Chapter Eighty-One: Absolutely Stunning

  Wu Yu heard this price, Zhang's mouth opened and closed again, after closing it opened again, looking like a fish that had been out of water for too long.

  "Three thousand one hundred taels, this old gentleman has offered three thousand one hundred taels, is there a higher price?" Old Master Yun heard the price skyrocketing and was overjoyed. After such a big accident, the Ye family not only didn't suffer any losses but also earned an extra one hundred taels of silver. Moreover, after this incident, the reputation of Yu Zhuo Fang has spread far and wide. As long as that jade carver who designed and carved the golden Buddha's hands stays here, Yu Zhuo Fang will definitely be booming with business in the future. This is the greatest gain for the Ye family from this accident!

  Wu Yu heard Old Man Yun's words and looked at the man in sky-blue clothes with a provocative gaze, clenched his fists as if he had made a huge decision, and shouted loudly like a brave warrior: "Three thousand one hundred twenty taels." After finishing speaking, he stared eagerly at the man in sky-blue long shirt, hoping that he would not bid again.

  His opponent was already at his limit, so the man in the sky-blue long shirt should have taken advantage of the situation and counterattacked. Instead, he smiled and said calmly, "Three thousand two hundred."

  Wu Yu's face fell as soon as the man in the sky-blue long shirt opened his mouth. He raised his head, let out a long sigh to the sky, then cupped his hands from afar and said dejectedly: "You win." After that, he squeezed into the crowd with a gloomy face.

  The man in the blue long gown saw him like that, as if he had drunk ice-cold water on a sweltering June day, and all 360 pores felt refreshed. Seeing no one else bidding to compete with him, he walked up to the stage with a satisfied expression, took out the silver ticket from his pocket, counted it carefully and handed it over to Ye Yiqi, then took the brocade box from Autumn Moon's hand and walked down the steps like a victorious general.

  Nie Bowen, who was sitting in the audience, saw Du Haoran sitting there calmly without making a bid, seemingly in a great mood, turned his head with a smile and chatted with Xie Yunfeng for a few sentences, making Xie Yunfeng feel honored. He used all his skills to please Nie Bowen.

  At the beginning of the auction, Ye Zhuo turned back to Yu Zhuo Fang, put another jade carving made from leftover materials in a brocade box, and returned to the auction scene to hand it over to Ye Yuqi. So before the man in the blue long shirt walked off the stage, Ye Yuqi held up the brocade box and shouted loudly: "Everyone, don't rush to leave, apart from this Golden Buddha Hand, our Yu Zhuo Fang has another jade carving for sale, which is carved from the leftover materials after taking away the Golden Buddha Hand. You are all welcome to take a look."

  Ye's family's sudden turn of events has satisfied the onlookers' craving for drama. Just as everyone thought the excitement was over with the man in the blue long gown stepping down, and were about to leave feeling not quite fulfilled, they heard Ye Yuxi's loud shout. They immediately stopped in their tracks, and looked up at the stage with great interest.

  "Wang Gongzi, if I were you, I would regret it so much that my intestines would turn green. Think about it, Ye Gu Niang was willing to reprocess the jade material and compensate you for the difference in price, but you didn't agree. Now, the first piece of jade carving has sold for 3,200 taels, and now another piece is being carved from the remaining material, estimated to be worth several hundred taels of silver. Adding these two together, it's almost 4,000 taels! As the saying goes, 'One step forward, a knife's edge; one step back, a vast ocean.' I heard you have a relationship with the Ye family too. If only you had spoken nicely at the time, not only would you have gotten these benefits, but also the gratitude of the Ye family. Alas, now you've not only lost money but also offended the Ye family. This time, you've really lost big!" A workshop owner standing next to Wang Chengdong couldn't help but speak up when he saw his gloomy face.

  The owner of the workshop, can't avoid encountering such a situation where he accidentally damaged the customer's jade carving. When encountering this situation, what he fears most is meeting customers like Wang Chengdong who have no room for negotiation and must be forced to death. So he had no good feelings towards Wang Chengdong at all. Although the words were not very harsh, the sarcastic tone was extremely obvious.

  Wang Chengdong had not left, standing there with a gloomy face watching the auction. From hearing 2,800 taels, his complexion was already very unsightly; when he heard Ye Yiqi say that another jade carving was carved from the remaining material, and then heard the workshop owner's sarcastic words, his complexion suddenly turned black as the bottom of a pot.

  The workshop owner saw Wang Chengdong standing there with a dark face, pretending not to hear his words, and couldn't help but snicker, continuing to look up at the stairs.

  Nie Bowen didn't bid on the first jade carving, seemingly uninterested. But when Ye Yuqi mentioned another jade carving made from leftover materials, his expression changed and he stood up without waiting for Xie Yunfeng to finish speaking, leaving him hanging in mid-air. Du Haoran seemed to have anticipated Nie Bowen's move and smiled slightly as he too stood up calmly and followed behind him onto the stage.

