alright, stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and cut your stones and see what good things you can find.”

“This stone that many experts recognized still lost money. He’s a newbie playing for the first time, so he’s definitely going to lose a lot.”

“It’s normal. This is a process that every player has to go through. If he makes a lot of money the first time, then his luck is too heaven-defying.”

“I’ve been playing for more than ten years, and I still mostly pick empty stones. He’s a taxi driver, and it’s his first time playing. Even if he gets a newbie gift pack, he’ll only get a small stone at most.”

“Haha…”

Yang Chen asked for a glass of water, crossed his legs, and sat down to watch the big screen.

The entire stone-cutting process would be projected onto the big screen by a high-magnification camera for everyone in the hall to watch.

If something good came out, everyone could quickly decide whether to bid for it.

However, usually no one would actually sit down and watch the big screen. Almost everyone would surround the stone cutter to witness the entire process.

Stone gambling is all about the thrill, getting rich or poor with one cut, and pursuing that sense of excitement.

But Yang Chen didn’t have that feeling. Except for the stone recommended by Lin Jing, the other five stones would definitely turn green. He just needed to wait for all six stones to be cut.

However, while he could be so calm, Wang Zheng and Zhou Wenqi couldn’t. Their last hope was pinned on that 35 million yuan raw stone.

Therefore, they were watching very nervously, their hands and feet trembling.

The stone cutter picked up a small stone and cut it open using the abrasive cutting method.

“Empty!” the cutter said.

“Haha…” Everyone laughed.

This stone was the one recommended by Lin Jing, and there was nothing good inside.

Hong Junle seemed to feel much more balanced and said, “Brother, you’re not doing so well either! I thought you could pick out some treasure. I thought you really knew a lot when I saw you paying so decisively, and I even listened to your nonsense and snatched Ning Shao’s stone. Sigh… I really regret it so much now.”

“Haha…” Everyone laughed again.

Ning Shao showed a smug smile and said, “Stone gambling is about staying calm. May whoever advises others to be decisive be struck by lightning!”

Wang Zheng and Zhou Wenqi turned back to look at Yang Chen, who was calm, crossing his legs, looking at his phone, and then looking at the big screen. They felt very nervous and conflicted.

Zhou Wenqi ran to Yang Chen and said, “Benefactor, is it really okay?”

Yang Chen took a sip of water and said, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems. You two don’t need to be so nervous. Just sit down, have a drink, and wait. There are surveillance cameras everywhere in the hall, so no one can switch or steal our stones.”

It wasn’t that the couple was worried about the stones being switched or stolen. They were worried that there was no jade inside the stones.

The stone cutter took out the second small stone, and it turned green in less than 5 centimeters.

“It’s green!” the stone cutter shouted.

Wang Zheng and Zhou Wenqi immediately smiled at each other happily, but the smiles on the faces of the other players gradually disappeared.

They all considered themselves old players, and players who could go to the second floor had to spend at least 300,000 yuan, but many of them had lost millions, or even more, without seeing any green.

However, Yang Chen, who was playing for the first time and was just a taxi driver, actually got green on his second stone. This made them feel very unbalanced.

Soon, all the jade in this stone came out.

“Icy positive green! 2300 grams,” the stone cutter shouted.

The onlookers discussed.

“Wow, such a small stone, and it produced such a big piece of jade!”

“Brother Le’s stone was at least five times bigger than this, but the jade that came out wasn’t even as much as this one.”

“Damn! This kid’s newbie gift pack is a bit too awesome!”

“Damn it, I’ve been playing for more than ten years and haven’t cut out positive green jade of this quality.”

…

Hong Junle’s mood, which had just balanced a little, instantly became worse again.

The stone that Yang Chen chose only cost 150,000 yuan, but it produced 2300 grams of positive green jade. The return on investment was too high.

Although they were both positive green, Yang Chen’s stone produced 2300 grams, while Hong Junle’s stone only produced a mere 430 grams, which couldn’t be compared at all.

Because the larger the jade rough, the higher the value.

Therefore, the value of Yang Chen’s 2300-gram jade compared to Hong Junle’s 430-gram jade was not simply a matter of weight accumulation.

After appraisal by experts from Mingcui Workshop, the 2300-gram jade was priced at 30,000 yuan per gram, which meant that Yang Chen had recovered 69 million yuan [Approximately $9.7 million USD] with just this one stone.

