This stone, regardless of whether it yielded jade or not, at least guaranteed it wasn't fake. A faked stone wouldn't have such a poorly cut window; one should at least be able to see the quality of the jade within. Even the most incompetent forger wouldn't create a window that made a potential buyer lose all desire to gamble.
Furthermore, the forgery techniques of that era were not advanced enough to perfectly mimic the genuine article, making it nearly impossible to seamlessly attach a piece of jade with good water content.
The starting bid for this stone was $100,000 USD. I estimated that many would be willing to bid between $200,000 to $300,000 USD, so this price point was not a concern. I directly placed a bid of $800,000.
With taxes and fees, this price would be around ten million RMB, which was a considerable sum.
If anyone bid over a million USD, I would let them have it.
I couldn't understand why Brother Qing insisted on bringing Brother Bao to gamble for this large stone. Was he confident, or did he want to play a trick on Brother Bao? Or perhaps it was nothing more than wanting to bring Brother Bao into the mining business?
I truly couldn't figure it out.
I saw the Guangdong and Shanghai factions had submitted bids, while the Beijing group remained observant, not participating.
A staff member stood behind the table and announced, "Are there any more bidders? Five minutes until countdown!"
The Beijing group huddled together, discussing. After a moment, they shook their heads; no one stepped forward.
Time ticked by. The staff began to sort through the bid forms. Another staff member glanced at their watch and declared, "Time's up!"
There were only three bids: $650,000, $700,000, and my bid of $800,000.
I was leading for now.
The staff member handling the bids asked if there were any further offers, repeating the question three times. When no one responded, the staff announced that we had won the bid for $800,000.
At this point, applause erupted from the VIP room, congratulating us on securing the massive stone.
The leader of the Guangdong faction approached, patted me on the shoulder, and praised my youth, ambition, and courage, saying I would surely achieve great things in the future.
I wasn't sure how much sarcasm was laced in his words. Since everyone had only made token bids, indicating a lack of confidence in the stone, his praise felt somewhat mocking.
The Guangdong leader, Mr. Wang, was the patriarch of his family and an undisputed figure of authority.
Brother Bao politely greeted Mr. Wang, and then we went out to collect the bid document.
Several young staff members began dismantling the tents, as a large cutting machine would be brought in from outside shortly.
I went to the counter to handle the paperwork. Lan Ya gave me her card. The $800,000 plus $320,000 in taxes required a payment of $1,120,000 USD, which, at the current exchange rate, amounted to over nine million RMB.
Including later expenses for cutting, transportation, and customs clearance, the total would be close to ten million.
After completing all the procedures, we returned to where the stone was placed. The cutting machine had arrived – a caterpillar-tracked, mountain-cutting machine, towed by a trailer and positioned beside the stone.
I took a climbing ladder and ascended to the top of the stone. I first inspected the window and decided to forgo that area. I instructed the cutting machine operator to approach from the lower end and make a vertical cut, thirty centimeters in width.
I descended and stood aside, watching the mountain-cutting machine adjust its position and slowly approach the target.
This mountain-cutting machine was expensive, and its hourly operating fee was astonishingly high – tens of thousands for a single cut.
The mountain-cutting machine began its cut along the lines I had drawn.
To prevent the stone from shifting and damaging the machine, the raw stone was secured to ground stakes with chains and tightened with hydraulic jacks. The immense power of the mountain-cutting machine applied, but the raw stone remained perfectly still.
Cutting a two-meter square face would take a considerable amount of time. Everyone found the machine's noise unbearable and moved away.
Brother Qing and Teng Ji sat at a distance, smoking and chatting.
Brother Bao and Lan Ya stayed, but stood a little further away.
I remained at the forefront, feeling a bit nervous. Although I didn't have high expectations for any exceptional finds, I hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a complete failure. After all, no one else had offered any opinions; I was the one inspecting the raw stone.
Brother Qing seemed the most relaxed. Although he had said he and Brother Bao split the cost of the raw stone fifty-fifty, he hadn't actually put any money out of his own pocket; Brother Bao had paid entirely. Now, he acted as if nothing had happened, as if the outcome of the stone's cutting had no bearing on him.
The massive saw blade spun at high speed, sending sparks several meters high from the cutting point. The sharp, piercing scream was deafening.
I instinctively took out a cigarette but fumbled for a lighter for a long time, so I just held it in my hand, playing with it.
Time seemed to stand still. I stood there, anxiously waiting for the raw stone to be cut open little by little.
After what felt like half a century, I saw the machine stop. It hadn't completely cut through yet, but there wasn't much left. If it cut any further, the remaining small section would topple, and if it contained any jade, it would be damaged.
Several workers then arrived, using wooden poles to prop up the remaining section. One man inserted a crowbar into the stone's crevice and levered it forcefully. The stone separated, and the workers carefully placed the cut-off section onto the ground.
I saw someone come over with a water pipe and spray water onto the cut surface. He first washed the toppled piece and then proceeded to wash the standing side.
I quickly walked over and squatted down to look. The cut surface was relatively smooth, but there was nothing there. It was a white cut face, with no sign of water content, not even color. If you didn't know it was a raw stone, it looked like a piece of cut granite.
I shone my flashlight on it, but no light penetrated. Besides white, there was no light reflection whatsoever.
At least this side was a bust.
Just then, Brother Bao walked over and, looking at my expression, asked, "It's a bust?"
I replied, "It's only been cut once. We can't definitively say there's no jade on the back. We'll have to cut again."
Brother Bao: "I'll listen to you. You make the decision."
I looked at the stone and gestured to the mountain-cutting machine operator, asking him to make a cut of the same size on the other end.
My master had told me that large stones often had associated materials, so one cut shouldn't be used to judge whether the stone contained jade. Multiple cuts were necessary.
The operator quickly began his work. This side was already a few dozen centimeters higher, making the cut even slower. I decided not to watch and went to stand with Lan Ya and the others.
Although the white material had been revealed, Brother Qing only glanced at it. He watched me directing the mountain-cutting machine but didn't say anything, returning to his seat in the distance to continue his conversation with Teng Ji.
The cutting machine continued to roar. Brother Bao told me that he planned to build a raw stone city in Ruili and wanted to acquire the highest quality raw stones at the source. That's why he found Teng Ji through Brother Qing. Teng Ji had previously only sold his raw stones to the Burmese government and was reluctant to cooperate with private individuals. It was only due to Brother Qing's influence that he agreed to consider it, but he had one condition: he would only consider cooperation after the sale of this massive stone in his possession. If we showed no sincerity, the talks would end there.
That was why he had instructed me to bid a price that would guarantee the purchase, preventing others from intercepting it and causing it to be re-auctioned, which would mean losing the opportunity for cooperation.
If the deal went through, Brother Qing would hold a twenty percent share in the raw stone city, not participating in the investment but receiving dividends.
No wonder he wasn't interested in whether the stone contained jade. As long as we won the bid for this raw stone, the matter would be settled, and he would still get half of the profits from cutting the raw stone.
Besides, it wasn't necessarily a loss; the stone hadn't been definitively declared worthless yet.