At this moment, Zhao Lao Er's face turned ashen, his expression shifting unpredictably, and he was speechless. He stared intently at Zhou Xuan, his mouth trembling slightly with his mouth half open!
Volume 1, Chapter 157: The Crazy Jade Gambling (7)
Compared to Mo Quan's second brother's stunned silence, Zhou Fu was much calmer, as Ao Hu was exactly what he expected.
The reason Zhou Xuan disagreed to sell it for five million before the other side was fully revealed was because he knew the jade's true value was much higher than that, as he had never been fond of collecting such treasures. In his view, no matter how good something is, nothing is better than living a life of contentment and comfort!
Now that the basic shape of the jadeite has been revealed, Zhou Xuan said nothing more and let Zhao Lao Er decide for himself. It's no longer gambling on stones, but rather a rush to buy rare items.
Zhao Lao Er's mind went blank for a long time, his eyes wide open like copper bells.
Master Zhou has removed most of the stone layers from the jadeite. While the remaining jadeite isn't perfectly clean, the complete jade body is still visible through the stone dust and grime. The exposed jade is vibrant and lustrous, as if water has been splashed on it, with a very high level of translucency. It's as if strong light can be seen penetrating through it. Its transparency is extremely high—truly fine jade!
The merchant gritted his teeth and nervously offered ten million, which was clearly beyond his means. In Zhoubo, there had never been a transaction for jade at such a high price.
Zhao Lao Er's mind cleared up a bit, and he turned to Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Lao Er, don't look at me. This is yours. The highest bidder wins, that's the rule!"
Zhao Lao Er felt a surge of excitement. Ten million! He had never had ten million in his life.
Zhou Xuan subtly withdrew at this point, hoping to shift Fujimoto and Ito Kinji's attention to Zhao Lao Er. Since Zhao Lao Er had no secrets and had naturally amassed a fortune, Fujimoto and Ito Kinji would naturally keep a close eye on him; wealth is everyone's primary concern. The merchant had also estimated that the value of Zhao Lao Er's jadeite had skyrocketed. A rough estimate suggested that the glassy portion alone could yield pieces worth 20 to 30 million, while the icy portion below, though less valuable, would still be quite precious.
Currently on the market, a top-quality glass-like jadeite bangle can be worth over ten million yuan. Given the size of this piece of jadeite, at least four to five bangles could be made from it. The remaining material can be used to make many pendants, which are also quite valuable.
The ten million bid was indeed a high price on the spot, but it was somewhat low in terms of the intrinsic value of the jadeite.
However, Zhou Xuan didn't care. When it was five million, the price was based on only the exposed part, and Zhao Lao Er was obviously at a disadvantage. But now it's different. After it's fully exposed, the selling price is just the profit margin. A little more or less doesn't matter. As long as he doesn't suffer a hidden loss or a big loss, it's fine.
At this moment, Zhao Lao Er took the jade from Master Zhou's hand, hugged it tightly to his chest, his face flushed red, and sweat poured down his face. This action was more important than hugging his son and wife, although of course, he didn't have a son and wife yet.
Zhou Xuan had just said that the highest bidder would win, and Zhao Lao Er was staring at the merchant. He didn't know much about these things and was hesitating whether to sell it for ten million.
At this moment, the other merchants rushed forward. They all looked at Zhao Lao Er with great envy, and one of them spoke up: "I'll offer 10.5 million!"
The businessman who initially offered ten million immediately blushed and stammered, "Old Zhang, you suddenly gritted your teeth and said, 'I'll offer eleven million!'"
He called out a price of eleven million, but as soon as he said it, he started panting heavily.
Zhao Lao Er was utterly dumbfounded, clutching the jade in his arms tightly, as if afraid it would fall and shatter. He never dreamed that such a small green object would elicit such a frenzied bidding war from these people.
purchase!
Aside from envy and jealousy, Fujimoto and Ito Kinji were filled with nothing but a determination to enter this industry. This Zhao Lao Er was clearly a complete novice who knew nothing, yet he had stumbled upon this treasure by luck. With their intelligence and experience, they couldn't possibly be any worse than Zhao Lao Er, could they? As they thought about it, they became even more eager for this fortune.
However, I'm not interested in looking at the rough jade right now. My mind is all on Zhao Lao Er's piece of jade, but not really on the jade itself, but on the prices offered by the people around him—that's real money!
