Among the crowd, the most disappointed was Fatty Ma. He had only gambled on this piece of rough jade, and someone else had won the bid. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. Moreover, their bids weren't even second to none, which made Fatty Ma doubt his own judgment.
"I don't understand. Damn it, I'll go check who number 88 is. I wonder which bastard bid such a high price. I should have bid 80 million. Damn it, it's just money. Hey... Lao Song, we didn't even win the bid, why are you so happy?"
Fatty Ma was seething with hatred for the person who offered 66.66 million. As he was cursing, he saw Song Jun had squeezed to the front four or five meters away, waving his fists with a flushed face. He couldn't help but pull him up.
"Why aren't you happy? We won the bid!"
Song Jun's words confused Fatty Ma, and even Zhuang Rui looked at Song Jun with a puzzled expression. The final bid they had discussed was clearly 63 million RMB, more than 3 million RMB lower than the winning bid. How could Song Jun say that he had won the bid?
Seeing the puzzled looks on Zhuang Rui and Fatty Ma's faces, Song Jun revealed a smug look and said with a smile, "I didn't tell you before, but I was afraid the bid was too low, so I added more than three million. This sixty-six million six hundred and sixty thousand is quite auspicious, isn't it?"
Song Jun's words delighted Fatty Ma. Forgetting that he wasn't very familiar with Song Jun, he stepped forward and punched Song Jun in the shoulder, saying, "Damn it, why didn't you give me a heads-up? I thought I'd come all this way for nothing..."
Song Jun was also very excited at this moment. He could understand Fatty Ma's feelings and didn't mind his actions. He explained, "I felt that 63 million wasn't very safe, so I added 3.66 million. The reason I didn't tell you was that if we still couldn't win the bid at this price, then there would be no point in discussing anything. If we did win, we brothers would split the cost. Zhuang Rui, what do you think? Aren't I brilliant and wise? Haha..."
After listening to Song Jun's words, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. The host had just said that the second highest bid was 65 million. If Song Jun had continued to bid at the agreed price, he would have ended up with nothing.
“Brother Ma, what you just said is bad enough that you insulted yourself, but Brother Song and I didn’t offend you. Think about how to apologize to us.”
Zhuang Rui looked at Fatty Ma with a wicked grin. Just now, in his desperation, Fatty Ma had called the person who won the bid a bastard.
"Swearing? What swearing?"
Song Jun had charged ahead and hadn't heard what Fatty Ma said.
"Don't listen to Zhuang Rui's nonsense, it's not true. Alright, Lao Song, we don't need to split the three million, I, Lao Ma, will pay for it. The share will still be calculated for the three of us."
Fatty Ma was genuinely happy. He had thought the raw materials were no longer his, but now that he had them back, he became generous. This incident also improved his relationship with Song Jun. The title he had always used for Song Jun, "General Manager Song," had become "Old Song."
"Alright, so you're finally willing to spend money, you stingy old man from Shanxi? Then Brother Zhuang and I won't stand on ceremony. Transfer 12.66 million to my account later..."
Zhuang Rui and Fatty Ma have each allocated 12 million to the Song army. If calculated according to the winning bid of 66.66 million, Zhuang Rui would still have to pay 10.22 million. Now that Fatty Ma is willing to pay more than 3 million, he only needs to transfer another 9 million to the Song army.
Song Jun spoke with great enthusiasm, the disappointment he had shown yesterday completely gone. Although his original plan to stockpile rough stones at this jade gambling conference could not be achieved due to reasons on the Myanmar side, winning this top-bid rough stone was still a worthwhile trip.
The bidding site was in chaos, with everyone speculating about the identity of the winning bidder. No one expected it to be Zhuang Rui and his two companions. It took more than ten minutes for the venue to quiet down and the bidding to continue.
"Lot D485, 90,000, winning bid number 245..."
Lot D486. Failed to sell...
As the bidding process progressed, more and more rough stones failed to sell. Although the news that Myanmar had banned the sale of rough stones to foreign buyers had a significant impact, these jade merchants would not waste their money on those rough stones that performed poorly and had no gambling potential.
When Zhuang Rui heard bid number D486, his ears perked up, because the rough stone that Lei Lei had bid on, numbered D490, was about to arrive.
