Standing next to Lei Lei, Wei Zijiang rolled his eyes upon hearing this and said unhappily, "Cousin, when have you ever given me 100,000 yuan for spending money? You've only ever given me 30,000 at most..."
Lei Lei widened her eyes and said, "Can't I give you an example? If you keep rambling, you won't get 30,000 in the future."
Perhaps because of his guilt towards Lei Lei and her mother, the maternal grandfather treated Lei Lei better than his own grandchildren after she arrived in Hong Kong. She was very pampered, so his cousins all treated her with great respect. After hearing Lei Lei's words, Wei Zijiang shrugged and didn't dare to say anything more.
"Zhuang Rui, how much should I bid?"
Lei Lei was a little undecided. The starting bid was 100,000, but at least a thousand people had come and gone in the past few days to look at this rough stone, and it was possible that someone would bid against it.
Zhuang Rui thought for a moment and said, "Let's invest 130,000, not too high and not too low..."
Rough stones like these that don't yield any green are generally rarely bid on. However, at jade gambling conventions, there are some people who have some spare money and specialize in picking cheap, poor-looking rough stones. They can afford to lose money if they gamble badly, but if they win, they can make a fortune.
Zhuang Rui's offer is slightly higher than the others' offers, but not outrageously so that the owner of the rough stone will notice something. If there are no surprises, he should be able to win the bid.
Some friends might say at this point, "The higher the bid you set, the happier the owner of the rough stone will be. In this day and age, who would complain about having too much money?"
In fact, sealed-bid auctions are much more complex than open bids, and involve many techniques. At jade gambling conventions, the owners of all the rough stones can know the sealed-bid prices in advance, which leads to a situation where bidding is blocked.
The term "bid blocking" refers to a situation where the owner of a raw jade stone is dissatisfied with the auction price and offers a slightly higher price to bring the stone back to their possession.
For example, Merchant A sets a starting bid of 300,000 RMB for a rough stone he owns through a sealed auction. He expects the final price to be 1.5 million RMB. However, the highest bid from others is only 1 million RMB, which is far from the price he expects. Merchant A then bids 1.01 million RMB himself, and the rough stone eventually returns to his possession. Whether he handles it differently or participates in the next jade gambling event is up to him.
It's important to understand that these raw jade dealers are very patient. They won't lower prices to sell their rough jade quickly. Often, a good piece of rough jade can be held by these people for ten or twenty years, simply because of its price.
Another situation where the owner of the raw material might intervene in the bidding is when the bid price in the sealed bid far exceeds the owner's expected price.
Using the same example as above, if Merchant A discovers that the raw jade with a starting bid of 300,000 has been bid up to 8 million, then Merchant A will also intervene to stop the bidding.
Because these people who deal in raw jade are all shrewd, a bid that is dozens of times higher than the asking price can only mean that the raw jade is actually very valuable and that the merchant A misjudged it. Usually, when this happens, raw jade merchants will choose to take back the raw jade and clean or trim the edges themselves to maximize their profits.
Of course, there are losses and gains in doing this, and only the parties involved know the true situation. However, these raw material merchants usually take a gamble because they believe that no one will bid high for no reason, and the possibility of winning is far greater than the risk of losing.
Therefore, bidding in a sealed bid is truly a skill. The bid must satisfy the owner of the rough stone without making them feel that the price is abrupt. At the same time, you also have to beat other bidders who have also placed bids for the same rough stone. Relatively speaking, it is many times more complicated than an open bid where bids are made on the spot. It requires not only keen eyesight but also the ability to understand other people's psychology. Both are indispensable.
As for this rough stone, given its poor performance, its owner probably put it in the sealed bid to try their luck. However, to prevent those who specialize in picking up cheap rough stones, Zhuang Rui offered a price of 130,000, which should be enough to secure it. For a rough stone like this, most people would only bid 3,000 to 5,000 or even 10,000 more, since no one's money comes easily.
"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll go to Grandpa later and ask him to put this number on for me."
Lei Lei took out paper, pen, and a digital camera, and photographed the piece of raw material from various angles. She copied down the label and, ignoring Zhuang Rui, excitedly dragged Wei Zijiang to find her maternal grandfather.
Zhuang Rui looked at the blue jade for a while longer, then sighed and stood up. Liu Chuan and his wife were much luckier than him; this was the second time they'd managed to snatch something away.
"Zhuang Rui, is there something good inside this rough jade?"
Zhou Rui, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. He had known Zhuang Rui for quite some time and knew that Zhuang Rui always had a reason for his actions, and he almost never missed.
