If this piece of jade can produce 20% chicken blood (a type of mineral inclusion), it can be sold for at least 500,000 yuan. If it can produce 30%, it will be worth at least a million yuan. Even if it only produces 10%, it will still be worth 70,000 yuan. So Lao Cao's opinion is that it's worth taking a gamble.
"Okay, I understand..."
Upon hearing that it was a gamble, Yan Kai immediately waved his hand to interrupt Lao Cao, then turned to Lao Wang and said, "Eighty thousand, I'll take this stone. Lao Wang, you've gotten a good deal this time. Alright, Lao Cao, pay up and move the stone..."
"Wow, Uncle Wang has made another fortune this time..."
"Yes, 80,000, that's not bad..."
"It's all thanks to Uncle Wang's good eye. If this piece of jade has been a winning bet, it'll be worth at least several hundred thousand..."
Upon hearing Yan Kai's offer, the onlookers began to discuss it amongst themselves, expressing a variety of emotions including envy, jealousy, and admiration.
"Ninety thousand, Uncle Wang, I'll offer ninety thousand..."
To everyone's surprise, Zhuang Rui said something straightforwardly, then reached out and took two wads of RMB from Peng Fei, placing them on the 70,000 RMB he had just taken out.
Not only were the onlookers stunned, but Yan Kai was also taken aback by Zhuang Rui's actions. He thought how decisive Zhuang Rui was, directly using money to settle things. Compared to him, he seemed to be wasting too much time and effort.
"100,000!"
Not to be outdone, Yan Kai immediately shouted out another price, causing a stir among those around him. This pleased the young master Yan greatly. What is money? Money is a bastard, it's just for throwing money around.
"110,000..."
Zhuang Rui was straightforward; he simply took the money and placed it on the stone, implying that as long as Old Wang nodded, the money and goods would be settled.
Just as Yan Kai was about to raise the bid, Old Cao beside him suddenly spoke up, "Young Master Yan, this stone can only be gambled on for a maximum of 100,000. The company can cover that 100,000, but anything more than that, the company won't cover..."
"Old Cao, what do you mean? What's a few hundred thousand? It's nothing!"
Yan Kai was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then flew into a rage. Wasn't Lao Cao's remark a slap in the face to him?
Old Cao gave a wry smile and said, "Young Master Yan, this is what General Manager Lan instructed..."
"Hmm? Uncle said that?"
"Yes, you can call Mr. Lan if you don't believe me..."
Upon hearing Lao Cao's words, Yan Kai hesitated slightly. He knew that he was able to get into his uncle's company only because of pressure from his family, and his uncle didn't seem to like him very much.
Just then, Zhuang Rui glanced at Yan Kai with disdain, then turned to Old Wang and said, "Uncle Wang, 110,000 is already a good deal. I'm bringing cash, which is better than others just talking nonsense, right? I think you should take the money and sell me the stone..."
"Yes, Uncle Wang, this young man is sincere, let's sell it to him..."
"Yeah, no matter how much money that person offered, he never actually produced it. Let's just sell it to Teacher Zhuang..."
"Uncle Wang, that kid has no money, ignore him, sell him to Teacher Zhuang..."
"Teacher Zhuang is an expert in jade gambling; this piece looks really good..."
The onlookers realized that Yan Kai was just a figurehead; he had no money but was still bidding, and was simply causing trouble. They immediately started to jeer.
Chapter 584 Setting a Trap (Part 2)
"Who the hell said I don't have money? Who said that? I'll give you 150,000, I can transfer the money right now!"
When Yan Kai was ridiculed by those around him, his head immediately got hot. He shouted out a price and, to show that he had money, took out a card from his wallet and waved it around.
Seeing Yan Kai's flushed face, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but chuckle to himself. This idiot was such a fool, getting so easily provoked. But it was only a hundred thousand yuan, not enough to seriously damage him. To stop this fly from bothering him any further, Zhuang Rui decided to add fuel to the fire.
In the antique trade, the most common and practical method of trading items is to use shills to set traps, also known as "fishing." Originally, shills were used to create an atmosphere during the buying and selling process, but after auction houses started using them, it became a way to inflate prices.
Setting a trap and acting as a shill seems easy, but there are actually many intricacies involved. If the price is artificially inflated, it can easily backfire.
