27: Chapter 27 Raw Stone Warehouse

Everyone found it amusing to hear Elder Chen say that. Liu Guitang was famous for hoarding rough stones like a gluttonous Taotie over the years. Even more famous was the fact that while others bought rough stones to gamble on them—either cutting them open for their own use or for sale—Liu Guitang would rather buy pre-cut stones from all over than dare to cut open the rough stones he had purchased. For a time, he was mocked for being cowardly, but he ignored it all and continued to collect rough stones, refusing to cut them open no matter what.

This time, he was forced into a corner. There were problems at the source mines, and raw materials were scarce on the market; they were hard to buy even with money. That was why he had invited a few close friends to bolster his courage as he prepared to cut some stones for his own use. This was also why he had politely refused when Fang Yongchang asked to buy raw materials from him.

“Cao Xiao, since this is your first time here, you can pick any one stone you like—except for that pile in the very back. This is my gift to you; don't refuse it,” Liu Guitang said, turning to Cao Xiao.

“One stone is a bit stingy. I think three stones sounds better. Your teacher will help you choose in a moment,” Elder Chen said, glancing at Liu Guitang before looking at Cao Xiao.

“Three stones is fine, but Elder Chen, you can't help him. Otherwise, how would that be any different from robbery? If you do, I'll go to your house and complain!” Liu Guitang said, staring fearlessly at Elder Chen.

“Fine, you're acting tough now, aren't you? Asking you for a few stones is like asking for your life,” Elder Chen said, seeing Liu Guitang's 'iron rooster' stance and decided not to push further.

“Cao Xiao, you probably don't know your teacher's skills yet, do you? Your teacher doesn't gamble on stones, but he is a brilliant geology expert. His ability to read stones is not inferior to those long-famous Jade Kings,” He Qianyun said to Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao was deeply shocked. He didn't know the specifics of what a Jade King was, but the title 'King' alone was enough to know it was a respectful term for someone who had achieved peak success in a certain field. It represented wealth and status. There were no more than a handful of such people in the industry, yet his own teacher possessed such strength. How could he not be shocked?

“Don't listen to his nonsense. It's not that mysterious. When you reach my age, knowledge accumulates to a point where you rely on experience to make judgments, but the accuracy still isn't that high. This thing is impossible to see through completely; sometimes I have to rely on luck,” Elder Chen said with some emotion.

He Qianyun opened his mouth to say more but fell silent after hearing Elder Chen's words. He was speechless; what Elder Chen said was the truth. Even the other Jade Kings couldn't judge the exact condition inside a rough stone with 100% certainty, but they could usually guess most of it correctly, and they rarely 'gambled empty.' That was already incredibly impressive. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people who lost everything gambling on stones. Everyone studied the relevant knowledge before gambling, but the results remained the same. Everyone's admiration for the Jade Kings' stone gambling was heartfelt, but Elder Chen's words made one feel somewhat ashamed.

“Cao Xiao, since you've come into contact with stone gambling today, there are some things I'll say in advance. You must remember them. I don't object to you gambling on stones, but not now. Once you've learned the knowledge in this area, I will let you practice. Of course, that's only for practice. In the future, you must not rely on stone gambling to make money, nor can you gamble on stones for others. Otherwise, don't blame me for not warning you,” Elder Chen said solemnly to Cao Xiao.

“I will keep that in mind, Teacher,” Cao Xiao stood straight and promised seriously. But in his heart, he felt a bit bitter; another path to wealth had been blocked.

“Elder Chen, please help me select some rough stones that can produce mid-grade material,” Liu Guitang said after calling over a few workers.

“Cao Xiao, follow me. I'll first explain some knowledge about jadeite to you, and then you can try for yourself,” Elder Chen nodded and said to Cao Xiao.

“Alright, Teacher.” Cao Xiao actually had no need to learn these things at all. Under his Detection Function, the internal structure of all objects within a ten-meter range would be presented before his eyes. However, by learning from his teacher now, he would be able to disguise his miraculous ability when he gambled on stones in the future.

As Elder Chen walked through the warehouse selecting rough stones, he imparted knowledge on the subject to Cao Xiao.

The domestic jewelry industry subdivides jadeite into over 30 levels based on different shades of green. The basic color tones of jadeite can be divided into six main colors: white, red, green, black, yellow, and purple. They are also classified according to the internal crystal grain factors, as these grains directly affect the color and transparency of the jadeite. According to this classification method, jadeite can be divided into: glass species, ice species, Glutinous Species, Hibiscus Species, Bean Species, and so on. Jadeite is also distinguished by the density and hardness of the internal structure grains. This method divides jadeite into: Old Mine Jadeite, New Mine Jadeite, and New-Old Mine Jadeite.

