"Thank you, young master. What good stones have you encountered today?" Seeing Xie Yunfeng's followers carrying two stones in, the people watching the stone appreciation ceremony all came forward to greet him.

  A stout middle-aged man said: "Thank you, young master. Today can be considered a good day. The stone you solved, if it's of ordinary quality, let us few buy it."

  "Yes indeed, thank you, young master, today we're relying on you." The tall and thin old man beside him chimed in.

  Xie Yunfeng apparently knew them well and smiled at the fat man: "What's wrong, Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhao? Didn't you receive the jade material today?"

  "Hey, don't mention it. Today, several people came to carve stones, but none of them produced a single piece of jade. If I collect more jade materials, the workers in my workshop will have nothing to do." The plump Xu boss said with a smile all over his face, "So now we're counting on this stone from Mr. Xie."

  Ye Zhuo listened to their conversation, and her heart moved. Because the Ye family also had a jade carving workshop, and there was a small shop on this street, she knew something about what these people were saying.

  If it's said that the Nanyun City and Nanshan Town's jade carving families are on the same level, then the Nie family is at the very top of the pyramid. Since the mining rights of the jade mine here are all controlled by the Nie family, the jade stones excavated are all selected by the Nie family first. They have the largest jade carving workshop and the most top-notch jade carving masters. The high-end jade carving business is in the hands of the Nie family.

  There are some families who have a connection with the Nie family, which is the second-level family. They buy the remaining rough stones from the Nie family. Although these rough stones have a lower probability of producing top-grade jade material, they still produce a considerable amount of mid-to-high grade jade material.

  Xie's family and Wang's family from earlier are both third-level families.

  People like Xu Laoban are at the bottom of the pyramid. The original stones have been selected layer by layer, and the jade content is already very low. If Xu Laoban and his peers buy the original stones directly, it's not cost-effective, and they're all small jade carving workshops with limited financial resources. So their jade material source is to purchase from those gamblers. This way, although they don't make much money, at least the risk is not that great.

  Ye Yuzhang's workshop is of the same nature as Xu Laoban's.

  So this is also the reason why Xie Yunfeng wants to make friends with Nie Bowen and Ye Jiaming, and regards Gongshi as a treasure. If they can establish a relationship with the Nie family, even if the Nie family only slightly loosens their grip, it will be enough for them to eat and drink well.

  Of course, these are not what Ye Zhuo is concerned about. What she cares about is the existence of Xu Lao and his people. With them, if her stone really produces jade, selling it on the spot would be the best outcome. Otherwise, she can't just go around asking people if they want her jade material, right?

  Xie Yunfeng chatted with Mr. Xu for a few words, then turned his head and asked Ye Zhuo: "Miss Ye, is your original stone solved now?"

  "En, let's go." Ye Zhuo nodded.

  Xu Laoban and others saw Ye Zhuo, and smiled at Xie Yunfeng with deep meaning. However, when they saw the stone brought over by the attendant, they immediately lost interest. Such a stone, where can jade come from? It seems that Young Master Xie is just using a worthless stone to tease the little girl.

  "Yuan Shu, come and help with this stone." Xie Yunfeng called out, then explained to Ye Zhuo, "Yuan Shu is the best stonemason in our area." Because they had just removed a stone from the front, he was worried that Ye Zhuo might have some ideas, so he decided to switch to a different stonemason.

  Ye Zhuo nodded slightly towards the middle-aged man who was walking over: "Thanks, Uncle Yuan."

  "No need to be polite, miss." Mr. Yuan did not gloss over the matter just because the stone was of poor quality. He examined the stone carefully and asked, "Miss, are you going to let me handle this stone completely or would you like me to follow your instructions?"

  "You untie it." Ye Zhuo didn't know how to untie the stone knot.

  Yuan Shu remained silent, and together with another person, they placed the stone on the wooden frame and began to decipher it. Meanwhile, Xu Laoban's people stood aside chatting, completely ignoring the stone being deciphered.

