Although he said he was fine, it was obvious to everyone that Old Wu was not in good condition, with large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.
Old Li was quite loyal; he waved his hand and said, "No, you have to go to the hospital. We came together; if anything happens to you, I won't be able to face your wife when we get back..."
"No, Lao Li, I'll just lie here for a while. You go pick out the raw materials, don't let it interfere with your business..."
Old Wu's complexion improved, and the onlookers dispersed. The auction lasted only fifteen days, and every moment was precious.
Hearing what Lao Wu said, Lao Li advised, "Lao Wu, no matter how important this jade is, is it more important than your life? Don't say anything more. If you don't want to go to the hospital, I'll stay here and watch you for a while..."
"Okay, then I'll trouble you..."
Old Wu's illness seemed to be more complicated than he had described. After finishing speaking, he closed his eyes to rest, and the muscles in his face twitched from time to time.
"Brother Zhuang, are you alright?"
Peng Fei and Li Zhen walked up to Zhuang Rui and, seeing that it wasn't Zhuang Rui who was in trouble, both brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's alright, this guy probably has heatstroke, I'll rest for a bit too..."
Zhuang Rui had been walking for almost an hour. Although he wasn't tired, he was unbearably hot. Even after drinking a bowl of cold water, his throat still felt like it was on fire.
Zhuang Rui was puzzled by the man's behavior of half-lying on the chair and asked the man next to him, "Brother, what's wrong with this guy? Why doesn't he want to go to the hospital?"
Old Li sighed and said, "Sigh, I didn't even want to bring him this time, but he insisted. I've never heard of him having any illnesses before, otherwise I would have tied him up and taken him to the hospital..."
It turns out that this old Wu was originally a building materials businessman from Fujian. His business was quite successful, with a net worth of over ten million yuan, and he was quite famous in the area.
However, the building materials business has not been doing well in the past two years. With some spare money in hand, Lao Wu started thinking about investing in other industries. Perhaps it's because Fujian is close to the Chaoshan region, but somehow he ended up getting into the jade gambling industry.
Old Wu started with small bets, usually cutting materials worth 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. His profits and losses were mixed, but after more than a year, he made more than 2 million yuan. This was much easier than his work in the building materials industry, where he was exposed to all kinds of weather.
Miracles are never lacking in the jade gambling market. People often win big with small stakes, cutting out top-quality jade with very little money. After witnessing this a few times, Lao Wu gradually increased his stakes.
However, as a rare mineral, jadeite is incredibly difficult to mine; how many top-quality pieces are there? For someone like Zhuang Rui to consistently find top-quality jadeite is even harder than winning the lottery. Old Wu certainly doesn't have that kind of luck.
After gambling on various public auctions in China for half a year, Lao Wu suffered a complete defeat. His net worth of over ten million yuan shrank to just over three million yuan. His family business was also ruined, and he couldn't even take care of his wife and children.
Having become obsessed with jade gambling and to the point of madness, Lao Wu eventually mortgaged his car, house, and other real estate to the bank, borrowing more than ten million yuan. He then went to Myanmar, ready to gamble again and win back everything he had lost.
Who knew that on the very first day of the market opening, he would collapse inside the jade gambling market? Old Wu was burdened with more than ten million yuan in debt, so he refused to go to the hospital and planned to rest before continuing to select raw stones.
"Can someone with this kind of mentality gamble on stones?"
After hearing the story, Zhuang Rui was completely speechless. Looking at Old Wu, who was resting with his eyes closed, he didn't know whether to pity him or give him a good scolding.
While jade gambling also relies heavily on luck, it differs somewhat from traditional gambling. It demands more experience and discerning eye, requiring long-term exploration and practical experience. Not just anyone can enter this field.
People like Lao Wu, who know nothing about jade and have no experience, enter the jade gambling industry completely clueless, practically just giving money away to those rough jade dealers.
After resting in the shade for a while, Old Wu was the first to perk up. He refused to lie down again and, holding a flashlight, continued his jade gambling adventure, which made Zhuang Rui shake his head repeatedly.
However, he couldn't easily offer advice. Everyone in the jade gambling circle thought they had a keen eye for detail, and if they didn't speak to someone they knew well when examining rough stones, they were likely to offend them.
This was just a minor incident. After resting for a while, Zhuang Rui continued to look at the jadeite rough stones in the open bidding area. However, after looking at four or five thousand pieces, he couldn't find a single piece of the top-quality jadeite he had imagined, which made Zhuang Rui a little disappointed.
Looking at the time, it was almost noon. Zhuang Rui quickly called Old Tang. He had said early in the morning that he would be hosting the event today, and he dared not stand up this senior figure in the jade industry.
