Imperial Treasure
Chapter 84 - 72: The Mysterious Jade, Crazy Gambling Stones

Chapter 84: Chapter 72: The Mysterious Jade, Crazy Gambling Stones

Sui Yi nodded to Boss Quan and others as a greeting without making small talk, but turned to listen to Elder Tang and Elder Han’s conversation with the middle-aged man.

Judging from his accent, he seemed to be from Guangzhou, with his Mandarin somewhat muddled and awkward. Only those like Elder Tang, who regularly dealt with different people, could understand him fully. Young people like Sui Yi could probably only grasp the general idea.

The man’s name was Zhang Guangbiao, a businessman in Guangzhou. He had come to Nanxun Ancient Town ahead of time to attend the upcoming Classical Chinese Conference. Since Elder Han was one of the main organizers, Zhang Guangbiao had contacted him in advance. He also wanted to do some pre-event advertising.

What kind of advertising?

It depended on what he was selling...

"Raw stones?" Sui Yi overheard him mention this term and felt puzzled. In her daily life, she hadn’t been involved in this field, and it seemed like something she had read about in books...

Seeing Sui Yi’s confused look, Elder Tang explained, "This is gambling on stone value, which is jade... You see those chubby jewelry store owners over there, the jade they sell in their stores is of this kind."

Sui Yi wasn’t unfamiliar with jewelry and jade wares. After all, some of Elder Tang’s friends were merchants in this business, but she didn’t know about the concept of gambling on stone value.

And as for jade...

She once remembered a record in Volume Two of "Gui Tian Lu" by Ouyang Xiu of the Northern Song Dynasty: "My family has a jade jar, very ancient yet exquisite in its craftsmanship, initially acquired from Mei Shengyu and thought to be green jade. While in Yingzhou, I once showed it to my associates. A Mr. Deng Baoji was there, an old official from the Zhenzong Dynasty, who recognized it and said: ’This is a precious object, known as jade.’ He said that all the treasures of the royal palace were stored in the Yisheng Vault, which contained a single jade cup, and that’s how he recognized it."

Green is esteemed, a precious object, used by noble and sacred individuals.

Historically, it has been a symbol of treasure, famous throughout China’s history. Royals and noble clans have long appreciated jade for its beauty. During that feudal era, beautiful jade was monopolized by the royalty. Apart from noble clans, only some wealthy families had some in their inventory, often used as a family heirloom.

Jade can be passed down through generations, the most devout form of collection and respect.

In modern society, the prestige of jade remains the same, with rich people eagerly pursuing it and the poor longing for it, hoping to make a fortune.

Thus, both the rich and poor desire beautiful jade, but where does it come from?

It doesn’t fall from trees as fruit, nor does it grow from the ground.

It springs from the stones!

"Large quantities of raw stone are mined from jade mines, like these here, commonly referred to by insiders as ’raw materials’. Not all ’raw materials’ contain jade, and currently, there’s no machine in the world that can detect jade within these raw stones, so gambling is required."

That’s what gambling on stones is all about.

Elder Tang taught Sui Yi a lesson with his concise language, and regarding the economic benefits and systems involved, Sui Yi could easily grasp that by thinking a little bit herself.

No wonder these people were so enthusiastic. Gambling is a natural pursuit of excitement for humans.

To become overnight millionaires, carp leap over the Dragon Gate.

The temptation is simply too great.

The wealthy of Nanxun Town were attracted here, and those without money also rushed to join in on the excitement, or perhaps... to try their luck!

Already, two or three dozen people were huddled on the ground inspecting the raw materials.

Zhang Guangbiao was very pleased with this and, with a satisfied smile, lit a cigarette and puffed smoke rings while saying to Elder Tang and others, "Why don’t you try your luck too?"

Elder Han chuckled, "I’m old, can’t handle the excitement~~ It’s better for young people to have a go."

Gambling on stones can burn more money than collecting, and it’s far less reliable. With antiques, at least there are physical objects to authenticate true from false, but these stones can never be seen through.

Elder Tang, with the same cunning nature, wasn’t keen on it either, waving his hand in decline. However, people like Boss Quan seemed eager to give it a try—they were business people, naturally irresistibly drawn to any chances of huge profits, and quickly jumped into the fray.

Zhang Guangbiao then said on the side: "Right, that over there is the Ten Thousand Yuan Zone, this is the Thousand Yuan area, and there’s the Hundred Yuan section... The few pieces here under my feet are each over one hundred thousand yuan..."

This price was astonishing.

Wow, a stone for several hundred thousand yuan?

Who would buy that!

As someone made this remark, Zhang Guangbiao just laughed, blowing out another smoke ring, "Over in our Guangzhou side, three years ago at the Yulin Public Plate, dozens of raw stones sold for an average price of over five million yuan each... As for the King of Bids, the price was this," he said, holding up three fingers.

"Three million?" someone asked thirstily.

Upon asking, Zhang Guangbiao’s expression twitched, "If those dozens of stones already averaged over five million... do you think the King of Bids was only three million?"

The young man who spoke turned red-faced as others erupted in laughter.

Some people, however, were not laughing, and asked dryly, "So it was...thirty million?"

"Right, thirty million... You think that’s expensive? Heh, this price can’t even be considered expensive. Last year’s total transaction volume at the Myanmar public trading platform reached 18 billion RMB... Anyway, in our place, gambling on stones is known to every household..."

