Before Yan Kai could finish speaking, he was stopped by the villager. After hearing what he said, Young Master Yan felt extremely aggrieved.
Chapter 590 Melon Noise
"Young Master Yan has plenty of money, boss, your vision is far too short-sighted..."
Zhuang Rui and Yang Wei worked together to move a stone weighing about forty pounds onto the stone cutting machine. They even turned around and joked with the villager. Yan Kai, who was standing to the side, was so angry that his face turned green.
"This is a small business, I don't offer credit..."
The villager was probably a bit stubborn. He twisted his neck and retorted to Zhuang Rui, afraid that Zhuang Rui wouldn't pay him back after using the material. He then wrote a number in a small notebook, calculating how many pieces of material Zhuang Rui would cut.
"You..."
Zhuang Rui was speechless. He had seen money-grubbers before, but he had never seen one this extreme. It was like reaching into a coffin – desperate for money. He was comparable to Mr. Yao Si, the owner of the antique shop on the Qinhuai River in Nanjing.
"Damn it, it's just 400 yuan, have you never seen money before?"
Young Master Yan, already furious after being teased by Zhuang Rui, turned even uglier. He took out a few RMB bills from his wallet and threw them at the villager's feet.
People who are obsessed with money usually don't care much about saving face. The villager picked up the money with a smile, and when he checked it, he found that there was an extra 200 yuan. His face beamed like a chrysanthemum.
Zhuang Rui shook his head. Yan Kai was just a spoiled brat. It would be beneath him to argue with him. He didn't provoke Yan Kai any further, straightened the stone he was going to cut, and turned on the power to the stone cutter.
This piece of material, weighing over 40 kilograms, is not a reddish chicken-blood stone. Its base color is black, and it's not very pure, with a slight grayish-yellow tint. The icy texture is wood grain, which is also quite ordinary, belonging to the mid-to-low-grade material among seal materials.
As the name suggests, wood grain jelly is a material with a blend of yellow and black colors, sometimes with a hint of grayish-white, arranged in an orderly fashion, resembling the grain of wood. It is a relatively common material for seals.
Zhuang Rui bought this piece of stone because it weighed over 40 jin and could yield nearly half of the material for seals. It was perfect for selling at Xuanruizhai, since most of the people visiting Panjiayuan were tourists from all over the country, mostly ordinary people, and no one would buy seals worth tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Seals made from this type of material range in price from tens to hundreds of yuan, with the most expensive being only three to five hundred yuan. Most people can afford it. Although this stone is large, Zhuang Rui only spent a little over 6,000 yuan to buy it, which is a very good deal compared to the seal stone that was cut out.
If you can get about 20 jin of material, you can break it down into about a hundred seals, which can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan. Although Zhuang Rui doesn't make money from this stuff, it's a good way to attract customers. A shop can't just sell high-end items; mid- to low-end items are also essential.
With the sound of the stone cutter starting up, Zhuang Rui used the alloy gear to cut directly into the middle of the stone. Amidst the flying stone chips, the huge stone was split in two.
"Sigh, it's black, it's worthless..."
"Yes, the material isn't very good; it's worth at most tens of thousands of yuan..."
"Even Teacher Zhuang makes mistakes sometimes?"
"You can't say that. This piece of jade isn't very good. I guess it wasn't expensive, so we definitely won't lose money..."
The onlookers were all knowledgeable people. After seeing the cut of Zhuang Rui's bloodstone, they started discussing it. However, these people had high standards and didn't think much of the wood grain jade.
Zhuang Rui ignored them, pretended to examine the cut surface, drew on the material with chalk, and then used a stone cutter to break down the two stones into fist-sized pieces. Zhuang Rui removed the excess and useless stones.
"One cut, two cuts, three cuts... Hey, I'm telling you, you've made more than ten cuts already..."
While Zhuang Rui was working, the greedy boss kept looking miserable. When others cut stones, they usually made one cut, or at most two or three cuts, but Zhuang Rui made more than ten cuts on this one stone. The boss couldn't help but yell loudly.
"What's wrong? We agreed on 150 yuan per stone, what business is it of yours how many cuts I make?"
Zhuang Rui replied with a smile, and seeing the money-grubbing boss's face twitch with heartache, Zhuang Rui was secretly overjoyed.
"Hey, I told you to give him 150 yuan per use, why are you asking me for 200?"
Young Master Yan realized what was happening and grabbed the villager.
"Let go, stop touching me. You were the one who said 200, what does that have to do with me?"
