After completing the procedures at the counter and sealing all the stones, they were handed over to the transportation personnel, who would deliver the goods uniformly to the border crossing.
I asked Lanya to return to the hotel to rest, as I wanted to look for more stones myself. The money on the card hadn't been spent, and it felt like a waste not to exchange it for stones.
Lanya refused to go back, insisting on accompanying me. Yangon's public security was good, but it was still Myanmar, and I was a little worried about her returning to the hotel alone. Since she didn't want to go, I didn't insist.
We wandered around the market without any specific purpose. It was then that I saw a familiar face. The one who had been bidding against me seemed to have been watching me the entire time, following me wherever I went.
This person was quite interesting. With so many people present, and plenty of wealthy individuals, why was he specifically targeting me? I didn't think he was from the same stall as me. If he were, I wouldn't be looking at black sand raw stones now, so why was he still following me? I had felt someone watching me when I was browsing the bulk material, but at that time, I was solely focused on picking stones and didn't pay attention to the people around me.
I stared at him. Although he was dressed in a traditional Burmese style, his features resembled those of a Chinese person, not as dark. He was in his forties, of medium build, with a pair of shrewd eyes that marked him as someone cunning and calculating.
I deliberately kept looking at a piece of Muna rough stone, to see if he would follow me this time. Seeing me squatting there, he also ambled over, staring at the stone in front of me.
"Are you interested?" I asked.
He looked surprised that I had suddenly spoken to him and said sheepishly, "You are a master. I'm here to learn from you."
"I don't feel like you're learning from me, but you are making me spend a lot more money," I replied.
He suddenly changed his demeanor. "Bidding is allowed here, and of course, the highest bidder wins. Aren't you here for the public auction specifically to find bargains?"
"Of course not. If you're determined to bid against me, then I'm sorry, I'm not interested!"
"Whether you're interested or not is none of my business. My job is to watch you. I see you're always bidding under your own name. You should know that abandoning a bid will result in a penalty. Although this isn't a government public auction, it's organized by powerful and influential people. If you abandon a bid here, you will still be blacklisted by the government's public auction and will be prohibited from participating in any public auctions in Myanmar for three years."
"If I'm not mistaken, you must not be using your own name. That makes our competition unfair, and I would only be at a disadvantage. I advise you to stay away from me. I don't want to play with you."
"What if I don't?"
"If you insist on crossing me, I will make you regret it dearly!"
"I don't know if you're impressive in the interior, but this is Myanmar. You have no right to brag here. I advise you to be sensible, lest you make empty threats and end up looking foolish."
If he had spoken to me like that in Ruili, I would have dealt with him immediately. Unfortunately, this was Yangon, and there were many security guards and quite a few police officers inside. Making a move here would be asking for trouble.
Lanya also sensed something was amiss and tugged at me. "Let's go look at something else. There's no need to waste time here."
I glared at the man and turned to leave with her. Seeing us leave, he had a cold smile on his lips. I guessed he was determined to confront me today and wouldn't give up even if we left; he might still cause trouble.
As expected, he followed us at a leisurely pace. It seemed unlikely that I would be able to gamble on a stone peacefully today.
I asked Lanya to go out and inform Brother Bao, preferably to have Da Kui come over, as I didn't know what other tricks he might pull next.
This was the area for Makkan materials, at Teng Ji's stall. I had picked materials here before, and the staff greeted me enthusiastically. That man didn't approach, standing about ten meters away, watching me from a distance.
Just then, I saw two Burmese men walk up to him and say something to him in low tones, glancing towards me as they spoke. It seemed they were working together.
I couldn't understand why they were so fixated on me, or if they had some other ulterior motive. I could only respond to whatever they did next.
I saw a stone, weighing about twenty pounds, oval in shape. It had a visible jade belt under the oily black skin. I touched it; it was very smooth. Upon closer inspection, there were some flower patterns near the jade belt. This stone felt very good. The color was fine; the gamble was on the water content and impurities. I checked the price tag. The base price for this stone was three thousand US dollars. It wasn't high, so why was it still here? Had no one bid, or had someone rigged the auction? It was impossible to know.
I hesitated a bit, examining the stone very carefully. There seemed to be no issues. The only concern with this stone was the lack of water content, but with the color, it wouldn't be a loss. I took a bid form, wrote down fifteen thousand, and submitted it myself.
Seeing me go to bid, he took a bid form, but he didn't write anything, just kept looking at the stone. I returned to watch him, to see what he would do next. He seemed a little hesitant, perhaps also wondering why a stone with such obvious characteristics was still here. This person was at least knowledgeable about stones; he wasn't blindly following me. He turned the stone over and examined it for a long time. He still wrote a bid and had someone accompanying him submit it.
Seeing him bid, I felt more at ease and waited for the bids to be opened. My bid was fifteen thousand. This wasn't a high price, so he would definitely have to bid higher. As expected, when the bids were opened, he had written down twenty-five thousand. The staff called out the price twice, and no one else bid. He seemed a little anxious. According to his plan, I should have followed suit, but since I didn't, he won the stone for twenty-five thousand. Including tax, it would be thirty-five thousand, almost three hundred thousand for thirty pounds of stone. This was considered a high price. His initial intention was to drive up the price for me, but since I didn't follow, it ended up falling into his hands.
I remained expressionless, standing beside him, watching to see if he would abandon the bid. If he abandoned it, he would have lost the psychological battle. He knew I was pressuring him, so he had to go and collect the bid.
The Makkan material area allowed for stones to be opened. After completing the procedures, he asked the craftsman to make a cut on the top, to open a window. He probably wanted to verify if his judgment was accurate. The craftsman secured the stone and scraped off about a centimeter of skin. The stone was very hard, and sparks flew when it was cut, accompanied by loud noises, attracting many onlookers.
As the top layer was removed, he eagerly leaned forward, his eyes lighting up. Indeed, the exposed flesh was very green, appearing no different from imperial green. He cast a triumphant glance at me, implying that I had lost out significantly by not following. I showed no emotion. He saw neither my disappointment nor any reaction from me. I watched him calmly. Seeing my lack of response, he turned back to his stone. It was indeed high-grade green. Even if it wasn't imperial green, it was very close. With this color alone, it was worth ten times the price. If the texture was also good, this stone would be priceless.