The Jade Carving Master didn’t say much and started cutting through a piece of stone.
Jade carving refers to the removal of the outer layer of stone skin to reveal the jade beneath; this is a highly skilled task that requires a wealth of experience, especially since in this era there aren’t as many precision instrunts as in later tis. It all relies on a thin rope, the material of which is indiscernible, but it must be incredibly tough. Then, by turning it by hand, the rope is brought into high-speed rotation, becoming as sharp as a blade.
Yang Ruxin watched excitedly, admiring the truly remarkable talents of ancient craftsn.
Gao Dazhuang’s nervousness was evident as the veins on his neck popped out.
Unfortunately, the first cut revealed nothing but whiteness, and the second cut was still just as white.
Around them, a sigh of disappointnt was heard.
When the second stone was placed, it was the sa result: cutting it in any direction yielded only whiteness.
Gao Dazhuang sighed; though it was the young lady who had asked him to bet, the thought of actually losing so much silver made him feel uneasy.
Yang Ruxin, however, said nothing and instructed the master to start cutting the stone she had chosen.
The first to be carved was the smaller piece, and with one cut, it drew a gasp from the crowd: green had appeared.
Gao Dazhuang suddenly widened his eyes in astonishnt at Yang Ruxin, but found that the young mistress was incredibly calm, as if she had expected this all along, which made him respect her imnsely.
Although only one side was opened, the quality of the jade revealed was very good, almost achieving an all-green effect.
"I bid fifty taels," soone in the crowd called out.
"I bid eighty taels," another person raised the offer.
But the bidding stopped after reaching one hundred taels, after all, only one side had been opened. It was still a gamble at this point, as it would be good if green continued to appear, but there was also the risk that after the initial green layer, there might be nothing left, just a thin layer - any higher bid would then be a loss.
Even though green had appeared, the rest remained a gamble. At this point, if soone made an offer, selling it would transfer the risk. Of course, it could also transfer the potential for high returns.
The Jade Carving Master looked at Yang Ruxin, waiting, not continuing to cut.
"Continue," said Yang Ruxin unswervingly, pointing to the stone, "just peel half a knuckle’s thickness." Money was not a concern for her; although she could not bring out much money from her space in a legitimate way, living comfortably was still easy for her. Moreover, knowing there was still material inside, she would not sell it; once completely carved, its value would double, and if crafted into an object, its worth would rise even higher.
The onlookers began to discuss amongst themselves. So said that Yang Ruxin was a fearless novice, so called her foolish, and there were even those who urged her to sell, arguing that a hundred taels of silver could buy many flowers to wear.
Yang Ruxin simply smiled without saying a word.
The Jade Carving Master continued his work, really peeling away just half a knuckle’s thickness of stone skin as Yang Ruxin had directed. Each cut brought gasps from the crowd, and eventually, a jadeite the size of a goose egg was unveiled.
Yang Ruxin didn’t know much, but from the exclamations of the surrounding people, she could tell that this was an Ice-type jadeite, specifically an Ice-type float flower jadeite - a semi-transparent jadeite with so darker colored, cotton-like inclusions inside that looked like snowflakes.
People around started bidding again, this ti going up to one thousand five hundred taels. For a piece of raw material of such size, this price was already quite high.
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