The World's Richest Man: Start with the Daily Intelligence System

63: Chapter 63 Purchasing Raw StonesWhen Zhang Wei changed his clothes and rushed to the lobby of the gym, he happened to see a middle-aged woman with a pale face being carried onto a stretcher.

The gym staff and a group of coaches standing by all looked quite grim.

He approached Sun Yicheng and cautiously asked, ”Who is this person?”

”She is our boss here,” Sun Yicheng replied with a solemn expression. ”Our boss has always had heart problems, but I didn’t expect it to be this serious this time. I don’t know if it will affect the gym’s operations.”

Zhang Wei offered a few words of comfort. The crowd gradually dispersed. Having agreed to play poker that evening, Zhang Wei prepared to leave. Sun Yicheng was still working, and staying another second felt like torture.

Back in the car, he thought about the intelligence gathered today, only the raw jade stone remained unrecovered. Considering he had to attend an event at the Museum in the afternoon, Zhang Wei decided against returning to Jiangnan Garden and drove directly to the Shenghai Antique Market.

The Shenghai Antique Market was located in the old City Name district, and the entire building was constructed in the style of ancient pavilions, looking antique on the outside.

Stepping inside, Zhang Wei looked around. He saw that the interior of the Antique Market was divided into dozens of small storefronts with a dense and disorderly layout. The shop fronts were sectioned off by simple partition boards, and the displays in each shop were chaotic. This was completely contrary to the ancient architectural style outside.

”What’s the difference between this and a small commodity market?” Zhang Wei immediately felt disappointed.

He casually walked up to a shop and scanned the merchandise on the counter. Good heavens! Even the most ordinary item was in the million-dollar range. This one shop had at least thirty or forty items; could they all really be antiques?

The middle-aged woman minding the shop hurried to greet him enthusiastically when she saw a customer: ”Handsome young man, feel free to look around. Everything here is a fine antique. Whether you collect it yourself or give it as a gift to respect your elders or leaders, it’s excellent. Put it away for a few years, and it will appreciate by at least 50%.”

Zhang Wei casually picked up a porcelain bowl and turned it over to examine the bottom. At least the words ”Microwave Safe” did not appear.

The middle-aged woman leaned in and actively promoted it: ”Young man, you truly have an eye for quality. You look like an expert. This is the rice bowl that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty favored most. Back then, people traveling to Jiangnan had to bring one; otherwise, their meals wouldn’t taste good. It is extremely precious.”

Zhang Wei looked speechlessly at the auntie. She could really spin a yarn. Why didn’t she say this bowl was used by an alien? That would be at least more credible than this so-called Qianlong imperial item.

This wasn’t an Antique Market at all; it was clearly a craft store. Zhang Wei had completely lost the interest to browse further and directly searched for the shop mentioned in the intelligence.

Shop 02-29 seemed quite lively at the moment. There was no decoration inside at all, only dozens of stones placed on the ground. There wasn’t even a single chair, resembling a temporary stall selling watermelons by the roadside.

Quite a few people were currently holding flashlights, shining them into the crevices of the stones to observe carefully. Zhang Wei found the owner in a corner: ”Excuse me, how much are these raw stones selling for?”

The owner pointed to the raw stones on the ground: ”The price for each stone is different. Each stone has a number. If you see one you like, you can tell me the number to discuss the price.”

Zhang Wei looked over the pile of stones and found raw stone number 54. This stone was the largest in the entire pile. He confirmed it again in the intelligence system. Zhang Wei pointed and asked, ”What is the price for raw stone number 54?”

The owner saw that Zhang Wei didn’t even have a flashlight and immediately knew he was an amateur. His eyes darted around: ”Young friend has good taste. Among this batch of raw stones, number 54 is the best. If you are serious about buying, you can take it for 300,000.”

”How much? Three hundred thousand?” Zhang Wei was dumbfounded. This owner actually dared to ask that much.

”Young friend, don’t get agitated,” the owner said leisurely. ”Look, this piece is the biggest among this batch of goods. If the volume is large, the jade it yields certainly won’t be small, right? The potential upside is huge.”

Zhang Wei scoffed, ”The premise is that you can actually cut out jade, right? If you can’t cut out any jade, even a bigger stone is useless.”

The owner, however, was unmoved and stuck firmly to 300,000.

Zhang Wei hesitated about whether he should just buy it outright, when suddenly a person walked out from the crowd and cursed, ”Baldy, you’re asking a steep price! This stone doesn’t even have a trace of green skin. What good is being big? It’s worth at most thirty or fifty thousand.”

The owner was exposed on the spot but showed no anger; instead, he offered a wry smile: ”Boss Li, isn’t this just asking a high price to settle for a lower one? I truly didn’t know this was your friend.”

Boss Li was a renowned figure in the Antique Market. He owned several shops and was also a director of the Shenghai Antique Association. The owner dared not offend him.

Zhang Wei found this person somewhat familiar but couldn’t recall where they had met for a moment, so he asked, ”Brother, have we met somewhere before?”

Boss Li smiled: ”Boss Zhang is a man of great importance, so you tend to forget things. We met once before regarding that imperial seal matter, and there was a misunderstanding, wasn’t there? Fortunately, the young friend was magnanimous and forgave me.”

Zhang Wei then remembered that this person was the Antique Dealer who had been with the people from Beijing last time.

At this moment, Boss Li offered Zhang Wei some advice: ”Boss Zhang, you might not be familiar with the world of stone gambling. The stones brought in usually need to be closely examined with a flashlight. If there are green veins or spots on the surface, it indicates that there might be jade inside the stone. The piece you just picked, although large, has no surface indications; the chance of yielding jade is too slim. How about I help you pick one?”

Boss Li knew how formidable the person before him was. Now that the imperial seal had appeared, the entire nation was buzzing about it. But who would have thought that the owner of the seal was this young man right here? This person was acquainted with Yu Hongtao, clearly someone with deep connections. If he could curry favor with him, wouldn’t he soar to success immediately?

Zhang Wei smiled: ”Thank you for your kindness, Boss Li, but I’m just playing around casually. This stone caught my eye, so whether I win or lose the gamble isn’t important.”

Seeing his insistence, Boss Li said no more and turned to the shop owner beside him: ”This Boss Zhang is of noble status. It is an honor for him to take a liking to your stone. Hurry up and quote a low price.”

The shop owner busied himself saying, ”Since that is the case, then fifteen thousand will suffice. This is truly the lowest price.”

Three hundred thousand instantly dropped to fifteen thousand. Zhang Wei couldn’t help but suck in a breath. ”The waters in this antique circle are truly deep.”

After paying, the shop owner called two assistants to move the stone onto the car. Boss Li then asked, ”I wonder if Boss Zhang has a place to cut the stone? That is, to slice the raw stone open.” Seeing Zhang Wei shake his head, he smiled: ”I know a professional stone-cutting workshop here. If Boss Zhang needs it, I can introduce you.”

Zhang Wei didn’t understand this aspect well, so he thought for a moment and said, ”Alright then. I have the Museum event this afternoon, so let’s do it tonight. I’ll have to trouble Boss Li to give the workshop a heads-up. I’ll go straight there.”

”I understand, I understand. Today is the opening exhibition day for the Shenghai Museum; Boss Zhang must be attending,” Boss Li smiled. ”I will send you the address of the stone-cutting workshop shortly. See you tonight.”

The two exchanged pleasantries for a few sentences, and Zhang Wei left the Antique Market.