"Sir, please sit down..."
The staff maintaining order at the scene came over with smiles on their faces. It wasn't that they were gloating, but such things were really rare. With just one entry and one exit, the price increased tenfold.
The man shook his head and sat down helplessly. He knew he couldn't really blame anyone else. He lowered his head and started calculating in silence. After deducting the one million euros, how much money would he have left? Should he give up on this auction and find someone else to represent him next time? However, he ultimately decided to buy the rough stone for one million euros. According to his calculations, the stone was very likely to appreciate significantly, and he shouldn't lose money gambling. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned his idea of avoiding the auction for 10 years and not entering Myanmar.
Because of this whole mess, no one raised the price for the rough stone, allowing this person to successfully bid on it. Compared to the high prices that followed in the next few days, he got a great deal. But that's another story.
"Ten minutes left..."
As time went by, Zhuang Rui checked his watch. There were still ten minutes left before the deadline for today's open tender. The number under bid number 129 on the big screen was still 25,000 euros. In other words, the price had not changed since someone placed the bid, indicating that not many people were paying attention.
The blue numbers on the big screen gradually increased. Around 1,400 to 1,500 lots showed that someone had bid, while the other rough stones would go unsold if no one bid by the deadline. Of course, some people did make a last-minute effort.
"Wow, three million two hundred thousand euros..."
A sigh caught Zhuang Rui's attention. Lot number 1888 had its price raised to 3.2 million euros, which was the highest price currently displayed on the big screen, equivalent to more than 30 million yuan.
Zhuang Rui still remembered this piece of rough stone. It was a semi-rough stone, weighing about 100 kilograms. The cut surface showed green color, and the quality was quite good, reaching the level of icy jade. However, there was a crack on the other side of the rough stone; otherwise, it would have been placed in the sealed bidding area.
The person who offered this price is clearly a master at gambling on cracks. He's betting that the cracks won't penetrate too deeply, which means the chances of finding high-quality green glass-type jadeite are quite high.
However, experts are usually trampled on. Zhuang Rui knew in his heart that the crack in that rough stone almost ran through the entire piece, while the person who cut the stone was the real expert. That cut surface was the best part of the entire rough stone. The person who bid for the 30 million yuan was destined to lose everything.
"Could it have been Aunt Fang who threw it..."
A thought popped into Zhuang Rui's mind. Seeing that there were still five minutes left, he quickly took out his phone and dialed Fang Yi's number.
"Xiao Rui, what's wrong? Is there something you don't understand? Don't force yourself to bid if you're not sure..."
Fang Yi was somewhat surprised to receive Zhuang Rui's call. The bidding was about to begin, and she really didn't have time to talk much.
"No, Aunt Fang, I wanted to tell you something. Please don't bid on that rough stone numbered 1888. I don't think it's a good choice. That crack could very well ruin the entire stone..."
Zhuang Rui's voice was somewhat urgent and self-reproachful. He had watched the commotion for so long without thinking to remind his mother-in-law that they would soon be family.
"Oh? Xiao Rui, are you sure?"
Fang Yi's fingers, which were typing numbers, stopped on the keys. Her expression turned serious as she asked, "My jade gambling consultant is very optimistic about this piece of jade. However, Fang Yi is very calm and is prepared to enter four million euros at the last minute to secure it in one fell swoop."
"I'm 80% sure this gamble will fail..."
Zhuang Rui's words made Fang Yi completely remove her fingers. She wouldn't gamble with a 20% chance of winning. After all, Zhuang Rui was one of her own and wouldn't speak carelessly. Moreover, in terms of reputation and track record in the jade gambling circle, the jade gambling consultant she had hired was not as good as Zhuang Rui.
Chapter 450 Clearly marked (7)
Fang Yi hesitated for a moment. In the end, she decided to give up on lot number 1888. She was the only one who entered the auction hall for this auction, but her bidding plan had been prepared in advance. Zhuang Rui's phone call had disrupted her plans.
In fact, Zhuang Rui disrupted more than just Fang Yi's bidding plan. There were more than 800 people in the room, and at least 700 of them were probably affected by him. Zhuang Rui's widespread actions just now could also be the work of domestic capital tycoons. Therefore, everyone carefully raised their expected bids significantly in the final bidding.
"Three minutes left..."
Looking at the countdown numbers on the big screen, Zhuang Rui felt a little nervous. The No. 129 rough jadeite could relieve the pressure on Qin Ruilin's store in Beijing for a year or two in terms of mid-to-high-end jadeite jewelry. Zhuang Rui was determined to get it.
The entire hall fell silent; no one spoke, except for a strange, whooshing sound, like a bellows, which was actually the sound of everyone holding their breath and breathing heavily.
"Two minutes..."
Zhuang Rui saw that the price of bid number 129 on the big screen was still 25,000 euros, and breathed a sigh of relief. He held the bidding device in his left hand and operated the buttons with his right hand.
"200,000 euros, we should be able to secure it without a problem..."
