"Hey bro, why am I feeling dizzy standing up here? Do I have a fear of heights?"
Fatty Ma climbed onto the small platform. Another malfunction occurred; this place, less than a meter high, had somehow given him a fear of heights. Hearing this, Zhuang Rui was both amused and exasperated, wishing he could kick him down. It seemed like just the day before yesterday, Old Ma was boasting to himself about the duplex he bought on the 18th floor of a building in Taiyuan.
"Hey fat guy, it's okay, I'll catch you if you fall."
"I think you've wasted those two hundred-plus pounds of weight. If you don't understand, get down here right now."
The surrounding crowd was getting impatient and began to criticize him. Judging from their expressions, if Fatty Ma didn't cut the stone soon, they might drag him down and beat him up. It's no wonder the crowd was so impatient; in this hot weather, they just wanted to get it cut out and find a cool place with air conditioning.
Normally, given Ma Pangzi's experience, he shouldn't be this nervous. However, this is his first time gambling on stones, and even more so, his first time cutting a stone. Whether this cut will result in over 60 million RMB going down the drain or becoming a bargain is entirely in his hands, so Ma Pangzi can't help but feel a little anxious.
This is also why Song Jun is unwilling to cut the stone. Last year, he ruined a rough stone worth more than 20 million yuan, which made him feel bad for a long time. This year, he is unwilling to do anything about this top-bid stone himself.
"You bastard, you die and your bird faces upwards, what am I afraid of, Fatty?"
Spurred on by what was happening below, Fatty Ma cursed loudly in Shanxi dialect, turned on the power to the stone cutter, gripped the handle with both hands, and pressed down hard.
The steel grinding wheel, nearly a meter in diameter, spun rapidly. Upon contact with the stone, it immediately emitted an unpleasant "sizzling" sound, and tiny fragments of stone flew out, occasionally hitting Fatty Ma's hands and face.
At this moment, Fatty Ma perked up. Although his face twitched occasionally from being hit by stone chips, his hands remained steady as the huge gear gradually sank into the stone.
"Sizzle... crackle..."
Seeing that half of the gear had been cut in, Fatty Ma quickly lifted the handle and pulled the gear out of the stone. The rough stone was too big to be cut in one go.
Just as Fatty Ma turned off the power to the stone-cutting machine, several jade merchants familiar with Song Jun gathered around. Some brought water, while others took brushes and began rinsing the cut area. Some were even impatient and shone flashlights inside, trying to discern any clues so they could quote prices later.
"Old Zhao, you have sharp eyes, did you see anything?"
The person cleaning the wool felt cheated and asked the person peeking inside with a flashlight.
"I can't see it, it's too deep, come and take a look..."
The gears of the stone cutter are very thin, just a slit, so you can hardly see anything during the day. But you can see something when there is no light.
"Everyone, please step aside. Once this rough stone is cut open, everyone will understand."
Song Jun stepped forward. Although he was more anxious than anyone else, he remained calm and urged the others to make way so that the machine could be used to turn the rough stone over and continue cutting it.
"Mr. Song, you're really generous! If this rough stone were in the middle, wouldn't you have suffered a huge loss if you cut into it?"
A jade merchant had some doubts about this one-cut method. For such a huge piece of rough jade, it is best to cut a window along the four sides, polish out the green color, and then slowly cut the stone. It is not very common to cut directly from the middle like Fatty Ma did.
In fact, Master Peng, Song Jun's jade gambling consultant, had also made such a suggestion, but Zhuang Rui rejected it. While that method could indeed extract the jade perfectly from the rough stone, such a large piece of jade would likely take several days to cut, and Zhuang Rui didn't have the patience to wait that long.
Back to the point, Zhuang Rui knew very well what was inside this giant rough stone. This piece of jade was not like the one Lei Lei cut out, where even a slight deviation would affect its price. This whole rough stone could yield hundreds of kilograms of icy jade with floating flowers. Zhuang Rui didn't care much about losing a little bit. Once everyone made way, the forklift came in and turned the rough stone over. Old Ma stood on it and got busy again. This time, he was very skilled and quickly cut more than half a meter deep into one half. But that wasn't the end of it. He had to turn it over again and cut it again. He turned it over and over four times in total before he finally split this giant rough stone in half.
When people encounter a crisis or are in a frenzy, their potential is indeed limitless. The group of jade merchants did not even use a bulldozer; they rushed forward and flipped the two halves of the rough jade over. Instantly, the crystal-clear jade dazzled everyone in the room under the sunlight.
"My God..."
"My God..."
"Oh, Allah..."
"The Three Pure Ones, the Buddha..."
A huge gasp of amazement erupted in the room. Hearing this, Zhuang Rui realized that there were actually so many believers of various religions in China.
However, most of the people in the arena were making sounds from their throats that they themselves didn't even know, purely instinctive groans, which were absolutely different from the groans made during certain sports activities.
"It's gone up! It's gone up a lot! The top bidder has gone up a lot!"
It's unclear who shouted this, but the entire venue erupted in cheers. People at the back pushed forward, while those at the front tried to break through the armed police and security guards to get a closer look. The scene instantly became chaotic, with dozens of armed police and security guards bobbing up and down like small boats on a vast ocean under the impact of the crowd.
