The villager who rents out stone-cutting tools at the market entrance is doing much better business today. Because some of the chicken-blood stones are too big and have a gambling element, many merchants want to cut them before taking them away. The stone-cutting machine has been running non-stop since morning. Didn't you see the villager grinning from ear to ear the whole time?
Zhuang Rui didn't linger at the entrance and went straight into the market, heading deeper into the chicken-blood stone trading area. While the chicken-blood stones from the villagers outside weren't entirely devoid of good material, they were definitely one in a million, and Zhuang Rui didn't have the patience to pick and choose each one individually.
After passing the counterfeit stall from yesterday, Zhuang Rui entered a stall with a sign that read "Sanyuan" Company. This stall also had stones of various sizes, but the quality of the stones was much worse than the one next door.
Of course, according to Zhuang Rui's observation, this was the reason why the stall owner did not fake it; otherwise, it would definitely have looked like a riot of colors.
Uncle De and Zhuang Rui split up and started looking around the stone area. With only two days left until the end of the chicken-blood stone trade fair, Zhuang Rui had no interest in learning how to appreciate chicken-blood stones, so he simply used his spiritual energy to examine them.
However, after thousands of years of mining, the old mines for chicken blood stone have long been exhausted. The materials now available are all mined from new mines. Zhuang Rui looked at them for a long time but was not very satisfied because some of the materials did not even have a 30% bleeding rate. Zhuang Rui, who always had high standards, naturally did not approve of them.
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to leave the stall, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a stone with a faint black glow on its surface.
The stone was not large, only about the size of a fist, and its surface looked somewhat rough. However, when Zhuang Rui observed it with his spiritual energy, he discovered that even on the stone's surface, there was a faint spiritual energy reaction.
"Changhua stone with a black background?"
The spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes continued to seep in, and suddenly, a white luster appeared before his eyes. Unlike the milky white of Hetian jade, this white was faint and slightly transparent, giving people a moist feeling.
Zhuang Rui thought to himself, "Even if the bicolor Changhua stone doesn't turn red, it can still be carved into a decorative piece..."
Just as Zhuang Rui had this thought, his vision suddenly changed. The red color he had just imagined appeared in his sight, and it was as bright and beautiful as freshly congealed chicken blood. It was the finest chicken blood red.
"This...this, could it be Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei?"
Zhuang Rui stared at the three colors of black, white, and red inside the stone, his mind momentarily blank. He had just been marveling at the rarity of top-quality chicken-blood stone, and this surprise had arrived unexpectedly.
The three colors of this stone are evenly distributed and blended together in an extremely ingenious way, forming a naturally beautiful pattern without the need for artificial carving.
Just as depicted in Peking Opera masks: Zhang Fei with a black face, Liu Bei with a white face, and Guan Yu with a red face.
With three different shades of color, combined with human imagination and exquisite craftsmanship, the three characters Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei can be depicted with just a little carving.
Chapter 587 It's all because of fame
The most precious color of chicken-blood stone is naturally red. However, just like the top-grade jadeite such as purple-eyed jadeite, there are also fine pieces of chicken-blood stone with different base colors. For example, the "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" stone that Zhuang Rui is seeing now is a top-grade chicken-blood stone.
Not every piece of chicken-blood stone containing the three colors of "black, white and red" can be called "Liu, Guan and Zhang". It depends on the intensity of the colors in the stone, whether the distribution is even, and whether they can be perfectly integrated. These are all important criteria for determining its value.
"Xiao Rui, what's wrong? You've got your eye on this piece of jade?"
Uncle De walked over from the other end of the stone quarry, pulling a small cart with three or four stones on it, which looked to weigh about forty or fifty kilograms in total.
These trolleys are the kind used for carrying luggage at train stations. They're made of several iron bars welded together with two wheels underneath. They sell for ten yuan each, and each stall has a lot of them. If you make a purchase, the trolley is given away for free.
"Uncle De, you have much more pieces of material in mind than I do. What do you think of this one I picked out?"
Zhuang Rui laughed, handed the piece of chicken-blood stone in his hand to Uncle De, and then squatted down to examine the chicken-blood stone material that Uncle De had chosen.
