There are many ways to gamble on jade. Everyone has their own way of gambling, so they are all different. Some people gamble on the texture and water content, some gamble on the color, and of course, some gamble on the cracks and flaws. Moreover, there are a lot of people like this, and they are the main force in the jade gambling circle.
Because cracks vary in depth, while a crack means that the structure of the jadeite inside has been damaged, it also means that top-quality jadeite can be found inside, and there is a possibility of a huge windfall. Risk and opportunity coexist, so even though the crack on that piece of rough jadeite is a bad one, we still dare not take it lightly.
"If all else fails, then set the price at 8 million euros..."
Qin Haoran was much more decisive than Zhuang Rui. He directly raised the price by two million euros, which is 20 million RMB. The problem Qin's Jewelry is facing now is not a lack of money, but a lack of jadeite raw materials. Even if that piece of rough jadeite is only worth 8 million euros, let alone 200 million, Qin Haoran would bid for it without hesitation.
"Let's check the situation on-site tonight and then decide what to do..."
Zhuang Rui was unwilling to draw conclusions now. The situation at the auction could change in an instant, and no one could guarantee that someone else was also eyeing that piece of material; they would find out later.
After separating from Qin Haoran and his wife, Zhuang Rui went to the sealed bid area today. He had already recorded the numbers of all the valuable rough stones in the open bid area in his notebook, and all he needed to do every day was to attend the auction on time in the afternoon.
In the open bidding area, Zhuang Rui had his eye on nearly 100 pieces of material, and the most important ones were 10 rough stones. Among these 10 rough stones, three were glass-type jadeite, but none of them reached the imperial green level. However, jadeite ornaments carved from these materials could already be considered top-quality.
The other seven pieces, though of slightly lower quality, are abundant, each yielding tens of kilograms of jadeite, perfectly filling the gap in mid-to-high-end jadeite jewelry. Putting everything else aside, if Beijing Qin Ruilin Jewelry Store can acquire these 10 rough stones, it will not need to worry about jadeite raw materials for the next five years.
"Damn it, all the good jade really is in the sealed bid area..."
After entering the sealed-bid area, Zhuang Rui had only looked at less than 100 pieces of rough jade before he started cursing inwardly. This was outrageous! All the good jade was concentrated in the sealed-bid area; out of the 100 rough pieces he had just looked at, two had already turned out to be of the glassy type.
In reality, the situation wasn't as exaggerated as Zhuang Rui imagined. The jadeite pieces ranked in the previous sealed bids were all carefully selected by the organizing committee, and they were all semi-rough stones that had been cut or polished. Among them was a piece of glass-type rough stone, whose texture and water content were directly revealed through polishing.
Zhuang Rui absolutely avoided that piece of rough jade. He didn't even need to think about it; when the bidding opened, that piece of jade would definitely fetch an astronomical price. Zhuang Rui's most conservative estimate was that the price would be over 100 million RMB. He couldn't afford to get involved, nor did he want to join in the fun.
The number of rough stones in the sealed-bid area is more than ten times that in the open-bid area, meaning there are nearly 200,000 rough stones for Zhuang Rui to choose from. So Zhuang Rui isn't in a hurry. With his keen eye, he can easily pick some rough stones with poor outer appearance but good quality inside to bid on. This way, he can guarantee winning the bid while saving a lot of money. This is Zhuang Rui's plan.
"Why are they all semi-gambling materials?"
When he saw the 500th bid, Zhuang Rui became a little impatient. He simply walked out of the sealed bid area and took a detour to the place where the open bid area and the sealed bid area met, and started looking at the bids from there.
Sure enough, the quality of the rough stones here was far inferior to those we had seen earlier. Some of them were even worse than those in the auction area. They were just some new mine rough stones that had been cut open and displayed there. Of course, some jadeite was also found inside.
"Hmm? Icy jade?"
After looking around the sealed-bid area for more than an hour, Zhuang Rui stopped in front of a rough stone with an ugly appearance. The reason it was ugly was because the stone looked a bit like the forehead of the God of Longevity. On an oval stone, there was a high protrusion. The whole rough stone was covered with black spots, making it look a bit like a stone from a rural outhouse.
Zhuang Rui examined the rough stone, weighing over thirty pounds, from all angles, but found no signs of cutting or polishing; it was a completely uncut stone. He couldn't help but feel pleased; he had finally found a completely uncut rough stone that showed no signs of being cut open.
