Chapter 987 Finding a Bargain (Part 2)
When George saw Zhuang Rui's smile, he had a bad feeling, but he couldn't take back his word in front of so many people.
"Brother Zhuang, we only have 80,000 euros in cash..."
In Myanmar, jade gambling transactions are generally conducted via bank transfer, and few people carry large amounts of cash. In particular, Zhuang Rui had been instructed by Hu Rong to come to Myanmar this time, so he did not prepare much cash.
Li Zhen took out all his money, but he was still short 20,000 euros. He couldn't help but look at Zhuang Rui.
"Eighty thousand? You're still short twenty thousand. George, can I write you a check now?"
Zhuang Rui's actions made George increasingly uneasy. Looking at the rough stone weighing over twenty pounds on the ground, he shook his head and said, "Sir, if you can't produce the cash, I think... this transaction can be terminated..."
Although George was convinced that the rough stone he won the bid for was worthless and originally planned to salvage whatever he could, Zhuang Rui's actions made him change his mind, and he wanted to cut the remaining stone again.
After all, George is worth hundreds of millions, and he has already lost more than three million euros, so he naturally wouldn't care much about 100,000 euros. However, George was a bit too confident just now, so he is now using cash to try to terminate the deal.
"you……"
Zhuang Rui glared angrily at George, but he hadn't done anything very ethical either. He looked up at his father-in-law, wondering if he had any cash on hand.
Qin Haoran shook his head slightly. He only had a few thousand euros in cash on him. He had paid for all his food and drink in Hu Rong, Myanmar. Why would he need to carry cash? Otherwise, he would be constantly worried about being robbed.
Just as Zhuang Rui was wondering where to get the money, Lao Guo, who was standing next to him, suddenly spoke up: "Teacher Zhuang... I have some cash here, why don't you... take it and use it first?"
Yesterday, when Lao Guo and Boss Jin were gambling, many people wrote IOUs, but these people were all influential. After meeting Lao Guo today, many of them returned the money they had lost to him.
After all, 50,000 RMB is only 5,000 Euros, which many people can afford. They don't want to be chased for such a small amount of money.
So today, the bag on Lao Guo's back was bulging with money. If you were to ask who had the most cash at the jade trading center today, it would definitely be Lao Guo.
Don't be fooled by the fact that gambling on stones can be profitable. The high profits come with huge risks, and you can still lose money. Even if Lao Guo doesn't win any stones on this trip, the money he wins from just the gambling itself is enough to cover his entire fortune.
Zhuang Rui wanted to get things done quickly; paying for the stones was the most important thing. He didn't care about owing Lao Guo a favor, and said, "If it's convenient for you, Mr. Guo, then give me 20,000..."
"Convenient...convenient, hehe, what a coincidence today..."
Old Guo took the backpack off and unzipped it with a "whoosh." Even Zhuang Rui was startled; the backpack was full of money, worth at least five or six hundred thousand euros.
"Professor Zhuang, is 20,000 euros enough? Or would you like to take more?"
Old Guo was able to earn all this money thanks to Zhuang Rui. If Zhuang Rui hadn't unexpectedly defeated Old Master Tang, Old Guo would probably be in China right now demolishing houses and selling land to prepare for losses. So, let alone 20,000 euros, even if he gave Zhuang Rui 200,000 euros, he wouldn't even blink.
"Hehe, twenty thousand euros is enough..."
Zhuang Rui hesitated for a moment, then said, "If there's a good deal, everyone should take advantage of it. Since Mr. George is willing to part with it, Mr. Guo, you can keep 20% of this rough stone..."
"Hey, Lao Guo's lucky, he actually got a piece of the pie..."
"There's definitely something special in this rough stone. Master Zhuang has never been wrong when it comes to gambling on stones..."
"Yes, I also have twenty or thirty thousand euros here. I should have lent it to Professor Zhuang..."
Zhuang Rui's words immediately aroused envy among those around him. Although they could not discern anything from the fragments, given Zhuang Rui's status, he would never utter such arrogant words.
If it weren't for concerns about Zhuang Rui's reputation, at least half of the people in the room would probably have gotten involved.
