C9 Aww ... Too Bad

Several minutes later ... The same young, beautiful, slim-waisted attendant ... attired in the red, flower-patterned, silk cheongsam ... from before, showed up at the stall; and, weighed the stones.

Wearing her usual amiable smile; she informed him, "Sir; the stones come to a combined weight of 8.56 kilograms ... at 1,100 yuan per kilogram; the cost comes to 9,416 yuan. I assume you'll be paying with WeChat transfer, again?"

Smiling back at her; Jiang Nan quipped, "You assume correctly." With smartphone already in hand, and set to his WeChat account; Jiang Nan swiped it across her device, and ... without wasting any time ... directly transferred the money over."

Still smiling; she inquired, "And; would you like to have us cut open the stones for you again, sir? Surely that would be the most convenient way ... instead of taking them with you as is; only having to find another place that could cut them open for you. ... And, of course; you'd also be able to sell them right away, and get your money transferred into your account, on the spot."

She was instructed by the purchasing manager to be sure to convince Jiang Nan to cut open the stones on the premises; this way he could witness what was going on, And, also ... should there be an emerald in any of the stones Jiang Nan purchased ... he wanted to make sure that they had first crack at buying them back from him.

"Sure; why not ... I'm pretty sure luck's still on my side; so, there's bound to be an emerald, or two, among these stones." Jiang Nan grinned; as he flippantly quipped, "Who knows ... maybe I can even get a fair price the first time around, from your boss."

Having no idea what he was talking about ... she wasn't present during the previous appraisal and sale of the emerald ... she just smiled, "Well, sir; seeing how you're so confident ... I suppose I'll just congratulate you in advance, then. Congratulations." Jiang Nan replied, "Thanks. ... So; should we be on our way, now?"

"Of course ... sir; please, follow me." The attendant set off with Jiang Nan; once again on their way back to the cutting room. And, just like before; a fairly large procession of curious bystanders ... consisting of mostly elders ... followed close behind them; with Old Master Liu up front, leading the way.

When they arrived at the cutting room; a cutting master was already standing by, waiting for their arrival. This wasn't that much of a surprise to the attendant; who naturally assumed that the purchasing manager would have everything set up and ready to go, when she brought Jiang Nan over. What she did find surprising was that her boss was nowhere to be found. She was positive that the purchasing manager had a strong interest in Jiang Nan's purchase ... after all; he was the one who ordered her to talk Jiang Nan into having him cut his stones open there ... so; she wondered why he wasn't there for the cutting.

The cutting master walked up to Jiang Nan. "I hear you bought yourself four more stones ... come back to test your luck, I see." Jiang Nan grinned. "No need to test it; I'm sure it's just fine." The cutting master bellowed out a hearty guffaw. "Is it now? Wow; it must be nice to be brimming with such confidence. Well I hope it is; for your sake. Look here; sonny ... just so you know; these stones ain't no boxes of Cracker Jacks ... there ain't no prize guaranteed in every package. You do realize that; don't you?"

Jiang Nan glanced back at Old Master Liu, and shot over an impish little grin to him; then, turned back to the cutting master, and jocosely quipped, "Yeah; I know that ... because, if they were like Cracker Jacks; then, someone wouldn't have any problem eating them, like he said he would." The old master derisively glared at Jiang Nan; as he grumbled under his breath, "So; the 'wet behind the ears' rookie got jokes, does he? Let's see if he still jokes around after they open up his stones, and there's nothing in there. Then, we'll see who's laughing."

The cutting master let out another chuckle. "Whatever; sonny. Anyway; what do you say we get started, here ... let me see those stones of yours." Jiang Nan reached into his backpack; and, pulled out one of the smaller stones, without an emerald inside. "Here you go; why don't you start with this one."

"Whatever makes the 'young master' happy." The cutting master took the stone from Jiang Nan, and brought it over to his workstation; then, began the process of cutting it open.

Silence suddenly befell the room; and, everyone slowly inched up forward to get a closer look ... stretching out their necks and widening their eyes open as much as they could. An anxious tension permeated the atmosphere, as they waited with bated breath; carefully observing the cutting master at work ... most everyone one of them secretly wishing in their hearts that there wasn't an emerald inside ... in any of the stones, for that matter ... desperately longing to see the arrogant youngster fail miserably.

The attendant was one of the few in attendance who was actually rooting for Liang Nan; and, was earnestly hoping that there would be an emerald in at least one of the stones. She nervously watched from the side; intensely focused on the 'cutting open' procedure ... barely blinking.

Meanwhile ... in order to keep up appearances; and, put on an effective 'show' ... Jiang Nan was feigning a look of 'eager anticipation'.

Unbeknownst to Jiang Nan ... and, the attendant who was wondering why he never showed up at the cutting room ... the purchasing manager had been in the Security Station; watching everything that was transpiring, on the CCTV monitors.

The cutting master continued to intricately work his way through the raw stone; taking caution as to not damage any emerald that might be inside. And; it's this concern that generally prolongs the process.

However; because of the small size of the stone, it wouldn't be too long before the procedure was over.

Tension mounted; and, everyone remained motionless, with their 'laser-focused' eyes steadily affixed on the cutting master's final cuts.

Finally ... the cutting master put down his specially forged, titanium coated, steel blade; and, gazed down upon the pieces of the stone. He slowly shook his head; as a slight smirk emerged upon his mouth. He then looked up at Jiang Nan, and informed him, "I hate to tell you this, sonny; but, it looks like your luck isn't working as good as you thought it was." The cutting master started showing Jiang Nan the inner surfaces of the stone pieces. "Not even a hint of green ... this is a worthless stone."

