Chapter 97

After Lin Meng left, the preliminary selection of the Stone Gambling Convention continued to progress.

The five rough stone codes submitted by Ye Chenjing faced almost no competition, yet he still chose to trust Lin Meng, bidding on each according to the highest budget.

Unsurprisingly, all five rough stones went to the Ye Family.

As the final auction results were posted one after another on the public display screen, countless eyes in the dark fixed on the Ye Family.

When they saw a string of unfamiliar numbers, many were secretly shocked, and private exchanges continued nonstop.

"No way? How could the five rough stones bid on by the Ye Family be such a dark horse?"

"Indeed, not a single one of the many stone-gambling experts chose the same rough stones as they did—how reliable is the expert the Ye Family hired?"

"I heard the stone-gambling expert hired by the Ye Family fell out with them and quit; these five rough stones might just be random fill-ins by Ye Chenjing."

"Really? But it's possible; anyway, the Ye Family isn't short of money—they wouldn't feel bad even if they bought all the rough stones and threw them away."

Just like that, the number of people waiting to see Ye Chenjing make a spectacle increased.

The Ye Family is powerful, having led the rich list for so many years, so there will always be those who dissent and covet.

In other fields they cannot rival the Ye Family, but in the stone-gambling and jewelry worlds, surely they can still hope to see the Ye Family suffer a setback?

Lin Meng was unaware of the changing situation within the Stone Gambling Convention during this period.

By the time she returned to the stone-gambling venue, the stone-cutting work had already begun.

Xu Yixiao and Lin Meng entered the stone-cutting area together and, from afar, saw their parents in the crowd.

Xu Yixiao hurriedly said to Lin Meng:

"Sis, I'll go find Mom and Dad first; they don't know you're here for the Stone Gambling Convention yet—I'll let them know."

Lin Meng nodded, her peripheral vision sweeping over the stone-cutting area, thinking that her maternal uncle was clearly a stone-cutter too, yet he wasn't cutting stone; but when she wanted to ask, her cousin had already run off.

At that moment, Sun Yao, having received Ye Chenjing's order, had already come before Lin Meng.

"Miss Lin, General Manager Ye sent me to fetch you; our five rough stones are about to be cut, and he hopes you can assist the stone-cutter in making judgments when you do the stone-cutting later."

Lin Meng nodded, without declining.

Stone-cutting is also a profound discipline; a stone-cutter whose skill is not up to par can easily ruin a high-integrity seed material with a single cut.

Where to cut, how much to cut at once—these are all matters of technique.

"Alright, I'll go right away."

"By the way, Assistant Sun, are the stone-cutters at the Stone Gambling Convention fixed? Can I designate which cutter to do the cutting?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yao immediately said:

"Of course not fixed; Miss Lin, if you have a trusted familiar cutter, you can invite him to help us cut stone—General Manager Ye said all stone-cutting arrangements are up to you."

Lin Meng nodded; it seemed Ye Chenjing had no recourse—of the five experts he hired, one was kicked out, and the remaining four left in a huff, leaving him with no one usable.

Finally it was the Ye Family's turn to cut stone; Lin Meng saw the staff take out the five rough stones won in the bid, and she once again used her mental power to confirm, ensuring she hadn't taken the wrong ones or that they hadn't been swapped.

The staff member handling the handover stared at Lin Meng for a moment, "Are you the representative of Ye Corporation?"

Lin Meng nodded, but the staff member still didn't believe her and checked again.

At that moment, Sun Yao walked over and said to the other party:

"This Miss Lin is indeed our group's representative; just hand over the rough stones to her."

This is the assistant beside General Manager Ye; the staff member remembered him.

After the rough-stone handover was completed, the other party still wore a look of surprise.

Other families' representatives are veteran stone-gambling experts who have handled countless rough stones; the Ye Family appears to have truly given up, actually letting a young woman serve as representative—isn't that nonsense?

The staff member shook his head and left; Lin Meng brought the rough stones to the stone-cutting bench, and because the Ye Family's sign was too eye-catching, all stone-cutters rushed forward to vie for the job.

In the spectator area, Lin Cuihua and her husband finally learned from their son that Lin Meng had come to gamble on stones; seeing Lin Meng already preparing to assist in stone-cutting, Lin Cuihua was very worried.

"Xiaoxiao, are you sure that in Xiaomeng's agreement with the Ye Family there's no mention of compensation?"

Xu Yixiao nodded; he now greatly admires Lin Meng, and naturally wouldn't think such an awesome cousin would suffer a loss at Ye Chenjing's hands.

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad; my sister definitely won't suffer a loss—that General Manager Ye surely values her highly, otherwise he wouldn't entrust her with such an important stone-cutting task."

Though she said that, Lin Cuihua's heart was still in turmoil; she knows best how deep the stone-gambling trade runs.

Lin Meng is the family's only child; she doesn't want to see this child come to any harm.

Lin Meng looked left and right; the stone-cutters who volunteered themselves were too many to count, seeing how fiercely they competed with each other—more cutthroat than salespeople fighting for performance—she couldn't help but think of something, and turned to ask Sun Yao.

"Assistant Sun, do the stone-cutters who come to cut stone have some incentive mechanism? Why are they so enthusiastic?"

Sun Yao: "I've heard that here stone-cutters also work on performance; anyone invited by a host to cut stone at the Stone Gambling Convention receives a very generous reward."

This is also recognition of the stone-cutters' business ability.

Upon hearing this, Lin Meng immediately smiled and waved at her cousins.

Xu Yixiao saw his older sister calling him and came running over excitedly.

"Sis, what's up?"

He is now completely Lin Meng's little fanboy; his response to being summoned is faster than a dog's.

Lin Meng voiced her idea: "Let your dad come help General Manager Ye cut stone—we keep the benefits in the family."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yixiao's eyes lit up immediately; he was extremely happy.

"Really? I'll have my dad come over right now!"

Soon, Xu Yixiao trotted back to his parents with his heels kicking up, and told Xu Hong Lin Meng's idea.

Xu Hong, upon hearing it, kept waving his hands.

"How could that work? My seniority is far less than other cutters; what if I ruin someone else's material?"

Xu Yixiao completely ignored his father's words, pulling him along as he walked toward Lin Meng.

"Dad, just trust my sister; if she says you can do it, then you definitely can."

Xu Hong was dragged by his son to Lin Meng's face, about to speak, but Lin Meng had already guessed what he wanted to say and spoke first.

"Uncle, don't worry, in a moment we will mark the raw stone, you just cut along the lines, General Manager said, regardless of good or bad, he can accept it, won't blame you."

"Xu Hong still wanted to decline, but seeing Lin Meng so confident, he was also influenced."

"Good! Then I'll listen to you; when the bonus comes, Uncle and I will split it together."

"Lin Meng smiled and said nothing; the aunt's family treated her warmly and sincerely, so she naturally thought of bringing them along to make money."

"Unlike those uncles and aunts in Lin Jia Cun, even if they knelt and begged her, she wouldn't pay them any attention."

"Her money is only given to relatives who are worth the effort."

"Lin Meng quickly finished drawing the lines and handed them to Uncle."

"Xu Hong earnestly prepared on the stone-cutting platform, and all the stone-cutting masters looked at him enviously."

"Just then, those Ye Family Stone Gambling experts who had abandoned their posts also silently arrived at the scene."

"They just wanted to see what fate would befall the Ye Family for treating the Stone Gambling Convention so frivolously!"