Chapter 70

That evening, the footage of the market unrest during the day was shown on the news. The scene was shocking, with at least ten thousand people flooding into the market, causing a complete blockade. The police had to fire warning shots to disperse the crowd. The news announced that due to this serious incident, the jade auction originally scheduled for the next day would be postponed by two days. Worried about safety, Luo Quan also canceled the trip to the countryside to look at stones.

The next morning, the entire hotel was abuzz with discussions about the unrest at the border trade market. Many people lamented:

"Sister Island is closed, the auction is delayed, what are we supposed to do for the next two days?"

Zhong Qi whispered in response:

"Ha, we can go to the hotel to gamble on jade."

After saying this, he quickly looked around furtively, thinking if everyone knew, there would be no point in gambling! He was afraid that if they arrived late, they wouldn't even be able to get a single piece of jade.

After breakfast, under Luo Quan's lead, a few people set out. The car stayed within the city, but the road conditions worsened, and the buildings on both sides became increasingly dilapidated. After ten minutes, Luo Quan parked the car at a roadside shop and said:

"Nearby family hotels have people from Myanmar bringing stones over. Let's try our luck."

Wu Di and the others decided to split into three groups: the fat man and Luo Quan in one group, Zhong Qi and Chang Linlin in another, and the second master and Wu Di in the third. They would see who had the best luck. Wu Di was very excited; their trip to Ruili had been incredibly fruitful, securing four top-quality jade pieces. Would these smuggled rough stones from Myanmar bring even greater surprises?

Wu Di and Song Hongyan casually entered a courtyard. It was a family hotel where the landlord's family lived on the ground floor, and the other two rooms were rented out. The upper floor and the side rooms, a total of five, were all rented. Seeing Wu Di and Song Hongyan enter, the landlord's old lady was very热情, directly telling them that they could gamble on jade in the rooms upstairs, indicating that those people often gave her benefits.

They knocked on the first room, where a very thin Burmese girl, who seemed to be underage, greeted them. She could only speak a few broken Chinese phrases. On the bed, a mat was spread out with about thirty pieces of rough stone, neatly arranged, the largest being slightly larger than Wu Di's fist.

Wu Di and Song Hongyan didn't say much, each picking up a piece to examine. Wu Di chose a water stone from the Damukan area, weighing less than two kilograms. The girl immediately gave him a thumbs up when she saw his choice. Wu Di smiled and said to Song Hongyan:

"Have they been here long enough to learn how to flatter people?"

Song Hongyan laughed:

"Foreigners are naturally good at it, don't act like it's a Chinese specialty."

"I thought it was a specialty of the bureaucracy!"

The girl, whether she understood or not, just smiled foolishly.

Wu Di glanced at the stone a few times and then put it down. His standards were now high, and he wouldn't bother with anything less than ice jade.

Song Hongyan examined a smaller piece, about the size of a child's fist, with a black sand skin, likely from the Houjiang area. After a quick look, he asked for the price. The girl took out a calculator and entered a price, saying in broken Chinese:

"RMB."

Wu Di found it amusing to receive the foreigner treatment in his own country. He remembered that many small vendors in Beijing had calculators, and once a foreigner asked for a price, they would communicate silently through the calculator.

He glanced at the price: one thousand RMB, which seemed reasonable. Song Hongyan didn't haggle, directly counting out ten bills. The girl gratefully accepted them, saying a lot, but Wu Di didn't understand a word. Seeing that they didn't understand, the girl pulled Wu Di and laboriously dragged a large wooden box from under the bed.

Wu Di recalled Luo Quan's words: these people usually stay for three to four days, then go home for a couple of days before bringing another batch of rough stones. If they show you their inventory, it means they want to leave and you can haggle fiercely. But looking at the thin, frail girl, could anyone really bring themselves to haggle fiercely?

Opening the box, Wu Di was surprised to see that it was full of old Pagaing black sand stones, each about the size of a fist. Some people called this type of rough stone "egg rough," which was very famous in the industry. Song Hongyan was also amazed; such high-quality stones were rarely seen now, having disappeared from the domestic market for years!

The girl made a gesture and entered a number on the calculator: two thousand RMB. Wu Di nodded and began to select. Song Hongyan picked out three pieces first, paid, and put them in his pocket. Wu Di also chose two pieces, one of which was a small top-quality piece, a clear water glass jade.

After selecting, Wu Di called the fat man. Upon hearing about the box of old Pagaing egg rough, the fat man was so excited that his whole body trembled. He begged Wu Di to do his best to keep the stones for him and said he would be there soon. As soon as he hung up, he heard a shout from the opposite room; the fat man was right next door.

After some gestures, they told the girl that more people were coming, and Wu Di moved on to the second room. The rough stones in the second room were less impressive. After a brief look, Wu Di and Song Hongyan moved to the third room, disappointing a little boy. In the third room, Song Hongyan bought a stone the size of a baby's fist for five hundred RMB.

As they came out, they met the fat man and Luo Quan carrying a large box downstairs. Seeing Wu Di, the fat man laughed:

"Brother Fat bought all the girl's stones, only spent this much."

