Fujimoto was only about four meters away from them. Zhou Xuanbing gathered his strength and heard Fujimoto whisper to Ito Kinji, "We need to be careful when we strike. We only have 4.2 million in strength. We'll make our move when we see the right opportunity!"
Fujimoto spoke so softly that even those right next to them couldn't hear him, but Zhou Xuan heard it clearly, even though he didn't look in their direction.
Once he was interested, Zhou Xuan would start thinking about how to set a trap.
Lin Shitu is still up for auction. This piece of rough jade was picked out by a small merchant who felt that although there wasn't much green, it was a large piece and looked pretty good. The key point was that the price wasn't too high, only 300,000 more than the 480,000 yuan price that Zhou Xuan had just paid for. The starting price was 780,000 yuan.
Fujimoto and his companion had just witnessed Zhao Lao Er's jadeite sell for tens of millions, and their excitement was palpable. Then they saw Zhou Xuan return. So they quietly moved closer. These two had inexplicably struck it rich; if you said they knew nothing about it, Fujimoto would never believe it.
Zhou Xuan used his icy aura to test the rough jade in front of Lin Shitu. There was indeed jade inside, a piece about the size of a bowl, though it was semi-transparent. The color was greenish-blue with blue streaks, and the texture was uneven, containing some impurities. This jade was of the blue-and-white type.
Although Zhou Xuan wasn't particularly knowledgeable about jadeite, having made so much money in the industry, he knew that good jadeite was judged by its green color, transparency, texture, and lack of impurities. Blue-and-white jadeite was actually of relatively poor quality; this particular piece had impurities and was uneven in texture, making it only suitable for jade carving. As for its price, he doubted anyone would even want it for five thousand.
Upon examining the detailed shape, Zhou Xuan immediately had a flash of inspiration. He sensed that Tengbenwang was watching him closely. He immediately lowered his head and said to Zhao Lao Er, "Lao Er, the rough stone that Boss Lin is auctioning contains jade. Let's see how others bid. If the highest bid is no more than four million, I'll buy it. Maybe I can make a fortune!"
Zhao Lao Er was still excited when he heard Zhou Xuan's words. He immediately nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, that's right. If you want to make money, take advantage of this fiery temper. Hehe, what incredible luck!"
Although Zhou Xuan lowered his voice intentionally, Fujimoto, who was standing close behind him, could hear him clearly. As soon as Zhou Xuan finished speaking to Zhao Lao Er, Fujimoto and Ito Kinji quickly squeezed to the front of the crowd.
At this point, two more people made bids: one offered 850,000, and the other added 100,000, making it 900,000.
Ten thousand.
The merchant who initially showed interest added another 50,000. The quality of the jade was excellent, reaching 100% authenticity. The bidding was a bit slow, but given the green color and other characteristics of this rough jade, a high price couldn't be expected, which actually benefited Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan stroked his chin, smiled, and said to Lin Shitu, "Mr. Lin, I'll offer 1.5 million!"
The price suddenly jumped by 500,000, which put the others on the defensive. After all, they weren't very optimistic about this rough stone. They only bid when the price was low, but if it went up, they didn't want to continue bidding.
Zhou Xuan gave Zhao Lao Er a smug look, which Fujimoto Tsuyoshi noticed.
No one responded. Seeing that Zhou Xuan was interested in the stone again, Lin Shitu naturally didn't want to sell it to him at a high price. After Zhou Xuan made an offer, he quickly said, "One million five hundred thousand, nobody wants it anymore, right? One million five hundred thousand, twice, one million five hundred thousand."
Before the word "ten thousand" could be uttered, someone said, "I'll bid one million five hundred and fifty thousand!"
Lin Shitu frowned. Why were there people competing with Zhou Xuan for this rare item? He looked around and realized that the two men who made the bids were people he didn't recognize!
Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge, Chapter 166: Blue and White Porcelain
When Shisho heard Fujimoto's cry, his heart tightened like a taut string!
Fujimoto finally couldn't hold back and made a move. Of course, this was all part of the trap he had been setting up. From Zhao Lao Er's to his own, the tens of millions of dollars in price were intensely stimulating Fujimoto and his partner. But what stimulated them even more in the end was Zhou Xuan's words!
Zhou Xuan composed himself. Lin Shitu assumed that Zhou Xuan wanted the rough jade, so he deliberately slowed down and didn't call out a second time.
Zhou Xuan smiled slightly, then raised the price again, saying, "I'll bid two million!"
This increase of nearly 500,000 made others hesitant to raise their prices, since most people thought it wasn't worth it. The raw material itself wasn't worth that price, so they remained silent. Zhou Xuan was betting that they wouldn't participate in the bidding; otherwise, with a large group of people involved, how could F have won the bet of a mere 4 million?