"Lot D487 failed to sell... Lot D488, 120,000. Winning bid number 544..."
Lot D489 failed to sell...
"Lot D490, 180,000, winning bid number 522..."
Upon hearing the price of lot D490, Zhuang Rui breathed a sigh of relief. Although he hadn't won the bid himself, at least the prize hadn't gone to someone else.
After the news from Myanmar broke yesterday, although many people went to bid for the jadeite, they focused primarily on the high-performing pieces, paying little attention to the lower-ranked and less impressive ones.
Less than three minutes after the bidding for that piece of rough jade began, Zhuang Rui's phone rang. When he answered, Lei Lei's excited voice came through: "Zhuang Rui, where are you? I've won the bid!"
"Hehe, congratulations! Song and I partnered up to buy a rough stone and we won the bid too. We'll be cutting it this afternoon."
The venue was too noisy, so Zhuang Rui greeted Wei Ge and the others, and walked out while talking to them and taking his phone.
“Okay, can you help me cut open my rough stone too? If you have good luck, you’ll definitely be able to cut out a rough stone that’s even better than the one Da Chuan gambled in Nanjing.”
It was noisy on Lei Lei's side too, but the voices gradually became clearer. Zhuang Rui looked up and saw her walking outside with her phone in hand. The two saw each other at the same time and couldn't help but laugh.
"Forget it, old classmate. Your family has jade gambling consultants; let them help you cut it open..."
Zhuang Rui flatly refused Lei Lei's request; he didn't want to be in the limelight at all. However, he was also a little curious. Lei Lei had bought that blue jadeite with her own savings, and given the current market price, its value would definitely increase several times over after it was cut open. He wondered whether her grandfather would pay for it or keep it for himself.
"Fine, if you won't help, I'll cut it myself this afternoon. I have a feeling the jade inside this rough stone is no worse than Da Chuan's."
Lei Lei said confidently. It turns out that this girl is not only competing with her grandfather, but also mentally competing with Liu Chuan. However, Zhuang Rui has seen this kind of premonition in many people in the past few days. Before cutting the stone, they all said they had a premonition that it would turn out to be green, but after cutting it, they all became dejected and never mentioned the word "premonition" again.
"Hehe, Lei girl's here too. Come on, let's pay first, Brother Song will treat us to lunch..."
While the two were chatting, Song Jun and Fatty Ma also came out. The later bids were all of poor quality, so Song Jun didn't bid. So far, he had won seven bids, and with this giant rough stone, he was already very satisfied.
"You guys go ahead, I need to spend lunch with Grandpa. Zhuang Rui, you absolutely have to come this afternoon when we're cutting the stone, I'm feeling a bit uneasy..."
Despite Lei Lei's confident demeanor just now, she was still a little uneasy inside.
After greeting Song Jun and the others, Lei Lei returned to the bidding site.
After Lei Lei left, Song Jun patted Zhuang Rui on the shoulder and said, "Brother Zhuang, how about we entrust you with cutting that rough stone this afternoon?"
“It doesn’t matter who cuts it. It’s such a big piece of rough jade. Just cut it in the middle. If there’s no green in the middle, then we’ve lost money. No matter how we cut it, it won’t matter. Brother Ma paid more, so let Brother Ma make the first cut…”
This rough stone is the most expensive rough stone in China. Whether the gamble pays off or not, it will make him famous. Zhuang Rui doesn't want to be in the limelight; making money quietly is the best way.
"Okay, I'll cut it. Fatty's luck has never been bad..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Fatty Ma was overjoyed; such an opportunity was truly rare.
Song Jun nodded in agreement. Just as Zhuang Rui had said, if such a rough stone weighing several tons couldn't be cut out of the green, it would be a complete waste. Ordinary stone-cutting techniques were useless here; one cut would immediately reveal whether it was real or fake.
However, the work of extracting the rough stones after cutting them open needs to be done by professionals. There's no need to worry about that. Master Peng, whom Song Jun invited, and the jade gambling consultant who was just discharged from the hospital and whom Fatty Ma invited, are both capable of handling this kind of work.
