"The auction for the fifth piece of jade will now begin..."
While Zhuang Rui was still in a daze, the fourth piece of jade had already been auctioned off.
How much did the fourth piece cost?
Zhuang Rui casually asked Wei Ge, who was standing next to him.
"Thirteen million eight hundred thousand!"
Viagra's answer left Zhuang Rui speechless for a long time, and Wei Zijiang's actions were absolutely like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing a huge uproar.
Chapter 229 The Birth of a Nearly Billionaire
"Today's eighth item: an icy jadeite with floating patterns, weighing 39.88 jin (approximately 14.98 catties), starting at 5 million RMB, with a minimum bid increment of 100,000 RMB. Please place your bids..."
The auction was still going on. Starting with the third piece of icy jadeite, the bids were all over 13 million. The seventh piece of jadeite was just sold, reaching 15.8 million. The emotions of the jade dealers in the audience were all stirred up. Zhuang Rui and the others naturally saw this and were happy.
"Thirteen million..."
"Thirteen million eight hundred thousand..."
"I'll offer 16.5 million..."
The jade dealers present all knew that acquiring these jadeite pieces at a low price was virtually impossible, so the bidding quickly became heated. However, the final, somewhat hesitant bid still startled everyone. After only three bids, the price had already reached over 16 million. This drew the attention of everyone in the room, who all turned to look at the source of the sound.
"Why is it a foreigner?"
To everyone's surprise, the person bidding was a white foreigner with a high nose and blue eyes. It was hard to tell his age from his appearance. His clothes were also very ordinary, and his jeans had several holes worn out at the knees.
At this moment, the foreigner was looking at everyone with an innocent expression, somewhat puzzled by their slightly hostile gazes. He was also wondering to himself, since no one had stipulated that foreigners couldn't bid.
"Am I not allowed to make a bid?"
Finally, unable to withstand the stares from all directions, the foreigner stood up and loudly asked the host on stage. Although his Chinese wasn't very fluent, everyone clearly understood what he meant.
The temporary auctioneer on stage seemed a bit lost. This jade auction was touted as an international event, so surely foreign participants shouldn't be excluded?
"Sir, of course, your bid is permitted. Please have a seat..."
After exchanging a few words with the people behind him, the host gave the answer, which made the bosses in the room somewhat dissatisfied, but they had no choice but to accept it. The highest bidder wins, which has always been an unshakable truth in the auction world.
"Don't let those foreign devils buy the jade!"
"Exactly. Everyone should bid! It's embarrassing to lose to a foreigner when there are so many people bidding against him..."
Various murmurs arose in the auction hall, but they were all talk and no action. After waiting for a full three minutes, perhaps unable to bear it any longer, Boss Han called out a price: "Seventeen million..."
"Seventeen million five hundred thousand..."
The foreigner immediately added another 500,000, and even Boss Han remained silent. He was there to do business, not to argue with the foreigner. Besides, he had already won two pieces of jadeite, so he wasn't so eager for the remaining pieces.
In fact, there were quite a few people in the market who had the ability to bid high prices, but they all made a common mistake: they had a wishful thinking mentality, believing that there were still seven or eight rough stones left, and that they might be able to buy them at a lower price. However, they forgot the lesson they learned when Wei Zijiang had just won two rough stones at the lowest price.
"I feel like I've seen this person somewhere before?"
Song Jun, sitting next to Zhuang Rui, frowned.
"Oh right, I remember now, I've seen this person in Myanmar, and Lao Han and the others should know him too."
Song Jun muttered to himself.
"Brother Song, what's this foreigner's background?"
Zhuang Rui didn't really care who got the jade as long as they paid. Jade wasn't a national treasure of China, so let whoever wanted to fight for it fight for it. It would just drive up the price, and maybe he could even make foreign exchange. However, Zhuang Rui was very curious about the origin of the only foreigner in the room.
"Hehe, this foreigner is British, his name is Christy, he's quite famous in Myanmar. Don't let his casual clothes fool you, he's a genuine billionaire..."
The Song army seemed to have heard about this man's background from somewhere else, but if it was true, this Englishman named Christie was indeed a legendary figure.
As everyone knows, Myanmar is the birthplace of the jade gambling industry. Because of this, many people who dream of getting rich have tried every means to go to Myanmar to take risks. Most of them are people with hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in their pockets, thinking of getting rich overnight.
However, gambling on jade is inherently a matter of both profit and risk. Some self-proclaimed experts who spend hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan to buy "jade" are often just ordinary stones. Nine out of ten of these gamblers lose money. However, there are also lucky ones who manage to sell the stones for astronomical prices, but the odds of that happening are usually less than one percent.
