After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Rui looked at Yang Wei and said, "Brother Wei, if you can't remember where you put the invitation, you'll incur everyone's wrath. Don't blame me for not helping you..."
"Stop wasting time talking to him, brothers, let's fight first..."
The Beijing bureaucrat finally found an opportunity to deal with the boss, and led the charge. The brothers, all used to causing trouble, rushed forward together. The second brother even pulled the blanket off Zhuang Rui's bed and covered him up, giving Wei Ge a good beating. The room was immediately filled with howling and screaming.
"Holy crap, are you serious? Who grabbed my little JJ just now? I'm really worried, please, please stop hitting me, I remember where the post is."
When the blanket was pulled back, Wei Ge stood there with his hair in a mess like a bird's nest, looking grief-stricken.
"Hey guys, stop fooling around. We'll leave now if we get a post. If we're late, all the good rough stones will be taken."
Song Jun's voice came from the doorway.
"Don't look at me, I'll go get it right now, okay?"
Upon seeing Yue Jing's eyes gleaming with ill intent, Wei Ge darted out and ran to his room to retrieve the invitation. ...
"Brother Song, how much further?"
Zhuang Rui was driving when he glanced at Song Jun in the rearview mirror. Only Song Jun and Master Peng were in the car; the front passenger seat was naturally occupied by Bai Shi. Zhuang Rui was worried about a repeat of yesterday's incident, and he might have to bring Bai Shi along.
"We're almost there. See that? It's over there with the shed up ahead."
Song Jun pointed to one side of the road ahead, signaling Zhuang Rui to park the car there.
This Pingzhou jade gambling convention, officially known as the "Jade Bidding and Trading Fair," was first held in Pingzhou in 2003 and received rave reviews, attracting jade merchants from China and Myanmar. It has largely replaced the traditional bargaining method of jade trading. Although this is only the second time that the Pingzhou Jade Association has held the event, its influence has far surpassed that of Tengchong, the holy land of jade gambling in Yunnan.
This "Jade Bidding and Trading Fair" not only brought together jadeite rough merchants from all over the country, but also attracted several well-known jadeite trading groups and large companies in Myanmar to set up offices in Pingzhou and directly transport rough stones to Pingzhou to participate in this jade gambling event. As a result, its influence has risen sharply, which has not only facilitated many jade manufacturers in China, but also increased the value and economic benefits of the raw stones.
The organizer, the Pingzhou Jade Association, rented a large open-air warehouse as the venue for the trade fair. After parking his car outside, Zhuang Rui got out with Bai Shi. Looking around, he saw many luxury cars parked in this open space, which served as a parking lot, including several Hummers like Song Jun's.
The ground at the entrance of the venue was covered with a thick layer of firecracker debris, and a huge red banner hung at the entrance, proclaiming "The Second Pingzhou Jade Bidding and Trade Fair." Zhuang Rui and his group seemed to have arrived a little late. A long queue had formed at the entrance, with everyone holding invitations and ready to enter.
Zhuang Rui had three invitations, making a total of seven people including Zhou Rui. With Song Jun's invitation, he could bring one more person in, so all of his people could get in.
"Excuse me, sir, your pet cannot enter."
Just as Song Jun and the others had checked their invitations and were about to enter, Zhuang Rui, who was walking at the very back, was stopped by the event staff.
Do you have a rule that pets are not allowed inside?
Zhuang Rui narrowed his eyes and asked unhappily.
"No, but..."
"Since there isn't one, please move aside. My pet doesn't bite. Of course, if anything happens, I'll take full responsibility."
Zhuang Rui rudely pushed away the man's hand that was blocking him and walked in with Bai Shi. Although the staff member wanted to stop him, he was terrified after being glared at by Bai Shi and no longer had the courage to reach out.
Zhuang Rui wasn't usually such an unreasonable person, but firstly, he was afraid of encountering something like yesterday's incident and suffering a loss for no reason; secondly, many of the people attending this jade gambling conference brought pets, and the person who went in earlier even had a Pekingese dog with him. Although the white lion was a bit bigger, it was still a pet, wasn't it? In terms of value, who would dare say that their pet was more valuable than the white lion?