Color is the primary factor in evaluating jadeite. The standards for good color are: Pure, Thick, Bright, and Even. Naturally, the more vibrant the jadeite, the higher its value. The best color is a pure green with a concentration of 70%–80%, bright and luminous, with an even distribution. This type of high-grade jadeite is habitually called 'Old Mine Species' by experts.

Rough jadeite stones are divided into primary and secondary deposits. Primary deposits are also known as 'New Mine Skinless Stones.' Secondary deposits refer to jadeite stones that, after formation, have undergone long-term weathering and various external stresses to form different shapes of raw jadeite with a skin. Unprocessed rough jadeite is called 'raw material.' If the entire stone is covered by a skin and hasn't been cut or had a 'window' opened, it's called a 'fully gambled stone.' One with a small window cut is a 'half-revealed stone,' and a fully cut one is a 'revealed stone,' which is the jadeite itself. Due to the presence of the weathered skin, it's impossible to observe the interior. Current scientific methods cannot detect the internal conditions of rough stones. Through long-term understanding, people have summarized a wealth of experience in inferring the internal state of rough stones by observing various phenomena on the surface of the weathered skin.

The so-called stone gambling is the process of judging the internal jadeite condition by observing the surface characteristics of the rough stone. This is mainly done by observing the texture of the skin, the mist, and the appearance of 'pine flowers,' 'python bands,' and 'lichen' on the skin to infer the quality and color of the jadeite inside.

The skin of jadeite is roughly divided into three categories: Sand Skin, Fine Skin, and Coarse Skin. Sand Skin refers to a skin with obvious weathered sand grains, some of which can even be rubbed off by hand. They come in red, white, yellow, brown, gray, and black. Based on the color, common types include Yellow Sand Skin, White Sand Skin, Water-Flipped Sand Skin, Bayberry Sand Skin, Iron Sand Skin, De-sanded Skin, and Black Ooze Sand. Fine Skin refers to a delicate, smooth texture in various colors; common ones include Old Elephant Skin, Yellow Pear Skin, Potato Skin, Gray Skin, Bamboo Leaf Skin, Bacon Skin, Denika Skin, Frog Skin, and Rust Skin. Coarse Skin refers to a thick, coarse texture where the granular structure of the minerals is visible, the structure is loose, and transparency is low. One can infer the quality of the internal color, transparency, clarity, and structure based on the color, density, luster, and thickness of the jadeite skin.

“pine flowers” refer to the green manifestations on the jadeite skin—that is, the appearance of the internal or shallow green on the surface. Based on the intensity, quantity, and shape of the pine flowers, one can infer the changes and distribution of the internal color. Additionally, whether the pine flowers penetrate into the interior and the depth of that penetration are also bases for judging the quality of the color.

“Python” is a term used to describe raw jadeite material, referring to the manifestation of green bands within the jadeite on the weathered skin. The shape, color, direction, and inclination of the python bands are important indicators for judging changes in the jadeite's green color.

“Lichen” refers to marks of different sizes and shapes—black, dark green, or gray—that appear on the surface of the raw jadeite skin. The main mineral component of lichen is alkaline amphibole, which can cause damage to the jadeite.

“Mist” refers to a layer of misty, opaque material existing between the outer weathered skin and the internal jadeite. It is actually the result of the retrograde metamorphism of jadeite minerals. The presence and color of the mist reflect information about the original rock. The appearance of mist is a precursor to green color, and different colored mists have different indicative functions. The mist in the stone can be used to identify the mining site and quality of the material.

As Elder Chen selected the rough stones, he explained the external appearance and his analytical deductions for each one he chose. Cao Xiao recorded everything. Even if he didn't need these to choose stones, he could use them to bluff people in the future. The others also listened intently nearby, asking questions like elementary school students when they didn't understand. Liu Guitang recorded Elder Chen's judgments while having the workers move the selected stones to the cutting machines.

Finally, after Elder Chen had selected nearly thirty rough stones of various sizes, Liu Guitang began to call a halt, feeling the pinch in his heart. Elder Chen didn't force the issue. However, He Qianyun and Fang Yongchang pestered Liu Guitang until they each got a small rough stone. Finally, it was Cao Xiao's turn to choose.