  He walked to the front of the case, Nie Bowen looked at the jade carving placed on the table, his face turned serious, stretched out a slender hand, picked up the jade carving, and carefully examined it. After a while, he handed the jade carving to Du Haoran. Du Haoran looked at the jade carving in his hand, his eyes suddenly lit up, then smiled and looked up at Nie Bowen.

  Because the jade material was hollowed out into a circular shape to make that jade plate gold Buddha's hand, only the poor-quality skin jade material was left. The jade carver then designed the middle concave circle part into a moon gate of a courtyard. The door slightly opens, and a line of light shines through the gap between the door and the frame, breaking the dull feeling of the jade carving and communicating the space inside and outside the courtyard. A young girl walks slowly towards the round door, peeking through the gap and chatting with another girl outside. The surface of the jade material has a subtle yellow-red color, which is carved into different shapes according to its color and quality, such as the tiles on the moon gate, the swaying Chinese parasol trees, and the delicate Lake Tai stone. This piece of jade carving is like autumn sunlight shining in a corner of a Jiangnan garden, not only full of rich life atmosphere but also poetic and picturesque, making people forget their worries and possessing extremely high artistic value.

  If it's said that the golden Buddha's hand in front could be designed by some senior jade carvers from Niejiafang with a little time, then this piece of jade carving has an ingenious idea that not everyone can think of.

  What is admirable is not only the design of this jade carving, but also its extremely exquisite craftsmanship: the two girls on the jade carving have slightly raised corners of their mouths and extremely lively eyes, making people seem to hear their silvery and pleasant voices and laughter; even the leaves of the Chinese parasol tree are extremely dynamic, as if they will sway with the wind when blown by a gentle breeze.

  "How's it going? I guess I'm not as good as you?" Du Haoran said with a smile.

  Nie Bowen let out a hum in his nose and turned to Ye Yuxi with a nod: "Is this jade carving also made by Miss Ye?"

  "That's right." Ye Yuqi wanted to pretend to be calm, but the smile on his face couldn't be hidden. He mentioned this matter precisely because he hoped that Ye Zhuo's carving skills would catch Nie Bowen's attention. Now, it was clear that his goal had been achieved.

  Nie Bowen nodded and turned around, went down the steps, sat back in his seat, staring at Ye Zhuo with a thoughtful expression.

  Xie Yunfeng hesitated for a moment when Du Haoran stood up, and also followed him to take a look at the jade carving. After hearing what Du Haoran said, and seeing Nie Bowen's expression, his heart was like an overturned seasoning shop, with all five flavors mixed together.

  In Nanshan Town, many jade carving families learned from Nie's family and taught their children the art of jade carving. This not only helped with business but also allowed them to gain a good reputation in the Jade Carving Competition and enter the Nie family's door, further enhancing their family status. The Xie family was no exception. In this generation, Xie Yunfeng was praised by his father as the most talented person. So he tried hard to get close to Nie Bowen, with the intention of finding an opportunity to show off his carving skills in front of Nie Bowen and hoping to be accepted as a disciple without having to participate in the competition.

  Now Xie Yunfeng was depressed to find that his craftsmanship was compared to Ye Zhuo's, and he couldn't even get started - the two were not on the same level at all. With Ye Zhuo being a precious gem in front of him, no matter how hard he tried, Nie Bowen would never look up to him again.

  Isn't this just the law of karma? This woman, who is excellent at both gambling and jade carving, and has a beautiful appearance, was abandoned by the Xie family like a worn-out shoe; after breaking off the engagement, they wanted to take advantage of her skills again. Now, she unintentionally blocked his carefully planned career advancement.

  "This jade carving, because the material used is leftover material, the quality is not as good as the previous one, so the price is also lower. But its ingenious design that makes people speechless gives it a very high collection value. Friends who are interested can come and take a look." After looking at the "Tong Yin Shi Nu Tu" decorative piece, Old Master Yun started to entice again.

  As a result, apart from the original onlookers, those who were not financially well-off also stepped forward to take a look after hearing this.

  "Hao Ran." Nie Bowen had recovered from the blow and saw Du Hao Ran's calm demeanor, couldn't help but lean in and whisper, "I heard Xie Yunfeng say that this girl has a bad fate."

  "I say, when did you become so vulgar? Spreading rumors that affect a girl's reputation behind her back, do you listen to such people's words? And what if she has bad luck? Does the Nie family only look at one's fate and not their skills when taking in apprentices or recruiting jade carvers?"

  "I'm afraid you have some ideas about her, so I remind you, afraid of being taken advantage of. Humph, a dog bites Lü Dongbin, not knowing the kindness of others!" Nie Bowen sulkily withdrew his body.

  Du Haoran glanced at him faintly: "I'm not sure if I have any interest in her yet. But one thing is certain, I absolutely have no interest in your sister. So, you don't need to look at me like a suspect."

  (It's so late again, I apologize. The update wasn't as expected and this situation happens often. So, everyone can choose to read the chapter tomorrow morning instead. Thank you to my patrons:囡囡头、流徙_Ting、東方風雲 for their support, and thank you to咔咔咔咔 and book friend 16022633 for their pink tickets.) (If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommended ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)