We sat down at a place two small tables away from them.
I had observed earlier and hadn't seen anyone coming from the opposite side. They generally don't show themselves during the day.
I also didn't see our people; they were all concealed masters. I asked Jing Lei to sit down, and I got a tea menu from the waiter, asking Jing Lei what tea she wanted.
Principal Sun definitely didn't know it was me sitting next to him. My back was to him, and I guessed he hadn't noticed.
Jing Lei said, "Shu Pu, ten years or older."
The waiter acknowledged and went to prepare.
It was very quiet around Principal Sun's table; neither of them spoke.
At this moment, my phone rang. This was something we had planned: someone was supposed to call me to invite me out of town.
I opened my phone and said, "Chen Zong, long time no see. Are you still making a fortune there?" At this moment, a heavily bearded old Burmese man entered from outside. Seeing Qing Ge from afar, he greeted him as if they hadn't met in a long time.
Qing Ge motioned him over and introduced him to Brother Bao.
Qing Ge said, "This is Mr. Teng Ji, my old friend. He has five or six mines in Damakan, and many of the raw stones at this gem fair were provided by him."
At this point, Brother Bao stood up. Qing Ge said, "This is my brother from the mainland, Ah Bao. He's a dominant figure in Ruili. You should contact each other more, exchange ideas, and cooperate more. Let this old man benefit from your success."
Teng Ji didn't speak much Chinese, but he could understand and kept nodding. Then, the two shook hands and performed a Burmese greeting, signifying their acquaintance.
I didn't know Qing Ge's intention in introducing this bearded man to Brother Bao. Was Brother Bao thinking of switching to the jade business? Or did Qing Ge have other plans?
Teng Ji said a few words in Burmese. Qing Ge translated, "Teng Ji wants you to inspect his mines. As long as the raw stones don't exceed 100 kilograms, he can directly pass them through the border without reporting to the government." Da Feng Novel Network.
Brother Bao nodded and said to Qing Ge, "Let's decide after the gem fair ends."
Indeed, Brother Bao wanted to get into the raw stone business. In that case, Qing Ge was definitely more than just a middleman. There must be some kind of transaction involved.
If that was the case, then that giant stone would be much simpler. At least subjectively, Qing Ge wouldn't cause trouble with this stone. Whether there was anything inside depended entirely on luck.
At this moment, the bell rang outside. Qing Ge beckoned everyone to walk out; the gem fair had begun.
On the temporarily erected stage, there was an official-looking person speaking. He spoke entirely in Burmese with no translator, leaving everyone bewildered.
Although this was an internal gem fair and the guests were all from the mainland, they should have considered the guests' feelings.
Fortunately, most of the service staff communicated in Chinese, which made things much easier.
After the person finished speaking, another bell chimed, signifying the official opening. Everyone could start bidding for stones. Da Feng Novel.
Brother Bao was here for the giant stone and was not interested in other raw stones. I told Brother Bao that it wasn't time for the giant stone to be revealed yet and that I would go look at other stones first.
I had heard from my master that gem fairs were the true raw stone expos. One could find truly exceptional pieces, but if one's judgment was off, one could also go bankrupt.
This meant that here, apart from completely open-cut jade, the gamble in rough stones was about skill and luck.
I didn't linger among the open-cut jade. Open-cut jade was almost always top-grade, with prices at the ceiling. Unless one dealt in finished products, gamblers wouldn't stop here.
I went directly to the rough stone area.
There were many rough stones, from various mining areas. Their skins were washed very clean and divided into piles based on weight.
When I arrived, I had obtained a card from Jing Lei. If I found anything suitable, I would try my luck at the gem fair.
I skirted around the black sand stones and went directly to the Damakan raw stone area.
