Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five: Jade Street

"Brother Zhou, where are we going?" Liu Dong asked, looking out the car window at the green guardrails that were quickly receding.

Naturally, driving was not the job of the two of them. Zhou Bin's two bodyguards were seated in the front and back driver's seats, so they were responsible for driving.

"Hehe, we'll be there soon!" Zhou Bin said with a smile.

After hearing his words, Liu Dong furrowed his brows but didn't say anything. However, when the Hummer turned a corner, Liu Dong couldn't help but widen his eyes, as everything around him felt familiar. Then, when the huge iron sign, towering over ten meters tall, appeared in his line of sight, Liu Dong knew exactly where he was!

'Jade Street' was another place in Quancheng City that Liu Dong often visited, besides the antique market. Here, almost all types of jade from China and even the world were concentrated, including the four major types of Chinese soft jade: Nanyang jade, Hetian white jade, LN Xiuyan jade, and SX Lantian jade, as well as the representative hard jade, jadeite, and other famous jades from around the world like petrified wood jade, yellow jade, and emerald. Almost all of them could be found here.

Therefore, Liu Dong, who loved jade carving, naturally became a regular visitor here. Of course, he didn't come to buy expensive jade but to pick up the scraps that others discarded to hone his jade carving skills. Moreover, being here broadened his horizons. After all, as a jade carver, if one didn't understand the types, quality, color, and grade of jade, it would be a laughingstock.

Of course, Liu Dong wasn't the only jade carver with this purpose. Almost all the self-taught beginner jade carvers had left their footprints here.

When the Hummer turned onto the street, the bodyguard driving, whom Liu Dong called Tiesi, had to slow down. Although the pedestrian flow here wasn't as heavy as in the antique market, there were many trucks transporting jade raw materials. Adding the merchants who came to select jade and some tourists, the wide Jade Street was bustling, so the car speed couldn't be increased.

"Alright, let's park here!" Zhou Bin pointed to the roadside. There was no dedicated parking lot here, so the cars were mostly parked by the roadside.

"Shi Yuan Ge!" After getting out of the car, Liu Dong immediately saw the grand ancient-style building across the street. He couldn't help but mutter it softly.

"What? Xiao Dong, have you been here before?" Zhou Bin asked with a smile, looking at Liu Dong's expression.

"Hehe, I have been here, but in the past, I could only look from the outside!" Liu Dong said self-deprecatingly. This wasn't a lie. Shi Yuan Ge was a famous jade gambling shop on this street. Although the jadeite raw materials inside were sold by weight, the prices, ranging from hundreds to thousands, or even tens of thousands per kilogram, were far beyond his reach.

Moreover, the intense jade gambling atmosphere here made the old Liu Dong afraid of losing control, so he rarely entered such authentic jade gambling shops. However, today, he didn't expect to come here with Zhou Bin.

"Perfect, let's go in and take a look. The raw materials here are quite good!"

"Sure, that sounds good!" At this moment, Liu Dong was somewhat excited. What he most wanted to know was whether his透视异能 (penetrating ability) would work on these jadeite raw materials. If it did, he would have found the most convenient path to wealth. Thinking of this, Liu Dong's steps quickened.

The main door of Shi Yuan Ge was a floor-spring door made of aluminum alloy and tempered glass. On both sides of the door were also tempered glass display windows, through which one could clearly see various people inside selecting raw materials.

Following Zhou Bin, the group pushed open the door and walked in. After bypassing the front counter and looking to the right, the first thing that caught Liu Dong's eye was a hall of over a hundred square meters. In the center of the hall were rows of steel racks about half a person's height and about half a meter wide, almost all of which were filled with jadeite raw materials no larger than an adult's fist, with a dark yellow skin, and almost all of them were fully gambled raw materials.

Around the hall were steel racks about a person's height, divided into four layers. However, the jadeite raw materials placed on these racks had mostly been windowed, revealing the smooth jade inside, making them semi-gambled raw materials. Of course, they were also more expensive.

"Xiao Dong, do you want to look on your own or with me?" Zhou Bin asked with an eager look. This time, he hadn't brought his jade gambling expert, so although he wanted to buy a few stones, he didn't dare to touch the fully gambled raw materials.

"Brother Zhou, it's my first time here, so I'll look on my own first!" Liu Dong replied. He couldn't really let loose with Zhou Bin by his side.

"Alright, I'll go look at the semi-gambled raw materials. Call me if you need anything!" After saying this, Zhou Bin walked a few steps and then turned around, carefully reminding, "Xiao Dong, a few thousand yuan for a small play is fine, but don't get too involved! Otherwise, if you lose a lot, I won't be able to explain to Old Long."

Seeing the worried look on Zhou Bin's face, Liu Dong smiled and nodded. He had been here for a while, and although he hadn't participated in jade gambling before, he had heard a lot about it.

He knew the saying 'one cut to poverty, one cut to wealth.' If it were before Liu Dong gained his ability, he would have just played around as Zhou Bin suggested, but now it was different.

"I understand, Brother Zhou, don't worry, I know my limits!"

After hearing his words, Zhou Bin nodded in relief. Although he had only known Liu Dong for half a day, he had a very good impression of this young brother.

After bidding farewell to Zhou Bin, Liu Dong began to look at the rows of steel racks in the central hall. Soon, the various sizes and appearances of the gambled stones made his eyes dazzle. He didn't see any of the commonly mentioned pine flowers or moles on the jadeite raw materials, but he did see many chicken claw cracks, skin cracks, and various fissures. If these raw materials weren't proudly displayed in the store, they would be indistinguishable from stones in a latrine.

After a few minutes of looking, Liu Dong shook his head, his initial sense of novelty gone. He was too lazy to continue looking and decided to use his ability to check. Soon, with a pulse at his brow, the veil before his eyes seemed to lift, and everything within three meters was clearly visible.

However, to his disappointment, after using his ability to check several racks of raw materials, almost none of them were worth looking at. Although there was jade, it was either worthless dog shit ground or only worth a few hundred yuan, or the quality was slightly better but the color was too poor, making them not worth gambling.

As he checked one rack after another, Liu Dong's expression became increasingly disappointed. However, just as he turned to look at the semi-gambled raw materials on the racks by the wall, hoping for some luck, a deep green suddenly caught his eye, making him stop in his tracks.

Then, he quickly turned around, carefully examined it again, and then took a few steps forward, picking up a piece of raw material about the size of a palm, weighing two or three kilograms, and examined it closely.

From the outside, it was a piece of yellow sand skin material with a relatively rough skin, likely from the Longtang mine. The Longtang jade gambling mine is one of the most important jadeite production areas in the world, located in the Kachin hills of northern Myanmar, bounded by the Wuluh River to the east and the Chindwin River to the west. The jadeite raw materials produced in the Longtang area are generally around 300 grams, with most having good water and base, and a very pure green color, often producing high-quality jadeite.

However, this piece of raw material wasn't outstanding. It had no moles or pine flowers, and there was even a crack about one or two centimeters long on the side. It was this small crack that significantly reduced the value of this Longtang jadeite raw material. This was why it was placed here; otherwise, such material from an old mine wouldn't be mixed with these raw materials worth a few hundred yuan per kilogram.