Having arranged to meet Mr. Tang at the entrance of the jade center, Zhuang Rui called out to Peng Fei and Li Zhen, and then prepared to end the morning's jade gambling. Although the gains were not great, Zhuang Rui had noted down more than twenty pieces of jade from the first 3,000 numbers, intending to bid on them in the afternoon.
"Quick, hurry, the person is dying..."
Before they even reached the entrance of the jade trading center, they saw a crowd gathered there, and the one who spoke up seemed to be Old Li from over an hour ago.
"Is that Old Wu?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment, then quickly pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. Sure enough, it was Old Wu lying on the ground. His face was no longer sallow, but deathly pale, without a trace of blood.
As the saying goes, human life is of paramount importance, so Zhuang Rui didn't have time to ask any more questions and quickly poured the spiritual energy in his eyes into Old Wu's body.
Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda. Zhuang Rui risked his life. This was the first time he had gone all out since his spiritual energy level was upgraded on Pirate Island.
However, what made Zhuang Rui feel uneasy was that the spiritual energy that had entered Lao Wu's body had not disappeared and was still under his control, as if the person lying on the ground was not a living being.
This was the first time Zhuang Rui had encountered such a situation since his eyes gained spiritual energy, and he was at a loss for what to do.
Chapter 961 Madness (Part 2)
Since the spiritual energy appeared in Zhuang Rui's eyes, it seemed to be invariably effective in treating human injuries. Even for an elderly man like Ouyang Gang, who was over ninety years old, it could slow down the aging of his organs. However, this time, it seemed to have lost its effectiveness.
Although Zhuang Rui poured all his spiritual energy into Old Wu's body, who was lying on the ground, he sensed that the spiritual energy was not absorbed by Old Wu. In other words, the person on the ground was probably no longer a living being.
"Excuse me, excuse me..."
"Don't push, the doctor's here, let them in quickly..."
Someone had somehow summoned the doctor from the jade trading center. A path was cleared through the crowd, and the person, whose medical license was unclear, placed a diagnostic instrument on Old Wu's chest.
After a minute or so, the doctor slowly shook his head, took the diagnostic instrument off his ear, and said in English, "He has stopped breathing and is dead!"
The Fujianese man with Lao Wu couldn't understand English. Only after someone translated for him did his face light up with disbelief, and he shouted, "No...impossible! Lao Wu just...just..."
Just thinking about how Lao Wu had fainted, Lao Li grabbed his hair, squatted down, and could be seen from his trembling shoulders that this hearty man was crying.
"This gentleman likely died suddenly from a myocardial infarction. Further diagnosis is needed to determine the exact cause of death..."
The doctor shook his head, stood up, gently patted Old Li's shoulder, and said, "Please accept my condolences. The weather is too hot. We need to decide on the funeral arrangements as soon as possible..."
After hearing the translation from those around him, Lao Li looked somewhat bewildered. He and Lao Wu had been friends for over twenty years, and it was Lao Li who introduced Lao Wu to the world of jade gambling.
Old Li never expected that Old Wu would spend the last part of his life in the jade gambling market.
"how so?"
"Yes, how could he possibly die?"
"It's all because of this weather. The outdoor temperature is probably over forty degrees Celsius. Even a healthy person couldn't stand it..."
The doctor's diagnosis caused a stir in the venue, and more people rushed to the entrance, soon crowding it so much that soldiers had to be deployed to maintain order.
It took a full half hour before Old Wu's body was taken away by ambulance, accompanied by Old Li, who looked grief-stricken.
Although Lao Wu's death greatly shocked the merchants participating in the auction, life had to go on, and the auction wouldn't stop; it just cast a shadow over people's hearts.
"Sigh, I never expected something like this to happen..."
At noon, Zhuang Rui hosted Tang Lao and his entourage at Hu Rong's manor. However, after Lao Wu's sudden death at noon, no one had much of an appetite, and they found it difficult to swallow the dishes on the table.
"I saw that Xiao Wu this morning. He didn't look too good, I never expected..."
Old Tang was also very heavy-hearted. He had been gambling on stones for decades and had seen all kinds of joys and sorrows in life, but this was the first time he had died suddenly in a stone gambling market.
Only after hearing this did Zhuang Rui learn that after Lao Wu woke up from his unconsciousness, he immediately went back to selecting raw jade stones under the scorching sun. When he was about to go back for lunch and rest at noon, he collapsed at the entrance of the jade trading center.
"Insane! Insane jade gambling!"
Zhuang Rui shook his head with a wry smile. Any industry that can bring huge profits will drive people crazy.
The number of participants at each jade auction has increased from only seven or eight hundred to a thousand in previous years to almost four thousand now, which is enough to illustrate the frenzy surrounding jade gambling.
And in this process, we don't know how many people have been eliminated, or how many have gone bankrupt and are desperate.