“Mr. George, this rough stone is mine now…”
Zhuang Rui took the 20,000 euros handed to him by Lao Guo and gave it to George. Li Zhen, who was behind him, smiled and carried away the stone. The move was so fast that George didn't even have time to back out.
"Alright, I hope you can unravel the jade..."
George behaved very politely; after all, the stone had already been sold, and trying to back out now would only make him lose face.
"Thank you for your kind words..."
Zhuang Rui smiled, turned to Lao Guo and said, "Boss Guo, why don't you and Boss Jin work on other pieces first? This one isn't urgent. You can work on it at my place later..."
Having made such a splash yesterday, Zhuang Rui didn't want to cut stones in front of everyone anymore. Sometimes being in the limelight isn't necessarily a good thing. Today, just helping others examine rough stones had left Zhuang Rui feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded.
"Okay, okay, we'll do as you say, Teacher Zhuang..."
Old Guo didn't care. Even though Zhuang Rui had just given him two cents, he didn't pay much attention to it.
After all, this is a stone that can be broken. In Lao Guo's opinion, even if Zhuang Rui breaks it up and increases the price, he will probably only make a few million. Even if he gets two-tenths of the profit, it will only amount to a few hundred thousand.
"Oh, Professor Zhuang, this won't do! Everyone's waiting for you to cut the stone..."
"Yes, Teacher Zhuang, aren't you just keeping us in suspense? We've spent money on the materials but still don't understand them. We're going to be sleepless tonight..."
Zhuang Rui's words aroused public anger, and the onlookers began to clamor.
These people, who failed to obtain the Imperial Green yesterday, now have a rare opportunity to see Zhuang Rui cut the stone again today, so they are naturally urging Zhuang Rui to start cutting the stone immediately.
"Professor Zhuang, why don't you unravel it here today..."
Seeing the excited crowd, Lao Guo was also quite excited. He was just a nobody in the jade gambling circle, but he was able to get so much attention because of Zhuang Rui, and he was extremely proud.
"Yes, Professor Zhuang, please solve it first. We haven't said a word..."
Those at the back of the line also chimed in. They would definitely object if someone else cut in line, but since it was Zhuang Rui, they wouldn't bother with the stone cutting today. It was worth it to witness a master stone cutting live.
"Alright, thank you all..."
Seeing the situation on site, Zhuang Rui realized that if he didn't cut this piece of material open, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the stone-cutting area, so he nodded in agreement.
The remaining piece of material is not large, weighing only about twenty pounds, but it is a truly top-quality raw stone with thin skin and thick jade.
While Zhuang Rui was carefully examining the rough stone on the stone-cutting machine, George asked Steve with a serious expression, "Steve, do you know this Chinese man? Why is he so confident? Could it be that I made a mistake, and there really is jade in that piece of scrap?"
"I think I've seen this person at the British Jewellery Fair two years ago..."
Steve looked at Zhuang Rui and continued, "He must have won a grand prize at the last expo for a purple eye necklace, and he went to accept the award. That's all I know..."
"Judging from his appearance, he seems to be quite famous in the jadeite rough stone trade?"
Although George couldn't understand Chinese, he could still tell the attitude of others towards Zhuang Rui.
“George, fame doesn’t necessarily equate to competence. When Chinese bureaucrats go abroad, aren’t they all surrounded by a retinue of followers?”
Steve, who knew China very well, continued, "Maybe he's a junior colleague of that government official, George. You know, those people have a lot of influence in China..."
"Yes, that's my opinion too. But Steve, you insisted on breaking that stone earlier, did you see something?"
George nodded in deep agreement, but still had some doubts.
"Uh... probably not, um... it's hard to say, George. I personally think that stone is very likely to contain jade..."
Actually, Steve wanted to cut the last piece of material mainly because he was a little unwilling to give up, not because he really believed there was jade inside.
However, after hearing George's words, Steve originally wanted to tell the truth, but then he thought, what if Zhuang Rui found jade? If he said he didn't have any now, wouldn't it make him seem like he was bad at appreciating raw stones?
"Sigh, it's all my fault for being too impulsive..."
George slapped his forehead in regret, his eyes fixed on Zhuang Rui, who was drawing lines on the rough stone. ...
