Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 139: Chapter 136 Scrap Cutting Increase

“The stone cutting machine is over there, and there’s water from the well here, you can use it as you please.”

As for what the raw stone material that Huo Sining wanted to cut looked like, the owner didn’t bother to look closely.

First, he needed to attend to the business at the front of the shop and didn’t have the leisure to care;

Second, he saw that both Huo Sining and Bai Yishan were novices and thought the probability of their gambling on the rise was too small; watching the two women perform stone gambling wasn’t very interesting, knowing they would likely cut it wrong. By hanging around, he would only be a nuisance; better to keep an eye on the shopfront.

Although the owner didn’t seem like a mean-spirited person, it was necessary to be cautious. Huo Sining and Bai Yishan were both fragile young women—if the stone’s value increased once they began cutting and the owner saw it, if he became greedy, they certainly wouldn’t be able to overpower him.

So, seeing that the owner had left the yard, Huo Sining actually breathed a sigh of relief.

A 1000-watt light was on in the yard, brightly illuminating the area. Huo Sining turned on the switch of the stone cutting machine, and the machine started whirring rapidly.

Huo Sining gave Bai Yishan a mysterious smile, “Watch me perform a bit of magic for you!”

As she spoke, she opened the backpack she was carrying and took out a piece of waste material with green moss, then placed the raw stone on the stone cutting machine.

Huo Sining had only seen a few masters perform stone cutting in the daytime on Pingzhou Jade Street; this was her first time standing in front of a stone cutting machine herself.

While it was true that she only needed to cut the skin of the raw stone, Huo Sining was still somewhat nervous, afraid that a hasty cut would damage the stone, resulting in her movements being a bit shaky and unskilled.

Since she was unsure how deep the mossy green penetrated, Huo Sining dared only to cut a little at a time.

She drew a thin line on the stone, and after making sure several times, she cautiously moved the stone under the grinding wheel, gripping one side of the stone tightly with both hands, eyes wide and focused intently on the white line on the stone.

The grinding wheel rolled along the cut line, stone chips flying, and a thin slice of stone fell off.

Seeing that her first cut hadn’t gone awry, Huo Sining instantly relaxed.

The stone in Huo Sining’s hand was not heavy, and with the sharpness of the saw blade of the stone cutting machine, she didn’t find the task too strenuous.

The cut surface was still densely dotted with black spots. Huo Sining smiled faintly and wasn’t discouraged.

Once bitten, twice shy, the second cut she made was much smoother.

Bai Yishan, standing beside her, was watching Huo Sining’s movements closely. Huo Sining made three cuts in succession, but embedded within the green were black specks of moss, and the deeper she cut, the more the moss flourished, eventually engulfing all the green.

Bai Yishan’s look became complicated, her heart unsure whether it was disappointment or some other emotion.

Huo Sining’s judgement was completely wrong; this raw stone was just mossy green material that had already been given up on—where was the chance for a rise in value? She couldn’t understand where that inexplicable confidence of Huo Sining came from.

Huo Sining saw the change in Bai Yishan’s expression but remained calm and didn’t stop her actions because of the black moss.

Her movements became smoother and as she made each cut, the skin of the stone peeled away like layers of a rotten onion, the black moss becoming denser at first but gradually starting to decrease, and the quality of the jade improving.

By the time a section about two inches wide had been cut from the rock, the dark moss on the surface abruptly stopped, and the shocking black spots were gone.

A bright emerald green color shone through.

On that new cut surface emerged a piece of jade flesh as big as two palms, brimming with greenness, as vibrant and lush as the greenery of spring.

Although Huo Sining didn’t understand how to assess the quality and translucence of the ‘type’ and ‘head’ of the jade, she was certain that the jadeite inside was of a higher grade than the egg-white kind revealed when the rough stone was first windowed. However, as to what level of water and type it reached, Huo Sining couldn’t determine.

Such results were astonishing. Bai Yishan, standing beside her, had already been stunned into a daze. She couldn’t help but gape, her eyes wide and mouth agape, disbelievingly staring at the freshly exposed jadeite.

“Sister Yishan, go get a basin of clean water.” Seeing Bai Yishan still frozen in shock, Huo Sining found it amusing and quickly instructed her.

“Oh.” Bai Yishan responded mechanically, her eyes still glued to the rough stone as if her limbs had stopped obeying her. After several seconds, she finally snapped out of it, a beat too slow, “What did you just ask me to do?”

Huo Sining felt a vein pop in frustration: “Clean water.”

“Oh, right, clean water.” Bai Yishan gave an embarrassed smile and scurried over to a tap, filled a basin with water in a fluster, and hurried back.

Fearing the other buyers who had been selecting rough stones might come in at any moment, Huo Sining decided to make it quick.

With the moss already cut away, the entire jade flesh was exposed on the rough stone, and continuing to cut along the edges of the jade flesh wouldn’t be a problem.

Now was not the time for meticulous work. Huo Sining’s movements were swift. With her actions, the rough stone was like an apple being peeled of its thick skin, revealing the tender flesh within.

The fresh greenness assaulted the senses as if carrying a faint, vague touch of coolness that made one feel refreshed by merely looking at it.

But at this moment, Huo Sining could not afford to examine it closely and instead hastened her work, quickly removing the majority of the skin.

Although there were still some rough edges and bits of stone skin that had not been polished off the jadeite, Huo Sining didn’t plan to continue refining it.

She placed the cut jadeite in the water basin to rinse off the fine sand on its surface, and without a second glance, quickly stuffed the stone into her backpack.

Bai Yishan understood her intentions, and even in her excitement, dared not show it on her face.

The two cleaned up the stone chips on their bodies and had not even started dealing with the cut waste stones when they heard footsteps. Two men, each holding a rough stone, walked in from the front shop.

Huo Sining thought to herself how close the call was. She gave Bai Yishan a look, and the two simultaneously dropped their faces, feigning the despair of having a cut collapse, looking heartbroken and dejected.

When the two men initially saw two women standing in the yard, their steps involuntarily paused. Seeing the expressions on Huo Sining and Bai Yishan’s faces, they couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s wrong with the two of you? Why such expressions? Did you cut something out?” one of the men curiously asked.

Huo Sining pulled a smile that was uglier than crying: “The jadeite we cut did reach the egg-white type, but bad luck, it was full of black moss. A good piece of jadeite, all ruined by this moss!”

Huo Sining’s words, of course, sounded very sincere. Besides, the pile of shredded stone next to the stone cutting machine could serve as proof, as anyone with eyes could see that the scattered debris was affected by the moss.