"Nineteen million five hundred thousand!"
Every time Zhou Xuan raised the price, it surprised everyone else in the hall. It was as if he had too much money and was just throwing it away. Everyone else was raising the price little by little, but he would raise it by a large amount at once, as if he wanted everyone to know that he was very rich.
In fact, only Boss Ling could barely understand Zhou Xuan's intentions, but he believed that Zhou Xuan wasn't competing with Fang Zhiguo, but was genuinely determined to gamble on this rough jade. Judging from his tone and aura, he was completely focused on getting his hands on this rough jade.
Zhou Xuan knew that this was the last time he would raise the price. If Fang Zhiguo raised it to 20 million, they would lose 20 million. If Fang Zhicheng took 20%, that would be 4 million. Fang Zhiguo would lose 16 million, which would be a huge loss for them!
Fang Zhicheng's net worth is probably only three million at most. Letting him squander his fortune and incur hundreds of thousands in debt makes me feel good, as I've gotten my revenge for what happened back then.
As for Fang Zhiguo, he was a cunning scoundrel who deliberately tricked him and his brother into a trap. It's not unfair to accuse him of this. Besides, he didn't touch the rough stone. Even if it later returned to its original stone state, the Fang brothers wouldn't suspect him. They would only think that he had also seen gold and that's why he was arguing with them. What the real reason was, they probably wouldn't have figured out until their deaths.
After trembling for a while, Fang Zhiguo managed to utter with difficulty: "Twenty-two million!"
Volume 1, Chapter 128: The Stone Where Dogs Poop and Pee
When Yi Fangzhiguo struggled to say "twenty million," Zhou Fu casually awarded him "six."
Everyone else in the hall was still watching them, anticipating Zhou Xuan's next crazy bid. But they were disappointed. Zhou Xuan stood there calmly, without saying another word.
Boss Ling keenly sensed something: this price of twenty million might already be the absolute limit!
As expected, Fang Zhiguo and Fang Zhicheng were panting, while Zhou Xuan calmly shrugged, indicating that he was giving up.
This is somewhat inconsistent with his earlier aggressive and determined attitude. Of course, this is just how Boss Ling feels about Zhou Xuan. However, feelings can be wrong, but Boss Ling is undoubtedly the happiest. A piece of rough jade that he thought was worthless has actually been sold for the highest price today, which has made him earn 20 million out of thin air. What could be happier than making money?
Boss Ling made his fortune through jade gambling. He fully understands that the best way to avoid losses and protect his family business is to not gamble. As long as you gamble, as long as you keep gambling, you will always be a loser!
After three bids, no one raised the price further, and Boss Ling announced the deal was done.
Fang Zhiguo, his hands trembling, wrote the check and handed it to Boss Ling. Then he and Fang Zhicheng went to move the raw material, but it was too heavy.
With a wave of his hand, Boss Ling summoned two of his men, who then pushed over a small handcart to help the Fang brothers transport the raw materials out.
Boss Ling also has stone-cutting equipment and tools. Sometimes people who gamble on stones cut them on the spot, but most of the time they take the rough stones back after gambling, pray to the gods and Buddhas, and fast and bathe for a few days before cutting them.
The atmosphere in the hall immediately cooled down. The battle of wits between the Fang brothers and Zhou Xuan had pushed today's jade gambling to its climax, and everyone seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, losing interest.
Zhou Xuan and his sister had no intention of staying any longer. However, staying with Fang Zhiguo would be beneath their dignity. Just now, what happened had practically caused them to break off all pretense of friendship, and the little bit of superficial camaraderie they had maintained in the past had vanished.
However, it didn't really matter. Fang Zhiguo's scheme against them made them furious, so let him turn against them. Even if they didn't completely break off relations, seeing Fang Zhiguo's smug expression still annoyed them.
Zhou Xuan naturally had no objections. He had no relationship with Fang Zhiguo and was mortal enemies with Fang Zhicheng. However, he felt good after those few blows, and his hatred and resentment disappeared.
With 20 million yuan added to the initial 1 million yuan worth of raw jade, the Fang brothers will lose a total of over 21 million yuan. Fang Zhicheng even claimed it would be 10% more, resulting in a loss of over 4 million yuan. Won't 4 million yuan wipe out his entire fortune? Fang Zhiguo won't fare much better; he probably also has over 20 million yuan in assets. This time, he'll be wiped out of his savings!
Zhou Xuan didn't feel uncomfortable or resentful about dealing with this kind of person; in fact, he felt quite satisfied, even though he didn't gain anything himself. Boss Ling profited from it all, but he still felt great!
Zhou Xuan chuckled and waved as he left the hall, not even glancing at the remaining rough stones again.
