"Xiao Zhuang, why did you take a liking to these two pieces of jade?"
During the transaction in the courtyard, Uncle De remained silent. If the bloodstone doesn't show any bleeding or mixed colors on the outside, the gamble is many times greater than that of jadeite. Generally, very few people would gamble on such material.
"Hehe, Uncle De, the outer skin of these two stones is quite smooth. I reckon there might be some chicken blood inside. Anyway, they're not expensive, so let's buy them and cut them open to play around..."
Zhuang Rui offered a casual explanation, though the reason was somewhat far-fetched. However, Uncle De knew that a few thousand yuan was just a drop in the ocean for his apprentice, and Uncle De assumed that Zhuang Rui had bought it for fun as a practice session.
Afterwards, Zhuang Rui and his group followed Old Wang and looked at several more pieces of jade. Although there were a few pieces with large patches of "chicken blood" on the surface, Zhuang Rui did not make a purchase. However, under Uncle De's guidance, Wei Ge spent 30,000 yuan to buy a fist-sized stone with a small amount of "chicken blood" on the surface.
Zhuang Rui had already used his spiritual energy to see that the chicken blood on that piece of material was a patch rather than a pool, and it had seeped very shallowly into the stone. Unless it was made into an ornament in its current form, if he wanted to turn it into a seal or change its shape, he would definitely lose money.
Zhuang Rui didn't stop Wei Ge from making a move. Anyway, Wei Ge wasn't short of money. His father had spent tens of millions on antiques, and this was just a way to help impoverished mountain areas.
It's really not worth reminding Zhuang Rui about something worth only tens of thousands of yuan, especially since it was chosen by Uncle De. If he were to say it out loud, wouldn't that be embarrassing Uncle De?
After wandering around the farmhouse for a while, it was almost noon. Old Wang had already turned around and gone back to his small building to collect the stones, while Zhuang Rui and the others strolled towards the chicken-blood stone trading shed.
At this moment, the entrance to this small mountain village at the foot of Yuyan Mountain was already bustling with noise. This trading center, which resembled a vegetable market, had no doors and was filled with people coming and going.
There are many local villagers like Erhuzi who pull flatbed carts to transport stones. Some of them are even surrounded by merchants who come to buy chicken-blood stones before they even enter the market.
"This really is... a folk market..."
Looking at the scene before him, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but shake his head. He found it hard to believe that this bloodstone, which accounts for a certain proportion of jade sales, actually came from such a place.
"Xiao Zhuang, don't underestimate this place. In previous years, it's common to see raw chicken-blood stone fetching three to five million, or even ten to twenty million. Hey, I forgot, you're a jade gambler, so of course you wouldn't be interested in this place..."
Uncle De noticed Zhuang Rui's expression and couldn't help but tease him. However, Uncle De didn't know that in Zhuang Rui's eyes, whether it was a jade gambling game worth hundreds of millions or a chicken-blood stone worth a few hundred yuan, it was just a game.
"Uncle De, can stones be cut here?"
When Zhuang Rui reached the market entrance, he stopped because he saw a stone-cutting machine placed on an open space about 20 meters away on the east side of the market. Next to the stone-cutting machine were grinding machines and other equipment, which are essential for gambling on jade.
Uncle De smiled and said, "Of course we can cut the stone. There are people here who specialize in gambling on bloodstone, specifically those bloodstones that don't show any signs of life. If they win, they sell it on the spot; if they lose, they don't lose much money. Bloodstone rough is much cheaper than jadeite rough..."
"Heh, this is interesting..."
"These machines were all bought by the villagers themselves, and you have to pay to use them. I think it was fifty yuan per use the year before last, but I don't know the price now. What, you want to have your stone cut?"
Uncle De saw that Zhuang Rui's eyes were fixed on that spot, and he knew exactly what Zhuang Rui was thinking.
Chapter 581 The Market (4)
"Stone cutting?"
To be honest, Zhuang Rui didn't really have that idea. He just saw the stone-cutting tools and remembered the situation in Pingzhou and Myanmar. Although he had cheated back then, the scene of winning the bet still made Zhuang Rui's blood boil.
"Forget it, Uncle De, let's go to the market first. There are so many people here, what if all the good stones are bought by someone else..."
After thinking about it, Zhuang Rui decided to look at the chicken-blood stone material first.
He only bought two small pieces of jadeite today. Although each piece was worth 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, and he only spent 5,000 yuan to buy them, the profit after removing the outer skin would be at least 10 times. However, Zhuang Rui's appetite for jadeite gambling has long been spoiled, so he is not in a hurry to cut them open now.
He did manage to buy a piece of Da Hong Pao seal material from Old Wang, which gave Zhuang Rui the urge to remove its outer layer. However, that material was too famous among chicken-blood stones, and Zhuang Rui didn't want to be crowned "King of Jade" after just being called that!
