I asked Wen Siqiang to stop first and cut off the bulge on this strange stone with another cutting machine.
There were more than ten cutting machines in the workshop, most of them powered on and ready to use.
Wen Siqiang had two workers move the stone over and fix it onto the machine. He then positioned the blade to test its placement.
Although Wen Siqiang had never dealt with such things before, nor had he ever touched raw stones, he had a high aptitude and understood quickly.
This bulge was about the size of a steamed bun, and it was done in a few minutes.
He rinsed it with water and said to me, "This surface is very special. Manager Li, come and take a look."
I squatted down and wiped the cut surface with my hand. In the natural light, the cut surface had a blue glow and a mist, also a faint blue. When illuminated by a flashlight, it was very transparent. I suddenly understood why it glowed blue. This was a Dou Qing variety. Because it was thick, it appeared blue overall. After slicing, it was actually greenish.
Green and blue are close. Isn't there a saying that green comes from blue and surpasses it, indicating they are inseparable?
This stone was actually more suitable for making ornaments. Such a large ornament would be worth at least a million, and if there were other colors, the price would double. One color would add a multiplier of one, two colors would add five times, and four or five colors would make it astronomically expensive.
I said, "Let's set this stone aside for now. We'll work an extra shift tonight. I want to gamble on it producing five colors."
If it truly produced five colors, such a large piece would be worth at least tens of millions.
Wen Siqiang stood up and continued to cut the stone with the crack.
The stone was already more than half cut. He went over and finished cutting it shortly after.
Wen Siqiang brought over the cut stone and wiped it with a rag to show me.
This stone did not have cracks going into it. It had a glutinous ice base with cotton, and there were streaks of green that were consumed by the cotton, not forming a continuous patch. The quality was average. It could yield a few pairs of bracelets, barely breaking even.
It was likely that Ang Cai had bundled everything together, and some ordinary materials had to be included.
It was impossible for all fifty-odd stones to yield high-quality goods; otherwise, people wouldn't sell them to you for so little.
If a few excellent pieces were produced, it would be considered a profit.
The other stone was also cut. This one was smaller and didn't take much time.
The crack on this stone went halfway in, but fortunately, it wasn't shattered. However, it was a bit dry. It could yield a few pairs of bracelets, and after polishing, it could fetch around ten thousand.
I went to look at the stones with opened windows; they all looked quite good. Two of them had high-grade green, and several others, while lacking color, had excellent bases, with some reaching ice quality, and at least glutinous ice.
I marked these two high-grade green stones. By polishing them, if they revealed the same color as the opened windows, these ten-pound rough stones could fetch their cost price.
One of them would be worth thirty million without a problem.
I told Wen Siqiang to polish the marked areas first.
Polishing only removes the extraneous colors on the skin of the stone, revealing a small part of the inner material. If the polished area shows the same color as the opened window, it would instantly increase the value of the rough stone.
However, just polishing the skin is only a reference. A polished gain is not a confirmed gain. If the green hasn't penetrated, polishing might even lead to an incorrect judgment.
If you want to win, you must cut.
Polishing the skin was quick. Wen Siqiang handed the two polished stones to me.
Both stones were not large; they were typical Hou Jiang material. For this size, they were considered large.
Hou Jiang yields high-grade green with a clean base. With good luck, it can even produce imperial green.
I used a rag to wipe away the dust from the polished surfaces. As expected, the green revealed on the stone in my hand was identical to the color in the window. It looked like a piece of full-color material.
The other stone was slightly inferior but still very good, within my expectations.
I instructed the workers to place the cut raw stones into the safe by the counter and lock them up. I then asked Wen Siqiang to continue cutting the remaining raw stones.
About half were cut, around twenty stones. Overall, they were not bad, but no high-quality pieces were produced.