Keeping up with his act ... Jiang Nan 'listlessly' shuffled his way over to the cutting master's workstation; and, 'dazedly' looked over all the pieces ... then; speaking in a blase', monotonic tone, "Hmm ... guess I'm not as lucky as I thought."

Old Master Liu ... who was ecstatically doing cartwheels on the inside ... haughtily spouted out, "Ha! ... Oh, my; how the mighty have fallen."

'Able to breathe', again; most of the elders vigorously chortled after hearing Old Master Liu chide the newbie ... who clearly only had a case of beginner's luck, last time. They finally felt vindicated; and, expelled long sighs of relief.

Just as Jiang Nan figured; this was obviously the only way that the elders would come to terms and accept him 'finding' the emerald so easily.

Old Master Liu displayed an immense, 'Cheshire cat grin' upon his countenance ... looking as happily content as a pig in shit ... as he smugly gloated, "Just as I thought, all along; it was nothing more than sheer luck, last time."

Another elder concurred, "Yes; you're so right, Old Master Liu ... nothing more than luck. No skill involved, at all."

Wanting to slide in at least one shot ... Jiang Nan briefly glanced over at Choi Wei; and, flippantly quipped, "Darn ... and, I honestly thought that I'd be able to use my X-ray vision to make the right choice every time."

Jiang Nan happened to catch a glimpse of the attendant ... who remained silently standing off to the side ... out of the corner of his eye; and, he noticed that she was displaying a sort of disappointedly hurt expression on her face. He wondered if she was actually upset that his stone didn't have an emerald in it. And, if that was the case; she was probably the only there that was feeling sorry for him. He shot her over a smile. She reciprocated with a slight, faint smile of her own; as opposed to her usual cheery, amiable smile. Truth was; she was kind of feeling sorry for Jiang Nan ... but, she kept hoping in her heart that an emerald would still be found in one of the three remaining stones.

Meanwhile; over in the Security Station ... the purchasing manager was displaying a huge grin of his own. He was presumptuously satisfied that what had happened the first time was a fluke. And, since he was already bored with viewing the monitors; he decided to return back to his office. But; before leaving ... he instructed the Lieutenant to continue viewing the monitors; and, immediately notify him if any of the other stones contained an emerald in it ... or, anything else that looked suspicious.

Jiang Nan continued on with his act; as he feigned looking frustratingly upset, while griping, "My God; how did that happen? I don't get it ... I had a divination this morning; and, it said that I would be blessed with nothing but continual good fortune, today."

Jiang Nan pulled out the other, small raw stone ... also having a Rate: 0% chance of containing an emerald ... and, 'nervously' handed it over to the cutting master. "Let's try this one next." The cutting master just nodded; then, took it over to his work station. He immediately began working on it.

Again; everyone remained silent ... though this time; they were no longer as anxious as they were the last time ... and, waited to see what the result would be this time. And, once again, Jiang Nan caught a glimpse of the attendant out of the corner of his eye; noticing that this time she was inconspicuously crossing her fingers, while murmuring something between loosely shut lips ... looking as if she was wishing there'd be an emerald in this one. He couldn't help but to smile ... but, made sure to get rid of it quickly; before someone else saw it.

The cutting master was halfway through the procedure; and, the elders slowly began to move forward for a closer look ... eager to see if there was an emerald inside, or not.

Shortly ... the cutting master was finished; and, he laid his blade down, off to the side of his workstation. He slowly revealed each inside section of the stone to Jiang Nan.

The result was the same as the previous one ... it was another hunk of worthless rock.

And, just as before; Old Master Liu was the first to speak up, "You're just too naive for you own good; lad. What ... did you really believe that because you had this so-called 'divination'; you'd be able to select raw stones with emeralds inside, every time? If that were truly possibly; everyone and his brother would be able to make a fortune."

A sudden barrage of chortling and snickering from the congregated elders resounded throughout the air. Old Master Liu quickly raised his hand; gesturing for them to be silent. He proclaimed...

"Now; now ... we must be the bigger persons, and forgive the ignorance of these young people; and, try to correct them from their bad habits. Because, until they're able to accumulate the necessary experiences over the years; they'll only keep on suffering from recurring losses if they keep relying on luck."

Old Master Liu looked back at Jiang Nan. "As for you, lad; it's true when they say that until you experience some setbacks, you truly won't know what despair is. But, always keep in mind that certain setbacks can be avoided; as long as you adhere to a semblance of prudent judgement. ... And, remember; the Stone Gambling Market is no place to try and make your fortune ... at least, not if you're only going to rely on your luck."

Jiang Nan thought that he better get out of there before he burst out in laughter from listening to the rhetoric this grandpa was spewing. He put on a 'despondently dispirited' looking expression on his face; and, 'sullenly' lowered his head. He began to 'listlessly amble' out of the cutting room. The cutting master called out to him, "Hey, sonny; don't you have two more stones left to be cut open? What about them? Want me to open them up for you while you're still here?" Jiang Nan 'dejectedly' replied, "What's the point ... looks like my luck has dried up already. I'm going home."

As he somberly shuffled towards the exit; Jiang Nan noticed the attendant empathetically gazing upon him with sorrowful eyes. Jiang Nan responded by quickly displaying a brief smile; then, winked at her. This completely baffled the saddened attendant; who had honestly pitied the bleak outcome that he just incurred.

A few of the elders earnestly warned Jiang Nan; by shouting out advices like...

"Child; do try to be more careful in the future. Don't be so recklessly impetuous; and, avoid making rash decisions." And...

"Remember ... be sure to find yourself a legitimate job; and, work hard at it. That's the only sure fire way to possibly make that fortune that you so greatly desire."