Another key reason is that Zhou Xuan is gambling on the fact that both he and Zhao Lao Er have the gambling spirit, but they really don't know anything about jade. It's easy to be impulsive when you don't know anything, just like Zhou Xuan and Zhao Lao Er's performance just now, which shows that money comes too easily!
The more Zhou Xuan raised the price, the more Fujimoto believed there was jade in the rough stone and the more determined he was to gamble on it. After Zhou Xuan added 450,000, Fujimoto said without hesitation, "I'll bid 2,050,000!"
The people who turned around couldn't help but smile. How could Fujimoto's meager addition of 50,000 yuan be compared to Zhou Xuan's almost pure profit of over 30 million yuan? In addition, his friend Zhao Lao Er also sold over 20 million yuan worth of goods online. Together, they had over 50 million yuan, more than 50 million yuan in cash. They could be considered very wealthy. Moreover, this was only what they had earned and did not represent their original net worth!
Zhou Xuan pretended to be stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I'll offer three million!"
When the crowd heard "three million," they couldn't help but murmur in disapproval. This rough jade was overpriced and not worth it. Zhou Xuan's approach was simply throwing money away. He had just made a fortune, so it seemed he wasn't an expert, but rather someone who made his fortune by luck.
Fujimoto caught his breath, feeling genuinely flustered. This was four million that they had managed to swindle over a long period of time. In the past, several million wouldn't have been a big deal for them, but now it was a very tight situation!
"Three million five hundred thousand!"
Fujimoto gritted his teeth and added another 50,000. It seemed Zhou Xuan intended to buy the rough stone, increasingly convinced there was jade inside. However, despite the rising price, Fujimoto felt a pang of sadness. Given Zhou Xuan's wealth and unwavering determination, Fujimoto was merely doing his best. He had no confidence in outbidding Zhou Xuan, and his savings only allowed him to raise the price to 1.15 million.
Sure enough, Zhou Xuan said in a deep voice, "I'll raise it to four million!"
Fujimoto felt a sudden pang in his heart!
That damn Zhou Xuan is indeed OnePlus again, another million!
Fujimoto's fingers and lips trembled slightly. He sighed inwardly; he was truly a tiger fallen into the plains, bullied by dogs. Even a hero like him was struggling to survive without a single penny!
Suppressing his agonizing tension, Fujimoto finally managed to stammer, "Four hundred...four million and fifty thousand!"
Zhou Xuan fell silent at this moment, as if he had vented his anger after those few words. Tengbenwang was also shocked and trembling. He had overheard Zhou Xuan saying that they could only raise the price of this material to a maximum of four million, and they would not accept it if it went higher. Now it seemed that this was indeed the case!
However, Zhou Xuan hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "I'll add another 100,000, making it 4,150,000!"
***, Fujimoto is just short of cursing them out!
This guy really knows how to bid, but it seems like he's reached his limit. Fujimoto, his face red and neck bulging, clutched his chest and said with difficulty, "Four million two hundred thousand!"
This was his final limit, and he even used up his last 50,000 yuan of savings.
Lin Shitu was displeased. He didn't know where these two guys had come from, going against his wishes, but he couldn't say it openly. Could he really just say, "Don't bid, I'm only selling this piece of material to Zhou Xuan?"
After adding the last 50,000 yuan, Fujimoto, panting, leaned on Ito Kinji's shoulder. However, Ito Kinji wasn't much better off; the two of them stared at Zhou Xuan with wide eyes, like fighting cocks.
Zhou Xuan shook his head with a hint of regret, then sighed, waved his hand, and finally gave up!
Lin Shitu was taken aback. This didn't seem like Zhou Xuan at all. Could it be that he was just giving up on what he wanted? Another 100,000 or 200,000 wouldn't mean much to him. Moreover, he could see that the two bidders from Fujimoto were almost at their limit. Perhaps another 50,000 would have crushed them!
But Zhou Xuan abruptly withdrew at this point. The experienced Lin Shitu felt something was amiss, but he couldn't quite figure it out. It didn't seem like a trap, since the raw material belonged to Lin Shitu; Zhou Xuan hadn't handled it and couldn't have negotiated with him. This ruled out the possibility of a setup. However, Zhou Xuan's bidding method was definitely designed to lure Fujimoto and the other man into a trap. But how could Zhou Xuan be sure that the two men would raise their bids? If they didn't, wouldn't he be the one who lost out?
It can only be explained as something that is difficult to articulate.
At this point, no one raised the price any further. Lin Shitu announced that the raw material had been sold for 4.2 million.