Chapter 49: A Wager!

The cutting machine continued to run, and Li Zongsheng still wore a smug smile on his face, as if he had already seen the scene of himself raking in the money.

However, when the cutting machine reached one-third of the stone, the radiance of the jadeite suddenly vanished!

"This... what is going on?"

Li Zongsheng's complexion turned pale in an instant, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The atmosphere of the entire venue also froze instantly; the originally crystal-clear jadeite had actually come to an abrupt end at the one-third mark!

Could it be that the remaining portion was just ordinary stone, completely worthless?

"Impossible! How can this be!"

Li Zongsheng's voice carried a trace of trembling; he rushed to the side of the cutting machine, staring fixedly at the stone, as if he wanted to dig a little more jadeite out from within it.

A wave of whispering broke out across the venue:

"What's going on? Why did the jadeite suddenly disappear?"

"Could it be that this stone only has a layer of jadeite on the surface?"

"Li Zongsheng has really suffered a huge loss this time; the stone he bought at auction for seventy million only yielded this little bit of jadeite!"

Ye Feng sat in his seat and said indifferently, "Li Zongsheng, stop wasting your effort. This stone only has Dragon Stone Jadeite in the first third; the rest is all ordinary stone!"

Li Zongsheng turned his head abruptly, his gaze locked onto Ye Feng, his tone carrying a hint of anger: "Ye Feng, stop spouting nonsense here!"

"How do you know there is no jadeite in the back?"

Ye Feng smiled, his tone carrying a trace of mockery: "Li Zongsheng, if you don't believe me, you can keep cutting, but I advise you not to waste your time and energy!"

Li Zongsheng's complexion became even uglier; he gritted his teeth and roared at the staff: "Keep cutting! I don't believe that such a large piece of stone only has this little bit of jadeite!"

The staff nodded and continued to operate the cutting machine.

However, as the machine ran and the stone was cut away bit by bit, the remaining portion never showed a trace of jadeite again.

The atmosphere in the venue became exceptionally awkward; everyone looked at Li Zongsheng, their eyes filled with a mix of sympathy and schadenfreude.

"It seems Ye Feng was right; this stone really only has jadeite in the first third."

"Li Zongsheng has really lost big this time; the stone he bought for seventy million is probably only worth about fifty million!"

"Haha, Li Zongsheng has really lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet this time!"

"Sigh, gambling has its risks; one must be cautious when entering the trade!"

Li Zongsheng's face was livid; he stared fixedly at the cut-open stone, his eyes full of anger and unwillingness.

He turned his head abruptly, pointed at Ye Feng, and cursed: "Lei Qianqian, you knew this stone had problems a long time ago, didn't you? You deliberately set me up!"

Lei Qianqian glanced at Li Zongsheng coldly and said with schadenfreude: "Li Zongsheng, if your own judgment is poor, don't blame others!"

"You were the one who kept raising the price yourself; now that you've lost money, you're blaming me?"

"As a young master of the Li Family, surely you aren't a sore loser!"

Li Zongsheng's complexion became even uglier; he gritted his teeth, his tone carrying a hint of a threat: "Lei Qianqian, you just wait; this matter isn't over!"

Lei Qianqian smiled, her tone carrying a trace of mockery: "Your Li Family is wealthy and powerful; you shouldn't care about these twenty million, right!"

Li Zongsheng's complexion turned pale in an instant; he gritted his teeth and ultimately said nothing more. He felt that if he continued to respond, he would surely be angered to death!

A wave of whispering broke out across the venue, and everyone felt a sense of lament for Li Zongsheng's plight.

Lei Qianqian and Qi Ruoxue looked at Ye Feng with surprise, their eyes full of admiration.

"Ye Feng, how did you know that stone only had jadeite in the first third?"

Lei Qianqian asked in a low voice.

Ye Feng smiled, his tone carrying a hint of mystery: "Just intuition."

"Benefactor, you are truly my benefactor; you are just too amazing. It's fortunate that you were here, otherwise, the one losing money would have been me!"