After He Qianyun and Fang Yongchang finished their selections, they weren't satisfied and said they wanted to help Cao Xiao choose. Liu Guitang didn't refuse; he knew these two were only half-experts, and letting them choose was no different from letting Cao Xiao choose himself. Having just been ordered by his teacher not to gamble on stones, this was a rare opportunity to make a fortune openly. If he missed it, he could only do small-scale, secretive operations in the future. How could he easily let those two have their fun? Cao Xiao firmly refused them.

Cao Xiao directly activated his Detection Function right under everyone's noses to start cheating. There was no other way; at this stage, the fastest way to make money he could think of was stone gambling. He could only say sorry to Liu Guitang and find a way to repay him in the future.

Liu Guitang's warehouse didn't just have rough jadeite; it also had white jade seeds, rough chicken blood stones, and other gemstone roughs. Elder Chen had just taught Cao Xiao some stone gambling methods, but that was just theory. It was impossible for Cao Xiao to actually rely on those to gamble. He couldn't distinguish things like python bands or pine flowers at all. If it were that easy to learn, the title of Jade King wouldn't exist.

He didn't understand it, but he had to look the part. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain if he always produced good jadeite. So, Cao Xiao put on an act and started wandering around the warehouse. When he encountered a stone he was curious about, he would squat down and look at it randomly. After he had dawdled for a while, Liu Guitang and the others couldn't wait any longer. They told Cao Xiao to pick his stones and have someone move them over while they went to start cutting first.

Seeing that no one was following him and there were no cameras, Cao Xiao stopped pretending. He didn't need to look at the stones one by one. He quickly scanned the rough stones in the warehouse, and the information for all of them was stored in his database. By filtering through them, he selected the most valuable rough stone in the warehouse.

It was a massive piece of Old Mine ice species Bright Green jadeite, about the size of a basketball. The interior was perfectly intact with a uniform color and an oval-like shape. This jadeite was inside a rough stone that looked very poor. This White Sand Skin stone had three python bands on its surface, which normally would suggest a high probability of high-quality green. However, besides the python bands, there was a lot of lichen on the surface, some of which had penetrated quite deep. From the surface, it looked as though this lichen might have ruined the interior. Even Elder Chen might not have much confidence in this material. Otherwise, based on those three python bands alone, this massive piece of White Sand Skin material would be worth no less than ten million. Liu Guitang wouldn't have left it here neglected. But in Cao Xiao's vision, that lichen hadn't penetrated very far. One spot did go deep, but it missed the jadeite entirely, causing no damage.

Having chosen one, Cao Xiao didn't intend to pick high-value stones for the other two. Otherwise, as a newcomer, it couldn't be explained by luck if every stone he picked produced green. The quality of stones in Liu Guitang's warehouse was very high; there were even several glass species pieces, as well as red jade and lavender jade. Among the rough chicken blood stones, there were also several where the 'blood' content was over half, though they weren't large. Their value was far lower than the Old Mine ice species Bright Green jadeite he had chosen. Cao Xiao was tempted by the other stones as well; he could have secretly taken some if he wanted. But doing so would be no different from being a thief. Liu Guitang was his friend, after all; it was better not to do such unscrupulous things. Finally, Cao Xiao chose one rough stone that looked good on the outside but had no jadeite inside, and another small one with very poor-quality jadeite. After picking them, he asked a worker to help transport them to the cutting machines.

By the time Cao Xiao arrived, Liu Guitang and the others had already cut open one stone. His teacher's skill was undeniable, starting off with a 'red opening' by revealing a piece of Ice-Glutinous Yellowish-Green jadeite the size of an adult's fist. Liu Guitang held it in his hands, unable to put it down. The group was gathered around Elder Chen, shamelessly flattering him. Cao Xiao felt a bit nauseous listening to them; these men's combined ages were well over a hundred, yet they were still so playful.

“Why did you pick this one? The risk is too high. Although the chance of finding high-quality green is great, even if there is good jade inside, I'm afraid it's all been crushed to bits. The other two aren't great either. How about you put them back and pick again?” Elder Chen said, shaking his head as he looked at the three stones Cao Xiao had chosen.

“No need. I'll just treat it as having some fun. It doesn't matter,” Cao Xiao said nonchalantly.

Elder Chen didn't insist. In fact, he was quite pleased with Cao Xiao's temperament of not being swayed by material gains. He stopped worrying about Cao Xiao and continued drawing lines on the rough stones with chalk. Cao Xiao used his Detection Function to look; the stones his teacher had selected all contained decent jadeite. The lines he drew were also very appropriate. Although they wouldn't reveal the jadeite perfectly in one go, they wouldn't damage the 'meat' of the jade either. One cut, followed by a bit of rubbing, and the jadeite would be revealed.