"I don't know. Judging from the material's appearance, it was dug out by machinery in a new factory. But it feels good to me. If Lei Lei doesn't want it, I'll take the bid."
Zhuang Rui gave Zhou Rui a casual reply and continued walking inside.
"Brother Zhou, what do you think about me starting a jewelry company?"
Suddenly, an idea popped into Zhuang Rui's mind. The money he had earned during this period had come too easily, and it would definitely attract attention over time. However, if he owned a jewelry company, he could take the jade he won in gambling, process it, and sell it. In this way, people would pay much less attention.
Zhou Rui was taken aback when he heard this. He didn't expect Zhuang Rui to ask him this question. After thinking for a while, he said, "Zhuang Rui, I don't know much about running a company. But we've set up a mastiff kennel, and we're busy with a lot of things every day. If you were to run a company, I'm afraid there would be even more to do. As long as you think you can handle it, then go ahead and run it."
Zhou Rui's words were like a bucket of cold water, waking Zhuang Rui from his feverish head. Zhou Rui was right. Opening a jewelry company was not just about having raw jade. Jewelry designers, carving masters, retail stores, employees, and training were all needed. Just thinking about it gave Zhuang Rui a headache.
"Never mind, forget I said anything."
Zhuang Rui was somewhat discouraged and continued wandering around the sealed-bid area. Without Lei Lei and her cousin by his side, Zhuang Rui examined the rough stones much faster, sometimes not even bothering to squat down, just glancing at them and walking past. Zhou Rui knew nothing about gambling on stones and had no reason to doubt anything.
After wandering around for about half an hour, Zhuang Rui had looked at over a thousand pieces of raw jadeite with hidden bids. Surprisingly, there were quite a few top-quality jadeite pieces among them, but the starting bids were ridiculously high.
Just like Zhuang Rui had just looked at a rough stone with a good appearance through its outer window. Inside was glass-type jadeite, with a slightly lighter color, but it was quite large, and he estimated that twenty or thirty kilograms of material could be extracted. However, the starting bid was as high as eight million eight hundred thousand. Although he wouldn't lose money if he bought it at that price, the profit wouldn't be much either. Moreover, this was just the starting bid, and it was entirely possible that it would fetch tens of millions of yuan at auction. Zhuang Rui didn't want to get involved in this kind of excitement.
There were also a few pieces of material with mediocre outer skin that contained jadeite inside, and the quality and transparency were very good, but they were colorless. Such jadeite is not very expensive in the market now, and Zhuang Rui was not very interested in it.
The number of people in the sealed-bid area increased, with people stopping every few meters to observe the performance of the rough stones. Some of the better-performing stones even had seven or eight people gathered around them, commenting and expressing their opinions. However, since these people were there to bid, it was worth speculating how credible their words were.
Zhuang Rui stopped beside a piece of rough jade and listened for a few minutes. He found that the people were all talking nonsense, constantly pointing out the flaws of the rough jade and belittling it relentlessly. It was clearly a good piece of rough jade, but they made it seem worthless. If the owner of the rough jade were there, he would definitely be so angry that he would fight them to the death.
As more and more people arrived, Zhuang Rui's pace of examining the rough stones slowed down. There were people looking at almost every piece of rough stone, and he had to avoid their bodies to release his spiritual energy. Just as Zhuang Rui was about to go to the rough stone gambling area, he heard Fatty Ma shout, "Zhuang Rui, come here and take a look."
Looking in the direction of the sound, Zhuang Rui saw that Fatty Ma was not far away, just a dozen meters away. There were twenty or thirty people gathered there, seemingly arguing about something. Zhuang Rui had seen them earlier but didn't go over because it was too noisy. Now that Fatty Ma had greeted him, Zhuang Rui went over as well.
"Hey, hey, everyone, make way! Our top bidder from yesterday is here. Let him take a look..."
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui approaching, Fatty Ma shouted for people to make way. In truth, even if he didn't shout, no one dared to disobey, as the White Lion's size caused everyone to scatter to both sides.
"I heard that guy sold that piece of rough jade for over 30 million yesterday. He's really young..."
"They were just lucky. Who knows if Xu's Jewelry will go bankrupt once they get back?"
"Maybe this young man faked it? The world is a strange place... hard to say!"
Zhuang Rui walked into the crowd, hearing all sorts of comments. Some were envious, some were jealous, and some even made malicious remarks. It seemed that he had indeed made quite a splash yesterday.
Chapter 313 The Mark Rises, the Winds of Change Stir (2)
Hearing the words around him, Zhuang Rui entered the crowd and said to Fatty Ma with dissatisfaction, "Brother Ma, what you did was not very kind. Isn't this making my brother the target of jealousy?"
