This is one of the pink spinel raw stones that Li Xiu found last ti. When it was offered to the Pink Nightmare, perhaps due to its small size and many impurities, the Pink Nightmare didn’t consu it.
There were originally five of such pink spinel raw stones, with each raw stone being just over a carat. Once cut and polished, the remaining part would be less than a carat.
The old man’s eyes lit up when he saw the pink spinel raw stone, but his face showed a sowhat troubled expression as he said, "Such a small raw stone; what gemstone is this raw stone of?"
"Spinel," Li Xiu replied.
Seeing that Li Xiu knew what this raw stone was, the old man continued, "Spinel is a good thing, but this raw stone is too small. After cutting and polishing, it might only be about 0.5 carats. It’s not very suitable to trade for my topaz. Well, let take a look first."
The old man took the spinel raw stone from Li Xiu’s hand, brought it close to his eyes, and looked it over carefully, feeling happier the more he looked at it.
Although this spinel raw stone was not large, its color and quality were quite good. If cut well, it could yield about 0.7 to 0.8 carats. While its value might not be very high, it’s much more valuable than his topaz.
The uses for spinel far exceed those for topaz, yet its production is much less than that of topaz.
"It looks pretty good, but trading such a small spinel raw stone for my large natural London blue topaz would be a big loss for . Do you have any more such raw stones? Give another one, and I’ll trade with you." The old man had a reluctant look on his face, but his eyes, which seed like hooks, glanced directly at Li Xiu’s pockets.
Li Xiu was about to say sothing when he heard a person next to him say, "If you won’t trade, I will."’
Li Xiu turned his head to see a young man about twenty years old, quite handso, perhaps a bit too handso, with very fair skin and delicate features. Standing over 180 centiters tall, his body proportions were very good, and his long legs were quite striking.
Seeing Li Xiu looking at him, the young man nodded and smiled at Li Xiu, then said, "I also have London blue topaz. If you’re interested, you can co to my side and take a look. You can choose from several teardrop blue topazes that are over a dozen carats. I only want this spinel raw stone."
The old man, upon hearing the young man’s words, did not get angry or react, but instead said to Li Xiu with a sarcastic tone, "Young brother, there are all kinds of people nowadays. Be careful not to be taken in by a small gain and end up with a big loss. If sothing goes wrong, don’t bla for not warning you."
The young man was clearly still a bit inexperienced. Hearing the old man’s words, his face changed imdiately, and he seed to want to say sothing to the old man.
Li Xiu stopped the young man and smiled at the old man, saying, "Sir, since I spoke with you first, of course, I’ll prioritize trading with you. If you won’t trade, then I’ll consider others."
"Alright, since you seem like a good person, I’ll treat it as a good deed for the day and prevent anyone from being deceived by a bad person without knowing what’s happening." The old man intentionally glanced at the young man as he spoke.
This was not even an insinuation; he was outright saying the young man was a scamr trying to hoodwink Li Xiu.
"Who are you calling a scamr?" The young man was both angry and anxious, but he didn’t make a move against the old man and couldn’t find the words to retort at the mont.
"Thank you, sir." Li Xiu smiled, accepting the blue topaz handed over by the old man.
"You’ll regret trading with him." The young man was so angry that he stomped his foot. Seeing that Li Xiu had already traded, he turned and left, frustrated.
But Li Xiu grabbed his arm, put away the blue topaz, and smiled at the young man, saying, "Brother, don’t rush off. How about joining for a cup of tea?"
"You have already traded; what’s the point of tea now?" The young man was unhappy, but he didn’t shake off Li Xiu’s hand holding him.
"Let’s chat over tea." Li Xiu spotted a tea stall not far to the left and led the young man over, ordered a pot of tea, and sat down.
"Thank you for your patronage. Co again when you have more raw stones, I’ll give you a discount next ti," the old man said gleefully to Li Xiu as he stowed away the spinel raw stone.
"Thank you." Li Xiu’s words irritated the young man even more.
"Two rookies; the old man gave them a lesson, a bit of tuition money is nothing." The old man smugly pulled out the pink spinel raw stone and looked at it, touching and admiring it, unable to part with it.
"If you didn’t believe , why did you bring here?" The young man was still disgruntled after sitting down.
"I do believe you," Li Xiu smiled.
"If you believed , why did you trade with him?" The young man thought Li Xiu was just giving him lip service.
"Don’t rush; take a sip of tea, and I’ll explain slowly." Li Xiu poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of the young man.
"What do you an?" The young man, though a bit impulsive, was not stupid and sensed there was more to Li Xiu’s words.
After taking a sip of tea, Li Xiu put the cup down, took the topaz from his pocket, and placed it on the table in front of the young man.
"Look at this gemstone more carefully," Li Xiu smiled.
"What’s there to see? Isn’t it just a topaz?" The young man seed puzzled but still picked up the gemstone, examining it closely.
The teardrop-shaped blue gemstone had a great luster, finely cut; from different angles, you could see impressive fire.
"This gemstone... seems..." As he looked, the young man seed to notice sothing, and his expression began to change.
"Seems like what?" Li Xiu asked with a sip of tea, smiling.
"Isn’t this topaz?" The young man looked at Li Xiu uncertainly.
"What do you think it is?" Li Xiu continued to ask.
After close inspection, the young man looked at Li Xiu sowhat unsurely and said, "Could this be an aquamarine... with such a color... if it’s aquamarine, it would have to be Santa Maria color... but this color is slightly different from the Santa Maria aquamarine."
Li Xiu remained silent with a smile. He knew it certainly wasn’t dyed topaz, but he also didn’t know what the gemstone was exactly, so he let the young man see for himself.
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