"What a mad dog..."
After seeing Yan Kai and his two bodyguards leave, Zhuang Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief. With that guy following behind, he couldn't concentrate on selecting the chicken-blood stone at all; he was constantly outwitting Yan Kai.
"The Yan family is getting worse with each generation; the sons are not as good as the sons-in-law..."
Uncle De also shook his head. He did recognize Yan Kai's uncle and knew that none of Yan's sons were very successful and were basically supported by Lan Haibei. However, the two had no relationship and were just nodding acquaintances.
"Uncle De, let's not talk about him anymore. We really need to hurry up and choose a few pieces of material..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and shook his head. Although his background was much more profound than Yan Kai's, Zhuang Rui had never mentioned in public that his maternal grandfather was Ouyang Gang. He had the utmost contempt for those who constantly talked about their elders.
As they spoke, Zhuang Rui and his group had reached the middle of the market. This chicken-blood stone trading market was rather haphazardly planned. Whenever they saw an open space, they would simply string up a rope to mark the area and place stones on it, and that would be a stall.
The villagers who casually go up the mountain to pick up a few stones usually set up their stalls in good locations near the entrance, while the real investors in the chicken blood stone mines set up their stalls in the back. This is because even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake.
Compared to the villagers who got lucky, the materials from these chicken-blood stone mine owners are relatively more reliable. At the very least, they are dug from near the mine veins, and many of the stones clearly show chicken-blood red patterns or other colors.
The truly experienced domestic buyers are all concentrated in this area, and the sound of bidding constantly rings out in everyone's ears.
"Teacher Zhuang, Teacher Ma..."
Just as Zhuang Rui stopped in front of a stall to look at the materials, he heard a greeting. Turning around, he saw it was Mr. Wang Xiaoyi.
"Mr. Wang, you're also looking at stone materials? How's the market this year?"
Uncle De greeted President Wang with a smile and they chatted casually.
"Good stones are becoming increasingly scarce. Sigh, it'll probably be even worse next year. It's getting worse every year..."
Wang Xiaoyi shook his head. He owns two chicken-blood stone mines on the mountain, but the output is not enough for his company to consume. Every year, he has to buy a batch of goods at this market to meet the demand of the domestic market.
"Oh, Teacher Zhuang, you didn't deliver any goods today?"
Seeing that only Yang Wei had two stones in his basket, while the others had empty hands, Wang Xiaoyi asked curiously, "Shanghuo" is a term in the antique world, meaning to make a purchase.
As soon as Wang Xiaoyi entered the market at noon, he went straight to the chicken-blood stone stalls with relatively large mining scale, so he was unaware of the dispute that had occurred between Zhuang Rui and Yan Kai at the entrance.
"Mr. Wang, you're too kind. Just call me Xiao Zhuang. I ran into a troublemaker earlier, which is why I started looking at the stones..."
Zhuang Rui explained with a wry smile, "These days, even if you don't seek help, everything will come your way. There are always some self-important people who think they're so great that they wish the whole world revolved around them."
"Hehe, let's take a look together. This stall's bloodstone comes from the biggest mine owner in Yuyan Mountain..."
Wang Xiaoyi smiled, greeted Yang Wei and the others, and then went into the chicken-blood stone area to continue examining the stones.
There are two types of miners in Yuyan Mountain. One type is like Wang Xiaoyi, who mostly uses the stones they mine for their own use. The other type doesn't cut the stones and sells them directly after mining. This family clearly belongs to the latter.
This stall occupies a considerable area, more than a hundred square meters, and is neatly arranged in order of size, from large stones weighing hundreds of kilograms to fist-sized pieces weighing a few kilograms.
Twenty or thirty jade merchants from all over the country were selecting raw jade stones. As soon as Zhuang Rui entered the raw jade stone area, several people greeted him. Upon closer inspection, they looked familiar; he realized he had seen them in Pingzhou.
Although chicken-blood stone is known as the "Queen of Seals," large pieces of chicken-blood stone can be made into high-end handicrafts. Many jade shops sell chicken-blood stone ornaments, and many of the customers are owners of various jewelry companies in China.