Looking at the 2 and five 0s on the LCD screen of the bidding device, Zhuang Rui breathed a sigh of relief and placed his finger on the input key.
According to Zhuang Rui's opinion, the rough stone did not show any characteristics of a raw stone. If it weren't for the annotation below, many people would definitely have thought it was a piece of discarded broken stone. This is one of the reasons why new mine jadeite cannot be sold at a high price. The appearance of their outer skin is not as outstanding as that of old mine jadeite.
"Damn it, no way, add another 100,000..."
Seeing that the time had reached the last minute, Zhuang Rui's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He felt that 200,000 euros was still not very safe, so he canceled the price on the bidding machine and re-entered 300,000 euros. In his haste, he almost entered 3 million euros.
Zhuang Rui was extremely nervous because someone had raised the price of the rough stone he wanted by five thousand euros. He wondered how many extra euros his earlier sabotage had earned for the organizing committee. Many people, fearing they wouldn't be able to secure the stones they wanted, all added significantly more money than their initial price expectations.
If the Myanmar authorities find out about this, I wonder if they'll award Zhuang Rui a "Best Customer Welcome Award." But if those businessmen find out, Zhuang Rui will definitely become a pariah, hated by everyone.
"Ten seconds... nine seconds... seven seconds... five seconds..."
When the number on the big screen reached five seconds, Zhuang Rui pressed the confirm button on the bidding device heavily with his right index finger. Instantly, the number under bid number 129 on the big screen changed to 300,000 euros, replacing the original 25,000 euros.
Zhuang Rui chose to bid in the last five seconds because five seconds was not enough time for others to calculate and change the bid amount. Even if others also took a liking to the material, they probably wouldn't have time to re-enter the numbers.
Just after Zhuang Rui pressed the confirm button, the numbers on the entire large screen began to jump wildly. In that instant, no one knew what was happening, and no one could clearly see any of the numbers on the screen. Because everyone was focused on bidding at that moment, the screen's flickering was dazzling.
For a full ten seconds, everyone in the auction hall was dazzled by the flashing numbers, and no one knew whether their bid had been successful.
Zhuang Rui inwardly scoffed at the Myanmar organizing committee. The deadline for bidding was 5 PM, but it wasn't until almost 20 seconds had passed that the numbers stopped flashing. It seemed he would have to bid later next time; maybe then he could change his bid.
"I won! I won!"
"Damn, how is it so tall..."
"Does money grow on trees? Someone actually offered a million for this worthless rock?"
After the numbers on the big screen stopped flashing, everyone searched for the final price of their bids for rough stones. For a moment, the entire auction hall became noisy. Some winners danced with joy, while others who lost were dejected and cursed under their breath. Laughter and disappointment were on everyone's faces, a microcosm of the diverse aspects of society.
"I got it!"
Zhuang Rui finally found lot number 129. The conspicuous figure of 300,000 euros made Zhuang Rui stand up excitedly and pump his fist.
Although Zhuang Rui could see through rough stones and find jadeite, this bidding method was far too uncertain. Before the bidding opened, no one could say they were guaranteed to win. Therefore, Zhuang Rui was extremely excited; he felt this was even more thrilling than gambling on rough stones.
The experience of gambling on jade can be a rollercoaster of emotions, sometimes going from heaven to hell in a single cut, which can take several minutes or even half an hour. But in a direct auction, the feeling can be a whirlwind of emotions in just a few dozen seconds, making it incredibly thrilling.
"Brother Zhuang, you won the bid?"
Yang Hao's voice rang out from behind Zhuang Rui.
"Yes, we won a prize. How are you guys doing?"
After Zhuang Rui asked the question, he sensed something was wrong because Yang Hao and his nephew looked disappointed. Without even asking, they knew they hadn't passed.
"We didn't win. We submitted six bids and didn't win a single one. It looks like this year's Myanmar jade auction is going to set another record..."
Yang Hao's uncle replied with a bitter expression that he had already increased his conservative price by a considerable amount, hoping to win one or two rough stones. However, he never expected to lose everything and not get a single one.
Upon hearing Uncle Yang Hao's words, Zhuang Rui looked up at the big screen and was taken aback. The original rough stone, which was priced at 3.2 million euros, had actually sold for 5.8 million euros, which is nearly 60 million RMB.
The first day of the auction saw such high prices, breaking all previous records for Myanmar jadeite auctions. Not only Zhuang Rui, but everyone present felt a heavy weight in their hearts; it seemed the competition to come would be even fiercer.
Currently, only a little over a hundred of the numbers on the screen haven't changed color. Those extremely few red numbers stand out starkly against the blue background. Of the 2,000 rough stones, only a little over 100 have failed to sell. Among the 1,000-plus rough stones that were sold, who knows how many people spent huge sums of money to buy such a worthless piece of stone?
"Brother Zhuang, we're leaving now. See you tomorrow..."
