While Wang Zhuo's suggestion was to use an artifact from the Association's collection, Jing Tianhui had already admitted fault; how could he expect the Association to shoulder the entire burden for him? Moreover, having been cornered by Wang Zhuo's sharp maneuver, any counteroffer of a mere hundred thousand yuan would make him look petty. This left him trapped; unless he contributed a personal collection piece for auction, he wouldn't be able to leave the main stage today!

Gritting his teeth, Old Comrade Jing reached into his pocket and produced a perfectly clear, vibrant green Peace Amulet, about the size of half a palm—smooth and substantial. He held this amulet high and announced loudly, "Esteemed guests, the issue with Lot Number Two's rough stone was truly due to my oversight. I now offer this Peace Amulet in place of that stone for this convention's auction. Any proceeds will be a generous contribution by the buyer to charity, entirely unconnected to me, Jing!"

"Excellent!" "President Jing, what spirit!" "This Peace Amulet is powerful enough—it's worth ten times that Lot Number Two rough!"

Wang Zhuo was the first to stand, shouting his approval and leading the charge with enthusiastic applause. Everyone immediately joined in, whether they genuinely supported Jing Tianhui or were simply relishing his misfortune; their clapping was loud and vigorous.

Jing Tianhui had just given away a Peace Amulet worth over three hundred thousand yuan to defuse the immediate crisis. As he secretly wiped sweat from his brow, he burned with hatred for Wang Zhuo, who had just added fuel to the fire.

Thinking about how Wang Zhuo’s single phrase, "a thousand pieces of gold to buy a bone," had backed him into this corner, anger boiled up inside him. He silently vowed that once the competition results were out, he would single out Wang Zhuo’s valuation for a special critique, thoroughly humiliating him!

The interlude, which had delayed proceedings by nearly twenty minutes, finally concluded. At last, the highly anticipated final rough, Lot Number One, made its grand entrance amidst much anticipation.

The preceding roughs—Lots Four, Three, and Two—had yielded results ranging from a slight gain to a major bust. Everyone pinned their hopes on the final lot, Number One. If Number One also proved to be a bust, the subsequent auction segment would truly rely on that Peace Amulet to save face; otherwise, such a large cold buffet event would yield meager results—only a few thousand or ten thousand yuan donated to charity—which would be embarrassing.

Lot Number One was a squarely cut, yellow-sand-skinned rough, exhibiting standard characteristics. It had some 'Tinea' (scabs) but not many, and some 'Python Skin' (surface texture) but not prominently displayed. The contestants were uncertain about this stone, and the submitted bids were relatively conservative. Wang Zhuo’s valuation for this rough was, once again, a single character, because it was a 'Sesame Black' sample...

The result of cutting it defied everyone's expectations: it was a bean-grade material with excessive cotton-like inclusions and little jadeite. Ideally, it could yield a few bangles worth a few thousand yuan, but the density of the 'Sesame Black' inclusions was infuriatingly high, destroying all the fine jade quality. The stone cutter exerted maximum effort but could not find even a piece the size of a fingertip suitable for carving. He could only shake his head repeatedly in frustration.

Thus, three out of the four roughs were busts, and one saw a slight gain. Amidst murmurs of regret, the staff cleared the tools and began cleaning the main stage.

After only a few minutes of judging, the host walked onto the main stage holding a card to announce the results.

"Lot Number One, final appraisal result: zero yuan." "Lot Number Two's final appraisal result... also zero yuan." "Heh, the moon has its phases of waxing and waning... Who who often gambles on stones hasn't experienced several consecutive busts? Next up is Lot Number Three, also zero yuan."

A wave of good-natured laughter rippled through the hall. True stone gambling was often like this; for someone like Wang Zhuo to have every cut result in a gain was almost defying the heavens. If it happened as commonly as daily fare, jadeite would have become as cheap as cabbage long ago!

This was also why Wang Zhuo rarely cut stones publicly after leaving his hometown. Except for that one time in Myanmar when he showed off his skill acquiring the 'Crouching Bull' material, even the artisans at Shengshi Wangchao didn't know he possessed such heaven-defying abilities; they still believed the jadeite they were processing had been purchased by the company as already-polished material!

"Lot Number Four's appraisal result isn't zero yuan." The host paused here, his voice suddenly rising in pitch as the drum rolls from the band intensified: "Announcing the final result: the combined value of the four roughs, paired with the price submitted for Lot Number Four, is one hundred Chinese Yuan!"

In reality, the value of Lot Number Four was only around three to five thousand yuan, perhaps more if crafted into two 'Four Seasons Beans,' or even more for a Guanyin statue. This required the master craftsman to carefully calculate how to utilize the maximum amount of the final clear material to achieve the best result.

However, three to five thousand was too small a figure, lacking prestige. Furthermore, after discussion, the judges felt it was impossible for any contestant to have submitted such a low bid. Therefore, the competition was already decided by the contestant who quoted the lowest price. Raising this lot's price slightly would not affect the competition outcome, would make the result look more respectable, and would also boost the proceeds during the auction—a win-win situation.

Jing Tianhui, who had intended to use illicit means to eliminate Wang Zhuo, now felt it was unnecessary. In his view, besides Lot Number Three, which was a worthless block, at least one of Lots One, Two, or Four should have elicited a relatively high bid from Wang Zhuo. He had studied these four stones deeply, but Wang Zhuo only had thirty minutes for analysis; no matter how skilled, how could he judge them thoroughly?