His words carried a sense of pride, almost a hint of scorn for the purchasing power of the people present.

Many merchants were angered, feeling belittled—was this implying that they couldn’t afford it?

It’s just a mere hundred or two hundred thousand!

Young people sneered, those for several hundred yuan? They might consider it.

Stirred up by this provocation, a crowd quickly swarmed in. Zhang Guangbiao had many subordinates, and together with Elder Han’s people, they were busy maintaining order to prevent the raw materials from being snatched up in the chaos.

Seeing this scene, Sui Yi thought to herself that Zhang Guangbiao was quite skilled, stirring up these people’s desire to buy with just a few words...

But indeed, it’s quite appealing.

Su Ziyi was also a bit interested and asked if Sui Yi wanted to go have some fun buying.

Given Sui Yi’s current status, Su Ziyi thought that Sui Yi wouldn’t be short of money, so he asked him; in fact, Sui Yi really wasn’t short of cash,

Just as the two were about to head to the Hundred Yuan Zone, Qian Fengling suddenly blocked Sui Yi’s path.

From her expression, Sui Yi knew she must have come about the million.

And sure enough, Qian Fengling launched into a torrent of abuse, harsh and unseemly, essentially accusing Sui Yi of being shameless, desperate for money, conning their family... and demanding he pay the money back...

Her voice was quite loud, seemingly on purpose to make sure others heard...

Sui Yi remained silent, and she suddenly began to understand why people like Elder Tang felt sympathy for Boss Qian.

In fact, including Qian Shuangyu, not a single person from the Qian family was competent.

Let’s not even mention ability— their intelligence was rather worrying.

Indeed, when Elder Tang and Elder Han heard Qian Fengling’s rant, they frowned deeply, and Yu Quan, who had just arrived, was speaking with Elder Tang. He heard Qian Fengling dragging in Sui Yi and Yu Hang...

Frowning, he looked at Boss Qian, who also had an ugly expression, and laughed, "Old Qian, she must definitely be a child of your Qian family..."

The smile was a sneer.

The tone was mocking.

--Only your Qian family’s children would be so lacking in decency.

A public quarrel truly reflects the family upbringing~~

Boss Qian felt terrible, because of his distaste for Sui Yi, he had spoken a few more words to his granddaughter, but who knew this girl would directly go out to create trouble for Sui Yi...

Dammit, what happened to all that strategizing and keeping emotions in check I taught her?

Did it all go to feeding chickens?!

She’s not growing a brain at all, can’t she be a bit more cunning?

All my connections are going to be alienated because of you...

With a dark face, Boss Qian barked, "Shut your mouth!"

Qian Fengling jumped, just about to say something, when she saw Boss Qian’s face turn even stormier, her own face went pale, and she begrudgingly shut up.

Elder Tang had intended to find some trouble with the other party, but saw that Sui Yi was already calmly chatting with Su Ziyi.

Throughout it all, he hadn’t changed his facial expression or even his gaze!

What is considered the manner of the gentry!

What is considered magnanimity!

Feeling increasingly vexed, Boss Qian laughed coldly and said to Sui Yi, "Young lady, your talents are so formidable, you can easily discern the authenticity of antiques. Surely today you will luck out on some fine jade."

Was this praising Sui Yi?

Qian Fengling found it unbelievable but didn’t realize that this was a setup!

To praise you high, then let you fall from grace, delivering a blow to your head!

Elder Tang frowned, but heard Sui Yi reply with a smile, "Elder Tang, even someone like Boss Qian may not be able to find jade, let alone me... Why doesn’t Boss Qian show us how it’s done?"

Provocation like that doesn’t work on someone as indifferent as Sui Yi; it was instead casually deflected back.

Boss Qian said nothing more, only chuckled, and then nonchalantly went to look at the rough stones.

For some reason, Elder Tang, who previously had not planned to buy any rough stones, now joined in, following Boss Qian.

Sui Yi frowned... it seems it wasn’t her who was provoked, but rather Elder Tang?

Forget it, Elder Tang is a sly one, he presumably won’t suffer any loss.

------

Sui Yi had already gone with Su Ziyi to look at the rough stones.

Rough stones are mostly indistinguishable from ordinary rocks, except that you know these can yield jade, and with the price tags on them, one feels they are somewhat different, handling the small pieces with care, and the large pieces...well, they can’t be lifted, but you touch them very cautiously anyway.

Originally, Sui Yi didn’t have the slightest clue about these stones, whereas Su Ziyi had just heard about them from Elder Han, and was now showing off his newfound knowledge in front of Sui Yi.

Indeed, every profession has its specialists, and given enough time and immersion, expertise will naturally foster a group of professionals.

As for those evaluating rough stones, there are also professionals. Although their accuracy rates are terrifyingly low, they are still much more capable than the common folk. Fact is, some of these master evaluators are truly national treasures, now enshrined in major jewelry companies,

"Grandfather said, those masters, they look at aspects like skin, pine flowers, mist, python lines, etc., to determine if the rough stone really contains jade..." Su Ziyi said as much, but when faced with Sui Yi’s smiling inquiry: "These?" he backed off.

Well, I really don’t know what those are.

Sui Yi didn’t make it difficult for him; she turned and casually picked up the smallest piece of rough stone, casually examining it. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to give recommendation votes and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)