Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 185: Chapter 182: Mutation

Huo Sining’s heart tightened, and upon closer inspection she found that the mysterious dog treasure seemed to have changed from before.

The dog treasure that Huo Sining had previously felt was as hard as a walnut, with a surface covered in raised textures.

But now it had become as soft as a fleshy tumor, and the protrusions on the surface of the dog treasure seemed to have been worn down, turning into a smooth spherical shape as if it had merged with the pup’s stomach.

This eerie development both surprised and puzzled Huo Sining, yet she could find no reasonable explanation and could only conclude that it was likely the result of Spiritual Energy aiding in the pup’s healing.

Her Spiritual Energy was completely devoured by the dog treasure, a fact that Huo Sining still found slightly chilling, so she dared not try it a second time. Since she couldn’t extract it, she decided not to dwell on it. Besides, the dog treasure had already mutated and, seeing the pup’s condition, it seemed that the treasure no longer posed a threat to it.

After dinner, Huo Sining headed to the basement to prepare for stone cutting.

It had to be said that the villa given to her by the Su Family was truly exquisite. The whole house was designed in a classic retro style, with antique and classical decor that perfectly blended with modern aesthetics, giving the place both an elegant and trendy feel, bringing its own unique flavor.

The villa was actually not very large, covering an area of only around 180 square meters. The ground floor consisted of the kitchen, living room, dining room, and three bedrooms. The upper floor housed the study, guest room, and bathroom, as well as a small loft on the third floor.

Perhaps because the villas here were situated in a school district, the homes were compactly arranged with a small front and back yard, which together might be roughly around 300 square meters. But for Huo Sining, this space was more than sufficient.

Of course, what pleased Huo Sining the most was the basement located beneath the staircase.

This basement was no different from ordinary rooms, except that it was quite spacious, covering more than sixty square meters.

Initially, Huo Sining used the basement as a storage and utility room without giving it much thought. It wasn’t until after her return from stone gambling in Pingzhou that she discovered the true potential of this basement.

Because the jade roughs needed to be cut, and the stone cutting machine’s grinding wheel would create a piercing noise when in contact with the stones, trying to cut stones in the yard would undoubtedly lead to noise complaints from other residents in the community.

However, the basement was different. Due to its depth and the thick blue bricks lining its walls for sound insulation, Huo Sining could do anything in the basement without being heard above. This provided Huo Sining with a great deal of convenience.

Huo Sining specifically had a high-security safe embedded in the wall of the basement, so that all the jadeite roughs she cut could be kept in the safe. Those high-quality jade pieces were extremely valuable, and although no one else came into the house, Huo Sining felt that storing them in a safe was more secure.

A secluded and soundproof basement along with a highly secure safe offered the dual protection Huo Sining required.

If at first Huo Sining held no particular expectations for the villa Huang Hongying gave her, even thinking that she would move out and return the house to the Su Family once Master Huang’s leg condition was cured, now she felt differently.

The house seemed as if it had been designed especially for her, and having seen its advantages, she found herself reluctant to give it back.

Huo Sining didn’t want to take advantage of the Su Family, so she decided that after cutting the roughs, she would give Su Jinyuan a piece of fine jade rough as compensation.

Although Huo Sining had previously processed Zhou Zhen’s piece of scrap in front of Bai Yishan, the thought of it still made her feel somewhat embarrassed. Being a novice, her method of stone cutting was unorthodox—practically muddling through.

So upon returning to S City, she decided not to continue in that manner. To learn stone cutting, Huo Sining specifically downloaded numerous video materials online and began to explore and study step by step. Although she wouldn’t claim to have mastered it, over the last few days, she did develop a complete method.

At this time’s Pingzhou Public Plate, Huo Sining purchased a total of eighteen fully speculative jade roughs. Along with the four offcuts that Wu Linger didn’t want and the twenty-six brick materials she bought at the rough material recovery factory, she had forty-eight pieces of rough altogether.

Having Azure Pearl with her, Huo Sining at least knew for sure that there must be jadeite within these rough pieces.

But such a circumstance meant that the usual stone cutting methods were ineffectual, so she could only slowly cut and polish each piece one by one.

This method was slower, but relatively safe and secure, as there was no worry about damaging the jadeite inside the stone due to improper operation. Without anyone to guide her, this was the only way she could proceed.

Over the past few days, Huo Sining had also successively processed five rough pieces, each revealing jadeite of various sizes, but all of them boasted good clarity and purity.

Since she had specifically chosen rough pieces with particularly intense flashes from Azure Pearl, the quality of these jadeites was quite good. Even the worst was of the Hibiscus Kind, with vibrant colors, making their high value immediately apparent.

After choosing another piece of rough, Huo Sining turned on the power switch of the stone cutting machine, which began to whirl rapidly. She examined the surface of the rough and estimated the thickness of the outer shell of the stone before commencing with the cutting.

Bringing the rough under the grinding wheel, her right hand tightly grasped the other end of the stone, then the grinding wheel rolled along the edge of the stone.

Chips flew, and a thin layer of stone fell off.

After making the first cut, Huo Sining slightly relaxed, picked up the rough to make another mark, but unexpectedly saw a slightly indistinct green hue on the cut surface.

Huo Sining was taken aback, having not anticipated that she would reveal the jade only after slicing off such a thin layer of stone skin.

This was trade lingo in the stone gambling community. When, after cutting off the stone skin, the rough reveals a layer of thin white sand enwrapping a green color, allowing one to barely see the greenish jade inside despite the presence of white fluff, this situation is referred to as “revealing the mist.”

Once a stone reveals the mist, one should not cut it any further. Huo Sining knew she did not possess the expertise for further cutting, so all she could do now was to proceed with grinding, also known as “stone rubbing” in the trade.

The so-called “stone rubbing” involves using a stone rubbing machine or sandpaper to gradually wear away the outer layer of fluff on the rough.

This time Huo Sining had Ouyang Jun help her purchase a complete set of stone cutting tools. Even though they were only a small-sized model, these were complete in every detail, including several tools just for stone rubbing.

After she sliced off a thin layer from the other surfaces of the rough, leaving only the white fluff layer, Huo Sining took a small electric grinding stone brush and began carefully rubbing the thin layer of white fluff.

Soon, a rather irregular but lush green piece of jadeite appeared before her.