With the two Euro checks in his pocket, Zhuang Rui breathed a sigh of relief. With over 10 million yuan, life wouldn't be so tight anymore, and he only needed to hold on for a few months. Once Qin Ruilin's shop in Beijing displayed the jade jewelry he'd won in this gamble, Zhuang Rui believed the funds would be recouped quickly.
"Kid, you've struck it rich, haven't you? Come back and watch your brother cut the stone..."
Song Jun came over and patted Zhuang Rui on the shoulder. Even with his wealth, he couldn't help but look envious. He knew the auction price of Zhuang Rui's rough jade: 185,000 euros, which was immediately resold for 15.8 million RMB. That's nearly a 10-fold profit. Even robbing a bank or trafficking drugs wouldn't make money that fast.
"Alright, Brother Song, I still have a few pieces of material left. I'll go back and check if I've won the bid. You can cut them first, I'll be back in a bit..."
Zhuang Rui had no interest in watching Song Jun and the others cut the stone. Ever since he heard Boss Zhang say that the final winning bid for that piece of yellow jade was 3.18 million euros, his mind had been on the auction hall.
"Hey, hey, don't run away! I'm telling you, I'm waiting for you to cover for me..."
Song Jun shouted something at Zhuang Rui's back, but Zhuang Rui had already squeezed into the crowd and could no longer be seen.
Although many jewelers have gone to the jade-cutting area to purchase raw materials, the number of people in the auction hall has not decreased at all. Most people who come to the Myanmar jade auction come in groups, but now they are divided into groups: some are selecting the cut jade materials, while others are waiting here for the bidding to begin.
Zhuang Rui waited in line for more than half an hour at a query machine before it was finally his turn. After entering the number of the yellow jadeite, a row of numbers popped up: Raw stone number: 12586, winning bid price: 3.18 million euros, winning bidder number: 8367XXXX.
"That's right, it's myself!"
Zhuang Rui clenched his fist tightly. Although this piece of jade might not be the most profitable, it was unique. At least Zhuang Rui had never seen or heard of a piece of yellow jade that was better than this. As for the legendary yellow jade roast chicken, although Zhuang Rui had not seen it, he felt in his heart that the piece of jade in that case was not as good as his own.
"I wonder if Master Gu will come out of seclusion again after seeing this piece of material?"
Zhuang Rui looked at the words on the screen and grinned foolishly. He had given a piece of multicolored nephrite to Grandpa Gu, asking him to carve it into a national treasure-level jade fruit plate. He wondered if Grandpa Gu would change his mind about retiring from his life of jade carving if he saw this piece of yellow jade again.
"Hey, boss, have you finished your search?"
Zhuang Rui stared at the screen of the query machine for a long time, grinning foolishly. Impatient people behind him started urging him on.
"Just a moment, just a moment, it'll be ready soon..."
Today's numbers allow for the extraction of three rough stones that Zhuang Rui has bid on. He quickly entered the numbers for two more rough stones, and sure enough, they appeared! As expected, he won both rough stones.
One of these two pieces of jadeite is an icy type with floating flowers, and it is very large, weighing about 300 kilograms. Zhuang Rui spent 1.98 million euros to buy it. The jade inside can be cut into about 80 kilograms. Bangles made from this type of floating flower jadeite are very popular in the market. Zhuang Rui roughly estimated that this one piece of jadeite alone could bring him a profit of more than 200 million yuan.
The other piece of material was a colorless glass-type jadeite. This piece wasn't large, weighing only seven or eight kilograms. However, the outer shell of the rough stone was very thin, allowing for the extraction of three or four kilograms of jadeite. Ten years ago, this type of jadeite was completely ignored, but in the last four or five years, its price has skyrocketed, making it highly sought after. It's only slightly inferior to colored glass-type jadeite, but a grade higher than icy jadeite.
