I Spy With My Secret Eyes

Chapter 135
Wood gambling, much like stone gambling, typically involved immediately cutting the material to reveal the outcome.
However, wood gambling was even more straightforward compared to stone gambling. Assessing raw jadeites was more
intricate, while scentedwood was basically cut in half with a saw to check for any ghost-faced patterns in the wood grain. It’s a
really simple and direct process.
Manuel totally trusted Oliver, as his personal judgment didn’t discern any potential value in this piece of wood.
After receiving the payment, the wood dealer inquired with a smile and asked Manuel, “Sir, do you want to make the cut now?”
Manuel waved his hand and said, “Of course, let’s cut it. I can’t take this chunk of wood home intact, can I?”
The wood dealer nodded and asked Manuel, “Where do you want to make the cut?”
Manuel asked Oliver, “Where should we cut it?”
Oliver casually pointed to a spot and said, “Let’s cut it from here.”
The wood dealer immediately started cutting the wood at the spot indicated by Oliver. With a buzzing sound, the wood was
severed. As soon as the cut was made, the wood dealer bent down and, upon seeing the cut section, exclaimed, “Oh my... It’s a
win! It’s got the ghost-faced pattern.”
The wood dealer’s sudden exclamation drew a few people over to the area that had previously garnered little attention, and they
all stared at the cut end of the wood.
The cut surface of the wood resembled a black eight-legged spider. In wood gambling, the stakes were all about the branch’s
burls. Wood with these features would turn into valuable treasures, whereas wood without them would be deemed firewood,
suitable only for burning.
As soon as the crowd saw it was a win, someone immediately asked Manuel, “My friend, how much did you pay for this piece of
wood?”
Manuel opened his hand and said, “11,000 dollars.”
The person immediately made an offer, “You paid 11,000 dollars for the wood, and I’ll

Il give you 20,000 dollars for it. Scentedwood is all about luck. This burl has a ghost-faced pattern indeed, but that doesn’t
guarantee the ghost-faced pattern will appear in other places. If you take my offer, you’ll make a safe profit of 9,000 dollars. What
do you say?”
Manuel tilted his head and looked at Oliver. Of course, he relied on Oliver’s opinion in such matters.
Oliver didn’t say anything. He simply pointed to the positions on the wood and instructed the owner holding the saw, “Sir, help me
make a few more cuts here, here, and here. I need you to cut these five... no, these six locations for me.”
The person immediately understood that Oliver wouldn’t sell for 20,000 dollars and was continuing with the gamble. He didn’t say
anything further and just watched.
The owner took an oil-based marker and drew lines on the six positions according to Oliver’s instructions before cutting them one
by one.
Every time a location was cut, the onlookers would exclaim, “Wow, it’s another ghost face!”
Once all six positions were cut, they all revealed ghost-faced patterns, resembling eight-legged black spiders.
Those watching could estimate the potential value of the wood pieces based on their appearance and style, as well as what kind
of jewelry or products they could become.
However, no matter how much they tried to downplay it, 20,000 dollars was far from enough.
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The person who initially made the offer admired Manuel’s luck, though there was a hint of bitterness. He realized that the one
making the decisions wasn’t the seemingly astute Manuel but the young man who didn’t talk much.
Looking at the wood cut into six or seven pieces, the person extended a hand and said with a smile, “You’re lucky, my friend.
With this gamble, the value has surged. Congratulations! It’s almost clear-cut now. These pieces, when processed, will be worth
approximately 300 to 400 thousand dollars. I’ll offer 200 thousand dollars for these pieces. What do you say?”
Manuel once again turned to Oliver. Oliver nodded and said, “Sure, 200 thousand dollars will do. Let’s make a friend through this
deal.”

In fact, if Oliver had negotiated, the scentedwood might have sold for 220 thousand dollars, but Oliver wasn’t that petty. He
wasn’t fond of haggling, and building a relationship with these businesspeople was more important.
The person smiled and promptly transferred the money. In this business, transactions were either cash or electronic transfers,
with most transactions below 200 thousand dollars being in cash, which added an extra thrill.
Over the other side, a few large pieces with the best appearance were taken, and Felix spent 1.52 million to acquire two wood
pieces, the second and fourth highest-priced..
The most expensive piece, valued at 1.8 million, was acquired by the Woods family. The person who attended on their behalf
was a man in his thirties, and beside him was a beautiful lady. To Oliver’s surprise, he realized the lady was Jenifer!
The Woods family showed their financial prowess by acquiring the five best wood pieces, numbered one, three, five, six, and
seven. Only the pieces of number two and number four, which were among the top seven, went to Felix.
Next came the process of cutting the wood on-site. Felix didn’t start the cutting; instead, he watched as the Woods family began
cutting.
The Woods family’s representative, a man named Will Woods, was Jenifer’s older brother.
Will called over the most experienced master craftsman on-site to start cutting. He decided to cut the wood in order of value,
beginning with number seven, the lowest in value.
Number seven was initially cut near a significant branch because if this large piece of wood had the coveted ghost face in the
burl, it would be more valuable than gold.
However, when it was cut, there were countless tree rings around the core of the branch, with a black spot at the center and
nothing else.
This first cut of the substantial piece of wood was a disappointment.
Will remained expressionless, instructing the craftsman with a calm tone and said, “Proceed.”
The second cut also yielded nothing of value.
Following the third cut, the fourth, and all the way to the last branch where the facial burl was expected, not a single spot
developed into the coveted facial burl.

The piece of wood, which was initially priced at 660,000 dollars, was now virtually worthless, leading to a substantial loss.
Fortunately, it was the Woods family who had bet on this piece, and with their wealth in the billions, this amount of money didn’t
mean much to them.
Will remained composed, showing no change in his expression, and instructed to cut the sixth piece.
Felix watched nervously as he had invested over 1 million dollars in two high-priced pieces, hoping they would yield the desired
result.
However, Will’s second piece was as unremarkable as the first, devoid of any excitement, and most importantly, no ghost -face
appeared.,
Then, Will moved on to the fifth and third pieces, but neither of them revealed the desired ghost face. The total value of the four
high-priced pieces they had bet on was already 3.36 million dollars.
Will had lost 3.36 million dollars on these four pieces alone.
The onlookers began to feel nervous.
The saying “Nine out of ten bets are lost” was an understatement. This was more like “Ten out of ten bets are lost”
3.36 million dollars, when piled together, probably resembled a small mountain. However, this mound of money had now
vanished into thin air.
Will remained composed, his facé turning dark and gloomy. Jenifer, who stood nearby, also had an unpleasant expression.
Will had one more wager remaining, the most expensive scentedwood of today, the number one item with the highest price tag,
at 1.8 million dollars.
If the most expensive seentedwood turned out to be a win, Will would at least break even.
The Woods family could afford to lose this money, with the total sum reaching 4.18 million dollars. Losing wouldn’t seriously
affect their wealth, but their pride was at stake. If none of the five wood items turned out to be valuable, it would indeed be
embarrassing.
Will’s fate rested solely on the most expensive scentedwood.

“Begin!”
Will clenched his fist and instructed the craftsman.
The craftsman nodded and started sawing through the thick scentedwood, which was thicker than a washbasin.