Chapter 222 The Mark Begins, the Winds of Change Stir (11)
After the sealed-bid auction ended, the number of people at the jade gambling venue not only did not decrease, but actually increased significantly compared to the previous days. For many, the jade gambling event was only just beginning.
At any jade auction, open bids are not given special attention. Most of the high-performing jade rough stones are classified as sealed bids. Whether it's outside capital wanting to hoard goods, jade merchants coming to buy jade raw materials, or professional jade gambling groups from the Chaoshan region, their target is sealed bids.
The news of Myanmar restricting the export of raw jadeite has stirred up a storm at this jade gambling conference, with the record-breaking price of 66.6 million RMB for a single rough jadeite lot in the morning being the best proof of this.
Many jade merchants are now gathered at the jade gambling venue. Firstly, they are paying the remaining amount to receive the raw jade. Secondly, after the sealed bid, there will inevitably be a stone-cutting conference, and the time for them to purchase raw jade has arrived. After all, a large number of people gamble on stones with the purpose of cutting and selling them. These jade merchants are the largest consumer group.
Song Jun treated them to lunch. The group drove to a famous seafood restaurant in Guangzhou and had a big meal. The end of the sealed bid basically meant that Zhuang Rui's trip to Guangzhou was coming to an end. Since he didn't need to personally handle the stone cutting in the afternoon, he simply ordered a few bottles of Wuliangye liquor and drank with Song Jun, Wei Ge, and the others.
"Zhuang Rui, could you please talk to the guy selling rough stones and ask if I could borrow his stone-cutting tools?"
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhuang Rui and Song Jun were already quite tipsy. Fortunately, Fatty Ma and Lao Si hadn't been drinking, which meant they had two extra drivers. Just as they arrived at the jade gambling venue, Zhuang Rui received a call from Lei Lei.
Which place sells wool fabric?
Zhuang Rui was still a little dizzy.
"Isn't that the guy surnamed Yang? The one you and Da Chuan bought wool from in Nanjing?"
Lei Lei sounded somewhat anxious on the phone.
"Oh, it's Yang Hao. Just go find him and say he's my friend. He'll lend it to you. I'm on my way now..."
Upon hearing that Lei Lei wanted to cut the stone, Zhuang Rui sobered up somewhat.
"Brother Song, my classmate wants to have a stone cut, would you like to come and take a look?"
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Rui asked Song Jun and Fatty Ma.
"No, Lao Song and I will go get the raw materials first. Seeing how drunk he is, we don't want to make a mistake later."
Watching others cut stones is interesting, but nothing beats the thrill of cutting them yourself. Fatty Ma was eagerly awaiting his delivery of the gigantic rough stone. The event venue offered free stone-cutting and polishing tools, though only one set was available. The Lei family had a good haul and wanted to cut the less impressive rough stones first, taking the rest back to Hong Kong. However, a long queue had already formed next to the stone-cutting machines provided by the organizers. Lei Lei then remembered Zhuang Rui.
The Lei family also suffered a setback at the Myanmar jade auction a few months ago. If Liu Chuan hadn't happened to find a piece of icy jadeite rough in Nanjing, the Lei family's jewelry company would probably have run out of mid-to-high-end jadeite ornaments. Qin Xuanbing originally intended to buy that rough, but in the end, she gave it to Lei Lei.
The fact that Liu Chuan and Lei Lei's marriage was able to pass Lei Lei's maternal grandfather's approval so smoothly was also related to this matter.
At this Pingzhou jade gambling convention, the Lei Lei family raised over 40 million yuan to purchase raw materials to take back to Hong Kong, as they have connections in Myanmar. They received news from Myanmar yesterday and promptly adjusted their bids, successfully acquiring thirteen decent pieces of rough jade, making the trip worthwhile.
Zhuang Rui first went with Song Jun and others to the bank's branch office and transferred nine million to Song Jun. Then, he took Wei Ge and Lao Si and slowly walked towards Yang Hao's stall number eighty-three.
When Zhuang Rui was still twenty or thirty meters away from Yang Hao's stall, he saw that a group of people had already gathered there, and they must have already started cutting stones.
Today, the sealed-bid auction was underway, and stone cutting was happening almost everywhere, so there weren't many people gathered here. Zhuang Rui and his group easily squeezed in, and as soon as they entered the circle, they heard the people around them sigh in unison.
