Zhou Xuanbing glanced around and immediately knew that most of the goods in Fang Zhiguo's shop were worthless, with jade pieces being the most numerous, and jadeite making up the vast majority. However, these were mostly low-quality jades with white, blue, or muddy patterns; domestically produced nephrite was relatively scarce, as the majority of customers were women. Women primarily bought jadeite pendants and bracelets. Nephrite was generally only available in carved pieces, seals, and ornaments. These were mostly purchased by true collectors, and those customers were usually experts who wouldn't want inferior goods. Therefore, even when they did stock such items, it was in very small quantities, and only high-quality pieces were purchased.
His shop is worth no more than a million, but judging from the customer traffic, the monthly profit is estimated to be no less than 300,000, which is not bad.
Fang Zhiguo asked the shop assistant to make tea, and he was already looking at the antiques at the counter.
Fang Zhiguo didn't act like he particularly wanted to introduce the goods to **, because it wouldn't be so easy to fool ** again.
Zhou Xuan had no interest in looking at these worthless items. What might be an extremely valuable antique worth a few million might be invaluable to others, but to Zhou Xuan, it was nothing special. He'd seen plenty of treasures of that value, and had even snagged a few bargains; they no longer excited him.
As soon as Fang Zhiguo sat down, one of his employees came over to report, "Mr. Fang, your cousin called half an hour ago, saying that another batch of goods has arrived at Lingzhuang Quarry, and he's asking if you want to go."
Fang Zhiguo was taken aback and asked, "The goods from Lingzhuang have arrived? Today?"
The waiter nodded and replied, "Yes, your cousin said he'd go ahead and wait for you!"
Fang Zhiguo pondered for a moment, then said to **, "Brother, look at this."
Hearing Fang Zhiguo's words, he smiled and said, "Old Fang, what kind of goods are they? Since they're calling you, they must be high-quality stuff. Could you take us to see them too?"
Fang Zhiguo thought for a moment and then said, "Hehe, there's no point in hiding it. This batch of goods from Lingzhuang comes from the largest jade wholesaler in Yangzhou. His supply is very wide. Not just from Yangzhou, but also from neighboring Nanjing and even Shanghai. Local jewelers, besides importing some jewelry from abroad, also buy a large portion of jade themselves and make their own. The selling price is cheaper, but the profit is definitely no lower than that of branded goods. There are far more customers in China who buy low-end products than those who buy high-end goods. He often imports from Yunnan, and sometimes directly from Myanmar. After the goods arrive at Lingzhuang, some jewelers and antique shops like ours will go there. Some will gamble and try their luck with secondhand stones from Boss Ling, while others will play it safe and directly buy a batch of polished jade. Some buy good pieces, some buy bad ones, and they basically sell out completely. Business is booming!"
Zhou Xuan had encountered something similar before in the south. That time, he went to Shenzhen with Fu Ying to visit her friend Yang Wei and gambled on stones. He earned the biggest sum of money he had ever made, though Fu Ying paid for it.
But it was on that occasion that Zhou Xuan truly experienced the thrill and excitement of gambling on stones. One second he was in heaven, and the next he could be in hell. The thrill of life or death from a single cut was being played out among the merchants.
This Lingzhuang jeweler is probably similar to the one in Shenzhen; they sourced their goods from Yunnan and Myanmar, brought them back, and then transferred the risk to jewelers in mainland China. They made money and eliminated the risk at the same time. It really is a gamble on secondhand stones.
Zhou Xuan suddenly thought, with his ice-qi ability, why not go to Yunnan and Myanmar to gamble on jade? The business is legitimate, and there aren't as many restrictions as buying antiques. Besides, genuine antiques of real value are becoming increasingly rare. With jade gambling, there are far fewer concerns. Jade raw materials are as plentiful as the sea; if he gambled on jade himself, wouldn't he be guaranteed to win every time, making money much easier?
Seeing Zhou Xuan grinning foolishly to himself, as if he'd found money, and wondering what good he was thinking, Fang Zhiguo quickly said, "Old Fang, we won't need to both of us. Hehe, if it's convenient for you, you can take us with you!"
Fang Zhisi readily agreed. He figured he didn't have time to argue with them anyway. He might as well take them to Lingzhuang to broaden their horizons, to see what real gambling and real players were like. Then, while they were still in high spirits, he could swindle a couple of inferior goods to cheat them out of a little money.
