The updates are the fastest on the web. At this time, some people had already heard Gong Zhimin's cries and all surrounded him. There were a few people who were from Nan Yun City's Jade Carving Workshop, who came here to collect jade materials. They surrounded the cut surface and looked at it before someone made an offer: "I'll give you 800 taels of silver for this raw stone, will you sell?"

  "Not for sale." Gong Zhimin flatly refused. He had been gambling on jade for so long, and although he had made some small gains recently, the jade material he had won was basically worthless. Where had he ever seen such good color and pure quality jade material? Moreover, if this piece of jade material were a bit larger, it could be sold for one or two thousand taels of silver, not to mention making up for the money he had lost in the previous period, but also making a big profit. He naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity. Besides, his addiction was acting up, and at this moment, he had some of the intoxicating feeling that wasn't about the wine, but about the thrill of the gamble. It would be hard to get him to stop now!

  "Come, cut another line from here." He suppressed his excitement and picked up the brush to draw a line on the stone.

  Seeing his resolute attitude, the other bosses had no choice but to shut their mouths and watch him continue to decipher the stone.

  Two stonemasons picked up their saws and sat down beside the grinding machine, again exerting themselves to pull the saw.

  "Whoosh..." The stone shell fell off. Gong Zhimin didn't wait for Master Shi to get down from the anvil, picked up a basin of water and splashed it over, then stretched his neck to look at the stone.

  "What's going on? Is it still rising?" Yang Jianxiu's mood was not much calmer than Gong Zhimin's. He had finally managed to drag Gong Zhimin here to gamble on the stone, and if he let him win big, he would have died of frustration.

  "This time, it was Gong Zhimin's turn to be disheartened. The cut, unexpectedly, was a vast expanse of white stone."

  "Ah." Yang Jian let out a sigh of relief.

  The bosses who were buying jade materials next to them also sighed regretfully. No matter what, they still hoped that more jade materials would come out, so they could have the opportunity to buy some. The one who had first quoted a price walked forward, carefully examined the stone, and continued: "It's still eight hundred taels of silver, will you sell or not? Although it's not much, you can also make a profit of two hundred taels of silver, avoid risk, and that's not bad, what do you say?"

  "Cut, keep cutting, I don't believe this jade material is just that little bit. From here, cut again." Gong Zhimin refused without hesitation, picked up the pen and drew another line.

  The chopper sounded again. This knife still disappointed Gong Zhimin, and he couldn't cut out the jade material. After discussing for a while, the boss who bought the jade said, "Four hundred taels of silver, this half-gambling material is sold to me, how about it?"

  This time, Gong Zhimin hesitated. He spent 600 taels of silver on this raw stone, and if he sold it for 400 taels, the most he would lose was 200 taels, which was within his acceptable range. But if this stone was just a thin piece of green, only that small part where he had just cut it out, except for a few ring faces, nothing could be made from it, and it would only be worth tens or hundreds of taels of silver. In that case, he would lose 500 taels of silver. Losing 500 taels and losing 200 taels made an essential difference to him, who was poor enough to have pawned things to get by.

  Sell or not sell?

  Ye Zhuo stood aside, originally just coldly watching them struggle. This raw stone, although not knowing the general situation inside. But based on her intuition, the jade material inside is likely to sell for around 1,000 to 2,000 silver coins. The two stones of Yan Qingchun and Yang Jianxiu also have jade material, but the quality of the jade material is not as good as this one, probably between 200-300 silver coins. She did this, first to lengthen the line and catch big fish, give Gong Zhimin and Yan Qingchun a little sweetness to eat, so that they would sink deeper and deeper, and finally give them a heavy blow; secondly, to prevent Yang Jianxiu from being sent by the Xie family to test her. She was not afraid that after this time, Yang Jianxiu would not bring her out again next time, and could not use her skills to set up a trap for Yan Qingchun and Gong Zhimin. Now Gong Zhimin had gambled and won big, and would definitely go upstairs again soon. At that time, he would be made to lose so badly that he would have to sell his ancestral property.

  But at this time, seeing Gong Zhimin hesitating, she couldn't stand still by his side. This would make Gong Zhimin sell the original stone for 400 taels of silver, and then he would either stop gambling or continue to mess around here. And Yang Jianxiu was no longer willing to believe her, and when the time came, if they gambled again, it would be beyond her control.

  She hesitated for a moment, walked to Yang Jian's side, and was about to speak when she saw Du Haoran, who had been standing aside with his arms crossed, suddenly walk over to the machine and glance at the green cut on it.

  Gong Zhimin seemed to have grasped a lifeline, his eyes wide open as he asked: "Young Master Du, do you think this stone is still worth betting on?" He didn't even consider that if Du Haoran said it wasn't worth betting on anymore, this raw stone might not be worth 400 taels of silver.

