The people around were immediately astonished!
The piece of jade in Old Zhang's hand was examined very carefully. Except for a few light green spots at the very bottom, most of the area was a bright emerald green, thick and deep. In the deep green, it seemed to be transparent, and the shadow of Old Zhang's fingers could be faintly seen. The surface of the tender green was very translucent, as if it was about to drip water!
Everyone present was an expert; it went without saying that this was a top-quality old-mine glass terracotta!
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Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Sprout Chapter Forty-Four: Great Fortune Arrives
Old Zhang's hands trembled slightly as he held the jade. The jade's color, translucency, and overall quality were top-tier. The only slight flaw was a small section or two at the bottom that was pale white, but this did not detract from the jade's beauty or value.
Old Zhang has been cutting jade for decades and has seen both good and bad jade. He has seen jade with such good texture and clarity before, but that was many years ago. Nowadays, high-quality jade is becoming increasingly difficult to find. I don't know how he got such good luck today, and he actually cut out such a good piece of jade!
Old Zhang was sighing about his good luck in finding such a good stone, but he didn't even consider that the owner of the raw stone, Zhou Xuan, was even luckier.
It would take a long time to polish this piece of jade thoroughly. Polishing jade is a very laborious and meticulous task. Right now, we have only cut the jade out and revealed its true appearance. However, to polish it completely, just like a person can only see the condition of their skin after taking a bath, it will take at least ten days to half a month of meticulous work.
However, everyone present understood one fact: Zhou Xuan's gambling had been incredibly successful, a huge success. With an initial investment of five thousand yuan, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had made a fortune!
The one who regretted it the most was Li Dagong. He didn't regret not being able to solve it, but rather that he sold the raw stone to him at such a low price.
Over the years in this line of work, Li Dagong has come to understand one thing deeply: gambling on stones, hoping to win big, is not much different from winning the lottery. So he has stopped gambling himself and instead goes to Myanmar every now and then to bring back a batch of rough stones, then transfers the risk to these jewelry merchants in the south, making a profit from the price difference. If he were to cut and gamble on stones himself, he would eventually lose all his wealth. He understands this principle.
This is similar to casino owners. The owners don't gamble. Take Mr. Ho, the Macau gambling king, for example. People call him the gambling king not because he's as good at gambling as the God of Gamblers in the movies, but because he's good at running casinos and can make huge profits from them. That's the key to his success.
Zhou Xuan took the jade from Lao Zhang, looked at it, and felt that it was a good thing, but he was not very excited. After all, he had known about it for a long time, and after he gained the ability of his left hand, even if he gambled on a lot of raw stones in the future, there would be no danger for him. The thrill of gambling on stones had disappeared from his heart!
Then, Mr. Yang stepped forward and said to Zhou Xuan, "Young man, I'll offer you 15 million for this jade. Will you sell it?"
Think about it, he just bought a rough stone for 13 million. Although the green on the surface is nice, it's a gambling stone, and no one knows what it will look like after it's cut open. But if you buy the cut jadeite, you'll basically only make a profit, as long as you get the price right.
Zhou Xuan's piece of jadeite can be made into four bracelets. The finished bracelets made from this top-quality old-mine glassy jadeite will sell for no less than six million. The remaining material can be used to make some cabochons and pendants, which can also sell for more than ten million. In fact, the total value of this piece of jadeite is at least thirty million. However, that's how business people are. You ask for a price, I ask for a price. Buying and selling is all about bargaining.
Old Zhang pursed his lips, said nothing, but showed some disdain.
Zhou Xuan had no prejudice against this Boss Yang. Fifteen million was a price he couldn't refuse. Ever since he acquired the ice energy in his left hand, he had made a few lucky breaks. Money seemed to come to him like it was just lying around. However, Wei Haihong's situation was an accident. He couldn't blame Brother Hong. No one would risk their life for such a joke!
But Zhou Xuan was absolutely convinced that he no longer needed to worry about making a living. It seemed that he could make a lot of money no matter what he did. Like now, he had easily made tens of millions of yuan.
Looking at it this way, the three million or so in my bank account really is nothing. As for Wei Haihong, I don't really want the six-sided diamond. I just hope he's doing well. If he's doing well, then maybe my two hundred million diamond will be okay too!
Seeing that Zhou Xuan was deep in thought and didn't reply, Boss Yang thought that he thought the price was too low. Just as he was about to ask him, Chen Chen also said, "I'll offer sixteen million!"
Chen Chen didn't actually have the authority to use such a large sum of money to gamble on jade. He could only manage around five million. However, he could still make decisions about the approximate value of the finished handmade jadeite that was cut from the stone, and at what price he could buy it without losing money. He didn't have to take any risks. On the other hand, the rough stone he gambled on had a huge risk. Everyone knows that gambling on jadeite is a losing proposition, and he couldn't guarantee that there would definitely be jadeite inside.
If we can buy back Zhou Xuan's jadeite for no more than 20 million, we'll still make a profit of at least 10 million. Even if we lose money on the rough jadeite, we can make up for it with this.