Lei Qianqian continued, her eyes filled with worship.

The Auction continued, and the next item up for bid was that small, pitch-black stone.

Because its appearance was poor, the starting price was only one hundred thousand, with each increment no less than ten thousand.

Ouyang Mei'er took a look at the stone and announced: "Although this stone looks unremarkable, there might be an unexpected surprise. The starting price is one hundred thousand; the bidding begins now!"

As soon as her voice fell, someone in the audience immediately raised a paddle: "One hundred and ten thousand!"

"One hundred and twenty thousand!"

"One hundred and fifty thousand!"

Bidding calls rose and fell, but the increments were not large.

Clearly, everyone did not hold high hopes for this pitch-black stone.

When the price reached two hundred and fifty thousand, no one raised it any further.

Seeing this, Ye Feng immediately raised his paddle and said: "Three hundred thousand!"

The entire venue suddenly went quiet; everyone looked at Ye Feng, their eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

"Is this person crazy? Spending three hundred thousand to buy a broken rock?"

"Who knows, maybe they have too much money and nowhere to spend it."

"However, he was right about that big stone earlier; maybe this small stone also has some hidden mystery."

Just as the crowd was whispering, Li Zongsheng suddenly raised the paddle in his hand, his tone carrying a hint of anger: "Four hundred thousand!"

Ye Feng's expression changed slightly, and he raised his paddle again: "Five hundred thousand!"

Li Zongsheng sneered: "This broken rock is yours!"

Seeing this, Ouyang Mei'er announced directly: "Five hundred thousand, congratulations to this gentleman for winning this stone!"

A wave of whispering broke out across the venue; everyone looked at Ye Feng, their eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

Li Zongsheng stood up, his tone carrying a trace of mockery: "Ye Feng, has water gotten into your brain?"

"Spending five hundred thousand to buy a broken rock, it's truly laughable!"

Ye Feng glanced coldly at Li Zongsheng, his tone carrying a hint of disdain: "Li Zongsheng, didn't you also just spend seventy million to buy a broken stone?"

"What, now you've come to mock me?"

Li Zongsheng's expression turned ugly in an instant; he gritted his teeth, his tone carrying a hint of a threat: "Ye Feng, I advise you not to get cocky so early!"

"If this broken stone doesn't yield anything good, let's see how you clean up this mess!"

Ye Feng smiled, his tone carrying a hint of provocation: "Li Zongsheng, how about we make a bet?"

"If this stone material yields something good, what will you do?"

Li Zongsheng sneered, his tone carrying a hint of disdain: "Ye Feng, if you can yield something good, I, Li Zongsheng, will take your surname!"

"Not only that, I will also strip naked and run two laps around the venue!"

The entire venue was in an uproar; everyone looked at Li Zongsheng, their eyes filled with surprise and anticipation.

Ye Feng nodded, his tone carrying a hint of indifference: "Fine, then it's a deal."

"If this stone material doesn't yield anything good, I, Ye Feng, will also take your surname and also strip naked and run two laps around the venue!"

Lei Qianqian and Qi Ruoxue became anxious the moment they heard Ye Feng's words.

Lei Qianqian said in a low voice: "Ye Feng, don't be impulsive!"

"This stone material really doesn't look like much; there's no need to bet with him!"

Qi Ruoxue also advised in a low voice: "Ye Feng, Li Zongsheng is provoking you; don't fall for it!"

Ye Feng smiled, his tone carrying a hint of confidence: "Qianqian, Ruoxue, rest assured, this stone material will absolutely not disappoint you!"

Seeing Ye Feng so confident, Li Zongsheng felt a faint sense of unease in his heart, but he still remained stubborn: "Ye Feng, stop putting on an act!"

"If this broken stone can yield something good, I, Li Zongsheng, will admit defeat today!"

Ye Feng smiled: "Good! Remember what you said today!"

"Miss Mei'er, please have the surface layer of this stone material ground open!"