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble..." After a burst of noise, one end of the stone was separated from the stone as if the lid had been lifted.

  "What? Am I seeing things?" Uncle Yuan rubbed his eyes, looking at the cut surface again, and called out to a young man beside him, "Wang Fu, hurry up and fetch some water."

  "Oh." Wang Fu heard this and quickly went to fetch a basin of water, which he poured onto the stone.

  "What's wrong, is there jade?" Xie Yunfeng saw Yuan Shu's expression and hastily approached him.

  Xu Lao Ban and the others heard this, "Whoosh" stood up in unison, all surrounded, stretched their heads to look at that stone-filled section. Only to see that after being watered, a bright green hue appeared on the surface.

  "Yè gūniáng, didn't expect you to have such good luck today. This stone has actually turned green." Xié Yúntíng's expression was somewhat embarrassed. After all, just now in that store, he had boasted and talked big about this stone, saying it wasn't worth a single penny.

  "Yes, good luck." Ye Zhuo looked at that green and smiled, nodding. Even though she was usually calm, she couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled in her heart. This stone had jade in it, did that mean that her feeling just now was correct? In other words, could she really sense the existence of jade?

  "The bean is green and the water head isn't very good." Old Xu looked at the cut surface, turned his head around, "Miss, if you're willing, I'll give ten taels of silver to buy this half-open rough stone from you."

  Xie Yunfeng feared that Old Master Xu would open up the remaining part, and Ye Zhuo felt that he had been taken advantage of, so he quickly explained: "Because some stones only have a thin layer of jade on the cutting surface, but not elsewhere. So some people will sell the original stone after opening a skylight, which is also a way to avoid risk. However, it's also possible that there's more and better jade material inside the stone, and once it's opened up, it can be sold for a higher price. It's up to you to decide whether to sell the half-opened original stone or fully open it up."

  Although Ye Zhuo didn't have much money on hand, ten taels of silver was nothing to sneeze at. Now she was more concerned with how much jade this stone could produce. So without hesitation, she said directly: "Open it all up."

  "Alright." Yuan Shu heard this and changed the direction of the stone, continuing to decipher it.

  When that piece of stone shell was cut open, everyone stretched their heads to take a look and exclaimed: "Ah, jade is coming out again."

  "Twenty taels, twenty taels of silver, miss, sell this stone to me." Another boss called out.

  Twenty taels? Ye Zhuo's heart was indeed moved. With these twenty taels of silver, she could buy the stone that felt the strongest in the shop and once again verify her feelings. If this feeling was correct, then the jade in that piece of stone should be even more valuable.

  She raised her eyes, just about to respond, when she suddenly saw Xie Yunfeng's gaze cast over, her heart skipped a beat, and she shook her head saying: "Continue."

  Her intuition was right or wrong, just by opening up the stone that Xie Yunteng had would tell. And that piece of stone with a strong feeling, no matter what, couldn't be bought again today. Opening up one piece of jade material is luck; opening up two pieces of jade material in a row, and it's not something that can be explained by luck. There are many people here, and Xu Lao Ban and others might even know Ye Yuzhang. If Ye Yuzhang knew how good she was at gambling on stones, wanting to leave the Ye family's second house would be a luxury.

  Jian Ye Zhuo's mind was made up, and Old Master Xu and the others stopped bidding. It wasn't until all the rough stones were cut open that a piece of bean-green jade material weighing over half a catty was placed in front of them. Only then did they start bidding again: "Thirty taels."

  "Thirty-five taels."

  Finally, Ye Zhuo sold the jade material to the boss surnamed Zhao for thirty-seven taels.

  She couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder as she took the silver note. This money, it's really easy to make! In just half an hour, three coins became thirty-seven taels.

  The boss who didn't buy Ye Zhuo's jade material wasn't bothered, and directly cast his gaze on Xie Yunfeng's stone. That stone was much larger in volume than Ye Zhuo's, and its performance was excellent, with a high possibility of producing good jade.