"Xuanbing, you and Wei Ge chat outside, you don't need to follow me. We'll go back in a little while..."
Zhuang Rui glanced at his watch; it was already past four in the afternoon. Yan Kai had wasted several hours of his time. If the bloodstone trade fair hadn't lasted for several days, Zhuang Rui probably would have even considered strangling Yan Kai.
"It's okay, I'll stay with you..."
Qin Xuanbing smiled faintly. She liked to see the confident look in her man's eyes when he was observing and selecting stones.
After hearing Qin Xuanbing's words, Zhuang Rui didn't say anything more and started looking at the outermost large stone.
This trade fair wasn't very formal. If you put small stones out there, some villager might just steal them. This had happened before, so the stall owners all put the smaller stones around themselves.
It's important to understand that chicken-blood stone and jadeite are the same; their price isn't determined by size. For example, the "Big Red Robe" material that Zhuang Rui found yesterday, although only the size of a lighter, is worth over a million.
"Teacher Zhuang, what do you think of this piece of material?"
Zhuang Rui had just walked to a large piece of chicken-blood stone when he was called over by Boss Wang.
This is a rectangular stone, about one meter long and about eighty centimeters wide. The surface of the stone is very irregular, with some uneven areas. Zhuang Rui estimated that this stone should weigh about four or five hundred kilograms.
At the very top of the rough stone, a palm-sized piece of blood-red stone with a crack in the middle is conspicuously exposed. There are also blood streaks every ten centimeters or so, making it easy to believe at first glance that this large stone definitely contains a lot of blood.
"Hehe, let's see. What does Mr. Wang think of this piece of material?"
Zhuang Rui didn't use his spiritual energy. Instead, he carefully examined the distribution of the chicken blood on the stone surface and whether the blood streaks were seeping into the lower part of the stone. Judging from the surface, this should be a good piece of material, and he could take a gamble.
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Wang Xiaoyi looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to them, whispered, "The performance was just too good. I feel like it might be faked. Teacher Zhuang, could you please take a look?"
"What? Let me take a closer look..."
Zhuang Rui was startled by what President Wang said. He knew that chicken-blood stone was fake, but he had never seen it in person.
After receiving the powerful flashlight and magnifying glass from General Manager Wang, Zhuang Rui squatted down in front of the large stone.
To outsiders, Zhuang Rui's actions at this moment appeared perfectly normal; he was simply using a magnifying glass to observe the direction of the blood-red patterns on the stone. However, they were unaware that as soon as Zhuang Rui squatted down, he released the spiritual energy in his eyes, which directly seeped into the interior of the stone.
"It's not fake, is it?"
Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy was drawn from the palm-sized piece of chicken blood. As soon as his eyes came into contact with the red chicken blood, he felt a faint spiritual energy within it, similar to the spiritual energy contained in jade. This indicated that the red chicken blood was genuine.
However, upon closer inspection, the blood-red color was found to be very shallowly embedded in the stone, only about one centimeter deep. Below that, there were only ordinary quartz stones. In other words, although the material weighed several hundred kilograms, the blood-red stone was actually just a tiny bit.
Moreover, the palm-sized piece of chicken-blood red was not pure enough, and its quality was ruined by cracks. At best, it could only be considered a mid-range material. Even if it were made into a few seals or an ornament, it would be worth no more than 70,000 to 80,000 yuan.
"Wait a minute, damn it, it really is fake..."
Zhuang Rui found it increasingly strange. The red lines lacked any spiritual energy and had a layer of oily substance on them. After careful examination, Zhuang Rui was 100% certain that the material had indeed been processed.
Zhuang Rui once learned from Uncle De how to distinguish between real and fake chicken blood stone. He knew that there are generally four ways to fake chicken blood stone. The first method is the inlay method, which involves selecting several conspicuous places on the surface of the stone, digging out small pits of varying depths, and then embedding them with red mercuric sulfide paint. After the stone dries naturally in the shade, it is then polished and waxed.
However, this embedded mercury sulfide lacks depth, and the color at the junction of the blood and Changhua stone is harsh and lacks transition.