Of course, Zhuang Rui only has one jewelry store, so the return of this money may take a long time. However, Zhuang Rui has already made up his mind that he will selectively extract jadeite from several rough stones, and launch several jewelry pieces for each quality of jadeite. He aims to make Qin Ruilin in Beijing a must-visit place for those who want to buy top-quality jadeite, and establish a brand for high-end jadeite jewelry in the industry.
Zhuang Rui had this idea when he took over Qin Ruilin's shop, but at that time he was troubled by the lack of high-quality jadeite materials. Now that he has this batch of raw stones, the plan can be carried out. Zhuang Rui is not just daydreaming; he already has the ability and conditions to dominate the high-end jadeite market in Beijing.
In terms of consumer groups, the target consumers of high-end jade jewelry are obviously not ordinary people with salaries. A brooch or earring can be worth millions, which is not something that ordinary people can afford.
Zhuang Rui's target is those celebrities in the entertainment industry. With Ouyang Jun's cultural entertainment company and Xu Qing, his new sister-in-law, he should be able to promote them in that circle without encountering any resistance.
Another consumer group to consider is Ouyang Jun. The wealthy members of his club have great potential to be tapped. These days, it's no longer fashionable to wear a thick gold chain around your neck; that would be seen as being nouveau riche, and the only word to describe it is: tacky.
These days, the wealthy are all about taste. A thousand-year-old jade pendant adorns their waist, a jade thumb ring used by Emperor Qianlong for hunting slung over their thumb, and a pure, natural, imperial green jade cabochon from Myanmar on their index finger—that's what it means to be rich. That's what it means to have taste. It's like in the early 1990s when cell phones first came out; people either held them in their hands or hung them on their waists, as if afraid no one would see them.
Of course, whether the ancient jade was soaked with chicken blood, or whether the imperial green cabochon was made of plexiglass, is another matter.
Zhuang Rui's goal was to make these wealthy tycoons and fashion-conscious celebrities feel embarrassed to admit that their jewelry was not from Qin Ruilin in Beijing when they met and asked about it.
After checking the bidding results, Zhuang Rui was in a great mood. He walked to the entrance of the auction hall, looked at the still lingering dark clouds in the sky, and felt his heart brighten. He then went to the window to queue up to complete the bidding procedures.
Of these three pieces of jade, Zhuang Rui had the Myanmar organizing committee transport two of them to his villa in Pengcheng, each insured for 100 million yuan in compensation for loss. As for the other piece of yellow jade, Zhuang Rui had it transported to his residence in a courtyard house in Beijing. He planned to buy a stone-cutting machine there after returning to Beijing, since the place was big enough to put in the backyard.
Zhuang Rui didn't intend to leave this piece of yellow jade to Luo Jiang. If it were cut out in Pengcheng and Luo Jiang saw it, he would definitely feel resentful. So Zhuang Rui planned to have it cut out directly in Beijing. As for what to carve, he would show it to Master Gu first.
After completing the bidding procedures, Zhuang Rui returned to the stone-cutting site. It was Song Jun's turn to cut the stone, and as expected, it yielded a huge profit. It sold for over 30 million RMB on the spot, making Song Jun beam with joy. He and Fatty Ma came to Myanmar not entirely for the money, but to enjoy the thrill of seeing a stone yield a profit.
What troubled Zhuang Rui was that both Fatty Ma and Song Jun were quite "grateful," and they both said that Zhuang Rui had helped them choose the rough stones. This made Zhuang Rui, who had just arrived at the stone-cutting area, the target of everyone's attention. He was surrounded by many jewelry merchants who asked Zhuang Rui to take a look at the rough stones they had purchased.
Although Zhuang Rui was impatient, he dared not offend the public, especially the "Jade King!"
Even at his advanced age of seventy or eighty, he still enthusiastically helps people look at raw jade at every Myanmar jade auction. If Zhuang Rui were to refuse, who knows what these people would say when they got back, and it would immediately ruin Zhuang Rui's reputation in the jewelry industry.