“Wow, 69 million! My God, is that real?”

“Damn, what kind of luck is this?”

“He made his money back with one stone! He only spent 67 million yuan in total, and he made it all back with this one stone. No matter what comes out of the remaining stones, it’s all pure profit.”

“Honestly, I’m a little jealous.”

…

Wang Zheng and Zhou Wenqi ran to Yang Chen excitedly to congratulate him.

Yang Chen still looked very calm and said, “I told you not to worry, just sit down and wait.”

Wang Zheng and Zhou Wenqi nodded and quickly sat down next to Yang Chen.

Lin Jing was stunned for a while,

Then she quickly went to report the situation to the manager.

If he makes his money back with just one stone, Mingcui Workshop might lose a lot of money tonight.

The staff put the jade on a tray and placed it on the table next to Yang Chen.

At this time, some players began to come over to negotiate prices with Yang Chen.

“Brother, sell me this jade for 69 million yuan.”

“Mingcui Workshop has already offered 69 million yuan, so your price isn’t very sincere. Brother, I’ll offer 70 million yuan, and you give it to me right away. I’ll have someone send a check over now. Is that okay?”

“I’ll offer 72 million yuan, brother, give it to me.”

“I’ll offer 75 million yuan, give it to me right away, brother.”

“I’ll offer 80 million! Give it to me.”

…

Yang Chen asked curiously, “Brothers, aren’t you losing money by offering such a high premium?”

The men laughed and explained to Yang Chen why they dared to offer such a high premium.

In short, if this quality of positive green jade is made into a bracelet, even an ordinary brand would have to price it at several hundred thousand yuan [Tens of thousands of US dollars] for 10 grams or more.

If it’s a big brand and designed by a famous designer, people would pay more than a million yuan [Hundreds of thousands of US dollars] for it.

Therefore, they dared to buy it at such a high premium because they had connections to sell the goods to companies that make jewelry.

The bigger the brand, the more money they make.

Mingcui Workshop doesn’t make jewelry, so the highest price they can offer is 69 million yuan.

But these players have ways to sell the goods to companies that make jewelry, so they naturally dare to buy them at a premium.

Yang Chen nodded. As expected, making end products makes the most money. Suppliers and middlemen don’t make much.

Yang Chen had previously planned to cooperate with Buffett and Gates to start a foreign brand of gold and silver jewelry company, but that would take time to prepare and couldn’t be done in a short time.

So, he might as well sell it at a high price.

In the end, the jade was sold for 85 million yuan [Approximately $12 million USD].

Hong Junle next to him was so envious that he wanted to drool. One stone produced 85 million yuan. It wasn’t just making his money back, it was making a lot of money.

Just then, the stone cutter shouted again, “It’s green!”

Everyone was shocked and quickly gathered around again.

“Damn! His luck is too heaven-defying! Two out of three small stones have green!”

“Damn, he’s cheating!”

“How did he pick them out? I remember he just strolled around and then picked these stones. Does he have any secrets?”

…

Soon, the jade came out.

“Glutinous positive green [A type of jadeite with a sticky texture], 1500 grams!” the stone cutter said loudly.

Everyone discussed.

“Damn, it’s positive green again. Although it’s glutinous, which is a bit worse than icy, 1500 grams is still worth a lot of money.”

“I’ve been playing for almost 12 years and have only cut out apple green twice. He’s gotten two consecutive positive greens. I don’t even want to say anything.”

“Thank goodness it’s glutinous. If it was still icy, I would have suspected he was cheating.”

…

Soon, the experts gave a quote of 18 million yuan [Approximately $2.5 million USD].

As soon as the staff brought the jade to Yang Chen, other players scrambled to offer prices.

“I’ll offer 23 million yuan, give it to me!”

“Damn, why are you adding so much? I’ll offer 25 million yuan then.”

“I have wide connections, you can’t beat me, don’t compete with me, I’ll offer 26 million yuan, brother, give it to me.”

…

In the end, the jade was sold for 28 million yuan [Approximately $3.9 million USD].

Having wide connections is good, you can find big brands to take over, and the selling price will naturally be higher.

At this time, the manager came over, who was the middle-aged man from before.

