C6 And There It Was

A resounding cacophony of whirring, buzzing, grinding, and banging permeated the air of the overly spacious warehouse; which was large enough, in Jiang Nan's opinion, to be used for an airplane hangar ... if not for all the equipment used for removing and cutting the emeralds from the raw stones occupying the space. And, while observing the process, Jiang Nan wondered why this was called the 'cutting room'; after all, the area was immensely larger than a room, and the actual act of cutting was only a part of the procedure ... and, he thought that 'extraction area' would be a more suitable name. When he addressed this with the attendant, she informed him that when the Stone Gambling Market first opened for business, the emeralds were just cut out from the stones; but, as technology advanced, the company began utilizing the more up-to-date equipment ... which not only made the process much easier and quicker; but, also dramatically decreased the instances of the emeralds being damaged during the removal. As for the area still being referred to as the 'cutting room'; the name just stuck.

Regardless of what the area was called, or how the emeralds were removed; one thing was evidently clear to Jiang Nan ... as he watched the cutting staff at work, meticulously excavating the emeralds embedded in the raw stones; proceeding with intricate care to make sure they're removed unscathed from any damage ... and, that's that the cutting masters at the Stone Gambling Market truly were highly-skilled craftsmen. Jiang Nan was really impressed by them ... and; even more so after reflecting on a particular incident that occurred last month.

Living a quasi-pauper-like existence; Jiang Nan is always on the lookout for sales at the supermarket while shopping ... sometimes even buying items that he doesn't normally use, or really wants, just because of the low, marked down sale price; which, in hindsight, can sometimes turn out to be counterproductive ... such as last month's incident involving a cheaply priced coconut. Jiang Nan does like coconut; although he never bought a whole coconut before in his life ... but, they were on sale at an unbelievably low price for the season; so, why not? After all, even a monkey can open them; so, how hard could it be? In retrospect; he should have gotten himself a monkey to open it.

After nearly half-an-hour of laboriously scrutinizing over the coconut's hard-shell exterior ... deeply pondering over what the best way to crack that 'bad boy' open would be ... it suddenly came to him like an epiphany. ... Again; he should have found himself a monkey to open it for him. ... Jiang Nan went and retrieved a toolbox ... that, fortunately for him, the last tenant forget to take with them ... then; took out the ballpeen hammer from it. ... Where's a monkey when you need one? ... And; with one swift, powerful swing of the hammer ... WHAMM!!! ... shattered fragments of coconut shell and flesh flew in every direction; while coconut water and milk splattered all over ... which made those freeloading cockroaches happy; as they fed off of the sweet, liquid residue over the next few days. From that day on, Jiang Nan decided to get his coconut from already prepared products; and, leave the whole coconuts to the monkeys.

Everyone was anxiously watching with bated breath; wondering if the newbie would somehow miraculously luck out, and get himself an emerald ... or, which was probably the case, fall flat on his face. Meanwhile; Jiang Nan became extremely nervous as he watched the master cutter working on his stone, gradually breaking down and removing layer after layer of raw stone. Sure; Jiang Nan believed that he could see the Success rate for an outcome ... but, he had only given it a trial-run once before; and, he was wondering if perhaps he should have tested it out more before coming to the Stone Gambling Market.

Yesterday's test run earned him over a dozen bottles of black tea ... along with a night spent running back and forth to the bathroom. And; this was all achieved with a 2 yuan wager ... as opposed to today's substantial wagering of 1250 yuan; which was almost all the money Jiang Nan had left to his name. Not to mention the fact that today was the first time Jiang Nan used the Success rate as a means to earn money.

If things worked out how Jiang Nan hoped they would ... and; the Success rate came through for him today; and, there was indeed an emerald in the stone ... he should walk away from the Stone Gambling Market with at least ten-fold of the initial price he paid.

But, if the Success rate fails him; Jiang Nan would be finished ... and; it wouldn't be too long before he found himself sleeping out on the streets; and, digging through dumpsters looking for scraps to eat. ... He melancholically thought that if that were to happen; hopefully the Success rate would at least work well enough for him to keep winning free bottles of black tea ... this way he'd have a decent drink to wash down his 'dumpster meals'.

