Volume One, Chapter 15: Lucky?

One piece after another of the raw stones was extracted, and soon the ninth stone was placed onto the cutting machine.

Buzzing!

The sound of the grinding wheel echoed throughout the scene, and everyone watched the cutting process of this raw stone with great interest.

Soon, a streak of green appeared before their eyes.

“It’s a jadeite variety!” someone with sharp eyes had already identified the type of jade.

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed something unusual—the jade inside this raw stone seemed exceptionally bright.

No way!

He couldn’t help but be startled and instinctively took a few quick steps forward.

He wasn’t the only one to notice this; someone else murmured, “The jade inside this raw stone looks quite impressive. It might be a top-grade jadeite worth hundreds of thousands!”

Those words astonished the crowd.

“That young man actually has some eye for quality. This is only the ninth raw stone, yet he’s managed to uncover the second fine piece of jade,” one person remarked.

Heh.

Others laughed dismissively. “So what? If you want to cross the ten million threshold, there’s no way you can do it just with these results so far!”

The crowd buzzed with discussion, and Sun Ya and the others couldn’t help but feel tense.

Sun Ya glanced at Zhang Wenxuan but saw no trace of nervousness on his face—only calm and composure.

Is he really that confident?

Sun Ya was surprised.

At that moment, the raw stone was finally cut open completely.

The stone was split in two, revealing the jade inside in full view of the onlookers.

Everyone fixed their eyes on it and immediately burst out in astonishment.

“Top-grade jadeite! It’s actually top-grade jadeite! This piece is worth roughly a million!”

Someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Top-tier jade has always been exceedingly rare. Although the raw stones today were all quite good, uncovering two pieces of top-grade jade was no easy feat.

Even seasoned masters might not achieve this, yet it had happened to a newcomer who had just entered the trade.

“Excellent!”

“This is the second piece of top-grade jade. Together, these two alone are worth over two and a half million!”

“If the quality of the jade in the remaining stones improves, it might really be possible to surpass the ten million mark!” Zhou Yunshan was visibly excited.

Huang Ming was equally amazed. Initially, he had no hope for Zhang Wenxuan.

Like others, he thought Zhang was just overconfident, but judging by the current situation, Zhang might actually reach the ten million threshold.

Sun Ya’s gaze also shifted, an unusual gleam appearing in her eyes as she looked at Zhang Wenxuan.

Among the crowd, Cheng Yuhang’s expression darkened.

“Hmph, it’s just luck. The combined worth of these nine pieces is only about three million. Far from ten million!” he sneered.

“Can you guarantee the remaining twenty-one raw stones will yield jade worth seven million?”

His sarcasm was unmistakable.

Zhang Wenxuan smiled faintly. “Whether it works or not, we’ll see from the results!”

“Master Liu, continue cutting!”

“All right!” Master Liu nodded.

He too was eager. If Zhang Wenxuan could break the ten million mark, it would undoubtedly bring great prestige.

Zhang Wenxuan handed the tenth raw stone to the apprentice. As the machine started again, the previously noisy crowd fell silent.

Before long, another streak of green appeared.

No one spoke; everyone silently watched.

After ten minutes, the raw stone was completely split in half, revealing the jade inside.

“Top-grade glassy jade!”

Someone couldn’t help but shout in surprise.

Boom!

Upon seeing the interior of the tenth raw stone, the scene erupted in excitement.

“Another top-grade jade? This young man’s luck is almost unbelievable!” someone exclaimed.

The crowd buzzed with excitement.

“No, the first time was chance, the second coincidence, but the third time—this can’t be a fluke. We’ve all underestimated him. This young man is definitely not a newcomer!” another said.

“The third piece of top-grade jade! This top-grade glassy jade alone is worth a million!”

Voices rose one after another, filled with astonishment.

Everyone’s gaze toward Zhang Wenxuan had completely changed.

The emergence of three top-grade jades was undeniable proof of Zhang Wenxuan’s skill.

Calling him a newcomer was nonsense.

Which newcomer could uncover three top-grade jades from just ten raw stones?

Even seasoned masters might not manage that.

“Well done!”

Joy appeared on Sun Ya’s face as she stepped up to Zhang Wenxuan and patted his shoulder encouragingly.

“Mr. Zhang, you’ve done very well!”

“I didn’t expect you to surprise me like this!” Sun Ya smiled brightly.

At this moment, Zhang Wenxuan was activating his clairvoyance to select the eleventh raw stone. Sun Ya’s pat made him instinctively turn his head.

Her figure was exquisite, so alluring that it nearly made him nosebleed; for a moment, he couldn’t look away.

Gosh!

Sun Ya’s figure was truly stunning!

“What’s wrong?” Sun Ya noticed the peculiar look in Zhang Wenxuan’s eyes.

She was all too familiar with that gaze—many men often looked at her that way.

She glanced down, puzzled.

Nothing was revealing!

“Ahem!”

Zhang Wenxuan cleared his throat a few times to cover his awkwardness. “Nothing. Let’s continue cutting.”

He averted his gaze, took several deep breaths, and calmed himself.

Without delay, he handed the eleventh raw stone to the apprentice.

The eleventh stone was an ordinary mixed variety.

The twelfth: mixed.

The thirteenth: mixed.

The fourteenth: ordinary glassy jade.

...

The eighteenth: jadeite variety.

The nineteenth: mixed.

The twentieth: mixed.

Ten raw stones passed one after another with no more top-grade jade appearing—mostly just common stones.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

They were somewhat worried that another top-grade jade might appear—it would be intimidating.

At that moment, Zhang Wenxuan brought out the twenty-first raw stone.

It was placed on the cutting machine; Zhang had already drawn the cutting lines.

Master Liu carefully followed the lines, quickly slicing the whole raw stone open.

Inside, a crystal-clear icy blue sheen appeared before everyone.

“Top-grade icy jade!”