Lingzhuang is a quarry located 30 kilometers outside Yangzhou. It's not the kind of quarry used for quarrying; rather, it's a place owned by the wealthy merchant, Boss Ling, specifically for storing and processing jadeite rough. The jadeite rough Boss Ling brings back is stored there. Those that can be sold on-site are sold, and the rest are processed by him. He also imports polished jadeite from the south. Most of it isn't of high quality, but it sells very well. Local jewelers and antique shops buy it in large quantities, and they have many ways to make inferior jadeite look very appealing. At least 70% of the jadeite sold in the market is of inferior quality, but the average person can't usually tell the difference. Inferior jadeite can be made to look like the best emeralds. Go to a jewelry store; whether expensive or cheap, jadeite pieces or pendants are all a pleasing green. But can they all be real? It's obvious!
The name is Lingzhuang, but it really is more like a village. Perhaps because it's located in a remote area on the outskirts of the city, where land prices are cheap, Boss Ling's village covers at least 5,000 square meters, with factory buildings, warehouses, and workers' dormitories. The walls are six or seven meters high, and they're even reinforced with spikes and shards of broken glass for security.
There were more than a dozen dog cages at the large iron gate, containing more than a dozen tall and fierce wolfhounds that barked wildly at anyone they saw, their white teeth gleaming as they desperately chewed on the iron bars. Zhou Xuan didn't know much about dog breeds and couldn't tell what kind of dogs they were. After entering the Lingzhuang storeroom, he saw a large crowd, no less than a hundred people. It was even bigger than the scene he had seen at Shenli last time.
Along the walls of the hall, large and small rough stones were piled up. Zhou Xuan thought he wouldn't get anything good from Fang Zhiguo; that guy only wanted to trick them into buying fakes. He might as well try his luck here and see if he could find any rough stones with jadeite inside. He had the Ice Qi in his hand. As long as there was jadeite inside the rough stones, he wouldn't have to worry about not finding them.
As soon as Fang Zhiguo entered the hall, he separated from them to greet his friends. As a member of the group, there was no need to introduce him.
Zhou Xuan walked casually to the edge of the raw stone. There were many people there. One of them turned around, and when Zhou Xuan met his gaze, they were both taken aback!
This person was actually Fang Zhicheng!
Chen Sanyan's brother-in-law, the manager of Jingshizhai, is Fang Zhicheng, the one who drove him away!
Suddenly, I wondered, are Fang Zhicheng and Fang Zhiguo related? To find out what happens next, please log in… for more chapters and to support the author. Support genuine reading!
Volume 1, Chapter 125: Another Stone Gambling Session
When Zhicheng turned around and saw Zhou Fu, he paused for a moment before realizing...
It's true what they say, enemies are destined to meet! Both men harbored some resentment and hatred, but Fang Zhicheng genuinely hadn't expected to run into Zhou Xuan here. Back in Chongkou, after driving Zhou Xuan away, he felt a real sense of satisfaction. Later, when Chen Sanyan went south again, he had no news of Zhou Xuan and simply scolded Fang Zhicheng. After all, Zhou Xuan was just a casual acquaintance, someone he admired briefly before leaving. Of course, he couldn't very well drive away his brother-in-law, could he?
However, Fang Zhicheng did not reassure Chen Sanyan. But after being transferred back to Yangzhou, Fang Zhicheng's return to Yangzhou became less convenient. He was now entirely under Chen Sanyan's control, unable to do anything underhanded. Outside, however, he used his own money to do business. Although it was small-scale, only a few hundred thousand yuan at a time, it still increased his monthly income by tens of thousands. Sometimes, with good luck, he could even earn over a hundred thousand.
Today, it was Fang Zhicheng who called and invited Fang Zhiguo to Lingzhuang. Fang Zhicheng and Fang Zhiguo are cousins, and Fang Zhicheng had another reason for inviting his cousin. They had worked together before. Fang Zhicheng's own financial strength was somewhat lacking, with a total net worth of only three or four million, while Fang Zhiguo was much more well-off. He owned his own antique shop, and his business was thriving, with a net worth of at least thirty million. If he saw a good item that he couldn't acquire alone, Fang Zhicheng would invite Fang Zhiguo to help him.
Just half a month ago, the two of them teamed up and gambled on a rough jadeite at Boss Ling's place for 4.6 million yuan. The gamble paid off, and after cutting it open, they found a piece of icy jadeite. Fang Zhiguo planned to keep it to carve and process before reselling it, and the remaining material could also be used to make some pendants and rings. However, later, a customer from out of town offered a high price of 6.8 million yuan, so Fang Zhiguo sold it. He made a pure profit of 2.2 million yuan.
