Chapter 76

The second day was the first day of the public auction, where only fully gambled stones and windowed materials were opened. The stone-cutting machines at the entrance were prepared for these stones. However, even before the auction began, these stone-cutting machines started to hum. It turned out that the thirteen shops had been completely ransacked the previous day, and the frenzied people didn't even haggle, directly moving the stones to the stone-cutting machines. As a result, there were too many people cutting stones, and even after the public auction closed, they had to work overtime, but still, a large number of stones remained uncut. In the end, some small stones were taken away, and the rest were left to be cut over the next two days. Now, most of the people cutting stones were there mainly to observe, and they didn't have high hopes for bidding, so they started cutting stones early in the morning.

The auction hall was at the far end of the courtyard, with large screens on all four walls. The hall was crowded with people, all anxiously waiting. At exactly 9:00 AM, a sweet female voice began to broadcast:

"Everyone, please pay attention. The information on the large screens will be the official announcement. If you have any questions, you can check at the office afterward. The large screens will display 200 auction items at a time, in the order of the rough stone numbers, with a new batch every ten minutes. If you miss it, you can check at the window or use the self-service inquiry machines on the walls. Successful bidders, please bring your invitation letter and ID to the settlement hall within three days to complete the settlement. You must hold the settlement slip to collect the rough stones from the warehouse. This public auction will provide free transportation of the rough stones to the designated location."

After the first broadcast ended, it started again.

Wu Di calculated that at this rate, it would take until 1:00 PM to complete all the auctions. Adding the time for payment, collection, and shipping, many people would probably not even have time to eat.

At 9:15 AM, the auction officially began. The first 200 rough stones were displayed, and Wu Di noticed that these were all fully gambled stones, including his high-ice stone, as well as a few small bids of ice-moist and lotus-pink stones.

From the moment the winning bids appeared on the large screens, the hall became as chaotic as a market, with people shouting, cursing, cheering, and lamenting. Wu Di felt like there were hundreds of ducks squawking in his ears. He tried to suppress his frustration and decided to stay until all the fully gambled stones were auctioned, then leave and come back in the afternoon to check and collect his stones.

When he saw the number 380,000 next to the number 0092, Wu Di couldn't help but secretly punch the air. The man next to him was even more excited, pulling Wu Di and asking,

"How many did you win? Brother, how many did you win?"

"Only one, I haven't had time to check the others yet."

"Damn, good luck! I bid on thirty-something stones, and didn't win any!"

Wu Di, seeing his excited expression, thought to himself,

"Are you just here to increase the workload of the staff? You're so excited even though you didn't win anything?"

Additionally, one of the three ice stones Wu Di was particularly interested in was also auctioned in this batch, and he won it. Checking the other numbers, he won three more.

With this initial victory, Wu Di couldn't help but feel a bit excited. The atmosphere in the hall was indeed infectious, and now the people in the hall seemed more tolerable, with the noise level dropping from that of five hundred ducks to one hundred. People's expressions varied, with some as excited as the man next to him, others looking dejected as if they had lost a parent, and still others lamenting that they had only missed by a few thousand.

Ten minutes later, the 201-400 batch was auctioned, and Wu Di won even more, nine in total, including the last two ice stones. With the hall's noise reaching a fever pitch and the main items already revealed, Wu Di couldn't bear it anymore and ran out.

All the stone-cutting machines were still humming. Seeing the chaos caused by Chang Linlin, Wu Di felt a sense of relief and joy, making his own troubles seem insignificant. He strolled toward the shop area and saw that the shops were once again filled with rough stones, marveling at the dedication of the merchants, who wouldn't waste these two days even if they knew no one would buy.

After casually looking at two shops, Wu Di noticed that the goods were clearly better than the previous batch. He realized that since everyone was already saturated, to entice them to buy, the merchants had to offer better quality. It seemed these shop owners had a good understanding of market psychology.

Liu Li's shop was now run by someone else, as the previous owner had twisted his ankle while dealing with the ransacking the previous day. Wu Di smiled wryly, bought a stone as a gesture of support, and then continued to the next shop.

The shop owners recognized Wu Di as a prominent figure over the past two days and greeted him warmly. One young man even pulled Wu Di aside and asked how much he could earn as a shill. Wu Di was taken aback, thinking, "Damn, this guy thinks I'm a shill for the public auction. If this gets out, I'll be boycotted by the jade merchants and won't be able to continue in this industry."

Wu Di, worried, called Zhong Qi in a corner. Zhong Qi laughed and said,

"That's easy, just throw some money around, and the rumors will die down."

"Throw some money around?"