Yang Hao and the others did not win the bid, and he was no longer in the mood to ask Zhuang Rui to go sightseeing in Yangon. After saying goodbye, he walked out of the auction hall. However, the auction was not over yet. Three languages were spoken in turn in the auction hall, instructing the successful bidders to take their bid number plates and go to complete the formalities.
"Xiao Rui, did you win the bid?"
Fang Yi and Zhuang Rui had arranged to meet at the entrance of Hall One. As soon as she saw Zhuang Rui, Fang Yi asked him the question, a hint of smugness on her face. Zhuang Rui guessed that his mother-in-law had probably hit a few targets.
Zhuang Rui smiled and said, "I won one. Aunt Fang, did you win one too? Which ones did you win?"
"I won three prizes, the prices are decent, totaling two million three hundred thousand euros..."
Fang Yi handed the notebook in her hand to Zhuang Rui. These were all top secrets of the company, but Fang Yi obviously didn't bother to guard against Zhuang Rui.
"Two million three hundred thousand euros..."
Zhuang Rui glanced at the numbers. There were so many rough stones; even those that yielded green jadeite, Zhuang Rui couldn't possibly remember them all. He quickly checked his notebook. Fortunately, he had all the records, meaning these stones weren't waste. Moreover, Zhuang Rui vaguely remembered stone number 788; it contained some golden thread jadeite, and the finished product could be worth 12-30 million RMB. With all three stones combined, Qin's Jewelry shouldn't lose money.
At this moment, Fang Yi also knew that Zhuang Rui had won bid number 129, but she didn't remember it. The two sat in Hall 1, waiting to complete the bidding procedures. The order of completing the procedures was arranged according to the winning bid price of each person. The rough stones with higher winning bids were processed first, and then the procedures were processed in descending order of the winning bid price.
Zhuang Rui's 300,000 euros should be placed after several hundredths, but many people have won several euros. In addition, the organizing committee has opened more than a dozen windows for processing, so it should take about half an hour before it is Zhuang Rui's turn.
"Huh? Aunt Fang, what's going on?"
Zhuang Rui was puzzled to find that the people who were originally queuing at one window to complete their procedures had all rushed into Hall 1 where he was sitting.
"Perhaps the winning bids are the same? Then a second auction will be needed..."
Upon hearing that there was something interesting to watch, Zhuang Rui quickly stood up and followed Fang Yi, since it would be a while before it was his turn to complete the formalities anyway.
Sure enough, the two bidders offered the exact same price for the same piece of raw jade. What was amusing was that they had the same idea and set a price of 81,000 euros for it, hoping to win by using that extra 1,000 euros. However, they ended up having to go through a second auction.
According to the rules of the conference, if there are bids of the same value and neither party is willing to back down, the conference supervisor will conduct a second auction. At the same time, the two or more winning bidders can continue to raise the bid price, and the highest bidder will win.
"Is it true that neither of you wants to give up this bid?"
Hu Rong, who is in charge of supervising the auction, has begun asking the two parties involved if either of them is willing to give up their share.
Chapter 451 Clearly marked (8)
Both of them had just witnessed it. The prices offered at this rough stone auction were mostly outrageously high. Although neither of them was very confident that the rough stone could yield jadeite, they were unwilling to give up, and an auction between the two of them began.
"Each bid must be at least 1,000 euros. You two may begin bidding..."
Hu Rong remained calm. An auction of such a small amount was hardly of interest to him. He was currently running a jewelry company in Taiwan, and he wouldn't have bothered coming here if it weren't for the practical benefits of his jade mines.
"100,000 euros..."
The person on the left wanted to take the initiative and immediately added 19,000 euros.
"105,000 euros..."
The person on the right hesitated for a moment, but did not give up and added another 5,000 euros.
"110,000..."
The first person to make a bid did so without hesitation.
"I give up..."
The group came to Myanmar to make money, not to vent their frustrations. A price of 110,000 euros, equivalent to over 1 million RMB, was a bit too high for a piece of jade with only average quality. The other person wisely chose to back down.
"Xiao Rui, come on, I'll introduce you to the next person..."
Seeing that the auction ended so quickly, the crowd of onlookers scattered immediately. Fang Yi pulled Zhuang Rui aside and was about to go up and greet Hu Rong when suddenly a voice in the hall told Fang Yi to go and complete the auction procedures.
Hu Rong, who was packing her things at the table in preparation for leaving, looked up when she heard the sound. She saw Fang Yi, smiled at her, waved for Fang Yi to go and complete the formalities, and made a gesture to make a phone call. In Zhuang Rui's eyes, his mother-in-law and the other party seemed to be very familiar with each other.
However, this also caused Zhuang Rui to miss the opportunity to meet this legendary figure. After Fang Yi completed the formalities, Hu Rong had already left the auction house. Zhuang Rui waited for another 10 minutes and heard his name called on the loudspeaker before he went to complete the auction formalities.
There are several payment methods. Buyers can sign the "Winning Bid Contract" on the spot, but they do not have to pay immediately. As long as the buyer transfers the money to the designated account in Myanmar within three months, they can request the other party to deliver the raw stones free of charge.