"I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry, Brother Zhuang. I never expected these people to be so tasteless. They're just a bunch of sour grapes. They're unhappy to see others getting rich. If they're so capable, why don't they go buy some raw materials and cut them themselves?"
Fatty Ma repeatedly bowed to Zhuang Rui to apologize, deliberately speaking loudly so that everyone around him could hear him cursing. He wasn't in this circle and wasn't afraid of offending anyone.
As soon as Fatty Ma said this, the people who were talking stopped, their faces showing some dissatisfaction. For a moment, the previously noisy place became quiet.
"Brother, take a look at this rough jade, is it worth gambling on?"
Seeing that everyone had stopped gossiping, Fatty Ma beckoned Zhuang Rui to the side of the wool. As soon as Zhuang Rui walked over, the two people who had been watching the wool quickly retreated, not because they were afraid of Zhuang Rui, but because they were afraid of the white lion following behind him.
When Zhuang Rui first entered this circle, he saw the rough stone. He was quite shocked. The size of the rough stone was enormous. It lay flat, and its height almost reached Zhuang Rui's chest. It was also more than two meters long. It was a behemoth. Zhuang Rui estimated that the rough stone must weigh at least two or three tons. It was the first time he had ever seen a rough stone of this size.
It is important to know that jadeite is formed by the desilication of sodium feldspar-containing rocks under low temperature and high pressure conditions, and it needs to be kept at 150-300℃ for a long time. The optimal temperature is around 212℃, which allows chromium ions to enter the crystal lattice evenly and continuously. Jadeite formed under these conditions has a very uniform green color. The conditions are very demanding, and it is difficult to meet all of the above conditions at the same time. This is why top-grade jadeite is so rare.
Due to the demanding conditions required for jadeite formation, most jadeite rough stones are not very large, ranging from three to five kilograms to three to five hundred kilograms. A rough stone weighing half a ton and showing good quality is extremely rare. The rough stone in front of him, which can be described as a behemoth, truly surprised Zhuang Rui.
This piece is called rough jade rather than a stone because it looks quite good. On the side facing the sky, there are mottled patterns and blemishes that are nearly a meter long and about half a meter wide. This means that this rough jade did indeed form jade during the earth's crust movement, and was later exposed to the ground and weathered. However, no one can guarantee whether there is still jade inside.
The moss on the surface of the wool fabric resembled dried moss, with pits and bumps forming many large and small patches of color and spots, somewhat like the moss by a pond, making it look quite unsightly.
However, these characteristics are priceless in the eyes of expert jade gamblers, because from the depth, shape, direction, quantity, and density of the pine flower color, experts can deduce the depth, direction, size, shape, and quality of the green color within the rough stone.
On the piece of raw jade was a bottle of mineral water that was only half full, and there were some water stains on the pine flower pattern, which must have been poured on when others were looking at it. It turned out that the two people who had moved aside earlier had come closer again after seeing that the white lion seemed harmless.
The older of the two spoke up to Zhuang Rui, saying, "Young man, what do you think of this rough jade?"
Zhuang Rui shook his head and said, "This is the first time I've ever seen such a large piece of rough jade. This is a completely gambled rough jade. Why is it placed here?"
The man in his thirties standing to Zhuang Rui's right pointed to a spot on the rough stone and said to Zhuang Rui, "Hehe, you haven't looked closely yet. Come on, look here. There's a window here, and the green has already appeared."
"Hey, that's true. This piece of raw jade must be incredibly expensive."
Zhuang Rui followed the man's finger and saw that there was indeed a small opening halfway up the rough stone, about the size of a regular textbook. Logically speaking, making such a small opening on ordinary rough stone would be no different from cutting it. However, on this particular piece of rough stone, it seemed so insignificant.
It was a little past ten o'clock, and the blazing sun overhead was shining directly on the side of the rough stone where the outer skin had been removed, making the area crystal clear. Zhuang Rui took advantage of the sunlight to examine it carefully.
To be honest, judging from the opening, the appearance is only average. Although it has turned green, the color is scattered, with patches of it scattered here and there. Moreover, the texture and water content are not good. It looks rough and dull. Zhuang Rui touched it and it felt a bit rough, completely lacking the smooth and rounded feel.
However, this piece of rough jade is simply too large. The surface appearance shown here certainly cannot represent the condition inside. With jade, the closer to the center of the rough stone, the better the quality. Who knows, there might be a top-quality piece inside this rough stone, which is why so many people have gathered to watch.
"See that? That's a real expert. He doesn't even need a magnifying glass to examine raw materials..."
