Xiao Zhan was so embarrassed that he could have scraped the soles of his feet. He slapped the chair and stood up, then took out another excellent quality raw stone. He roared, "Cut another one! I refuse to believe my black technology is worse than his dog's luck?"
The shop owner took the raw stone and, in a flash, cut it open.
To his embarrassment, this raw stone was loose and crumbling inside, with only a tiny amount of gemstone. Roughly calculated, it wouldn't even sell for two thousand yuan.
Xiao Zhan had spent a full 90,000 yuan to buy this raw stone!
A huge loss, a complete disaster.
Xiao Zhan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He no longer bothered cutting them one by one. Decisively, he had the remaining eight raw stones cut open all at once.
Crack, crack, crack...
With each cut of the cutting machine, Xiao Zhan's heart bled a little more.
Trash, trash, and still more trash!
All ten raw stones were cut, and not a single one was worth looking at. Combined, their total value barely reached ten thousand yuan.
Ten thousand yuan?
What a joke! Xiao Zhan had spent a colossal one million yuan to buy these ten raw stones!
He had lost an astronomical amount.
This time, Xiao Zhan truly couldn't stand. His legs felt weak, and he sank into a chair, unable to get up again.
One million yuan, for the Xiao family, was not exactly a small sum, but it wasn't insurmountable either.
However!
This entire experience dealt a severe blow to Xiao Zhan's confidence.
All ten raw stones being trash indicated one thing: his black technology was utterly useless. It was even worse than random purchasing! If you bought randomly, you wouldn't possibly spend a million and only get back ten thousand. The black technology had excluded all the high-quality raw stones, specifically selecting trash.
Xiao Zhan's heart was wracked with pain.
For this black technology, he had spent years of effort and time, researching for three to four years to achieve any result.
Yet now, he found it completely useless!
Xiao Zhan, a grown man, felt like crying.
Jiang Mengxin also shook her head repeatedly. Her decision to come and witness this firsthand had been correct. If she hadn't personally used the black technology, she wouldn't have realized how unreliable it truly was.
But...
The mission had failed before it even began.
The newly established company, Kaixuan, was now facing enormous trouble.
Of the two main avenues for making money, the first one had collapsed. From now on, they would have to purchase raw stones conventionally, meaning the costs could not be effectively controlled.
"Alas..." Jiang Mengxin sighed, already regretting her decision.
Lu Ming shook his head, unsure of what to say. He had repeatedly advised against it, but Xiao Zhan simply wouldn't listen.
Now that he had wasted money, all he could say was: Serves him right.
Suddenly.
A gem merchant walked over and addressed Chen Xian, who was beside Lu Ming, "Little sister, I'm very fond of this emerald raw stone you have. May I buy it?"
Oh, really?
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn.
The merchant said earnestly, "Although this emerald is worth twenty million yuan, it's useless to you if you don't sell it. You can't cure your father's illness by taking a stone home. It's better to sell this raw stone to me, and I'll give you money; with money, you can treat your father. Little sister, doesn't that make sense?"
Chen Xian hesitated, then looked at Lu Ming blankly and asked, "Uncle, what do you think?"
Lu Ming smiled and nodded. "He's right, Xian'er. You need money, not a stone. If he's genuinely offering twenty million, I think you can sell it."
Before Chen Xian could respond, the gem merchant immediately pulled out a bank card and said with a grin, "I am willing to offer twenty million yuan! The money is all in this card, take it."
It was evident that the gem merchant was desperate to acquire the emerald.
And it wasn't just him; other merchants also wanted it!
Suddenly, a crowd of gem merchants swarmed over, each clamoring to purchase the emerald from Chen Xian.
Xiao Zhan finally snapped back to reality. He was, after all, a gem merchant himself.
If he calculated carefully.
Buying this emerald for twenty million yuan and then crafting it into a first-class gemstone would surely multiply its value several times over! At that point, it could be sold for at least one hundred million yuan.
Wouldn't the lost one million yuan be recovered then?
"I want to buy it too!" Xiao Zhan also produced a bank card and shouted, "I am willing to offer twenty-five million yuan for this emerald! Little sister, sell it to me!"
The gem merchants crowded together, creating a chaotic scene.
Chen Xian looked at Lu Ming and asked, "Uncle, who should I sell it to?"
Xiao Zhan butted in, "Lu Ming, we're on the same side. Let the little sister sell this raw stone to me! If I make money, Kaixuan makes money. If Kaixuan makes money, President Jiang makes money, and you make money!"
Chen Xian nodded. "Uncle helped me open this emerald, so it's only right that Uncle makes money. How about..."
Chen Xian was about to sell it to Xiao Zhan, and he was beaming, ready to secure the deal.
However, Lu Ming intervened.
He said, "Uncle doesn't lack money. Xian'er, you don't need to consider Uncle. If you want to sell this emerald now, it's simple: the highest bidder wins."
Highest bidder wins.
These four words alone turned the faces of everyone present ashen.
This meant they would have to compete!
With competition, it would be impossible to buy it cheaply.
Xiao Zhan glared at Lu Ming, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "One price, thirty million yuan! I offer thirty million!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone next to him raised the bid to thirty-two million.
Following that, thirty-six million, forty-one million, forty-seven point five million... The bidding escalated, and finally, Xiao Zhan uttered the outrageous price of 'sixty' million.
Sixty million yuan, triple the original twenty million, an incredibly astronomical sum.
If this emerald couldn't be meticulously carved, there was a high probability of incurring losses!
At this figure, the other gem merchants gave up.
They couldn't afford it.
Finally, under Lu Ming's witness, Chen Xian sold the emerald to Xiao Zhan for sixty million yuan and signed the sales contract.
The previously poor little girl instantly became a multi-millionaire, rolling in wealth.
All of this was simply because she was willing to believe in Lu Ming.
Conversely.
Xiao Zhan, by not believing Lu Ming, suffered a great loss.
Lu Ming had advised him against buying those trash raw stones, but he hadn't listened, resulting in him buying a pile of garbage for one million yuan!
If Xiao Zhan had been willing to trust Lu Ming, not only would he not have wasted one million yuan, but he might even have acquired the emerald he now held in his hands for a mere hundred yuan, instead of spending sixty million to purchase it.
In essence, Xiao Zhan had lost an immense fortune!
Therefore, despite acquiring the premium emerald raw stone, Xiao Zhan couldn't feel happy at all.
He had spent a fortune to buy this emerald, when he had the opportunity to acquire it at an extremely low price! Moreover, if Lu Ming had simply said a few words, Xiao Zhan might have only paid twenty million for it.
Yet, Lu Ming had let them bid against each other.
Although Xiao Zhan got the emerald raw stone, his dislike for Lu Ming deepened.
Xiao Zhan silently vowed: Lu Ming, what you've done to me today, I will repay you tenfold, a hundredfold in the future! Just wait, I'll get rid of you, you bastard, sooner or later!