Faced with Chen Chen's price increase, Boss Yang frowned. In the world of gambling on stones or buying cut stones, everyone is worried that too many people will bid, which will only lead to the price being driven up without limit, which will only harm the buyers and benefit the sellers.
Those who bid incur no benefit.
Zhou Xuan really disliked Chen Chen. He wouldn't sell anything to him easily. Even if he did sell something to him, he would squeeze him hard so that he wouldn't get any advantage. What he wanted most was to find a way to make him dismember his stone on the spot and make him suffer a terrible fate!
Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan deliberately hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sixteen million..."
"I'll bid 16.5 million!" Boss Yang added another 500,000 in a deep voice. Zhou Xuan was naturally happy to see someone raising the price to compete with Chen Chen.
"I'll bid 18 million!" It was Li Dagong, the owner of the place, who suddenly raised the price to 1.5 million, catching both Boss Yang and Chen Chen off guard.
In fact, Li Dagong is very cunning and experienced in this game. If someone wants this piece of jade, they can raise the price by 100,000 or 200,000, and they will have to compete with him. But if the price is raised sharply and is close to their bottom line, then most people will not easily bid again.
This is all about psychology.
Li Dagong's plan was sound. After deducting all costs, the profit from this batch of raw jadeite was over ten million. If they could buy back Zhou Xuan's piece of jadeite with a little more investment, the profit would still be over ten million, and there wouldn't be much risk involved.
However, Zhou Xuan is no longer the same Zhou Xuan as before. He may seem stupid and foolish, but he is actually quite calculating.
While Boss Yang and Chen Chen remained silent, Li Dagong almost thought he would have the last laugh. However, he hadn't considered whether Zhou Xuan would agree. In Li Dagong's opinion, Zhou Xuan would undoubtedly agree; such a large sum of money was enough for him to squander for a lifetime.
On the other side, beside Fu Ying, Wang Jue and Yang Xuan, two girls, were both annoyed, amused, and surprised. Zhou Xuan had really struck it lucky.
Fu Ying had an idea in mind and said softly to Zhou Xuan, "Little Zhou, can you sell me this jade? My grandfather is about to celebrate his ninety-eighth birthday, and I've been looking for a gift for him. This jade would be a good gift for him, is that alright?"
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Volume 1, Chapter 45: The Bet Failed
Fu Ying had indeed mentioned it to Zhou Xuan before, asking if she could buy some gifts for her grandfather. It's rare to find a family where both grandfathers are still alive these days. If she had older brothers and sisters who were married and had children, that would be a true five-generation family!
Zhou Xuan's grandfather was still alive, but his grandmother had passed away, and he had no idea what his grandfather looked like. Although Fu Ying was sometimes quite proud, Zhou Xuan still appreciated her filial piety. Without thinking, he stuffed the jade in his hand into hers and said with a smile, "Now that you've asked, how can I sell it to someone else?"
Fu Ying hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to hand over the jade without even haggling over the price. Feeling grateful, she smiled and gave the jade to Wang Jue to put in a bag. Then she took out her checkbook and pen, filled in the amount, tore off a check, and gave it to Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan smiled and took the check, saying, "I'll take the check!" He didn't stand on ceremony, but stuffed it into his pocket without even looking at it.
Everyone else frowned, especially Chen Chen, Boss Yang, and Li Dagong, who were eager to buy the jade. Chen Chen even snorted, "Brother, that's quite a generous offer. What a pity, even the biggest gift might not be enough..."
Zhou Xuan glanced at Chen Chen sideways. This guy really deserved a beating. He said indifferently, "Just now, it seems you bid 16.5 million, right? Although I didn't see the check Miss Fu filled out, I bet she offered a higher price than you. Believe me?"
Chen Chen blushed, snorted, and didn't say anything. His original intention was to mock Zhou Xuan, implying that no matter how hard he tried, he might not win Fu Ying's favor, meaning that he was not worthy of Fu Ying at all. However, he did not intend to make enemies with Fu Ying. Zhou Xuan's words undoubtedly pushed him to the opposite side of Fu Ying.
Zhou Xuan snorted, took the check out of his pocket again, spread it out in front of Chen Chen, and said, "Look carefully, how much is it?"
Although Chen Chen didn't speak, his eyes still fell on the check. When he saw that it said 25 million yuan, he was stunned!
Indeed, the true value of this jade is worth that much, but if it's bought at this price, after paying for the craftsmanship and other expenses, the profit won't be much. Chen Chen really didn't expect Fu Ying to offer such a high price. It seems this girl's background is quite extraordinary. Not only is she extremely beautiful, but her family background is also definitely not bad. Judging from the amount she spent, it's clear that her economic wealth is no less than Chen Chen's. If he could really get her, it would indeed be a good result for both his career and love life!
Chen Chen was lost in his own fantasies, growing more and more fond of Fu Ying the more he looked at her, and calculating in his mind what excuse he would use to invite her after he left.