The Damakan mining area is located downstream of the Wulu River, west of the old mining area. Damakan is adjacent to the Hpakant mining area, about 30 kilometers from Hpakant. Centered around Damakan, the jadeite blocks in this area are collectively called Damakan gamble stones. The jadeite deposits are mostly alluvial deposits. Early mining focused on the top sand deposits on the banks of the river. The jadeite deposits here did not experience major water impact and were not transported far. Therefore, the roundness is not significant. They are half-weathered, half-transported, accumulated half-mountain, half-water sandstone gem materials. The lower ore layers are very hard, with the cementing material mainly being calcium carbonate and clay. The deeper it goes, the harder it is to mine. Damakan has not been mined for a very long time. Famous mining areas represented by the Damakan mine include: Damakan, Quèbǐng, Dasankǎ, Yīnggédié, Huángbā, and nearly 20 other mining areas.
The highest quality in Damakan is the half-mountain, half-water stone. The raw stone blocks generally have relatively thin skins, and the individual jadeite pieces are smaller, usually not exceeding five kilograms. These raw stones are gambled on the mist, and the mist is divided into many types: red, yellow, black, and white. Generally, nine out of ten mist stones have water.
Qing Ge had just said that Teng Ji's mine was in Damakan, so these stones likely came from his mine. The Damakan stones were placed in three areas: mountain stones, half-mountain half-water stones, and water stones.
Mountain stones are on the surface of the deposit. Their blocks are much larger than half-mountain half-water stones, with sharp edges and various shapes, like rubble used for building foundations.
I walked to a pile of half-mountain half-water stones and squatted down to find a suitable one.
Damakan has undergone many years of mining. The mine pits have reached depths of twenty to thirty meters. From the original surface to the current fifth and sixth layers, half-mountain half-water stones are already very scarce, with most being water stones.
These are likely inventory.
Half-mountain half-water stones have undergone riverbed transport, so their edges are somewhat blurred, but they are not as rounded as water stones, making them relatively easy to distinguish.
I picked a stone weighing about five kilograms. Its skin was yellowish-brown and very tight. When I shone a light on it, it didn't transmit much light. I thought it might have a deep mist that absorbed the light.
This stone was about one and a half palms in size and ten centimeters thick, flat, like a flatbread made of cornmeal in the north.
If this raw stone had good flesh, a good base, and sufficient texture and water, it could be used to make bracelets, pendants, and charms.
I touched the surface with my hand; the granularity was not heavy, like fine sandpaper. I didn't see any cracks or fissures, and the color was very uniform, like a very large mango that had been flattened.
I glanced at the number and the reserve price: 03236, with a bid of one thousand US dollars.
This reserve price was not low. The final transaction price would also include a 40% tax, so the tax had to be considered when bidding.
I wrote down one thousand eight hundred and placed the completed bid into the bid box.
There were thousands of rough stones here. As long as no one maliciously outbid you, the bid price could generally be won.
The bid boxes were opened once every hour. One person read out the bids, and another recorded them, similar to village elections. The highest bidder won.
The open-cut jade was opened only once a day and would not be opened until the afternoon.
After waiting for a while, I heard the bell and guessed that the rough stones were about to be opened for bidding. I walked over and stood by the stage to watch the staff read out the bids.
Since the fair had just opened, there weren't many bidders. After only a few bids were read out, it was time for the stone I had bid on. It was my price, and no one else bid for it until the end.
I went to the cashier to pay with my card, and the staff helped me process the international remittance.
One thousand eight hundred plus seven hundred and twenty in tax cost two thousand five hundred and twenty US dollars, which was about twenty thousand RMB.
The staff returned my card shortly. I took the receipt and went to collect the stone.
On the other side of the stage, there was a row of cutting machines waiting to cut stones for customers.
I took it over and handed it to a young craftsman, telling him to make one cut on the top.
The craftsman secured the stone and made a cut about one centimeter deep at the narrower end.
After the stone was cut, the craftsman handed it to me. The cut surface was very flat and extremely smooth. I couldn't see the texture or water; it was a layer of black-gray mist. Even with a flashlight, I couldn't see inside. It looked like a black stone lump.