"Damn, it's so dark..."
Looking at the price list next to the bidding box, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but curse inwardly. Such a stone, and the starting price was set at 30,000 euros, which is more than 300,000 yuan.
He stared at the price tag with a hint of resentment for a while, then looked at the bid box. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he cursed at himself, "Zhuang Rui, you're such an idiot!"
After he finished cursing, he slapped his own head hard, making a crisp "smack" sound.
"What do you do?"
A broken Chinese sentence suddenly rang in Zhuang Rui's ears. He turned his head and was almost startled to jump. A dark-skinned and thin Burmese soldier was holding an old AK47 assault rifle flat, with the muzzle pointed directly at him.
"Hey, hey, I said. Why are you pointing a gun at me? Take it away right now..."
Zhuang Rui shouted loudly, and a staff member standing outside the marking area heard him and quickly walked over. He communicated with the soldier, but they were speaking in Burmese, which Zhuang Rui could not understand. However, after the staff member arrived, the soldier lowered his gun.
"Sir, I'm sorry, he suspected you of tampering with the bid box, so he came to stop you. We apologize, it was a misunderstanding..."
The staff spoke much more fluent Mandarin and knew that "you" was a respectful term, so they were very polite. It was obvious that the bidding box next to the raw materials hadn't been moved at all.
"He just hit himself, he hit himself..."
The soldier was puzzled by Zhuang Rui's actions and spoke in broken Chinese, gesturing as he spoke that he was patting his head.
"Hey, what business is it of yours if I hit myself? I didn't hit you, why are you bothering with this?"
Zhuang Rui retorted to the soldier in an annoyed tone, "I was just happy, not really bored and slapping my head for no reason."
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, the staff member smiled and exchanged a few words with the soldier before saying, "Excuse me, sir, we're disturbing your selection of raw materials. Please continue..."
After hearing what the staff member said, the soldier shook his head and left. However, he stood not far from Zhuang Rui and looked at Zhuang Rui with a strange gaze, perhaps categorizing Zhuang Rui as a mentally ill person.
Zhuang Rui didn't care about the soldier's opinion of him. At this moment, he was overjoyed because he had just thought of something: if he had enough money, he could bid on all the raw jade stones in the sealed bid area!
Many of you may have already guessed that "sufficient funds" doesn't mean throwing money at the top, but rather identifying the highest bid in the betting box and then betting on it by just one euro above that bid.
These past few days, Zhuang Rui had felt something was off, and now he finally understood: the spiritual energy he perceived wasn't just able to see through metal and stone. Seeing through alloy-made bidding boxes was no problem at all, and the numbers on those bidding documents were even less likely to escape his eyes.
"Hehe, no one's bidding yet, buddy, I'll take your virginity..."
After examining the bid box, Zhuang Rui found it to be completely empty, without a single bid. Mischievously, he pulled open the glass drawer at the bottom of the bid box and took out a bid form.
The so-called bid form is actually just a card, exactly the same size as a business card, with Burmese, Chinese and English indicating where to fill in your bid number and bid price.
The bidding number is not the number on the admission pass, but the four digits on the back of the admission pass plus the last four digits of Zhuang Rui's passport, making a total of eight digits. If the person is from Myanmar, it is the sum of the four digits on the back of the admission pass and the last four digits on their ID card.
When applying for an entry pass, you must fill in your passport number. Therefore, for each entry pass issued, the computer will automatically generate a bidding number. The purpose of this is to ensure that raw material suppliers are not subject to malicious bidding.
If the bid number is too simple, it will be easy for others to obtain it. If someone uses Zhuang Rui's bid number and writes "1 billion euros" on the bid form, Zhuang Rui will definitely not be able to pay that amount. The final result will be that he will renege on the bid, and in that case, all the raw materials he previously bid for will be invalidated.
As the saying goes, competitors are enemies. It cannot be ruled out that some people with dark intentions might use this method to maliciously bid high prices after knowing the other party's bid number, thus squeezing the competitor out of this public auction.
That's why the organizing committee uses this method for bid numbers, and when issuing admission passes, they specifically remind each buyer not to disclose their bid number. If anyone is still taken advantage of because of this, they can only blame themselves for being too careless.
"Hmm, I'll put in 30,100 euros to play around..."
