Tiezi and the others assumed Zhuang Rui was a city dweller who came to the mountains for novelty, and they didn't pay much attention to his taking pictures everywhere. The day passed quickly, but their harvest was not very good. They only found three or five pieces of very poor-quality green jade, which even an old jade miner like Tiezi didn't think much of.
The group discussed it that night and decided to leave the mountain the next morning.
When we left the mountain, we took a different route that didn't require going around Death Valley, but it took half a day longer. By the time we got back to the transit station, it was already three days later.
The transfer station has two minibuses, which are used to transport jade miners from the mountains back to Hotan. However, just like private minibuses that pick up passengers in the city, they will not drive until they are full.
Zhuang Rui and the others grew impatient, so they simply negotiated a price with the car owner and hired a car to return to Hotan. Tiezi and the others had no objections, after all, they were carrying jade worth millions of yuan, and they could only feel at ease if they returned to their own territory as soon as possible.
After a bumpy five or six-hour journey, Zhuang Rui finally returned to Prince Yu's manor, a full week having passed since he went into the mountains.
Adila looked at Zhuang Rui, who was unshaven, with messy hair and worn-out jeans, and asked with a serious expression, "Zhuang, this is no joke. Are you sure?"
Just as Adila and Gu Tianfeng were enjoying some wine that had just been made last year, Zhuang Rui rushed up to them and told them that he had discovered a jade vein.
Adila didn't take Zhuang Rui's words seriously. After all, Adila had traveled to almost every place in Kunlun where jade was found, and he didn't believe that Zhuang Rui could find a jade vein on his first trip into the mountains.
"Xiao Zhuang, this is no small matter. What makes you say it's a jade vein?"
Seeing Zhuang Rui's current disheveled appearance, Gu Lao handed him a glass of red wine.
"Senior Uncle, would I speak recklessly if I weren't sure? Look..."
Zhuang Rui took out his digital camera and pointed out the rock face he had photographed to the two of them.
"Hehe, you mean this place, Xiao Zhuang? That's not the jade vein, and that rock was washed down from the mountain..."
Upon seeing the photo, Adila's expression relaxed considerably, and he laughed dismissively. He had been to Yeniugou countless times and could immediately identify the location of the scenery in the photo. Indeed, a lot of jade had been found in that riverbed, but it was all mountain stream water and pebble material that had flowed down from the mountain, and there shouldn't be any jade veins there.
"Uncle Tian, I meant this place..."
Zhuang Rui pointed to the rock face in the camera's view.
“I suspect that the jade vein is located deep inside this rock wall, because the rocks at the river outlet are somewhat like dolomite, which means that before the crustal movement, this was where underground magma flowed, and there is a high possibility that a jade vein exists here.”
Zhuang Rui's words made Adila's expression turn serious again. Although he had specifically investigated that river channel, he hadn't paid much attention to the river mouth. This was because the most conspicuous places are the easiest to overlook.
"That's possible. Jade veins have already appeared on Mount Maka, not far from here, and they're being mined right now. It makes sense that jade veins would form here, but..."
Adila frowned as she looked at the photos on the camera.
"Uncle Tian, what's wrong? We can drive in from the rock wall first and see the structure of the rock inside."
“Xiao Zhuang, it’s summer now, which is the season for flash floods. Right now it’s just a stream, but after a while, I’m afraid half of that canyon will become a riverbed, making it very difficult to excavate unless we dam the river at the foot of the mountain and blast open another outlet.”
Adila was very familiar with the terrain there and knew the seasonal climate changes in the Kunlun Mountains like the back of his hand. Summers were rainy, and a single downpour could cause flash floods, making mining impossible.
Zhuang Rui thought Adila was afraid of spending money and effort and still not finding the jade vein, so he said, "Uncle Tian, let's blast open a river outlet. I'll pay for it."
Adila laughed when she saw Zhuang Rui's expression and said, "You're quite confident, kid. The preparations have cost a lot of money. Just the expenses for manpower and equipment alone amount to several million. Aren't you afraid of wasting your money?"
“He’s a wealthy man, a few million is nothing to him, Brother Adila, do you think it’s a good idea?”
Old Master Gu also laughed. He didn't have much experience in jade mining and dared not draw any conclusions.
"It's hard to say, but we'll know once we dig out a tunnel about 20 or 30 meters long and look at the rock layers inside."
