The Understated Dragon Lord novel Chapter 131

Staff brought over the POS machine to process Andrew's payment for the stone. After a couple of beeps, the transaction was completed, and the receipt was printed out. Another staff member, equipped with tools, approached to crack open the stone.

Daniel glanced at the stone and warned Andrew with a chuckle, "Andrew, this so-called number-one appraiser from Florida, Henry, right? Seems like he's not that skilled. This stone will probably yield only some worthless jade fragments. If you spend 1.98 million on it, you'll likely lose about 1.9 million."

"You country boy, what do you know? Stop your bullshitting! Henry Jade is renowned for a reason. I don't believe he could make such a simple mistake," Andrew retorted after swearing at Daniel.

Henry also stepped in on the discussion, "Who are you? What do you think you're doing? You don't know anything; I suggest you stop your ill-informed chatter. This stone, as I said to Andrew, should earn him a return of at least 20-30%—and that's a conservative estimate. Once it's cut open, it should reveal jade worth over five million."

"Five million? I tell you, once this stone is opened, you'll be crying on the spot, Andrew. This stone will only reveal fragments worth maybe fifty thousand at most, if you're lucky."

As the staff began cutting the stone with a power saw, it split open to reveal its contents. What Henry and everyone else expected was a sizeable piece of jade; however, looking at the revealed cross-section, it was clear there was no large jade piece. Instead, the stone was filled with fragments of poor-quality jade.

Although Andrew wasn't well-versed in jade gambling, he knew garbage when he saw it. This stone was full of worthless fragments, not the large jade piece Henry promised.

"Henry, what's going on?" Andrew's first attempt was a failure. Looking visibly upset, Henry hadn't given up yet. He instructed the staff, "Cut it here again."

Following Henry's directions, the worker made another cut—but the result was the same, just more fragments.

"Try cutting in this direction."

After several attempts, Henry finally resigned himself to despair.

With Henry falling silent, Andrew asked, "Henry, should we continue cutting?"

"My mistake! I indeed made an error with this stone. I expected a large piece of jade, but all we found are fragments. Jade Gambling comes with risks, and even I cannot make the right choice every time. Though our first attempt failed, I'm confident the next one will be better. You must trust me; I'm a professional. Since you've trusted me today to pick these stones, I'll surely make you money."

Frustrated with the first failure, Andrew found some logic in Henry's explanation. Jade gambling was indeed risky; nobody could win every time. A first-time loss was understandable as long as the following choices recovered the initial investment.

Despite his loss, Andrew refused to be ridiculed by the country boy. Even if he lost, he wanted to ensure Daniel would fail too, to embarrass himself.

With a smug expression, Andrew turned to Daniel, prompting him, "Country boy, it's your turn to play. Of course, if you're too scared, feel free to just admit defeat."