"Brother Zhuang, you also have a stake in this rough jade?"
Seeing how attentive Zhuang Rui was, Yang Hao understood the situation somewhat.
"Hehe, Brother Song and the others dragged me along to play, so I only took a small share."
Zhuang Rui smiled but didn't say anything more.
"Zhuang Rui, is this rough jade yours?"
Lei Lei, who was standing not far away, had sharp ears and heard the conversation between the two. She immediately ran over and pulled Zhuang Rui back, who was about to go forward to cut the stone himself.
"It's not mine. It was a joint production between me, Brother Song, Brother Ma, and me. So what?"
When it comes to Lei Lei, Zhuang Rui naturally has to tell the truth.
"Oh, then you go and get the stone cut first."
Lei Lei didn't say much, which relieved Zhuang Rui. If she had made any demands, Zhuang Rui would have been in a difficult position, since the rough stone didn't belong to him alone.
Zhuang Rui knew the direction of the jadeite inside the rough stone, and he worked very quickly without attracting much attention. At most, people would just think he was a skilled stone-cutting master. Yang Hao came from a family of jade gamblers and was also very skilled at stone cutting, so he immediately sped up his stone-cutting speed.
Even so, it took four or five hours to cut this half of the rough stone. By then, it was completely dark. After discussing with the organizing committee, Song Jun decided to cut the rough stone open that very night and put up several strong lights around it, illuminating the open space as bright as day.
The half-piece of rough jade that Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao had cut out had already revealed the entire piece of jade. A huge oval-shaped piece of jade weighing two to three hundred pounds was presented to everyone, shimmering with iridescent light under the strong light.
Chapter 226 The Record-Breaking Bid (Part 2)
"Have something to eat first. You two have worked hard today..."
While the jade merchants went to inspect the raw materials, Song Jun called Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao to the side, where he spread a newspaper on a rock, placed several fast food meals and a few bottles of beer on it.
"Hey Viagra, have you guys taken yours yet?"
Seeing the eldest brother busy arranging food on the stone, Zhuang Rui felt a little embarrassed. Wei Ge and Lao Si had been keeping him company all day because of his own business.
"Alright, hurry up and eat. I ordered this takeout myself."
Wei Ge rolled his eyes. He had just been wandering around when Song Jun conscripted him.
"Burp... That feels good, Brother Yang, have some more..."
Zhuang Rui had drunk baijiu at noon, and his mouth was parched. After downing a bottle of ice-cold beer, he felt instantly refreshed. Seeing that Yang Hao had also finished his bottle, he quickly opened another and handed it to him. If it weren't for Yang Hao's help today, he probably wouldn't have been able to unravel the rough stone by midnight.
After eating and drinking his fill, Zhuang Rui returned to the jadeite, feeling quite proud. Such a large piece of jadeite had actually been created by his own hands, making him somewhat reluctant to sell it.
On this piece of jadeite with floating flowers, green and blue hues are irregularly scattered in thread-like and dot-like patterns. Under the strong light of an incandescent lamp, it is as bright and deep as the night sky above, making people involuntarily mesmerized.
"The texture and water content are good, almost reaching the level of high-ice type. As long as you pay attention to the distribution of floating flowers when cutting the material for bracelets, you can produce many fine pieces."
"Old Han is right, but this material certainly won't be cheap."
"Yes, Mr. Han, you're so wealthy and powerful, we can't compare. When you're eating the meat, you'll have to leave some soup for us."
Listening to the conversation of the people around him, Zhuang Rui walked over to Song Jun, who was still watching Master Peng cut the stone.
"Brother Song, it's so late, what are we going to do with these two pieces of jade?"
Master Peng and his team quickly cut open the entire rough jadeite. The two pieces of jadeite were of similar quality, except that about ten kilograms of material at the edge was slightly inferior, which did not have a significant impact on the overall quality.
Song Jun pointed to a bank armored truck parked not far away and said to Zhuang Rui, "It seems the auction won't be going to happen today. I've found a bank. We'll take it back to the bank's vault for safekeeping tonight. I just discussed it with the organizing committee of the conference, and we'll borrow their equipment tomorrow to cut these raw materials open. They'll then arrange a small auction for us."