After answering the old man's question, Adila turned to Zhuang Rui and said, "Little guy, how about this? I won't take advantage of you. I'll provide the equipment, and you can provide the labor costs. Let's dig a tunnel here first and see. If there really is a jade vein, I'll handle the diversion and rerouting. We'll each contribute half of the investment, and each have a 50% share. What do you think?"
Zhuang Rui thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's do it the way Uncle Tian said. But I won't be in charge of the sales after the jade is mined. Consider my shares as venture capital. Uncle Tian, you can just give me dividends every year."
Adila laughed loudly upon hearing this. If there was a jade vein, he was really afraid that Zhuang Rui, this young man, would interfere in the process. So he said, "Alright, let's do it this way. You go and rest. We'll go into the mountains first thing tomorrow morning."
Adila has been able to dominate the Xinjiang jade industry for decades, and he is a man of action. Once he made a decision, he immediately stood up and went to gather people to make preparations.
Chapter 271 Yue Jing's Resentment
After leaving, Zhuang Rui didn't rest. Instead, he found Zhang Dazhi and the others, who were waiting for professionals to appraise the jade they had mined at the jade buyback center in the Jade Prince Manor.
Those who go into the mountains to mine jade own all the jade they find. They can sell it to the Jade King or keep it to sell at the market. However, the Jade King always buys jade at fair prices, so the jade miners are happy to sell their jade to him. Every year, the Jade King accounts for 80% of the Hetian jade raw materials flowing out of Xinjiang, which shows how powerful he is.
"Brother Zhuang, you're here! Perfect timing, the identification will be finished soon..."
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui approach, the group greeted him warmly, their faces beaming with barely suppressed joy.
The three best pieces of jade have just been appraised, and the other party has offered a price of 1.7 million. There are other jade miners in the hall, all looking at Zhang Dazhi and his group with envy.
"I have something else to tell you, but never mind. We'll talk about it later..."
Zhuang Rui originally wanted to tell the group about his plan to go into the mountains to search for jade veins the next day, but seeing that these guys' eyes were glued to the jade on the table, and that they were even indifferent when greeting Zhuang Rui, he was surprised.
"Tiezi, the jade you mined this time is of very good quality. There are a total of 27 pieces of jade, including two pieces of top-grade white jade weighing 18.6 kilograms, six pieces of medium-grade white jade weighing 39.4 kilograms, and the rest are ordinary bluish-white jade. The total price is 1.98 million, but I, Lao Liu, have decided to make it 2 million. What do you think?"
After examining the last piece of jade, the old man sitting at the table took off his reading glasses, wiped them, and then slowly and methodically told Tiezi and the others the price.
Seeing that Tiezi and the others remained silent, the appraiser assumed they were dissatisfied with the price he had offered, and couldn't help but snort, "What's wrong? Not happy? Tiezi, you've been dealing with me, Old Liu, for a long time. My price is the fairest. Even if a prince came, this would be the price..."
"Uncle Liu, it's not... unfair. No... no, it's... very unfair. Hey, look at my foul mouth. Dazhi, you should speak."
Upon hearing the price of two million, Tiezi, who was in his thirties, became incoherent. Before he could finish a sentence, he had already angered Old Man Liu across the table so much that his face turned black, and he was almost about to stand up and storm out.
"This...this, Brother Zhuang, you...you should explain it."
Looking at Zhang Dazhi's excited face, he couldn't utter a single word.
"Uncle Liu, they are just too happy. Please don't take offense. The price is fair, so we'll do as you say."
Zhuang Rui smiled and turned to the old man. Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Uncle Liu, who had been somewhat angry, also smiled. He could see that these young men were completely terrified by the price of two million.
It's no wonder that Tiezi and his friends were excited. Just a week ago, they were all penniless, homeless, and unmarried. It's normal for them to be excited when they suddenly heard about the huge sum of two million.
A single trip into the mountains can earn hundreds of thousands of yuan, turning someone from rags to riches. This is one of the main reasons why hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to Xinjiang to mine jade in recent years. Just like the American Gold Rush in the 19th century, there are no explicit regulations in the country regarding jade mining. Right now, whoever finds it owns it. However, this phenomenon will no longer exist next year, as relevant regulations are already being formulated.
"Alright, Tiezi, you've finally made it through. Who's the team leader? How's the money going to be distributed? Cash or bank transfer?"