Among the onlookers, some began to ridicule Zhuang Rui.
"Don't talk nonsense, the light doesn't matter much whether you use a magnifying glass or not."
The person who said this was clearly very kind.
Zhuang Rui smiled wryly upon hearing this. He hadn't planned to gamble on stones today; his backpack contained only swimming trunks and sunglasses, which he had been dragged along by Fatty Ma and the others. His magnifying glass and other equipment were in his hotel room.
"Zhuang Rui, look at you, don't pay attention to these idle people, they're all just people who can't afford to buy tickets and come to watch the show..."
Seeing that Zhuang Rui was somewhat affected, Fatty Ma quickly spoke up.
"Can't afford it?"
Everyone who can come here must have a net worth of several million or even tens of millions. Zhuang Rui was a little skeptical. Hearing this, he stood up, walked to the side, and looked at the price of the rough stone. He immediately gasped, "My goodness, twenty-two million two hundred and eighty thousand!"
"Brother Song, isn't this bid a bit too high? The quality is only average, who would dare to bid on this rough stone..."
Zhuang Rui was still speechless as he spoke. Although he was quite wealthy, he thought it was wishful thinking to try and bid on this piece of rough jade. Even if he gave up buying the villa and poured all his money into it, it probably wouldn't be enough.
"Who dares? Hehe, brother, you're underestimating me. Look, the guy next to you is a rich man."
The two people next to Fatty Ma and Zhuang Rui seemed to know each other, and they spoke very casually.
"You fatso, if we're talking about money, nobody here has as much as you, right? I'm still using the coal you supply."
The person who spoke was the older one, and judging from his appearance, he should be a few years older than Fatty Ma.
"Mr. Hua, you're insulting me. Everyone knows you guys have so much money that you're throwing it all into football. That stuff is a bottomless pit, and I can't compete with that."
Upon hearing Fatty Ma's words, Mr. Hua looked helpless and said, "Do you think we want to throw money down the drain? Someone's trying to give you a boost to the city's image, and you're not going to pay up? You'll be in for it later."
Perhaps because he's from this circle and doesn't have much interaction with people there, Mr. Hua speaks quite directly. It seems he's been holding back his grievances for a long time and has nowhere to vent them.
Although Zhuang Rui doesn't particularly enjoy watching football, he has some knowledge of the sport due to the national team's qualification for the World Cup a couple of years ago. He believes that domestic football clubs are simply burning money and their playing level is not very good. However, the players are all like stars, constantly earning high salaries and shouting about breaking out of Asia. But he heard that they failed again in this year's World Cup qualifiers.
“That’s true. Look at me, I’m just a country bumpkin who runs a coal mine. I’m always asking for sponsorships here and donations there. I’m just earning my money through hard work.”
Fatty Ma felt the same way and joined in the grumbling.
"By the way, please introduce him to us. This is a well-known entrepreneur from Shandong..."
After hearing Fatty Ma's introduction, Zhuang Rui realized that the man in front of him looked somewhat familiar. He had seen him on TV a few times before. He was the boss of a group company in Shandong with a wide range of businesses. In recent years, he had started investing in football clubs and was quite famous in China. He was a real financial tycoon and a regular recipient of the annual awards.
"Don't listen to that fat guy's nonsense, young man. You're the expert, so tell us what you think of this rough stone. In this circle, we're all laymen."
President Hua treated Zhuang Rui with a very calm attitude and did not put on any airs. It seems that the higher a person's status, the more experienced they become. He is far superior to those people Zhuang Rui has met who are always bossing others around.
Zhuang Rui couldn't accept the title of "expert" and quickly declined, saying, "President Hua, don't listen to Brother Ma's nonsense. I'm nowhere near an expert. Compared to the master next to you, I'm far inferior. Let's hear what he has to say first."
The man next to President Hua was quite pleased with Zhuang Rui's words. After seeing his boss nod, he said, "This rough stone is a huge gamble. It's certain that there's jade inside. And judging from the blackish color of the pine flower pattern, it's formed from the weathering of a dark green material. From this, we can judge that the quality of the jade inside shouldn't be low, otherwise the starting bid wouldn't be so high. What's difficult to determine now is the size of the jade inside. If the jade inside is too small, it might be a glass-type imperial green, and we wouldn't be able to recoup the price difference. The gamble is just too great."
The jade expert brought by Mr. Hua clearly didn't think much of the rough stone, but whether he meant to discourage others is unknown.
"What do you think, buddy?"
Fatty Ma turned his face away noncommittally and looked at Zhuang Rui, asking him a question.
"I need to take another look; I didn't examine it closely enough earlier."