After listening, Zhuang Rui nodded. This was the best solution. Although there were still more than ten jade shop owners who hadn't left, the event would attract even more people after its promotion. This way, the organizing committee could increase its influence, and they would also benefit. Everyone would be happy.
Another half hour passed before Master Peng and his team finally managed to extract all the jadeite from the rough stone. After an afternoon of cutting stones, both of them were exhausted. Led by Fatty Ma and with Lao Si as their guide, the group drove to a sauna in Guangzhou.
Song Jun and Zhuang Rui were left behind. They carefully loaded the jadeite into the armored truck and, together with the bank staff, delivered the two large pieces of jadeite to the bank.
Upon arriving at the bank, the person who greeted them was actually the bank's head, and he was extremely flattering to Song Jun. The group stayed in the manager's office, drinking tea.
If the bank manager hadn't been so obsequious to Song Jun, Zhuang Rui would have almost forgotten Song Jun's identity. These days, some things can't be solved with money. If it were Fatty Ma, the bank manager probably wouldn't even bother with him.
Before long, the staff had completed the formalities. He declined the bank manager's invitation to go out and have some fun, as Zhuang Rui was exhausted after a day of running around.
Back at the hotel, Zhuang Rui didn't even bother to comfort the white lion he hadn't seen all day. He took a quick shower and went to bed, falling into a deep sleep. For him, tomorrow's auction would be an even more nerve-wracking event.
The next morning, Zhuang Rui was woken up by Song Jun. The two went to the bank and picked up the two pieces of jadeite. The bank's car delivered them to the venue, but instead of cutting the stones, it was placed at the bidding location.
There are hardly any people here now, except for a few security guards, Zhuang Rui, Song Jun, Fatty Ma, Master Peng, and others. Although some jade merchants arrived early, they were not allowed to enter.
Most of the original dozens of rows of chairs were removed, and a laser cutting instrument was placed on the empty floor. Jadeite rough cannot be broken down with ordinary stone cutting machines, as that would cause too much loss. Using a laser to cut it is not only extremely fast, but also causes virtually no loss of jadeite.
"Boss, these two pieces of jade can be divided into about twenty pieces. The ones on the edge are of poor quality, about two of them. The rest are of icy jade with floating green flowers. Do you think this is acceptable?"
Master Peng and his men had been waiting here for a while. As soon as the jade arrived, they got busy, marking lines and measuring on the two pieces of material. It took them about 20 minutes before they came over to ask Song Jun for instructions.
"Okay, you and Xiaoyu can cut it as you see fit, and it's best if each piece is about the same size."
Song Jun had no objection to this and let Master Peng handle the division, since there were still hundreds of jade merchants waiting outside.
The laser cutting equipment provided by the organizing committee was given by the local jade association. It is specifically used to cut precious jade and is extremely expensive, estimated to be around $2 million. If it weren't for the need to leverage this piece of jade to increase influence, they probably wouldn't have lent it out so easily.
Master Peng was already skilled in jade carving and had a thorough understanding of jadeite. Under his hands, pieces of crystal-clear jadeite were broken down, with each cut having an arc-shaped edge. This allowed jade merchants to extract as many bracelets as possible after purchasing the jadeite, minimizing waste.
Around 9:30, the two large pieces of jadeite were divided into twenty portions, each weighing about thirty to forty pounds. Zhuang Rui and others then weighed them and labeled them with their numbers, textures, colors, and weights.
The organizing committee took this auction very seriously. They provided the venue and equipment, and even brought twenty large platters covered with red silk. The twenty pieces of jade were placed on the platters and arranged in a row on the table at the front of the stage for the jade merchants to choose from.
Not only that, but there were also several cameras set up in the venue. Zhuang Rui took a look and found that one of them was from Guangzhou TV. The pretty female host was interviewing Fatty Ma. Zhuang Rui was so scared that he quickly hid in a corner and sat down. Wei Ge and Lao Si were eager to try their luck and stood next to Fatty Ma, hoping to get some screen time.
At 10 a.m., the security guards at the entrance of the venue let the jade merchants who had been waiting in. However, the scene was much smaller than yesterday's bidding. There were only a little over a hundred jade merchants who were qualified to participate, and including the people they brought, there were only a little over two hundred people.
For the first half hour, the jade dealers were allowed to closely examine the jadeite pieces displayed on the table. Each piece was numbered from one to twenty. The last two pieces were oily-clear jadeite, and they were also marked. The dealers examined them very carefully, taking notes in their notebooks, presumably assessing the value of these jadeite pieces.
