Chapter 118: The Time Has Come to Broaden Our Horizons!

The ancestral legacy imprinted in Su Zheng’s mind flowed slowly, transforming all his experience and skills with rough stones into his own innate ability.

Now, the stones piled on the table were all uncut rough stones—pure gamble stones—making it impossible to judge the water and color inside. One could only assess the presence of green by examining the exterior features.

What most people didn’t know was that sensing the original skin texture by hand was actually more reliable than using the eyes!

As the saying went, “Fine skin means the flesh is not coarse.” Rough stones with a delicate, smooth surface had a higher chance of revealing green. Additionally, by observing the moss, pine flower patterns, and cracks on the skin, one could judge the quality of the stone.

Of course, discerning all this required countless hours of practice, and Su Zheng, bearing the ancestral heritage mark, was never short of experience.

The crowd watched as Su Zheng felt more than a dozen stones without selecting a single one, growing impatient and beginning to shout.

“Hey kid, can you even do this or not?”

“Damn it, is he just pretending to fool us?”

“Whatever, there are only so many stones. Sooner or later, he’ll have to go through them all!”

Hearing their words, Cheng Hui’s lips curled into a faint smile. Watching Su Zheng with great interest, he too suspected Su Zheng was putting on a show, curious how long he could keep it up.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, with a muffled thud, Su Zheng tossed a stone onto the carpet beneath the table and said calmly, “This one should be full green.”

Everyone immediately turned to look, then burst into laughter.

The stone was about the size of a tennis ball, with a sand-like skin as rough as salt, very coarse, thick-skinned, and lacking translucency. It looked exactly like a pebble casually picked up from a riverbank. Forget full green, even showing green was unlikely.

“Bang!”

Su Zheng threw down another stone, about the size of a soccer ball, and added, “This one is at least icy type with bright green.”

The crowd was taken aback, then scoffed again. Damn, does this kid think he’s some kind of immortal, boldly guessing the variety outright?

“Bang!”

Another muffled thud followed as Su Zheng tossed down a third stone and smiled, “This one is at least glass type with red jade. As for this batch of rough stones, their quality is rather so-so.”

With that, Su Zheng pulled off the scarf from his eyes, rose, and jumped down from the table, addressing the man with the handlebar mustache beside him.

“How about it? The prices of these three stones I chose aren’t expensive, right?”

The man with the handlebar mustache shook his head with a bitter smile, his expression strange. “Not just inexpensive—they’re downright cheap!”

Except for the second stone priced at sixty thousand, the other two were all under ten thousand. They weren’t worth much. But if, after opening, these three stones turned out as Su Zheng claimed, it wouldn’t just be a big rise in value—it would be an explosive surge!

“That’s good.”

Su Zheng smiled faintly and nodded. “Please have someone open them.”

“Are you sure?!”

The man with the handlebar mustache squinted at Su Zheng, hesitating slightly.

“Mr. Su, I don’t know if you’ve ever gambled on rough stones before, or if you’re aware, but all stones sold at marked prices have been carefully examined by gambling experts at each venue. So the sale price usually reflects a certain gambling success rate!”

None of the major venues selling rough stones were fools; before selling, they always had experts determine the quality, then priced accordingly. The implication was that the stones Su Zheng chose were too cheap, meaning a high chance of failure.

He wasn’t warning Su Zheng out of kindness but because he felt that the stones Su Zheng picked were an insult to them as dealers—a slap in the face implying they were blind!

“I’ve heard something like that before.”

Su Zheng nodded, his expression calm but tinged with regret. “However... the appraisers your place hires are really not up to par. Such good stones priced so low is a serious oversight. I suggest you consider hiring someone else.”

Though meant kindly, the words sounded like biting sarcasm to the man with the handlebar mustache.

“Fine, fine, fine!”

His face darkened instantly as he repeated “fine” three times, clearly displeased.

“Let’s see if you can still talk so slick after the stones are opened!”

Turning away, he ordered his men, “Hurry and open the stones! It’s time to ‘open eyes’!”

His tone dripped with ridicule. After speaking, he snorted coldly, giving Su Zheng a disdainful glance before stepping aside, silently waiting for Su Zheng to embarrass himself.

Several workers hurried over to bring the three stones to the opening machine.

Cheng Hui and the other wealthy young men crowded around, directing the workers to start with the “full green” stone Su Zheng had named.

“Guys, eyes wide open, don’t blink! Otherwise, you’ll miss the full green and lose big!”

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, prompting bursts of laughter filled with mockery and disdain.

“Don’t bother opening this one. Just wipe it!”

Ignoring the jeers, Su Zheng told the workers.

“Yeah, yeah, this is full green, so naturally it needs wiping. Keep your hands steady!”

Someone in the crowd sneered sarcastically, sparking more laughter.

The workers selected a suitable spot on the stone, started the machine, and began polishing.

“Shhh...”

The grating sound pierced the air as powder scattered under the blade, forming a white mist.

But soon, the white mist turned emerald green.

“Oh my god, it’s showing green?!”

The crowd gasped in shock; the previous ridicule vanished instantly. They stared wide-eyed, mouths agape.

The workers, also surprised, quickly adjusted the angle and polished another side. Within moments, green appeared again.

“F-full... looks like full green!”

Someone in the crowd shouted, their words barely coherent. For many, this was their first time witnessing true full green!

Cheng Hui’s face turned ashen, disbelief etched all over.

He never expected the first unimpressive stone to actually reveal full green as Su Zheng had said.

Even the handlebar mustache man, standing farther away, pushed through the crowd to see. Upon seeing the nearly fully polished full green jade, his eyes widened in astonishment, unable to believe such a rough “pebble” could yield full green!

Though it was only a mid-grade glutinous full green, its rarity made it highly valuable—an absolute explosive surge!

Yet, more shocking than the stone itself was Su Zheng’s ability to judge stones. Remember, he had done this blindfolded, relying solely on touch!