Hearing that Monk Banshan was in trouble, Wang Guan hurriedly asked, "What happened? Is it serious?"

"Not serious, just a small issue," Elder Qian chuckled. "It's currently under negotiation and should be resolved soon."

"That’s good then." Wang Guan nodded. Thinking about it, he understood the situation.

After all, Monk Banshan’s temple housed many precious cultural relics, including items considered national treasures. Taking just a few pieces might not have caused any trouble. However, removing all of them at once would undoubtedly draw immense attention. There would inevitably be some back-and-forth haggling, requiring friendly negotiation to settle.

Wang Guan had no ability to intervene in such high-level affairs, but he trusted Elder Qian to handle the arrangements, so he didn't press further.

"By the way, didn't you say you bought a batch of jadeite?"

At the same time, Elder Qian casually asked, "Did you bring the goods back yet?"

"I’m waiting for the shipment from Myanmar; it should take two or three days..."

Wang Guan's estimation proved correct; he had to wait two or three days. It was on the afternoon of the third day when he finally received a call, and then he drove a truck to pick up the cargo.

He initially considered taking the rough stones directly back to the grand mansion, but after some thought, Wang Guan felt it would be too troublesome. He decided instead to head straight to the jade-gambling street and stopped beside Boss Yang's shop.

"Brother Wang."

Hearing the noise outside the door, Boss Yang came out and, upon seeing Wang Guan, paused slightly before greeting him with a broad smile, "Welcome, welcome! I was just thinking the magpie sang on the branch this morning—turns out a distinguished guest was arriving."

"Hardly a distinguished guest; I wouldn't visit the Three Treasures Hall without a reason," Wang Guan replied.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wang Guan got straight to the point, "Boss Yang, you know I bought quite a few stones in Myanmar. I was hoping to have them cut here. I wonder if it’s convenient for you?"

"Convenient, of course, it’s convenient." Boss Yang nodded quickly, certainly not one to refuse. He started to move toward the truck to help Wang Guan move the stones, but then he saw the rough jadeite that almost entirely filled the truck bed, and his jaw dropped, nearly dislocating.

After a long moment, Boss Yang finally snapped back to reality and looked at Wang Guan with shock, "All of this is...?"

"Heh heh, I accidentally bought a bit too much," Wang Guan chuckled. "Please forgive my excess, Boss Yang."

Boss Yang was momentarily speechless. How could someone accidentally acquire so much? Although he knew he shouldn't pry, Boss Yang couldn't resist asking, "That much... did it cost a fortune?"

"Not too bad," Wang Guan smiled. After glancing around, he quietly asked, "Boss Yang, I remember the backyard is quite spacious; you can probably cut stones back there too, right?"

"The backyard..."

Boss Yang was momentarily surprised, then instinctively assumed Wang Guan was embarrassed and didn't want to cut stones in public. Understanding this in his own way, he readily agreed, "Alright, I'll open the door. You can drive around to the back entrance."

Boss Yang's shop was large—in fact, most shops on this street were spacious. Since it was a place for jade-gambling, ample space was naturally required to display stones, so the backyard area was quite large; Wang Guan could drive the truck right in without issue.

As Wang Guan busied himself parking, Boss Yang called over his assistants to help lift the cutting machine into the yard. They connected the power and flipped the switch, and a sharp, piercing whirring sound immediately erupted.

Seeing this setup, Boss Yang nodded with satisfaction and then smiled, "Brother Wang, would you like to do it yourself, or... perhaps I should call over a stone-cutting master?"

"No need!"

At that moment, Wang Guan jumped down from the driver's seat of the truck, raised a hand to stop him, and said, "I can handle it myself."

"What?" Boss Yang was startled, frowning instinctively. He thought Wang Guan was showing off. If he couldn't do it, he should just admit it; why waste good material?

Wang Guan didn't have time to consider Boss Yang's thoughts. Seeing the cutting machine was ready, he didn't hesitate. He directly moved a piece of rough jadeite from the truck.

Under the sunlight, the cut surface of the rough stone showed a faint greenish sheen, but most of it was a milky white color, suggesting it was a low-grade piece.

"Hmm?"

Boss Yang took a look and swallowed the warning he was about to utter.

"I wondered why there were so many stones; turns out it's all 'brick material.'" Boss Yang mused thoughtfully. "It makes sense he's so confident; he must intend to use these for practice..."

It wasn't surprising Boss Yang guessed this way. "Brick material" referred to rough jadeite with poor transparency, many impurities, and little or no green color, usually only suitable for making cheap tourist crafts—a very low-grade raw stone. In Boss Yang's eyes, such material was only slightly better than ordinary rock, and he wouldn't mind if it was ruined during cutting.

While Boss Yang was contemplating, Wang Guan had already positioned the stone under the cutting machine, adjusted it to the appropriate angle, and then brought the blade down hard.

Instantly, a piercing sound echoed sharply, accompanied by puffs of white stone dust. The cutting machine smoothly sliced off half the rough stone. At this point, most people would stop the machine and wash the cut surface with water to check the results. However, Wang Guan didn't do that. Instead, he immediately lifted the cutting gear, repositioned the stone, and continued to slice again...