Apart from the two pieces of material with slightly lower quality, the rest were all icy green with floating patterns. The weight of each piece was almost the same, and some had blue floating patterns. Jewelry made from these two colors were priced similarly and each had its own consumer base.
According to the estimates made by Song Jun, Zhuang Rui, and others, an experienced craftsman could extract at least a dozen pairs of bracelets from this piece of jade, worth around eight million. This doesn't even include the jewelry made from the remaining material. Roughly speaking, these twenty pieces of jade should fetch an astronomical price at auction.
Seeing the jade shop owners' eyes gleaming with fervor, Zhuang Rui pulled Song Jun aside and whispered, "Brother Song, I know these jade bracelets are valuable, but with this much material, we can make hundreds of bracelets. Can we still sell them for that price?"
"What's this, brother? You underestimate the consumption level in our country. Don't think that these people are scattered in various cities across the country. Take Pengcheng for example. We can sell a hundred or so jade bracelets that cost five or six hundred thousand yuan each. Believe it or not, there are plenty of hidden millionaires these days."
Song Jun was rather dismissive of Zhuang Rui's question, and then said, "These materials are not the best jadeite. Jewelry made of glass-type jadeite, even if the color is a bit pale, can sell for millions. If it is top-grade red jadeite or purple-eyed jadeite, it can probably sell for tens of millions of yuan a piece. There are people in your circle who like to collect these."
Song Jun's words stirred something in Zhuang Rui's heart. When he had some free time, he could cut open that piece of red jadeite and make a few pairs of bracelets for Song Jun to test the waters first.
Once all these jadeite pieces with floating patterns are sold, Zhuang Rui, with his wealth, will probably no longer need to sell that piece of red jadeite to make money. He can keep it, carve it, and play with it himself.
"Zhuang Rui, this is your phone. Xuan Bing is looking for you."
While Zhuang Rui and Song Jun were chatting, Lei Lei also walked into the venue. Upon seeing Zhuang Rui, she quickly raised her phone to signal to him.
Why didn't Xuanbing call my phone directly?
Zhuang Rui glanced at his phone; it had power. He muttered to himself, then took the phone from Lei Lei with a puzzled look.
Chapter 227 The Record-Breaking Bid (Part 2)
"Hey, Xuanbing, why did you call Lei Lei's phone?"
Zhuang Rui was on the phone. Qin Xuanbing's beautiful face, so beautiful it was almost untouchable, floated into his mind. Although he was already quite familiar with Qin Xuanbing and had vaguely confirmed their relationship, Zhuang Rui always unconsciously became serious when facing her and rarely joked with her.
"Why can't I call Lei Lei? I got to know you through Lei Lei. By the way, Zhuang Rui, I heard from Lei Lei that the rough stone you won the bid for turned out to be an icy jadeite with floating flowers, is that right?"
Although Qin Xuanbing's voice sounded the same as usual on the phone, Zhuang Rui could still detect a hint of coquetry in it, which put him in a good mood. He said, "It was me, Brother Song, Brother Ma, and I who bid together. The material is pretty good, and it will be auctioned off soon..."
Zhuang Rui had a vague idea of what Qin Xuanbing meant by calling, but since the jadeite wasn't entirely his, he couldn't make a grand promise. After all, these twenty pieces of jadeite were worth a fortune, and while Zhuang Rui could afford to give them away, he didn't want to mix money into their relationship.
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Qin Xuanbing paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, before finally speaking: "It's like this, Zhuang Rui, our family didn't participate in the Pingzhou jade gambling convention this time. I only heard about it from Lei Lei yesterday. I'd like to ask you for a favor: please keep two pieces of jade for now and don't put them up for auction. My father has already left Hong Kong for Pingzhou this morning and should arrive in about an hour. He'll buy those two pieces at a price no lower than what you're offering at today's auction. Is that alright?"
After saying these words, Qin Xuanbing felt a little uneasy. She knew that her request would put Zhuang Rui in a difficult position, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was far away in England and already knew about the surge in the price of jadeite rough. Her family already lacked medium to high-grade jadeite materials. If they missed this opportunity, they didn't know how high the price of jadeite rough would rise next time.
