"Hehe, thank you, thank you Uncle Tian. When you come to Beijing again, I'll treat you to a meal at Donglaishun."
Hearing that Uncle Tian had given him this face, Zhuang Rui chuckled and started joking on the phone.
"Get out of here. Don't get involved in this anymore. Just focus on your dividends. By the way, there will be a dividend distribution at the end of December, which will be around 100 million RMB. I'll let you know then."
After chuckling and cursing, Uncle Tian hung up the phone. He had his reasons for readily agreeing to Zhuang Rui's request. Firstly, Zhuang Rui was indeed a good young man, very generous. Logically, since they were co-owning a mine, even if Zhuang Rui didn't interfere in the specifics, he should at least send a finance officer and a supervisor to Xinjiang to oversee the progress of the mining operation.
However, Zhuang Rui not only didn't send anyone, but he also only called once every month or two, which showed that the little guy trusted him completely. Of course, the Jade Prince would reciprocate such a small matter. Of course, the Jade Prince's name was a guarantee of integrity, and the old man would not do anything underhanded in the jade mine.
In fact, Zhuang Rui had considered this issue before, but he didn't have the right people at his disposal. Even if he found someone to send there, given Prince Yu's methods in Xinjiang, it would be incredibly easy for him to do something underhanded. So Zhuang Rui simply ignored it and left it all to the old man.
Furthermore, the Jade Prince also considered the current market situation. Most jewelry companies stockpile jade materials at the beginning of each year to ensure sales for the following year. Now, with the end of the year approaching, his efforts to control the outflow of raw materials in the past few months have been effective. The price of Hetian jade raw materials is now nearly three times higher than before, and they can be released to the market next month. Otherwise, certain departments would intervene. Now that Zhuang Rui has requested some raw materials, the old man readily agreed.
Zhuang Rui hung up the phone and just then saw Qin Xuanbing running out of the house. He couldn't help but tease her, "Xuanbing, why did you come out? Were you worried that your husband couldn't handle it?"
"No, I wanted to tell you that if this is difficult, then forget it. Anyway, all the jewelry companies are short of Hetian jade raw materials right now, and it's not just us. I don't want to make things difficult for you."
"Silly girl, what's so difficult about it? Alright, this matter is settled. Later, send someone from your family to Xinjiang to find Adila directly."
Zhuang Rui felt a little touched. He stepped forward, put his arm around Qin Xuanbing's slender waist, and used his finger to forcefully scrape her delicate and straight nose.
"You're so mean, Zhuang Rui, are you serious?"
Hearing that Zhuang Rui had solved the problem that had been troubling her father and grandfather with just one phone call, Qin Xuanbing asked in disbelief.
"Of course it's true. Okay, let's go eat."
Zhuang Rui released Qin Xuanbing, and the two returned to the villa.
Back at the dinner table, Zhuang Rui explained the matter, and Grandpa Qin immediately made arrangements, sending Qin Haoran's second brother to Xinjiang the next day. With the matter resolved, the Qin family members were relieved, and they gained a new understanding of Zhuang Rui. It seemed that this young man's achievements were not necessarily due to his maternal grandfather's influence.
After dinner, led by Qin Xuanbing, we arrived at the villa's backyard, where a complete set of stone-cutting tools was kept. When Old Master Qin had free time, he would often select a few pieces of stone that caught his eye and cut them open to pass the time.
“Xiao Zhuang, I saw this piece of jade twenty years ago. Back then, the whole piece yielded mixed-color jadeite, mostly blue and purple, but the texture and clarity were poor. Brother Zheng lost a lot of money back then. Why did you decide to buy this piece?”
Old Master Qin had very little faith in Zhuang Rui's potential.
Zhuang Rui's plan to cut the stone naturally attracted everyone in the Qin family, from the youngest to the oldest. Even the old nanny who had worked in the Qin family for over twenty years followed him to the backyard to see what her son-in-law could uncover.
Zhuang Rui placed the jadeite on the stone-polishing machine and said with a smile, "Hehe, Grandpa, I've cut out imperial green jadeite of the glass type and top-grade blood jade red jadeite before, but I've never seen purple jadeite before. This piece of material has a blackish-purple misty crystal, so there's a high probability that it will yield purple jadeite. That's why I bought it and want to cut it open to see."