  Yuan Shu carefully examined the stone, and it was clear that he was more meticulous. After studying it with Xie Yunteng for half a day, he used charcoal to carefully draw lines before starting to decipher the stone.

  "Whoosh..." A piece of stone skin was cut open, and Wang Fu didn't need to be called this time. He had already prepared a bucket of clear water and poured it on.

  Everyone hastily stretched their heads over to take a look at the cut surface. But what they saw was still a vast expanse of white stone, without even a hint of jade in sight.

  "Cut again." The first cut didn't produce jade, making Xie Yunfeng feel very embarrassed. He gritted his teeth and changed the position of the stone, gesturing to Yuan Shu to pull the saw.

  With a "crack", the stone was split open on another side, but what made everyone sigh was that inside it was still just white stones.

  "Continue." Xie Yunfeng's face turned even darker. Just now, he was still boasting in front of Ye Zhuo, saying how good the stone he chose was and how bad hers was. Now, it was simply a slap in the face!

  However, that piece of rock didn't give Young Master Xie any face and was almost cut into tofu pieces by Uncle Yuan, yet still not a single trace of jade material was seen.

  Xu Laoban is a slippery person, he can see that Xie Yunfeng's attitude towards Ye Zhuo is different, so he quickly speaks up: "This gamble on the stone, which one has a guaranteed win? If it were like that, would it still be called 'gambling'? If Mr. Xie can guess correctly three or four times out of ten, he's already a master of gambling on stones. As for others, if they can guess correctly once in twenty attempts, they'd be burning incense to thank the gods."

  "Yes, yes, this jade business is half about skill and half about luck." The other bosses chimed in. They still had to buy jade materials from the Xie family's stone shop, so they had to give Xie Yunteng some face.

  Ye Zhuo looked at Xie Yunfeng and thought that if it weren't for him, he might not have earned these thirty-seven taels of silver today. He also comforted him with a sentence: "Master Xie just had bad luck today, don't mind."

  When Ye Zhuo heard this, Xie Yunfeng's sulking mood dissipated by half, and he smiled: "Next time you come, I'll take you to my family's jade store to see it. The probability of getting jade is much higher than the store across the street."

  Gambling on stones, Ye Zhuo naturally had to come, but she was not willing to meet Xie Yun again. If her intuition about the gambling stone was correct, then changing places would be the wisest decision. Of course, she wouldn't say this out loud, so she just smiled perfunctorily and said: "I'll naturally come again to trouble Young Master Xie another time. Today's outing has taken up quite some time, I should head back, farewell." After finishing speaking, she bowed to the crowd and turned to leave.

  Xie Yunfeng finally met Ye Zhuo again, how could he let her go so easily? He hastily stepped forward and said: "Miss Ye, you two girls, it's not safe to return home, I'll have the carriage driver send you back."

  "It's okay, my home is not far from here, just a few steps away." Ye Zhuo waved her hand and didn't give Xie Yunfeng another chance to speak, leading Qiu Yue towards the alley on the side. The Ye Mansion was naturally not in this direction, but she didn't want to let Xie Yunfeng know that she was the daughter of the Ye family from Zhenxi.

  "That girl is gone." Xie Yunfeng didn't follow up, seeing Ye Zhuo walking far away, he turned his head and instructed a follower, "Follow Miss Ye from afar and see clearly where she lives."

  "Yes." The attendant hastily chased after the direction where Ye Zhuo's servant had left.

  Ye Zhuo and Qiu Yue walked through the alley, hired a carriage, and rushed to Ye Fu. As soon as they entered Bi Yu Ju, they saw Qiu Ju rushing up with a worried face, saying: "Miss, Mrs. Jiang from the Jiang family has returned, she's been crying in the upper house, saying that Young Master Jiang is making a fuss about marrying you, asking Old Master and Old Madam to agree."

  Currently having something at home for the next two days, unable to update on time, sorry! Thanks for the rewards from Qin Mu Jin, Ning Yu, and Tang Fan!