Chapter 10

The two of them walked around the platform, and Xu Qing suddenly felt an itch in his right eyelid. He subconsciously rubbed it with the back of his hand. When he turned his gaze back to the bronze vessel, he noticed a faint greenish gas at the mouth of the vessel, which looked like a thin thread wrapped around the surface of the mouth.

Immediately after, something even more astonishing happened—the greenish gas actually floated up and drifted toward Xu Qing’s right eye.

"Ah!"

Xu Qing let out a startled cry, took two steps back, and covered his right eye. He clearly felt a cool sensation enter his eye, making his eyeball feel icy cold, and he shivered all over.

"Bro, what’s wrong..." Tang Dashao was also startled and quickly ran up to ask.

Xu Qing removed his hand and widened his eyes, saying, "Quick, check my right eye..." Tang Dashao also widened his eyes and examined for a while before shaking his head and saying, "It looks like a double eyelid, a bit bigger than mine..."

Xu Qing was at a loss, and said urgently, "Check if there’s anything in my eye, not the size."

"Uh!" Tang Dashao stared blankly at Xu Qing’s right eye for a long time, even becoming cross-eyed, but finally shook his head.

"It’s fine now." Xu Qing also felt the coolness in his right eye disappear. He rubbed his eyelid hard and looked back at the bronze vessel on the platform, only to be surprised to find that the greenish gas at the mouth of the vessel had vanished.

Strange, was it just an illusion? Xu Qing thought to himself, but he couldn’t figure it out. The people appraising the items were all momentarily stunned by the interruption, but then refocused their attention on the bronze vessel. The bidding voices rose and fell, and soon the item was bid up to 500,000.

In the end, the bronze vessel was sold to a well-built middle-aged man for 620,000. Xiao Gongyun took out the items from the wooden box one by one for auction, repeating the process. In less than two hours, the items in the two wooden boxes were all sold, leaving only one large wooden box.

Xiao Gongyun took off his gloves, cleared his throat, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, all the man-made old items have been auctioned. Next, we have a small after-show program for you, purely natural and pollution-free, thrilling and exciting, and it has made millions of people rich overnight. I can confidently say that if you have good luck, you can buy an item more valuable than a Song Dynasty plum blossom bowl for just 1,000 yuan."

His passionate words once again piqued the interest of everyone in the hall. All eyes were fixed on the large wooden box, speculating about what was inside. Bidding 1,000 yuan for a million yuan seemed too far-fetched.

Xiao Gongyun smiled and clapped his hands, making two crisp sounds. The door opened again, and four security guards brought in two objects that looked like cutting machines and placed them in the center of the hall, quickly connecting the power.

"Wow, they even brought a stone-cutting machine. This large box must contain raw stones!" The old man Zhuang immediately understood. As a well-known jewelry store owner, he had a special affinity for these things.

"Even a fool knows that the business of betting 1,000 yuan for a million yuan is gambling on raw stones. You’ve been in the jewelry business for half your life, and you still don’t know this? You must have been playing with dogs." The old man Sun, also a jewelry store owner, immediately criticized Zhuang.

"Haha! At least I’m better than you playing with cats." Zhuang laughed loudly, countering him.

"Ha ha ha..." Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. The term "playing with cats" had another meaning, and as successful people in society, they all understood. Listening to these two old men argue was quite entertaining.

The old man Sun was speechless, his face turning red with anger, truly flushed.

Xiao Gongyun still smiled, clapped his hands again, and the attention of everyone was drawn back. The four security guards, as if receiving a signal, opened the large wooden box and moved various-sized stones onto the platform, about twenty in total. The largest was as big as a basketball, and the smallest was the size of two eggs, filling the platform.

The old man Sun frowned at the stones on the platform and said unhappily, "All of them are unopened raw stones. Are you playing a trick on us?"

In the raw stone gambling business, the mines where jadeite is produced are called "pits," and the stones mined are called "materials" or "goods." There is currently no technology that can see inside the stones, so no one can determine whether a stone from a mine contains jadeite or what its quality is.

This is why the raw stone gambling business exists. Cutting a stone is also a skill. Any stone that has been cut is called "opened," and such stones have a certain transparency, allowing experts to judge whether the stone contains jadeite based on the cut. These opened stones are less risky and are called "semi-gambling stones" or "semi-transparent goods."

The stones on the platform showed no signs of being cut, like random rocks from a mountain, called "full-gambling raw stones" or "closed stones." They involve a lot of luck, with the only guarantee being that they come from jadeite mines. Whether they contain jadeite is a gamble.

As the saying goes, one cut can make you poor, one cut can make you rich, one cut can send you to heaven, and one cut can send you to hell. This is the true portrayal of the raw stone gambling industry. Some people become rich overnight, while others lose everything. The charm of raw stone gambling lies in the thrill of the gamble.

Xiao Gongyun smiled slightly, patted a stone casually, and said in a rhythmic voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an after-show program, but I can guarantee that all the stones on the platform come from the old jadeite mines in Myanmar. The prices range from 500 to 50,000 yuan. Even if you only get a tiny piece of jadeite, it’s a sure profit."

After saying this, Xiao Gongyun dramatically showed a green jadeite ring on his finger and said with a feigned sigh, "This small piece of jadeite cost me over a million yuan!"

The old man Sun was not pleased and shouted, "Xiao, you bought this ring from my foolish son five years ago, with a lot of favors and haggling. I remember it only cost a little over a million. What, are you regretting it? I’ll buy it back for two million right now!"

Xiao Gongyun smiled. The glass-type jadeite ring on his finger was indeed bought from the son of the old man Sun, and he had to trade a snuff bottle from the Xianfeng era and haggle for a long time to get it for a little over a million. If it were sold at today’s market price, it would be at least three times that. For the old man to buy it back for two million, he must have been out of his mind.

However, his goal was achieved by getting the old man to speak, so he quickly took the opportunity to step down.

"Old Mr. Sun is a respected veteran in the jewelry and jadeite industry, an authority in raw stone gambling. Now, I invite Old Mr. Sun to come up and inspect whether these stones are from the old mines in Myanmar. Today, you are all my benefactors, and it would be disastrous if I were to deceive you."

Xiao Gongyun flattered the old man Sun and invited him onto the platform. The old man enjoyed the flattery, stroked his goatee, and seriously inspected the raw stones on the platform.

After a while, the old man Sun raised his head in satisfaction and said slowly, "Very good, they are indeed raw stones from the old mines in Myanmar. If jadeite is found, and anyone is willing to sell, my Sun’s Jewelry will buy it on the spot."

He then took out two stacks of banknotes from his handbag and placed them on a stone marked at 20,000 yuan, saying, "Help me cut this raw stone. Consider it the old man’s first bet."

Xiao Gongyun smiled and collected the two stacks of banknotes, signaling a security guard who was standing like a statue. The security guard immediately picked up the stone, about the size of a human head, and skillfully fixed it on the stone-cutting machine, squatting down and waiting quietly.

"Old Mr. Sun, how would you like to cut the stone you bought?"