Only when Xu Wei turned around to look at Xu Zhendong did he realize that his uncle had collapsed on the ground, his eyes still open but looking lifeless. Several carving craftsmen were supporting Xu Zhendong and pinching his philtrum.
After a while, Xu Zhendong slowly woke up, his mind a little confused. Looking at the familiar carving masters, he didn't understand why he was there and lying on the ground.
Seeing that Xu Zhendong had woken up, Xu Wei quickly pushed through the crowd and said to Xu Zhendong with a concerned expression, "Uncle, you're awake! You scared me to death. I just called an ambulance, and we'll take you to the hospital for a check-up later..."
"Xu Wei? Old Zhao? Raw stone... thirty-three million eight hundred thousand?"
These words popped into Xu Zhendong's mind, and some blurry images gradually cleared up.
"Old Zhao, Old Zhao?"
Xu Zhendong called out to Master Zhao with all his might, but his voice was very soft. When Xu Wei heard this, he grabbed Master Zhao, who was still slumped on the ground in a daze, and pulled him in front of Xu Zhendong.
"Old Zhao, how's that rough jade coming along?"
Xu Zhendong still harbored a sliver of hope. More than 30 million yuan! Thinking of this, Xu Zhendong felt as if a knife was ripping his flesh out.
"Scrap metal, worth at most one million, Mr. Xu, we misjudged it..."
Old Zhao has also come to his senses. However, this blow was quite significant, and his current condition may not be much better than Xu Zhendong's.
"Old Zhao, was this rough jade stone faked? Can we sue him?"
Xu Zhendong is now preoccupied with how to recover the money. The company's financial situation is also very bad. Without the 30 million, he has no strength to bid for high-end jadeite rough. In the future, the company will only be able to become a small company that sells some low-end jade products.
"Sue? Mr. Xu, it's useless. We signed a contract and had it notarized before buying the rough stone. The money and goods were exchanged. Even if it's fake, we have no evidence now. Besides, this rough stone is indeed from the Pak Kong factory and hasn't been tampered with. We misjudged it..."
Master Zhao's words made Xu Zhendong's vision go black, and he almost fainted again. The smile Zhuang Rui had given him at the jade gambling event flashed before his eyes. However, Xu Zhendong saw only pity and hatred in that smile.
Xu Wei, who was listening from the side, was displeased. Why did he keep saying "us" without dragging him into it? It seemed that Old Zhao was not going to give up. He immediately pointed at Master Zhao and said, "Old Zhao, you clearly misjudged him. What do you mean by 'us'? If it weren't for your age, I would have called security to throw you out right now."
"You...you, good, good..."
Seeing Xu Wei, who always addressed him as Uncle Zhao, speak so rudely, Master Zhao was so angry that he couldn't even speak. Master Zhao didn't intend to shirk his responsibility, but at the time, this piece of rough jade was favored by both Xu Wei and Xu Zhendong. Although he was nominally an advisor, he didn't have the authority to make the final decision to buy it.
Upon hearing Xu Wei's words, Xu Zhendong's eyes snapped open.
"Xu Wei and Zhuang Rui have a grudge, they have a feud..."
These words kept flashing through his mind. Although Xu Zhendong didn't know if Zhuang Rui knew the true situation of this rough stone, he was now almost certain that Zhuang Rui's words in getting Boss Han to give up this rough stone were definitely not well-intentioned.
"Xu Wei, come here..."
Xu Zhendong waved to Xu Wei and struggled to sit up.
"Uncle, don't worry, it must be that brat Zhuang Rui doing it on purpose. I'll get a few people to teach him a lesson later!"
Upon hearing Xu Zhendong's call, Xu Wei immediately ran over, half-squatting down and bringing his ear close.
"I'll deal with you first!"
Xu Zhendong suddenly shouted, and with a force he didn't know where it came from, he suddenly sat up, spread his five fingers, and swung his right arm in a wide arc, slapping Xu Wei's cheek that was leaning towards him.
With a sharp "smack," Xu Wei, who weighed over 100 pounds, was actually knocked to the ground by Xu Zhendong, who was over 60 years old. Half of his cheek immediately became red and swollen, and the glasses on his nose were nowhere to be seen.
"Uncle, you... ptooey!"
Xu Wei stood up in shock and anger. He had just shouted out a sentence when he felt something in his mouth. He spat it into his palm and saw that it was two teeth.
Xu Zhendong could no longer hear Xu Wei's words. After delivering that powerful slap, he fainted again. Just then, the sound of an ambulance siren rang out outside the workshop. Several sculptors carried Xu Zhendong to the ambulance, and Master Zhao, who was also feeling unwell, was also carried in.
