A throng of people followed behind the two of them, a large group trailing behind Wen Siqiang and me.
They were there to witness whether my words were true.
I stood before a pile of black jade rough, saying to them, "Everyone says black jade rough is difficult to gamble on, but it is truly a stone of absolute poverty or sudden wealth. Gentlemen, today I will pick two pieces for you. If the yield is less than five times the original stone value, I will refund your money in full."
The two of them didn't believe me at all. I turned to Wen Siqiang and said, "Go call a cashier and Master Zhang. Have him get people to move two cutting machines over here, and we'll settle this on the spot."
As I spoke, I crouched down and searched through the pile, finding two pieces of rough. They were about the same size, each weighing five to six jin. They were dark and lustrous, with faint snowflake patterns and a strong wax luster. The texture was hard, and if they yielded well, the base and water would be of superior quality.
I said to the two of them, "You two pick. Which one do you want?"
The two of them looked at me with a mix of disbelief and suspicion. Could these random pieces I picked really yield over five times their value?
I added, "What are you afraid of? If it's less than five times, I won't take your money. You can't possibly lose."
They hesitated before walking over to the rough. This time, they didn't argue and each took a piece. The cashier announced the prices based on their numbers: one was fifteen thousand, and the other was thirteen thousand.
After they paid with their bank cards, I instructed Master Zhang to have the men begin opening windows.
The stones weren't large, and opening a small window took only a few minutes. Everyone craned their necks to watch. Soon, the windows were opened.
Each piece of rough had a thumb-sized window opened. They each took their pieces, rubbed them with a cloth, and both revealed color, though veiled by a layer of white mist. Under the light, a strong fluorescence was visible. They were both quite excited; if there were no cracks, these two stones would surely fetch more than five times their original price.
At this point, many people started shouting encouragement for them to cut the stones.
A few people also pushed forward, asking me to pick stones for them.
I politely explained to them that gambling on rough still required one's own judgment. What I could guarantee was that all my rough stones were strictly selected. While I couldn't guarantee the quality of every single piece, I could ensure a sixty to seventy percent chance of good quality, so they should feel free to choose boldly. Of course, to achieve a high-quality yield, one still needed to rely on their own knowledge and intuition about rough stones.
If luck was also a factor, one might even achieve something earth-shattering.
Those few people seemed a bit disappointed. My picking stones for the two men was a reluctant measure to resolve their dispute. If everyone lined up for me to pick their stones, it would defeat the purpose of gambling on rough and break the established rules.
They handed the stones to the cutters. I suggested they cut a centimeter off the side of each stone. This way, they could see if the color penetrated, assess the quality of the inner flesh, and still preserve the integrity of the stone.
They were now completely trusting of my judgment; everything I said was correct.
This time, I truly hoped there wouldn't be any internal fractures in the jade, or all my efforts would be in vain.
These two pieces of rough weren't large, so the probability of internal fractures was also low. Although I feared cracks, I wasn't overly worried.
As the cutter secured the stones, many people rushed to pick their own rough. They would record the numbers on paper and hold onto them, not rushing to submit them, likely waiting to see the outcome of these two stones.
Although we weren't bidding, the prices were fixed, similar to how it's done in a jade gambling shop. If there were duplicate submissions, the first submission would get the stone.
Black jade rough was the most difficult to gamble on, yet it attracted gamblers the most. Its thick skin concealed too many unknowns, thus offering greater temptation.
For around fifteen thousand, one could at most get a few hundred grams of Mu Na or Hou Jiang rough, definitely not exceeding a thousand grams. However, with black jade rough, one could gamble on stones weighing two to three thousand grams.
When black jade rough yielded well, its quality could even surpass that of Mu Na or Hou Jiang, which was the charm of black jade rough.
Despite its high gambling potential, black jade rough had a poor reputation, primarily because unscrupulous individuals had used it to perpetrate fraud and harm many people.
There were many methods of counterfeiting, which I would discuss in later chapters.
As we spoke, the back slabs had been cut off. I could already hear gasps of astonishment from the crowd. I knew the quality was no longer a major concern; the only question was whether there would be a significant difference between the two pieces.
I asked them to bring both stones over for me to examine.
Their faces beamed with satisfaction, clearly exceeding their expectations.
I took a look. The fifteen-thousand-dollar piece was a bright green with a pure,糯冰 (nuò bīng - glutinous ice) texture. It could yield two pairs of bracelets, five to six pendants, and some other carvings. The fivefold value was definitely surpassed.
The thirteen-thousand-dollar piece was even greener, with floating flowers. It could also yield two pairs of bracelets, and this piece was more valuable than the other.
At this point, Wen Siqiang had invited an appraiser. I asked him to estimate the value of the two pieces.
The appraiser examined the stones carefully and said solemnly, "The slightly larger one is valued at one hundred and sixty thousand, and the other at two hundred thousand."
His valuation was our buyback price. In the blink of an eye, they had earned more than tenfold, leaving them beaming.
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Some suggested setting off firecrackers, while others eagerly rushed to register their bids, afraid of being too late and missing out.
Seeing that order had been restored, I finally allowed Master Zhang and the others to leave. Wen Siqiang and I remained. This was where the largest crowd was, and therefore the most likely place for trouble to arise.
We hadn't yet spotted Wu Guodong's men. I believed that he or Principal Sun would certainly make a move and wouldn't let me have such a smooth experience.
Their absence made me uneasy.
What was bound to come would come. On such an important occasion, how could they not show up?
I told Wen Siqiang that we should split up and meet back here later to check for any suspicious individuals.
With that, we separated and walked in opposite directions.
It was nearing noon, and the crowd was still growing, a bustling throng. Although we had arranged for many security guards and staff to maintain order, it still felt somewhat chaotic.
The people from Prince's faction had infiltrated the guests. After entering, they didn't resort to direct confrontation as they had before. Instead, they sowed discord and caused trouble within the crowd, making it difficult for us to identify and stop them immediately.
What would Wu Guodong's or Principal Sun's men do? Would they resort to sneaky tactics like Prince? That was certainly not Wu Guodong's style; his men would prioritize a direct approach.
I scanned the milling crowd with a hundredfold vigilance. Everyone seemed like Wu Guodong's men, yet no one did. There were at least a thousand people in this warehouse, spanning several thousand square meters. Even if only a few hundred were hostile, it would cause complete pandemonium.
I was certain that not all of them were gamblers; enemies were undoubtedly mixed in.
I notified everyone via walkie-talkie to keep their eyes peeled and be ready to engage at any moment.