Wiping sweat from his brow as he walked, he clutched his chest and said, "Little brother, just this half-day with you has been like a rollercoaster ride! I can't take it, my heart is about to explode!" "Boss, don't take it seriously, don't worry. I know what I'm doing!" Zhou Xuan replied with a smile. "Besides, even if I did something, it has nothing to do with our shop. You just need to keep a close eye on things, do good deeds, and make lots of money. I'll do my own thing and won't drag the shop into it!"
He didn't seem to care, laughing, "Look at what you're saying, what separation? Isn't this shop yours now? You can ignore small matters, but you'll still have to lend a hand when there's a big problem. Besides, our brotherhood can't be measured in money. No matter what you do outside, I'll support you. I'm just worried about you. Hehe, it's just that you're much luckier than me; in the end, everything seems to turn out well!"
Boss Ling glanced at the two of them as they left, leaving a slight impression on him, but he didn't come out to see them off.
Fang Zhiguo and Fang Zhicheng, along with two workers, hauled the two rough stones to the parking lot. After opening the trunk, the four of them lifted the two stones into the car and drove away from Lingzhuang, not even glancing at Zhou Xuan and ** again.
Zhou Xuan smiled and shrugged, saying, "Boss, I think this place is a bit out of the way. I wonder if there are any cars around?"
He gave a wry smile. "Who knows? The people who come here are all rich. If I want to hitch a ride with them, firstly, I don't know them. Secondly, even if you offer them some money for the fare and gas, they won't care. Let's see how it goes."
After passing the parking lot and reaching the gate of the courtyard, the dogs in the iron bars started barking wildly again, baring their teeth and looking quite frightening.
Zhou Xuan released the icy energy, thinking to himself, "If you try to break free of the cage, I'll turn your belly into gold and make you unable to move!"
However, just as the icy air reached the dog fences, Zhou Xuan suddenly detected a pool of intoxicatingly green!
Startled, Zhou Xuan quickly used his icy aura to probe again.
This pool of green comes from a large rock that takes one person to hug, located next to an iron fence.
The stone was a dull gray color, and it looked like it was moved to prop up the iron fence to prevent the dog from moving it when it went berserk. There were also a few dog poop and wet dog urine stains on the stone.
Inside a dirty-looking stone was a pool of jadeite, as green as water. It was slightly smaller than the one sold to Fu Ying last time, but the overall green was purer. Zhou Xuan remembered that piece of jadeite; the bottom part was of slightly lower quality, somewhat pale white. This piece, however, was entirely of superior glassy quality. Icy air permeated the jadeite, giving it excellent translucency. Its high transparency seemed to allow one to see through it, though not with the naked eye, Zhou Xuan could clearly see it.
Zhou Xuan was no longer a novice. Although he was far from being an expert, he had gained much more experience. He estimated that this piece of jade, once cut, would be worth no less than the last one. Gem-quality jade like this was indeed hard to find. With Myanmar's rampant mining, mineral resources were dwindling, making top-quality jade even rarer. **Seeing Zhou Xuan stop mid-sentence, staring intently at the dogs, one wondered if he was considering killing and eating them because they were so fierce.**
I've heard that dog meat is very nutritious, and I'm somewhat tempted. Eating dog meat is good, but I definitely can't kill or eat these dogs in front of me.
After looking around for a while, Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then beckoned to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper was a young man in his early twenties, with a cigarette in his mouth and playing on his phone.
Zhou Xuan beckoned to him, then stood up, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and asked, "What is it?"
"Hello!" Ran Xuan asked with a smile, "We're from out of town and not familiar with this area yet. Are there any buses or taxis around here?"
"There's only one bus, every two hours. The one that just came has already passed, so you'll have to wait two hours," the young man said. "Taxis are very rare. Sometimes people come here to hitch a ride, and if you happen to run into one, you can go into the city with them. If no one comes to hitch a ride, then there are basically no taxis available."
but"
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have a friend who drives a Chang'an minivan, and he mainly uses it for private passenger transport, that is..."
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then reached into his wallet, took out five hundred yuan, and handed it to him, saying, "Here's what we'll do, brother. Use this five hundred yuan to call that car to take us back to the city. You can decide how much the fare is, and use the rest to buy yourself some cigarettes."
The young man chuckled. Where else could he find such a good deal? Asking his friend to drive someone into town would cost no more than thirty yuan and take only twenty minutes. He'd practically made over four hundred yuan for nothing!
He immediately agreed with a smile and hurriedly called his friend, speaking in the local Yangzhou dialect. Zhou Xuan and the others couldn't understand him. After he hung up, he said with a forced smile, "Sure, I'll be over in ten minutes. Please, gentlemen, have a seat and wait a moment."
He quickly brought out two more chairs from the guardhouse. He was happy to hear there was money, but he couldn't understand why Zhou Xuan was making so much money. He was just throwing money around like that. Did he really need five hundred yuan for a cheap bread roll? Even if he got ripped off, he'd only give fifty at most. It was less than half an hour's drive from the city. It seemed his son was really burning money; he wouldn't be showing off to a complete stranger like a guard.