Chapter 136
Chapter 136
Even Will, at this moment, was quite nervous as he stared at the most expensive scentedwood, the most expensive wood. His sister, Jenifer, was equally anxious.
If Jenifer and Will didn’t win any of the bets today, the loss of over 4 million dollars would be a small matter, but what they feared more was the repercussions of their failure, which could reach their father.
The Woods family wasn’t entirely united. Jenifer’s father had two brothers, all of whom had their eyes on her father’s position.
Besides, the ex-wife of Jenifer’s father and he had a son and a daughter, both of whom were not easy to deal with. Moreover, her father had an illegitimate son, which was not publicly acknowledged but known within the family, and he had a great affection for this boy in his teens.
The master craftsman also noticed the solemn expressions on Will and Jenifer’s faces. Nobody dared to say much, and he began cutting the wood along the marked lines.
All’eyes were fixed on the wood as the sawdust fell with the grating sound of the saw. This scentedwood was the largest, with the best external characteristics and the potential to significantly increase in value if a ghost face appeared.
After all, the larger the piece of wood, the larger the objects that can be made from it, and hence, the higher the value.
A few minutes later, the saw cut through the wood, and all eyes were fixed on the cut surface.
“Oh… there’s no… ghost face…”
Will’s heart sank as the most expensive scentedwood, which had all his hopes pinned on it, failed to reveal a ghost face with the first cut.
“Cut it again!” Will ordered the master craftsman with a grim expression.
Will is getting more nervous. What else could he do but instruct the craftsman to continue cutting at the wood?
One piece, two pieces, three pieces, four pieces…
The craftsman kept cutting until the final piece, but not a trace of the ghost face appeared in the largest scentedwood.
The gamble was a complete failure.
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Will couldn’t hide his displeasure any longer. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The disappointment was written all over Will.
Five high-priced scentedwood pieces, and not one revealed a ghost face. The losses were staggering.
Felix chuckled awkwardly and thought that Mr. Woods had lost big this time. He figured maybe his own luck was about to turn around. He immediately gestured to the master craftsman and said, “Mr. Yam, let’s cut my pieces.”
Felix had bought two pieces, the second and fourth in price, one worth over 200,000 million dollars and the other over- 400,000 million dollars, both far from cheap.
First, Felix cut the number four piece. He followed a similar strategy to Will, starting with the lower- value piece and saving the most valuable one for last.
The master craftsman nodded, and his apprentice used a forklift to bring the wood over for cutting.
Felix watched intently as they cut the wood and waited anxiously for a few minutes. When the cut was complete, he bent over to examine the freshly cut surface.
“Oh… there’s no ghost face!”
Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but exclaim. The cut surface only revealed concentric circles and no distinctive patterns.
Felix felt a sinking feeling in his heart, and the pressure on him suddenly escalated.
When Will and Jenifer saw Felix hadn’t gambled a ghost-faced pattern out of the first cut of wood, although they didn’t show any emotion on their faces, they were secretly delighted. They thought, “If everyone’s bets fail, that’s even better.”
The craftsman continued cutting. After one, two, three, and four times…
After the last cutting, the number four piece was also a total loss.
Felix’s face turned even darker, and he waved his hand and ordered, “C-Cut the other piece of wood!”
This second piece was the number two, the second most expensive piece in the entire auction, both in terms of appearance and size, trailing only behind Will’s number one piece.
When the craftsman began cutting the second piece, the first cut revealed the same lack of distinctive patterns as the previous one.
Almost everyone had given up hope, including Felix, who felt his heart sink. However, he forced himself to instruct, “Cut it again.”
Each subsequent cut was met with sighs from the crowd. Felix clenched his teeth tightly throughout, until the final cut, which, once again, ended in disappointment.
All seven pieces of the first-tier scentedwood pieces were total losses, and the total value of these wood pieces, worth over 6 million dollars, was lost,
Others privately celebrated that they hadn’t outbid Will and Felix, as the losses were now borne by these two individuals,
The second-tier scentedwood consisted of twenty-seven pieces, with the highest auction price being a little over 100,000 dollars and the cheapest being just over 40,000 dollars.
The remaining, lowest-tier scentedwood consisted of around forty pieces, with prices all below 20,000 dollars.
Oliver and Manuel didn’t join the crowd around Will and Felix. Instead, they closely observed the scentedwood pieces.
In the end, under Oliver’s guidance, Manuel didn’t leave a single piece behind and bought all seventeen pieces. He acquired seven pieces from the second tier and ten pieces from the lowest tier.
As for the first-tier seven pieces, Oliver had assessed them as not holding any significant value, so he didn’t bother joining the crowd to observe them.
Manuel, who wanted to show off with the check, was also disappointed as he didn’t get the chance to showcase his abilities,
From the moment when Oliver snapped up the first piece of wood and made a profit of 200,000 dollars, Manuel totally trusted Oliver now. He believed that as long as Oliver intervened, there was no reason for any piece of wood he acquired not
piece of to bear a ghost face.
It was similar to their experiences in Manchernius, where any raw jadeites chosen by Oliver, without exception, brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. From the beginning to the most recent one, Oliver never lost a single bet on a piece of raw jadeites he gambled on.
Manuel was not only amazed but also grateful that he had made friends with Oliver. Oliver seemed to have a pair of eyes that could see through objects.
Manuel kept this secret very close to his chest and never revealed it to anyone.
Of course, Manuel had his own selfish reasons. He didn’t want other people to attach themselves to Oliver. People are inherently selfish, and he was no exception.
Most of the scentedwood that Oliver was interested in was won by Manuel with little competition. Few people had the financial means of Manuel, and even fewer had the confidence. Most people had focused their attention on the first-tier scentedwood.
The outcome was the complete annihilation of the first-tier wood.
Manuel and Oliver were considered valued customers. Although they hadn’t purchased the most expensive wood, they spent over 260,000 dollars in total on the seventeen pieces of wood.
The workers from the wood mill automatically used a forklift to transport the wood to the sawing area, where Will and his sister, along with Felix, were going to cut the wood.
The second and third individuals took their turns to start the cutting, but they also ended up losing their bets.
It was Manuel’s turn, and he waved his hand to signal the start.
Oliver marked the location for cutting with a pen. The saw operator noticed that Oliver’s marking had a slight deviation from the ideal location he had assessed.
However, since it was the buyer’s own marking, the saw operator didn’t say anything and proceeded with the cut. After all, the final outcome was uncertain.
Judging by the disappointment of the previous buyers, the saw operator thought there was a 99% chance of disappointment, with all bets going sour.
But after the first cut, someone exclaimed loudly and with astonishment, “Oh my goodness, there’s a ghost face!”