Chapter 39: Ice-variety Apple Green

Although opening just a small window to reveal a piece of ice-variety jadeite increased the value of the material he had bought for only 2,500 yuan by more than ten times, Liu Dong, who knew the inside story, had no intention of selling it. Even if it were wheat, it would only be after he had fully processed the entire piece of rough material.

Hearing that a piece of ice-variety jadeite had been extracted from a piece of scrap material, the people who had just left suddenly gathered around again.

In this era, top-grade jadeite of the glass-variety imperial green was rare and hard to come by, something one might not see more than a few times in a lifetime. Therefore, ice-variety high-quality jadeite material was the most sought-after high-end rough material in the market. However, even so, apart from those large jewelry merchants with substantial resources, ordinary jewelry stores did not have such high-end jadeite. So, when they heard that someone had extracted ice-variety high-quality jadeite here, it naturally piqued people's curiosity.

"Really? Old Ma, do you want my little brother's material too?" At this moment, Zhou Bin looked at Ma Youde, who had just squeezed into the crowd, wiping the sweat from his forehead, wearing a white undershirt and floral shorts, standing about 1.7 meters tall but weighing over 90 kilograms, and asked with a smile.

Hearing his words, Ma Youde did not get angry. Since they were already familiar with each other, and he knew that Zhou Bin had a complex background, he smiled obligingly, glanced at Liu Dong, and said, "Hehe, who wouldn't like such good material? If this little brother is willing to sell, I can buy it for 200,000 yuan!"

Of course, 200,000 yuan was a high price for this piece of material. However, from the window opened on this rough material, it was clear that the jadeite's color and water quality were both very good. If the conditions were right, 200,000 yuan would not be a loss, and of course, this price also took Zhou Bin's face into account.

Hearing his words, Liu Dong did not respond but picked up the grinding machine again and continued to polish from the window.

At this point, hearing the cheers of the crowd, the people who had left earlier gathered around again. In less than five minutes, the area became so crowded that water could not seep through. Fortunately, Zhou Bin and his two bodyguards were blocking the outside, or Liu Dong would not have been able to focus on processing the stone.

With the harsh sound of the grinding machine and the cool water Zhou Bin poured, more and more jadeite flesh was revealed.

"Little brother, stop! I'll buy this piece for one million yuan!"

"I'll offer 1.5 million yuan!" As more jadeite was revealed, and its water quality and color remained consistent, the price of this piece of rough material, which was still considered a semi-gambling stone, began to rise sharply. The atmosphere in the crowd became even more intense, and many people could not resist bidding.

However, despite the rising price of the rough material, Liu Dong did not show any intention of stopping his work. Seeing this, the people around him understood his plan and gradually stopped bidding, waiting for the rough material to be fully processed.

However, at this moment, many people began to take out their phones to call friends, but their purposes varied. Some wanted to raise more funds to buy the jadeite, which was bound to rise in value, once it was fully processed.

Others simply wanted their friends to come and see, as the situation of extracting high-grade ice-variety apple green jadeite from a gambling stone was rare, except at major jadeite auctions in places like Myanmar, Tengchong, and Ruili.

After nearly an hour of grinding, the stone processing machine finally stopped. With a scoop of cool water from Zhou Bin, all the stone residue was washed away, revealing an irregularly shaped piece of ice-variety apple green jadeite, weighing about three kilograms.

Under the bright midday sun, the warm green color reflected on everyone's faces, and the transparent quality without any impurities made everyone's eyes involuntarily show a look of enchantment at the charm of high-grade jadeite.

"Xiao Dong, can I take a look?" Zhou Bin asked with a look of envy and fondness.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Dong's mood calmed down a bit. This was the first time he had touched such high-grade jadeite so closely, let alone one he had extracted himself, so he was naturally excited. At this moment, however, he felt more satisfied.

"Of course, no problem!" Saying this, Liu Dong handed the extracted jadeite to Zhou Bin.

"Xiao Dong, your luck is really something. From a piece of scrap material that no one would look at, you managed to extract such high-grade jadeite. Even if it's not a once-in-a-century occurrence, it's at least a once-in-two-or-three-years event!" After playing with the jadeite in his hands for a while, Zhou Bin could not help but exclaim.

"Little brother, six million yuan! We, Jin Yuan Jewelry, will take this piece!" A middle-aged man in a suit on a hot day could not help but shout.

"Six million yuan to buy such good material? We, Cui Li Jewelry, will offer seven million yuan!"

"7.5 million yuan!" "7.8 million yuan!" "8 million yuan!"

"I'll offer 10 million yuan!" An old but firm voice drowned out all the other bids, making the originally noisy crowd suddenly quiet. Even Liu Dong could not help but turn his head to look in the direction of the voice!

Feeling everyone's gaze, the elderly man surnamed Qian did not care but stared straight at Liu Dong, wanting to see his reaction. "Little brother, 10 million yuan is not a small amount. I believe no one here can offer a higher price!"

"You're mistaken, Mr. Qian. I'll offer 11 million yuan for this piece!" The middle-aged man surnamed Wang, who had initially extracted this piece and sold the remaining two pieces of scrap material to Liu Dong, squeezed through the crowd, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and looked at the ice-variety rough material in Zhou Bin's hands with a look of endless regret. If he had persisted and cut a few more times, this high-grade ice-variety jadeite might have been his.

Unfortunately, there was no "if" in the world. Now, if he wanted to get this ice-variety material, he had to offer a price high enough to scare others away and buy it back.

Hearing his words, the elderly man surnamed Qian turned to look at him, pondered for a moment, and then said firmly, "12 million yuan!"

"15 million yuan!" After a moment of hesitation, the middle-aged man surnamed Wang gritted his teeth and said slowly.

As soon as the words were out, everyone's gaze fell on the elderly man surnamed Qian. Now, only the two of them were bidding! However, facing everyone's expectant gazes, the elderly man surnamed Qian pondered for a long time before reluctantly looking at the ice-variety apple green jadeite, which had returned to Liu Dong's hands, and slowly shook his head. "15 million yuan, even if it is carved into bracelets and pendants, there won't be much profit. Sigh, I'm old and can't match your young people's boldness!"

"Ha ha!" Seeing that he did not bid again, the middle-aged man surnamed Wang could not help but laugh. Although this piece of ice-variety material might not make much profit even if it were carved, high-grade jadeite like this was not just about money.

Because, apart from its intrinsic value, as high-end jadeite, it could also attract customers to the jewelry company and enhance its reputation in the entire jewelry industry, which was not something ordinary mid-to-low-grade jadeite could achieve.

Moreover, with the gradual depletion of jadeite resources in Myanmar, the entire jadeite market, whether in raw stones or finished jewelry, was on an upward trend. 15 million yuan might be expensive for this piece of material now, but if it were put aside for one or two years, there would definitely be a profit.

Of course, this situation was not only known to the middle-aged man surnamed Wang, but he was the only one willing to take the risk and invest a large amount of money.

At this moment, seeing everyone bidding for his jadeite like an auction, Liu Dong was a bit stunned. It seemed he had not said he was going to sell it!

However, the high price of 15 million yuan was indeed far beyond his psychological price for this piece of ice-variety jadeite. Originally, Liu Dong thought that if this piece of rough material could sell for 8 to 9 million yuan, it would be very impressive. He did not expect someone to offer 15 million yuan, and even if the jadeite were carved into jewelry, it might not make that much profit.

Thinking about this, Liu Dong had already given up the idea of carving this piece of ice-variety jadeite into bracelets and pendants and then selling them. After all, finding a suitable jewelry company would be a hassle.