Chapter 1537: Buy Them All
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After pa.s.sing through the customs successfully, they b.u.mped into the King of Hpakant at the foot of the mountain.
Previously, with the window s.h.i.+eld between them, Li Du did not manage to take a good look at the young master who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He looked to be in his forties. He wore shades and an expression of nonchalance, perhaps hoping that he could look more powerful.
Zhong Da Pao said, “Hmph, he’s wearing that annoying look like his grandfather. Does he think that he can be like his grandfather this way?”
Then it dawned on Li Du. It turned out that the King of Hpakant was just trying to imitate his more powerful grandfather.
Seeing the bunch of them, the King went all out to put his game face on. It was only when he spotted Da Mao that he smiled and said, “Mr. Mao, we meet now.”
Da Mao continued to act as if he was a deaf-mute. He said with a confused look, “Ahhh baa, ahh baa, ahh baa…”
The King was stumped. “Mr. Mao, what has happened to you? Does your throat hurt?”
Zhong Da Pao coughed and said, “Mr. Mao is a deaf-mute. Didn’t you know?”
The King’s face changed. He said coldly, “Deaf-mute? Based on what I know, Mr. Mao’s mouth is working perfectly!”
Da Mao regretted this instantly. Why was he born with such a big mouth? He should have kept a lower profile.
As the deal had been sealed and the terms had been agreed on, there was not much use in keeping up the façade. Tulsi knew that. Hence, he interrupted the King, who evidently meant to question further. He said, “It’s time for us to set off.”
The big stone sale at Huika was not like those at public auctions. The event would take place for a long time until the public auction started. It would stay on and, in fact, it had already begun.
The King also changed his vehicle and got on a big motorcycle. It was unclear if he was trying to look superior, but he picked a specific model of motorcycle. It was one of those bikes with three wheels.
The motorcycle looked brand-new and was green all over. The King continued to ride on along the slope. He held the steering wheel with both hands and wore a look of seriousness.
After seeing that, Li Du could not help but be reminded of the TV series about the j.a.panese Occupation he had watched when he was younger. He recalled that the drama had a similar scene too. The King of Hpakant looked like those j.a.panese soldiers in the drama.
Huika was a huge field area. It produced a sizable amount of jade for the market. The place was enormous, enjoyed high footfall and was a lot busier than Damakan.
As usual, Zhong Da Pao gave them an introduction to the stones in the field. “The material from Huika has something unique, and that is wax. The raw stone is mainly made up of mountain rock. Usually, its skin is thin and the fogginess is low. Everyone likes…”
The wax skin of the jade stone was a layer of light green, smooth substance. Hence, it was nicknamed ‘frogskin’.
The jade produced in most fields would have waxy skin. However, it was special in Huika. Here, the unrefined stone skin was often double-layered. The outer layer was a light red wax skin, and the inner layer would have the texture of either ripples or chicken skin.
There were many big fields in the Huika area. Hence, it was laid out similar to Damakan. Usually, those who were keen to purchase stones would visit a few of those fields.
However, there was an ongoing big stone sale right now. Hence, at this time of the year, the place would draw out a trading area around the selling area. It resembled the residential areas in other fields, where the flow of people and business was concentrated.
The trading area was just behind the door of the field. Like in some towns, there were stalls placed outside the door. After Li Du got off the bus, he saw a pile of stones with wax skin.
The color of the wax-skin stones was the messiest. A shop would offer stones of many different colors. There would be sandy yellow, brownish-gray, dark green and black amongst others.
Li Du had scanned the piles briefly. The shop peddled mainly greyish-green and greyish-black stones. Fewer were yellow or green. The latter two were more likely to produce good quality jade.
That was something that all the stone gamblers would know. The green stones were most expensive in Huika. That was because they were most likely to produce green jade. Li Du spotted a stone that was the size of a rice cooker. It was priced at 1.4 million US dollars.
They had already done their preparations to make Huika their last stop. It was not only because of the big stone sale. It was also because there were stones of much better quality here and the price was accordingly higher.
Looking at the stalls, the King of Hpakant pointed with his chin and said, “Let’s start browsing from there. A few days ago, a stone from there revealed full green when cut. D*mn, that dude had made a profit of fifty million!”
His words sounded like commands. Liu Zi was instantly infuriated and turned around, ready to lash out.
Li Du was quick to grab his shoulder. He said, “There is indeed some good material there. Bring Da Mao over and start a.n.a.lyzing them. I feel that a few of these stones are pretty decent.”
As there were many variations of the wax surface on Huika’s stones, it was difficult to judge the shade of green from outward appearance. However, for experienced people, it was not difficult to select a good stone. Often, after cutting open the stone, the color would be even in all angles.
Da Mao said softly to Li Du, “The material in Huika is of very high quality, and the investment value of the raw stone is high as well. The jade produced here contains fewer impurities and cracks. The smaller pieces can be used to make facets and engraved Buddha pendants. The big ones can be made into big beads, bracelets, and jade carvings. The chance of making a profit is high. We will be able to get some nice pieces.”
The locally produced material was of varying sizes. Some stones were as small as a raisin, while others weighed a few tonnes.
The booths at the entrance were mainly peddling materials that had been cut off. That is, the stone had been cut, showing signs of jade or directly revealing the traces of it.
The odds of gambling on such stones were not small. In fact, they were pretty good. That was because the price would be high and yet the thing that was revealed might not necessarily be jade. It could be jade skin or jade surface. Until it was actually cut, one could not be sure of what was inside.
Da Mao squatted in front of a shop and observed the stones carefully. Li Du approached Zhong Da Pao and said, “Go get money from our big king. Didn’t he want a profit of two hundred million dollars? First, go get fifty million from him as capital. I’m talking about RMB.”
Zhong Da Pao went over. The King’s face darkened and he said, “You guys can fork out the capital first. In any case, we’d be making money eventually.”
Hearing that, Li Du was shocked. Was that dude planning to reap the rewards without investing a cent? He had some nerve!
Zhong Da Pao did not wait any longer. He said fiercely, “Screw you, if you have money, bring it here. If not, let’s go our separate ways!”
The King laughed coolly, “Go our separate ways? That’s a good one. Never thought that Master Pao would be so brave. Where’s your grat.i.tude?”
Zhong Da Pao did not want to continue to talk to him. He turned to Tulsi and said, “We have agreed on this during the discussion. We would split the investment. If you guys are not going to do that, you have broken the agreement. That has nothing to do with me.”
Tulsi gave the King a look. Then, the King removed his shades, revealing his angry eyes. He could not endure Zhong Da Pao’s att.i.tude. Hence, he whipped out a card and pa.s.sed it to Zhong Da Pao. He said, “There’s forty million here, use this first.”
After getting the money, Li Du asked the stall owner, “Discounting those with the surface material still on, how much would the stone cost?”
The owner asked, “You don’t want those with the surface material intact? Look at the high quality of the material I have. Look at how bright the head of the jade is. There must be a lot of good jade hidden in them.”
Li Du replied, “You can keep those with the hidden jade. But these stones, all of them, how much are they?”
The owner thought for a while and then said, “Hmm, eleven million.”
Li Du threw out his ATM card and said, “Ten million, and I’ll take all of them.”