"It's collapsed?"
Zhuang Rui didn't look at the rough stone fixed on the stone-cutting machine first. Instead, he looked at the few people standing next to the machine. Sure enough, the faces of these people were not very good. Wei Zijiang had a mournful face and his eyes were fixed on the rough stone on the stone-cutting machine.
Seeing Zhuang Rui enter, Lei Lei merely nodded but didn't approach him. The rough jade she had just worked on cost 4.8 million yuan at the auction. Although it revealed green jade when cut in half, it was only of average quality, a low-grade bean-type jadeite. It was worth at most a few hundred thousand yuan; in short, this rough jadeite was a complete loss.
"Let's take off a piece..."
Lei Lei's grandfather took a deep breath, straightened his back, and instructed his son that among these people, he was the most composed. Back then, he had smuggled himself from the mainland to Hong Kong alone and built this family business over decades of trials and tribulations. A loss of a few million dollars could not dampen his spirit.
This time, Lei Lei's grandfather planned to first unravel nine of the thirteen winning rough stones, but unexpectedly, he failed to unravel the most expensive one, which gave Lei Lei and the others a bad feeling.
The second piece of rough jade weighed about 70 or 80 kilograms. It also had a window cut into it, but the window wasn't very good. Although it revealed green color and the water content was quite good, reaching the level of icy jade, there was also a crack along with the green.
It seems this rough stone is flawed; there's no need to polish it further. Just cut directly at the crack. Whether it has potential or not, one cut is all it takes.
"Cut it from the crack?"
The person who cut the stone was Lei Lei's uncle. He was born after Lei Lei's maternal grandfather went to Hong Kong. He was only in his forties and in his prime. After asking his father, he used the grinding wheel in his hand to cut into the crack of the rough stone.
"It went up, then turned green, oh well, what a pity."
Those with sharp eyes in the crowd had already spotted the cut surface. There was green inside, but the crack was quite deep, damaging the jadeite inside. What was originally a cluster of jadeite was now scattered, only enough to make small pendants.
It's important to know that jadeite jewelry is also categorized. Bangles are usually the most expensive. Not to mention those full-green glass-type or blood jade bangles, even bangles made of high-ice-type bright green or floating flower jadeite, as long as the texture and color are good, can generally sell for more than 500,000 to 600,000 RMB. However, a pendant of the same material will at most cost around 100,000 to 200,000 RMB. The difference between the two is too great.
"Thankfully, we didn't lose money. Let's continue..."
Lei Lei's grandfather remained expressionless. He had bought the rough stone for 680,000 yuan. Although the jade inside couldn't be used to make bracelets, he could still extract two or three kilograms of jade to carve into finished products for sale. He shouldn't lose money.
"Lei Lei, where's your piece of raw jade?"
Zhuang Rui moved behind Lei Lei and asked in a low voice. He noticed that the rough stone containing the high-grade icy jadeite with floating flowers was not on the ground.
"It stinks! What are you men doing drinking at noon? Don't lead our Dachuan people astray in the future."
Lei Lei noticed the smell of alcohol in Zhuang Rui's mouth and took a few steps forward.
"I'm a bad influence on him? Forget it, that kid drinks baijiu in the morning, let alone at noon."
庄睿被雷蕾说得有些哭笑不得，刘川那老子爱喝酒，刘川打小没少因为偷酒喝而挨揍。
"You've come at the right time. Help me get the raw materials; I haven't had a chance to pay the remaining balance yet."
Although there were trolleys available to move the raw materials at the venue, Lei Lei naturally wanted to grab Zhuang Rui, who was readily available as a helper.
After Zhuang Rui accompanied Lei Lei to pay the remaining balance and pushed the fifty or sixty-pound rough stone back to Yang Hao's stall, they found three more rough stones cut in half on the ground. Lei Lei's uncle and Wei Zijiang's expressions also became increasingly grim. Without a doubt, three rough stones had been cut in half in the time they left.
The nine rough stones are worth more than 20 million yuan in total. Five of them have already been cut open, and only one can barely guarantee the minimum cost. This is a double blow to Lei's Jewelry, which is already in a bad situation. Even Lei Lei's grandfather, who had been very calm, turned pale.