The fat man held up ten fingers. The girl carried a large bag with both hands, following the fat man downstairs, her thin face full of smiles. On her back, she had a small, bulging bag, which was the money bag.

Wu Di was a bit worried and asked:

"Will she be safe on her way back?"

"She won't go back alone. In this area, the hotels are usually from the same village. She will either deposit the money here or have someone notify her family to come pick her up. She's now preparing to take us to her relatives, who have more egg rough."

"Damn, Brother Fat, it seems this hotel gambling is just for you."

"Hehe, you all have had good luck these past few days, why can't Brother Fat make a profit?"

The fat man smiled innocently.

"Take this material back to Beijing, keep it for a while, and slowly release it. Selling at eight thousand RMB per piece, people will fight for it, almost every piece has something good!"

Wu Di was pulled into a room by a little girl from the side room, making him feel a bit embarrassed, as if he were being solicited by a girl in a tourist city. Song Hongyan followed and laughed, exclaiming "Ah" and picking up a stone from the bed.

It seemed the second master had a particular fondness for Houjiang material. Wu Di smiled and scanned the stones on the bed, picking up a water stone. The girl said in broken Chinese:

"Longtang."

"Longtang? New or old mine?"

The girl nodded. If someone in China had said this to Wu Di, he would have thrown the stone back, but the Burmese girl's words were somewhat credible. Wu Di held the stone and felt the smoothness of the sand skin, which seemed to have some characteristics of Longtang. He showed the stone to the girl and pointed to the calculator. The girl quickly entered two thousand RMB, indicating she had been instructed. Wu Di smiled, paid two thousand RMB, and put the rough stone in his bag.

Song Hongyan bought the Houjiang stone for one thousand RMB and said to Wu Di:

"I have a group of old friends who are into jade. When they see these small rough stones, they will fight over them. They are highly speculative and cheap, perfect for people like us."

Wu Di walked out of the room and saw that there were still over ten such hotels ahead, laughing:

"It looks like we won't be able to carry everything we buy today."

"It won't be a problem. Didn't you see the cars parked on the side of the road? Many people know the news, and some jade dealers, like the fat man, buy everything they find. Last time, one person even got his purchase switched, ending up with a pile of junk."

"Good and bad people exist everywhere! Let's go to the next room. The little guy's pants are probably worn out from checking on us so many times, he's been here five times already, afraid we might run away."

The next room had a dark-skinned little boy, who looked about ten years old. After a long time, Wu Di and the boy finally understood that he was actually fifteen.

"Burma is a poor country. When we were young, we weren't much taller than them. Look at the kids now, they are much taller at eight or nine years old. The country has developed quite fast in the past twenty years."

Wu Di nodded. The boy made a gesture and pulled out a large stone from a pile of old newspapers in the corner, proudly handing the calculator to Wu Di. Wu Di looked and was surprised: one hundred thousand RMB. It seemed to be a high-quality piece, and his interest was piqued. He walked over. Song Hongyan saw it and exclaimed:

"Leida stone!"

The stone was large, about one hundred kilograms, with many cracks on the surface, which was a characteristic of the Leida area. Wu Di walked over, examined it, and shone a strong flashlight along a large crack. The light easily penetrated, and the part it hit emitted a yellow-green glow.

The Leida area is located on a mountain upstream of the Houjiang River. It mainly produces Leida stones, hence the name. Leida stones are often exposed on the surface, but they have many cracks, are dry, and have low hardness, making it difficult to extract material, and most are low-grade.

This piece had very clear Leida characteristics, with three large cracks and twelve smaller ones. However, because of its size, it still had high speculative value. Wu Di looked at the boy curiously; how did they get such a large stone up here?

Song Hongyan glanced at it and lost interest. Most Leida stones are low-grade, and the larger the stone, the more so. With so many cracks, he had no confidence. Wu Di, however, was very interested. He wanted to test his true level, and this stone was a good test.

Wu Di carefully examined the stone with a flashlight and a magnifying glass. The stone was very interesting, with many pine flowers and two green bands. It was definitely green, and the rest was a gamble on the water and the depth of the cracks. Wu Di pressed the flashlight against a large crack and, from the spread of the light, concluded that the water was good, at least糯种 or better, but the depth of the cracks was unclear. Examining another large crack, the quality was even higher, likely ice jade or better. If the cracks were not a problem, one hundred thousand RMB was a very good price.

After examining the large cracks, he looked at the smaller ones. They were not the type that would affect the entire piece, but the risk of cross cracks could not be ruled out. He glanced at Song Hongyan, who had already chosen his rough stone and was chatting with the boy. Neither understood the other, but the boy was very anxious, constantly looking at Wu Di. Wu Di sighed; the cracks were too difficult to gamble on. If he were an ordinary gambler, he would have given up on this stone. Now, he had to use the Heavenly Book.

Wu Di placed his little finger on the stone and looked through it. A faint coolness came through, invigorating him. He focused and looked inside.

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Leida stone, seeking votes and recommendations!