He gained fame and then made a name for himself in the world of chicken blood stone. There's a saying that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Having too much fame isn't necessarily a good thing.
"This is boring. I was actually looking forward to unraveling this fabric and taking a look..."
Wei Ge was a little annoyed to see that Zhuang Rui was not interested in gambling on stones. He had seen Zhuang Rui gamble on stones in Pingzhou before, and he thought he would have a go today, but he didn't expect that Zhuang Rui would have to attend the trade fair first.
"Hey Viagra, go buy a cheap one, it won't hurt if it breaks..."
Zhuang Rui smiled, subtly hinting at Yang Wei's lack of understanding. If he still didn't get it, then he couldn't be blamed. After all, the Yang family was notorious for making mistakes and paying tuition fees when buying these things, so this could be considered a case of the son following in his father's footsteps.
Why bother with all that trouble? I already bought one, didn't I?
Zhuang Rui's words were indeed like casting pearls before swine; Wei Ge couldn't understand the meaning behind them at all.
However, Uncle De frowned slightly. He was quite confident about the piece of material he had helped Yang Wei pick out. As long as the back was scratched and bled a little, it would be a sure thing. Even if it was bought for more than 30,000 yuan and sold without any carving, it would still be worth 70,000 or 80,000 yuan.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Uncle De wanted to see if his judgment was wrong, so he said, "Zhuang Rui, if Yang wants to unravel it, go and unravel his piece first. Anyway, this trade fair still has several days left, and the good materials will be brought out later, so there's no rush..."
"Alright, let's cut the stone and play around with it first..."
Zhuang Rui nodded noncommittally, inwardly sighing. This guy was indeed shrewd and experienced. He hadn't even explained Viagra to him, but Uncle De had already gotten his eye on it.
"Alright, let's go, let's go, haha, watch me, Yang Wei, oh no, Brother Wei, no, Zhuang Rui, watch how your boss wins big on the betting..."
Yang Wei's name is really a bit of a dilemma. Wei Ge wanted to give himself a more impressive name, but no matter what he said, it couldn't escape the connotation of male impotence. In the end, he simply started discussing the dormitory rankings from back then with Zhuang Rui.
The group chatted and laughed as they arrived at the stone-cutting area. A villager who had been sitting on a small stool next to the machine saw that business had come in and quickly stood up, asking with a beaming smile, "Do you gentlemen need to use the machine?"
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "Yes, we need to polish a stone. What's the price of this grinder?"
The piece of stone that Wei Ge bought wasn't very big, only slightly larger than a fist. In addition, chicken blood stone is far less hard than jadeite, so the outer layer of the stone could be easily removed with a grinding wheel.
"That stone cutter costs 100 yuan per use, and this small grinding wheel costs 50 yuan per use. However, I only pay for one grinding wheel. If one grinding wheel isn't enough to cut the stone properly, you'll have to pay extra. It's not expensive, just five yuan each..."
The villager rattled off the prices with practiced ease, specifying the price of each machine, almost as if he were about to hand over a price list.
"We're all from the same village, so why is there such a big difference?"
When Zhuang Rui heard the price, he almost cursed the merchant as a profiteer. The grinding wheels on the grinder cost eight cents each when bought wholesale from a store, but they became five dollars here.
Cutting stones usually involves a single, decisive cut, meaning that one cut costs 100 yuan, which is outrageous. You should know that in jade gambling venues, the organizers usually provide these tools for free, and I've never seen anyone charge extra for them.
"Okay, that's the price. Give me that grinder, I want to try it out..."
At this moment, Wei Ge was only thinking about cutting the stone open and didn't even think about bargaining. He handed the bamboo basket to Zhuang Rui, took out his own stone, put it on the stone cutting machine, and reinforced it.
Fortunately, as long as it's not cutting stone, there's no charge for using this stone cutter to reinforce the stone.
After handing the villager 50 yuan, Wei Ge got his hands on the grinding wheel that was already working. The kid then started circling around his tiny rough stone, just like Zhuang Rui had done last year.
"Someone's breaking rocks..."
Suddenly, a loud bang rang in Wei Ge's ears, startling him so much that he almost dropped the grinding wheel. When he turned around, he saw that it was the villager promoting his machine.
His loud voice had no effect; people who were about to enter the market all crowded around him. In China, watching a free spectacle has never lacked an audience.
"This piece of material is quite good; it shows blood, and over a considerable area..."
"Yes, it's worth about twenty or thirty thousand yuan..."
"What we see now is useless; we'll only know after it's untied. If there's blood on the back, then we've really hit the jackpot..."
"What if there's no bleeding? In my opinion, it would be better to just carve it into a decorative piece..."
Most of the people who come here to trade chicken-blood stone are experts. They can tell the quality of Wei Ge's piece at a glance. To be honest, this piece is one that is worth gambling on or not. The last person to speak was obviously an expert, and his opinion was the same as Zhuang Rui's.
