Chapter 348
The cutter was beginning to regret his earlier actions because Andrew had proven to be far more formidable than expected, even outshining Aspen. If only he had not been so absolute in his statements before.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t you trust me?” Aspen snapped when she noticed her cutter’s hesitation.
The cutter flinched and quickly replied, “I’ll cut open Ms. Stevens‘ stone right away. This time, Miss, you’ll definitely win.”
Andrew chuckled. “Aspen, your judgment is clouded. The Stevens family of Bridgefields isn’t exactly rolling in money. Being this wasteful isn’t doing you any favors.” He gestured toward the largest raw stone in the center.
Aspen responded with a cold laugh. “Andrew, don’t you understand that a raw stone’s size has nothing to do with what’s inside? You can’t seriously think that just because this stone is huge, it must contain something valuable?”
Several gambling experts nodded in agreement with Aspen’s statement. The central stone, with its hard texture, mottled colors, and chaotic patterns, was clearly worthless–1 more than common rock.
Jing
In contrast, Aspen’s stone, though modest in size, had a promising green tint with dark undertones and a softer texture, suggesting valuable contents inside.
The two cutters began cutting with their machines while the crowd held their breath. The tension between Andrew and Aspen had clearly escalated.
If the Stevens family’s golden girl lost this round, she would share Orion’s fate–losing both money and reputation.
Meanwhile, Andrew’s loss would not matter much. In stone gambling, wins and losses were expected–maintaining a winning record was enough to keep his reputation as a master intact. “Andrew, I went first in the last round,” Aspen said, signaling her cutter to stop. “This time, you’ll open yours first.”
“That’s fine by me,” Andrew replied casually.
Soon, the outer layer of the largest stone was cut away, revealing a multicolored piece of inside.
gem
“Just as expected–low–grade material. Look at those colors and that surface area. Mr. Lloyd made a mistake this time,” someone in the crowd commented.
Others added that this piece was even worse than Andrew’s previous stone, barely qualifying as scrap material.
“Don’t worry about it, Andrew. We’ve already won once,” Francesca consoled him.
On the other hand, Aspen finally breathed a sigh of relief. With Andrew revealing such a worthless piece, she could not lose.
Just as Aspen was about to order her stone to be cut open, displaying a winner’s smile, Andrew called out, “Wait!”
“What now?” Aspen sneered. “Are you admitting defeat before I even reveal mine? If so, this stone is too worthless for my victory to mean anything–you’ll need to compensate me with an additional 50 million.”