"Hey, not bad, you're pretty cool now. You've got money in your pocket, so you're really standing tall. When we go to Beijing sometime, I'll take you to play with reversing cars on Chang'an Avenue."
The second son, walking beside Zhuang Rui, patted Zhuang Rui's shoulder forcefully as a gesture of encouragement.
There is indeed a group of spoiled rich kids in Beijing who, after drinking too much at night, act arrogantly on Chang'an Avenue. Some fearless traffic police will drag them into the station, but once they are arrested, they can be released with a single phone call. After this happens a few times, the traffic police simply stop asking questions. As long as there are no foreign affairs activities, they let them do whatever they want, since their lives are ultimately their own.
Upon hearing this, Song Jun, who was walking in front, turned around and laughed and scolded Yue Jing, "Hey kid, are you all grown up yet? Trying to be like those brats. Do you want me to teach you a lesson for your old man?"
"Uncle Song, Grandpa Song, I was just saying that. You know, I've always been an honest kid, and I would never tattle on someone."
Upon hearing Song Jun's words, the second son immediately shrank back. His father's grandfather and Song Jun's grandfather were of the same generation, making him a generation younger than Song Jun. Therefore, from the moment he met Song Jun yesterday, he had been completely under Song Jun's thumb.
"You lad, if you want to get into officialdom, you'd better be more composed in the meantime."
Song Jun subtly pointed out to the second brother that he wouldn't have bothered saying it if it weren't for Zhuang Rui's connection.
"I know, Uncle Song, I'm just more relaxed when I'm with my classmates."
The second son's obsequious manner resembled that of a high-ranking official who fawned over his superiors and bullied his subordinates.
"Second brother, you should learn more from third brother. Look at him, how steady he is... Holy crap, are all these stones jadeite?"
Wei Ge originally wanted to use Song Jun to teach the second brother a lesson, but before he could finish speaking, he had already arrived at the venue of this jade gambling conference and was immediately shocked by the grand scale of the venue.
Hundreds of raw jade merchants participated in the exhibition, including major jade merchants from Myanmar. The hundreds of temporary tents alone were dazzling, not to mention the mountains of raw jade in each tent, which made the boss's eyes light up and he wished he could pounce on them and take a bite.
"Alright, Zhuang Rui, today is open bidding, feel free to look around. The tools on those stalls are free to use, and you can cut stones on the spot. But brother, you should take it easy, or you might end up penniless before you even make back the money for the house."
Although Song Jun wasn't in the jade business, he was still quite excited after entering the area. After giving Zhuang Rui a few instructions, he pulled Master Peng along and disappeared into the crowd.
Chapter 189 Jade Gambling Fund
"Brother Song, I have something else to ask you..."
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, Song Jun had already disappeared from his sight. Shaking his head helplessly, Zhuang Rui said to the guys behind him, "This is my first time here too. You guys go and wander around. It's fine if you want to cut open a stone that costs a few hundred yuan for fun, but don't buy anything that's too expensive. Gambling on stones is just like gambling with money; nine out of ten times you lose. Don't be fooled by the abundance of jadeite rough here. If even one-tenth of the rough stones contain jadeite, that's already pretty good. Guys, in the world of jadeite gambling, good stories always circulate, bad ones don't. All you hear about are people getting rich overnight, but actually, far more people lose."
The third brother curled his lip upon hearing this and said, "I would like to buy it, but I've already given you the money, youngest brother. That's half a year's salary for me and your sister-in-law."
Zhuang Rui was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this. He did indeed have 50,000 yuan in his bag, 15,000 of which was his own, and the rest was pooled together by these guys. They called it a "stone gambling fund," and even appointed Zhuang Rui as the chairman of the fund's board of directors. They made it clear from the outset that if the stones bought with the 50,000 yuan were profitable, they would split the profits equally; if they lost money, Zhuang Rui would cover it all. The deal was passed by a vote of four to one, so Zhuang Rui had no choice but to obediently take on the role of leader.