People from the mountains are often fierce. The boss glared at him, which startled Young Master Yan so much that he quickly let go of his hand. Although he had two bodyguards with him, this was another territory, and he would definitely be at a disadvantage if a fight broke out. Besides, Young Master Yan vaguely remembered that when he first arrived, Zhuang Rui seemed to be negotiating prices with this boss.
After Zhuang Rui unraveled the stone, the onlookers gradually dispersed. They had come here to buy chicken-blood stone, so watching the excitement for a while was enough.
"Someone like you, calling yourself a teacher, will only produce garbage..."
Yan Kai didn't leave. He stood to the side and mocked Zhuang Rui. He had figured it out earlier. The piece of material that Zhuang Rui had unearthed didn't seem to be very good. This gave him another opportunity to ridicule Zhuang Rui. But this guy didn't seem to realize that he had lost a lot of money on the material he bought for six or seven hundred thousand yuan. What right did he have to talk about Zhuang Rui?
"Hey, aren't you annoying? Get lost if you have nothing to do, don't get in my way..."
When Zhuang Rui was cutting open the second piece of jade, he couldn't stand Yan Kai's nagging any longer and glared at him.
"I'm happy, so you bought this place? I like staying here, it's none of your business..."
Yan Kai lost face again today, and his six or seven hundred thousand yuan went down the drain. He was determined to provoke Zhuang Rui into making a move today so he could find a handle against him.
Zhuang Rui didn't let him provoke him. He turned around and greeted Peng Fei, "Peng Fei, get him out of here..."
Peng Fei, who had been getting a bit annoyed, grabbed Yan Kai by the collar after hearing Zhuang Rui's words and lifted him up with force. Despite being only a little over 1.7 meters tall, Peng Fei lifted the seemingly strong Yan Kai with just one hand.
Yan Kai kicked wildly with his feet dangling in the air, shouting, "Let go! Let me go! I'll report you for assault!"
One of Yan Kai's bodyguards rushed up at this moment. Although he couldn't beat Peng Fei, he was afraid that if he just stood by and watched his employer get beaten, he would definitely be fired when he got back.
"Get lost..."
With one hand, Peng Fei threw Yan Kai toward the bodyguard who was rushing towards him. He was very careful with his strength, and the bodyguard caught Yan Kai easily.
"You surnamed Zhuang, you hit someone, just wait, you'll get what's coming to you..."
Yan Kai pushed away the bodyguard who was supporting him and started cursing at Zhuang Rui. But when he saw Peng Fei coming over again, he quickly got into the car. After the two bodyguards got in, the car drove off like a puff of smoke.
"So, did you get the picture?"
Sitting in the passenger seat, Yan Kai looked at the bodyguard in the back. "I just tested the waters myself, and my neck is still a bit sore."
"Young Master Yan, no problem, I've taken pictures of everything..."
The bodyguard behind him nodded quickly and handed over the camera he was holding.
"Let me see..."
After Yan Kai took it, he turned on the home DV camera and flipped to the front. However, the more he looked at it, the uglier his expression became, until he was practically gritting his teeth.
"Young Master Yan, how was the filming?"
The bodyguard leaned closer and asked.
"Fine, fine, fuck you! This is what you filmed, damn it! Those two girls are dressed like mummies, why did you film them? You idiot, you made me get beaten up for nothing..."
Yan Kai turned around, grabbed the DV camera, and smashed it down on the bodyguard in the back row. What kind of film was this? The footage was full of Qin Xuanbing and Song Xingjun whispering to each other, with only the final scene of Yan Kai hugging the bodyguard captured.
The girl was indeed beautiful, but she ruined Yan Kai's brilliant plan.
The bodyguard was stunned when he heard Yan Kai's words. Just now, when Peng Fei lifted Yan Kai off the ground by his collar with one hand, Qin Xuanbing and Song Xingjun both gasped and covered their mouths with their hands. Their surprised expressions drew their attention to the scene, which is why they missed capturing the moment when Peng Fei was lifting Yan Kai.
However, he was in the wrong, so the bodyguard covered his head and stopped talking. Let the young master vent his anger first.
"Young Master Yan, how about we go back and film it again?"
Seeing that Yan Kai had smashed the battery off the DV camera, the bodyguard driving the car couldn't stand it anymore and cautiously offered a suggestion.
"Are you an idiot? You want me to go get another beating?"
If Yan Kai hadn't seen the driver driving, he would have wanted to beat him up too, but there was nothing he could do now.
"Let's go, back to Changhua. Drive faster, I don't believe we can't deal with them..."
After a moment of stunned silence, Yan Kai pointed in the direction of Changhua. It wasn't that he didn't know anyone around there, but asking others for help would be a bit embarrassing, and those who lacked ability were often the most concerned about saving face.