"Hey Zhuang Rui, say something. If it's making things difficult, then forget it..."
Qin Xuanbing waited for about two minutes but did not hear Zhuang Rui's reply. She thought that Zhuang Rui was unwilling to agree and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Actually, she had misunderstood Zhuang Rui. At this moment, Zhuang Rui wasn't thinking about the jade material at all; instead, he was thinking about Qin Xuanbing's words that her father was coming. Since ancient times, mothers-in-law have always liked their sons-in-law more and more, but it's hard to say what fathers-in-law think of their sons-in-law.
"Xuanbing, how is your father? Does he know about our relationship?"
Zhuang Rui didn't pay attention to Qin Xuanbing's words, but instead asked out what was on his mind.
"Zhuang Rui, what are you thinking? My dad has no idea about what's going on between us. I'm talking about jade."
Qin Xuanbing, who was far away across the ocean, knew that Zhuang Rui had misunderstood and couldn't help but stomp her feet in anger.
What's going on between us?
Taking a rare opportunity to tease Qin Xuanbing, Zhuang Rui chuckled mischievously on the phone.
"You...you cheated..."
Qin Xuanbing's words almost made Zhuang Rui stumble; he never expected Qin Xuanbing to utter the word "scoundrel."
Zhuang Rui knew that Qin Xuanbing was easily angered and was afraid that she would really get angry if he continued, so he quickly said, "Alright, I agree to the jade matter. Call me after your father arrives."
Lei Lei stood nearby, not daring to say anything tender. Zhuang Rui chatted with Qin Xuanbing for a few more minutes. After asking about her return date, he hung up and handed the phone back to Lei Lei.
Seeing the smile on Lei Lei's face, Zhuang Rui said irritably, "What's so funny? You and Da Chuan are secretly getting married, and you're laughing at us?"
"By the way, aren't you going to bid on a piece of these materials? Should I reserve one for you?"
Having promised Qin Xuanbing to leave two pieces of jadeite, Zhuang Rui didn't mind leaving one more. After all, they were paying for it anyway, and he figured Song Jun and Fatty Ma would give him that favor.
"No need. My grandfather raised some funds yesterday, so we should be able to bid two yuan. You're going to make a fortune this time."
Lei Lei's answer was somewhat unexpected for Zhuang Rui. He had thought that she also wanted him to take care of her, but he did not expect this answer.
Since the Lei Lei family wanted to participate in the auction, Zhuang Rui turned to Song Jun and explained the matter. Song Jun knew Qin Xuanbing, and after thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement. Just as Zhuang Rui had thought, it wasn't like it was being given away for free, and gaining a favor wouldn't hurt.
Fatty Ma had no objections. After hearing about Qin Xuanbing's relationship with Zhuang Rui, he generously offered to sell the materials to Qin Xuanbing's father at the lowest price offered by the auction for other items. Zhuang Rui waved his hands, knowing that since he hadn't yet developed any real relationship with Qin Xuanbing, such behavior would inevitably arouse suspicion.
Seeing that the jade merchants who had been appraising the rough stones were gradually returning to their seats, Song Jun knew that the auction was about to begin. He quickly found the person in charge of the auction and told him that he wanted to keep two of the eighteen pieces of icy jadeite, which belonged to Song Jun. Although the person in charge had some objections, he still agreed.
The organizing committee set up a small platform behind the front row of jade pieces, and the auctioneer for this auction was already standing on the platform.
The person hosting the auction was the same host who opened the bids yesterday. His voice was still a little hoarse, but perhaps because a TV station was broadcasting it, he was full of energy. He was standing on the stage introducing the auction items to the audience, holding a gavel that he had somehow found. With his black tuxedo, he did look quite like an auctioneer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, welcome to this auction of jadeite rough, featuring items provided by Mr. Song and with myself as the auctioneer. There are a total of eighteen pieces of jadeite rough up for auction, sixteen of which are icy jadeite with floating patterns, and two are oily clear jadeite with floating patterns. I believe you have all personally examined them just now. The starting price for each of the sixteen icy jadeite rough pieces is five million RMB, with a minimum bid increment of 100,000 RMB..."
"Please wait a moment, I apologize for interrupting you, but I have a question. There were clearly eighteen lots of icy jadeite jadeite, so why are there sixteen?"