To be honest, the Myanmar jadeite auction is incomparable to the Pingzhou auction. In just over ten days, it was simply not enough for Zhuang Rui to see all the rough stones. Just like the stones that these people have won the bids for now, there are quite a few high-quality jadeite pieces, and Zhuang Rui is quite envious of some of them.
When helping others assess rough stones, Zhuang Rui can only accurately predict the extent of the jade's value. He usually points out the presence of jadeite, though he might slightly misjudge the weight and quality of the jade. While he was examining the rough stones, some of the stones he had pointed out were already being cut on the other side. The results were almost identical to his predictions, further impressing everyone with his keen eye. Gambling on stones requires talent; it's not simply a matter of age. Otherwise, there would be no point in gambling; a bunch of old men could just compete on age. ...
In the following days, besides handling his own winning bid procedures, Zhuang Rui helped others inspect raw stones, which earned him the respect of many people. He was even given many titles such as industry leader, stone gambling master, and jade expert. If Zhuang Rui were not so young, some people would probably call him the "Jade King"!
Alright.
Chapter 478 The Top Bidder
"Xiao Rui, are the shipping documents for the rough stones all processed? Actually, you can always come to Myanmar to visit jade mines next time..."
Sitting in the lobby of the Myanmar National Jade Exchange Center, Qin Haoran asked Zhuang Rui beside him.
Today is the last day of the Myanmar jade auction, which has lasted for nineteen days. After the ceremony this morning, Zhuang Rui will immediately travel to Mandalay and then head to the Hpakant region of Myitkyina.
Qin Haoran didn't know why Zhuang Rui was so interested in jade mines. In fact, jade mines weren't anything special. Qin Haoran had also been curious and gone to see one before, but after that one visit, he never wanted to go a second time.
According to Qin Haoran's plan, holding Zhuang Rui and his daughter's engagement ceremony before the end of the year would be quite tight in terms of time. By the time Zhuang Rui returned to China from the Hpakant region, it would probably be the end of the month, and their children would also be returning to China at the end of the month, meaning the two young people wouldn't be able to take care of anything.
Qin Haoran had mentioned this to his wife yesterday, but Fang Yi didn't seem to care much. She planned to fly to Beijing immediately after returning to Hong Kong to discuss the engagement ceremony with her future mother-in-law. In Fang Yi's mind, such matters were naturally for both sets of parents to worry about. As long as the children were present on the day, that was enough.
"Everything's taken care of, Uncle Qin. Don't worry, I'll just go take a look and then head back to Beijing. It won't take long."
Zhuang Rui had originally planned to leave yesterday, but Qin Haoran stopped him, saying that there were still three sealed bids to be opened today, and the Myanmar organizing committee would also hold a ceremony, so Zhuang Rui might even win some awards.
However, many people were not very interested in the ceremony. Fatty Ma and Song Jun had already returned home yesterday. Of the jewelry merchants who originally came from all over the world, apart from those who bid on the three sealed bids, only eight or nine hundred remained today. Sitting in the hall, it didn't feel crowded at all.
Zhuang Rui wasn't particularly interested in the so-called last three rough stones. These three stones were semi-rough stones with cut surfaces, placed at the very front of the sealed-bid area, and were the three stones with the most frenzied bidding. In Zhuang Rui's opinion, anyone throwing money at them was a fool. Even if they won the bid, they might not make any money, and might even lose some.
Judging from the appearance of the cut surfaces, all three rough stones are impeccable. The cut surfaces reveal green color and there are no cracks. Furthermore, the jadeite in two of them has reached the glassy quality in terms of texture and clarity. The internal appearance is even more promising. If the color is more accurate, it might even be imperial green jadeite.
Zhuang Rui knew in his heart that none of the three pieces of jade yielded imperial green jade. Otherwise, he would have gone bankrupt to try and get involved. What good is a pretty cut surface? Any one of the 20 pieces of rough jade that Zhuang Rui had won would have a much better cost performance than those three. Making a fortune quietly is the way to go.
