Time was of the essence. As the current head of Qin's Jewelry, Qin Haoran didn't have time to visit the Hu family. However, he did send Zhuang Rui along. It wouldn't hurt for a young person to broaden their horizons. Of course, Qin Haoran didn't care whether Zhuang Rui was busy or not.
"Brother Hu, is Hpakant in the Myitkyina region?"
Zhuang Rui had taken note of the name Myitkyina when he heard it from Hu Rong, because the map on his memory card was located there.
Chapter 453 Clearly marked (10)
"Yes. Hpakant is in the Myitkyina region, which is also the area with the highest concentration of jade mines in Myanmar. Almost all the rough jade stones are mined from there..."
Hu Rong smiled, categorizing Zhuang Rui's question as a young person's curiosity about jade mines, and continued, "Actually, jade mines are quite similar to other resource mines. If you have time, young Zhuang, after this public auction is over, I'll take you to see them..."
"Great, thank you in advance, Brother Hu. I have a jade mine in Xinjiang, and I'm wondering what the difference is between the two. I was just thinking of going to check it out..."
Zhuang Rui quickly nodded in agreement. It would be much more convenient for Hu Rong to lead them to the Myitkyina region than for him and Peng Fei to venture in recklessly.
Zhuang Rui had previously inquired and learned that private mine owners in Myanmar have extremely strict management of jade mines.
Because Myanmar has been plagued by war for many years and is close to the Golden Triangle, these mine owners, after obtaining mining licenses, will designate an area of more than ten kilometers around the mine as their own sphere of influence, and protect the mine with armed guards, resembling a small kingdom.
All Burmese mine owners do not welcome outsiders into their mining areas. They have the right to warn outsiders to leave and to forcibly expel them, and they will not bear any legal responsibility for killing or injuring them.
Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei's original plan was to avoid these mines, but since they hadn't been to the site, they didn't know if the place marked with a red sun on the map was where the treasure was hidden. If it was right next to a jade mine, they would have no choice but to risk entering.
However, with Hu Rong's invitation, this treasure hunt will become much easier. If there really is a jade mine there, even if it's not Hu Rong's mine, Zhuang Rui should be able to wander around without much trouble, thanks to Hu Rong's connections.
Hu Rong was also very interested in the Xinjiang jade mines that Zhuang Rui mentioned. He was a jewelry designer himself, and he not only designed jadeite jewelry, but also had some knowledge of diamonds, nephrite and other gemstones. He immediately started discussing it with Zhuang Rui.
Of course, the so-called discussion was mostly Hu Rong talking and Zhuang Rui listening. There was a big difference between Zhuang Rui and Hu Rong's understanding of jade, but Zhuang Rui's occasional remarks were insightful, making Hu Rong feel like he had met a kindred spirit.
The group chatted until after 10 o'clock before Hu Rong got up to say goodbye. He seemed a little reluctant to leave, telling Zhuang Rui that he would send a car to pick him up after the conference and they would go to the Hpakant region together.
When Zhuang Rui told Peng Fei about it, Peng Fei was very happy. He had some concerns; with his skills, he could enter the Myitkyina jungle undetected, but taking Zhuang Rui along would be much more dangerous. Now, they could go in with someone else and simply find an opportunity to go to the location marked on the map. ...
"Zhuang Rui, hurry up. We've been waiting for you. Oh, where's your assistant? Isn't he coming today?"
Fatty Ma stuck his head out of the minibus window at the hotel entrance, urging Zhuang Rui, who had just rushed out of the hotel, to get on the bus.
The Myanmar jade auction was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM. In order not to delay the jade merchants from selecting their stones, the organizing committee decided to move the stone-cutting time forward by two hours. So, at 6:30 AM, the organizing committee's bus and the minibus that Qin Haoran had found were already parked in front of the hotel.
"Peng Fei doesn't know anything about jade gambling, so he won't be going today..."
As Zhuang Rui spoke, he climbed into the minibus. Peng Fei was going to prepare some things today, and the two of them couldn't exactly dig a hole with their hands.
Fatty Ma nodded and said, "Yeah, I left my men at the hotel too. If I'd known Myanmar was this safe, I wouldn't have brought those two along..."
Before coming to Myanmar, Fatty Ma and Zhuang Rui had the same idea: that Myanmar was a country ruled by warlords and rife with bandits. But after arriving, they learned that Myanmar is a Buddhist country and the locals are very kind. Even if you lose your wallet on the street, someone will return it to you.