Seeing this, Boss Yang was utterly speechless. Such casual handling was treating the process like child's play. Calling this "cutting jade" was an insult to the craft; it was clearly just chopping rocks for fun.

While Boss Yang shook his head, Wang Guan worked quickly. In just over ten minutes, he had cut the stone into an uneven polygonal block and began the grinding process.

After the initial slicing and sawing, there was still the grinding step. This was necessary because adjacent to the jade flesh was a layer of foggy, white film that needed to be ground away before the green jade could be clearly seen.

Of course, Boss Yang felt Wang Guan was overdoing it. Brick material was like this—lots of fog, little green. A little polishing would turn it into the cheapest craft item. If he ground away all the white fog, there would likely be only a tiny bit of jade left, perhaps not even enough to carve anything meaningful—a net loss.

Boss Yang, being relatively kind-hearted, noticed Wang Guan still grinding and couldn't help but offer a well-meaning caution, "Brother Wang, just polish it lightly; you should leave some of the stone material intact."

"Alright, it's about done anyway," Wang Guan agreed readily. He smoothly shut off the machine, casually tossed the stone he was holding into the nearby basin of water, and then scooped up water to wash his hands.

"Brother Wang, don't be discouraged. It's just one piece of brick material, but..."

Boss Yang was about to offer a few words of comfort, but suddenly, a faint, lush green luminescence emerged from the water basin, instantly making his eyes widen. In his state of stunned silence, he naturally forgot the comforting words he intended to say.

After being dumbfounded for a long time, Boss Yang finally came to his senses. Mixed feelings of surprise and disbelief flooded him, "It cut high?"

"Cut high?"

Just then, someone nearby shouted, "Old Yang, you’re unfair! Sneaking off to cut jade without us..."

The sound of stone cutting was quite loud. The shops on the street were connected, so those nearby heard the commotion. The bosses of the shops on either side, or customers who had come to pick out rough jade, naturally grew curious and gathered to watch the excitement.

However, as people in the trade, they understood the etiquette. Since the cutting was happening in the backyard, it implied the cutter didn't want to be watched. Therefore, these people didn't approach closely. They only started shouting when they heard Boss Yang's amazed exclamation.

But at this moment, Boss Yang had no time to pay attention to the onlookers. He immediately crouched down, reached into the basin, and retrieved the piece of jadeite, which was about the size of a clenched fist. He then used the edge of his robe to wipe the water droplets off the jade's surface before examining it closely and seriously.

"Glass type!"

At first glance, Boss Yang's expression was incredibly complex, showing shock, confusion, delight, excitement, and a rush of emotions that flickered across his face like a slide show.

"Glass type" referred to the texture of the jadeite; the entire piece was as clear and transparent as glass, belonging to the highest level of pure transparency. In simple terms, if the base quality of the jadeite is good, it’s like a beautiful woman with flawless skin—no makeup needed, always looking dewy and refreshing, extremely pleasing to the eye.

As a merchant who had been dealing in jadeite for over a decade, Boss Yang naturally knew how rare a piece of glass-type jadeite was. Moreover, this piece wasn't just glass-like transparency; the vivid, intense green hue was enough to completely captivate him.

Jadeite, jadeite—the "green" character is the key.

Otherwise, even if the material was glass-type texture without any green color, it would be no different from crystal, and its value wouldn't be high. What truly makes jadeite priceless is its color; red, green, purple are considered precious.

Color is one of the most crucial factors determining the price of jadeite. A slight difference in color for top-grade jadeite can mean a price difference of dozens of times. Thus, regardless of the color, jadeite is considered superior only when the material is abundant and the green color is rich.

The piece Boss Yang held in his hands, in industry terms, was a vibrant green slightly subordinate only to Imperial Green and Emerald Green.

When we say "subordinate," it is purely relative. Imperial Green and Emerald Green are the most perfect varieties of jadeite, truly rare treasures that are almost impossible to encounter, and generally, one shouldn't aspire too highly.

In this context, vibrant green naturally holds a position of supreme dominance among jadeites—the peerless champion when the ultimate varieties are absent.

Consider that stones with colors like 'clear water,' 'blue water,' or 'green water' are already considered high-end commodities in the market; then vibrant green is equivalent to top-tier jadeite. Furthermore, this was glass-type vibrant green jadeite—it was the pinnacle of perfection. At least, that's what Boss Yang believed, and as he held the jadeite, his face wore an expression almost of reverence.

"Glass type?"

At this moment, those who heard Boss Yang's exclamation disregarded any pretense of etiquette. They exchanged glances and immediately swarmed over like a disturbed nest of bees.

"It really is glass type, and the water content is excellent; the green color is almost spilling out."

"Nonsense, that's vibrant green; it wouldn't be strange if it was spilling over."

Amidst the clamor and excitement, everyone surrounded the jadeite as if worshipping it, completely forgetting Wang Guan, the rightful owner, off to the side. Others didn't know and could forget him, but Boss Yang remembered perfectly. He considered the situation for a moment, gritted his teeth, and quietly walked toward Wang Guan...