Uncle Liu has been working with the Jade King for decades and has seen such scenes every year. To be honest, while it is rare to find jade worth two million, it is not unheard of. He has seen even more than that.
Zhang Dazhi snapped out of his daze and said repeatedly, "I, I'm the captain. There are five of us, and each of us doesn't have 400,000. Let's just transfer the money into the account."
Mengzi, who had been silent until now, suddenly said in a muffled voice, "Brother Dazhi, I don't have a bank account, what should I do?"
"I don't have a bank account either..."
Wang Fei, standing next to Mengzi, also looked embarrassed. Like Zhang Dazhi, he worked for Prince Yu to earn a little money. He received about a thousand yuan a month, sent a few hundred home, and the rest was not enough to live on, so he would never save money in the bank.
Seeing this, Zhuang Rui said, "Dazhi, Tiezi, I think you should both go to the bank and open a new account. I also have something to tell you."
“Okay, let’s go to the bank together. Uncle Liu, can you give us a receipt? We’ll come back to collect the money later.”
After receiving the receipt from Uncle Liu, the group left. Zhang Dazhi drove the car out, and they went to a bank in Hotan. They each opened an account using their own ID cards.
On the way, Zhuang Rui told the others about his plan to go into the mountains to search for jade veins the next day. They didn't take it too seriously, since they only suspected there might be a jade vein, and whether it actually existed was another matter.
Zhuang Rui declined the 400,000 yuan offer. Zhang Dazhi and the other three each received 100,000 yuan, which was enough for them. After the money was deposited into their accounts, Zhang Dazhi and Wang Fei decided to resign from their posts and return to their hometown in Sichuan. Tiezi, on the other hand, planned to buy a house in Hotan and marry the widow he had been dating for several years.
Only Mengzi was a little at a loss after receiving the money. He was an orphan who had grown up relying on the kindness of others. He was now suddenly rich and didn't know what to do with it. Zhuang Rui liked this honest and simple-minded big guy, so he simply asked him to go into the mountains with him tomorrow, and Mengzi agreed.
After dealing with these matters, Zhuang Rui carried the bag containing the colored jade back to his room.
Ignoring the dust covering his body, Zhuang Rui's first action was to find his phone charger so he could call home to let them know he was safe. His phone had no signal on the first day he entered the mountains, and by the fourth day, it was completely out of power. Although he had told his mother beforehand, he was worried that his family would worry after a week without making a phone call.
After the call was connected, Mrs. Zhuang didn't say anything, only reminding Zhuang Rui to be careful. Zhuang Rui wanted to ask about the Ouyang family in the capital several times, but he held back the words.
Zhuang Rui tossed his phone onto the table and went into the bathroom. He hadn't showered in the past few days since leaving the mountain, and his clothes were soaked with sweat residue, and he had a strange smell.
Just as Zhuang Rui was taking a shower, his phone rang on the table. Although he heard it, he was too lazy to answer it. He was currently struggling with the thick layer of grime on his body. Even though he was going into the mountains tomorrow, he wanted to get himself ready today.
After more than ten minutes, Zhuang Rui came out of the bathroom and found that his phone was still ringing non-stop. He wondered who was so persistent.
"Hey, is that you, Second Brother? Sorry, I've been in the mountains these past few days and there's been no cell phone signal. You were worried about your little brother, right?"
Seeing that it was Yue Jing calling, Zhuang Rui felt a little embarrassed. He thought he would be back in Beijing in three to five days, but he forgot to tell Yue Jing when he went into the mountains. He was afraid that Yue Jing wouldn't be able to find him and that he had made Yue Jing worry.
"I don't care about you at all, youngest brother. What's going on between you and the fourth son of the Ouyang family? He's been coming to my workplace to wait for me every day. Am I supposed to go to work?"
It turns out Zhuang Rui was just being presumptuous. Brother Yue Jing wasn't here to show concern for him; he was here to interrogate him. Ever since the day he couldn't reach Zhuang Rui by phone, Ouyang Jun had been spending all his time in his office, saying that if he found Zhuang Rui, everything would be fine, otherwise he would pester you, Yue Xiaoliu.
“I have nothing to do with him, second brother. Before I met him, I had never even heard of his name. Don’t blame me for this. Blame yourself. Why did you take me to that place…”
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. He joked with Yue Jing on the phone, saying that he had been having a tough but fulfilling time in the mountains these past few days and had long forgotten about Ouyang Jun.