"Hmm, gaining more experience in stone cutting is not bad. Fifty thousand yuan isn't expensive. You can cut it. Are you planning to polish the stone first, or cut it directly?"
Grandpa Qin nodded. Gambling on jade is 70% luck and 30% experience. Winning is certainly exciting, but even losing can teach you lessons. At least you won't make the same mistake again. Zhuang Rui has already spent 50,000 yuan; even if he doesn't find jade, it's still much better than spending 5 million or 50 million yuan later and losing everything on a similar piece at a public auction.
"Just cut it. There's no need to polish it anymore, it's such a small piece."
Zhuang Rui stared at the rough stone and casually replied that there were three purple jade cores the size of egg yolks in this piece of material, and the texture and water content could reach the quality of purple eyes. Between two of the purple eyes, there was a misty crystal about two centimeters wide. Zhuang Rui prepared to cut it apart.
Zhuang Rui had already explained his assessment of the rough stone to everyone. In addition, he now held the status of an expert. Even if he cut out jadeite with one cut, the Qin family should not doubt anything. This was the benefit of having the title of director of the Jade Association. If you cut out something good, others would only think that you have a good eye.
After turning on the power to the stone cutter, Zhuang Rui firmly gripped the handle with one hand and cut directly down from the fixed surface of the rough stone. With a "snap" sound, fine stone chips hit Zhuang Rui's face, but he didn't even blink and steadily cut the rough stone in two.
"Hmm, he's steady and decisive in his actions; he's a natural-born expert at gambling on stones."
Grandpa Qin watched from the side, nodding in approval. Zhuang Rui's smooth movements and decisive cuts were qualities possessed only by veteran jade gambling masters.
The old man and Qin Haoran and the others didn't think much of the material, so they didn't pay much attention to the rough stone that had fallen to the ground in two pieces. However, Qin Xuanbing squatted down and picked up the two pieces of rough stone.
"Huh? What color is this?"
When Qin Xuanbing looked at the cross-section of a rough stone, her eyes lit up. Behind a very thin layer of purplish-black crystal, a jadeite the size of an egg yolk was faintly visible.
"Hmm? It's turned green? Let me see it."
Zhuang Rui asked a question in a pretentious manner, took the two rough stones from Qin Xuanbing's hand, looked at them, and said, "There is a possibility of finding a top-quality one. Let me wipe off the fog and take another look."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Old Master Qin and the others gathered around. Qin Haoran even snatched the half that Zhuang Rui hadn't wiped and examined it against the sunlight. However, the quality of the jade inside was obscured by the layer of mist, making it impossible to discern the grade of the jade.
Do you have coarse sandpaper?
Zhuang Rui was much more careful this time. The gears on the stone-grinding machine were out of control, and he was afraid of damaging the jade inside, so he decided to use sandpaper to wipe away the thin layer of mist first.
"Yes, I'll go get it right away."
Qin Haoran agreed and ran back to the villa. A few minutes later, he returned with several sheets of rough sandpaper in his hand.
After taking the sandpaper, Zhuang Rui folded it into a perfect square, leaving only a small sandy side exposed, and began rubbing it against the layer of purplish-black mist. Grains of black sandpaper and crystalline particles detached from the sandpaper and the raw stone as Zhuang Rui moved.
The crystal layer was extremely thin, and in just two or three minutes, the dazzling purple color was revealed. The midday sun shone vertically on it, giving off a strange luster.
Chapter 379 Purple Eyes (Part 2)
"Oh my god, what color is this?"
Bathed in sunlight, the deep purple hue, barely the size of a cat's eye, revealed on its cut surface, shone with an eerie light, like the eyes of a lover in the night. It was as pure as glass, reflecting light so clearly it could illuminate one's reflection.
At that moment, all the women in the room were captivated by the small piece of jade, unable to look away. Only after Zhuang Rui continued to cut the stone, blocking their view, did several women, including Fang Yi, come to their senses.
"It's purple jadeite, top-grade purple jadeite!"
Old Master Qin excitedly tapped the ground with his cane, and with a hand that looked at least twenty years younger than his actual age, he snatched the other half of the jadeite rough from his son. He examined the jadeite hidden under the thin mist carefully in the sunlight, his eyes full of excitement.
"I never expected that this piece of scrap that Brother Zheng has kept for decades would actually contain purple eyes. I really never expected this..."