"Have you ever seen a shill buy a large number of rough stones? And from multiple shops? And always with real money? Just wait, we'll team up and sweep through the shop area again."

Wu Di might have been the biggest winner of this public auction, but his bids were all small, and even with seventy-odd wins, he only spent about 30 million, leaving him with plenty of funds. Since someone was forcing him to buy, why not? He would take all the stones above lotus-pink and open a jade specialty store at home! He had planned to leave some seeds for others, but now there was no need to be polite!

Wu Di didn't bother watching the auction and returned to Liu Li's shop to start sweeping. One ice stone, two ice-moist stones, and one golden-thread stone cost him 1.2 million, and he left Liu Li a few ice-moist stones. At the second shop, he bought one ice-moist stone, three golden-thread stones, and five lotus-pink stones, leaving no mid-to-high-end jade behind! At the third shop, Zhong Qi and Chang Linlin arrived, and the couple helped Wu Di haggle, forming a strange team. They would look at each stone for a moment, then bid, and soon had a pile of rough stones. The woman would then haggle quickly, and they would sweep through the shops one by one.

The people cutting stones were the first to get the news and saw this group move to the sixth shop, sparking much discussion.

"Didn't you say we were being tricked? These guys don't seem like shills. They're sweeping through the shops, making real transactions. Maybe they're preparing to challenge the big three?"

"Get lost, with your limited knowledge! Even if they buy all the goods here, it won't compare to a single hair of the big three. They're probably just buying in Myanmar, by the truckload. Keep watching, they might be trying to trick us again!"

"Hmph! Let's see how long their act lasts. I hope some shop owners don't refund them and ruin them!"

At the seventh shop, Wu Di's eyes lit up when he saw a square stone. Another old-pit glass stone! Parrot green! The price was only 300,000 for a stone weighing several dozen kilograms, a real bargain!

At the ninth shop, a full-ice glass stone with bright green and sky blue! Together, they weighed several dozen kilograms and cost only 2 million! No mercy, he took them all!

At the tenth shop, there was only one ice stone, no golden-thread stones? Damn, he would take all the fine beans!

After sweeping through ten shops, Wu Di spent a total of 27 million, and he estimated that the value of these goods would be at least 300 million! It was like a robbery!

After bidding on nearly a thousand rough stones, his hands were tired, and his wounds from the previous two days were a bit sore. But the three big meals were still ahead, and how could he pass by without entering? If someone accused him of being a shill for the big three, he would have to clear his name by raiding them.

The stone-cutting machines had long stopped, and everyone was watching these three people sweep through the shops. Many people from the auction hall also came out to watch, but no one dared to crowd around. Yesterday, everyone was fighting, and today, it was just three people, which was too shocking! At this point, if anyone shouted that these three were shills, they would surely be dragged out and beaten!

Song Hongyan and Qian Fatso arrived upon hearing the news. Learning the reason for the three people's sweeping, they couldn't help but laugh and cry, but they had to admit it was a good strategy. Even if all the stones they bought were just stones, it would only cost them a portion of what they had won in the past two days. Besides, with Qian Fatso around, putting these stones in his shop and telling the story might even spark a gambling stone craze in the capital!

Wu Di entered Ying Shi, a familiar place. Seeing the young man who had taken a high-ice old-pit glass stone from his shop, the shop owner, Ji, was unsure whether he was a wolf in sheep's clothing or a true expert. The information from headquarters indicated that this guy had a significant background, being the son of a high official, and had a reputation in the capital's gambling stone circle as a lucky superman, having produced several glass stones. However, all the information pointed to him being just a lucky superman, with less knowledge of gambling stones than a beginner!

After greeting him, Ji stood aside and observed carefully. He saw that Wu Di looked at the stones quickly and bid on every one, calling for the staff to bring out several stones, which soon piled up to seven or eight. It didn't seem like he knew much about stones. Could he have X-ray vision? But sometimes he didn't even look at the stones, just tapped them. What did that mean? Could he really talk to the stones, as rumored in Kunming? Nonsense! When it came time to pay, Ji personally used the calculator to price each stone, checking them as he went. He felt relieved and ashamed of his earlier suspicions, thinking, "I've been in the business for decades, and I'm letting my imagination run wild? Looking at these eight uneven stones, even a beginner wouldn't choose them like this!"

In total, eight stones, priced at 12 million, with a generous 20% discount, came to 9.6 million. Wu Di thanked him politely, but inwardly laughed,

"Thanks? A high-ice old-pit glass stone, an ice glass stone, three ice stones, and with the discount, if you knew what I got from them, you'd probably die of shock!"

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**End of Chapter**