"A total of fifty-eight jin," after so fuss, the assistant reported a number.
"Five-eight sounds like ’prosperous’..." Even the number was auspicious, today is destined to make her rich. Hua Jin laughed with delight, a peculiar gleam passing through her eyes.
Hua Chengtian, who stood up, noticed this and then sat back down, feeling that his daughter’s smile seed a bit mysterious, as if she was holding back sothing big, so he decided to wait a little longer.
He trusted his daughter to be willing to spend a little money to buy a few stones, but if it’s hundreds of silver coins to buy a stone, then he was really at ease. The child liked to buy things but wasn’t wasteful and wouldn’t just hand over her hard-earned silver coins to others.
Thinking this, Hua Chengtian felt even more at ease and decided to wait.
Then he saw the shopkeeper take the abacus handed over by the assistant, and after a flurry of calculations, "four hundred and six taels" was reported as the amount.
This ti, Hua Jin didn’t bargain, "Do you cut stones here?" She asked instead.
"Yes, yes, yes," the shopkeeper replied quickly, this question touched his heart, and he smiled happily.
"If Miss cuts the stones here, the extra six taels can be waived for Miss."
Waiving six taels of silver in exchange for everyone watching the stone cutting process was a guaranteed win. If good material ca out, it would be even better.
"Then... thank you, shopkeeper," Hua Jin was also very satisfied, then asked her father for money, but in fact, she took out a silver note and silver from her space, added the stones from downstairs, and began the stone cutting.
To set the scene, the shopkeeper instructed the assistant to move the rough stone downstairs and, under his signal, went outside to shout, soon a lot of people gathered in the small shop, including custors from other stores, and so shopkeepers from other shops ca to join in the fun.
Everyone was enthusiastic about the stone cutting, urging the shopkeeper to hurry up.
By now, Hua Chengtian had kind of understood his daughter’s intention. The reason she pulled out so much silver must be due to so backing.
Could it be that an immortal guided his daughter? Hua Chengtian couldn’t help but think more.
The truth was just like that, his daughter appeared confident, but he couldn’t suppress his own tension inside.
After all, it wasn’t four taels or forty taels, but over four hundred taels of silver; how could he not be nervous?
The shopkeeper looked at Hua Jin, and Hua Jin gently tugged at her father’s sleeve. Realizing this, Hua Chengtian frowned and nodded, followed by the sound of chiseling the stone.
The dozens of jin of stone were neither too big nor too small, and besides, it was a careful job. The assistant was not fast.
After the ti it takes for an incense stick to burn, the outer layer was peeled away, and the stone was reduced by half.
The assistant’s movents beca even more ticulous, bit by bit stripping away the stone’s exterior, while the crowd watched intently, barely daring to breathe. Apart from the sound of stone cutting, the shop was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Then, after another half incense stick of ti, a cry of surprise from the assistant drew everyone’s attention, and they rushed a few steps forward in excitent.
"Did it reveal green? Quickly, quickly..." The shopkeeper was quite excited, urging the assistant to speed up while personally fetching water to wash the polished stone.
Hua Chengtian could no longer maintain his calm facade, moving closer excitedly, holding his daughter tightly, and his eyes firmly fixed on the assistant’s actions.
As a rush of water over the stone revealed an intense green that nearly blinded everyone’s eyes, several onlookers unconsciously moved closer, their eyes yearning to stick to that vivid green.
"It’s an erald green, dense in color, fine in texture, with vibrant, lustrous green tones—an excellent quality erald green!" Soone in the crowd, astonished, exclaid with a lens in hand, obvious excitent in their voice.
This exclamation sparked a small climax in the store, as everyone eagerly moved closer to get a clearer look. Ultimately, the shopkeeper and the assistant had to form a human wall to contain the crowd’s enthusiasm slightly.
The shopkeeper, at this mont, was so excited that even his hands and feet were trembling. To think their shop actually uncovered erald green—it was a huge surprise, the best jade material he had ever sourced since opening the shop.
The shopkeeper never dreamt that his words would beco a prophecy. He initially encouraged the young girl to try stone cutting just to boost the shop’s popularity, hoping soone might buy a few stones in high spirits, allowing him to earn more silver.
But this surprise was too significant, leaving the shopkeeper almost dizzy with joy, unable to close his mouth. If it weren’t for maintaining the shop’s order, he’d want to handle it personally.
The stone-cutting assistant was also stunned, then beca even more careful and detailed in polishing the stone, fearing even the slightest damage to the jade material.
As more and more gleaming green jade material erged, the crowd’s enthusiasm grew even higher. Amid the noise, Hua Chengtian was montarily stunned with joy, looking foolishly at his daughter before placing his gaze back on the jade being cut, his mouth curving upwards into a bigger and bigger smile, until his narrow eyes beca slits.
He just knew... he knew his daughter had so backing, and this was proof.
It made no sense that his daughter would spend so much silver just to buy one stone, and it was fortunate he kept calm, or else... um... or else his daughter would have had to buy more.
Hua Chengtian was genuinely excited, especially seeing the excited crowd. It didn’t matter how big this piece of jade called erald green turned out to be. Just the crowd’s excitent told Hua Chengtian his daughter’s spent silver was steadily earned back.
Seeing his composed daughter, Hua Chengtian couldn’t help but feel proud.
"I’ll offer two hundred taels," amid the excitent, Hua Chengtian heard soone in the crowd shouting, followed swiftly by mocking laughter.
"Two hundred taels, and you dare shout it out loud? That’s not even enough for the material cost," a middle-aged man in an ink-colored robe sneered.
Many people nodded in agreent, especially buyers familiar with the market prices, knowing how much this large rough stone is worth—at least several hundred taels. The person calling thought others were fools, leading to even more disdainful glances directed at a shifty-looking man in the corner.
"I’ll offer eight hundred taels," the ink-colored robe spoke again. "Brother..." He looked at Hua Chengtian with a full smile, showing no contempt despite Hua Chengtian’s ordinary clothes, "Eight hundred taels is no small amount. Although it appears to be erald green now, no one knows for sure what it may turn out to be next. There’s a good chance for skin green, too. Eight hundred taels, you definitely won’t lose out, brother. Perhaps you should consider it."
Eight hundred taels was indeed not a small amount. Hua Chengtian’s eyes flickered, but looking at his still calm daughter, he shook his head.
"Brother..." The ink-colored robe tried to persuade further but was interrupted by a voice.
"I’ll offer one thousand taels," a senior in dark clothes, who hurried over after hearing the news, called out the three words, "one thousand taels," as he walked in.
His eyes shone with excitent, focusing solely on the rough stone being cut among the crowd—the rarity of erald green was such that it hadn’t been seen for a long ti, making it worth the gamble.
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