Actually, this was just a bunch of guys having fun. Although the third brother's family wasn't well-off, he didn't really expect Zhuang Rui to win big. Zhuang Rui, on the other hand, was serious. Yue Jing and the third brother were both civil servants, and Yue Jing, needless to say, didn't need the money. However, if the third brother had more money, it would be beneficial for his future career development. Although 50,000 yuan wasn't much, Zhuang Rui was still confident that he could find a treasure.
"Youngest brother, we're going to go take a look around. If you buy any stones and plan to cut them open, be sure to call us!"
After discussing it, Wei Ge, Yue Jing, and Lao Si decided to form a group of three and wander around on their own. As for Lao San and his wife, they felt that it was more reliable to follow Zhuang Rui. So they split into two groups and entered the venue from the left and right.
Although Zhuang Rui had experienced jade gambling before, he was still somewhat at a loss in this setting. The scene was simply too grand. Hundreds of simple sheds were set up in the huge venue, and countless jade rough stones were displayed in various stalls. The whole place was a world of stones, with tens of thousands of rough stones piled up here, creating a spectacular scene.
At the entrance of each stall, there is a banner that lists the company to which the stall owner belongs. Nowadays, the industry is being promoted to be more standardized, and most of these raw material merchants, large and small, are affiliated with some company.
Zhuang Rui discovered that although there were many jadeite rough stones here, most of them had been cut with "small windows" or "small doors" and were considered "semi-gambles". Only a small portion of the rough stones were "fully gambles". Among the stalls he visited, the "semi-gambles" old-type rough stones with green jade and old mine rough stones were the most popular, while the fully gambled rough stones were rarely sought after.
Another strange phenomenon was that many people were taking photos or writing on the rough stones with digital cameras and banknotes. These rough stones all had Arabic numerals written on them. Zhuang Rui was confused; he spent a long time looking at a promising piece of rough stone, but no one had made a bid for it.
"Youngest brother, why are all these people just looking and not buying?"
The third brother was also a little confused. In his eyes, all the stones were pretty much the same, except that some of them had strange colors.
Zhuang Rui thought for a moment. Asking the stall owner would make him look foolish. Song Jun was probably nowhere to be found by now, and he might not even be in the mood to answer. "Oh, right."
Zhuang Rui thought of someone and immediately took out his phone to look up their phone number.
"Brother Yang, do you remember me? I'm Zhuang Rui. We met at the Nanjing International Jewelry Fair."
Fortunately, Zhuang Rui had written down Yang Hao's phone number. He had a good impression of the young rough jade merchant, and he figured Yang Hao would attend a grand event like the one in Pingzhou. So Zhuang Rui called him.
"Of course I remember, you're the lucky charm..."
Yang Hao realized he had misspoke, chuckled, omitted the word "cat," and continued, "Brother Zhuang, what's up with calling me now? I'm in Pingzhou now. I did a good job in Nanjing last time, and my family wants me to look after the stall by myself this time."
Just as Zhuang Rui had predicted. Yang Hao was indeed in Pingzhou, and presumably, he sounded slightly excited on the phone because he had the opportunity to take charge.
"I'm also in Pingzhou, and I'm right here at the jade gambling fair. Are you there?"
Zhuang Rui asked.
"Yes, yes, I'm here too, stall number 83. Hey, come over here quickly, my cousin is here too. Last time I told him about your performance, he didn't believe me."
Yang Hao sounded pleasantly surprised and quickly gave Zhuang Rui his stall number.
The booths in the venue were arranged in rows of ten. Zhuang Rui walked down to the eighth row and saw Yang Hao standing under the tent, looking around.
"Hey, Brother Zhuang, over here..."
At the same time, Yang Hao also saw Zhuang Rui and quickly waved for them to come over.
"Come on, have a slice of watermelon first, it's so hot today. This is my cousin Yang Jun. Brother, this is the Boss Zhuang I was talking about, the one who cut out a piece of jade worth more than 20 million yuan."
Summer in Guangdong is unpredictable. Yesterday it was stormy and rainy, but today it's sunny and blazing. After Zhuang Rui and the others entered the shed, Yang Hao took out a watermelon from under the table, cut it open, and handed it to Zhuang Rui and the others one by one.