As for those rumors, they are not entirely false. It's just that those chaotic areas are close to the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and China, which is due to their unique geographical environment.
The minibus quickly arrived at the Myanmar National Jade Exchange Center, where two large buses were already parked. Due to the organizing committee's regulations, entry to the jade gambling venue was not permitted until the designated time. They temporarily moved the stone-cutting equipment to an open area near the entrance that could accommodate thousands of people, connected it to power, and set up a cordon. Armed soldiers were maintaining order around the perimeter.
More than two hundred people were already standing on the open ground cordoned off. Zhuang Rui and his group were among the second batch to arrive, and they managed to get a good spot. They squeezed to the front row and saw that the rough stone with the number 1888 had been placed next to the stone-cutting machine.
After stopping, Qin Haoran pointed to a person standing next to the stone-cutting machine and said to Zhuang Rui, "Xiao Rui, that person is the owner of Zhonghai Jixiang Jewelry in China. Jixiang Jewelry is a century-old brand with a very deep foundation..."
"Oh, I wonder what benefits the organizing committee gave them to make them willing to have the stone cut on site..."
Zhuang Rui nodded, but inwardly he was somewhat skeptical. He was certain this bet would fail, and not only would the organizing committee lose face, but Jixiang Jewelry would also suffer a severe blow. This failure wouldn't just mean financial loss, but it would also have a huge impact on their company image.
"Oh, Mr. Ma, Mr. Song, you two are here too?"
As soon as Zhuang Rui and his group squeezed in, someone greeted them. Although China is a large country, some circles are not. Of the people who came to Myanmar, if you don't know them all, you can recognize at least four or five out of ten faces.
"Hehe. Mr. Liu, you're into metal stuff, getting involved in this kind of fun too?"
As soon as Fatty Ma saw the man, he went over to him with a grin.
"That man is the owner of a non-ferrous metals company in Zhonghai. His business is huge, and his net worth is no less than several billion. I didn't expect him to be gambling on jade..."
Song Jun was considered a semi-official, semi-businessman in the country, and still retained some of the arrogance of the princelings. He simply nodded and greeted the man, then quietly introduced him to Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui shook his head slightly. Judging from the situation, not only jewelry companies were snapping up raw jadeite, but even the big domestic investors had gotten involved. As a result, the price of jadeite in the domestic market would continue to rise.
However, it is the consumers who suffer. As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep's back. Jewelry companies may lose money to gain publicity in the short term, but they will eventually have to earn this money back from the consumers.
"Mr. Ma, Mr. Song, what do you think of this piece of material? Is it going to be a bargain or a loss?"
Since everyone knew each other, Mr. Liu, along with a young man who was not very old, squeezed into Zhuang Rui's group.
Fatty Ma shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. Even a god can't judge a piece of jade. No one knows until the mystery is solved. But in my opinion, the chances of losing the bet are very high, because my brother here doesn't think it's a good one..."
Zhuang Rui gave a wry smile. Why did he have to be so talkative in the car? Now Fatty Ma was bringing it up again.
Mr. Liu glanced at Zhuang Rui and said somewhat dismissively, "Mr. Ma, that's not necessarily true. The fact that the Burmese side is willing to encourage people from Jixiang Company to come and cut stones means they must be confident..."
Zhuang Rui smiled but didn't reply. He was too lazy to waste time arguing with these people; once the raw stone was cut open, he'd know everything.
Zhuang Rui was good-natured, but Fatty Ma stood up for his brother, saying, "Mr. Liu, my brother wins nine out of ten times when he gambles on stones, you should believe me..."
"Alright, Brother Ma, if you keep going, I'll become the King of Gambling..."
Zhuang Rui interrupted Fatty Ma with a smile, saying that he hadn't even bought ten pieces of jadeite rough in total, and he didn't know how Fatty Ma calculated that he would win nine out of ten times.
The young man standing next to President Liu suddenly spoke up: "President Ma, how about we make a bet?"
"Big D, you're still such a gambler, aren't you? Mr. Liu, aren't you afraid he'll gamble away all the precious metals in your company's warehouse?"
After hearing what the man said, Fatty Ma burst into laughter.
"Big D, stop playing your games. If you want to gamble, go find someone to play poker with later..."
Although Mr. Liu was reprimanding the people around him, his face was full of smiles and he was not angry.
"Hehe, a little gambling can be fun, right? Boss Ma said this piece of jade will be a bad bet, so I'll set up the betting odds and pay out 20% if it goes badly, and 10% if it goes up. Anyone want to place a bet?"
