Mao Wenqing thought that he had guessed the price of pearls, looked at the more than 100 pearls in the wooden plate and shook his head and sighed: "Such a small plate of pearls is worth 500,000 yuan, which is more expensive than most jade!" ”

"Half a million?" Xue Cheng glanced at his old friend with disdain, and said to him with a sneer: "I really haven't seen the world!" These superb pearls are worth at least five million! And if it is strung into a necklace by my hand, the value will increase by at least 30%! ”

Xue Cheng's words made Mao Wenqing gasp, and he couldn't help but say: "In other words, these pearls are worth at least six and a half million in the end?!" This is more profitable than my jade business, Da Xue, I want to change my career when you say that! ”

Xue Cheng sneered: "Do you think such a superb pearl is easy to find?" To be honest with you, like these superb black pearls, the annual output of the whole world is just that. Such a good pearl in the international market has a price, and you have nowhere to buy it if you have money! ”

Zhiludao's old friends never lie, and Mao Wenqing reluctantly dismissed the idea of doing pearl business. If the whole world only produces such a few high-quality pearls in a year, it will not be his turn to buy Mao Wenqing.

Xue Cheng didn't bother to pay attention to Mao Wenqing, he just stood up and said to Xiao Ping solemnly: "Mr. Xiao, please let me deal with these pearls." These are the best of the best, and I really don't feel at ease with someone else's hands. I don't charge you any processing fees, as long as you can enjoy processing these pearls! ”

Listening to Xue Cheng's words, Xiao Ping couldn't help but laugh. This is indeed a very interesting person, just now I had no interest in helping people string necklaces, but after seeing these superb pearls, he actually took the initiative to ask for help.

But Xue Cheng can do it. It shows that he does have a soft spot for pearls, and Xiao Ping is also relieved to hand over pearls to Xue Cheng to deal with. So Xiao Ping didn't think about it for too long. Soon nodded and said, "No problem, then please ask Master Xue for this matter." ”

You can get the opportunity to process these fine pearls. Xue Cheng also looked very happy, and couldn't wait to ask Xiao Ping: "What do you want to do with these pearls?" ”

Xiao Ping had already thought about this question, and said without hesitation: "I want to string them into a pearl necklace, and I can string a few as many as I can." ”

Xue Cheng was very satisfied with Xiao Ping's arrangement, and nodded approvingly: "That's right, these superb pearls are most suitable for necklaces, just simply strung together, too much decoration will affect their natural beauty." ”

Xue Cheng was also an anxious person, and he became excited as he spoke. Said to Xiao Ping: "I'll start working now, if Mr. Xiao is interested, just stay and have a look!" ”

Xue Cheng is a top pearl jewelry master, and there are not many opportunities to witness his work, so Xiao Ping immediately expressed his willingness to stay and observe.

Mao Wenqing also wanted to stay, but was forced away by Xue Cheng's sentence "You are not the owner of the pearl, what are you trying to do here?" Mao Wenqing and Xue Cheng have been old friends for many years, and they know his temper very well, so naturally they will not take such a trivial matter to heart. He left happily.

After Mao Wenqing left, Xue Cheng immediately started working. He pulled out a few more wooden plates from under the table and expertly sorted the pearls of different colors and sizes mixed together. It didn't take long for pearls to be divided into several types by size and color.

Xiao Ping curiously picked up the pearls on one of the plates and carefully compared. I was surprised to find that the pearls were almost exactly the same size. Xue Cheng was able to sort so many pearls in just over ten minutes, which shows that he really lives up to his reputation.

Xue Cheng roughly estimated the number of pearls of various colors and sizes. After calculating for a while, he said to Xiao Ping: "The smallest is a ten-millimeter black pearl. The medium ones are about 12 mm white pearls, and the largest are 15 mm black pearls. In terms of quantity, a total of four necklaces can be strung together, all of which are eighteen inches in length, that is, forty-one centimeters, and there should be a few surpluses, what do you think? ”

Of course, Xiao Ping had no opinion on this, and immediately said that he would follow the advice of Xue Cheng, a professional. Very satisfied with Xiao Ping's attitude, Xue Cheng immediately prepared the next step of stringing the necklace.

Xiao Ping thought that it was easy to string necklaces, as long as he drilled holes for pearls and strung them together according to a certain length, wouldn't it? However, the reality told Xiao Ping that this matter was not as simple as he imagined.

Xue Cheng looked at the pearl carefully in the sunlight, as if he could see the flowers from above. He carefully examined each pearl and then arranged the selected pearls in order in a wooden trough. It took Xue Cheng two hours to arrange all the pearls in four wooden troughs. He then continued to examine the pearls very carefully, and from time to time he carefully reversed the order of the pearls, occasionally adding or removing one or two.

Xue Cheng was so careful about this step that it was almost noon, and he was still changing the order of the pearls, without the slightest intention of proceeding to the next step.

