Xu Wei, who was deliberately walking behind Zhuang Rui, couldn't help but groan inwardly. Zhuang Rui still saw him. Afraid that his uncle would find out about the conflict between him and Zhuang Rui, Xu Wei gritted his teeth and walked over anyway.
"His name is Xu Wei? Little brother, is he the one who plotted against you at the airport?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui call out the name, the third brother also stood up abruptly, his face full of anger.
The white lion seemed to sense the hostility emanating from Zhuang Rui, letting out a low growl as it stared intently at the figure that had entered.
Seeing the state of Lao San and Bai Shi, Zhuang Rui's anger subsided considerably. It wasn't that he didn't want to teach Xu Wei a lesson here, but he was afraid that Bai Shi would go berserk and tear Xu Wei apart. You see, although Bai Shi was usually very obedient, Zhuang Rui wouldn't be able to stop him if he went berserk. If that happened, it would be a loss.
"Third Brother, don't get agitated, I'll handle this myself."
Zhuang Ruiqiang pressed the third brother back into his chair and then walked towards Xu Wei.
"Oh, it really is President Xu! I thought I was seeing things and had mistaken him for someone else. By the way, President Xu is really dedicated. He just got off the plane yesterday and came to this trade fair today. Tsk tsk, I really admire him."
Zhuang Rui's barbed words sent a chill down Xu Wei's spine. "Could it be that he recognized me yesterday?"
Looking at the several unfriendly eyes in the shed, Xu Wei regretted coming in. If a fight broke out, he was bound to suffer a loss.
Suppressing his panic, Xu Wei feigned incomprehension and said, "Boss Zhuang saw me yesterday? No way, I arrived in Guangzhou a week ago. Maybe you've mistaken me for someone else?"
Looking at Xu Wei's hypocritical face, Zhuang Rui struggled to control the urge to punch that face. He was quickly calculating how to avenge that slap.
The matter of cutting off Xu's jewelry suppliers was done by Grandpa Gu at Zhuang Rui's request, but even so, it could not eliminate Zhuang Rui's hatred for Xu Wei.
"Boss Zhuang, I still have to go select some raw materials, so I won't chat any longer. Another time when we have time, I'll treat everyone to a meal together. The little misunderstandings from before are nothing."
Seeing Zhuang Rui's expression shift between light and dark, Xu Wei felt uneasy, quickly chuckled, and turned to leave.
"Selecting wool fabrics?"
Watching Xu Wei turn and leave, Zhuang Rui's lips curled into a smile.
Chapter 197 The Crazy Stone (7)
The punch Zhuang Rui received at the airport yesterday was the biggest setback he had ever suffered in his more than twenty years of life. If it weren't for the spiritual energy in his eyes, he probably would have been bedridden for months. If he hadn't been struggling to find Xu Wei, Zhuang Rui probably would have gone to his door yesterday to fight him.
After returning to the hotel from the airport yesterday, Zhuang Rui told Grandpa Gu about the conflict between him and Xu Wei in detail.
Grandpa Gu took good care of his nephew Zhuang Rui. After hearing about what happened to Zhuang Rui at the airport, he immediately called several of the largest jade raw material suppliers in the country and cut off the raw material supply to Xu's Jewelry. Zhuang Rui was there at the time, so he guessed a bit about the purpose of Xu Wei and the others' visit today.
Zhuang Rui has never been a fan of violence since childhood. Although he has been in many fights, it was all because Liu Chuan was too impulsive and would start fighting before he could even finish a few words. As a brother, there was no reason not to help.
But more often than not, Zhuang Rui preferred to scheme behind people's backs. The satisfaction of revenge came from leaving others speechless and suffering in silence.
A beating will only hurt you for ten days or half a month at most. Someone like Xu Wei will definitely never learn from a beating. Zhuang Rui had already thought of a solution in his mind, but whether it would work depended on Xu's Jewelry's desire for raw materials.
After making up his mind, Zhuang Rui said to his third brother, who was sitting in a chair with his puffed-up cheeks, "Third brother, I have a piece of raw jade in the trunk of my car. Could you get it for me? I'm on a lucky streak today, let's cut another one."
