Chapter 50

The next morning, Xiao Ming spent half a day at the quadrangle, confirming the demolition and reconstruction, and prepaid five million in fees.

Wu Di returned to his rental house, took the piece of rough jade that Xidou and Gao Cui had given him, and headed straight for Stone City. As soon as he opened the VIP room door, a cloud of smoke billowed out, making Wu Di cough. This young man poked his head in and saw a smoky room with at least seven or eight old smokers puffing away. He cursed under his breath, waved the rough jade in front of the fat man, and smiled:

"Brother Fat, I only trust you with this stone."

The fat man's face lit up, then turned sour.

"Brother, I really can't leave."

"The auction hasn't started yet, and my job is quick, just a few cuts. Gentlemen, lend me Brother Fat for a while."

The few people waiting in the VIP room looked at the stone with disdain, some with blank faces. Only a thin, middle-aged man with glasses looked at his watch, stood up, and said:

"Fat man, you go do your business. I've been pressuring you all morning, I wouldn't dare eat your food, I might get tricked! I'll leave first, see you this afternoon."

"Ah, Assistant Luo, how could I dare? The client insists on not letting me show the goods in advance, or he won't let me operate. You see, it's not my fault, right? Don't worry, it won't fail. All the top ten are here, if I didn't have confidence, how could I still be in this business?"

The fat man used this explanation to tell Wu Di the current situation. He had said this countless times from yesterday to now, and those few people had clearly heard it countless times. They all frowned and stood up.

"Assistant Luo, let's go eat together, it's been a long time since we've seen each other, let's have a good reunion."

"Right, business is business, eating is eating, I'll treat!"

Watching everyone leave, the fat man wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"My little master! If you hadn't come, I would have run away. Xiao Wu, don't find me for this kind of job in the future. I won't do it anymore, it's too stressful."

"Hehe, first bitter, then sweet. I'll give you a little sweetness first. Come on, put the stone away, then go cut it. Whatever comes out of this stone, it's all yours!"

The fat man looked at the rough jade Wu Di was holding, pursed his lips.

"Want to command your Brother Fat, no need to promise me something I can't see."

"Hehe, just don't say it's unscientific when the time comes!"

"Really has material?"

The fat man snatched the stone, looking at it as he walked.

"This is unscientific... you're fooling me!"

Wu Di smiled but remained resolute.

"Brother, are you serious? Alright, I'll change my clothes, it's so hot."

They secretly hid the glass-type jade in a secret room, then went to the backyard, fixed the rough jade, and asked Wu Di. The old rule, one cut in the middle. The harsh sound of the grinding wheel rang out, and in a moment, the stone was split in two. The fat man kicked the stone with his foot, picked up the piece with the cut on both sides, and without Wu Di's instruction, made another cut horizontally. Then he spread his hands, grabbed the remaining piece, and prepared to finish the job with one more cut.

Wu Di looked and saw that this cut would split the jade into two equal parts. The stone was already small, and a bad cut would make it even less valuable. He quickly stopped the fat man, moved the stone a bit, and said:

"Alright, come on."

The fat man let him do as he pleased, it was the last cut, it didn't matter where he cut. He just wondered what they would eat for lunch to replenish the brain cells he had lost over the past two days.

One cut down, the fat man skillfully turned off the power, removed the blade, and prepared to finish. He kicked the stone left on the stone-cutting machine and said:

"Look, see... Oh, this is unscientific, really unscientific..."

The side of the stone that the fat man kicked glowed with a mesmerizing green light in the sunlight. Wu Di ignored the stunned fat man, turned to leave, and said as he walked:

"Fat man, the stone is yours, I'm going to Uncle Wen's for a meal."

The fat man opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. Seeing Wu Di's back about to disappear, he suddenly shouted:

"Xiao Liu, where the hell are you? Didn't you see me cutting the stone? Bring some water! This is really unscientific!"

Wu Di didn't idle at Uncle Wen's shop. Uncle Wen gave him two books on miscellaneous items to read and then explained them to him using the items in the shop, saying this was building a foundation.

Wu Di, watching Uncle Wen's enthusiastic explanation, smiled and said:

"Uncle Wen, just take me as your apprentice."

If Uncle Wen didn't know that Wu Di had sent the porcelain board painting to Old Chang right away, he might have hesitated, but now he said without hesitation:

"I don't take apprentices, if we get along, I'll teach you. Want to learn, come and go as you please!"

Wu Di thought about getting some good things from Ruili for Uncle Wen later, so he didn't say more.

At around three, Zhao Horan called to invite him for dinner, but he declined. He had been back for several days and hadn't visited Principal Lu yet, so he had already arranged dinner there.

Just as he hung up with Zhao Horan, Qian Fat's call came in, his voice trembling.

"Finally, they're all gone! Brother, did you get the text? Guess how much it sold for?"

"Hehe, the text just came, I haven't looked yet. How much did it sell for?"

"Starting price of 200 million, guess, guess hard!"

"300 million?"

"Damn, not that much, okay? Do you think this is ten or twenty? It's a 50% increase. You know, a 1% increase is 2 million... Alright, I'll tell you, it's 300 million. I thought this stone was worth about 250 million, but Hengchang Jewelry and Qi Family Jewelry got into a bidding war. You know, one is into stones, the other is into pearls, why are they fighting so hard?"

"Who won?"

"You won't guess!"

"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me!"

"Qi Yan Yu!"

Wu Di thought for a moment and matched the name with the cold and cartoonish girl he had seen twice. Uncle Wen, who was listening, muttered:

"Does Hengchang lack this? Do they have no stones in their warehouse?"

This woke Wu Di up. If others lacked glass-type jade, it might be possible, but a major player like Hengchang certainly wouldn't lack it! But why did they act so enthusiastically? And Qi Family Jewelry, buying raw materials in a field they weren't familiar with at a price clearly above market value, what were they planning?

Wu Di didn't doubt that Qi Family's high-end clients had a demand for high-end jade, but it was unscientific, just like the fat man's catchphrase.

Wu Di called the fat man again.

"Brother Fat, were the bids enthusiastic today?"

"Damn, you weren't there, the bids were non-stop. If it weren't for my sharp eyes, I wouldn't have seen who was bidding! Old Song from Hebao followed from the beginning, stopping at 280 million. Hey, I saw at the jewelry exhibition the other day that jade prices had gone up. Looks like we need to stock up more at the Ruili auction."

Stock up more? It's probably too late. These dozen or so companies have probably already stocked up so much they need to find new buyers. It's the same as stock trading.

No wonder the fat man could get so many people. The jewelry exhibition was one factor, but more importantly, they were probably working together to spread the message. When all the major players in the industry think a high price is reasonable, it's time for the entire industry to raise prices! The Ruili auction will show this trend to the extreme!

Wu Di was happy to see the price of jade rise, but unreasonable speculation would only harm the entire industry. For Wu Di, who had already made gambling on stones a future source of income, especially cash, it was unclear whether this was good news or bad news.

This is different from real estate. In China's real estate industry, as one after another sky-high land prices were set, housing prices soared, driving up the prices of all production materials, and then the overall cost of living, thus binding the social economy. Jade, as a luxury item, doesn't have this binding power.

However, as a scarce resource, even if it temporarily suffers a setback, it won't burst like a bubble economy. At most, it will be sluggish for two years. As long as the economy continues to grow rapidly, everything will be fine. This is probably the confidence of those major players.

Thinking this through, Wu Di smiled. The storm is brewing, let him sit in the pass and watch the storm with a smile!