Song Jun and Zhuang Rui were also getting anxious. Although the rough stone was large and they weren't worried about it being stolen, they still couldn't afford to lose even one or two pieces if someone managed to chip off a piece. Just then, "Bang!"
A crisp gunshot rang out, and the crowded people fell silent.
"Who fired the shot? Who gave you orders to fire without them?"
Upon hearing the gunshot, the armed police lieutenant leading the team became anxious. Although only the sound of gunfire could maintain order in the current situation, if a stray bullet were to injure someone, his military uniform would be effectively worn out.
"Report, Captain, we didn't fire the shots..."
The soldiers were also confused; their bullets weren't in the magazines at all, but in another magazine placed in a bullet pouch.
"Comrade of the Armed Police, it was me, I fired the shot."
Just as the lieutenant was preparing to conduct a search, a middle-aged man with a wig in his hand and a receding hairline stepped forward. Zhuang Rui recognized this man; he was a junior leader in the organizing committee, specifically in charge of the opening ceremony of the conference, and was now assigned to oversee the stone-cutting machine.
The gun in his hand brought a sigh of relief to the still-shaken crowd, who burst into laughter. It turned out to be a starting pistol. Presumably, this comrade had been pushed so hard that he pulled out the starting pistol used in the opening ceremony and fired it into the air.
"Everyone, please step back and cooperate. Do not cross this warning line..."
With this buffer, the armed police and security guards quickly sprang into action, setting up a cordon of about 20 to 30 square meters in the center. Only jade merchants who had been granted permission by Song Jun and others were allowed to enter and view the raw jade.
Although Song Jun wasn't in the jade business, he had been in contact with several big names in the industry. As he called out the names, more than ten jade merchants entered the circle, including Boss Han.
"Zhuang Rui, let us in..."
Lei Lei's voice came from the crowd.
Zhuang Rui looked in the direction of the sound and was startled. Lei Lei was in a terrible state. Not only was her hair disheveled, but there was also a dark handprint on her white t-shirt. If Liu Chuan saw this, he would definitely bring out the armed police's submachine guns and fire a burst of bullets at the crowd.
Chapter 225 The Record-Breaking Bid (Part 1)
The news of the winning bid for the top-priced jade stone disappeared as if it had grown wings, lingering in the jade gambling venue. Whether they were raw jade merchants or jade bosses, they all flocked to the stone-cutting area of the venue. Although the area was already surrounded by layers of people, this did not prevent them from standing at a distance to listen to the excitement.
"Have you heard? What they extracted from it was imperial green jade of the glassy variety, several hundred kilograms of it..."
"You're talking nonsense. Several hundred kilograms of imperial jadeite of the glassy type would fetch billions..."
"I heard it's a glass-type jadeite, but with purple eyes, no less beautiful than imperial green jadeite..."
"It's not as eerie as you guys say. The sound just came out, and it seems to be an icy jadeite with floating patterns..."
The person who said that is a wise person.
"Come on, if it were just ice-type jade, would so many people be gathered around?"
The man's words sparked a rebuttal. Such incidents are constantly occurring on the periphery of the circle, with the core of the debate revolving around the quality and quantity of the record-breaking auction piece.
Too far away to witness the excitement firsthand, one can only listen. News from within the circle is constantly spreading outwards. These people, lacking the resources to get a share of the raw materials, find it enjoyable to gather here and share their insights.
In the hot summer, people wear less clothing, and many of the merchants attending the jade gambling convention bring female companions, who are all young and beautiful. Therefore, there are also some who try to take advantage of the situation.
The man in the crowd was like that. He had already groped several girls in the chaos, and now he had his eye on another target, a girl standing not far in front of him. She had a small braid, a long neck, was tall, had a slender waist, and was wearing tight jeans. Her round buttocks seemed about to burst out of the jeans.
This bespectacled, seemingly refined middle-aged man squeezed himself behind his target, looking straight ahead, while his right hand quietly rested on the target's buttocks, stroking them incessantly, marveling at the amazing feel of the touch.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound came from the middle-aged man's face. The person who had been touched turned around and slapped him. The force was so great that the glasses on the refined middle-aged man's face flew off. The severely nearsighted middle-aged man fumbled in his bag and took out a spare pair of glasses before he could see the face of the person in front of him.
"Damn it, you pervert, what are you doing touching me like that?"
A young man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and several pimples on his face was looking at the middle-aged man with an angry expression, waving his fist as if he wanted to teach the middle-aged man a lesson.
The middle-aged man knew he was in the wrong and could only blame himself for being blind and unable to distinguish between men and women. He lowered his head and slipped out of the crowd, which made the onlookers burst into laughter.
This was just a minor incident in the crowd. In the middle of the circle, while jade merchants, including Lei Lei's maternal grandfather, were examining the rough stone, Zhuang Rui was urgently discussing with Song Jun and Fatty Ma how to sell it.
"Hey brothers, these raw stones have already been cut open. Why don't we just pack them up and sell them?"