The manager walked up to Yang Chen with a smile and said, “Brother, you have good luck. Two out of three stones are good. The instruments aren’t even as accurate as you! Can I ask how you can tell?”

Yang Chen: “Aren’t you joking? If you had such an ability, would you tell others?”

Everyone nodded, there was nothing wrong with that statement.

Who would be willing to teach others if they had such an ability?

The manager nodded with a chuckle and said, “That’s right. Then I’ll accompany you to see what can be cut out of these three big stones next.”

The staff sent the 12 million yuan stone to the slicing machine.

Wire cutting and slice cutting can be understood as relatively rough cutting methods, which can easily cut off the jade inside the stone.

However, using abrasive cutting to slowly grind such a large stone would be too time-consuming, and it might not be finished until dawn.

Therefore, Yang Chen said loudly, “Master, slice cut, do as I say.”

The stone cutter nodded and quickly prepared to cut the stone.

Yang Chen said loudly, “Start cutting 5 centimeters from the left, and stop at 12 centimeters deep.”

The stone cutter quickly cut accurately according to Yang Chen’s instructions, and saw green after only three cuts.

“It’s green!” the stone cutter shouted.

“Wow…” There was a burst of exclamation from the audience.

The manager sat up straight in a hurry, his eyes fixed on the green on the stone on the big screen.

“Damn, is that real? He can actually be accurate to a few centimeters?”

“Damn! He really is an expert! He’s pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger [feigning ignorance to deceive someone]!”

“Damn, he’s obviously an expert, but he has to pretend to be a rookie to come and lower the dimension to strike us, right?”

“What taxi driver is he? He’s clearly a stone gambling expert. I’ve never seen a player who can accurately cut a few centimeters and get green.”

“He must be cheating, right? Or, he’s a shill hired by Mingcui Workshop to pick out all the good stones in Mingcui Workshop.”

…

Amid everyone’s discussion, the stone cutter finally took out a whole piece of jade.

“Glutinous icy positive green [A type of jadeite with a sticky and translucent texture], 3500 grams!” the stone cutter said loudly.

Everyone discussed.

“Damn! It’s positive green again!”

“Damn, I’m directly cracked [defeated]. This stone has been here for almost three years, why didn’t I choose it?”

“Sigh… that’s life! For three years, I’ve come at least once a week, but I haven’t even looked at it squarely.”

“3500 grams, even if it’s glutinous icy positive green, it’s still worth a lot of money.”

…

Glutinous icy is a bit worse than icy, so the price will naturally be lower.

But because it’s big enough, the total price of this jade will definitely not be low.

Soon, the experts from Mingcui Workshop gave a quote of 85 million yuan [Approximately $12 million USD].

The manager’s heart was broken, and he felt like he was losing a lot of money.

At this time, those players came to Yang Chen to bid again.

“I’ll offer 90 million!”

“I’ll offer 95 million!”

“I’ll offer 100 million!”

…

…

In the end, the big jade was sold for 100 million yuan [Approximately $14 million USD].

Ning Shao couldn’t help it and quickly came over to Yang Chen and said, “Brother, leave me your contact information, let’s go out and gamble on stones together in the future. My name is Ning Shaoqing, from the Ning family in Jinling [Nanjing]. Whenever you’re free, brother, I’ll invite you to play at the Jade Pavilion in Jinling.”

Yang Chen now realized the joy of stone gambling. It was really great.

He couldn’t waste his unique skills. When he had time, he would go to Jinling City to sweep through it.

Yang Chen smiled and added Ning Shaoqing as a friend.

Continue cutting stones.

Yang Chen: “Master, cut 7 centimeters from the left, and cut 8 centimeters vertically…”

The stone cutter accurately operated the machine to cut according to Yang Chen’s requirements, and soon a strong green color appeared.

The stone cutter: “It’s green! And… judging from the color, it’s very likely to be the one-in-a-million Emperor Green [the highest grade of jadeite]!”

“What? Emperor Green!”

“Is that real? Emperor Green came out?”

“I’m really jealous to death!”

…

The manager almost fell off his chair. If a top-quality Emperor Green really came out, Mingcui Workshop would really lose everything.

Yang Chen still smiled slightly and continued to direct the master cutter.

Before long, a complete jade rough came out.

After simple polishing, the emerald green color shocked everyone present.