After writing his bid number on the bid form, Zhuang Rui mischievously wrote down a number. He was just playing around. For Zhuang Rui, the sealed bid was like a naked young woman, open for him to bid whenever he wanted.
Zhuang Rui tossed the bid form into the bid box, glanced at it, and was about to select raw materials as if he were looking at an open bid when his phone rang.
Chapter 458 Secret Bidding (2)
"Xiao Rui, what are you doing? We're almost there... Why aren't you at the auction hall yet?"
Qin Haoran's voice came through the phone. Zhuang Rui raised his left wrist to look at his watch and couldn't help but stick out his tongue. There were only five minutes left... It was time to enter the venue.
"Uncle Qin, I'll be there soon..."
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Rui turned and ran towards the auction hall, almost causing the soldier to lose his grip. After walking to the box and checking that nothing seemed to be missing, he went back to his post. However, the soldier was even more convinced that Zhuang Rui was a "lunatic".
"Hurry up, get your license plate number so we can get in..."
When Qin Haoran saw Zhuang Rui running over breathlessly, he didn't bother with pleasantries and let Zhuang Rui go in front of him. Although this act of cutting in line made the people behind him very unhappy, since he didn't cut in front of them, they complained a few times, but Qin Haoran and the others pretended not to hear them.
Because they arrived late, Zhuang Rui and the others couldn't get seats in Hall 1 this time. Following the numbered tags in their hands, they found Hall 3, where their seats were relatively close to the front, in the second row.
Most importantly, Qin Haoran, Zhuang Rui, and Fang Yi were sitting side by side, giving them plenty of time to discuss and set bid prices during the two-hour bidding period, which was enough to handle any unexpected events.
When it was time to go..., the voice of the supervisor Ming Biao rang out in the venue. However, this time he spoke in Burmese, and someone later translated it into Chinese and English. Zhuang Rui only learned when he met Hu Rong the day before yesterday that the supervisor of this conference was changed every day, and the supervisors were all very prestigious people in the upper echelons of Burmese society.
"here we go……"
As soon as the supervisor finished speaking, the large screen in front of Zhuang Rui and the others immediately started flashing. Numbers from 4000 to 6000 appeared clearly on the screen, while the red reserve price below was extremely eye-catching.
Zhuang Rui looked around and noticed that there weren't many people left who were in the mood for casual conversation. After the record-breaking bid, two rough jade stones that he hadn't participated in yesterday's open auction also fetched 40 million each. Clearly, the failed bid hadn't dampened these people's determination to buy jadeite rough stones; on the contrary, they'd become even more frenzied.
"Xiao Rui, keep a close eye on lot number 5220. Your aunt and I will check the other lot first. If there are any changes, let us know immediately..."
Qin Haoran opened his notebook, glanced at it, and immediately assigned tasks. Today's bidding task was very heavy. Not only did they have to ensure that they could win the giant red jadeite rough stone No. 5220, but the rough stones No. 4179, 5367, and 5580 that Zhuang Rui had given him were also scheduled to be auctioned today.
Fearing the jade experts might leak the information, Qin Haoran didn't let them into the auction hall. The three of them were bidding on four rough stones, which wasn't as leisurely as bidding on just one. Furthermore, the prices weren't even grouped together; just finding them on the big screen would take some time.
The tactic of testing the waters was clearly used more extensively in today's open auction. As soon as the starting price on the big screen was refreshed, people started bidding, and in an instant, the entire screen turned red, blue, and white.
"Damn it, why are they all copying me?"
Zhuang Rui couldn't help but mutter to himself, "This method is really nerve-wracking. You can't care about bothering others; you're all focused on the rough stones you're interested in, wondering if they've been numbered."
"Xiao Rui, what did you just say?"
Fang Yi, who was sitting next to Zhuang Rui, turned her head and asked a question after hearing Zhuang Rui's words.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. There are just too many boring people here. Why are they causing trouble instead of bidding themselves?"
Zhuang Rui quickly put on a look of deep disgust, saying that he couldn't let word get out about his mischief that day, otherwise that fellow Chinese who spent 1 million euros might come to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.
"You silly child, you were the one who placed over sixty bets the other day, weren't you? I'm relieved to entrust Xuanbing to you..."
Zhuang Rui's words immediately revealed the truth to his mother-in-law, but Fang Yi wasn't angry. In this day and age, a man who is too honest and kind will suffer. Zhuang Rui is a good person by nature, not lacking in intelligence, and he is very protective of his daughter. With such a son-in-law, what could Fang Yi possibly worry about?
