After hanging up Qing Ge's call, I discussed the raw jade sourcing with Brother Bao. He was finally relieved; a grand event with insufficient raw jade would have been a huge joke. If Bo Gang's raw jade could be used, it would be like receiving charcoal in winter, but I wasn't sure of Bo Gang's sincerity this time.
I returned to my office and found the contact numbers of the out-of-town merchants I had saved, then called them one by one.
Manager Wang from Guangdong readily agreed. He was still interested in that large stone of ours. I told him that the failed piece was now displayed as an ornament. He insisted that the stone would surely yield something and asked me to cut it a few more times, suggesting there might be surprises.
I informed him that the organizer would cover all their accommodation and travel expenses during their stay in Ruili and asked for their flight details.
Contacting the merchants from Beijing and Shanghai also went very smoothly; they agreed to fly over at the appointed time.
With these matters settled, the opening of the winery's raw jade base was largely secured.
At this moment, Lan Ya entered and informed me that twenty-three people had registered for the auction, including the Crown Prince of Kang Gong, who had registered himself and his son for two entries.
This was rather interesting, indicating their keen interest in this piece of land, showing they were determined to win it.
This presented a challenge for our funding. If they controlled the price, others could only follow passively.
I turned to Jing Lei, who was sitting beside me, and said, "Mobilize all the funds you can. We must secure it, even at great cost. As for the funding for the raw jade opening, we'll be able to manage it."
She lowered her head and calculated for a moment, then said, "We currently have two hundred million in our own funds. I can allocate five hundred million from the mall. This is all the capital we can access right now. Any more would require mortgaging the land after winning the bid to obtain funds from the bank."
I replied, "Getting money from the bank isn't impossible. However, let's all estimate our bottom line. If it exceeds that, we'll abandon the bid."
Lan Ya added, "I had someone estimate it. Anything over one hundred million is considered the acceptable limit for now. Of course, if it appreciates in the future, two hundred million would be a moderate line, and three hundred million a high line. We are prepared to go up to three hundred and fifty million, and abandon the bid if it exceeds that."
I said, "Sister Zhang, please arrange for your partner bank to prepare one hundred million in funds for us, in case of urgent need."
Jing Lei agreed and went to make the call. Although our budget was a maximum of three hundred and fifty million, if it appreciated later, it could easily reach eight hundred million or even a billion. The key was that land was an immovable asset; it would always be there, unlike our jade gambling, where hundreds of millions today could turn into a pile of discarded stones tomorrow.
After a short wait, Jing Lei returned and said, "The bank can prepare one hundred million in funds for us. If we need to use it, it will be at the lowest interest rate. They can also provide an additional two hundred million in flexible funding for a short period, usable for one month, with a slightly higher interest rate."
I said, "Then it's settled. Four hundred and fifty million. We also have two hundred million in short-term funds. If we still can't acquire it, it simply means we are not yet capable of competing with Kang Gong. He truly has the strength, and we will concede defeat."
Lan Ya nodded. If we couldn't secure it with five or six hundred million, it meant this piece of land simply wasn't meant for us, and we would look for other opportunities.
Kang Gong had been deeply involved in the rosewood market in both regions for many years, and he could easily come up with tens of billions. If he was determined to acquire it, we could only watch helplessly.
At that point, luck would be our only determining factor.
Just then, an office staff member informed us that Wen Siqiang had arrived and was asking for us to come down.
I needed to open windows on these dozens of stones. The funds we were using to acquire that land were several hundred million, and we were counting on these stones to generate capital.
As we went down, Wen Siqiang was directing workers to move the stones onto the platform. Although these stones weren't large, they were dense with old crystallization, making them very heavy to lift.
I asked another worker to secure the cutting machine, then picked up a piece of chalk and marked the areas where windows needed to be opened.
Two of the raw stones showed fine cracks. I drew a line directly across the cracks and decided to cut them. If they failed, so be it.
These were large cracks. It was fine if the cracks went inwards, but it was worse if they were blast cracks, not visible from the outside, but resembling shattered tempered glass with fine fissures inside.
I told Wen Siqiang to take the two stones that were cut in half and bring them over for cutting, to see how our luck was this time.
Wen Siqiang brought over the two stones. He first secured one of them, aligned the cutting blade with the white line on the stone, looked up at me, and I nodded, telling him to cut boldly.
The cutting machine roared to life instantly. This stone had a sufficiently old texture and moisture content. Even though the cut was along the crack, it still emitted a sharp sound.
I ignored it and continued marking the other stones.
With over fifty stones, all requiring windows to be opened, it would take a considerable amount of time.
I spotted a rather peculiar stone. It was square, like a foundation stone for a house. At first glance, I thought I was mistaken; this was clearly building material, how did it end up here?
Of course, it wasn't perfectly square, just appeared so.
It was actually somewhat oval, with its edges smoothed by time. I was sure that in its original state, it must have been square.
It was more accurate to describe it now as a somewhat square winter melon.
This stone weighed fifty to sixty jin, and its skin was bluish. This was also why I thought it resembled building material.
Why would Ang Cai bring such a stone as a premium piece? Was it an oversight or intentional? This stone must have been under a cabinet, and I hadn't examined it closely. If I had seen it there, I would have asked him.
Fortunately, these stones were sold by the pile, so the quality of any single piece didn't affect the overall value.
There would always be one or two pieces that were misjudged.
I didn't believe Ang Cai would blindly bring such a stone to deceive us. Our visit was sudden, and he didn't know I would take all the stones.
I found a sharp hairpin and used a small hammer to tap it, trying to see what was under the skin.
The skin chipped off some bluish stone powder, revealing a lot of yellow underneath. I understood then that the bluish color was merely a complementary color; it had been contaminated by weathered blue stone when it was among a pile of blue stones.
Its original appearance should have been a yellow sandy skin, and you could still faintly feel the texture of the rough bands.
I shone a light on the area I had chipped, and it showed a faint fluorescence. This stone should have color. The gamble was on its base and texture. With such a square shape, there was no need to worry about processing or arranging it, and there would be no waste.
As for how to open the windows, that would require careful consideration.
With this shape, large windows would need to be opened. A very small window would be as good as no window at all.