After sighing for a while, Old Master Qin suddenly straightened his face and said to his sons and grandsons, "You just need to know about this. No one can tell anyone. I've known Brother Zheng for half my life, and I can't embarrass him."
Qin Haoran and the others quickly agreed. If word got out, Mr. Zheng would be too ashamed to face anyone. He had been collecting jade all his life, and he had kept a priceless treasure in his hands for decades, only to sell it for a pittance. Even if no one said anything, the old man would probably be so angry that he would spit blood.
The crowd had completely lost their previous cheerful mood. They all stared wide-eyed at Zhuang Rui cutting the stone. With each sound from the stone-cutting machine, their hearts rose and fell, fearing that Zhuang Rui might accidentally damage the top-quality purple jadeite.
However, their worries were obviously unnecessary. Zhuang Rui simply cut off the scraps and then used a polishing machine to slowly remove the crystalline mist. After taking out the egg-yolk-sized purple jadeite, he picked up sandpaper and began to polish it little by little.
The process took more than half an hour, and Zhuang Rui held a purple jade, which exuded an endlessly enchanting aura under the sunlight, in his palm.
Slightly larger than a marble, the purple jadeite resembled a ripe purple grape from July. Through its thin, transparent outer skin, one could almost clearly see the lines on Zhuang Rui's palm. As the sunlight shifted, the jadeite emitted varying shades of color.
If black represents a woman's mystery, then purple represents her charm. Indeed, it is a charming color, like a woman from Jiangnan gazing back with captivating beauty. The saying "purple eyes, a woman's heart" originates from this.
"It's so beautiful..."
At this moment, both men and women were captivated by the alluring color. The purple glow almost enveloped Zhuang Rui's entire palm. Zhuang Rui believed that if he threw this purple jade into a basin of water, the water would immediately become a deeper color.
"Xuanbing, you hold this for now, I'll continue untying the other half of the fabric..."
Zhuang Rui smiled. Although he had the shortest career in the industry, in this setting, apart from Old Master Qin, even Qin Haoran probably hadn't seen as many exquisite jadeite pieces as he had. After quickly regaining his senses, Zhuang Rui handed the purple jadeite to Qin Xuanbing.
"Sister, let me see..."
"Bing'er, let your uncle take a look..."
"My dear girl, let Mommy take a look first..."
The allure of these purple eyes is truly boundless. When they were in Zhuang Rui's hands, these people were too embarrassed to speak up, but now that they're in Qin Xuanbing's hands, they've surrounded her, all wanting to hold them and see them for themselves.
Zhuang Rui ignored these people and took the half of the rough stone from Old Master Qin. This time, he didn't use sandpaper to polish the stone. Instead, he cut away the excess stone around the stone and carefully took out the two pieces of purple jadeite that were close together. The gap between the two pieces of jadeite, which were about the size of egg yolks, was extremely small. It took Zhuang Rui a lot of effort to clean them out.
The sandpaper used to polish the stones was rather coarse, so Zhuang Rui asked Qin Haoran for a few sheets of fine sandpaper and polished all three jadeite stones again. Thus, the top-quality purple-eyed jadeite, which had been buried in the hands of that jewelry tycoon for decades, finally appeared in the world.
"I never expected to see such exquisite jadeite in my old age. Xiao Zhuang, you are truly fortunate."
Old Master Qin had been involved in jewelry all his life and had seen many rare treasures, but jadeite like the Purple Eye Blood Red and Imperial Green was a rare sight, even after decades. Holding these three pieces of jadeite in his hands, the old man couldn't help but sigh.
"I was just lucky. The ancients said that even immortals can't judge the quality of jade. I never believed that there was any waste material in jadeite, so when I saw a piece that hadn't been completely cut open, I always wanted to find out what it was. Hehe, I was just lucky."
Zhuang Rui remained calm, showing no signs of elation at finding a treasure. To others, this only reinforced the impression that the young man was a composed person. In truth, Zhuang Rui also wanted to appear more excited, but he had handled far too many top-quality jadeite pieces, any one of which would be worth no less than these few purple-eyed jadeite pieces.
"Alright, one should have this kind of inquisitive mindset. But, Xiao Zhuang, could you entrust this piece of jade to us for processing and consignment sales?"
Old Master Qin praised Zhuang Rui, and then steered the conversation to jade.
