Jade Rough a: Holy crap, are these people insane? Everyone else only digs 5 layers, but this guy is halfway through the 6th! If they keep digging like this, the mine will be depleted, and they'll be left drinking the wind!
Jade Rough b: I'm numb, I'm numb. I never thought I'd see someone dig out jade at a depth of 40 meters in this lifetime. I should have told my brothers inside so they could have been mentally prepared.
Jade Rough c: Damn it, are you digging up my whole family? Just you wait, if the wind blows hard one day, I'll fly up and smash you to death!
Jade Rough d: These people truly don't know good from bad. The jade in our lower layers is excellent. It's just that the skin has changed and the yield rate is lower, but most of it is ice jade or better in terms of texture and clarity. Yet, they're throwing it all away as mere marble. It's outrageous, utterly preposterous.
...
After listening to the inner thoughts of the jade roughs, Qin Xuan had a general understanding of the problems with this mine.
First, the mine pit was dug too deep, which indeed led to a decrease in the output of raw jade.
Second, the skin of the lower-layer raw jade had changed. Wu Mintian hadn't encountered this before, and most of the raw jade that was cut from it turned out to be marble. This led Wu Mintian to mistakenly believe that other raw jade of the same type were also marble.
When these two points were explained to Wu Mintian, he immediately understood.
The reduction in mine output was within reasonable expectations.
After all, this was an old mining area, so a decrease was normal.
However, the issue with the skin was his own fault.
There had been similar situations before. When digging the first layer, the skin of the raw jade was yellow sand skin, but it turned into red sand skin in the second layer.
The third layer had even turned into black sand skin.
It was just that this time, a large number of jade-less roughs suddenly appeared, which made Wu Mintian panic. He hadn't anticipated this situation.
This led him to make such a basic mistake.
As for the owners of other mines, they had only heard that Wu Mintian's mine output had drastically decreased, but they hadn't visited the site or inquired in detail.
When Wu Mintian asked them for advice, he naturally didn't get the correct answers.
"Qin Xuan, I can't thank you enough this time!"
"I, I really don't know how to thank you!"
After hanging up the phone, Wu Mintian was extremely excited.
Just moments ago, he had instructed his workers to quickly retrieve the discarded new-type raw jade.
Fortunately, the stone cutters hadn't seen this type of raw jade before, and not many people had picked them up. Otherwise, Wu Mintian's losses over the past few days would have been substantial.
"They're about to cut stones over there. Do you want to come with me and take a look?"
Qin Xuan nodded and put his phone into his pocket.
This was a new phone given to him by Pan Lin.
His previous phone had been damaged by a bullet, so Pan Lin had someone transfer his data and SIM card to this new phone.
He had just received a text message notification that Shen Zhengyang's payment had arrived.
This time, it was one-third of the payment, totaling 3.3 billion dragon coins.
Following Wu Mintian to the staff workshop, Qin Xuan truly understood what Yu En meant by "layer-by-layer screening."
After a large number of raw jade pieces were brought out from the mine, they were first stored and cleaned in this place.
Once the cleaning was mostly done, specialized personnel would use strong flashlights to inspect each piece individually.
They would identify which ones were of higher value, which were of lower value, and which were questionable.
The higher-value ones would be picked out separately for cutting in the workshop.
After cutting, if there was jade, another group of people would directly mark and process it.
Those without jade, or those of low value, were mostly discarded directly, while some would re-enter the market.
But none of this was the most striking part.
What was truly astonishing was that Qin Xuan also saw many large raw jade pieces here.
These raw jade pieces ranged from a few hundred kilograms to several tons, even tens of tons. He rarely saw such sizes at exhibitions.
Qin Xuan asked about it, and Wu Mintian told him a simple phrase.
"When gambling on raw jade, nine out of ten won't lose."
What did that mean?
As long as there were no major issues with the texture, skin, or transparency, the larger the raw jade, the more jade it might contain inside.
This meant it was less likely to result in a loss.
Qin Xuan nodded in realization and said, "No wonder larger raw jade pieces are more expensive yet more sought after at exhibitions."
"But Brother Wu, isn't the amount of raw jade you have at home enough?"
"Why do you still go to exhibitions to collect raw jade?"
Wu Mintian smiled, knowing Qin Xuan had misunderstood, and explained, "I mainly go to exhibitions to sell raw jade."
"It's just that I happened to fancy your raw jade and that piece with three different water textures, so I wanted to buy them back and make something myself for fun."
He could afford to buy items worth hundreds of millions for fun?
This mine owner was truly making a fortune!
Hearing Wu Mintian's casual explanation, Qin Xuan's expression instantly became peculiar.
He had initially thought that after selling the three-water-texture raw jade, he would be considered extremely wealthy.
He hadn't expected there to still be a significant gap between him and truly wealthy people.
Qin Xuan couldn't help but sigh, "Alas, if only I had a mine at home like Brother Wu."
"To be able to buy things worth hundreds of millions just like that."
Wu Mintian was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then fell into a silent contemplation.
After a moment of thought, he spoke to Qin Xuan again, "Actually, it's not impossible."
"Ah?"
"What's not impossible?"
Qin Xuan didn't understand Wu Mintian's words.
"Of course, it's opening a mine," Wu Mintian said seriously.
"Generally speaking, to open a mine in a jade mountain, three conditions must be met."
"First, the mine owner must be a local resident of Myanmar."
"Second, the consent of the local village chief and the military must be obtained."
"Third, of course, a certain amount of tax must be paid to the military."
"This mine happens to belong to our Jiaose Village, and you are also very familiar with Commander Pan Lin."
"It shouldn't be difficult to open your own mine."
Qin Xuan heard this and thought it made sense.
He immediately called Pan Lin to explain the situation.
When Pan Lin heard that Qin Xuan wanted to open a jade mine in Jiaose Village, he agreed without hesitation.
At the same time, he waved his hand and issued an order.
The mine Qin Xuan opened would not have to pay any fees to the Pan Shan army.
Furthermore, the Pan Shan army would dispatch a small team to specifically provide security for Qin Xuan's mine, ensuring that it would not be affected by any jade prospectors.
This was quite a show of support for Qin Xuan's mine.
Next, Qin Xuan only needed to select a suitable location for mining and then procure the necessary tools and manpower.
Upon hearing this news, Wu Mintian couldn't help but feel envious.
Qin Xuan, of course, was unaware of Wu Mintian's thoughts.
At this moment, he had just spotted a new piece of rough from the bottom of the sixth layer.
Jade Rough: Cutting good stones is a hassle, isn't it? I'm a colorless glass jade, super high purity, no cracks, no inclusions!
"Brother Wu, cut this one."
"Alright."
Upon receiving the raw jade handed over by Qin Xuan, Wu Mintian didn't doubt him and directly instructed the workers to mark and cut it.
After the stone was revealed, a palm-sized glass jade was presented before everyone.
"This, this quality is too good!"
"No inclusions, no cracks. After polishing, it will be comparable to real glass!"
Wu Mintian held the cut jade, extremely excited.
Even though he had seen countless jade pieces, he had rarely seen any as perfect as this one right from the start.