In the blink of an eye, only Xu Wei remained alone in the vast processing workshop, along with the gaping, unraveling piece of raw material, silently mocking him. ...
Zhuang Rui had a very restful afternoon nap, though it was a little long; he didn't fall asleep until after 2 PM. When he opened his eyes, he saw through the window that the streetlights were already on. Night had fallen.
"Damn, so many calls?"
Rubbing his eyes, Zhuang Rui picked up his phone to check the time, only to find that his phone had been ringing off the hook, with over fifty missed calls.
Zhuang Rui glanced at the list and saw calls from Wei Ge and his friends, Lei Lei, Song Jun and Fatty Ma, and even Old Master Gu. What surprised Zhuang Rui the most was an international call; if he wasn't mistaken, it was Qin Xuanbing calling.
"They're so close, why are they making phone calls? They're crazy."
Zhuang Rui casually tossed the phone onto the bed and prepared to wash up. As soon as he got out of bed, Bai Shi pounced at him from the doorway. Zhuang Rui seemed to understand something; it seemed that these people hadn't failed to come looking for him, but had probably been stopped by Bai Shi.
After washing up, Zhuang Rui thought for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed Qin Xuanbing's number.
After the phone rang twice, Qin Xuanbing answered it quickly.
"Zhuang Rui, Lei Lei can't find you, she's even calling me. What happened?"
Qin Xuanbing's pleasant voice came through the phone.
"I don't know. I was a bit tired this morning and slept at the hotel all afternoon. My phone was on vibrate this morning when I was gambling on jade, so I didn't hear it. I'll call Lei Lei later..."
Zhuang Rui initially thought Qin Xuanbing had something urgent to say, but it turned out it was Lei Lei who wanted to see him. After chatting with Qin Xuanbing for a few minutes, he hung up and called Lei Lei.
"Zhuang Rui, are you hiding in your room secretly enjoying your money? You're not even answering my calls?"
Lei Lei seemed to be in a bad mood, and immediately began to question Zhuang Rui.
"I...I was asleep and didn't hear it..."
Zhuang Rui felt a little wronged. What was going on? Why was he getting angry at him for no reason? Zhuang Rui was starting to feel sorry for Liu Chuan, who was going to marry Lei Lei.
"You and Da Chuan are buddies, and you're my old classmate. You had some information but didn't tell me first. I'm very angry, but forget it, I forgive you. You did a good deed. I'm a bit busy now, I'll contact you again tomorrow."
Lei Lei chattered on and on like a frying pan, and before Zhuang Rui could react, she hung up the phone.
"Hey, hey, Lei Lei, explain yourself! What good deed did I do?"
Zhuang Rui was a little annoyed. He didn't seem to have helped the old lady cross the road or done any good deeds like Lei Feng these past few days. As for that piece of raw jade, even if Xu's Jewelry didn't buy it, they couldn't sell it to Lei Lei.
Just as Zhuang Rui was somewhat stunned, his phone suddenly rang.
"Damn it, youngest brother, were you fast asleep in your room? We brothers practically smashed the door open, didn't you hear us?"
When the call connected, Wei Ge's voice came through. There was some noise nearby, so he probably wasn't in a hotel.
"I was really tired this morning and just woke up. I was just about to call you guys. Are you all together? By the way, why didn't you ask the waiter to open the door for you?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Ge immediately flew into a rage and yelled into the phone, "Get lost! Do you want me to get bitten by a dog? I just knocked twice and your white lion started growling at the door. Do you think I'd dare ask anyone to open the door? Alright, enough nonsense. Come and eat. Boss Song and Fatty... oh, no, Boss Ma are here too." Zhuang Rui looked at the white lion lying at his feet with a wry smile. A surge of spiritual energy instantly flowed into the white lion's body, and the white lion comfortably closed its eyes.
"Damn, all those dozens of phone calls were just to invite me to dinner?"
Zhuang Rui was speechless.
"No, there's something else. It's great news! It's in the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel. Come over quickly."
Viagra sounded excited as he finished speaking and then hung up the phone.
"What kind of people are these? They only say half of what they mean, how satisfying! Could it be that..."
Zhuang Rui thought of a possibility, quickly put on some clothes, comforted the white lion, and hurriedly left the room.
Chapter 206 A Great Satisfaction (Part 2)
After walking a few steps out of the room, Zhuang Rui turned back and changed the hotel room's status to "Do Not Disturb," fearing that the white lion might frighten the housekeeper when they went in to clean.
While waiting for the elevator, Zhuang Rui's phone rang again. He glanced at the number; it was an unfamiliar number. Without much thought, Zhuang Rui answered it while standing at the elevator door.