And; finally... it looked like the cutting master was coming to the end of the extracting procedure.

Using what looked like a small, hand-held, buzz saw-like apparatus; the cutting master shaved away the remaining layers of raw stone ... while, alternately blasting it with a high-pressure stream of water to quickly erode away some of the sediment. Jiang Nan felt the proverbial 'lump in his throat' become larger with each grinding swipe of the saw and rapid blast of water; as he anxiously awaited his fate. Suddenly; the cutting master stopped what he was doing ... then, after a momentary lull of painstaking silence; Jiang Nan heard him utter aloud ... "And, there it is."

The cutting master smiled as he looked over to Jiang Nan, and showed him the find embedded in the raw stone; while informing Jiang Nan, "Congratulations ... you've got yourself an emerald."

Majestically resting within the center of the section of raw stone the cutting master was working on; there was slightly larger than a decent walnut-sized emerald.

Jiang Nan was finally able to relax; and, he quickly swallowed the swelling 'lump in his throat'.

He took in a long, deep breath; then, exhaled out all of his recently pent up anxiety.

His racing heart began to calm down; although, it still remained beating slightly faster than normal because of the excitement ... but; at least it was no longer palpitating.

Jiang Nan rejoiced in his mind ... "Yes! No sleeping out on the streets and 'dumpster meals' for me. ... And; definitely no more bargain priced coconuts."

And, as ecstatic as Jiang Nan was; everyone else in attendance was as equally stupefied ... with most of them displaying fully-agape mouths. Shortly; the room was fully abuzz with resounding exclamations of disbelief...

"By Heavens and the Gods above; how is this even possible?! It's just too unbelievable! The newbie actually chose a stone with an emerald inside of it."

"I know; I can't believe it, either. My God; there actually was an emerald in that worthless-looking stone ... how could that be?"

Then; one of the grandpas tauntingly brought up ... "If memory serves me correct; I distinctly remember somebody here saying something to the effect of that if there was an emerald in that stone, he'd eat that rock ... or; something like that ... hmm?"

Another grandpa immediately shouted out, "That's right! I remember that, too ... it was Old Liu who said that."

All eyes were instantly cast upon Old Liu ... formerly called Old Master Liu, because of all his acquired 'knowledge' when it came to evaluating raw stones; but, now disgraced and demoted back to being just plain Old Liu after attesting in front of everyone that the raw stone the newbie selected was a worthless hunk of rock that had no chance whatsoever of containing an emerald in it ... who was both extremely shocked and mortified to find out that the rookie was right after all.

Put on the spot ... a panicking Old Liu cringed and squirmed; as he awkwardly responded, "Well ... um ... you see ... to be honest; I ... I haven't really been digesting things too well recently; so..." Recalling how the old man had given him an earful out by the stall before; Jiang Nan saw an opening, and took the opportunity to goadingly tease the busybody grandpa ... "That's true; I can already tell that he's having a hard time eating his words ... so, what do you say we cut the old timer some slack; and, let him off the hook, this time. Besides ... with that 'cockamamie ritual' he uses to choose a stone having an emerald inside ... he'll probably never find one, at that rate; so, let's show him some pity."

The other elders sullenly shook their heads; and, gazed upon Old Liu with saddened, disappointed eyes.

They were both ashamed and embarrassed for Old Liu ... who had allowed this encroaching, upstart youngster new to the Stone Gambling Market to show up a 'raw stone veteran' elder ... and, were evoking looks of disdain on their faces. But, truth was, they couldn't place all of the blame on Old Liu; because, they too doubted that the stone the newbie picked would contain an emerald ... and, they were shamefully embarrassed of themselves, as well.