The young man didn't seem afraid of his boss, and continued with a grin, "But I don't have that much money. The limit for each person to place a bet is ten thousand. If you want to place a bet, come find me..."
Men have a gambling spirit in their bones. The bigger the business, the bigger the gambling spirit. When they make a decision that determines the flow of millions of dollars, aren't they gambling?
So when this guy called Big D made his call, some people actually came to join in the fun. A few people took out their notebooks, tore off a piece of paper and used it as a betting slip. In no time, about ten people surrounded Big D, stealing the spotlight from the person who was about to have the stone cut open.
"Brother Ma, what does this guy do?"
Zhuang Rui was dumbfounded. He came here to see the stones being cut, but someone had actually set up a gambling den. What was even more speechless was that there were so many people supporting him. Judging from Fatty Ma's expression, he also wanted to go up and have a go.
"Hehe, that kid's name is Dai Jun. His family has a lot of influence in Zhonghai and is also a shareholder in that metal company. After he returned from studying abroad, he was assigned to Lao Liu's company to manage human resources and logistics. This guy is a natural gambler, but he doesn't gamble big and he's quite restrained, so Lao Liu doesn't bother with him. Come on, let's place a bet. I bet you'll win..."
After explaining to Zhuang Rui, Fatty Ma also moved his heavy body to squeeze in, shouting, "Hey, Big D, I bet this rough stone will be a dud, count me in!"
Chapter 454 Clearly marked (11)
Watching this group of millionaires and even billionaires having so much fun over a bet of ten thousand yuan, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. If someone who didn't know the situation saw this scene, they would think it was people who were buying vegetables at the market and had gathered together to play cards and gamble at noon.
"Hehe, wherever this kid is, it's always lively. Brother Zhuang, why don't you place a bet too? That Big D guy may always lose, but he has good sportsmanship and will never renege on his debts..."
Song Jun, mindful of his age and status, did not join in the fun, but instead asked Zhuang Rui to go and have some fun.
Dai Jun was quite a quirky character. His family named him Jun, meaning "gentleman," but as he grew up, while he wasn't exactly a heinous criminal, he certainly wasn't a gentleman. He was particularly addicted to gambling, always inciting others to place bets, no matter the occasion. However, he didn't gamble much, and since he never won, he essentially gave people money away, so he didn't annoy anyone. Over time, people gave him a nickname: DJ.
DJ is short for Disc Jockey, representing the newest, most energetic, most addictive, and most HIGH music. Dai Jun's gambling addiction is just like that of the DJ leading the dance in the disco, which is quite crazy. For the sake of convenience, Dai Jun's name became known as "Big D" by others.
Ten thousand yuan is just a dozen or so hundred-dollar bills. Who among the people present is short of that money? Their bags are overflowing with dollars. Soon, more and more people are surrounding Big D. The guy is holding a handful of dollars in one hand and a stack of betting slips in the other, all handwritten by the individuals, which will be used to redeem bets later.
Thus, the scene at the stone-cutting site was divided into two parts: on one side were older people who wanted to participate but were too embarrassed to do so, and on the other side were a group of young people in their thirties who were huddled together, vying to place their bets.
The organizing committee saw a crowd gathered there and went up to inquire. When they heard that someone was gambling, they couldn't be bothered to ask any more questions. Gambling on stones is gambling anyway, and they were too busy with their own affairs to care about those foreigners.
"Oh my god, I'm exhausted. Okay, betting has closed. After the stone cutting is done, all the winners come find me. I, Big D, offer fair and honest betting, and I promise I won't renege on my bets..."
As the other three buses arrived, the clock on his watch struck seven in the morning. Big D had finished placing his bets, and the guy, sweating profusely, squeezed his way out of the crowd, his face beaming with excitement.
Big D grabbed Fatty Ma, pleading, "Brother Ma, could you help me split this? Divide the winning and losing bets into two parts, and I'll split the winnings with you later..."
Fatty Ma laughed and cursed, "Get lost! You always lose when you gamble, and you expect me to share the profits?"
But despite the talk, there wasn't much to do at the moment, so Fatty Ma pulled Zhuang Rui over to help, and they sorted out the various papers with the words "rise" and "collapse" written on them.
Upon final counting, there were a staggering 198 betting slips. This meant that out of the more than one thousand people present, one in five had participated. Zhuang Rui couldn't help but chuckle. If Big D were to work on Zheng Hua's gambling ship, he would definitely have a brighter future than managing logistics at that metal company.