"Do you still have the mind to cut stones?"
The third brother was somewhat puzzled. Yesterday, that person's actions were purely aimed at crippling Zhuang Rui. Now that he had met his enemy, he didn't expect that Zhuang Rui would still be thinking about cutting the raw material.
If we're talking about the person who understands Zhuang Rui best among his friends, besides Liu Chuan, it would be Yang Wei. Yang Wei knew about what happened at the airport yesterday, but he also knew Zhuang Rui's character better. He was definitely not the kind of person who would let a grudge go unpunished. Just now, Brother Wei noticed the wicked smile on Zhuang Rui's face and understood a bit about it.
Having sensed something amiss, Wei Ge yelled at the third brother, "Third brother, when have you ever seen the youngest brother suffer a loss? If I tell you to go, then go. Stop talking nonsense."
Zhuang Rui saw that the third brother was still somewhat reluctant. He said, "Third brother, go ahead, I have a plan."
Upon hearing this, the third brother realized that Zhuang Rui was planning to play dirty tricks.
You know, back in college, because there were only five boys and over forty girls in their class, they were outnumbered and outmatched. So, guys from other departments would often try to trip them up or cause trouble because of their hormones. But every time, it was those guys who suffered. Two of them even got a major demerit from the school when they were about to graduate. All those bad ideas were Zhuang Rui's.
Thinking of this, the third brother took Zhuang Rui's car keys, turned around and ran out of the shed without saying a word, not even hearing Zhuang Rui calling him from behind.
The venue was quite large, about 700 or 800 meters away from the parking lot outside. After a good seven or eight minutes, the third brother, covered in sweat, returned to the shed carrying Zhuang Rui's piece of raw jade, which made Zhuang Rui both laugh and cry.
"Hey, Third Brother, what's the rush? There's a stroller here that you can push, but you insist on carrying it over."
Zhuang Rui's words made everyone laugh. This piece of rough jade was quite heavy, weighing at least forty or fifty pounds. Although Lao San was in good health, he was now out of breath from exhaustion.
"I was wondering why so many people were staring at me as I carried this wool fabric all the way here. Did they think I was a fool?"
The third brother scratched his head, not angry at all, and chuckled sheepishly.
"Look at you, you silly thing. Wipe your sweat."
Zhang Rong, who was standing nearby, felt sorry for him and quickly handed him a towel.
The third brother, ignoring his sweat, looked at Zhuang Rui and asked, "Youngest brother, is there jade inside this stone of yours?"
"Who could possibly know... But since I've already bought it, I'll definitely have to untie it and take a look."
Zhuang Rui shook his head; he couldn't very well say that he could see the jade inside.
"Brother Yang, may I borrow your stone-cutting machine?"
This piece of raw jade wasn't bought from Yang Hao's stall. So Zhuang Rui needed to consult the owner first.
"I'll ask my brother, it should be fine."
Yang Jun agreed and turned to run towards the raw material area, where Yang Hao was sweating profusely as he introduced the raw materials to customers.
"Brother, you bought this rough jade with Song Jun, right? I called you to come over, but you ignored me..."
Fatty Ma asked from the side, his tone tinged with resentment, which sent a chill down Zhuang Rui's spine.
Zhuang Rui was just trying to find an excuse to deal with Fatty Ma when he saw Yang Jun return to the shed. He immediately stood up and said, "Brother Ma, I was just playing around. Hey, Yang Jun's back. Let's go get some stones cut."
"Brother Zhuang, my brother said that a customer needs to have his stone cut later. Can you guys finish cutting it after he's done?"
Yang Jun said apologetically to Zhuang Rui, "Normally, borrowing stone-cutting tools wouldn't be a big deal, but someone just happened to have bought rough stones and was preparing to have them cut, so Yang Hao had no choice. He definitely had to prioritize his own client."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand and said, "It's alright, let's go take a look too."
Just as Zhuang Rui and the others were about to leave the shed, Zhou Rui, who had been sitting there without saying much, spoke up: "Zhuang Rui, take the white lion over. I'll keep an eye on this rough stone."