The manager quickly ordered the people next to him to call more people over. This kind of top-quality Emperor Green was priceless and they had to find a way to keep it.

The stone cutter: “Top-quality Emperor Green! Weight 4500 grams!”

“Wow…” There was a burst of exclamation from the audience.

Before the experts from Mingcui Workshop could give an appraisal quote, the players came directly to Yang Chen to bid.

“Brother, I’ll offer 100 million, I want this Emperor Green!”

“I’ll offer 200 million! I’m determined to get it!”

“Damn, you’re too ruthless! Adding 100 million at once!”

“A jade bracelet named ‘Ring of Heaven’ was auctioned for 100 million at Sotheby’s last month. Of course, this bracelet has historical value added to it. At worst, I’ll buy this jade and keep it for decades before selling it. Anyway, I definitely won’t lose money. This grade of Emperor Green is rare to see in many years, and I can definitely afford to wait.”

“I’ll offer 300 million! Whoever bids again, I’ll continue to add 10 million until no one bids.”

“Damn, you’re ruthless!”

“Although Emperor Green is indeed very valuable, it must be a powerful company to realize its value. A company with a little less strength will have difficulty giving full play to its value. 300 million is too high, I dare not continue.”

“If I were this brother, I wouldn’t sell it. I would keep it for my descendants and make it into ornaments to take out in a hundred or eighty years, and it would definitely be priceless.”

…

Damn, wait a hundred or eighty years, Yang Chen can’t wait, he only strives for the present.

Ning Shaoqing: “Brother Yang, are you planning to sell it?”

Yang Chen: “The price of 300 million is indeed very tempting, why not sell it?”

Ning Shaoqing: “To be honest, this kind of top-quality Emperor Green is really rare to see once in many years, don’t you want to keep it?”

Yang Chen: “Who can guarantee that the last stone can’t produce even more top-quality jade?”

Everyone looked at the 35 million yuan boulder. Could it be that there was more precious jade inside this stone than top-quality Emperor Green?

Emperor Green is already the best jade, there can’t be a more awesome jade variety than it.

At this time, the manager said with a smile, “Mr. Yang’s luck is really good. I wonder if you can sell these things to our Mingcui Workshop?”

Yang Chen: “Are you offering a higher price? If you offer a higher price, I can sell it to you.”

Manager: “Haha… the price is easy to negotiate, we’ll talk slowly later. If we can’t reach an agreement, Mr. Yang can sell the things to them. Is that okay?”

Yang Chen shook his head and said, “No need for so much trouble, just quote now. If the price is higher than what they offer, I’ll sell it to you. If the price isn’t higher than what they offer, then don’t say anything.”

The manager’s intention was to get these things at a low price, how could he offer a higher price?

Manager: “Hehe… okay, let’s cut the last stone first, and we’ll talk about the price later.”

Yang Chen nodded, crossed his legs again, and said loudly, “Master, cut the last one. There is a priceless treasure inside this stone, Master, you must operate strictly according to what I say. If there is a difference of even one millimeter, it may cause me hundreds of millions of yuan in losses, so I can’t spare you lightly.”

Everyone on the scene was shocked.

An error of one millimeter could cause hundreds of millions of yuan in losses, is there Sun Wukong [The Monkey King, a famous character in Chinese mythology] hidden in this stone?

“Brother, what treasure is in this last stone that an error of one millimeter could cause hundreds of millions of yuan in losses? That’s too exaggerated, right?”

“Yeah! Even if another top-quality Emperor Green is cut out, it can’t be so exaggerated.”

“You have Sun Wukong hidden inside, right? An error of one millimeter might cut off his monkey tail, right?”

“Haha…”

Yang Chen explained, “Although top-quality Emperor Green is rare, it can still be cut out occasionally. Some things must be formed by chance, and that’s not something that can be measured by money. For example, you just said that there is Sun Wukong inside? Sun Wukong was formed by chance, and it’s impossible for such a thing to exist in nature. So, can this be compared to Emperor Green and the like that can be formed naturally? Is this something that can be measured by money?”

After hearing what Yang Chen said, everyone was even more puzzled.

What exactly is so precious?

Also, even if there is Sun Wukong inside, how did Yang Chen see it?

Could it be that his eyes can see through things?

Damn, brother, is the protagonist of the online novel cheating?