And "getting old".
This refers to scaring away genuine buyers, or being "trapped".
"It exploded."
"Half-baked" means that the attempt to drive up the price was discovered, and no one was fooled and followed suit.
Like when Monkey and Da Xiong set a trap for Zhuang Rui, that action was "explosive".
Zhuang Rui saw through it. So, people who can make a living in the antique business are not as simple as everyone imagines. If you're not smart enough, you'd better not enter this industry.
Moreover, it's not uncommon for shills to misjudge the situation and ruin the item they're trying to sell. Sometimes, the shill bids too high, setting an exorbitant price, and if the owner isn't willing to lower the price, the item ends up unsellable.
However, the scheme Zhuang Rui set up today was completely different from the usual tricks in the antique trade. First, Zhuang Rui had not discussed it with Old Wang beforehand, and second, Zhuang Rui was prepared to spend his own money if he failed to trap Yan Kai.
In addition, given Zhuang Rui's reputation in the jade gambling circle, if Uncle De and the others hadn't known that Zhuang Rui didn't think much of this chicken-blood stone, they probably would have been fooled by him. As for Yan Kai and Lao Cao, they couldn't see through Zhuang Rui's trap at all.
Moreover, Old Wang was playing his true colors today, acting like a complete scoundrel unlike what happened yesterday when Zhuang Rui inspected the goods. He put on an air of giving the goods to whoever offered the highest price, making it even harder to tell who was who.
"180,000, you want to compete on money, huh?"
Zhuang Rui scoffed, snatched the bag from Peng Fei's back, and ripped it open with a "rip," saying, "I have 500,000 yuan in cash here. Go ahead and name your price..."
In the parlance of the antique trade, Zhuang Rui has figured out Yan Kai's tricks. Bidding on rough stones is not only about the value of the stone itself, but also about the psychology of each person. Zhuang Rui is now betting that Yan Kai will not be able to swallow his pride.
However, the price of 180,000 RMB was about right. Zhuang Rui planned to wait for Yan Kai to make another offer, then back down and leave, letting Yan Kai have his fun.
"Hey you, stop just talking and not doing anything. People have already put up their wallets, so get back to the point..."
"Yeah, so what if you have a card? Dude, I have cards too, ICBC, ABC, CCB, uh, this is an IC card..."
"It seems this stone is quite valuable, otherwise Teacher Zhuang wouldn't have asked for such a price..."
In an instant, the onlookers around erupted in excitement. Zhuang Rui's bag was full of RMB, which was not just a lot of money, but also a source of a stir among the crowd.
"Brother Zhuang, I'll sell this stone to you. I don't know if he has the money, but 180,000 will do..."
Not only were onlookers jeering, but Old Wang also half-jokingly tried to take the money that was placed on the stone.
When Zhuang Rui saw Old Wang's actions, he was both amused and exasperated. Old Wang seemed honest, but he was actually quite cunning. If Old Wang took the money in front of everyone, he would have no face to ask for it back.
"No, I can't lose to this little punk. How can I lose to him?"
At this moment, Yan Kai was also having a fierce internal struggle, because he realized that he didn't have as much money as he had imagined.
Although he can buy any luxury car worth millions that he likes, they were all bought for him by his family as gifts. He doesn't have any business or property of his own.
The card Yan Kai is holding actually only has a little over 700,000 RMB in it. Without the support of his uncle's company, Yan Kai would never have been able to compete with Zhuang Rui.
"I'll give you 600,000 RMB, you little punk. You think you have a lot of cash? Then pull out another 100,000!"
Yan Kai's eyes were already red, and he shouted loudly at Zhuang Rui, his spittle almost splashing onto Zhuang Rui's face.
"600,000?"
Zhuang Rui was clearly stunned for a moment, and the smile on his face froze. This time he wasn't faking it; he was genuinely shocked by the price. He had thought that as long as Yan Kai could bid 200,000, he would let him have it, but he didn't expect this rich guy to directly bid 600,000.
Not only Zhuang Rui, but the area around the stall had become completely silent. 600,000 RMB was definitely the highest price since the start of this year's chicken blood stone trade fair. Some villagers and chicken blood stone mine owners looked at Old Wang with envy in their eyes.
Unlike jadeite or gold mines, the bloodstone mine has a very high barrier to entry; the equipment alone is beyond the reach of most people.