Zhuang Rui knew that Zhou Rui was worried that he would be attacked again. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said, "Brother Zhou, it's okay. Third Brother is good at kung fu and can protect me. Don't worry."
"Then I'll go with you."
Zhou Rui stood up and followed Zhuang Rui. He felt guilty about what happened yesterday, and he thought that if he had been with Zhuang Rui, that kind of thing would never have happened.
Zhuang Rui smiled helplessly, hugged the white lion's head and gave it some instructions, then walked with the others towards the stone-cutting area to watch others cut stones.
Although there were many booths at the event, each stone cutting session attracted a large number of jade merchants to watch. This is because they only purchase raw materials and generally do not participate in high-risk gambling on rough stones. If they do gamble, it is only on rough stones that have been cut open and are relatively reliable. Therefore, buying rough stones that others have successfully gambled on is also their main source of goods.
Upon seeing that it was Zhuang Rui, the celebrity who had just won a bet, the crowd made way for them. Zhuang Rui went in and was delighted. What a small world! It turned out that the people who were about to have the stone cut were none other than Xu Wei and his two companions.
Xu Zhendong gambled on a semi-gambled rough stone. The whole rough stone was somewhat shaped like a rugby ball, with pointed ends and a thick middle, weighing about 30 to 40 kilograms. In the pine flower area on the surface, there was a window the size of a baby's palm, which did reveal green. The water content was also good, but the color was a bit light, and there were some white crystalline substances mixed in with the light green, which is the presence of white cotton. Judging from its appearance, this rough stone was very ordinary.
Zhuang Rui shifted forward, closer to Yang Hao, and asked, "Brother Yang, how much did they pay?"
"Three hundred thousand. By the way, Brother Zhuang, I know you have some grudges with that person. For my sake, how about we settle this somewhere else?"
Yang Hao said in a low voice that he also knew Xu Wei. The stone that the sucker lost three million in gambling was sold by Yang Hao himself.
"Don't worry, I'm here to gamble on stones, not to make enemies."
Zhuang Rui glanced at Xu Wei, who was standing not far away from him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Then he focused his gaze on the half-raw stone on the stone-cutting machine, releasing the spiritual energy in his eyes.
Like silk threads, a spiritual energy seeped into the surface of the raw material as Zhuang Rui looked at it, revealing a crystalline world with countless tiny particles before his eyes.
Zhuang Rui discovered that behind the skylight, there was indeed green, and the pieces were quite large. However, the green was not connected; instead, it was separated by layers of grayish-white, silky white spots. The largest piece of jade was only seven or eight centimeters in size, and its shape was not very regular. It was not even big enough to make a bracelet.
However, these jadeite pieces are of good quality, barely reaching the icy variety, with high transparency. If all of them were extracted and carved into small pendants, the initial investment of 300,000 yuan could be recouped.
This time, Master Zhao personally handled the stone cutting. A few months ago, when he went to the Myanmar jade auction, Xu's Jewelry suffered heavy losses due to his mistake, which put Master Zhao under great psychological pressure. If he lost again at this jade gambling conference, even if Xu Zhendong didn't say anything, he would have no face to stay.
For most jewelry companies in China today, they don't lack money, but rather the raw materials to make jade. So, if the rough stone that Master Zhao chose can yield jade worth no less than 300,000 yuan, then it will be considered a successful gamble.
Because this piece of jadeite contained white cotton inclusions, Master Zhao was very careful from the very beginning of polishing the stone, carefully removing the outer layer of the rough stone bit by bit. The white cotton inclusions intertwined with the jadeite inside consumed all of Master Zhao's energy.
It took more than an hour to finally extract the jade from the rough stone. Master Zhao was completely exhausted, but he was relieved that although the jade gambling didn't yield a huge profit, he didn't lose money at all.
After learning that the rough stone was to be cut open for personal use, the jade merchants who had been watching had long since dispersed. Zhuang Rui and the others watched for a while, but they also felt it was quite boring, so they went back to the shed to wait. Xu Zhendong left Xu Wei at the stone-cutting site and came to the shed chatting and laughing with Yang Hao.
