I Want a Divorce by Abigail Quinn

Chapter 7

Seeing as the auction came to a “successful” end, Willie greeted everyone with a cheerful smile, “The auction is over. For those who won the raw stones, I’ll offer free on-site service if you wish to cut them here. Otherwise, feel free to take them back and cut them yourself.”

Following his lead, the bidders and onlookers headed toward the stone-cutting area.

Oliver glanced at the raw stone counter and approached one of the staff members. “Hey, I’d like to try my luck again. How much are these raw stones?”

The staff glimpsed at him and waved a hand. “These are 200 dollars each. Take whichever one you like.”

“Okay, I’ll try my luck with one, then!” Oliver casually picked up the stone he had already set his eyes on.

Next, he paid 200 dollars through a QR code at the counter, and the female cashier stamped a seal on the flat surface of the raw stone, indicating that it was a done deal..

Since it was only 200 dollars, Hailey didn’t rush to pay for it, merely following Oliver curiously. “The other raw stone that he has high hopes about is scrap?” she wondered.

At the stone-cutting area, a large crowd had gathered around the stone-cutting machine.

They were observing the cutting of raw stone number three.

Everyone stared with wide eyes, holding their breaths, watching the slightly limping experienced worker proceed with the stone cutting.

Oliver asked the staff to bring his two raw stones over and joined the crowd to witness the stone-cutting process by the

worker.

Excitement filled the air. This was the most thrilling moment in stone gambling, where the fate of fortunes hung in the balance, ready to be determined in the blink of an eye.

Once the raw stone was cut, the experienced worker turned off the switch, opened the lid of the stone-cutting machine, and gingerly retrieved the freshly cut piece. Then, he wiped the remnants of stone debris and fine powder away using a damp cloth, inspected the stone, and shook his head. “It’s a scrap!”

It was a complete failure!

Although the jade core inside the raw stone was not small, it was full of impurities and cracks, thus not very valuable.

Stone number three’s owner blanched and clutched his chest, croaking, “Again… Cut it again.”

He had spent 752 thousand dollars, hoping to strike it rich, but instead, the money had gone down the drain.

The experienced worker remained silent, repositioned the raw stone, and made another cut.

When customers who paid a lot of money for scraps were indignant, the worker generally did as told without objection.

His face was deeply lined with traces of age as he skillfully operated the stone-cutting machine by securing the half piece of stone and making another precise cut.

Once the cut was completed, he turned off the switch, opened the machine’s lid, and used a damp cloth to wipe the cut surface clean before presenting it to the customer.

“Sir, there’s no need to make another cut anymore.”

Despite a second cut, the stone’s inner core remained full of impurities and cracks.

Now, it was beyond salvation.

Stone number three’s owner’s face fell. He muttered in frustration but had no other choice than to accept the outcome.

Witnessing that, the owner of stone number two hesitated for a moment and decided not to cut the stone anymore. Instead, he would ask his worker to do it at home.

In reality, several major players who participated in the session owned gold stores and specialized in selling jade wares, hence having their own workers and machinery.

The experienced worker asked, “Is there anyone else who wants their stone cut?”

stepped forward. “Cut mine, then. Stone number one.” He then instructed the staff

It was the best and most expensive piece on the

you like me to cut

the worker. “You have plenty of experience

start by cutting along this line. This way, we won’t harm the jade if it’s good. Further down would be the bracelet materials. If it’s good material, you can make at least five or more bracelets and a dozen pendants. If your bet is

was delighted to hear that. “I spent 1.04 million dollars on this stone. It’d better be good! Haha!” he replied with

cutting plan, the worker secured the stone

machine’s lid was

contact with

sound unbearable.

minutes later, the sound subsided, and the worker turned off the power to

but everyone watching held their breaths and fixed their eyes on the

a damp cloth to clean the cut surface. Though he showed

jade

was the worst kind of

it!” Manuel couldn’t

jade core, there would have been a chance for him to ask the worker to make another cut, for

exposed, the quality of it could basically be determined. Typically, the quality of jade within the same piece wouldn’t vary

making another cut

contemplated and suggested to Manuel again. How

sullenly, “Go

turns out to be nothing but worthless junk. No one will even buy it

a second cut, he sighed softly while reviewing

and flawed junk, swearing to himself, “Fuck! This

dreams of striking it rich, gambling was ultimately gambling. Nine out of ten times,

from bidding it.

crowd and asked, “Anyone else

do. Sir, I’ll cut both

the experienced worker the stone labeled as number seven and casually added, “You can cut it however

was incredibly nervous because he couldn’t be certain about the accuracy of his

inside the raw stone, it

were accurate and correct, his life would

such a pair of eyes capable of identifying any object, he would be more

raw stone was cut open, the experienced worker powered down the machine, lifted the lid again, retrieved

a

displayed a combination of white

It’s a lucky

say anything, Hailey jumped in excitement. “Oliver, you

and nodded. “The quality of this jade is not bad. It’s negligibly inferior to pure jade, but the color is even. There’s a slight crack on the left side, but the right side is

ice

real gamble to expect two bracelets’ materials. How about this? I’ll offer you 40,000 dollars. Would you like to sell it to me right away or make another cut and

left the decision up to him. “You can decide,” she

decisively and said to the experienced worker,

worker

to the previous cut. There were no cracks on this side, and it

having not expected Oliver to have

sufficient for two bracelets and several pendants. After processing into finished products, they can be sold for about 160 thousand dollars. The price

Oliver nodded smilingly. “Deal!”

in this line of business were hard to determine,

his briefcase and quickly wrote a cash check for 80,000

then exchanged the stone and