The attendant wore a beaming smile; because, she was happily relieved when she saw the emerald ... because, like everyone else who saw the raw stone he wanted to purchase; she too believed it to be a worthless hunk of rock. She even went out of her way to drop hints for him to forget about buying it. The attendant cheerfully , yet still respectfully, asked Jiang Nan, "Sir; you mentioned before that you may be interested in selling your emerald back to the Stone Gambling Market ... are you still interested? If you like; I can take you to the manager in charge of purchasing the emeralds."

Jiang Nan nodded; as he answered, "Yeah; sure ... if you don't mind. I wouldn't want to trouble you, and take up all of your time." She delivered an amiable smile; and, replied, "It's no trouble; it's part of my job, sir ... and; I don't mind, at all."

Once the cutting master completely removed the emerald , and turned it over Jiang Nan; the attendant proceeded to escort him over to the Stone Gambling Market management offices.

After they left; the last of remaining lingering group of envious, disgruntled elders began grumbling among themselves...

"Quite frankly; I myself was looking at that stone before that newbie ... and; was actually still contemplating on buying it myself. I suppose I hesitated too long; and, that youngster came by and snatched it up for himself. I'm kicking myself for not acting sooner."

Old Liu wanted to redeem himself before his peers' eyes; so, he began rambling in a stately manner... "Now that I think about it; according to the principles of Taiji ... 'When things reach the extreme; they will develop in the opposite direction.'. If we apply that theory ... even though the raw stone that that lad selected looked dull and ordinary ... leaving us to believe from its appearance that there would be no emerald inside ... in actuality, the more ordinary a raw stone appears; then, the higher chance there is of an emerald being in it.

One the other elders spoke up, "Yes; what you said makes perfect sense; Old Master Liu."

The old master rejoices in his mind, ""Old Master Liu' ... hallelujah; redemption!" He continues 'milking' his newly regained respect... "If this is the case; then, there surely should be other raw stones among the piles of cheaply priced ones out there with emeralds inside. I suggest we hurry back out there, and find one. ... Let's not let that 'wet behind the ears' rookie out best us; and, be the only one coming across an emerald, today."

"That's right! Right behind you; Old Master Liu. Let's go; everyone!"

Motivated with a yearning desire to out best the youngster; the elders rushed out ... back to sifting through the piles of raw stones, in search of the elusive emeralds.

Upon entering the huge, suite-like office; the purchasing manager ... a refined-looking man in his thirties; wearing a custom-tailored, three-piece, pinstriped Armani suit ... told the attendant, "Miss Zhu; would you please go and get our esteemed guest here a cup of tea."

"Of course; Mr. Wu." She turned to Jiang Nan, "Sir; what type of tea would you like? Do you have a particular preference? If we don't have it; we could send out for any kind you'd like." Jiang Nan replied, "Anything's fine." The attendant shot over another amiable smile to him. "Then; I'll be back shortly with your tea." She immediately left to fetch his tea. The manager gestured to an expansive, four-sectional, leather couch; while telling Jiang Nan, "Sir; please, have a seat."

Jiang Nan sat down and leaned back; crossing his legs, as he casually looked about the luxuriously furnished room. He mused in his mind, "How about that; I've gone from being a 'newbie rookie lad' to an 'esteemed guest', in a couple of hours." He was feeling quite proud of himself now.

As the manager picked up the receiver; he informed Jiang Nan, "I'm calling for one of our on-site gem appraisers to come over as soon as possible. Please bear with us a moment, sir; I'll be sure we handle this as expediently as we can, so as not to waste much of your time."

"It's okay; I'm in no rush ... really. Besides; sometimes these things can't be rushed. Especially if you want them done right."

"I wholeheartedly agree with you; sir. And; thank you for your understanding and patience." The manager proceeded to make the call.

Jiang Nan continued admiring the room ... while, at the same time; planned on how to keep up the pretense of acting liking he was knowledgeable, and understood what was going on."

Shortly; the attendant returned with the tea. "Sir; I brought you the best Oolong Tea we have on hand. I hope you enjoy it."

Still displaying her amiable smile; the beautiful attendant gracefully handed the tea to Jiang Nan.