"Mr. Xu, I don't know if your nephew has introduced you to him, but the person who unearthed the priceless jade in Nanjing last time is this Mr. Zhuang."
Yang Hao wasn't quite clear about the feud between Zhuang Rui and Xu Wei, but out of consideration for all guests, he introduced Zhuang Rui to Xu Zhendong.
Chapter 198 The Crazy Stone (8)
"Mr. Zhuang is truly a young man of great talent. It is not easy to make a name for yourself in the jade gambling circle at such a young age."
Xu Zhendong did know something about the conflict between Zhuang Rui and Xu Wei, but of course, he didn't learn it from Xu Wei. So, although what Xu Zhendong was saying sounded like he was praising Zhuang Rui, he was actually implying that Zhuang Rui was young and arrogant.
"Not at all, Mr. Xu is still going strong despite his age, and his family is full of talented people. We juniors are far behind."
Zhuang Rui was naturally unwilling to back down. Since you want to protect your own, I'll curse you too. You're so old, yet you still have to personally gamble on stones. That phrase about the peak of talent is a blatant slap in the face.
Xu Zhendong smiled and didn't continue. At his age, arguing with Zhuang Rui, a young man in his early twenties, was pointless; both winning and losing would be a loss of face. However, Xu Zhendong was unaware that this man was the culprit who had cut off his company's raw material supply. Otherwise, he might have even considered fighting, let alone arguing.
"Uncle, we've cut open that rough stone, and the jade inside is of decent quality."
As the two were talking, Xu Wei helped Master Zhao in, carrying a bag in one hand, which obviously contained the jadeite material that had just been cut. As he spoke, Xu Wei opened the bag as if presenting a treasure, took out a piece of jadeite, and handed it to Xu Zhendong.
"Hmm, not bad, it's reached the icy variety. Brother Zhao, you've worked hard. Gambling on stones is all about experience. You might have a stroke of luck once, but that doesn't mean you'll be lucky forever. Xu Wei, you should learn more from your Uncle Zhao. Don't be so narrow-minded and arrogant."
Xu Zhendong was a very domineering patriarch within his family, but he was extremely protective of his own. He was currently fiddling with a piece of jade the size of a card in his right hand while lecturing Xu Wei, but his words were clearly directed at Zhuang Rui. Even Yang Hao sensed something was amiss.
"Hehe, I'm just naturally lucky. Mr. Xu, please have a seat. I'm going to cut some stones. I just cut out a piece of jade worth three million. I don't know how this rough stone is. Third Brother, could you lend me a hand and help me move the rough stone over there?"
Zhuang Rui seemed not to understand Xu Zhendong's words. He stood up with a smile and called everyone out of the shed. The third brother naturally did not let Zhuang Rui do anything. He carried the rough stone to the stone-cutting machine by himself.
"Luck? Can a person live off luck?"
Looking at Zhuang Rui's retreating figure, Xu Zhendong said disdainfully, "This old man's age and temper are both quite big."
"Uncle, this kid is really lucky. Back in Nanjing, he managed to turn two pieces of scrap jade into green jade, and one of them even made a huge profit, selling for 20 million. The rough jade he just gambled on was also unwanted by others, but he still managed to make a profit. This kid is really something else."
Although Xu Wei hated Zhuang Rui to the core, he was also very jealous of Zhuang Rui's luck.
"oh?"
Upon hearing Xu Wei's words, Xu Zhendong's eyes narrowed slightly. Although he had just said that experience was the most important factor in jade gambling, Xu Zhendong knew that jade rough was ever-changing, and no matter how much experience one had, it was far less important than luck. If this young man was really on a winning streak, it would not be a wise move for him to antagonize him.
Thinking of this, Xu Zhendong frowned and asked Xu Wei, "How did you meet this person? What caused the conflict?"
Xu Zhendong only knew that his nephew and Zhuang Rui didn't get along well when they were in Nanjing, but he didn't really know the details. This also shows Xu Zhendong's protective nature. He didn't even distinguish right from wrong before protecting his own family.