Guo Xuyang paused, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He understood Jelina’s feelings; to not be as excited as she was now, seeing such beautiful jade, especially when he’d opened the first piece, was unthinkable.
Li Minxi grew even angrier, stomped her foot, and stormed out of the shop.
Seeing Li Minxi leave, Guo Xuyang quickly called out to Jelina, urging her to chase after her.
Meanwhile, Lü Liang, accompanied by a shop assistant, followed the unpackaged Imperial Green rough stone Guo Xuyang had purchased and saw it safely into the car.
Li Minxi, fuming, approached Pi Xiaoqian. The stone cutting master had already finished revealing all the jade.
“What’s wrong? Who bullied you?” Pi Xiaoqian asked, noticing Li Minxi’s displeasure.
“You, all of you, bullied me.”
Pi Xiaoqian was utterly bewildered, unsure what had gotten into Li Minxi this time.
He saw Guo Xuyang and Jelina catching up from behind and seemed to understand something.
It appeared that certain matters couldn’t be forced.
A thousand people held a thousand different opinions.
It was like him and Li Minyu; both were single, neither had found a partner, yet they hadn't contacted each other.
Perhaps the matchmaker was too busy, or perhaps the matchmaker had forgotten to tie Li Minxi and Guo Xuyang together. No one was to blame for this.
“Fatty, how is it? All cut open?”
“Finished,” Pi Xiaoqian said, pointing to the ground covered in high-ice jade.
“I’ve never seen such fine, large violet jade before.”
“Please ask the stone cutting master to divide it into six portions, one for each of us to take,” Guo Xuyang said.
“Ah?” Pi Xiaoqian was stunned. “Splitting such large jade would be a waste.”
“One piece each for easy carrying. How would we carry such a large chunk?”
Guo Xuyang had a point. The primary purpose of this trip was the public auction.
Opening such large and beautiful jade indeed made it difficult to transport.
After the stone cutting master finished dividing the violet jade and carefully packed it into burlap sacks, Guo Xuyang had the owner arrange for it to be delivered out of the market and loaded into the car.
By the time the group returned to the shop, it was evening. Everyone was in high spirits; with just one piece of violet jade each, their investment had already recouped its costs.
The public auction hadn’t even begun, and they wondered what surprises it would bring.
The next morning, everyone woke early and headed for the public auction.
The Myanmar Gemstone Public Auction was normally held once a year, with the Myanmar Gemstone Merchants Association releasing information in advance to determine the date.
It was also the world’s largest and most significant jade trading fair, serving as a benchmark for the global jade market.
This year’s auction would feature both blind bidding and open bidding.
For blind bidding, participants would fill out bidding sheets with their assigned number, name, auction item number, and bid price, then deposit them into the designated bid boxes.
This was called blind bidding because participants were unaware of each other’s bids.
During the bid opening, the winning bidder and their bid price would be publicly announced for each auction item number.
Open bidding involved gathering all participants in the trading hall, where auction staff would announce the auction item number, and participants would take turns bidding. The highest bidder would win.
The items up for auction included stones with windows opened, stones that had been cut, and rough stones with their exteriors intact, allowing participants to choose according to their preferences.
The three days prior to the auction were allocated for participants to view the items and submit bids. The latest bidding time for each round was 5:30 PM.
The bid opening would commence at 8:00 AM each morning starting on the fourth day, continuing for a week.
Wu Youzhi, under the name of Ten Perfect Myanmar Jade Specialty Co., Ltd., had preemptively contacted the organizing committee and paid a deposit of 120,000 Euros.
Today was the first day of the public auction, and the group arrived at the entrance.
Each person paid another $100 for a ticket to gain entry.
This time, Jelina did not carry any firearms or throwing knives.
As everyone entering had to undergo security checks, these weapons would be easily detected.
However, she had transferred a potent poison into a small bottle resembling a snuff bottle, preparing to act when the opportunity arose.
Upon entering the auction, Guo Xuyang separated from the group, but Li Minxi stayed close by his side.
She had no understanding of rough stones and couldn’t discern the quality of the jade.
Moreover, her primary objective for this trip was to engage in something more than friendship with Guo Xuyang.
Unfortunately, Jelina’s appearance had disrupted her original plan.
Jelina had not returned to her own room the previous night and had slept in the same room as Li Minxi.
This had left Li Minxi feeling frustrated and hurt.
Guo Xuyang paid no mind to Li Minxi; he was now fully extending his perception, focusing his gaze on the various rough stones.
A rough stone weighing about four to five hundred kilograms caught his attention.
Inside, it contained Glass-type Imperial Green jade, approximately twenty kilograms in weight.
His heart began to beat faster; it was simply too beautiful.
Since acquiring his special ability, he had never encountered Glass-type Imperial Green jade.
The best he had found so far was the unpackaged rough stone discovered yesterday, which had only reached Ice-type Imperial Green jade.
He hurried forward. The item number was 1099, originating from the Mutnar mine, weighing four hundred and seventy-eight kilograms, with a price of thirteen million Euros.
Guo Xuyang filled out the bidding sheet with the number but did not enter a price.
He intended to submit his bid at the very last moment for insurance.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he saw Li Ziwen, Wang Shimin, Li Mingze, and a middle-aged man in his fifties approaching together.
“Mr. Guo, Xiao Xi, hello. Are you also here to look at rough stones?” Li Ziwen greeted them.
Li Ziwen had remembered Guo Xuyang after their previous meeting. Although they weren't acquainted, he had learned who Guo Xuyang was through inquiries.
Furthermore, he had learned from his contacts that Guo Xuyang possessed a special ability, similar to Wang Shimin, that allowed him to see the jade within rough stones.
“Yes, it’s rare to encounter an auction at this time of year, not too hot nor too cold. We came to join the fun,” Guo Xuyang replied.
“Mr. Guo is joking. With your abilities, wouldn’t it be a sure win?”
“You flatter me. Please, you go ahead. We’ll look around some more,” Guo Xuyang said, turning away with Li Minxi.
He was concerned that Wang Shimin might take an interest in this particular rough stone, which would make acquiring it a more complicated matter.
Although Guo Xuyang and Li Minxi had left, his actions had already piqued Wang Shimin’s interest.
“Old Wang, this piece of material looks quite good. Mutnar material, as long as it yields, will have top-grade texture and luster,” Li Mingze said, shining his strong flashlight.
“Mm, it is indeed good. Merely good, however,” Wang Shimin replied, examining it closely.
“The material inside has all been carefully selected; otherwise, it wouldn’t be presented at the public auction.”
Had Wang Shimin not seen it?
He had certainly seen the exquisite jade hidden within, but he and Li Mingze were representing different interests, so their words were only partially truthful.
“Manager Li, let’s move on,” he called out to Li Ziwen.
“Master Li, what do you think of this piece of material?” the middle-aged man in his fifties asked.
“Mr. Wang, I believe this material is worth acquiring. We can likely increase the price by another half without issue,” Li Mingze stated.
“Increasing it by half again would bring it close to twenty million Euros. Converted to RMB, that’s over 160 million? That’s too high.” Mr. Wang said.
“I believe this rough stone is worth that price,” Li Mingze insisted.
It had to be said that Li Mingze had a discerning eye for rough stones.