Ang Cai took a key from his pocket and fumbled with the combination lock on a box for a long time before opening it.
Upon opening it, he realized why the iron box was called a safe. The walls were a full ten centimeters thick, and the lid on top required a hoist and a manual winch to open.
It was impossible to budge it by hand.
Inside were several pieces of rough, each weighing over ten kilograms. The skin of the rough was very beautiful, a typical Da Makkan yellow sand skin.
I took out the topmost piece and moved it to another counter.
This piece was relatively rounder, a semi-mountain, semi-water rough. The skin was very attractive, typical of Da Makkan material. Even at the public auction that day, I hadn't seen such beautiful raw stones.
It was oval-shaped, like a small winter melon.
The main characteristic of Da Makkan raw stones is that they often have mist colors, and the types of mist colors are diverse, such as colored mist skin, mist-infused skin, mist-covered colored skin, mist-colored skin, and so on. Usually, the skin and mist are indistinguishable, difficult to separate, and sometimes exhibit a honeycomb-like texture! The mist colors are also varied, including black, white, and yellow. When selecting, jade lovers should try to choose yellow or white mist, not that other colors are bad, but the texture that emerges is relatively better. Moreover, ninety percent of them contain water.
However, judging from the skin, it was not a water stone, but a mountain stone.
The most typical output from this mine was yellow and green, and with good luck, top-grade red jadeite could emerge.
The granular texture was firm, the skin felt exfoliating, and the skin color was evenly distributed in patches. Unfortunately, no other features were visible.
With such material, one could only gamble.
I took out my flashlight and shone it on the stone. The fluorescence reaction under the skin was very strong, indicating a good water content and clarity, at least ice-grade.
The mist was also very thick; under the light, the mist color almost enveloped the entire stone, a typical characteristic of Da Makkan rough.
"Ten mists, nine with water," the quality of the rough didn't need consideration. Now, the gamble was on the color.
To gamble on a major piece worth tens of millions, it needed color, and high color at that.
Jing Lei didn't understand veiled rough. She remained silent, watching me busy with the flashlight on the raw stone.
I asked Ang Cai how much he would sell this piece for. He said, "I heard my younger brother mention you. He said you are very righteous and want to be friends with you. I got these stones from a private collection. Although they are all veiled rough, their quality is very good. I haven't been willing to bring them out. I won't hide it from you; I spent a million on these stones, five pieces in total. You know, they increase tenfold when crossing borders. These five stones should be at least two million each. Since I want to be friends with you, I won't tenfold the price. I'll sell them to you for five hundred thousand each. Take whichever one you like; I won't recommend any."
Five hundred thousand was half the price of some of the stones, but he wasn't really overcharging. If these stones yielded jade, they would be high-grade, potentially increasing tenfold or twentyfold.
However, since it was a gamble, the risk was on me. It was also possible to end up with a worthless piece, good enough to be used as a doorstop.
I looked at Jing Lei. She nodded and said, "Just gamble as you see fit; don't worry about me. I'm just here to play along. I won't offer any opinions. Just tell me how much money I need to contribute."
I liked her this way; she wouldn't let her own views sway my thoughts, allowing me to act according to my own judgment.
Jing Lei was like this, and Lan Ya too.
I still had nearly four million left. Jing Lei had given me eight hundred thousand for that stone today, so I had four million seven or eight hundred thousand in my account.
Since we were playing together, we would split everything equally. I handed my card to Ang Cai for him to process the payment.
Jing Lei also took out a card and handed it to Ang Cai, saying, "Clear accounts between siblings. Let's each pay half."
Ang Cai handed the cards to Ang Ji to handle and accompanied us as we continued to examine the stones.
I glanced at the remaining pieces in the cabinet. They all seemed to have their own characteristics. I decided not to be picky and focused on studying the piece I had moved out first. We'd see about the others if this one yielded anything.
I told Ang Cai, "Let's go with this one. Let's see if it yields anything."
Ang Cai called for a helper to move the stone, and he went to lock the safe.
The rest of us went over to the cutting machine.
By this time, several other gamblers had arrived from downstairs. Seeing us securing the stone on the machine, they all came over to watch the spectacle.
The craftsman looked at me and asked, "How do you want it cut?"
I said, "First, cut a one-centimeter cap from the top."
The craftsman didn't say much, marked the stone, and quickly made the cut.
The stone I gave Jing Lei today was also Da Makkan material. Although smaller, it was purchased for over twenty thousand, while this piece cost more than twenty times that.
The cap was small and was cut off quickly. I watched the craftsman rinse it with a hose. I walked over and shifted the cap slightly. I saw color, but it wasn't green. I slowly moved the cap aside. It was all mist, very thick, white. If you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for white flesh, very fine and uniform. From this cut alone, it was as good as no cut, not even a window.
I shone my light on it. Light penetrated from within, warm, like a fluorescent lamp covered with a yellow cloth. I was a bit uncertain, but it was definitely not green. Green light would emit green fluorescence, but this was like shining a light into a ball of cotton gauze; the light was absorbed, making it impossible to judge.
Several people nearby shook their heads, thinking such a good piece of rough was ruined.
I also found it strange. Why was there no color? Even if it were a faint green, it wouldn't be a total loss.
I told the craftsman, "Make another cut inside this one, another centimeter deep. If there's still nothing, then cut it right down the middle."
The craftsman secured the stone and continued cutting.
My heart was a little tense. Although I had gambled and won a few stones before by chance, they were with small amounts of money, so I hadn't paid much attention. Today, we had put fifty thousand on this piece, essentially gambling with the equivalent of a villa.
If we lost, a villa with a garden would be gone.
At that time, a normal apartment of one hundred square meters cost only tens of thousands.
Fifty thousand could buy a whole unit.
This was Jing Lei's first time gambling with me. If the first attempt failed, it would be a complete loss of face.
It was too early to say it had failed, as the meat hadn't been exposed yet. Let's see if this cut showed anything.
This cut wasn't as quick as the cap; it took several minutes to come off.
I didn't let the craftsman do the rinsing. I took the hose myself.
I didn't dare to open it all at once. Like a gambler, I pressed down on the stone and shifted it open bit by bit.
I shifted it open by about two fingers' width. I could see the color deepening, indicating it was no longer white mist, but it didn't look like green either. I continued to push forward and finally saw it clearly: it was red!
They all say Da Makkan material can yield red jadeite, and it was indeed true!
After I opened it, the onlookers were also excited. After all, the chance of opening red jadeite was very low, and seeing it was an eye-opener.
Perhaps their exclamations were too loud, attracting a few passersby.
They leaned in to look. One of them said, "Young man, are you selling? I'll buy it."