Because of the strong light, the icy jadeite appeared transparent, like glass, leading the first person to rush to the rough stone to classify it as glassy jadeite.
Chapter 464 Secret Bidding (8)
"What happened?"
The official from the organizing committee had just finished reporting to his superiors in his office near the entrance and received instructions to open the door early. As soon as he stepped out of the office, he saw that the crowd that had been thronging the entrance to the jade trading center had completely disappeared.
"I don't know, those Chinese people seem to have gone mad, they all ran over there..."
The gatekeeper pointed to the stone-cutting area. He had guessed that the rough stone had probably been gambled on and won big. If it weren't for his duty, he would have run off to watch the excitement long ago.
"Huh? Open at the scheduled time, not early..."
Upon hearing this, the organizing committee officials were immediately overjoyed and hurried towards the stone-cutting area. Open early? Even if they did, probably no one would get in. ...
"Boss Zhuang, you have a good eye and great courage..."
"Boss Zhuang, wipe it a little further down, let us see something new too..."
"Yes, it's glass-type red jadeite. That's called blood jadeite, and it's no less beautiful than imperial green jadeite. I've really learned something new today..."
The saying "the victor is king, the loser is villain" was perfectly embodied in these people once again. When they looked at Zhuang Rui now, their eyes were full of admiration and envy, and even a hint of jealousy that no one else knew about.
"Okay, everyone, please make way, I'm taking this piece of material out..."
Zhuang Rui was now surrounded by a crowd, and the area around the red jadeite rough was packed with people. If hammers and similar objects weren't prohibited from being brought into the jadeite auction, someone might have taken advantage of the situation and knocked a piece off. You know, if it were truly glass-type red jadeite, even a piece the size of a fingernail could be worth hundreds of thousands.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, the people surrounding the rough stone reluctantly made way for it. However, they also wanted to see just how much jade could be extracted from this red jadeite rough. If it was just a small opening, Zhuang Rui still wouldn't be able to earn back the 80 million RMB.
"Crackling..."
Zhuang Rui picked up the stone-grinding machine, turned it on, and the grinding wheel spun rapidly. The jade in this piece of material weighed a good sixty or seventy kilograms. Zhuang Rui originally wanted to cut it in half and split it with his father-in-law, but now that jade had already been extracted from the side, doing so would be inappropriate.
Along the palm-sized window, Zhuang Rui began polishing the stone beside him, rinsing the polished surface with water from time to time. After more than half an hour, the polished surface had doubled in size, and to everyone's astonishment, the exposed area was entirely made of jade.
With such a large window, if you insert just two or three centimeters into this piece of red jade, it will weigh about ten kilograms. If you go any deeper, you can extract at least several tens of kilograms of material.
My God! This is a glass-type jadeite! The eyes of the onlookers had turned bloodshot, flashing with a kind of greedy gaze. If it weren't for the soldiers with live guns and nuclear weapons standing in the distance, someone might have pounced on it and knocked a piece off with a stone.
"It doesn't seem to meet the glass-like quality standard, Master Wang. Could you please take a look?"
While Zhuang Rui was resting, everyone gathered around the raw material to examine it again. Because the opening had become larger, and a group of people were gathered there, blocking out the sunlight, it was much clearer to see. The transparency of the water was no longer as clear as glass.
An elderly man with gray hair put on glasses, took a magnifying glass, and examined the material carefully. After a long while, he shook his head with regret and said, "It doesn't reach the glass type. The lower half is high-ice type, while this half can only reach ice type. If this piece of jade hadn't been mined, it could have become glass type in a few hundred years..."
Master Wang's words made everyone roll their eyes. In a few hundred years, they would all be ancient people, and even if it was glass-type jade, it would have nothing to do with them.
Zhuang Rui had already anticipated this outcome, but he still managed to feign a look of disappointment as he took the water Peng Fei offered and drank it.
Although the stone-cutting process only took thirty minutes, it was extremely taxing on the mind. Even though Zhuang Rui could see the jade's flesh with his spiritual energy, he dared not relax for a moment, because even the slightest scratch on the jade would result in a loss of tens of thousands of yuan.
"Xiao Rui, you should rest for a bit. Let Xiao Zhao handle this..."
Fang Yi saw that Zhuang Rui was not only covered in sweat, but his white silk clothes were also soaked and clung to his body. She felt sorry for her son-in-law and signaled the jade gambling consultant hired by the company to go up and continue cutting the stone.