"Friends and guests, today is the last day of this year's jade auction, and the winner of the top lot will soon be revealed..."
After a group of officials in military uniforms were seated on the stage in the hall, the host stepped forward and announced that the last three sealed bids would be opened for bidding.
By this time, the auditorium had already removed the other nine large screens, leaving only the one behind the stage. As soon as the host finished speaking, the large screen began to change, displaying three numbers side by side. The numbers were so large that even people sitting at the back of the auditorium could clearly see them.
Behind those three numbers were countless changing numbers. At that moment, a person sitting in the center of the stage spoke a sentence in Burmese into the microphone in front of him, and the numbers on the big screen immediately stopped, causing a commotion in the auditorium.
"Damn it, they've all gone mad, they've all gone mad!"
"Yes, who has the audacity to gamble so much money?"
"Just wait and see, but this is just too outrageous..."
As soon as the numbers on the screen settled, the auditorium exploded as if bombs had been dropped, with gasps and murmurs rising into the air, as if trying to tear the sky off the auditorium.
"Lot No. 3, winning bid price: 12 million euros, winning bid number..."
"Lot No. 8, winning bid price: 23.88 million euros, winning bid number..."
"Lot No. 6. Winning bid price: €16.88 million, winning bid number..."
Three figures exceeding 100 million RMB appeared on the big screen. Looking at these numbers, the raw material merchants present were not excited, but began to panic. With the price of raw stones rising so high, whether the price of jadeite jewelry could increase by that much was still unknown.
At last year's Myanmar jade auction, the top bid was only 30 to 40 million, but in less than a year, the price of the top bid has increased almost tenfold. This Myanmar jade auction is like a signal to the global jewelry industry that the market positioning of jade jewelry needs to be reshuffled.
In the international jewelry world, diamonds are undoubtedly the most popular and sought-after. For over a century, they have been the most expensive and irreplaceable luxury jewelry in every country. Even the British royal palace is adorned with diamonds. Diamonds are the undisputed most precious jewel in the world.
However, the auction of this €20 million jadeite has challenged the status of diamonds, especially since there are certain groups of people abroad who love jadeite. It is likely that the jewelry industry in not only China but also other countries will be greatly affected in the future.
"Who took these photos? All three lots were won by the same person..."
"Is it Qin's Jewelry? Qin's is really making a splash this time..."
"I guess it's Zheng's Jewelry; they haven't made much of a move..."
The person who won the bid for these three rough stones was no ordinary spender, sparking speculation among those present, who looked around to see who could be so extravagant.
Because the winning bid numbers show that all three rough stones were won by the same person, meaning that person spent more than 400 million RMB on these three rough stones alone. This figure is almost more than the total assets of some medium-sized jewelry companies.
"Ah? It's someone from Zheng's Jewelry..."
“That’s right, that’s a director of Zheng’s Jewelry…”
"No wonder, only a company like this could afford to make such a large-scale investment..."
"As expected of a leading jewelry company in Southeast Asia, they certainly have the ambition..."
With the announcement of the top bidder, the winners were revealed. Zhuang Rui overheard the discussions around him and learned that all three rough stones had been won by Zheng Hua's family jewelry company, with a single bid exceeding 400 million RMB, demonstrating the Zheng family's immense financial strength.
In fact, the people at Zheng's Jewelry were also feeling frustrated at this moment. Every time there is a jadeite auction in Myanmar, it is also a time for various companies to show off their strength. The more raw materials a company wins, the stronger its raw material reserves and capabilities are. Many well-known jewelry companies are also eager to show off their strength.
However, Zheng's Jewelry had some bad luck at this public auction. Of the dozens of rough stones they won in the open bidding, only five or six were profitable, far worse than Qin's Jewelry, which won several stones in a row in the open bidding. Even some small companies won better rough stones. This made Zheng's Jewelry, the leader in the Asian jewelry industry, very dissatisfied. So before the sealed bidding ended, they bid a sky-high price on these few rough stones in an attempt to save face.
