Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 231: Chapter 228: Solve It Yourself Chapter 231: Chapter 228: Solve It Yourself After the meal, Huo Sining and Bai Yishan returned to the venue.

By then, the participants waiting to solve the stones had also gradually entered, each one eyeing the raw jade materials on the display stand.

The jadeite rough used for jade gambling was all to be cut open publicly, to ensure transparency in the competition, the TV station had invited four camera crews to shoot the stone gambling area from all angles.

However, these arrangements were just to deceive the ordinary citizens. If Zhou Zhen really wanted to interfere, he had plenty of opportunities.

The gambling event had invited ten Stone Solver Masters, and four camera positions couldn’t cover everything. Besides, it was clear that Zhou Zhen had already made arrangements with the TV station. If he wanted to manipulate the process during the stone cutting, it would be a simple matter.

Thinking of this, Huo Sining looked at Bai Yishan, “Can you cut stones?”

Bai Yishan nodded, “I can, but I’m very slow, and I can’t guarantee that I can make a perfect cut.”

In the recent period, Bai Yishan had learned quite a lot from Su Jinyuan, and she had almost mastered stone solving, but after all, she lacked practical experience, so she was not confident.

Huo Sining smiled and said, “No worries, you just need to cut the jadeite out. Being a bit slow is fine too. If you’re not sure, just brush the stone. We can afford to wait.”

Bai Yishan pursed her lips, understanding what Huo Sining meant. The Zhou Family wanted to win and would definitely play other tricks during the stone cutting. To avoid their schemes, the best choice was for her to personally take the stage and do the stone solving.

But she hesitated, afraid that she might embarrass herself if she went on stage.

“For you, Guan Yu Beauty Studio is what’s most important. If you go up there to solve stones, you represent your studio. The live broadcast on TV is a free advertising opportunity that the whole city of S City will see; it’s a great chance that you can’t miss!”

Right, why didn’t I think of that?

Enlightened by his words, Bai Yishan’s eyes lit up, her spirit lifted.

She trusted Huo Sining’s unique insight; surely, high-quality green jadeite could be carved out of that piece of granite.

No matter what tricks the Zhou Family played, or even if she could not win the final victory in today’s competition, as long as she succeeded in cutting and increasing the stone’s value on stage, she would definitely attract attention. She couldn’t miss out on this advantageous position because of stage fright.

With this in mind, Bai Yishan nodded, “Okay, I’ll go up later.”

At 1:30 PM, a few experts from the organizer’s side left the scene, and ten stone cutting machines were brought in from outside the venue. The stones on the display stand were also divided into ten groups based on their numbers.

Ten Stone Solver Masters were invited onto the stage, and over there Zhou Zhen and Zhou Yan also came out from backstage.

Zhou Zhen, holding a microphone, started speaking. After he had finished his grandiose speech, it was nearly two o’clock.

His gaze swept over the raw materials belonging to the Zhou Family on the stage, a slight smirk playing on his lips, as he announced, “Now, the Stone Gambling Convention officially begins!”

As the sound of firecrackers erupted, the Stone Solver Masters each began working. The stone cutting machines turned on, and the sound of the grinding wheels could be heard whirring.

After just a few glances, Huo Sining frowned. He could tell there was something off about those Stone Solver Masters.

It wasn’t clear whether it was because the Zhou Family had given them a heads-up or because the raw materials themselves looked too poor, but those Masters were cutting in a very careless manner. Instead of proceeding gradually, they were making big, hasty cuts into the stones.

A seven-to-eight-kilogram rough normally would take about half an hour to be fully solved, but one Master made five cuts in quick succession, chopping up the rough as if cutting blocks of tofu, thus completely ruining the stone.

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No matter if the raw jade could increase in value after being cut, as a Stone Solver Master, one cannot be ignorant to the taboos of stone cutting. Slow cutting, gentle polishing—have they forgotten even this basic rule? That’s really going too far.

Although Bai Yishan was a novice in stone cutting, even she felt something was off watching those masters’ movements: “Such perfunctory work—do these people have no professional integrity at all? This is just outrageous!”

Huo Sining shook his head: “It’s not the people’s issue; all this has been orchestrated by the Zhou Family.”

Bai Yishan’s expression immediately soured. Huo Sining’s piece was queued for later, so it wasn’t a concern for now, but the Stone Solver Masters’ attitude toward their work was really irritating.

Huo Sining was also witnessing this kind of sloppy stone cutting for the first time. Those ‘brick’ pieces of jade were sliced open in just a moment. Soon, twenty to thirty pieces of raw jade collapsed, most revealing nothing but white fluff, with only a few uncovering “green shoots.”

The contestants whose jade pieces collapsed all looked crestfallen, their faces darkened as they unwillingly watched the pieces on stage, their eyes occasionally betraying a glimmer of hope.

The contestants who did unveil “green shoots” refused to concede defeat, stubbornly waiting for the final results.

With so many stones cut to collapse, if there wasn’t even one piece that rose in value by the end, the ultimate winner of the competition was not a certainty.

Clutching at straws, they were hopeful that their “green shoots” might somehow prevail.

On the other side, staff were busy recording when Zhou Zhen’s eyes revealed a thick scorn.

“Green shoots” hoping to win the prize money—pure daydreaming!

As the stone cutting was in full swing, Master Number Seven, who was holding an extremely ordinary piece of raw jade, was about to place it on the stone cutting machine when suddenly, a man stepped out from the sidelines and waved his hand to stop the master: “Wait a moment!”

The Stone Solver Master paused, halting his movements.

The camera caught the disturbance at the front of the hall, pivoted to this side, and gave the newcomer a close-up of his face.

“Ningning, it’s that man we saw at the venue this morning!” Bai Yishan couldn’t help but exclaim upon seeing the man’s yin-and-yang face.

Others at the venue also saw Yin Zeyan’s close-up on the electronic screen. His massive, dark red birthmark made people gasp, and for a moment, the venue was filled with whispers and murmurs.

Yin Zeyan, however, didn’t mind at all, still smiling broadly, but his gaze turned towards Zhou Zhen and he said lightly, “Mr. Zhou, this piece of raw jade is my entry. I request to cut it myself.”

Zhou Zhen didn’t recognize Yin Zeyan, but Ye Zixin next to him did.

Back on Antique Street, she had deliberately concocted a plan for Su Qingqing to be framed, but instead, Su Qingqing’s cousin scammed her in return.

At that time, Ye Zixin focused solely on dragging Su Qingqing down but didn’t expect Su Qingqing to turn the tables on her own.

Ye Zixin was surprised by Su Qingqing’s solid foundation in antique appraisal, and her grudge against Su Qingqing grew deeper.

That could have been the end of it, as although Su Qingqing was adept in appraisal, the scammer was a relentless and unreasonable character.

Ye Zixin thought the matter wouldn’t end so simply, but unexpectedly, someone stepped in to help Su Qingqing. Those scammers obviously feared this intervenor, as they fled in a panic after just a few words.

The one who had intervened was none other than the man currently standing in front of them.

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