Zhao Lao Er was a bit dazed, the factory owner Zhou Bo was stunned and extremely regretful, only Zhou Xuan was clear-headed and had a sense of being detached from the matter.
With a smile, Zhou Xuan said, "Eleven million the first time, one hundred and one million the second time..."
"I'll offer 11.5 million."
The person who said this was not a merchant, but Zhou Bo himself.
Zhou Xuan naturally ignored it; it didn't matter who it was. As long as it was bought with money, he didn't care who it was!
"Hehe, Mr. Zhou offered 11.5 million for the first time."
Fujimoto was parched, his face covered in sweat. All he could think was: They've gone mad, they've all gone mad!
"One thousand two hundred and thirty truths!"
"Twelve million six hundred thousand!"
More and more people raised the price, and before Zhou Xuan could even call out a few times, as soon as someone made a bid, another person would immediately raise the price.
They were all jade connoisseurs and jewelry dealers. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance how much this piece of jade could be made from and how much it was worth. At this point, it wasn't a gamble of skill or luck, but of wealth—who had more money. Naturally, the higher the bid, the more Zhao Lao Er earned, while the buyer earned less. However, they all had a rough calculation in mind: how much could be made from this jade, how much it would cost to hire craftsmen, and how much it could be sold for. They all had a figure in mind regarding its final value. As long as the jade didn't exceed 20 million, the profit from the finished products could reach around 10 million. For them, this was a substantial profit.
When the purchase price was only around ten million, the profit margin was much larger. Now, there's no gambling involved. Everyone's buying into the profit; who wouldn't want to make money?
"Thirteen million!"
"I'll offer 13.5 million."
"I'll offer 14 million!" Zhao Lao Er's mouth and throat were dry and hot. He couldn't say anything. At first, when it was 4 million or 5 million, he only wanted to sell it, but he never expected that the asking price would reach 14 million, and it looked like it was still going up!
My God!
Even if you buy a lottery ticket, you'd only win five million. This stone I just picked up randomly... it's like winning three first-prize lottery tickets! Am I dreaming?
Zhao Lao Er's legs were trembling, and he took a few steps back. He moved closer to Zhou Xuan, showing that he had more self-control. If it weren't for Zhou Xuan, he would have lost ten million yuan with his own ideas. Zhou Xuan's decision was indeed reasonable!
Zhao Lao Er was distracted for a moment, and the price of the jade in his arms was bid up to 16.5 million!
However, the merchants Zhou Bo had here weren't big players. This price wasn't the peak for this jade, but it was somewhat beyond their means. Given the current situation, the chances of acquiring it at this price were slim; they didn't even have the cash on hand, let alone the possibility of bidding any lower.
Second-tier jewelry merchants like them typically only have a few million in working capital. While Zhao Lao Er's jade could potentially make a fortune, the crucial problem is that even knowing it's profitable, they lack the necessary capital—a fatal flaw!
Zhou Bo hesitated before finally calling out "17.5 million," but his heart trembled. It seemed that at least 20 million would be needed to secure the deal, but if he paid that large sum, his working capital would be completely depleted, and his business would collapse!
Zhou Bo glanced at the other merchants. Needless to say, he knew their backgrounds very well; they were all people he had dealt with before. Except for Zhou Xuan and Zhao Er, whom he was meeting for the first time, the other merchants only had a few million in working capital. They had just joined him in the fierce bidding to reach the current price, so they must have dragged other friends along to share the burden and split the profits. Otherwise, no one could have raised such a large sum of money in such a short time.
Zhou Bo thought for a moment and quickly said, "Brother Zhou, I think we should pause for a bit, take a break, and resume bidding in an hour. What do you think?"
You could tell from Zhou Bo's expression. Although Zhou Bo's factory was much larger than the ones Zhou Xuan had seen in Shenzhen and Yangzhou, in reality, his strength and capital were much smaller than those two jade business owners from the mainland.
While Ling and his group could easily afford to bid tens of millions, Zhou Bo and his clients were clearly at a disadvantage. When Zhou Bo suggested a one-hour break, Zhou Xuan immediately agreed, as he had already anticipated. Zhou Bo was likely preparing funds for a final bid, or perhaps he was looking for a partner. Even though they would earn half the profit, a steady income of several million was still a good thing. Earning several million so easily was no easy feat.
But Zhou Bo still felt uneasy. He'd been dumped on him for a mere thousand yuan, like trash, but now Zhou Bo was willing to pay nearly twenty million yuan to buy it back – what a sucker!