Zhuang Rui didn't care about Young Master Yan at all. Even if his father was a retired high-ranking official, could he possibly be a higher-ranking official than his uncle? So after getting rid of Yan Kai, the fly that kept buzzing in his ear, Zhuang Rui focused all his attention on the stones.
Several hundred kilograms of stone material can only be broken into a dozen or twenty pieces. Under the continuous operation of the stone cutting machine, the pieces are broken down one by one. Zhuang Rui's movements are so skillful that even Uncle De nodded in approval. He would never be able to operate so well if he were in Zhuang Rui's shoes.
"Zhuang Rui, take a rest..."
This stone-cutting work was purely physical labor. After working for more than an hour, Zhuang Rui's clothes were soaked with sweat, and his hair was wet, as if he had just washed it.
Chapter 591 Top-Grade
Taking the tissue Qin Xuanbing handed him, Zhuang Rui glanced at the few stones left and said, "Wei-ge, you and Peng Fei go to Uncle Wang's house and drive the car down. After we finish cutting a few more stones, we'll head back to Zhonghai tonight..."
Zhuang Rui was exhausted and sweating profusely today, and he really didn't want to stay in this mountain valley any longer. Although he could take a bath by boiling some hot water, it was still inconvenient. It was only a little past four o'clock now, and he would leave as soon as he finished removing these two stones. He could return to Zhonghai by 10 p.m. at the latest.
"Okay, let's go now..."
Yang Wei agreed. After staying there for two days, he was getting a little bored. After all, he didn't know anything about chicken blood stone and could only follow along and watch the excitement.
"Don't forget to give Uncle Wang the money..."
Zhuang Rui called out from behind.
The remaining two pieces of stone were not large. Zhuang Rui did not cut the stone, but used a grinding wheel to remove the excess stone skin. He finished in just a few minutes. He guessed that Yang Wei and Peng Fei had not even arrived at Old Wang's house yet.
As a result, the number of people queuing up to have their stones cut after selecting them from the market gradually increased. Unlike jadeite, chicken blood stone is much less valuable if it is cut in half.
Large pieces of stone, even if they are cut badly, can still be used to make seals or decorative items based on their shape, so many people plan to break them down and take them home.
Zhuang Rui spent the entire afternoon examining the stones, and a few people were watching. Regardless of the quality, almost every piece of the chicken-blood stone that Zhuang Rui selected was of good quality. From this point of view alone, it was definitely a sure thing that he would make a profit.
"Teacher Zhuang, have you finished using the machine?"
Someone nearby noticed that Zhuang Rui had stopped what he was doing and came over to ask him a question.
"run out……"
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to give up his seat, Uncle De suddenly said, "Zhuang Rui, those two haven't come back yet. Polish that piece of fabric you bought for 1000 yuan and take a look..."
Uncle De had known Zhuang Rui for several years and knew that his disciple was not a bad person, but he was quite cunning. From the moment he wanted to buy that piece of stone that looked like it had a black base, Uncle De could tell that Zhuang Rui valued the stone very much.
"Oh right, Uncle De, I almost forgot about that..."
Zhuang Rui patted his head. The "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" stone had been in Peng Fei's backpack all along, but now it was in Qin Xuanbing's hands. Zhuang Rui quickly went over, took the stone out of the bag, and also took out a stack of banknotes.
"Gentlemen, I won't use the stone cutter anymore, you can use it. I'll just use the grinding wheel..."
Zhuang Rui bowed to the surroundings. He had been using the stone-cutting machine for almost two hours, and it had cost him two or three thousand yuan. He was taking the money to settle the bill with the greedy boss.
"A total of 18 stones were cut, and the grinding wheel was used 12 times, costing a total of 3,900 yuan. Sigh, this business is a loss..."
When the stall owner saw Zhuang Rui approaching with money, he quickly handed over the notebook, looking dejected. He regretted not giving Zhuang Rui a discount if he had known business would be so good today, as he would have lost over a thousand yuan.
"Here's 4,000 yuan, and you'll still need a grinding machine for this. You're really making a profit without any investment..."
Zhuang Rui, both amused and exasperated, counted out 4,000 yuan and handed it to the stall owner. He was really meticulous in his business; he charged extra for using both a stone-cutting machine and a grinding wheel on the same piece of material.
"It's a risk-free business; I spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy these machines..."
The stall owner rolled his eyes unhappily. "Dude, these alloy gear pieces are subject to wear and tear. They need to be replaced after a while. Of course, replacing one piece costs about the same as Zhuang Rui cutting a few stones."