"Why are there still so many people choosing to gamble until they lose everything?"
Big D sat down on the sack containing over $200,000 that he had just begged from the organizing committee, and carefully examined the sorted betting slips in his hand. Out of these 198 betting slips, 65 people had chosen to cut the raw jade into pieces that would be worthless. Those people didn't care about the money and just wanted to try their luck with a 1 to 2 payout.
However, this puts Big D, the bookmaker, in a difficult position. If the rough stone yields a profit, he will lose 2.66 million RMB. If the gamble fails, he will only make 80,000 RMB. The risk he takes is far too great. Big D's earlier excitement has vanished, and he sits there looking dejected.
"Distinguished guests and friends, the jadeite rough stone we are about to cut is the top lot, number 1888, from yesterday's open auction. We would like to express our gratitude to China Overseas Jixiang Jewelry Company and wish them a prosperous New Year and a joyous start to the year..."
The organizing committee from Myanmar even sent a master of ceremonies fluent in Mandarin to give a long speech before the stone cutting, the purpose of which was nothing more than to encourage the raw jade merchants present to invest more money.
The stone-cutting master was one of the people from Jixiang Company. The reason they spent more than 50 million RMB to bid for this piece of material was because they had repeatedly examined and verified it. Although this top-bid rough stone weighs only a little over 100 kilograms, what is rare is that it is an old mine material.
As everyone knows, old mine jadeite rough stones with an outer skin are most commonly found in pieces the size of a fist. A piece weighing seventy or eighty kilograms can be considered a large rough stone. This piece weighs over one hundred kilograms. Although it cannot be compared to that giant red jadeite rough stone that weighs one ton, its texture and appearance are much better than that red jadeite rough stone with flaws.
The surface of this rough jadeite was already green, and it was a high-quality icy green jadeite with a very pure color. Just the surface alone was worth one or two million RMB. If the green penetrated two or three centimeters deeper, the price would double. If it could penetrate five or six centimeters, they could recoup their costs.
Moreover, the chances of finding high-quality jadeite in rough stones that are easily visible after polishing are quite high. If they can get some glass-type jadeite material and process it into jadeite jewelry to sell on the market, Jixiang Company will make a profit. This is the main reason why they dared to bid more than 5 million euros to acquire it.
Several people from Jixiang Company standing next to the stone-cutting machine were also discussing in hushed tones. If this rough stone turned out to be a good gamble, it would not only solve the company's supply shortage problem, but also make them look good in front of their peers and have a deterrent effect. It would also be very beneficial in terms of seizing market share.
After discussing it for a while, the group decided to polish the stone first, starting from the crack on the back. If the crack went deeper, they would cut along the crack to preserve the integrity of the jade inside the stone as much as possible.
As the grinding wheel on the polishing machine hissed and spun, the previously noisy area instantly fell silent. On the thousands of square meters of open space, only the "crackling" sound of the grinding wheel rubbing against the raw stone remained, and small pieces of broken stone scattered all over the ground.
Twenty minutes later, after three grinding wheels had been changed, the grinding had penetrated the crack to a depth of five or six centimeters, but the crack still existed and was getting deeper and deeper, like a baby's mouth, splitting open and mocking the person grinding the stone.
"This is bad, the crack is way too deep..."
"Yes, from the outside the crack wasn't very obvious, but now it looks a bit like a malignant fissure..."
"It's almost certain to collapse; Jixiang Company has suffered huge losses this time..."
"Let's see what happens if we cut it in half from the back."
The once quiet stone-cutting area was now filled with chatter. Everyone present was an expert in gambling on stones, and rubbing and cutting the stone were the most crucial methods for distinguishing whether there was jade inside the rough stone. Seeing the current state of the rubbed surface, those who had confidently said that this rough stone would definitely appreciate in value changed their tune. After all, facts speak louder than words.
Seeing the crack that had appeared, everyone present had different feelings. Only Big D was full of excitement. He had always lost at gambling, but this time he might actually win. Although his happiness was based on the suffering of Lucky Company, it had nothing to do with him. Big D and Lucky Company were not happy at all.
At this moment, the stone-cutting master from Jixiang Company also looked extremely grim. The piece of material was only about 40 centimeters thick, and now five or six centimeters had already been cut in. The crack still showed no signs of disappearing, and no jadeite had appeared, indicating that the crack was very deep and there was no need to cut it any further.
"Master Wu, stop rubbing. Just make a cut along the crack, but be careful not to damage the jade inside..."