Christie was originally just a small British jeweler. After arriving in Burma, he tried his hand at gambling on rough jade several times, but he lost money each time. Later, he changed his strategy and only bought jadeite that had been cut open.
Christie searched for information throughout Myanmar, and as soon as she learned of anyone who had cut, clean, high-quality jadeite, she would rush to meet with them.
The mentality of jade gamblers in Myanmar is different from that in China. Those who win big in Myanmar are eager to sell as long as they are paid in cash, and Christie can always meet their demands.
Since most of the jadeite he bought were raw jadeite, which was already very expensive, he didn't make a huge profit. However, Christie made a fortune by reselling the jadeite pieces one by one, and over the years, he became a multi-millionaire. This story has become a legend in Myanmar.
At this point, some people in the room recognized Christie. A flurry of discussion ensued, but no one made any more bids. After a short wait, the auctioneer brought down the gavel, and Christie won the eighth rough stone for 17.5 million.
However, in the subsequent auction, these jade dealers who had been hoping for a lucky break tasted the bitter fruit of their hesitation. None of the eight pieces of icy jadeite sold for less than the price Christie had paid.
Some friends said, "If it's too expensive, I can just not buy it." But if you don't buy it now, the price will only be higher later. The Pingzhou Jade Bidding and Trading Fair can almost be said to be a barometer of domestic jade prices. The prices auctioned today have actually set a price benchmark for domestic raw jade.
The auction's popularity not only surprised many jade dealers, but also Zhuang Rui and others. Starting with the third piece of jadeite, the price kept rising.
Starting with the twelfth rough stone, the price per piece exceeded 20 million. When it came to the last two pieces of icy jadeite, they were auctioned off for 22.8 million and 24.5 million respectively.
"The last item up for auction today, a clear, oily jadeite with floating patterns, starting at 500,000..."
The two pieces of raw jadeite of the last variety, known as "oil-clear jade," are currently being auctioned. Since the two pieces together weigh only a little over ten kilograms and are of similar quality, they have been auctioned together.
"Five hundred and fifty thousand..."
"Six hundred thousand..."
"Six hundred and eighty thousand..."
Perhaps stimulated by the price of the previous icy jadeite, this piece of average-quality oily jadeite was also snapped up by everyone, and the price rose steadily.
"Youngest brother... this is incredible! Do you know how much these sixteen pieces of icy jadeite sold for?"
At this moment, the auction was nearing its end. While Zhuang Rui was chatting quietly with Song Jun, Wei Ge was using his phone to calculate the total price of the jadeite sold, with an incredulous expression on his face.
"How much? More than a hundred million, right?"
Zhuang Rui asked casually.
"Not counting this one we're filming now, it's already 204.8 million! Youngest son, you're really rich now..."
Viagra was so excited, as if the money belonged to him, that he held the numbers on his phone up to Zhuang Rui's eyes.
"Wow, there really are that many?"
Zhuang Rui was also taken aback by the number. He had initially tried to calculate it, but then became too lazy to bother. He hadn't expected that just sixteen pieces of jade would already be worth over two hundred million. If he included the two pieces he'd left for Qin Xuanbing, wouldn't it be…
Zhuang Rui didn't dare to think any further. When the auction started, he had also fantasized about it, but the situation was still unclear at that time. Now that the auction was about to end, the money would really belong to him soon, although he would only be able to get one-third of it.
"Smack!"
A gavel struck from the stage.
"Congratulations, sir! The last lot, a clear, oily jadeite with floating patterns, is yours for 1.12 million. Ladies and gentlemen, today's auction has concluded. All seventeen lots sold successfully. Thank you for your support, everyone..."
With the host's closing remarks, the auction came to a successful conclusion. Of course, the word "successful" could only describe the jadeite holders like Song Jun. Those who bid on the jadeite all had tense expressions, without a trace of joy.
Those who won the bid for the jade were unwilling to accept defeat, and the bosses who didn't were equally unwilling. Perhaps only Zhuang Rui and his group, as well as Lei Lei's grandfather and his family, actually made a profit. Putting aside everything else, if they had been willing to sell those two pieces of jade, they could have immediately made around 20 million. This shows the importance of keen eyesight and experience.
"Zhuang Rui, don't turn off your phone, someone will be looking for you later."
After Lei Lei gestured to Zhuang Rui as if she were making a phone call, she left with the others. Now, only Song Jun, Zhuang Rui, and the other parties involved remained. Meanwhile, Fatty Ma was talking to the organizing committee while skillfully distributing thick red envelopes to several staff members. Zhuang Rui saw Fatty Ma stuff two red envelopes into the pocket of the host, whose voice was practically hoarse from shouting.