"You heartless brat! I endured the torture of being on a tiger bench and pepper spray, but I didn't reveal any of your secrets, and you're making up stories about me like this..."
The second brother spoke in a very resentful tone on the other end of the phone, which gave Zhuang Rui goosebumps.
However, Yue Jing did help cover up some of the questions Ouyang Fourth Brother had about Zhuang Rui, only saying that Zhuang Rui was born into an ordinary family and had only recently resigned from Zhonghai. What Yue Jing said was essentially meaningless, because Ouyang Jun himself could find out. As for the fact that Zhuang Rui was worth hundreds of millions, he kept that a secret.
Although it's not necessarily true that Ouyang Si'er's visit to Zhuang Rui was intended to harm him, Yue Jing still managed to resist corruption and remain untainted without Zhuang Rui's consent. Ouyang Jun did find a second-tier celebrity to seduce him, and of course, Yue Xiaoliu accepted the sugar-coated bait but returned the bullet to Ouyang Si'er.
Actually, Yue Jing was actually hoping Zhuang Rui would come back later. Although Xu Da Mingxing wasn't part of the deal, Ouyang Si'er still had several A-list actresses in his grasp. Of course, you can't force them, but you can introduce them and then have a deeper conversation.
"Alright, second brother, I'm exhausted like a grandson right now. I'm not going to chat with you anymore. It'll probably be another ten days or so before I can get back to Beijing. We'll talk about it then."
After drying his hair and lying down on the bed, a wave of weariness washed over him. Zhuang Rui was too lazy to talk to his second brother anymore, so he hung up the phone immediately after speaking.
"Damn it, you hung up on me!"
The second brother on the other end of the phone, hearing the dial tone, cursed in annoyance, but after his eyes darted around, he dialed another number.
Chapter 272 Opening the Mountain to Mine Jade
Yue Xiaoliu naturally called Ouyang Jun. Although principles shouldn't be abandoned, informing him that Zhuang Rui's phone was on seemed insignificant. Besides, Ouyang Jun could make the call himself, so why not do him a favor? Ouyang Jun had been quite impatient these past few days, showing signs of about to explode, and Yue Xiaoliu didn't want to risk offending him, so he wanted to appease him a little.
Ouyang Jun was not only about to lose his temper, he was practically driven mad by Zhuang Rui. He had promised to return to Beijing in three to five days, but more than a week had passed and he hadn't come back. Not only that, his phone was also switched off. What Fourth Brother hated most in his life was people who didn't answer when he called or whose phones were switched off. If you can't handle it, don't pretend to be something you're not.
What angered Ouyang Jun even more was that his own father had given him the comment, "A young man with no beard is unreliable." This was absolutely unfair! If it weren't for the famous actor Xu complaining about his prickly beard and shaving him every day, Ouyang Jun would never have been described as a modern-day eunuch.
However, after investigating Zhuang Rui's family relationships, Ouyang Jun discovered the name Ouyang Wan. Although he didn't know his aunt's real name, he had some guesses. But since childhood, the topic of his aunt had been taboo in the family, and he dared not ask his father, much less the old man in the family. ...
Zhuang Rui had been quite exhausted these past few days. Although the spiritual energy could help heal the soreness and numbness in his legs, there were several mountain paths with deep abysses and cliffs below, so he had to keep his mind on high alert. Now that he had returned to his residence, a wave of weariness washed over him.
After quickly drying his hair with a hairdryer, Zhuang Rui lay down on the bed and fell asleep within minutes. In his dream, he saw Qin Xuanbing arrive in Xinjiang and enter the Kunlun Mountains with him. He held Qin Xuanbing's slender waist and toured the scenery of the Kunlun Mountains. With such beautiful scenery and a beautiful woman, Zhuang Rui was deeply intoxicated.
Well, Zhuang Rui can swear that in his dream he only wanted to kiss her, and he absolutely did not put his hand inside Qin Xuanbing's clothes. However, he was woken up by a phone ringing just as he had this thought.
"Damn it. I never had a chance before, not even in my dreams!"
Zhuang Rui now regretted not turning off the phone while charging it. Still half asleep, he picked up the phone from the bedside table, his eyes not even open, just to keep the thought alive, maybe he could dream about it later.
Hello, who is this?