Another method is the immersion method, which is more complicated. It involves applying mercuric sulfide to the desired areas of Changhua stone, letting it air dry, applying it again, and letting it air dry again, so that the blood has some layers. Then, it is immersed in transparent resin to ensure that the whole stone is soaked. After picking it up and drying it, it is polished with fine sand.
Fake bloodstone made in this way will turn yellow over time due to the resin aging easily, which will not match the color of the stone inside. At the same time, the pores of the resin surface are relatively large, and when observed carefully with a magnifying glass, there are tiny scratches on the surface.
The third method, slicing and applying the skin, is only suitable for bloodstone seal material and is not commonly used, so I won't go into detail.
The last method of counterfeiting is called the "filling method." This involves adding mercuric sulfide to genuine bloodstone and covering the added part with a very thin layer of resin, then polishing it to create the counterfeit.
This type of method adds blood to blood, undoubtedly making it even more valuable. However, it also involves a mix of genuine and fake, so when observing particularly good chicken-blood stone, one must pay attention to and consider the methods used by counterfeiters in order to avoid the consequences of "losing Jingzhou due to carelessness".
The bloodstone in front of Zhuang Rui was made using both inlay and filling techniques. On the real bloodstone, some patterns were drawn with tools, and then mercuric sulfide was applied. This is where the blood streaks come from.
Zhuang Rui stood up and shook his head slightly. The Chinese really will stop at nothing to make fakes.
Chapter 586 Liu, Guan, and Zhang
"Teacher Zhuang, how is it?"
When Mr. Wang, who had been standing by, saw Zhuang Rui get up, he quickly approached and asked.
"Hehe, Qicai'er is not bad, but she lacks a bit of spirit..."
When Zhuang Rui saw someone nearby, he subtly mentioned something from the antique trade: "Seven-colored" refers to a piece of art that looks good but lacks spirit, meaning the stone is not refined enough. Mr. Wang should understand the implication.
"Sigh, people these days..."
Wang Xiaoyi shook his head, angrily took the high-powered flashlight and magnifying glass that Zhuang Rui had returned, greeted Zhuang Rui, and then walked out without even looking at the remaining stones.
Zhuang Rui didn't care and continued looking. No matter how realistic you made these chicken-blood stones, they were still fake. Leaving aside foreign ones, because Zhuang Rui had seen very few, as far as Chinese antiques and jade were concerned, there was no way to fool Zhuang Rui's eyes. At least, no such thing had ever happened yet.
Even if you imitate antiques and jade very well, you can't replicate their age and the time they were carved. But Zhuang Rui, who appraises jade and antiques, is someone who doesn't follow the usual path.
However, after looking at more than 10 large stones that looked quite good, Zhuang Rui got a little annoyed. The reason was simple: the owner of this stall had added filler to all the stones that looked like they had chicken blood on the outside. They all looked good, but they were really all show and no substance, which made Zhuang Rui shake his head repeatedly.
The chicken-blood stone stalls set up by these mine owners are slightly different from those sold by the villagers. The villagers thought the stones looked good, so they brought them here to set up stalls. In fact, many of them are just ordinary quartz and have no value.
However, most of the stones sold by these chicken-blood stone mine owners are actually chicken-blood-red stones, but nine out of ten have been processed by the mine owners. Some have chicken-blood red as the base color, while others have other colors. As long as the material looks good, it has all been tampered with by those unscrupulous merchants.
As Zhuang Rui looked around, he gradually moved past the larger stones, and most of the stones in front of him were small stones weighing between seven or eight kilograms and twenty or thirty kilograms.
This area has the largest crowd because the larger pieces are of better quality and naturally command higher prices. It's better to choose some better chicken-blood stone pieces from the smaller ones.
After looking around the small stone area for a while, Zhuang Rui's expression became somewhat strange.
"Damn, do you really think you're some kind of master forger?"
Zhuang Rui cursed inwardly, feeling indignant. This guy was going too far. He artificially colored any fabric that had even the slightest bit of color. It wasn't even dyed cloth!
It's estimated that the mine owner's house is almost like a dye shop, because in these fake stones, not only is there chicken blood red, but also yellow, blue, purple, black and other colors.