These red envelopes were prepared last night, each containing 10,000 yuan. According to Fatty Ma, these are called "lucky money," similar to how people give red envelopes to staff members when they win big from slot machines in Macau casinos.
Chapter 230 Mother-in-law's View of Son-in-Law
The huge auction venue was now almost empty, with only a handful of people remaining: two security guards, a bank employee, Zhuang Rui, and Wei Ge. The rest had been taken away by Song Jun and Fatty Ma to a victory celebration.
This auction not only made Song Jun and his associates a fortune, but also brought fame to the organizers. It is said that people from CCTV's news channel came to their door, discussing with the organizing committee whether the news could be broadcast on CCTV. For some leaders, this is a real achievement.
Of course, what made the grassroots staff happiest was the real red envelope. Although these people usually had their share of extra income, it was rare to see them give out tens of thousands of yuan. Even the beautiful TV host put aside her reserve and kept calling Song Jun "Boss Song".
It was already past noon, and Zhuang Rui was starving. Unfortunately, Qin Xuanbing's father had just called to say that they would arrive in half an hour, so Zhuang Rui had no choice but to wait there obediently.
Along with the bank staff in charge of the transfer and the two security guards at the entrance, they all stayed there. However, before leaving, Fatty Ma gave each of them a red envelope. These people were quite willing to do it. What a joke! Skipping a meal won't kill anyone, and they can even earn ten or twenty thousand. Anyone can do the math.
"That fourth brother is really dishonest. He kept saying he'd have the hotel deliver takeout when he left, but it's been over half an hour and we haven't seen a trace of him. Little brother, hand me some water, I'm hungry..."
Wei Ge lay listlessly in the chair. He had been even more excited than Zhuang Rui that morning. He had calculated the seventeen pieces of jade that had been auctioned off that morning several times, using mental arithmetic, written calculations, and the calculator on his phone. He even made a few mistakes along the way.
However, Wei Ge, hearing his stomach rumbling, already regretted staying with Zhuang Rui. Who told him to be so curious and insist on meeting Zhuang Rui's legendary girlfriend's father?
"Alright, look at your potbelly, it's about to grow big. You won't starve if you skip a meal. By the way, Wei-ge, there are still eight or nine days left. Third Brother is getting married. Are you coming back to Pengcheng with me first, and then we'll go together, or what?"
The third brother has already returned to Shaanxi and just called to say that the banquet is on the 20th of this month. The second brother just took leave and can't go. The rest of them are all free now and have decided to attend.
"Take me back to Zhonghai first, then I'll fly directly to Xi'an..."
The third brother's family lived in Weinan, which was only an hour or two away from Xi'an. Wei Ge knew that the road from Henan to Shaanxi was not easy to travel, but this time he refused to ride in Zhuang Rui's car again.
Zhuang Rui nodded in agreement. He would first go to Zhonghai to hand over the Ru kiln porcelain fragment to Uncle De. After the item was repaired, he planned to keep it for himself. Anyway, he wasn't short of money now. Since such an item was almost impossible to buy even with money, Zhuang Rui wouldn't try to sell it for money like before.
"Mr. Zhuang, two guests are looking for you..."
Zhuang Rui and Wei Ge were chatting idly when the security guard from the door walked in, followed by two other people.
Zhuang Rui quickly stood up and looked at the newcomer. The man in front of him was about fifty years old, about the same height as Zhuang Rui, with a square face and a serious expression that gave off an air of authority. He walked steadily toward Zhuang Rui.
Behind him followed a woman. If it weren't for the crow's feet around her eyes that revealed her age, Zhuang Rui would almost have thought that it was Qin Xuanbing who had returned from England. Without a doubt, this was Qin Xuanbing's mother; they looked exactly alike.
"Didn't you say you didn't know our relationship? Why is your mother-in-law here?"
Zhuang Rui greeted her with a smile, but felt a little uneasy. He wanted to call Qin Xuanbing to ask her something, but it was too late.
"Mr. Zhuang, hello. I am Qin Haoran. We just spoke on the phone. This is my wife. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."
As Zhuang Rui approached, he was still pondering how to address the other person when Qin Xuanbing's father extended his hand and introduced himself.
"No, Xuanbing and I are friends. Uncle Qin, just call me Xiao Zhuang..."
Zhuang Rui quickly grasped Qin Haoran's hand. Judging from his expression, it seemed he truly didn't know about his relationship with Qin Haoran's daughter.
"Xuanbing? Zhuang Sheng, aren't you and Xiaolei classmates?"
Qin Haoran frowned almost imperceptibly, and asked in a seemingly casual manner.
"Yes, Lei Lei and I were junior high school classmates. We haven't seen each other for almost ten years. We just happened to run into each other this year, and that's when I met Miss Qin."