"Hello, Mr. Zhuang? This is Old Han from Han's Jewelry. I really have to thank you for what happened this morning, otherwise I would have suffered a huge loss. Are you free now? How about we have dinner together?"
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded unfamiliar. Zhuang Rui thought for a moment before remembering that it was the fair-skinned, chubby man who had bid against Xu Zhendong that morning.
"Ah, it's Boss Han. I won't let you suffer any loss about what happened this morning. Don't worry, I still have some good material on hand, it's just not here. I will definitely make it up to you when the opportunity arises."
Zhuang Rui was puzzled by Han Haowei's words. Han Haowei had given him face in the morning, so why was he saying he wanted to thank him?
Fortunately, the fat man and Xu Zhendong raised the price; otherwise, that piece of raw jade wouldn't have sold for 33.8 million.
"That's not it, Mr. Zhuang. If you have a moment now, let's sit down and talk."
Han Haowei was truly grateful to Zhuang Rui. If Zhuang Rui hadn't sent someone to deliver a message to him, he might still be fighting to the death with Xu Zhendong. If he had actually gotten his hands on that piece of jade, he would have been devastated.
The news that Xu's Jewelry had lost its raw material carving business spread through various channels as soon as Xu Zhendong was sent to the hospital. The carvers were already targets of various jewelry companies, and after seeing the heavy losses suffered by Xu's Jewelry, they couldn't help but start looking for their own way out. As a result, the news is now flying everywhere.
Of course, Zhuang Rui was unaware of all this; he thought that this Mr. Han was eager to see the good materials he had mentioned.
"Forget about dinner. I have plans with a friend tonight... uh, it's 7:30 now. If you're free around 8:30, come to my hotel. Let's sit down."
Zhuang Rui spoke very politely, naturally because of the piece of red jade in his hand. You see, such top-quality jade is not something that ordinary people can afford; it is only available to a specific group of customers. Zhuang Rui wanted to get to know a few people like that through Boss Han, so that he could sell the piece of red jade in the future.
Zhuang Rui hasn't decided yet whether to cut the jade and sell it as raw material, or to have it carved into a finished product and then sell it. But no matter which method he chooses, it's always good to have a good relationship with a jade merchant like Boss Han.
"Okay, you're staying at the hotel next to Jade Street, right? I'll be there soon."
Han Haowei readily agreed.
After chatting casually with Boss Han for a few minutes, Zhuang Rui went down to the second-floor restaurant and discovered that the group wasn't eating, but drinking tea. People in Guangdong love drinking tea, and many things are discussed over tea. Some people can drink tea from morning tea to afternoon tea until night.
The morning's exertion was considerable. Having eaten little at noon, Zhuang Rui was now ravenously hungry. After sitting down, he didn't stand on ceremony and kept stuffing the meatballs, shrimp dumplings, steamed buns, and other snacks in front of him into his mouth.
"What's wrong? Why are you all staring at me?"
After taking a sip of tea and swallowing the food in his mouth, Zhuang Rui noticed that the guys were all staring at him blankly, so he asked them curiously.
"Youngest brother, do you know that there's no jade inside that stone?"
Viagra couldn't keep things to himself, and immediately asked the question.
"A stone? Which stone are you talking about?"
Zhuang Rui already guessed what it was about, but he couldn't reveal that he could see inside the raw stone, so he could only pretend to be ignorant.
Zhuang Rui was surprised that Xu Wei and the others started cutting the stone as soon as they returned to the company. He had originally thought that they would only find out about it after the stone gambling conference ended.
"What else could it be? It's the one you sold to Xu's Jewelry. Lei Lei told us that you and that kid surnamed Xu don't get along. Little brother, are you deliberately trying to sabotage them?"
The fourth brother was the one who relayed Zhuang Rui's message to Boss Han, so he was the most suspicious. Given Zhuang Rui's personality, there was no reason for him to sell good stuff to his enemy.
"Is there really no jade inside that stone?"
Zhuang Rui feigned surprise and looked at everyone.
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
The speaker was Song Jun. The matter Zhuang Rui handled today had too many flaws and couldn't withstand scrutiny.
"What's going on? Tell me first, what do I know?"
Acting is fucking exhausting. Zhuang Rui's facial expressions right now are good enough for a movie role.
The third brother was the most kind. Seeing Zhuang Rui's anxious look, he said, "After Xu's Jewelry went back, they cut open that rough stone. However, there was only some jade on the surface under the outer skin. The inside was completely hollow. It's not even worth three million, let alone thirty million. There are rumors that you faked it."