With such a large window already opened, all that's left is to continue wiping away the stones on both sides. Just be careful not to damage the jade inside. This kind of work is nothing to those of us who have been in the jade gambling circle for years. After hearing Fang Yi's words, Master Zhao took the grinding wheel from Zhuang Rui and continued polishing.
It was already time for the jadeite auction to open, but very few people went inside to examine the rough stones. Meanwhile, the area for cutting stones was growing increasingly crowded. Those who arrived late, unaware of what was happening, were inquiring from the periphery of the crowd. No one wanted to leave now; they all wanted to see just how much jadeite could be extracted from this rough stone.
"Brother Ma, is this rough jade a winning bet or a losing one?"
Big D had just finished paying out everyone's bets when he squeezed next to Fatty Ma and asked in a low voice.
"Nonsense, are you blind? The jade shown in this window is worth at least 8 million euros. Do you think it's going up or down?"
Fatty Ma rarely acts as a teacher, and he gave Big D a very unceremonious lecture.
"Oh right, I just placed a 50,000 yuan bet on 'Chang', and you haven't paid me back yet. 'Chang' pays out at 0.5 to 1. Hurry up, that's 75,000 yuan in total, pay me back..."
Fatty Ma suddenly remembered this and grabbed Big D.
"It went up? Oh dear, then I've lost money! Hey, Mr. Yu, you have to give me my money back! Mr. Liu, don't run away, give me back the 100,000 yuan..."
Upon hearing what Fatty Ma said, Big D's face immediately turned so bitter it looked like he could squeeze out bitter herbs. He had just paid out all the money from those who bet on the losing side according to the 1 to 1 odds, but unexpectedly Zhuang Rui's luck turned around and the price actually rose again in the end. Big D wished he could just bang his head against this piece of red jade and add a little more red to it.
After hearing what Big D said, everyone burst into laughter. Some of those whose names were called by Big D felt embarrassed and returned their money. However, many more had already quietly slipped away to the periphery of the crowd. Big D wandered around for a long time, but half of the people still hadn't returned their money. Moreover, he still had to pay out the winnings. When he calculated the total, Big D had lost so much that he didn't even have enough money left for his wife.
"Big D, you're just destined to lose every time you gamble..."
Fatty Ma's words elicited another burst of laughter, which lightened the somber atmosphere at the stone-cutting site considerably.
Master Zhao was already busy at this time. Extracting jade from rough stones is a meticulous task. With the help of four jade gambling consultants, Zhuang Rui, and even Qin Haoran who took off their suits and rolled up their sleeves to join in, it took them more than three hours to finally extract the entire piece of jade. It was already 11 a.m., and most of the rough stone merchants had already entered the venue to select rough stones. After all, no matter how good this piece of red jade was, it wasn't theirs. Their jewelry stores were also waiting for customers and didn't have time to linger here. They could only continue searching for rough stones with envy. However, before leaving, they all stepped forward and touched the rough stone, hoping it would bring them some good luck.
There are three pieces of raw, blood-red jadeite lying on the ground. Two of them are slightly smaller, but together they are about the same size as the other piece. Zhuang Rui had cut the jadeite into three sections because he was too impatient. Otherwise, it would probably have taken another day to extract the jadeite.
Zhuang Rui's actions have led many to secretly curse him as a spendthrift. After all, those three cuts would have wasted at least a million yuan worth of jade, yet he didn't even want the money back just to save time.
"Congratulations, Boss Zhuang! It's a total of 78.65 kilograms, a huge increase, a huge increase indeed..."
The staff member from the organizing committee stayed with them the whole time, and after all the rough stones were cut open, he had someone bring over an electronic scale, put the three rough stones on it and weighed them. In the end, the amount of jade meat was more than ten kilograms more than Zhuang Rui had estimated.
The official, who had somehow acquired a large red flower, insisted that Zhuang Rui wear it. He even made Zhuang Rui hold up the slightly smaller piece of raw jade for a photo. Zhuang Rui thought about it and agreed. It was just publicity, after all. However, Zhuang Rui made a condition: when these photos were put on the bulletin board, the name of Hong Kong Qin's Jewelry must be included.
"Boss Zhuang, you have three pieces of jade here. How about you sell one to me, Lao Han? We're almost starving..."
After Zhuang Rui had his picture taken with the organizing committee, the owner of the Korean-style jewelry store approached him.
"Hey, Lao Han, you stocked up on a lot of good jade at last year's Myanmar jade auction. Don't complain about being broke, Boss Zhuang. We've met before, so give me a piece of that jade. Name your price, no bargaining..."