  Everyone thought that Du Haoran would shirk and not give Gong Zhimin a clear answer. After all, "even gods can't tell if there's jade in an inch of stone", whether there is jade material inside or how much, even gods can't be sure. Moreover, those bosses who bought jade materials knew Du Haoran's personality well, they had been staying in Nie's building for many years and knew that this young master Du was even more arrogant than young master Nie. No matter how big an official came to gamble on stones, wanting to ask if there was jade material in the raw stone, he wouldn't even bother to respond. If he were to consider Nie Bowen's face and didn't want to make things difficult for him, he would just laugh it off and pass by, never having helped anyone gamble on stones before.

  But unexpectedly, Du Haoran's performance this time made them see a different side of him. He stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "Let's cut a few more knives." As he spoke, he picked up the brush and drew a line on the stone, "Cut from here."

  This move not only gave Gong Zhimin a glimmer of hope, but also made Yan Qingchun's heart bloom. This Du Gongzi had studied Du Haoran's information before coming because he had been with Nie Bowen for many years, and knew that he never helped people gamble on stones, but this time he broke the rules and helped Gong Zhimin make a decision, did it mean that Du Haoran looked at them in a different way?

  "What's going on?" Yang Jianxiu was somewhat bewildered. As a person from Nanyun City, he naturally knew Du Haoran's temperament. But what's going on now, Du Haoran actually came to help Gong Zhimin gamble with stones, who can tell him what's really going on?

  Ye Zhuo stood beside him, her eyes fixed on Du Haoran, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She was also extremely puzzled as to why Du Haoran had come to intervene in this matter. Even if he could see that there was jade material in the stone, even if he knew she was disguising herself as a man and coming to scheme against Gong Zhimin, what need did he have to get involved? Was it to give her a warning? But wasn't she clearly letting Gong Zhimin win rather than lose?

  Unfortunately, Du Haoran finished drawing the line and stood aside with his arms crossed, his eyes not even looking in her direction.

  Gong Zhimin was like a man who had been injected with chicken blood, his spirit soaring as he waved his arms and gestured to the lines drawn by Du Haoran: "Good, cut it here."

  Master Shi didn't need to say anything, he had already directly placed the saw blade on that line. Others didn't know, did they not know about Du Gongzi's skills? The people of Nie family building secretly passed down a phrase: "Du Gongzi just stretches out his hand and knows whether there is or isn't." Whether there was jade material in the stone or not, it couldn't escape Du Gongzi's eyes. Otherwise, why would the father and son of Nie family be so eager to please an ordinary citizen? That official from Nanshan County who didn't know how many blessings he had accumulated could get a hint from Du Gongzi, yet he dared to refuse?

  "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." After a sound that made people's teeth ache, the stone shell was stripped from the saw blade. Gong Zhimin didn't want anyone to move at this time, and he personally poured a basin of water on it. A bright green color appeared on that cut surface.

  "It's out, it's out..." His voice was trembling with excitement as he turned around and gazed at Du Haoran with fervent eyes, as if looking at a god he worshipped. "Young Master Du, it's out."

  "Hmm." Du Haoran responded coldly and turned around, leaving without even saying goodbye.

  "Wait for me." Nie Weiyue looked at Gong Zhimin with a puzzled expression, then turned around to chase after Du Haoran.

  "This is..." Everyone stared blankly at their backs disappearing out the door, bewildered. Just now, Master Du had warmly extended his hand to help this minor official surnamed Gong, so why did he suddenly change his face and leave with such coldness?

  "That... I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Gong Zhimin nervously looked at Yan Qingchun.

  Yan Qingchun was also bewildered. After Du Haoran left, he carefully thought about his words and actions just now, but really couldn't figure out where he had offended Young Master Du.

  "It's said that Du Gongzi has a strange temper, even Nie Gongzi gives him three points of face. You're already extremely lucky to get his guidance on one move, don't think too much about it." He could only comfort Gong Zhimin like this.

  Gong Zhimin nodded vigorously and threw the little confusion far away, delightedly leaning over to look at that lush green cross-section.

  Those bosses also reacted and rushed to look at the cut surface. Whether Gong Zhimin offended Du Haoran or not was none of their business, as long as they could get jade in the future.

  "Good heavens, Master Du is indeed formidable! With just one glance, he knew whether there was jade inside the stone or not. And look at this line - how precise it is! If it were drawn out a bit more, this piece of jade would have lost several dozen taels of silver. Now, it's just right, with the jade material and the stone shell separating exactly on that line, as if Master Du could see through the stone itself."

  "That's natural, didn't you see how much importance Nie Lao Ye and Nie Gong Zi attach to Du Gong Zi? If he wasn't capable, how could he have received such treatment? He can even find jade mines buried deep in the earth, let alone a gambling stone?"

  "Governor Gong, this raw jade, I'll give you 1,000 taels of silver for it." Someone quickly spoke up with an offer. Du Gongzi thought the raw jade was good and the jade material inside must be excellent. Buying it for 1,000 taels of silver would definitely bring a huge profit.

  (Two hours later, there is still one more chapter. Thank you to Yōu Hán Tàizhī and Wǒ Shì Nāngnāngtóu for the New Year's red envelope reward! Thanks also to Lily1012 for the pink vote!)

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