Coolest Girl in Town (Elise and Alexander) novel Chapter 76

Coolest Girl in Town Chapter 76

Instead of answering her, Alexander glanced at the rocks she was holding and said, “Let’s find a place to cut them open.”

And so, Elise followed him into a store, and when people heard that they wanted to cut their stones, many people in the store gathered around them. “You didn’t buy the stones from me, so there will be a charge for the labor fee. For every stone we cut, it will cost 1,000 USD,” the owner of the store said.

Rich people really know ways to spend money, Elise thought in sarcasm and asked, “Do you still want to cut the stones here, Mr. Griffith?”

The next second, Alexander took out his credit card and swiped it. Since this was how the situation had turned out, the only thing left for Elise to do was pass the stones in her hands to the craftsman. At the same time, the crowd in the store stared at the stones which were about to be cut open and moved in closer.

The craftsman studied the first stone, and he reckoned that it wouldn’t show any signs of jadeite judging from the pattern and the color of the stone, so he asked Elise, “How would you like to cut it?”

Before she could translate, Alexander interjected, “Start cutting from the left side and then cut it into half.”

After she conveyed his message, the craftsman brought the stone to the machine straight away. People in their line had very steady hands, and they were incredibly meticulous. Therefore, the cutting process was a little slow, and as everyone watched in anticipation, the first stone proved to be a waste.

Everyone sighed, and even Elise felt that it was a pity. Tens of thousands of dollars is gone just like that! she thought.

“Miss, are we going to continue cutting?” the craftsman asked, whereupon she turned to Alexander

“Continue cutting the others!” she answered. Well, I don‘t feel the pinch since it‘s not my money, anyway! 

Immediately, the craftsman cut another of Alexander’s stones, but after cutting three stones continuously, not a single shard of jadeite could be seen. The crowd were beginning to lose their interest, and amongst them, Elise sighed helplessly. On the other hand, Alexander peered at the last stone composedly and said, “There’s still

one stone left. Cut it as well.”

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Elise advised in a whisper, “Mr. Griffith, let’s not cut that last one. We haven’t had any luck yet so far, and we’ll only make a joke out of ourselves if we continue with the cutting.”

At her words, he looked around and asked, “Do you know anyone here?”

We‘re in a foreign country. How could we know anyone here? she thought in confusion and shook her head in reply.

Unexpectedly, he said, “Since we don’t know anyone here, we don’t have to be afraid of being embarrassed. Furthermore, even if we do make a joke out of ourselves, it won’t affect us because nobody knows us.”

His words seem to make some sense! Elise thought to herself and realized that she could learn a thing or two from him about being shameless.

The craftsman had nothing to say to their decision of cutting the last stone and simply brought the stone to the cutting machine.  This stone was about the same size as the ones before, but it felt a little heavier in his hands. Could this one contain jadeite? he wondered as he started to work on the stone. Carefully, he ground the surface of the stone with the machine. Barely three minutes had passed when Alexander suddenly shouted for him to stop. “Wait a minute!”

“What is it?” Elise asked.

Looking at the stone, he said, “Tell him to start cutting from the bottom right, but it has to be done slowly.”

Elise translated his words, and the craftsman did as he was told, changing the direction of the cut hurriedly and began cutting from the bottom right. But with this cut, sporadic green started to appear on the stone.

Listening to their discussions, Elise watched the stone without blinking. It‘s just a regular–looking stone, but it has the imperial jade inside. While gold has a price, jadeite is priceless. If there‘s really a good piece of imperial jade inside, then he‘ll make a lot of money. 

Three times the price! Dumbfounded, Elise remembered that this stone was bought at 20,000, and now, he could get 60,000 by selling it!