There were still forty or fifty people gathered around the stone-cutting area. They were all people who had witnessed the auction of Zhuang Rui's piece of floating-flower jadeite at the Pingzhou Public Auction. Their purpose in staying was nothing more than for these three pieces of icy jadeite on the ground.
In the eyes of these people, Zhuang Rui's gambling on stones was naturally for the purpose of selling them. Although he had a good relationship with Qin Haoran, Qin's Jewelry couldn't possibly take all three rough stones at once, could it?
Chapter 465 Secret Bidding (9)
"Boss Zhuang, I, Old Han, am very sincere. I bought two pieces of your material last time, so please give me one this time..."
Han Haowei had a very good run of luck at the Myanmar jade auction last year, winning six rough jade pieces in the sealed bid. After cutting them, four of them turned out to be worth more, and the other two also turned out to be green, although the quality was average. In recent years, his Han's Jewelry has not had much to worry about in terms of raw materials, but given the current rise in the jade market, no one would complain about having too much raw material, right? Stockpiling more raw material might be an important bargaining chip for seizing market share in the future.
"Mr. Han, you really don't act until you see the profit, but..."
Zhuang Rui was nearly forced to cut open the rough stone he used to trick Xu Zhendong at the Pingzhou public auction last time by this Boss Han. Moreover, Han Haowei fought Xu Zhendong to the very end that time and almost fell for the trap.
"Mr. Zhuang, you can't be biased! I also bought two pieces of the jadeite with floating flowers that you bid on last time..."
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another jewelry store owner. Fearing Zhuang Rui would sell to Han Haowei, the owner added, "I don't want the big one either. Either of the two smaller ones is fine. Mr. Zhuang, I'll offer 10 million. What do you think?"
"Old Liu, you're being too stingy. 10 million? Let me show you, that's about right..."
Mr. Han casually remarked that even this small piece of rough jade weighed nearly 20 kilograms, enough to make fifty or sixty bracelets. Moreover, icy red jade bracelets have been selling extremely well lately. There's a shop in Beijing that sold a single icy red jade bracelet for 1.5 million yuan, and they've already sold out, making the jewelry shop owners extremely envious.
The smaller pieces of raw material, enough to make only fifty or sixty bracelets, are worth around eighty or ninety million. The remaining scraps, when crafted into jewelry, can fetch at least thirty million. Together, they will definitely exceed one hundred million. No wonder Han Haowei ridiculed Mr. Liu for offering 10 million.
"Old Han, don't belittle me. I'm talking about 10 million euros, not RMB. You need to get that straight..."
Mr. Liu's words brought Han Haowei's laughter to an abrupt halt. 10 million euros is more than 100 million RMB, which is indeed a high price. The calculation just now was the price of the finished product, while the price Mr. Liu offered was only for the purchase of the jade material.
From raw jade to finished products displayed in jewelry stores, there are many procedures involved, including processing and sales. Considering everything, Mr. Liu's price, while not enough to lose money, doesn't generate much profit either.
Having figured it out, Fatty Han blushed and said, "Old Liu, let's use euros then. I'll offer 11 million euros; I'm taking this piece of material..."
Anyone in business knows that if you have something that others don't, you can attract many consumers and turn them into loyal customers. So Han Haowei didn't think twice and directly added 1 million euros. That was his plan. Even if he lost money to gain publicity, Fatty Han was willing to accept it.
Although the sale of top-quality jadeite jewelry requires a period of time, it cannot be denied that having these unique pieces in your jewelry store gives you a head start in attracting consumers' attention.
"Hey, Lao Han, you want to challenge me? I'll offer twelve million euros, Mr. Zhuang, what do you think?"
Mr. Liu is from Beijing and knows much more about the red jade jewelry sold from Qin Ruilin's shop than Han Haowei does. However, Zhuang Rui took over the shop too late, and he still thought it belonged to Qin's Jewelry in Hong Kong. Now that he has the opportunity to get a share of the pie from Qin's Jewelry, Mr. Liu has really gone all out.
After saying this, Mr. Liu raised his head a little higher, displaying the true "style" of a Beijing man.
"Gentlemen, could you please hear me out? This piece of rough jade..."
Zhuang Rui, who had been unable to get a word in edgewise, finally had a chance to say something.
"Wait a minute, Lao Liu, I'll pay..."
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, Han Haowei interrupted him, but quickly realized his mistake. He quickly said, "Mr. Zhuang, I'm sorry, please go first, please go first..."