"The entry barrier is low, so many people dare to try their luck as long as they have money, relying entirely on chance, and in the end they all end up empty-handed..."
Mr. Tang was also deeply moved. He had been in the jade industry for more than half a century and had seen all kinds of jade gambling occasions. There were countless examples of people going from being penniless to becoming a billionaire and then going from being a billionaire to losing everything.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Mr. Tang, what are your thoughts on this public auction?"
Although Zhuang Rui and Tang Lao are known as the "Jade Kings" of the North and South!
However, Zhuang Rui knew his own limitations; when it came to the real skill of identifying jadeite, he was simply no match for him.
"There are more stones, more people, and more money, but jade... is becoming scarce..."
Old Tang's words may sound simple at first glance, but upon closer reflection, they make perfect sense; though the words may be rough, the principle is sound.
This public auction features over 500,000 pieces of jadeite rough stones through both open and closed auctions. The number of participants is the highest in its history, and the estimated transaction amount will exceed 10 billion RMB.
However, based on Zhuang Rui's observations this morning, the quality of the jadeite rough stones at this auction was much worse than the last one he attended. He couldn't find even a single piece of jadeite of icy quality or higher all morning.
Due to the sudden death at noon, the meal ended up being rather unappetizing. After lunch and a short rest, Zhuang Rui and the others returned to the Myanmar National Jade Exchange Center.
The number of people who came to the jade trading center in the afternoon exceeded the number in the morning. This is because many people arrived in Myanmar that day and were unable to attend the trade fair in the morning.
The events of noon seemed to have no effect on these people. Walking through the crowded venue, one could see people everywhere with faces flushed red from the sun, but with expressions of fervor.
Having a large group has its advantages. Apart from those who had met Zhuang Rui a few years ago, many people didn't know who this young man wandering around the bidding area was, which saved Zhuang Rui a lot of trouble dealing with people.
Around 3:30 PM, the bidding process was scheduled to begin, and the procedure was the same as it had been a few years ago. However, Zhuang Rui, sitting in the bidding hall, was not as excited as he had been last time.
"Damn it, isn't this a scam?"
Zhuang Rui was dumbfounded as he watched the numbers on the screen change. It was as if those broken stones could be transformed into imperial green jadeite. The price was rising like a rocket, and it was ridiculously high.
Take, for example, the piece of icy jade that Zhuang Rui had his eye on. It only had a slight vein of veins on the surface and some misty strands, so its appearance wasn't very good. The starting price for the auction was 30,000 euros, which was already quite high.
However, as soon as the bidding started, someone raised the price to 700,000 euros. Before Zhuang Rui could even react, the price climbed to 1.2 million euros, which is a staggering 10 million yuan.
Looking at the price, Zhuang Rui was speechless. The icy jadeite inside could only be used to make one bracelet at most, and it would never sell for such a high price.
Now Zhuang Rui has a better understanding of why the jade market is so hot. Just think about it, those raw stone merchants spend tens of millions of yuan to buy materials worth millions of yuan, and they still try to manipulate the price of the finished products.
Ultimately, the cost is borne by the consumer, and there will be instances of inferior goods being passed off as superior ones and counterfeit goods being sold as genuine.
However, if this continues in the long run, the lack of market regulation will only lead to consumer distrust and affect the entire jewelry sales market.
"Damn, do they all have X-ray vision and know there's something inside these rough stones?"
As the open bidding proceeded, Zhuang Rui became increasingly frustrated because the prices of the thirty-odd rough stones he had his eye on were almost all beyond his budget.
Even for materials with poor external performance, the price was two or three times higher than the base price. This made Zhuang Rui hold the bidding device for a long time, but he couldn't enter a single price.
"Damn it, they've all gone mad, they don't value money at all?"
Zhuang Rui came to Myanmar with a full 200 million euros, but if things continue at this pace, he will probably spend almost all of it after the two-week open bidding process.
In the end, Zhuang Rui shook his head and did not bid on any of the materials. He believed that after the frenzy of the first day, those who had lost money gambling would become more restrained, and it would not be too late for him to make a move then. After all, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the materials today.
"Laugh now, but you'll be crying later..."
Before the bidding was over, Zhuang Rui got up and walked outside. Watching the successful bidders happily pay and pick up their goods, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but secretly grumble to himself.
After calling Qin Haoran and learning that his father-in-law was still selecting materials for the sealed bid, Zhuang Rui called out to Peng Fei and Li Zhen and left the trading center. Whether it was psychological or not, the events of noon left Zhuang Rui feeling somewhat depressed.
Because it gets dark later in the summer, the jade center closes at 8 p.m. Zhuang Rui was already waiting at the entrance at 6 p.m., and people coming in and out would glance at him.