This was Zhuang Rui's suggestion. Liu Chuan had been calling him these past few days, urging him to go back quickly. Moreover, he was thinking of going to Zhonghai first to hand over the Ru kiln porcelain brush washer to Uncle De for repair. He really didn't want to waste any more time in Pingzhou.
In Zhuang Rui's opinion, the jadeite revealed from the two cut surfaces was enough to tempt these jade merchants.
Upon hearing this, both Fatty Ma and Song Jun shook their heads. They disagreed with Zhuang Rui's statement. Although the rough stone had been cut open, it was still considered a semi-gambling material. No one could say for sure how much jadeite could be extracted from the two halves. If they wanted to maximize their profits, they would have to take another gamble.
"Brother, if we sell it like this now, the price will probably be around 80 or 90 million. Since we've already gambled, why don't we cut all the jadeite out and then divide it into several parts for auction? That would be more cost-effective."
Fatty Ma was eager to try again. The huge increase in value from cutting the stone earlier gave him a sense of satisfaction that he couldn't get even when riding on Swallow's back. Now he wanted to experience it again.
“Old Ma is right. The price of jadeite rough stones has skyrocketed. We should cut them into usable pieces and then cut them. I just asked Master Peng, and judging from these two cut surfaces, we should be able to get over a hundred kilograms of jadeite.”
Song Jun also agreed to take another gamble.
After hearing what the two were saying, Zhuang Rui understood. If they didn't continue to cut the stones, these two rough stones would still be considered gambling stones, which would be risky and the price would naturally be lower. He had been a bit presumptuous. He knew the amount of jadeite inside the rough stones, but that didn't mean the jade merchants who wanted to buy them knew it too.
"Okay, then let's unsell it."
Zhuang Rui has no grudge against money, so it's naturally good to earn more.
"Mr. Song, Han's Jewelry will take this half of the rough stone on the left for 48 million. What do you think?"
Just after Zhuang Rui and his group made their decision, the jade merchants who came to inspect the rough stones gathered around. Boss Han called out from a distance, as if afraid that if he was too late, the rough stones would be snatched up by someone else.
"Boss Han, this is such a big piece of raw jade, are you sure you can handle it all? You can't just hog it all..."
"Exactly, forty-eight million is too cheap. Mr. Song, I'll offer fifty million..."
Boss Han's words aroused public outrage. Criticism arose everywhere, but the two prices he shouted were somewhat unexpected for Zhuang Rui and the others. Half a piece of rough jade was priced at fifty million, much higher than they had anticipated, and judging from the situation, the price could be raised even further.
"So, are we still going to solve it or not?"
Before the others arrived, Song Jun whispered to Zhuang Rui and Fatty Ma, "Judging from this, even if we don't unravel it, the two rough stones should still fetch over a hundred million."
"untie!"
This time, Zhuang Rui became the one who insisted on cutting the stone. He knew very well the jadeite content in the rough stone. He had extracted hundreds of kilograms of icy jadeite with floating flowers from just half a piece, and its value should be far more than fifty million.
"Okay, then let's untie the sales."
Song Jun nodded, made up his mind, and walked towards the jade merchants who had gathered around him.
"Gentlemen, these two rough stones are a bit too big. I'm afraid that if one of you buys them, the others won't be happy. I think you should wait a little while, and we'll extract the jade from them and divide them into several pieces so that no one will be left out. What do you think?"
Song Jun's words drew the attention of the twenty or so jade merchants who were still arguing. However, some of them nodded in agreement with Song Jun's opinion, while others shook their heads in disagreement.
The reason for shaking their heads is simple: judging from the cut surface of this rough stone, there must be a lot of jade inside. If it were bought as a semi-rough stone, the price would naturally be much cheaper. However, after it is cut into finished stone, the price will be based on the market price. Given the current rise in the price of rough stones, the Song army will definitely rip them off.
Those who nodded in agreement also had their own ideas. Some of them had relatively small companies, and it was beyond their means to spend tens or hundreds of millions of yuan to compete for half a piece of rough jade. However, with the current shortage of jadeite, they wanted to get a share of the pie, so they could only hope that after the rough jade was cut into several pieces, they could compete for one of them.
The owner of the raw materials was Song Jun. Regardless of what these people were thinking, in the end they could only watch with their own thoughts as Master Peng and another person began to break down the raw materials.
Fatty Ma wanted to help, but Zhuang Rui stopped him. The previous stone cutting was out of necessity. Now, cutting along the edge where the green jade appears is a very delicate task, requiring a high level of skill and stability from the stone cutter.
If someone were to make a few more large cuts like Fatty Ma, who knows how much jade material would be wasted? That would just be doing more harm than good.
These two halves of the rough stone are really too big. Master Peng and the jade gambling consultant brought by Fatty Ma are working together to cut one half of the rough stone, but they are very slow. At this rate, it will probably be difficult to cut even half of the rough stone by nightfall.
"Storing this thing will be a problem after dark," Zhuang Rui thought anxiously. He spotted Yang Hao standing with Lei Lei's grandfather and the others and went up to him, saying, "Brother Yang, how about lending a hand?"