"Gentlemen, I recently took over a shop and we're short of jadeite raw materials. I came to Myanmar this time to gamble on some materials for my own use. This particular piece was jointly purchased by me and Qin's Jewelry, and we really can't split it. Please forgive me, we truly cannot sell it..."
Zhuang Rui was somewhat amused and exasperated. His friend hadn't even said he wanted to sell the red jade, yet the two of them were arguing so fiercely they were almost at each other's throats. In the past, when selling raw materials, there were no sales channels, so they would sell them and share some of the profits. But now it was different. With a sales outlet, Zhuang Rui naturally wanted to sell the goods directly to consumers, and the profit margin in that process was quite considerable.
"Is that Qin Ruilin restaurant yours, Boss Zhuang?"
Mr. Liu stared at Zhuang Rui in disbelief. His expression shifted repeatedly until Zhuang Rui nodded in acknowledgment. Only then did he shake his head and say, "Excuse me, excuse me. Ah, Mr. Zhuang is truly young and promising..."
Han Haowei was dumbfounded. The other person owned a jewelry store; they certainly wouldn't sell the raw materials. What was he arguing about? He stamped his foot, greeted Zhuang Rui and the others, and squeezed through the crowd towards the venue. If he couldn't get the raw materials from Zhuang Rui, he'd better hurry to the venue and pick out a few pieces.
The onlookers, who had been preoccupied with their own thoughts, dispersed after hearing Zhuang Rui's words. The news of Zhuang Rui's entry into the jewelry industry quickly spread, shocking many people. Despite his young age, this young man possessed extraordinary insight and luck, suggesting that the jewelry industry was about to be reshuffled.
This Myanmar jade auction was increasingly valued, as these jewelry tycoons, eager to secure a place in the domestic jewelry industry, spared no expense in purchasing promising rough stones. The news of Zhuang Rui's entry into the jewelry business garnered even more attention than his successful gamble on that rough stone, indirectly boosting the trading volume at this jade auction. ...
After everyone dispersed, Qin Haoran carefully examined the rough stones again, and then said to Zhuang Rui very seriously, "Xiao Rui, give us these two smaller rough stones, and keep the larger one for yourself. Together, they'll be worth 200 million RMB. What do you think?"
The two smaller pieces together weigh about 10 kilograms more than the larger one. Qin's Jewelry has more than one jewelry store, so Qin Haoran directly asked for two pieces.
"Two hundred million? Uncle Qin, let's not be so formal. You can just offer half of the bid..."
Although Qin Haoran's offer was lower than Han Haowei's and Boss Liu's, it was still much higher than Zhuang Rui's target price. When Zhuang Rui first saw the raw material, he only offered around 200 million yuan for the entire piece. Even after it was made into jewelry, Zhuang Rui estimated it would only be worth 400 million yuan. He didn't expect that the raw material would double in value after being cut.
This is also because Zhuang Rui doesn't understand the jewelry market. When he sold those icy red jadeite bracelets, each one was priced between 800,000 and 1 million yuan. But after they went out of stock, it became difficult to find one even for 1.5 million yuan. The price has increased by more than 30%.
Moreover, Zhuang Rui didn't intend to keep the jadeite to himself when he told Qin Haoran about it; he originally considered the rough stone to be a joint purchase between the two parties.
"Two hundred million, Xiao Rui, you don't need to say anything more. Qin's Jewelry isn't just owned by one company with the surname Qin. You picked out the raw materials yourself, there's no need to save money for those people. I'll issue you a Swiss bank draft later..."
Qin Haoran waved his hand to interrupt Zhuang Rui. If he were to rely on his status as Zhuang Rui's future father-in-law and actually buy the jadeite for half the auction price, Qin's Jewelry would definitely be ridiculed.
Moreover, Qin Haoran also wanted Zhuang Rui to make this money. Just as he said earlier, this money doesn't just belong to the Qin family; there are several other shareholders as well. He was able to get these two pieces of red jadeite thanks to his future son-in-law, so it's only right that the other shareholders spend some money.
Is this... appropriate?
Zhuang Rui hesitated upon hearing this.
"Why is it inappropriate? I'm here on behalf of the board of directors to purchase raw materials; I have the authority to use this money..."
Now, only Qin Haoran, Zhuang Rui, and the organizing committee staff member remain at the stone-cutting site. There are also several soldiers with guns on guard around the perimeter, which the official specifically called over in case of any problems.
As for Fang Yi and several other jade experts, they all went into the venue to continue selecting rough stones.