The chicken-blood stone materials selected by Uncle De mostly have a base color on the stone skin. They are not entirely red, but also have other mixed colors. When choosing chicken-blood stone, one must not only look at the color, but also at the icy texture.
The best quality material is the kind that has a slightly translucent, glutinous feel. The pieces that Uncle De selected all had very good internal textures. Zhuang Rui was secretly impressed. Uncle De was indeed an expert; he had made a pretty good selection based on the color and texture of the stone alone.
Zhuang Rui came here to purchase seal materials, but he has high standards and habitually seeks out top-quality chicken-blood stone. He has spent quite a bit of time wandering around yesterday and today, but none of the materials have met his standards. The materials that Uncle De selected are perfect for his Xuanrui Studio.
Uncle De looked at the "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" jade piece that Zhuang Rui handed him for a while, then looked up and asked, "Xiao Rui, are you betting that there's mixed color inside this piece?"
This piece of material doesn't look particularly good on the surface. The stone is grayish-white with a slight blackish tinge, and it's like a frozen jade. It's somewhat like a mutton fat jade. This kind of material has a chance of producing a five-colored jade, but it's a huge gamble, which is why Uncle De asked this question.
"Hmm, I feel good about this piece of material. I don't want to put it down once I pick it up. I'll polish it over and see what's inside..."
Once this stone is unraveled, it will surely shock many people. Zhuang Rui thought he couldn't explain it clearly, so he simply attributed it to intuition. This thing is very mysterious, and no one can refute or doubt it.
It should be noted that "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" is a top-grade chicken-blood stone, second only to Da Hong Pao among seal stones. If it were carved into an ornament, its richness of shape and color would far surpass the single red color of Da Hong Pao.
This fist-sized "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" bloodstone, if carved by a master craftsman, would probably be worth more in the market than Zhuang Rui's big red robe seal.
Zhuang Rui once saw a chicken-blood stone ornament in the shape of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei in a book of rare stones. The book described that the ornament could be viewed from different directions and the figures could be felt differently. It could be called a top-quality stone with beautiful colors and ever-changing appearance.
"You little rascal, this is really a gamble..."
Uncle De shook his head with a wry smile, wondering how he could have taught such a disciple. However, Zhuang Rui seemed to have good luck; he had never lost money on any of the large-scale jade gambling he had heard about.
As for the stone in front of them, it looked quite ordinary; if the gamble failed, it wouldn't be worth much. Therefore, Uncle De didn't say anything, casually placed the stone on the cart, and walked with Zhuang Rui towards the stone's owner. ...
"What? Old Liu, you're really ripping me off! This piece of jade costs fifty thousand?"
Uncle De was surprised that the owner of the bloodstone mine, with whom he had dealt a few times, would offer such an outrageous price, and his voice rose several decibels.
When Zhuang Rui and Uncle De were negotiating the price, this Mr. Liu was initially very amiable, and the prices he asked for for the previous few stones were quite reasonable. However, when it came to the stone that Zhuang Rui had chosen, he insisted on a minimum price of 50,000 RMB.
It's worth noting that the previous few pieces of material were far superior to this one with an outer layer of stone, but the four pieces together only cost 120,000 yuan. This piece, which is practically worthless, was priced at 50,000 yuan, which is outrageous. No wonder Uncle De was angry.
Unlike jadeite rough, which can be judged by its color patterns, chicken blood stone has a very high probability of being a completely uncolored stone egg inside, even if it has no color on the outside.
The piece of jade that Zhuang Rui chose wasn't very big. It would normally be worth a few hundred yuan at most, and only someone with a high risk tolerance would buy it. This Mr. Liu is definitely asking for an exorbitant price.
"Teacher Ma, please calm down. Teacher Zhuang is famous for gambling on stones. If Teacher Zhuang hadn't taken a liking to this piece, I would have liked to cut it open myself for fun. To be honest, 50,000 yuan is really not expensive..."
When Boss Liu saw that Uncle De was angry, he quickly put on a smile and explained that he had already recognized Zhuang Rui, the newly crowned "Jade King" of the North!
Upon arriving, after Zhuang Rui examined the material for a long time, Boss Liu concluded that there must be something of value in it, which is why he offered a price of 50,000 RMB.