"Youngest brother, you still have jade worth over 20 million?"
Yang Hao's cousin hadn't reacted yet. It was the third brother who was startled by Yang Hao's words; in his mind, the jade that Zhuang Rui had cut out naturally belonged to him.
“That was a piece of raw jade that my childhood friend bought. I helped him unravel it. It’s not like I made more than 20 million.”
Zhuang Rui replied somewhat helplessly, "If I had seen that raw material earlier, I wouldn't have had to worry about the money for this villa."
"Hehe, let's not talk about 20 million. If you can cut out 2 million today, then my trip to Guangdong won't have been in vain."
The third brother grinned sheepishly and said that the five thousand yuan in Zhuang Rui's pocket was actually saved from his monthly salary. After hearing about Zhuang Rui's past achievements, the third brother had even more confidence in Zhuang Rui.
"Brother Zhuang, you'd better pick out a piece from my rough stones for on-site cutting later. If you can find jade inside, I'll truly be impressed..."
After they finished eating the watermelon, Yang Hao took out cigarettes and offered one to Zhuang Rui and Lao San with a grin. Zhou Rui, who didn't smoke, refused.
"Don't make me uncomfortable. Last time, I bought three pieces and only got two green ones. That was just good luck."
Zhuang Rui replied with a smile.
"Youngest brother, these vendors are selling all the good stuff. Aren't they heartbroken?"
The third brother was a little confused. If it were him, and someone bought his valuable raw materials cheaply, he would definitely feel bad for days.
The third brother spoke a bit loudly, which Yang Hao overheard. He then explained, "Brother, that's not how it works. We only deal in raw materials. The profits we make are already included in the cost of the raw materials. If a customer manages to find jade, it's because they have a good eye and are lucky. Besides, with so many stalls, it's good for business to find green jade at any stall."
Last time in Nanjing, Yang Hao brought some raw jade to the exhibition, intending to sell it all during the ten-day event. However, after Zhuang Rui's incident, all the raw jade was sold out in just half a day. That's the reason.
"By the way, Brother Yang, there's something I'd like to ask you. All the rough stones I've seen at these shops are divided into two piles. What are the numbers written on those rough stones for?"
When Zhuang Rui entered the shed earlier, he also saw that Yang Hao's stall had some raw materials with numbers written on them, which should be able to help him answer this question.
"Brother, is this the lucky cat you were talking about?"
Before Yang Hao could answer, Yang Jun, who was only eighteen or nineteen years old, nudged his cousin and asked in a low voice, his face full of disdain.
"Brother Zhuang, you're not joking with me, are you?"
Yang Hao was somewhat amused and exasperated by Zhuang Rui's question.
Seeing the expressions on the two brothers' faces, Zhuang Rui knew he had asked something unrelated to their expertise again, and said irritably, "If I already know, why would I ask you? Tell me if you want, or don't."
"Alright, I told you so. I really admire you, buddy. Last time when we were gambling on stones, you didn't know anything, but you still managed to cut out two pieces of rough stones with green in them. I guess you're lucky this time too."
"Alright, hurry up and tell me."
Zhuang Rui was a little frustrated. His buddies all had real skills; they weren't just relying on luck.
Yang Hao suppressed a laugh and said seriously, "This Pingzhou Jade Bidding and Trading Fair will last for five days. There are two types of transactions: open bidding and sealed bidding. Open bidding refers to the rough stones without numbers, and everyone can choose and bid freely. As for the rough stones with numbers, they are sealed bidding rough stones. Guests can write down the numbers of the rough stones they like based on their appearance, and then submit a unified bid three days later. The highest bidder wins."
After hearing Yang Hao's explanation, Zhuang Rui finally understood. It turned out that even if he liked the numbered raw materials, he couldn't buy them on the spot; he had to submit a unified bid. This was quite an eye-opener for him.
However, this means that the raw material dealers will categorize the best-performing raw materials into the sealed-bid section, making the remaining open-bid raw materials much more gamble-worthy, but the prices will still be relatively low, which is perfect for Zhuang Rui, who is currently short of money, to gamble on.