Among the four seeded contestants, Ma Xin’s total estimated value was the lowest, at fifteen thousand yuan. After exchanging glances with the other two informed judges, Jing Tianhui unanimously agreed that Ma Xin had already secured victory with four or five points.

Three points meant an unassailable position, and Ma Xin, having secured the three points for the total valuation victory, could still earn one or two more single points. As for Wang Zhuo, since Jing Tianhui was unaware of his clairvoyance, he had estimated Wang Zhuo’s valuation before the competition to be between fifty thousand and two hundred thousand yuan!

Besides Ma Xin serving as the "safety net," the total valuations of the other two seeded contestants were set up to bracket Wang Zhuo within this range. Combined with the two judges allied with Jing Tianhui, this was a foolproof little scheme. Unfortunately, not only could Wang Zhuo see through the roughs, but he had also completely seen through their plot. The major busts of these four stones were unexpected by Jing Tianhui, but even if the stones had been cut for a standard profit, Wang Zhuo would have won regardless!

"Now, we invite several ladies to the stage as notaries to help reveal tonight's winner!" The host pointed out from the stage: "Miss Ning Yao, please come up to the main platform!"

Ning Yao was thirty-six, the perfect age to be an idol for the masses. Her appearance immediately drew enthusiastic applause; with her current soaring popularity, she could already be called a 'Minor Movie Queen.'

The host scanned the audience and landed on Siyuan: "That little sister over there, would you please come up and witness this moment as well?"

Countless gazes turned toward Siyuan. She looked up in surprise, pointed at herself, completely unprepared for the situation.

"Go on," Wang Zhuo said with a chuckle, patting her shoulder. "It’s a good chance for you to supervise them and prevent cheating."

"Okay!" Siyuan lightly stood up, blushing under the attention of so many eyes, and walked towards the main stage with excited steps.

The host then called up an elegant and noble elderly woman, completing the panel of notaries. Staff brought up a whiteboard as tall as a person, already pre-drawn with a table.

"Heh," he first smiled at the audience, then spoke in a more familiar tone, "If any contestant lacks confidence in their answer, or if their result is too far off, you may raise your hand now to withdraw. That way, your answer will remain confidential."

Six people immediately withdrew. Amidst laughter, the host noted their names on the whiteboard, drawing a straight line through the corresponding box next to their names.

These six included one whose total valuation reached five million, and several who had severely misjudged Lot Number Two. One of them had a competitive total valuation of thirty thousand yuan—they could have risked it—but adhering to their status, they did not wish to expose their record of valuing Lot Number Two at thirty thousand and Lot Number Four at zero yuan, so they 'shamefully remained anonymous.'

The host distributed six or seven cards each to Siyuan, Ning Yao, and the elderly woman. Ning Yao was the first to read out a card.

"Mr. Liu Jixiang: Five thousand, forty thousand, five hundred, three thousand. Total bid: forty-eight thousand five hundred yuan."

Ning Yao's voice carried a unique nasal quality, somewhat like a stuffy nose from a cold, yet also faintly suggestive, like intentional coyness. Her rhythm was a hundred times superior to that of another actress with a similar nasal tone who once played 'Little Swallow.' It possessed a peculiar sexiness, unforgettable once heard.

The second person to read a card was Siyuan. She flipped through the cards in her hand, paused on one, and read with a grin: "Mr. Lin Tingfeng: Zero yuan, five hundred yuan, two hundred thousand yuan... good hump, zero yuan."

The stage and audience froze for a moment, then erupted in boisterous laughter. At first hearing Siyuan say "good hump, zero yuan," people were confused, but upon realizing that Lot Number Four was a 'Big C-cup' type, everyone understood. This Mr. Lin Tingfeng was an amusing person; he had deliberately left a commentary on Lot Number Four on his card, not expecting that the answer would be read aloud publicly and delivered by a young girl!

After reading the card, Siyuan stood there, seemingly unfazed, her expression still smiling innocently, while Lin Tingfeng below blushed like he’d downed a bottle of strong liquor, scratching his head nervously and giving a forced laugh.

The host, being a mischievous soul, drew a perfectly round zero when recording Mr. Lin's bid for Lot Number Four, and after putting pen to paper, he deliberately made a dark dot right in the center.

Amidst the laughter, the host announced: "Mr. Lin currently holds a temporary lead. It is confirmed that his valuation for Lot Number One is completely correct, earning him one point. His valuation for Lot Number Two also shows a similar advantage!"

The three women continued reading cards, and in the blink of an eye, ten names were announced. When Ma Xin's bid was read by Siyuan as the eleventh person, she immediately took a decisive lead. Her valuations were two thousand, zero, zero, and thirteen thousand, respectively.

In the current standings, she was tied for first place with another contestant at two points, and her total valuation also held a clear advantage.

The atmosphere in the hall immediately heated up. This estimate was infinitely close to the final result, and with two points firmly secured, it seemed the remaining three contestants would only be going through the motions!

The host immediately invited Ma Xin to the main stage. When the audience saw that this contestant was actually a seductive, charming, and tenderly beautiful young married woman, the atmosphere in the venue flared up again!