Boss Liu had already thought it through. Normally, such material would only be worth a few hundred yuan. If he could sell it for 50,000 yuan, he would make a fortune. If Zhuang Rui didn't want it, he was actually considering rubbing off the stone skin and playing with it himself.
After hearing Mr. Liu's explanation, Zhuang Rui and Uncle De looked at each other in dismay. They hadn't expected that the reputation they had gained from gambling on stones would actually affect their acquisition of chicken-blood stone. It was clear that fame wasn't necessarily a good thing.
"Mr. Liu, jadeite and bloodstone are completely unrelated. If you insist on linking them together, I'd rather not have this piece. I was thinking of buying a cheaper one to practice with, haha, never mind..."
Although 50,000 yuan is nothing to Zhuang Rui, this trend should not be allowed to continue. If he were to obediently take out 50,000 yuan, the price of any stone he had ever seen would probably increase a hundredfold. Of course, this only applies to himself.
"You don't want it anymore?"
Mr. Liu's face stiffened. He hadn't expected Zhuang Rui to not even haggle over the price, leaving all his prepared arguments stuck in his throat. This made Mr. Liu extremely uncomfortable, and his face instantly turned red.
"No, Peng Fei, come on, pay..."
Zhuang Rui was thinking of having Wei Ge buy the stone later. Wei Ge hadn't entered the market today; he had been standing at the entrance with Qin Xuanbing and Song Xingjun watching others cut stones. Presumably, Boss Liu didn't know that Wei Ge was with him.
"Hey, Mr. Zhuang, this price is what I said. As the saying goes, if you ask for the sky, you should bargain down to the ground. Why don't you give me a price?"
Seeing Peng Fei already taking money out of his bag, Boss Liu couldn't hold back any longer. Although he had his own idea about cutting the stone, after hearing Zhuang Rui's words, that idea had long since disappeared.
Zhuang Rui was right. Jadeite and chicken-blood stone are completely different. Zhuang Rui can keep winning in jadeite, but he may not be able to handle chicken-blood stone. I'm being a bit too ruthless with my price.
There were quite a few pieces of this material at his stall. Every piece he could sell was a piece of meat, even a small amount was still meat. So, Mr. Liu's attitude immediately softened.
"Mr. Liu, you know you're asking for an exorbitant price, don't you?"
Zhuang Rui laughed upon hearing this. This matter was promising, and it seemed there was no need to trouble Wei Ge.
"It's extremely rare to find chicken-blood stone with its outer skin intact. The old mines have weathered for so many years, so the color is mostly visible now. The new mines almost never have the outer skin. This piece might just be a rock inside. Mr. Liu, I'm not going to play games with you. 1000 yuan is my highest offer. Take it or leave it..."
Zhuang Rui's words left Boss Liu's expression uncertain. He had originally intended to use Zhuang Rui's name to rip him off, but unexpectedly, he was persuaded by Zhuang Rui himself. The material that could only be sold for four or five hundred yuan at most could now be sold for 1,000 yuan, and Boss Liu was tempted.
Cut it yourself? Nine times out of ten, it's just like Zhuang Rui said—a broken stone, but you could sell it for at least 10 pink banknotes.
After taking the twelve stacks of 100-yuan bills from Peng Fei, Boss Liu said, "Boss Zhuang, 1,000 yuan it is. Consider it my way of making friends with you. Let's just leave it at that..."
"Damn it, is it really possible to smear your friends like this?"
Zhuang Rui cursed inwardly, but accepted the stone with a smile. He then had Peng Fei count out 10 banknotes and hand them over. With that, the transaction was complete, and the "Liu, Guan, and Zhang" bloodstone belonged to Zhuang Rui.
"Peng Fei, put this fabric in the bag..."
After Zhuang Rui took the stone, he handed it to Peng Fei. He was worried about leaving the fist-sized bloodstone on the cart. If it accidentally rolled away, he would have nowhere to cry.
Zhuang Rui's action surprised Boss Liu for a moment, then he realized that the other party valued the material very much. Boss Liu regretted it, wishing he had insisted on not lowering the price.