Speaking from his heart, Xiao Ping had been waiting impatiently for a long time, but seeing that Xue Cheng was so serious, he couldn't urge others to hurry up. After all, Xue Cheng was working for Xiao Ping for free, how could he, as the master, be impatient?

But it's really sad to always wait, so Xiao Ping asked Xue Cheng tentatively: "Master Xue, it's lunch time, why don't I invite you to go out to eat, and let's come back and continue after eating?" ”

"I haven't finished my work, what are I eating?!" Xue Cheng immediately rejected Xiao Ping's suggestion, then looked up at him and said, "I know that young man, you are impatient, right?" ”

Xiao Ping smiled and just wanted to explain, but Xue Cheng had already asked him: "What do you think is the most important factor for a pearl necklace to be beautiful?" ”

Xiao Ping thought for a while and said, "The pearl should be big enough, round enough, and neat enough!" ”

Xue Cheng shook his head and said, "Most people think so, although these are true, but they ignore the other most important factor - luster!" ”

"Luster?" For a while, Xiao Ping didn't quite understand why Xue Cheng would regard luster so important.

Seeing that Xiao Ping was still a little dazed, Xue Cheng then explained to him: "These pearls may seem to be the same at first glance, but in fact, the luster and halo of each pearl are different. A good pearl maker should be able to select the most suitable pearls for their luster and string them into a necklace in a certain order. Only in this way can the necklace be in the best possible condition, and it will look more beautiful than the pearls of the same quality, but put together haphazardly. ”

Xiao Ping looked at Xue Cheng's pearls in order, and couldn't help but suddenly realize: "I understand, it turns out that you spent so much time just to find the most suitable pearl to be strung into a necklace?" ”

Xue Cheng nodded and said, "That's right." I told Mao Wenqing before that the price of these pearls can rise by at least 30% after passing through my hands, because I can string the most suitable pearls together and make people feel that these pearls are more beautiful! ”

I didn't expect that there was so much attention to making a pearl necklace, not only to take care of the size and shape, but even to take care of the luster, Xiao Ping couldn't help but sigh convincingly: "It's really three hundred and sixty lines, and the line is the champion." If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have thought that a string pearl necklace would be so exquisite. ”

Xue Cheng smiled at Xiao Ping smugly, then took out a strange-looking wooden machine from the room and carefully fixed it on the table. This machine, which he used to drill pearls, relied entirely on human power and absolutely did not rely on any external force.

"I'm pretty much done with the pearls, now I'm going to start drilling." Xue Cheng introduced Xiao Ping to the next step and then continued his work.

Xue Cheng carefully clamped a pearl to the machine, then chose the most suitable angle and began to slowly drill holes in the pearl. Seeing the extremely small drill bit slowly entering the pearl, Xue Cheng couldn't help but whisper: "The texture of these pearls is really speechless, delicate and firm, it is indeed the best pearl, no wonder the shape and luster are so perfect!" I don't know who has such good luck to have such a superb pearl! ”

Xue Cheng was talking in his mouth, and the work in his hands did not pause at all. It didn't take long to drill holes in the same string of pearls, and then the pearls were strung up in order.

According to Xue Cheng himself, the thread for stringing pearls is also specially treated by him, and it is guaranteed that it will not be broken if it can be used for dozens or even one or two hundred years. As for what secrets are in this line, he is reluctant to say more. Xiao Ping didn't pay attention to this, after all, everyone has their own secrets, even himself.

Xue Chengpu's big fan-like hands are very flexible, and although drilling, threading, and knotting are all very delicate tasks, he is very easy to do. It didn't take much time for the first black pearl necklace to be strung together.

Xiao Ping took the necklace and looked at it carefully, and sure enough, he found that the pearls after being strung seemed to be more lustrous than before, exuding a more charming halo, which made people reluctant to look away. This is naturally the credit of Xue Cheng, no wonder he said that the price of pearls that have been processed by himself can be 30% higher.

While Xiao Ping admired the first pearl necklace, Xue Cheng continued to work hard. After about an hour and a half, all four strands of pearl necklaces were finally strung together.

The pearls used in these four necklaces were collected by Xiao Ping in three times, and there were more than one hundred and fifty in total, and now only four or five scattered ones remained.

Xiao Ping obviously found that when the four pearl necklaces were placed separately, they were obviously more dazzling and beautiful than when they were placed together. This confirms Xue Cheng's statement that only by putting the most suitable pearls together can their beauty be more highlighted.

"It's beautiful! Prettier than any pearl necklace I've ever seen! Xue Cheng admired his masterpiece and couldn't help but praise sincerely: "They are all the best pearls, I can string them into a necklace with my own hands, and this life is not in vain!" ”

Seeing that Xue Cheng loved these pearls so much, a thought suddenly popped up in Xiao Ping's mind, and he put all the unused pearls on the wooden plate on Xue Cheng's palm and said, "Master Xue, I'll give you these pearls!" (To be continued......)

PS: Thanks to the book friends "Xie Zhixiu", "Fearless So-called", and "Haiyuan Novel" for their tips.