"Xuanbing, Uncle De, let's go. It's getting late, let's go back for dinner..."
In a fit of anger, Zhuang Rui stopped looking. Besides, the sun was about to set, and the light in the glazed tile shed was gradually dimming. Anyway, the bloodstone transaction would last for several days, so Zhuang Rui wasn't in a hurry.
"Alright, let's come earlier tomorrow. Anyway, you're just filling up the quota for the bloodstone, so we don't need to be too picky about the quality. Sigh, the quality these days..."
With Uncle De's keen eye, he naturally noticed something amiss. These days, counterfeiting of antiques and jade has evolved from fake finished products to forging raw materials, making it even more difficult to guard against. ...
"Uncle Wang, your cooking skills are good enough to be a head chef in a five-star hotel..."
After returning to Old Wang's house and having dinner, Zhuang Rui and the others praised the dishes. Not to mention the pheasant and wild boar, even the stir-fried bok choy with monkey head mushrooms made Zhuang Rui, who had never lived in the countryside before, very hungry.
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it, I'm glad you like it, Brother Zhuang, I really want to thank you today. By the way, from now on, whenever any of you come to my place, your food and lodging will be completely free..."
Old Wang still had that same honest smile on his face, but now his net worth had skyrocketed. Although in the past, people in Yuyanshan Village had dug up chicken-blood stones that sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan, Old Wang had undoubtedly set a new record in the village with a stone worth 600,000 yuan.
The market was right at the village entrance, and there were quite a few villagers there at the time. In less than 10 minutes, the whole village was bustling with excitement. Throughout the afternoon, people from the village came in an endless stream to congratulate him. Old Wang promised to hold a three-day feast after the trade fair ended before letting everyone leave.
"Hehe, Uncle Wang, if someone is giving you money, just accept it. No need to thank me. This is a separate matter from the accommodation fee; we still have to pay for it..."
When Zhuang Rui heard Old Wang mention this, he couldn't help but smile. Yan Kai had been so boastful before, Zhuang Rui thought he was very wealthy, but he didn't expect that he would be taken away by Old Cao after only buying four or five stones. In the end, he only spent six or seven hundred thousand, which made Zhuang Rui feel very unsatisfied.
If he went directly to the fake rough stone area, Zhuang Rui was absolutely confident he could make him cough up millions, and it would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog—gone forever. But even if Yan Kai spent six or seven hundred thousand to buy the stone, it would probably only be worth ten or twenty thousand after it was cut open. Zhuang Rui really wanted to see the kid's furious face.
In fact, Zhuang Rui didn't know that Yan Kai didn't care at all whether there was any bloodstone inside the stone. He just wanted to annoy Zhuang Rui. However, because he was short of money and Lao Cao refused to give him any, Yan Kai was not very happy when he got back. He was now plotting something.
"No, no, Teacher Ma, Brother Zhuang, if I take your money, people will talk about me behind my back..."
Old Wang's old face was beaming with joy. After speaking, he quickly went back into the house to get the plums he had pickled last year, so that Zhuang Rui and the others could have a taste.
After a while, Wang Xiaoyi and the others who had returned later joined in after finishing their meal. They discussed matters related to antiques and jade with Zhuang Rui and Uncle De. Laughter frequently echoed through the small courtyard. ...
The next morning, Zhuang Rui didn't rush to the market. Instead, he, Qin Xuanbing, and Yang Wei and his wife took a walk along the mountain path. The place where chicken blood stone was produced in Yuyan Mountain was far from the foot of the mountain, and this area had not been damaged by humans.
The Jade Rock Mountain is quiet and beautiful in the morning. Spring has arrived, and countless unnamed flowers are emitting a sweet fragrance. The clear spring water in the mountain stream is so clear that you can see the bottom, and some small fish, only an inch or so long, are swimming in the water.
The group, their childlike spirits awakened, took off their watches, rolled up their trousers, and completely forgot the purpose of their trip. They started catching fish in the mountains and didn't return to Old Wang's house until almost noon.
Uncle De didn't mind, since he was accompanying Zhuang Rui anyway. After waiting for Zhuang Rui and the others to rest for a while, they arrived at the market at around 1 p.m.