However, this prestige was bestowed upon them by others. While Zheng's Jewelry's extravagant spending certainly impressed many, it also provoked discontent among smaller jewelry companies. In the following period, some of these smaller companies banded together, causing Zheng's Jewelry considerable trouble. Meanwhile, Qin's Jewelry quietly flourished. But that's a story for another time.
With the final three rough stones settled, the Myanmar jade auction came to a successful conclusion. The person speaking on the stage was Myanmar's Minister of Mines, whose lengthy speech made the people in the hall drowsy. They would have preferred some Burmese-style songs and dances to attract attention instead of talking.
After the minister's speech, the awards ceremony began. Surprisingly, the largest transaction award at this Myanmar jade auction did not go to Zheng's Jewelry, but to Qin's Jewelry with a total transaction amount of 98.78 million. Zheng's Jewelry only regained face in the subsequent highest single-item price award.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the organizing committee, perhaps mindful of the prestige Zhuang Rui brought to this year's auction with his red jadeite rough stone, awarded him an Outstanding Stone Cutting Award. Zhuang Rui truly deserved the award, as all the rough stones he cut at this auction, including the two he helped Fatty Ma cut in the following days, were profitable gambles, with not a single one going wrong.
"Xiao Rui, don't underestimate this thing. With it, you'll be the most honored guest in Myanmar, and you won't need to go through any additional procedures when you go to the mining area..."
After receiving the certificate on stage, Zhuang Rui was both amused and exasperated. He hadn't received any award certificates since graduating from middle school, but unexpectedly, he was awarded one in a foreign country.
However, hearing Qin Haoran's words brought Zhuang Rui some comfort. Although Hu Rong had already helped him obtain the permit to enter the mining area, if that batch of gold really existed, perhaps this folded piece of paper could be used in the future.
After the conference ended at noon, Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei returned to the hotel to pack their things, and together with Qin Haoran and others, headed directly to the airport, although Qin Haoran was flying to Hong Kong.
Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei, on the other hand, were to fly to Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, where Hu Rong was already waiting and would drive them to the jade mining area.
Chapter 479 Mandalay
As he prepared to leave Yangon, Zhuang Rui felt a pang of reluctance. The past 20 days in Yangon had been filled with surprises and excitement, the dramatic ups and downs of open betting and closed betting, the ecstatic joy of winning and the dejection of losing – a veritable panorama of society in a Buddhist kingdom.
When Zhuang Rui arrived at the airport, he took a taxi, the same taxi he had taken when he first arrived in Myanmar. The fare was $5, but when he got out of the car, Zhuang Rui gave him a $50 tip. In the past two weeks, this driver had taken him and Peng Fei all over the streets and alleys of Yangon, allowing Zhuang Rui to fully appreciate the exotic scenery.
The driver clearly rarely encountered such a generous customer as Zhuang Rui. After helping Zhuang Rui take his luggage out of the car, he waved goodbye outside until Zhuang Rui and the others entered the waiting hall. It was unclear whether he was truly reluctant to see Zhuang Rui and the others leave, or reluctant to part with the seemingly inexhaustible amount of US dollars in Peng Fei's pocket.
After saying goodbye to Qin Haoran and the others, Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei boarded a flight to Mandalay. Once on board, they discovered that this flight had also originated in China, only transiting through Yangon. The flight attendants, crew, and the vast majority of passengers were Chinese.
"Young man, judging from your flight from Yangon, did you just attend the Myanmar jade auction?"
Not long after the plane took off, a middle-aged man in his forties sitting in front of Zhuang Rui turned around and started chatting with him with a familiar smile.
"Hehe, yeah, are you on a business trip to Mandalay, brother?"
Zhuang Rui noticed that the man was dressed rather simply, wearing only a T-shirt and jeans, and didn't seem like someone who was in business.