"Teacher Zhuang, should we use a stone-grinding method or cut directly?"
Old Guo saw Zhuang Rui draw a line on a stone with chalk, looking like he was about to make a knife.
"Let's just cut it open. I'm not entirely confident about this piece of material. This one cut should tell us everything..."
Zhuang Rui said with a smile that the safest way is to first polish the stone and then slowly carve it out. However, Zhuang Rui did not want to be so meticulous and decided to make a cut directly, even if it meant losing some jade.
"Click...click click..."
Zhuang Rui didn't keep everyone waiting long. After drawing the lines, he immediately started the stone-cutting machine. Following the white dotted lines drawn on the raw stone, the huge gears cut deeply into the stone.
The piece of material weighed only about ten kilograms. In just over a minute, the entire piece was split in two, with the smaller piece falling onto the ground next to the stone cutting machine.
"Whoosh..."
Li Zhen poured a basin of water he had prepared directly onto the stone cutting machine, and the people standing in front of it stared wide-eyed.
"It's...it's turned green..."
"I...I won the bet..."
"Damn, it's really gone up in price! Quick, let's see what kind of material it is!"
"Teacher Zhuang's title of 'King of Jade' is well-deserved; every cut reveals its green..."
On the cut surface of that rough stone, which was only five or six centimeters in size, a touch of green caught everyone's eye, and the stone-cutting site immediately became abuzz with excitement.
Chapter 988 Some are happy, some are sad
"You...you won the bet? Teacher Zhuang, I wish I had polished the stone first..."
Standing next to Zhuang Rui, Lao Guo was the first to see the cut surface that had been washed by water. Looking at the jadeite that had been split in two by the gears of the stone-cutting machine, Lao Guo's face was full of regret.
The gears of this stone-cutting machine are not thin; they are only used for cutting stones. Generally, for cutting jadeite, there are special tools. However, Zhuang Rui's cut damaged a lot of the jade.
"Uh... Professor Zhuang, I didn't mean anything by it, I just feel it's a bit of a pity..."
After saying those words, Lao Guo realized his tone was a bit harsh, so he quickly explained, "Who is Zhuang Rui? His skill in gambling on stones is miles ahead of mine. What right do I have to lecture Zhuang Rui?"
"Yes, Mr. Guo, you're right. I didn't expect the outer layer of this rough stone to be so thin. This cut has really cost us a lot of money..."
Zhuang Rui said it was a pity, but his face was calm and composed. In everyone's eyes, this was the demeanor of a great man. He had managed to gamble on a stone that was almost impossible to find jade, which was simply a miraculous thing.
In the world of jade gambling, miracles are never in short supply, and even the most outrageous stories have been heard of. But being able to witness these legends on the spot still makes the onlookers feel excited.
"Steve, go check... what grade of jade has been extracted?"
George's face was rather grim. Although he wasn't the type to be jealous of others' success, no one would be happy to watch someone else take advantage of their misfortune.
Steve nodded and walked toward the stone-cutting machine. At the same time, several jewelers and jade merchants who were quite familiar with Zhuang Rui also gathered around. Some of them picked up a small half of the rough stone from the ground and huddled together to study it in hushed tones.
"Boss Jin, how is it? What's the quality of the jade?"
"Old Han, tell me quickly, is it imperial green jadeite?"
"You're just making this up. If Imperial Green were that easy to find, what would happen?"
"That's hard to say. Teacher Zhuang has cut out imperial green jadeite twice before..."
What was considered waste by everyone turned into a huge profit after Zhuang Rui's cut. This anecdote sparked a lot of discussion, and some impatient people even urged the few people who were observing the jade to hurry up.
As for Zhuang Rui, he had been pushed to the outside by the crowd. He had been eyeing this piece of material all day, and probably no one present knew his performance better than him. Zhuang Rui was not in a hurry and smiled as he lit a cigarette.
"The water content is blue, which should be equivalent to icy jadeite, or even better. The material has floating patterns, making it a good material for bracelets. Judging from the thickness of the outer layer, it should yield about 80 or 90 kilograms..."
After observing the cut surface of the half-stone on the stone cutting machine for a long time with a magnifying glass that had a small, bright light bulb, Han Haowei gave his judgment.