"Hehe, I just didn't understand..."
Zhuang Rui scratched his head and laughed, but the smile immediately froze on his face because he saw that someone had bid on the red jadeite rough stone No. 5220 that he had been paying attention to, and directly raised the price of the rough stone from the starting price of 200,000 euros to 500,000 euros.
"Uncle Qin, someone has placed a bid for the red jade, 500,000..."
Zhuang Rui quickly informed Qin Haoran of the situation. When it came to improvisation, Zhuang Rui knew he was no match for the two business elites beside him.
"It's okay, don't rush, there's still a full hour and fifty minutes..."
Qin Haoran glanced at his watch and said calmly, "I never expected to get this rough stone cheaply." In the past few days, he'd heard many people discussing stone number 5220. With increased attention, its popularity naturally grew. Among those who came to Myanmar to gamble on rough stones were quite a few experts at spotting cracks.
The risks are high, but the rewards are equally high. A rough stone weighing over a ton from the old pit of Dakanmu is quite rare in the history of jade gambling, despite the more than one-meter-long flaw on the back. However, the stone is so large that the flaw might disappear in the middle.
So don't be fooled by Zhuang Rui's dismissive attitude towards the rough stone that day, or by the extremely low evaluations given to it by many others who saw it later. Perhaps the people bidding now are those who gave it such low evaluations back then, just like Zhuang Rui.
"Something's not right, the price of this rough stone has been steadily rising..."
In just ten minutes, the price of rough stone No. 5220 skyrocketed from 50 to 800,000. Almost every three minutes, someone would raise the price by 100,000. This was different from what Zhuang Rui had seen that day. There was no physical activity at all; they immediately started fighting with bayonets.
"Hmm? Xiao Rui, come and look at the prices of these two lots, 4179 and 5367. I'll keep an eye on 5220 later..."
Qin Haoran frowned. He had actually secretly taken a look at the rough stone yesterday. Although it was large, the other parts were not good, and no jade was found even after polishing. It seemed a bit abnormal that it was being priced this high.
“Dad, this rough stone doesn’t seem to be worth that much money, does it? 800,000 euros is already more than 8 million RMB. We still need to bid in the sealed auction. If this one wins the bid, the money from the sealed auction won’t be enough…”
"Don't worry, that little rascal surnamed Zhuang is a very good actor. He even tricked this old man once. His behavior the day before yesterday was very abnormal. Maybe there's something really valuable inside this rough stone..."
In Auction Hall No. 4, which was separated from Zhuang Rui and the others, a conversation was taking place. One of the speakers was Xu Zhendong, Zhuang Rui's old nemesis and the head of Xu's Jewelry, while the other speaker was his son, Xu Qi.
As for Xu Wei, who provoked the conflict with Zhuang Rui, he has now been sidelined. After being stripped of all his positions at Xu's Jewelry, Xu Wei, like those spoiled brats who just laze around all day, goes to the company every month to collect a monthly allowance. As for something as important as gambling on jade in Myanmar, Xu Wei has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Seeing that his father had made all three bids, Xu Qi became anxious and said, "Dad, we can't put all our eggs in one basket. You're raising the price every ten minutes. What if no one dares to bid and we end up buying it?"
"Hmph, what's there to be afraid of? It's only 800,000 euros. You think no one will follow suit?"
Xu Zhendong snorted coldly. He had been observing this rough stone for several days and discovered that several people who had initially dismissed it as worthless had secretly returned to examine it more closely. This greatly boosted Xu Zhendong's confidence in the stone. He would be more than happy to buy it for 800,000 yuan.
Sure enough, as soon as Xu Zhendong finished speaking, the price of 800,000 euros jumped to 1 million euros under the white number 5220. Xu Zhendong clenched his fist, then relaxed it, immediately picked up the bidding device, entered 1.1 million euros, and pressed the confirm button heavily.
Xu Zhendong's thinking was simple. He had only brought 5 million euros to Myanmar, and he had already set a price of 4 million euros for this rough stone. Even if he couldn't acquire the stone, he wanted to muddy the waters and prevent others from easily succeeding.
"Uncle Qin, were you the one who raised the price just now?"
Zhuang Rui glanced at lot number 5220 and noticed that the number had changed to 1.5 million euros. His heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Qin Haoran.