Imperial Treasure
Chapter 89 - 74: One Hundred Thousand, Five Hundred Thousand!

Anyway, he absolutely didn’t believe that Sui Yi knew how to appraise raw materials.

Sui Yi tilted his head, smiling as if acknowledging it.

Elder Tang and Yu Quan both became silent, then obediently went to pick stones. After all, if Sui Yi had the courage to dabble, how could they, two grown men, not dare to do the same?

Jade cutting was quick, and most people ended up wasting their money. Fortunately, the amounts were usually small, similar to what one might spend at a casino, so no one was distressed to the point of seeking death. Instead, those people were unwilling to leave and instead watched with eager eyes as the excitement of jade cutting unfolded below.

"That’s just how people are. If their own cutting goes poorly, they naturally seek some consolation from others. Look, don’t those who were originally upset seem happier now?" Elder Tang muttered to Sui Yi.

It really was the case, Sui Yi smiled. Not all were without gains, for instance, right now...

"Wow! Look, there’s jade!"

"Really? Where?"

"I see it!"

Various languages, be it Mandarin or local dialects, all erupted together as over a hundred pairs of eyes stared at the raw material that had been cut in half.

To Sui Yi, it appeared as a cut surface interlaced with grey-white and jade-green, each the thickness of two thumbs.

Green meant good.

This was Sui Yi’s first time seeing raw material show green; curiosity was inevitable. Of course, what was more intriguing was what kind of jade it might be.

"Wow, not bad at all!" Many knowledgeable bosses were impressed, looking at the surprised yet ignorant young female office worker.

"There’s a dragon..."

"Dragon rising from the water, the translucency seems ordinary, but what’s most important is the line... ha, this raw material is good, this young lady is going to make a fortune!"

’Dragon’ referred to the jadeite in the raw stone. ’Dragon rising from the water’ meant that the raw material had produced jadeite; ’water’ referred to the base translucency, a major key to the quality of the jadeite.

Just as only cockroaches and rats emerge from a sewer, it took good ’water’ to produce dragons instead of pests.

"$200 for this? Ha, indeed a great profit."

The latter sentence was said by Elder Tang with a laugh as he educated Sui Yi, pointing to the green line that had been uncovered, "This line represents the shape of the green coloring. There’s also another kind, a large patch. Look, this piece of raw material has a line. There’s an old saying in this line of work: better to buy a line than a patch... afraid that the big patch is just surface green."

Thinking that Sui Yi might not understand, he was about to explain further...

"Is it the difference between ’line’—vertical—in contrast with ’patch’—horizontal? The thickness of a line is known, while its depth is unknown; the area of a patch is known, but its thickness is unknown. In terms of probability, it is much more likely to extract thick jade from a line than thin jade from a surface green... Is that the idea?" Sui Yi pondered aloud, meanwhile glancing at the 8000-tael piece of raw material at her feet.

This piece contained no linear patterns; if cut, the surface would inevitably show a patch, as it was spherical in shape.

Sui Yi spoke simply, using a systematic and scientific terminology, drawing looks of surprise from Elder Tang and others.

Her ability to learn was too strong; she’d hit the nail on the head with just a single explanation? Unlike these local experts, she might as well write an encyclopedia entry.

Zhang Guangbiao, who had just overheard, also gave Sui Yi a few more glances, then looked at the stone at her feet. 8000 taels?

Wow, she qualified as a small patron.

"Ha, well said, young lady! And this one you bought? Hmm, not bad, there’s definitely going to be green inside..."

Zhang Guangbiao spoke people’s words but meant ghostly things. Sui Yi just smiled and asked, "Mr. Zhang, what category of jade do you think is inside this stone?"

She was asking about the piece of jade that had just been cut.

"This piece, bean green mixed with a touch of oil green, roughly has a rice soup-like translucency. Overall, it’s considered low-grade," Zhang Guangbiao casually said, glancing at Boss Wang and others related to the jewelry industry with a smile, "Do you gentlemen agree with my assessment? But how about making an offer? Can’t you see this young lady is anxious?"

The ’young lady’ here was the office worker who had been unexpectedly hit by a stroke of luck. She was now completely bewildered and, upon hearing Zhang Guangbiao’s words, immediately looked towards the bosses. The other spectators had already kicked up a fuss, exuberant with inquiries. This somewhat provoked the bosses, who internalized curses. Initially, they had intended to let the woman stew a bit to drive down the price and buy in cheaply. Now, however, that plan was out of the window...