Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Da Mao was an expert in the trade of stone gambling. After his interaction with Li Du, he started to hold the latter in high regard. Da Mao came to the conclusion that although Li Du lay low, he was actually very capable, a lot more than himself.
Li Du’s capabilities showed in a few areas. For example, when they had to mill the stones, there were a few times where he could not locate where the jade was. Li Du, on the other hand, could draw a precise line leading to the jade.
In another instance, Da Mao had been indecisive over a few stones. After Li Du saw those stones, he made up his mind to buy them. In the end, the stones were indeed valuable.
Hence, after Li Du questioned him, Da Mao started to feel doubtful. He stuttered, “As for that, that should be it. I think it is. In any case, I think seventy or eighty percent of it would be water foam, not worth the risk.”
Li Du asked, “How can you tell?”
Da Mao pulled out a magnifying glass and looked through it. He said, “As you know, water foam is formed from Albite. It does not have an ounce of jade, but it has Naphtha and Asbestos. Look at this piece of stone carefully. There are none of those tell-tale signs of jade that could give one confidence.”
Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi squeezed closer and observed the stone intently. Then, Zhong Da Pao asked, “Liu Zi, do you see it?”
Liu Zi asked blankly, “See what?”
“Signs of jade!”
Liu Zi said decidedly, “Nope, there’s really no sign of jade in this stone.”
Saying that, he caressed the side of the stone that was split open. He said, “This piece feels dead. Where would it get the liveliness of jade?”
Da Mao looked at him and said, “Don’t make a mess, Master Liu. The outer layer is really jade. It’s just that it’s a lower quality one. What I’m saying is that if you peer through this layer of jade and look deeper, the contents have no signs of jade.”
Liu Zi started to grow awkward. He touched the back of his head and said nothing.
Da Mao said, “It’s just a little bit of feeling. This relies on intuition.”
Li Du pushed Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi away and said, “If you guys could tell, it would be strange. Da Mao, go on.”
Da Mao started to knock on the stone with his torchlight and said, “Did you hear that? The sound is not clear enough. It’s a little dull. However, there’s some breakage in the sound, suggesting that something inside is different. There’s indeed a stone of different quality inside, but it’s not jade. That’s because the sound of a big piece of jade will be very clear.”
Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi swallowed their saliva and said, “D*mn it, why can’t I hear anything?”
Li Du could not hear anything different either. Being able to hear the difference would be a very superior talent. They could only conclude that Da Mao had the right genes and was born to do that job.
Da Mao used the flashlight to illuminate the stone and the cut on the side. He continued: “I remember that the refractive index of the water foam is about 1.52, while the jadeite is 1.66. The refractive index of the water foam, therefore, is relatively low. Its brightness is not strong enough…”
Zhong Da Pao rubbed his eyes and stared at the stone. Then he said dejectedly, “D*mn, I really cannot tell anything.”
Li Du patted Da Mao’s shoulder and said, “That’s enough. Look below. This piece is indeed water foam. You are very accurate.”
On the other side, the transaction had been concluded. Old Liao had paid up and Knife passed the stone over to him.
The private market, too, provided a stone milling service. The businessmen there welcomed their customers to mill their stones. That was because the stones they had were all those that the experts had picked out carefully after evaluation. Hence, the probability of milling a good stone would be higher.
The saying ‘not gambling on the stones before knowing the field’ came about after the stone gamblers started to learn which fields produced good stones, when those stones would come, what exactly would come out of the stones, and what signs were there to predict it. Hence, they started to use that information in deciding which stones to purchase.
As the possibility of a good-quality stone was higher in private fields, the place received a lot of attention from customers.
There was a stone milling machine right in front of the entrance to the block. Old Liao and his men entered with the stones in their hands. Then, after sticking some red paper slips and saying some prayers, the knife master started work.
Li Du did not go out but continued to pick stones. Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi, on the other hand, went to take a look. Da Mao shook his head. “Why go out? There’s a huge water bubble inside. Are you just going there to watch the crowd?”
Slowly, shouting rang out from outside:
“Ahh, it’s going to be a good cut, a good cut. The head is really good…”
“D*mn, this is a layer of jade skin. It’s too thin. It can only be used to make Buddhist plaques and pendants, not much use for other things.”
“Hey, keep milling it, go on. There’s water coming out below, it’s good water, good water!”
“Get ready to set off the firecrackers. Good luck, congratulations, Old Liao. You’ve come across a piece of precious jade!”
“Haha, thank you for coming. Everyone will be included. Everyone will get a red packet. Later, let’s go and have tea, don’t need to stand on ceremony…”
“Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no. This, this, this water is not right… it’s not right. Cut in deeper. Bad luck, it’s water foam!”
“It’s really water foam.”
“D*mn, so unlucky, happy for nothing. Turns out it is water foam.”
A few depressing calls rang out, “That’s not possible, how can there be such a huge water foam?!”
With that, the ending came. It showed that Da Mao had been right.
Li Du realized that he had underestimated Da Mao. With the help of the little bug, he was able to see the inside of the stone. However, Da Mao had only relied on his eyes and experience. Previously, Da Mao had shown off capabilities that were poorer than his. Hence, he did not take notice of that.
However, now Da Mao was too good. None of the seasoned stone gamblers’ estimates were as good as one glance from him. With that, Li Du believed that as he grew more experienced and continued to hone his skills he would become more invincible!
Out of the nine pieces, all except two were water foam. The remaining seven pieces had jade in them. They could only blame Old Liao and his people for being down in luck.
Li Du got ready to buy those items, but in the end, he got a shock after learning the asking price:
“1,800,000.”
“Hmm, this is the treasure of our shop. Four million and it’s yours!”
“Good eyes you have, brother. Look at how beautiful the watery green is. For an auspicious number, we will sell this at 888,000…”
Hearing the pricing, Li Du said to Zhong Da Pao, “The businessmen in this field are really rich. Are they all millionaires?”
Zhong Da Pao said, “That’s definite. What did you think? If they are able to control the entire field, how would they do that if they didn’t have a few millions on them?”
Liu Zi added, “Knife is not considered that well-to-do. He has almost dug up the entire field. Go take a look at the newer fields, hmph, these bosses here all have a few millions’ net worth. The richest people in the whole of Myanmar are all here!”
These stones would eventually reveal jade. However, it was still uncertain if the jade would be worth that much. Hence, stone gambling was just that, gambling. Before the final price was set, anything was possible.
To be safe, Li Du picked a piece that cost 888,000. Zhong Da Pao continued to bargain and in the end, they got another auspicious price at 666,000.
After they bought the stone, they milled it. Da Mao drew a line on it. The knife master made a cut. Then, someone peered in and called out, “Ahh, it’s going well, what a gorgeous green!”
What followed next was careful milling. After putting in some effort, jade was revealed in the exposed half of the stone.
By that point, the value of the stone had risen sharply. The crowd watching started to ask for the price:
“Brother, are you selling it? I’ll pay you a million and a half?”
“If you mill it some more, and it’s still green, then I will pay two million!”
“Cut along here, and if it’s green again, I will pay two and a half million!”
