Seeing the White Jade exposed at the broken part, the young man furrowed his brows and picked up the shattered Jade, examining it.
“Kid, lucky you, found something good.”
Jiang Xiaobai replied, “There are two more snakeskin bags here, both filled with good stuff.
Manager, give me a price.”
The young man was just an apprentice, having learned only some basic knowledge, and didn’t dare to make a rash judgment.
He lifted the curtain and went to the back, bringing out a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man wore glasses, had a scholarly appearance, and carried a refined demeanor.
Without speaking, he picked up the shattered Jade on the counter, glanced at it, then put it down, saying, “This is indeed Jade, but sadly, it’s not high-quality.
Its transparency is quite average, just common White Jade.
Even worse, it’s shattered Jade, suitable only for making small items, thus not worth much.”
Jiang Xiaobai said, “You’re the manager, right?
Name your price.”
The middle-aged man glanced at the two snakeskin bags by Jiang Xiaobai’s feet and asked, “They’re all filled with it?”
“All of it!” Jiang Xiaobai nodded.
The middle-aged man came out from behind the counter, inspecting the pile of shattered Jade pieces Jiang Xiaobai brought.
Most were ordinary White Jade, but there were a few pieces with good water content and transparency, which could fetch a good price.
He estimated a price in his mind.
It was clear that Jiang Xiaobai wasn’t knowledgeable about Jade, so he decided to lower the price.
“Young man, if you give me this whole lot, I can offer you twenty thousand yuan.”
“Only twenty thousand!”
Though Jiang Xiaobai was delighted to hear this price, since he hadn’t spent much to purchase these stones, his business experience prompted him to feign dissatisfaction.
“Manager, don’t bully me.
The Jade yield from these pieces is high, you can see that yourself.
Offering this much is quite unfair in business!”
The manager was actually bluffed by Jiang Xiaobai’s few words, thinking he might have underestimated things, and that the kid might know a bit about Jade.
“Alright, how much do you think they’re worth?”
The manager threw the question back to Jiang Xiaobai, trying to test if he really knew what he was talking about.
“At least two hundred thousand!”
Jiang Xiaobai wasn’t easy to fool.
He didn’t know much about Jade but understood people well.
Worst case scenario, the deal wouldn’t go through since this was not the only Jade store around; he could always find another one.
The manager drew a sharp breath, saying, “Kid, you’re bold!
Look at the quality of your Jade, and you dare ask for two hundred thousand!”
“No deal, then.”
Jiang Xiaobai stuffed the shattered Jade on the counter into the snakeskin bag, picked up the bags, and prepared to leave.
But the manager called after him, “Young man, two hundred thousand is too high, fifteen thousand!”
Lucky strike, Jiang Xiaobai knew he hadn’t overestimated his asking price.
He turned and said, “Minimum of eighteen thousand, not a penny less.”
“…Fine!”
The manager sighed, “You’re really good at bargaining!
To be honest, with this inventory, I won’t make much profit.”
Jiang Xiaobai smiled, “Manager, spare me the talk.
If there’s no profit, why buy my stuff?
I’d say there’s at least a threefold profit margin.”
“You really talk big!” The manager laughed while stroking his beard, “Cash or transfer?”
“No bank card, so give me cash,” Jiang Xiaobai replied.
The manager said, “I can give you cash, but carrying so much money isn’t safe.
Once you step out of my door, I won’t be responsible for any mishaps.”
“I understand that, just hand over the money,” Jiang Xiaobai insisted.
The manager took Jiang Xiaobai to the back, retrieved the banknotes from the safe, and handed over eighteen stacks of ten thousand each.
“Count it.”
The money was fresh from the bank, seals intact, so missing any was unlikely.
Jiang Xiaobai didn’t bother to count, saying, “No need, even if a few bills are missing, I won’t come back for them.”
“Straightforward!
Come back if you have more goods.” The manager handed Jiang Xiaobai a card, “I’m Wu Guangkun.”
“Goodbye, Manager Wu.
Till we meet again.” Jiang Xiaobai left with the black plastic bag containing eighteen thousand yuan.
Wu Guangkun saw Jiang Xiaobai and his companions out, then quickly returned to the shop to unload the shattered Jade from the snakeskin bags, rummaging through the heap.
“Master, what are you looking for?” The apprentice asked, puzzled.
Wu Guangkun kept searching and finally found it.
Standing up, he pointed to the piece with a bloodline running through it, “Do you know what this is?”
The apprentice said, “Just common White Jade, you mentioned it earlier.”
“Yes!
Except for this piece, the rest are common White Jade.
This one, however, is an extremely rare Chicken Blood Stone, very valuable,” Wu Guangkun explained.
The apprentice frowned, “But Master, Chicken Blood Stones don’t look like this; this one only has a single bloodline.”
Wu Guangkun smiled, “This is the test of sharp eyesight.
I’ll tell you, cutting this Jade another centimeter in, you’d see it’s a Chicken Blood Stone.
I wouldn’t have spent eighteen thousand on the whole lot otherwise, would I?”
…
Jiang Xiaobai and his companions left the antique market, and Qin Xianglian’s heart was still on edge.
“Xiaobai, carrying so much cash is too risky.
We should hurry to find a bank and deposit it.”
Jiang Xiaobai responded, “Auntie, it’s almost five o’clock; the bank’s closed.”
“Mom, look!” The Moron suddenly shouted.
Jiang Xiaobai and Qin Xianglian followed his gaze to see a thick dark cloud swiftly approaching.
Soon, the sky was filled with thunder and lightning, and a strong wind whipped up dust and sand on the streets.
“Looks like there’s going to be a storm!”
Qin Xianglian urged, “Xiaobai, let’s hurry to the station and catch a bus home.”
Jiang Xiaobai said, “No way, Auntie, we can’t take the tricycle.”
“What should we do?” Qin Xianglian asked anxiously.
As they spoke, raindrops began to fall, at first sparse but soon turning into a torrential downpour.
Jiang Xiaobai raced through the pouring rain, pushing the tricycle, while Qin Xianglian cradled the black plastic bag with eighteen thousand yuan in her arms and pulled the Moron along.
The sky darkened instantly, turning from day to night in the blink of an eye.
“Let’s find shelter from the rain up ahead.”
Jiang Xiaobai shouted back while running, pushing the tricycle forward.
Looking for shelter, he realized they had arrived under the corridor of a hotel.