Chapter 31: Supreme Red Jade

The underground gambling den was originally an open-air place. As everybody visited here often, they invested some money and built a roof, slowly forming a fixed place.

The government did not care about it because it was standardized and they had to pay a large sum of money, so they turned a blind eye to it.

After going through two checkpoints, Xiao Binglin led a few people into the gambling den.

Guo Xiang was still shocked when she saw it. It was a huge area, at least several thousand square meters, filled with all kinds of raw jade stones.

Each house had a fixed stall, with raw stones of different sizes placed separately.

The small ones were only the size of a fist, while the big ones weighed more than a ton. The whole gambling den was filled with all kinds of raw jade stones of different sizes.

"This is all money," Guo Xiang lamented in her heart.

As she followed Xiao Binglin in, people kept greeting her.

"Elder Xiao, you're here. Come to my house today. I just got a batch of old pit materials. They're all good materials."

"I just got a green one. It's rising in price. I guarantee you won't lose out..."

"Elder Xiao, take a look at my house..."

Xiao Binglin smiled and nodded in response. It seemed that he was really familiar with this place.

"I'll take you to the one I often go to. The materials from him are all old, and the quality is good!" Xiao Binglin turned around and said to Yi Zichen.

"I'll listen to you." Yi Zichen nodded.

Someone who was dissecting the stone shouted, "It's green! It's green!"

"We're rich! hahaha!"

Guo Xiang curiously walked over to take a look. She saw a piece of raw stone the size of a football cut at the side. It was green, and the green color was a little dark, but the texture was fine and oily. It looked pretty good.

"It's an oil-green seed, like watermelon skin. It's pretty good!" Someone nodded.

"Boss Wang, congratulations!" The people next to him kept congratulating him. The person who bought the raw stone looked happy.

"Boss Wang, do you want it? I'll buy it from you for 30,000 yuan!"

"I'll give you 40,000 Yuan!"

Guo Xiang was speechless. 30,000 to 40,000 yuan might not be a big deal in the future, but in this era, the annual income of a rural family might not even be 100 yuan. Those villages in southern Hunan could not even afford to eat, but here, people are spending tens of thousands. The difference between these numbers was shocking. 

On the other side, there was also a group of people who were watching the stone being cut.

With one slash, there was nothing but white. There was not even a speck of green.

"Ah?" There was a wave of regret.

"How much did you buy this stone for?" Someone asked.

"10,000 yuan! It's all gone."

"How is it? Do you still want to continue?" The stonecutter asked.

"Keep going. I don't believe it!" The person who bought the stone gritted his teeth.

The master nodded. He had seen many people like this. They would not give up until the end.

He cut the stone again. It was still just stone and no mineral's in it at all. 

"It's over, it's over!" The person who gambled on the stone looked dead and dispirited. "This is all I have. It's over..."

Guo Xiang shook her head. Gambling on stone was like real gambling. If it was not done well, one would go bankrupt.

It sounded like it was only a few tens of thousands, but in this era, prices were extremely low. Tens of thousands of yuan was equivalent to hundreds of thousands or millions in the future. It was not something that an ordinary family could afford.

Guo Xiang turned his head to look at the others.

Most of the stone gambling market was made of raw materials. They were stones that had not undergone any processing and looked similar to ordinary stones.

There were also some that had been opened so that people could directly see the green color inside.

However, this did not mean that this stone was a good one because some were only green on the surface. In other words, there was a small layer of green near the skin, and no green inside at all. 

Therefore, one must not be deceived by that small speck of green. Perhaps it could be a piece of waste if it was opened.

Of course, there was also the possibility that it was all green inside, and these depended on the judgment of experienced people.

"One slice, and you could be rich or poor." It was all on the stonecutter.

Guo Xiang turned back to Yi Zichen. Xiao Binglin had already helped him pick a piece of stone the size of a human head, and was ready to slice it open.

Huang Zhengli looked nervous, and Yi Zichen's eyes were staring at the stone without blinking.

"How much did you buy it for?" Guo Xiang asked Huang Zhengli quietly.

"Eight thousand!" Huang Zhengli made a gesture.

Guo Xiang pursed her lips. She knew that they had brought a lot of money, but eight thousand for such a small stone. If it was trash, how much money would they have to buy more again?

"Elder Xiao, what do you think?" The stonecutter was already very familiar with Xiao Binglin, so he naturally asked for his opinion. Some of them could have been made into a bracelet, but because they were cut improperly, they could only be made into a small card.

Xiao Binglin picked up the pen and drew a line at the side of the stone. Then, he drew another line at the inside. "Cut according to this line!"

The stonecutter nodded and cut at the side of the stone first.

There was nothing.

Yi Zichen and Huang Zhengli's expressions changed a little.

"There's no rush. There's still hope!" Xiao Binglin said calmly. No one knew if he was confident or pretending to be calm.

After the second cut, someone cried out, "It's red!"

"Red jade?" Someone immediately surrounded them.

Xiao Binglin smiled and wiped it with a wet cloth, revealing an extremely transparent red color.

"Not bad, Zichen. Looks like we have a good start today!" Xiao Binglin smiled and said.

"It's all thanks to Uncle Xiao!" Yi Zichen revealed a happy expression.

Once the red color was out, the stonecutter became cautious. He carefully wiped off the outer layer of the stone and gradually revealed a piece of red jade the size of an adult's fist. Under the sunlight, it emitted a charming red glow. Judging from its size, it was at least a few kilograms in weight.

"A top-grade red jade. Its color is pure and its color is full. It's glassy. Worth it!" Someone exclaimed.

"Elder Xiao, are you going to sell this red jade?" Someone immediately asked.

"I'll give you 50,000!"

"I'll give you 80,000!"

"I'll give you 100,000!"

Xiao Binglin smiled and pointed at Yi Zichen beside him. "This isn't mine, it's my nephew's. I can't make the decision."

"Young man, are you going to sell this jade?" Few of them immediately surrounded Yi Zichen.

Yi Zichen cupped his fists at everyone and smiled, "I'm sorry, I'm also in the jade business. This piece of red jade is going to be the treasure of the shop. I'm sorry but it is not for sale! 

"What a pity, this is a top-grade red jade."

"Little brother, you're so lucky, you're rich!"

"Congratulations!" Guo Xiang also said beside him.

Yi Zichen didn't come for nothing this time. Even if the rest of the stones were crap, he still made a profit.

No wonder he agreed to a thousand yuan. Compared to what he earned, one thousand yuan was nothing.

If his piece of red jade was processed into jewelry, it would be worth at least a hundred thousand yuan, right?

When Guo Xiang thought about how she had to be calculative about every single cent in the Gu family, and how they earned a hundred thousand yuan, it was really infuriating.

"Do you want to buy one and have a try?" Yi Zichen said to Guo Xiang with a smile.

"I don't have money!" Guo Xiang shook her head.

This was the way of the world. The richer the person, the more money he earned. Those who didn't have money always struggled to make ends meet.

In Southern Hunan, Gu Zhennan had a job. He could earn nearly a thousand Yuan a year, which was enough to make everyone in the village envious. However, these people here could easily earn tens of thousands of yuan. It was really like heaven and earth. They didn't seem to live in the same world.