"Youngest...youngest, why don't you...you wipe it?"
Just now, it was only Zhuang Rui and a few others, and they were all his own people, so Wei Ge was relatively relaxed. But now, nearly a hundred people have suddenly surrounded him, and with so many people staring at him, Wei Ge's heart is pounding. He doesn't have Zhuang Rui's strong heart.
"Hey, Wei Ge, you're the one who's supposed to be doing it yourself, why are you making me wipe it? You should do it yourself..."
Zhuang Rui didn't appreciate the favor. Knowing full well that the stone was going to break, he couldn't be bothered to clean it up. In other words, he couldn't afford to suffer such a loss.
After being rejected by Zhuang Rui, Wei Ge turned his gaze to Uncle De and said, "Uncle De, how about... you do it?"
"It's okay, just wipe the bleeding back, wipe inwards about one or two centimeters. If you can't see any color, then stop wiping..."
Uncle De waved his hand, gave Yang Wei some pointers, but didn't step forward to take the knife.
"good!"
Wei nodded heavily, turned the stone over, and held the grinding wheel for a long time, but still couldn't bring himself to do it. Anyone could see that Yang Wei's hands were trembling as he held the grinding wheel.
"Hey, it's just wiping a stone, can't you hurry up a bit?"
"That's right, we're still waiting to pick out some bloodstone, let's clean it up and take a look..."
"Hey buddy, no need to wipe it, just cut it open, and it's definitely Da Hong Pao tea..."
Seeing Yang Wei standing there in a daze with the grinding wheel, the onlookers wouldn't stand for it and started urging him on. Some even gave Yang Wei bad advice, saying, "What a joke! That piece of material is full of chicken blood. If you cut it with one stroke, even a good piece of material will be ruined."
"Youngest, no, you should do it..."
Viagra, feeling a bit overwhelmed by what people were saying, grabbed Zhuang Rui and, without waiting for his consent, shoved the grinder into Zhuang Rui's hands.
"Look at your pathetic self. If this stone doesn't produce some kind of chicken-blood-like luster, my reputation will be ruined!"
Zhuang Rui shook his head, joking with Wei Ge as he walked over to the stone cutting machine.
Zhuang Rui didn't care. If it failed, it failed. Even if it was jadeite, it was normal to lose a few cheap pieces of material. As long as he didn't make a mistake in big bets, it wouldn't affect his reputation.
"Zhuang Rui, be gentle, the outer layer of the bloodstone is very thin..."
Uncle De gave Zhuang Rui a word of advice. Based on the direction of the chicken blood pattern on the stone, he felt that there should be some material inside the stone skin below, otherwise he would not have agreed to let Yang Wei buy it.
"I understand, Uncle De..."
Zhuang Rui agreed and turned on the grinding wheel. The ear-piercing sound of the grinding wheel immediately rang out. Without wasting any time, Zhuang Rui directly aimed the grinding wheel at the stone and started grinding.
"He's an experienced one..."
"Hmm, this young man has a steady hand; he seems to cut stones often..."
"He looks familiar. Isn't he a guest on that Spring Festival treasure appraisal show?"
Zhuang Rui has cut stones so many times that he is very steady when handling them. Experts can tell the quality of his skills at a glance, and they can even identify his identity in the process.
"Uncle De, I think that's enough, we can't wipe it anymore..."
With a "crack" sound, a layer of white stone dust fell to the ground. The spot where Zhuang Rui was rubbing the stone was still stone, and no chicken blood appeared. After rubbing two centimeters in, Zhuang Rui stopped and looked at Uncle De.
Uncle De knew he had gambled away this time, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I won't wipe it anymore. I'll have someone take a look and design a decorative piece based on this shape..."
"Ha...haha, with this level of skill, you dare to gamble on bloodstone? Kid, don't lose everything and go home naked..."
Where there is gambling, there are winners and losers. This piece of jade is very small, and even if the gamble fails, the loss won't be much money. So the onlookers didn't say anything. But then a discordant voice came from the crowd.
Chapter 582 The Market (5)
Zhuang Rui looked in the direction of the piercing sound, and sure enough, it was that guy named Yan Kai again. Zhuang Rui wondered to himself, "Does this guy forget how he was beaten up?" Wasn't he afraid that he would beat him up again?
To be honest, Yan Kai wasn't afraid of Zhuang Rui making a move here. He had already asked around and found out that Uncle De only had some influence in the Zhonghai antique circle. As for this Zhuang Rui, he used to work at a pawnshop in Zhonghai, but later resigned and left Zhonghai. He hadn't heard of any background.
Although Yan Kai was arrogant and conceited, he wasn't completely brainless. He knew that his grandfather had already retired, and even if others gave him face, it would only be to a limited extent. If he couldn't find any dirt on Zhuang Rui, it would be quite difficult to find someone to deal with him.