Fang Zhicheng had his eye on this rough jade stone from the beginning, but Boss Ling asked for a high price, and he didn't dare to gamble alone. So he invited his cousin, Fang Zhiguo, who also had his eye on it. Fang Zhiguo put up the lion's share, contributing 90% of the money, while Fang Zhicheng took 10%. This suited his plan perfectly. If the gamble failed, he would only have contributed 460,000 yuan, which would be painful but still manageable. His cousin, Fang Zhiguo, could also afford it.
Of course, the most important factor is the gambler's mentality. They are focused on those who win big in gambling, and the idea of getting rich overnight fills their minds.
Fang Zhicheng made a profit of 220,000 yuan that time and immediately became obsessed with gambling on stones. However, Boss Ling's place was not like the jade trading market in Yunnan and Myanmar. It was far from the original quarry, so the source of goods was not as convenient. There was only one opportunity a month, and sometimes twice a month if things went well. Usually, it was once a month because Boss Ling had to go to Yunnan to purchase the stones himself, and sometimes he would go directly to the quarry in Myanmar to gamble on a batch of stones.
Boss Ling also started his business in jade gambling, but he knew the dangers of it all. No matter how experienced you are, if you gamble for too long, you'll eventually lose. Nine out of ten gamblers lose, sometimes it's practically ten out of ten. He understood this principle very well. So after winning back the rough stones, he transferred the risk to jewelers and antique shop owners in mainland China, making them resellers a second time. The scale was much smaller then. Unlike in Myanmar, where rough stones aren't sold by the piece, but by the ton, you can't buy them one by one. If you only want to buy one or a few pieces of rough stone, no one will pay any attention to you.
However, after transporting the raw jade back to the mainland, Boss Ling would select the high-quality pieces with green outer layers, selling them individually. This would cause the price to skyrocket, allowing him to sell them at a high price. He even organized it like an auction: once a bid was placed, other bidders would compete. The highest bidder won, and so on. Generally, once players had bought half of the high-quality raw jade selected by Boss Ling, they had essentially recouped their investment. The remaining half, along with the lower-quality pieces, represented their profit.
After one round of gambling, Boss Ling's net income would exceed ten million, which was much more secure than gambling alone. He also didn't need to worry about others playing like him, given the large investment required. Most people didn't have that kind of extravagance or capital. Besides, Boss Ling was an expert and skilled player; newcomers wouldn't dare to dabble in it. Playing small amounts with him was already quite good.
However, some well-known jewelers personally go to Yunnan and Myanmar to purchase raw jade stones. But the risks of gambling on stones are too great, and they dare not gamble too much. After a gamble, they usually lose more than they gain.
Zhou Xuan and Fang Zhicheng exchanged glances and chuckled.
Zhou Xuan spoke first: "Manager Fang, what a coincidence! It's amazing to run into you here. This world is indeed very small!"
Qi Zhicheng chuckled dryly. Although he was unhappy, Zhou Xuan was, after all, a nobody in his eyes. He had forgotten about him after driving him away that time and thought he would never see him again in this life, but he did encounter him again today!
Although he looked down on Zhou An, that old bastard, when he met him, his resentment resurfaced. Since Chen Xing was transferred back to Yangzhou, the root of all this trouble was Zhou Xuan!
"Hey, Xiao Zhou, have you gotten into jade gambling too?"
Not understanding Zhou Xuan's purpose or origin, Fang Zhicheng first probed through conversation.
Zhou Xuan introduced the man beside him, saying, "I'm not into jade gambling; I don't have the financial means to do that. I just came to Yangzhou with my boss to buy some goods, and today I'm just here with a friend to take a look. This is my boss, he owns an antique shop in Panjiayuan, Beijing!"
Although he looked down on Zhou Xuan, the owner of an antique shop in Beijing was still much better than Fang Zhicheng!
Fang Zhicheng dared not be negligent and quickly shook hands with ** and exchanged business cards with **.
**A made a business card. In today's world of antiques, titles are very important. His business card reads "General Manager of Beijing Panjiayuan Zhouzhang Antiques Co., Ltd." The details below are even more extensive, including business related to international cultural relics exchanges. However, people in the circle know that a lot of things are just hype. If you don't hype it up, no one will pay attention. The more you hype it up, the more people will listen to you.
Fang Zhicheng's business card was much less impressive, and he put it in his pocket without even looking at it closely. Zhou Xuan, on the other hand, caught a glimpse of the words "Business Manager." Both were managers, but there was a world of difference between "business manager" and "general manager."