The man contemplated for a moment and said, “5 million!”
Dumbstruck at hearing the figure, Elise
thought, The stone which he bought for 20,000 has a price of 5 million now!
However, Alexander rejected the offer directly. “This price doesn’t reach my expectations. I’m sorry.”
The other party wasn’t expecting that Alexander would be unwilling to sell it, and he continued, “8
million. That’s my final offer.”
Still, Alexander didn’t seem interested, and the craftsman stepped in to speak to Elise. “Miss, this stone
has a very good color after cutting one side, but I’m afraid the depth of the color might not be what you
would expect. If you sell it now, you can still make a killing. However, if you continue with the cutting
and find out there’s no more jadeite inside, I don’t think you can fetch a high price for your stone
anymore.”
Looking at Alexander, Elise asked, “Mr. Griffith, do you want to sell your stone now?”
After a moment of consideration, he answered, “I think I’ve always been rather lucky, so I don’t plan to
sell it for now.”
After receiving a reply from him, Elise interpreted it to the craftsman, who decided to stay out of it
seeing that Alexander had chosen not to heed his words even though he was just being kind. His years
of working here had shown him all types of stone gambling scenes-some became rich overnight
because of this sport, while there were also others who lost every single penny.
The former were usually people with better luck, while the latter were mostly people who didn’t know
when to stop. Hence, he returned to his work place without another word and continued cutting the
stone with the machine.
As the commotion over here was too huge, more and more people started to gather, with the majority
of the people watching in anticipation.
“Wow, there’s more jadeite!”
“Imperial jade! It’s really the imperial jade!”
“I’ve been around for so long, and it’s been years since I last saw such a fine piece of imperial jade.”
r
“This guy is really lucky to have gotten such a good piece of stone.”
The comments from the crowd came one after the other, with the most being cries of excitement, and
even Elise was stunned by the scene unfolding in front of her eyes. About half an hour later, the cutting
of the stone was completed, and it turned out that two thirds of the stone was top-grade imperial jade.
Based on the color and look, it was estimated that it would worth at least hundreds of millions if made
into a complete jewelry set.
“Congratulations, sir. Your stone is the prettiest imperial jade I’ve seen in my years of experience in this
business. I know a few jewelry companies, and I wonder if you’ll be interested to know them.”
Elise interpreted this gentleman’s words to Alexander, who replied, “If the price is good, I can consider
selling it.”
When Elise had translated his intentions into Arisian, excitement washed over the crowd, and a few
interested buyers came forward to ask about the price.
“30 million! I’m paying 30 million for this stone. Will you sell it to me?”
“I can offer 35 million!”
“38 million! I hope you’ll consider our jewelry company,” someone offered and passed a business card
to Alexander. Peering at the card, Alexander saw that the man was from the third largest jewelry
company in the world, and he announced his lowest price. “50 million. If you’re agreeable, I’ll sell this
jade to you.”
The man contemplated for a moment and answered, “Please wait a moment while I make a call to ask
for permission.”
When the onlookers heard the astronomical price of 50 million, all of them were stunned; it was simply
unbelievable that a stone could be sold at such a price–50 million!
Meanwhile, Elise gawked at the stone. Just two hours ago, it was still a regular mineral rock, but it was
now worth 50 million, and she was actually there to witness the historic moment of how this came to
be.
“Sir, let’s make the deal and sign the contract now! After signing the contract, the accountant from my
company will immediately send over the money.”
Turning to Elise, Alexander said, “Miss Sare, I’ll need to trouble you to draft the contract for me.”
This was not an issue to her at all. Hence, both parties drafted the contract, and after negotiations, they
signed the agreement without any problems. Within a few minutes, Alexander received the notification
of the money transfer.
After all was said and done, Elise left together with Alexander, but she was so shocked speechless that
it took her a while before she spoke again. “Mr. Griffith, I think you kinda have a little of my admiration.”
Hearing that, he turned around and cast a look at her with a soft smirk on his face. “You flatter me, Miss
Sare. I just got lucky.”
Acting as though she had just discovered America, Elise chased after him hurriedly and asked, “Mr.
Griffith, will you teach me how to pick out stones?”
“Huh? You’re interested, Miss Sare?” he asked with raised brows.
Elise bobbed her head eagerly; her interest was in anything that could make money!
“We’re unrelated in any way, so there’s really no reason for us to discuss this topic. In addition, I paid a
high price to hire you as my interpreter; shouldn’t you pay me some fees as well if you would like to
pick up stone gambling from me?”
I knew it—nothing comes free in this world! she thought to herself, then asked through gritted teeth, “So
tell me: How much are you charging? It’s not a problem if it’s within my ability.”
Instead of answering her, he asked, “Do you think I’m in need of money?”
Of course Elise knew that he wasn’t, but what would he want if not money? Suddenly, she cast him a
wary look and asked, “What do you want?”
Amused by her reaction, he asked, “What do you think?”
She paused and shook her head, then he told her honestly, “I can teach you stone gambling, but you’ll
have to teach me Arisian as the tuition fees.”
“That’s all?” she asked with sparkling eyes.
Alexander gave her a knowing nod, whereupon her face lit up beautifully. “That’s easy. It’s not a
problem at all!” This is much better than paying him in cash!
“Alright. So you’ll give me a lesson every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until I master the language,”
he said.
Dumbstruck, she thought, That means I‘U have to dress up as Sare every
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to meet him? That‘s too nisky. What if I‘m exposed “What if I have
something on? Adjust the time a little and make it two times a week at most. Also, I’ll only teach you
online and won’t meet you in private.”
This was a point which Alexander didn’t refuse. “That’s fine, but at least one hour each session.”
With the agreement achieved between ther, Elise immediately said, “Since we’ve already agreed on it,
why don’t you start teaching me stone gambling now? We’re already here anyway; let’s not let this
amazing learning opportunity go to waste.”
After hesitation, he replied, “Not today. We’ll stay another day and come back again tomorrow.”
Elise was about to ask him for the reason, but when she saw his face, she stopped herself from saying
anything. Since he‘s said so, so be it, she thought.“What are we doing now, then? Are we going back?”
Looking at her skeptically, he asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”
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