Chapter 234: A Tiny Bet
The stones of various sizes and colors that were sitting in front of them were stones that were not extracted.
The pair of amateurs looked at each other feeling half-amused, half-annoyed.
“We came all this way after all. Why don’t we get one to play with? We can experience how it feels,” Sun Qiluo suggested.
Yun Xiangxiang shook her head. She did her research. The reviewers said that the green tint on the cut surface of some stones was actually something plastered on the surface by the sellers. It was a treacherous business. Amateurs like them should forget about trying to one-up the sellers.
Yun Xiangxiang whispered that to Sun Qiluo, making her retreat immediately. The pair still walked around to ask about the prices. The supposedly invaluable jades were sold like they were nothing.
Yun Xiangxiang and Sun Qiluo left with nothing to show for their efforts. Sun Qiluo turned around to look once more before reluctantly leaving.
“We will be going to Heshun Town for the recording, right? It’s coming up soon. There’s a jade market there too. We’ll look around there when that happens,” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want to stay here.
Since they were just two ladies walking in the streets, they might be taken advantage of by cunning sellers.
The pair went to some specialty shops, bought some souvenirs, and even had some street food. It wasn’t before Shen Yitang called them that they stopped to wait for him to fetch them. They had some lamb skewers while waiting.
“Aren’t you two afraid of getting fat?” He Xingzhou was envious of the pair who were having the delicious lamb skewers.
“This lamb skewer is great. Want some?” Yun Xiangxiang gave the paper bag of skewers to him generously. “I don’t really get fat.”
Sun Qiluo was mildly annoyed.
She chomped down on the last bite of meat and announced, “I can work out!”
The pair still gave the skewers to the others in the end. The cars arrived at the recording venue before five o’clock.
“This is one beautiful old town!” Sun Qiluo adored it.
“Brother Yitang, does this place sell a lot of jadeites?” Yun Xiangxiang was still thinking about her business.
“There are a lot of jade shops in the old town. You can take a stroll around town tonight.” Shen Yitang disembarked from the car and said, “We signed an agreement with the local government, the person in charge of the town, and the shops here. They will be cooperating with the show’s recording tomorrow. The tourists in the town have also been notified by the shopkeepers.”
In other words, they could stroll around as they wanted to, and nobody would interrupt them.
The hotel they were in now was an ancient style building with a courtyard. They had dinner there. He Xingzhou, who was jealous that Yun Xiangxiang and Sun Qiluo could walk around the city for the whole afternoon, couldn’t take it and suggested they strolled around town.
It was night time in the old town. Some places had lanterns hanging over the streets. They had shops that served many purposes, encompassing food, entertainment, clothes, and necessities.
Yun Xiangxiang kept an eye out for any jade shops. When she saw a big one, she dragged Sun Qiluo inside with her. He Xingzhou and the others followed them.
The shopkeeper recognized them as soon as they entered. He quickly served them with passion. “Look around. Our prices can’t be beaten!”
This was free publicity. If they bought as much as one item, the shopkeeper could tell everyone that the stars bought something from their shop. Celebrity clout wasn’t something that came around every day.
Yun Xiangxiang thought about what she did in the day and realized she was a fool. Now that she was in a shop, the shopkeeper wouldn’t give her any fakes. Unless they wanted to ruin their own reputation.
But she had fun too in the day. At least she saw how jade markets sold jades,
“Shopkeeper. I need a piece of purple jadeite. One that is extracted but not cut,” Yun Xiangxiang cut to the chase.
This troubled the shopkeeper. “Miss Yun, there’s something you should know. Jewelry shops buy materials for only one reason. To make it into a finished product and sell it.”
That was why they had no stocks. They had stones that were not modeled yet, but not the purple jadeite Yun Xiangxiang wanted.
“Where can I buy it?” Yun Xiangxiang asked.
“Only giants who worked in the business of jade jewelry would have them. Even if they do, normally they won’t sell it.” The big companies would only use the stones to decorate their stores. They wouldn’t sell it unless their relationship with the customer ran deep.
MonRoe dabbled in the jade business too, but they were mainly in the diamond business. They didn’t have any leftover purple jadeite either.
“In other words, I can’t buy it?” Yun Xiangxiang was dejected.
“There is one way,” said the shopkeeper. “But your chances are slim.”
“You’re telling me to get a stone and open it myself,” Yun Xiangxiang knew what the shopkeeper was going to say.
The shopkeeper nodded smilingly, “We have some raw materials here in our courtyard. I can recommend some authentic ones from Myanmar for you. They are ancient, mind you. Do you want to give it a try?”
“Yes, I do,” Sun Qiluo was the first to take the offer. She had been itching to do it since the afternoon.
“Come with me,” the shopkeeper asked the retail assistant to look after the store before bringing Yun Xiangxiang and the others into the courtyard.
Lots of people were looking at Yun Xiangxiang’s group. They did promise not to interrupt them, but when they heard that the stars were going to open some stones, they surrounded them to watch.
Crowds would still gather even if an ordinary guy was to open some stones, let alone stars. The shop was naturally welcoming to customers.
It was a huge courtyard. The stones were separated by batch and placed in the yard. Some were displayed on racks.
Sun Qiluo was the most passionate one. He Xingzhou also chose the stones seriously. “Are there really jadeites here?”
“I can’t guarantee that,” the shopkeeper answered cautiously. “But they are great materials.”
“I want this one. Shopkeeper, how much does this cost?” Sun Qiluo settled on what she wanted quickly.
The stone was the size of a volleyball. It was shaped like one too. As all of them were amateurs, they couldn’t choose it based on professional aspects. They chose the ones they liked best.
“Two thousand yuan,” the shopkeeper announced the price.
“That’s fine. Open it up, I want to see what’s inside,” Sun Qiluo paid the shopkeeper happily.
“I’ll have this one then,” He Xingzhou might be an amateur, but he knew that the bigger they were, the pricier they became.
He was just trying to experience how it felt. He ended up choosing a round stone which was the size of a soccer ball.
“This is going to cost more. Ten thousand yuan,” said the shopkeeper.
“Open it up for me after this,” ten thousand yuan was nothing for them.
“Let’s pick one too, shall we?” Lu Jin looked around and simply pointed at one.
There were also stones that were cut halfway. These would be the ones that were revealed to contain jadeite, but until they were fully cut, nobody knew how big the jadeite was. Stones like that commanded exorbitant prices. As they were just experiencing how it felt, they wouldn’t buy those.
Hou Cang also picked one at random. The shopkeeper gave a fair price. There was no haggling between them.
Naturally, Yun Xiangxiang couldn’t ask for any special treatment. She went around and looked at the stones once before settling on one she liked.
She finally took one that was the size of a goose egg. “I’ll have this one then.”
“This one, hmm… one hundred yuan it is,” the shopkeeper thought about it for a while before announcing the price.
“How are you going to cut this one?” He Xingzhou was curious.