By now, there was only an hour left until the ti Vera Xavier and Susan Caldwell had agreed upon. She needed to buy all the raw stones she had her eye on.
The raw stone that had been used as a stool had been in the shop for a long ti, and its exterior looked terrible, so Vera Xavier bought it for a very low price. In contrast, the one containing Yellow Jade was a bit more expensive.
After buying the raw stones, she had the shop owner send them to the main service desk to be cut by the market’s staff.
She paid for her purchases as she walked back. She knew the success rate for high-quality jade from the stones she’d picked was too high, which would be too conspicuous. So, as she bought more stones, she deliberately picked so duds that had nothing inside and placed them on the very outside of her pile.
By the ti she finished, Jack Judd still hadn’t returned, and it was now only ten minutes until the agreed-upon ti of five o’clock.
She figured there was no way a grown man like Jack Judd could get lost, so she couldn’t be bothered with him.
The main service desk was located at the very back of the market. The stone-cutting room was in the innermost part of the service desk area. Since cutting stones is incredibly loud, they were afraid of disturbing other custors. Therefore, the cutting room was sealed and soundproofed. People outside couldn’t hear the cutting, and because it was sealed, no light could escape from within either.
It was almost closing ti, so no one else was there to have stones cut. The entire hall was empty except for Vera Xavier’s and Susan Caldwell’s groups, the market staff, the appraisers Susan had hired, and Alistair Forrest, who had co to watch the spectacle.
When Susan Caldwell and her group saw the huge pile of stones Vera Xavier had bought, most of which looked to be of rather poor quality, she started to laugh. Having learned a fair bit about jade gambling from her jade consultant today, she looked at Vera’s pile and sneered, "Are you planning on eating all of these stones?"
Vera Xavier glanced at Susan’s side, where only a few stones were piled up. Most of them had "python-skin" patterns and were quite large and extrely expensive.
Vera Xavier smiled faintly. "There’s no way every single one of your stones will contain jade. As long as one of them is a dud, you won’t be able to finish eating them all either. You didn’t dare to buy more raw stones... Are you afraid of ?"
"That’s ridiculous!" Skylar Crowe shouted. "Why would Susan be afraid of you? We’ll make you eat stones until you cry!"
Alistair Forrest had heard that two groups were having a jade duel. He was the type who loved to stir up trouble. Moreover, the raw stones his own team of experts had purchased today had yielded disappointing results. He still had a large part of his procurent quota to fill, and Marinus was waiting anxiously for him to bring the jade back.
So, he ca over to see if he might be able to buy so more high-quality jade.
He was a bit stunned when he saw Vera Xavier. He never would have imagined that she would actually be involved in a jade duel!
And when he saw the pile of completely unremarkable raw stones behind her, which showed no trace of jadeite, he couldn’t help but rub his temples.
He had overheard her conversation with Jack Judd and the others that morning and already knew she was an amateur.
Now, seeing the stones she had bought, he was even more certain of his judgnt. He didn’t know her identity or background, but seeing her buy things so blindly, he guessed she was probably the spoiled daughter of so nouveau riche family. This way of buying was a complete waste of money!
The chances of cutting jade from stones of this quality were minuscule.
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