Volume One, Chapter 13: Swaggering with Arrogance

“Heh heh.”

“Hopefully, after you finish cutting these stones, you’ll still be this confident!” Cheng Yuhang’s face was full of teasing smiles.

Zhou Yunshan looked a bit apologetic. “Boss, I’m very sorry. I’ve let you down.”

“It’s alright. Keep cutting the stones!” Sun Ya nodded, showing no blame.

Appraising jade is never 100% accurate; mistakes happen all the time.

Sizzle!

The cutting continued, and other companies also began slicing their raw stones.

Suddenly, the hall was filled with alternating cheers and sighs. Some were excited to reveal exquisite jade, while others could only sigh over disappointing results.

Zhou Yunshan’s second raw stone was quickly cut open. As soon as it was unveiled, he hurriedly glanced at it.

“It’s glass type!”

His eyes lit up. “Though not top-grade, it’s still high-quality glass type jade, worth at least 200,000!”

Finally, a smile appeared on his face.

Sun Ya sighed in relief watching this. If the earlier stones yielded nothing good, there was little hope for the rest.

“Continue cutting!” Sun Ya said.

One by one, apprentices carried the raw stones onto the cutting machines.

Third stone: mixed type.

Fourth: jadeite.

Fifth: mixed type.

...

Tenth: mixed type.

Eleventh: mixed type.

Twelfth: mixed type.

...

Eighteenth: icy type jade.

Nineteenth: glass type.

Twentieth: mixed type.

Soon, all twenty of Zhou Yunshan’s stones were cut. The tension that had been tightly wound around him finally eased.

Thirty pieces of jade were neatly arranged aside.

The appraisal staff immediately began identifying all the jade pieces.

“Eighteen mixed types, three icy types, four glass types, five jadeites...”

“Estimated total value: 5.3 million,” the staff announced.

Hearing the figure, Zhou Yunshan’s expression soured.

Not even seven million—this was hardly a good result.

Sun Ya’s face was equally grim. Zhou Yunshan’s appraisal skills were decent, yet they didn’t break the ten million mark. It seemed this year’s jade appraisal conference was in trouble.

“Next up is me!” Huang Ming stepped forward, his face solemn.

Zhou Yunshan had already failed; if Huang Ming also failed to produce good results, this conference was doomed.

“Mr. Huang, it’s your turn!” Sun Ya said, her expression tense.

Two apprentices approached and loaded the raw stones Huang Ming had selected onto the cutting machine.

Sizzle!

The familiar sound echoed again as the first stone was cut open.

At the moment of cutting, a crystal-clear jade glow sparkled inside.

An icy blue jadeite gleamed brilliantly, its bright color shining like a dazzling gem.

“Great!”

“It’s top-grade icy jade!” both Sun Ya and Huang Ming smiled.

Sun Ya breathed a huge sigh of relief; Huang Ming’s strong start was a real boost to her morale.

“Keep cutting!” Sun Ya urged.

The cutting sounds continued as stone after stone was sliced.

Second stone: glass type.

Third: icy type.

Fourth: jadeite.

...

Eighteenth: mixed type.

Nineteenth: mixed type.

Twentieth: mixed type.

All thirty stones were soon cut and neatly placed on a table. Staff began tallying their values.

“Sixteen mixed types, six glass types, four jadeites, four icy types.”

“Total estimated value: 9.5 million,” the staff reported.

Hearing this, Sun Ya relaxed a little.

“Just shy of the ten million mark!” Huang Ming said, a bit reluctant to accept it.

At that moment, Cheng Yuhang approached again, this time even more arrogant. His eyes swept over the jade on the table, and his face twisted into a mocking smile.

“Xiaoya, looks like your two masters didn’t do well. There aren’t even many pieces here worth showing off.”

“Both your masters have finished cutting, yet only this result?”

“Looks like this year you won’t even make the top five. If you can avoid being last, that’s already pretty good!”

“Hahaha!” Cheng Yuhang laughed loudly, unabashedly revealing his scorn and ridicule.

“Come see my results. My two masters have both passed the ten million mark.”

“My total is twenty-one million, the top spot!”

As he spoke, Cheng Yuhang pointed to a large screen nearby showing all the appraisal results for the day.

Indeed, as he said, his score was the highest by far, with a staggering 21 million.

Sun Ya’s ranking was dismal, placed twelfth with only 14.8 million.

Her expression darkened; this result was far from what she hoped. Compared to previous years, it was a huge gap.

Though she still had another master cutter, she glanced at Zhang Wenxuan and shook her head inwardly.

Zhang Wenxuan was too young. Despite some past highlights, she didn’t believe he could surpass the others.

This year was going to be rough.

At that moment, Zhang Wenxuan, who hadn’t spoken, stepped forward.

“Next is my turn!”

“Please move my jade onto the machine!” Zhang Wenxuan said.

Two apprentices came over and loaded the jade from Zhang Wenxuan’s cart onto the machine.

Seeing Sun Ya’s mood drop, Zhang Wenxuan said, “Miss Sun, watch me now. I won’t let you down!”

“Hahaha!”

Before Sun Ya could reply, Cheng Yuhang burst into laughter nearby.

Zhou Yunshan and Huang Ming shook their heads.

Cheng Yuhang’s mocking laughter was as if he had heard the funniest joke.

“Young people being confident is good, but you’re a bit too arrogant!”

“Looks like you’ve only been in the business a short time. Have you appraised over a thousand pieces of jade yet?” Cheng Yuhang chuckled.

Zhang Wenxuan glanced at him with displeasure. This guy had mocked him many times.

Even a clay figurine has some fire; how much more so a person!

In the past, faced with such ridicule, he could only endure. Now, with ability, why swallow it silently?

“You seem to look down on me. How about a bet?”

Oh?

Zhang Wenxuan’s words piqued Cheng Yuhang’s interest. He sneered, “You want to bet with me?”

“Bet on how much value I can cut today,” Zhang Wenxuan said.

“Exactly. If I break the ten million mark today, you pay me according to the total value of my jade.”

“If I don’t, I’ll let you do whatever you want with me!” Zhang Wenxuan’s words were shocking.