Chapter 232

Chapter 232: This Is What I Wanted to Hear

Du Bi Xiao forced herself not to roll her eyes. Putting aside how true that dog man’s words were, this wild boar charging straight at them definitely had other plans for their family’s Little Bai Cai!

Du Bi Xiao wanted to be the one to slaughter that pig, but since she still had serious business today, she could only keep a straight face and remind: “Didn’t you say your granduncle needed you and you had to go back right after you ate? It’s not early anymore. Go home soon and don’t wander outside too long.”

Du An Rao was also thinking about the stone at home that had not been cut open yet, so she nodded and agreed: “Okay.”

Seeing her like this, Du Bi Xiao frowned and, still worried, added: “Send me a message when you get home.”

Xi Jing Yue: “…” [All these relatives of this little one really are guarding against me like I’m a thief!]

Du An Rao did not think too much about it. She only thought Du Bi Xiao was worried she would play outside and forget to go home, so she nodded again and agreed obediently.

As soon as Du Bi Xiao left, Xi Jing Yue drove Du An Rao back to Du De Sheng’s house.

When they reached the gate and he heard that Du An Rao had asked Du De Sheng to arrange a stone-cutting master, Xi Jing Yue immediately thought of the big stone from last night that was said to still have a precious rough stone inside. He shamelessly followed Du An Rao into the house.

At first, when he heard that Du An Rao was back, Du De Sheng came out with a big smile to welcome her. But the moment he looked up and saw Xi Jing Yue beside her, the smile on his face collapsed at once.

“Why are you here?!” [Why are you everywhere?!]

Xi Jing Yue could hear the dislike in Du De Sheng’s words and rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

But when Du An Rao saw this, she quickly helped explain: “Grandfather, Mr. Xi drove me back.”

“You even have to send a person all the way into the house.” The cane in Du De Sheng’s hand moved up and down, as if he would hit someone and throw him out the next second.

Du An Rao: “…” [Help, how did Granduncle’s attitude toward Mr. Xi change this fast? Wasn’t he fine yesterday? Granduncle, you actually have two faces!]

Du De Sheng: “…” [You silly girl, who do you think Grandfather is doing this for!]

Xi Jing Yue was amused by Du An Rao’s inner complaining and had a hard time holding back his laughter.

Du De Sheng could tell at a glance what he was thinking and shot sharp looks at him.

“An An said you invited a stone-cutting master for her and that she wants to see if the leftover rough from last night still has any treasures inside. I was also there when they cut that stone yesterday, and I’m very curious about it, so I came in with her. Lord Du is generous. You won’t mind, right?”

The hidden meaning was that he had been there last night and knew there was another treasure inside the stone, so there was no need to hide anything from him.

Of course, Du De Sheng understood what he really meant. That only made him even angrier!

Although Du An Rao did not know what conflict there was between the two of them, she could feel the strange air between them and quickly changed the subject to smooth things over.

“Grandfather, where is the stone-cutting master you invited? Let’s do the serious business first.”

In Du De Sheng’s eyes, her trying to smooth things over was her defending Xi Jing Yue on purpose. This made him so angry he glared at her, feeling hate for iron that would not turn into steel, and said sharply: “In the backyard.”

After that, he did not care how the two reacted and turned to walk back.

Du An Rao, hit as a bystander, blinked in confusion. She pointed at herself, then in the direction Du De Sheng had left, looking completely puzzled.

“What did I just do? Did I make Grandfather angry?”

Xi Jing Yue could not help laughing: “No. Maybe he got up too early and accidentally took the wrong medicine.”

Du An Rao: “!!!” [Mr. Xi, if you talk like that, Grandfather really will throw you out!]

The stone-cutting master Du De Sheng had found for Du An Rao had the surname Qi. He was even older than the one at the auction house last night. His square face looked simple and honest.

Even though he did not really believe that a rough stone that had already produced one piece of jade could still hide another treasure, he still asked for Du An Rao’s opinion with a smile.

“How would you like to cut this stone, Miss?”

“Hmm, you are the master craftsman and have more experience. Cut it however you think is best.” After saying this, Du An Rao seemed to remember something and added: “Be a bit more careful near the bottom.”

Her words sounded like she was sure there was something down there, and in fact, that was true.

Last night at the auction house, while watching the stone cutting, Du An Rao had faintly seen, under the lights, that this stone shone dimly at two spots, top and bottom. The light at the bottom even covered a larger area.

At first she thought it was just an illusion caused by the bright lights in the shop. Only when the whole Fu Lu Shou Xi jadeite rough was taken out did she suddenly realize that the light was probably where the spiritual essence lay. The light at the bottom was bigger, which meant the rough stone below was most likely even larger than the one already taken out!

Master Qi did not pour cold water on her words. He picked up the stone and studied it carefully. Only when he had looked enough did he start to work.

The stone-cutting process sent dust flying and chips everywhere. Thinking about Qin Yan Qing’s health, they did not let her come out and had her wait inside the house.

Du De Sheng, on the other hand, felt that his own body was strong, so he stood by Du An Rao with his cane, craning his neck and staring at Master Qi’s hands, curious what the remaining treasure would look like.

Following the cut made by the master at the auction house, Master Qi cut down five or six centimeters. Waste pieces fell off layer after layer, and his heart sank with each one.

Just when he was about to decide that there was no treasure in this stone, his blade suddenly seemed to hit something different. The strange feeling was very slight, but with his rich experience, Master Qi noticed it right away, and his hand moved the knife aside.

Even so, he still could not avoid shaving off one corner of the jade inside.

“Gre… Green! It’s really green!”

As soon as Du De Sheng heard this, he rushed up and asked eagerly: “It really came out? What quality is it? How big is it?”

The cut surface of the uncarved rough was a bit dull, as if covered by a layer of dust, so it was hard to see the quality at first glance.

Master Qi washed it in the basin of clean water that had been prepared early. With just one look, they could see that the bright green rough stone in front of them was no ordinary piece.

“This is Zhengyang Green. It’s a high-grade jadeite that is only a little worse than Imperial Green Jadeite. It’s just that…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that Zhengyang Green also has good and bad pieces. Some are only white jade with a little Zhengyang Green in the middle. If the texture and water are good, it’s still fine, but if even the texture is bad, it’s not worth much. On the other hand, the more pure this green is and the better the texture and water are, the more valuable it becomes.”

“You mean you can’t tell much from just this little bit. You still have to see the whole piece. For this kind of green, the more there is, the better, and it’s best not to have other colors mixed in. If the whole piece is this color and it’s very clear and bright with very good texture and water, then…”

“Then it’s infinitely close to Imperial Green Jadeite. Even if it’s just a little worse, it’s still a priceless treasure!”

Du De Sheng: “…” [That is exactly what I wanted to hear. We are set!]