Anyone can go up the mountain to dig for chicken-blood stone. You can bring a few people, take a shovel, dig a hole, and call yourself a mine owner. But whether you can make money is another matter.
Some small mine owners only earn three to five hundred thousand a year, while now Old Wang's stone is being offered for a sky-high price of six hundred thousand. It's no wonder that these people are envious.
"600,000 is nothing? I..."
"Xiao Zhuang, don't act rashly. Forget it, let's not argue with him..."
Uncle De suddenly interrupted Zhuang Rui, but little did he know that what Zhuang Rui wanted to say was, "I don't want it anymore." Zhuang Rui's acting was really good, making Uncle De think that he was just being stubborn with Yan Kai.
"Hey kid, keep bidding! You think you're so rich? Don't play dumb..."
Yan Kai was smug now, holding his head high and constantly provoking Zhuang Rui with words. In fact, he was also worried. If Zhuang Rui really raised the price again, he wouldn't have enough money in his card.
"If you're so capable, you'll buy all the stones I've set your sights on?"
Zhuang Rui glared at Yan Kai, bent down and put all the money on the stone into his bag, turned his back on Yan Kai, and squeezed out of the crowd without looking back.
"Kid, you're no match for me..."
Yan Kai laughed smugly, turned to look at Old Wang, and said, "Old Wang, come on, I'll transfer you some money. You're lucky today, you old codger..."
Having angered Zhuang Rui to the point of leaving in front of everyone, Yan Kai, who had plenty of face, naturally couldn't go back on his word. So he took Old Wang to the two bank branches in the market to swipe their cards.
Old Wang was a bit confused. How did 180,000 become 600,000 in the blink of an eye?
When he wrote down his bank account number, Old Wang didn't even realize what was happening until the transfer was complete. He checked his bank account and saw a string of zeros on the card reader. Only then did he snap out of his daze, tell the villagers he was abandoning his stall, and ran home.
"Zhuang Rui, in our line of work, we need to stay calm in the face of adversity. How could you be so impulsive? Have you forgotten what I taught you before?"
After leaving Old Wang's stall, Uncle De scolded Zhuang Rui with a look of disappointment, because Zhuang Rui's behavior when he snatched Peng Fei's bag was like that of a child with red eyes.
Zhuang Rui glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before continuing, "Uncle De, you should be praising me..."
"Praise you? I'd rather punch you..."
Uncle De glared at Zhuang Rui with annoyance. He had always treated Zhuang Rui like a nephew, so if a fight broke out, Zhuang Rui would just have to take it.
"Hehe, Uncle De, I did a really good job, I practically crushed that kid, shouldn't you praise me?"
Zhuang Rui laughed triumphantly. What he meant was that his scheme hadn't been exposed, and the fish had taken the bait. In slang, "crushing" meant succeeding.
"What?"
Uncle De was stunned upon hearing this. At first, Uncle De thought Zhuang Rui was setting a trap, but Zhuang Rui's performance was so realistic that Uncle De unconsciously thought that Zhuang Rui had lost his temper and was acting out of anger. Who knew that this kid was still setting a trap, and he hadn't even seen it himself.
"Alright, you've graduated now. From now on, even if there's something you don't recognize, it'll be hard for anyone to fool you..."
Uncle De shook his head repeatedly. He found Zhuang Rui increasingly unfathomable. Apart from being inferior to him in some antique anecdotes, Zhuang Rui had probably surpassed him in authenticating genuine antiques and understanding people's psychology.
Looking at these young people in front of him, Uncle De felt a sense of old age for the first time.
"Uncle De, what I know is just a small part of the art. There's still so much to learn in antique appraisal, and I'm far inferior to you..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and flattered Uncle De, but his mood immediately vanished when he turned around, because he found that Young Master Yan was following him like a ghost again.
"Damn it, I told you to..."
Zhuang Rui was so annoyed by this guy that he started looking at chicken-blood stones from various stalls, specifically those with excellent outer skin but no blood inside. Before long, he tricked Yan Kai into spending over 100,000 yuan.
After wandering around for two or three hours, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Yan Kai finally stopped following Zhuang Rui. The reason was simple: Young Master Yan had no money in his card.
Chapter 585 Forgery