Regardless of what Boss Liu was thinking, Zhuang Rui, who had just stumbled upon a great bargain, was in a great mood. He visited several more stalls and bought some mid-to-high-end chicken-blood stone materials, but he never came across a top-quality chicken-blood stone like the one depicting "Liu, Guan, and Zhang".
"Uncle De, let's go, let's go see how others cut stones..."
Chapter 588 Gamble Fails
The chicken-blood stone materials that Zhuang Rui bought mostly weighed around 10 to 20 kilograms each. In total, they filled three carts to the brim, weighing about 400 kilograms.
This 400-plus jin of material can yield about 40-50 jin of chicken-blood stone, most of which is blood-red. Although the quality is not very high and some are light-colored, it is still acceptable to make seals and sell them in "Xuanrui Zhai". After all, it is genuine Changhua chicken-blood stone. Of course, the quality is another matter.
The materials Zhuang Rui selected later were mostly for seals. If all of them were carved, they would be enough for "Xuanrui Zhai" to sell for several years.
However, Zhuang Rui didn't plan to take all the hundreds of stones back. He intended to cut them all open and only take the few dozen kilograms, dividing them into two portions, which would be enough for him and Peng Fei to carry in their own bags. ...
The merchants who come to Changhua usually choose to break down the stones in the morning, because the afternoon is the time to select the raw materials. Every day at noon, a batch of stones comes down from the mountain. These people are afraid of missing out on good materials. Right now, it is the time when the villagers are in a daze.
However, he made a fortune in just one morning. A complete set of stone-cutting machinery only costs 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. He charges 100 yuan for each cut and 50 yuan for each grinding wheel. Even though it was only a few hours in the morning, he made nearly 10,000 yuan.
"Gentlemen, here to have your stones cleaned? Oh, it's you lot! Here, I'll give you a discount, only 150 yuan per stone..."
When the villagers saw Zhuang Rui and his group pulling several carts over, they hurriedly went to greet them. To them, those twenty-odd stones were all like bright red RMB.
"150? Wasn't it 100 yesterday? Besides, why are you charging for each stone once? That's outrageous!"
Before Zhuang Rui could speak, Wei Ge started shouting that the price was a bit outrageous. Zhuang Rui had more than 20 pieces of material, and if they were all cut open, it would cost more than 3,000 yuan, which was more than some small-time chicken blood stone mine owners made.
"Hey, sir, you can't say that. Prices are going up all the time these days. If it weren't for the fact that you guys spent money here yesterday, a single use of the stone-cutting machine would cost 200 yuan. I've already given you a 50 yuan discount. Besides, if even one of your stones appreciates significantly, why would you care about such a small amount of money..."
Hearing what the villager said, it seemed that Zhuang Rui and his group had actually gotten a good deal. This made the group shake their heads, both amused and exasperated. These people from the remote mountain village actually knew how to keep up with the times.
While Wei Ge was still haggling with the villager, an SUV pulled up at the market entrance, right behind Zhuang Rui and the others.
"Youngest brother, this guy is too dark-skinned, I don't understand. Let's take him back to Zhonghai. Two cars can easily carry over 400 kilograms of stones..."
Wei Ge talked to the man for a long time, but the villager was adamant and refused to lower the price. Anyway, he was the only one in Yuyan Village, so it was up to him whether he wanted to or not.
This guy thought things through quite a bit, and he argued vehemently that he couldn't lower his price for the sake of this one order; that would ruin his reputation.
These words infuriated Zhuang Rui and the others. "Damn it, you're ruining the signboard! Why don't you just admit you're operating without a license?"
Zhuang Rui was feeling rather annoyed. What was going on today? He was being treated like a sucker when he tried to buy chicken-blood stone. Stone cutting is free elsewhere, yet the price had gone up. It was really strange.
It wasn't that he was heartbroken about the money; it was just that being ripped off would always leave him feeling uneasy.
"Brother Wei, forget it, let's just..."
"Move aside, move aside, you unskilled stone, go stay somewhere else, don't get in my way..."
There was no need to waste time arguing with the villagers. Just as Zhuang Rui was about to agree, a familiar voice came from behind him. Who else could it be but Young Master Yan?
"Experts, my foot! I'd say professors are more like it. If you can't even spare 200 yuan, could you please step aside?"