Chapter 43: Departure

"Mr. Ma, you're too kind. Although this piece of jade rough is not very big, it's not cheap. I can't just take it for free. It should be paid for at its proper price!" Liu Dong said.

"Xiao Dong, since Mr. Ma has offered so kindly, don't refuse. For a big jade merchant like him, who makes millions a year, a few thousand dollars is just a drop in the bucket. There's no need to feel embarrassed!" Just as Ma Youde was about to speak again, Zhou Bin emerged from the dim shadows with two bodyguards.

"Hehe, Mr. Zhou, you flatter me. Compared to your achievements, my wealth is nothing," Ma Fat said with a bitter smile.

Hearing this, Zhou Bin smiled faintly, patted Ma Fat's shoulder, and said nothing.

Seeing Zhou Bin's gaze, Liu Dong hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. After all, he was in need of help and hoped Zhou Bin could introduce him to the master jade carver from the Northern School, Old Yan. He couldn't afford to offend Zhou Bin.

Seeing Liu Dong nod, Zhou Bin glanced at the rough jade in his basket and couldn't help but ask, "Why are they all blind rough? Didn't you look at the semi-gambling rough?"

"I did, but those pieces are quite expensive. I don't know much about gambling on jade, so I just bought some cheaper rough to satisfy my curiosity!" After a pause, Liu Dong smiled and continued, "Who knows, maybe they'll turn out to be valuable."

Hearing this, Zhou Bin's face showed a mix of amusement and exasperation. "Do you think jade is like cabbages in the field, that you can just pick up a piece of rough and find jade?" Despite his words, he was satisfied with Liu Dong's attitude toward gambling on jade. At least Liu Dong didn't throw all his money into it after a big win, only to lose everything in the end.

After hearing Zhou Bin's words, Liu Dong smiled but didn't argue. After all, his ability to see through all jade rough was his biggest secret, and he couldn't tell even the closest people.

"Xiao Dong, do you want to keep looking?"

Hearing this, Liu Dong shook his head. "No, I won't look at the others. Three pieces of gambling rough are enough!"

"Alright, I've made my selection too. Mr. Ma, let's go out!" Zhou Bin turned and said.

"Sure, Mr. Zhou, Brother Liu, follow me!" Ma Youde turned and walked toward the warehouse door. To avoid disrupting the dim environment inside, a large scale was not placed there. To weigh the rough, they needed to go outside.

Following Ma Fat, they reached the door. He touched something on the left side of the steel door, pulled it, and a clear bell sound faintly reached Liu Dong's ears.

"Rumble!" With a heavy, creaking sound, the iron door slowly opened from the outside. The sudden bright sunlight made everyone squint, as they were not used to the change from the relatively dark environment to the bright outdoors.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the surroundings to become clear. "This way, please."

Just a few meters to the left of the door, a platform scale was placed on the cement ground. The base had four wheels, the scale rod was nearly a meter long, and there were over a dozen weights lined up. Although Liu Dong rarely used such a scale, he could guess that its maximum capacity was over 500 kilograms. It was sufficient for weighing jade rough, except for the rare large pieces.

"Xiao Dong, you go first."

Hearing Zhou Bin's words, Liu Dong didn't refuse. Compared to Zhou Bin's semi-gambling rough, his blind rough was less valuable.

"Five catties and two taels, sixteen catties and eight taels. According to our agreed price, the Houjiang rough is 25,000 yuan, and the Masa rough is 20,000 yuan. That's a total of 45,000 yuan."

Hearing this, Liu Dong nodded. "Mr. Ma, can I pay by card? I don't have that much cash on me!"

"Of course!" Ma Fat waved, and a young woman in a red short-sleeved shirt ran over with a black POS machine in a rectangular box.

After entering the password, 45,000 yuan was transferred from Liu Dong's bank card. In the past, he might not have earned that much in a year, and spending it would have been painful. But now, especially after receiving 15 million yuan, 45,000 yuan for the rough didn't bother him much.

"Alright, my turn!" After Zhou Bin spoke, his two bodyguards immediately stepped forward and placed the rough they were holding on the ground.

At this moment, Liu Dong couldn't help but look over. There were three pieces of jade on the ground, each weighing around five to six kilograms. From the windows that had been opened, one was an ice-type, and the other two were golden-thread types.

Especially the piece with a palm-sized window showing ice-type jade, it had scattered or strip-like pine flowers and a winding python pattern on the surface. It was a genuine old material from the Pagon mine with a yellow-white sandy skin. Apart from the pine flowers being on the surface and not deeply penetrating, the jade rough performed very well.

Of course, the other two pieces, which showed golden-thread quality in the windows, also performed well.

Naturally, with good performance, the price was higher. "Mr. Zhou, the ice-type rough is 31,000 yuan per kilogram, and the golden-thread types are 15,100 yuan per kilogram. What do you think?"

After hearing this, Zhou Bin thought for a moment and nodded. The price was fair. Especially the ice-type rough, with deep green color and a bright, even parrot green. If it could produce two or three bracelets, making a profit of four to five million yuan from this piece would be easy.

Of course, only Liu Dong knew that among these three seemingly good pieces, the most valuable was not the ice-type rough but the largest piece, weighing about eight kilograms, from the Leida mine. It contained a flat, cup-sized piece of jade. Although not too large, it could still produce a bracelet. The other two pieces, though only a thin layer in the windows, could be polished into a few ring faces by a skilled craftsman. Overall, if the jade from these three pieces were made into jewelry, making two million yuan would be easy, so Zhou Bin's purchase was a good deal.

Of course, Zhou Bin's plan was to stock up and wait for the value to rise, not necessarily to open the rough. So Liu Dong didn't say anything as he watched Zhou Bin pay.

Seeing Liu Dong put his rough back into the basket, Zhou Bin couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Dong, why are you putting it back? Don't you plan to open the rough here?"

"No, I have some things to do later. I'll open these pieces when I have the chance!" Liu Dong certainly wouldn't open the rough there. After all, he had already had a big win once, turning a piece of scrap into high-quality ice-type jade. If one win could be attributed to luck, another win would be hard to explain.

After all, the three pieces of rough in his basket all contained valuable jade. If all of them turned out to be valuable, it couldn't be simply attributed to luck. As someone who knew nothing about gambling on jade, consecutive wins would easily raise suspicions, which didn't align with Liu Dong's low-key, quiet wealth-building style.

Hearing this, Zhou Bin didn't insist. He had no interest in opening the rough either. After instructing his bodyguards to load the rough they bought onto his Hummer, the two of them left the Stone Edge Pavilion amidst Ma Fat's farewells.