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He hadn't decided whether or not to sell the item, but the old man's next words made him decide.
“These three jadeite pieces will all be polished into beads, and then combined with platinum, enamel and other techniques to make them into a necklace. Its value should be over HK$50 million. If it wins the top prize at the World Jewelry Fair, its value will double, and it is not impossible to reach over HK$100 million.”
Grandpa Qin stroked the jadeite beads with his hands. As a veteran jewelry designer who had spent his entire life designing jewelry, he was already sketching out the design of the finished product in his mind. How could he highlight the purple color and bring out the charm of the purple eyes to the fullest?
"Grandpa Qin, it's not worth that much money, is it? The blood jade bracelet I gave to Xuanbing was only worth a little over ten million. These few purple eyes are rare, but they shouldn't be this expensive, right?"
The old man's words moved Zhuang Rui. The price was much higher than he had expected. However, he also had a question. Logically speaking, blood red and imperial green are the same grade of jadeite as purple-eyed jadeite. Their values should not differ by so much, right?
"What? You also have a blood jade bracelet? Bing'er, where is it? Let me see it."
The old man was taken aback when he heard this. Even Qin Haoran and the others did not know that Zhuang Rui had given Qin Xuanbing a pair of blood jade bracelets. Qin Xuanbing did not wear the bracelets but hid them in a box.
Fang Yi's face darkened upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, but she quickly relented. He was marrying her daughter, not her mother-in-law, so naturally, they had to be fair in their gifts. Besides, the Blood Jade Red was an extremely precious piece of jade, and there might only be one of its kind.
Qin Xuanbing didn't want to take out the bracelet, but after hearing her grandfather's words, she reluctantly returned to the car and took it out. Old Master Qin looked at it for a long time before reluctantly handing it back to his granddaughter. Of course, a swarm of people surrounded her, asking to see it.
"Xiao Zhuang. That blood jade bracelet from earlier can only be called a top-grade jadeite ornament. Although it is very rare and uncommon, jadeite itself still has a market price."
These purple jadeite stones are different. If they are made into a necklace, a lot of other precious materials will be added, and perhaps even precious gemstones like diamonds will be used. Once they are made into a necklace, they will no longer be considered jadeite, but rather jewelry.
The price of a piece of jewelry depends on the designer's reputation, the uniqueness of the design, and the rarity of the materials used. It requires considering many factors. Therefore, I say that the price of a necklace made from these purple jadeite stones would far exceed that of this blood jade bracelet.
Seeing his children scrambling for the bracelet, the old man gave a wry smile and turned to Zhuang Rui to explain. He said that if he were thirty or fifty years younger, he would probably have acted much like his children, since they were all in the industry and their understanding of the rarity of such top-quality jade jewelry was far greater than that of ordinary consumers.
"Grandpa Qin, how much more money will be needed to make this necklace?"
After hearing the old man's words, Zhuang Rui intended to entrust the production to Qin's Jewelry. After all, Qin's Jewelry had a very good reputation in the industry, second only to Zhou Taifu Jewelry, and it would also save him a lot of trouble.
"We need to develop a complete design plan. It's hard to say how much the materials will cost right now, but this necklace will definitely use these few purple jadeite stones as the main material, and the rest will be accessories. It shouldn't be less than five million, right? Xiao Zhuang, how about this? Let's be business. After this necklace is made, if it can be sold, Qin's Jewelry will take 20% of the selling price, and the other 80% will be yours. Moreover, the production cost and the cost of the accessories will be included in our 20% share. What do you think?"
After the old man finished speaking, he looked at Zhuang Rui with a slightly nervous expression.
"Hmm? Excuse me, Grandpa Qin, I need to take this call..."
The conditions the old man offered were fairly fair. Just as Zhuang Rui was about to reply to the old man, his phone suddenly rang. Zhuang Rui took it out and saw that it was an unfamiliar mobile phone number.
Chapter 380 Gambling Ship
"Hello, is this Mr. Zhuang?"
The Mandarin was clearly spoken with a Cantonese accent. It felt somewhat unfamiliar to Zhuang Rui, as most Cantonese people speak Mandarin with a similar intonation, which he couldn't really distinguish.
"I am Zhuang Rui. May I ask who you are?"
Zhuang Rui replied very politely.
"Hehe, Mr. Zhuang, this is Zheng Hua. I'm sorry to bother you..."