Chapter 57: The Layout (2)

  Compared to the monotonous color of white jade, the colors of emeralds are undoubtedly more dazzling and eye-catching. Although they have only appeared in the gemstone market for a few years, they have already become very popular among young girls.

  High-quality top-grade jadeite is also very marketable in some business circles.

  Ever since Nie Tianbao wore a bright green jade ring on his hand when attending a business event, wearing a jade ring has become a symbol of identity.

  Those rich ladies also highly praise the top-quality jade, and Nie Tianbao's trip to Myanmar this time is to buy some good jade rough stones to meet the demand of the high-end jade market in Shicheng and surrounding cities.

  "By the way, boss, how's the rough stone we imported from Myanmar this time? I heard that Ge Laoban also imported a batch of goods, and our remaining finished products are not many."

  The topic shifted away from Nie Yuandong, and Zhao Zhanggui's expression became much more natural. After all, he didn't want to get involved in the boss's family affairs either. This Nie Tianbao was not always a reasonable person sometimes.

  "Hey, Old Zhao, if you don't go out, you really won't know how big the world is..."

  When Zhao Zhanggui mentioned the matter of Myanmar, Nie Tianbao's spirit was lifted, and he opened his mouth to say: "This time in Myanmar, I met a Burmese jade king, with an original stone weighing 30 kilograms. Old Zhao, guess how much money it was finally auctioned off for?"

  "Thirty kilograms isn't a big deal, right? After removing the stone skin, even if the jade meat inside is good, it's only worth a few million, right?" Zhao Zhuangju hesitated for a moment, stretched out his palm, and tentatively said: "Five million?"

  "Five million? Multiply it by six and it's still not enough!"

  Nie Tianbao sighed, "I thought my business was already quite large, but compared to those Hong Kong people, I'm really just a poor little kid entering the city... I've never seen such a thing before. I also bid on that piece of stone, but the price I offered wasn't even enough to cover the auction fee!"

  Nie Tianbao's trip to Myanmar was indeed a significant blow, as the wealth he had accumulated over the past decade or so was almost worth hundreds of millions, making him one of the top two richest men in Shicheng.

  Of course, most of Nie Tianbao's assets were investments and fixed funds. This time, when he went to Myanmar, he only brought more than 60 million yuan in US dollars, which should be enough to buy some good rough stones according to the jade market situation he knew.

  However, Nie Tianbao did not expect that due to the recent turmoil in Myanmar, the price of jade rough stones suddenly rose a lot, and it was still in short supply, and most of the rough stones in the hands of individual traders were swept away by powerful businessmen.

  Helpless, Nie Tianbao had to participate in Myanmar's unique Jade Auction, which was a huge blow to him because the $6 million funds couldn't even stir up any ripples.

  Nie Tianbao had bid on twelve pieces of material, but none of them were successful. In desperation, he could only buy some jade that others had speculated on at a high price, and fortunately did not return empty-handed.

  "Xiao Zhou, you go and take a look at the entrance first."

  After hearing Nie Tianbao's words, Zhao Zhuangui hesitated for a moment, drove the shop assistants out, and said: "Boss, Mrs. Li of the Tianye Group wanted to order a set of high-quality jade jewelry recently. What do you think we should do? Or... let's push it off?"

  Zhao Zhuanggui originally waited for Nie Tianbao to bring in good rough stones from Myanmar, and after processing them into finished products, he would sell them to Li Laoban. However, looking at the current situation, those rough stones are apparently not quite satisfactory.

  "No way, can't push it away!"

  Nie Tianbao shook his head, his face gloomy, and said: "Old Zhao, you've been in this line longer than me, you should understand. If we don't have the goods that others do, then we'll be at a disadvantage in competing for customers later on. I don't want to be suppressed by Old Ge."

  "Boss, what can we do? We really don't have any goods on hand, can't keep dragging Li boss along?"

  Boss Zhao's face showed a difficult expression, he had been in the jade business for a long time, but it was hard to make bricks without straw, and he couldn't conjure up a set of top-quality jade out of thin air either.

  Nie Tianbao gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I'll go to the capital tomorrow and see if I can buy a set of finished products from someone else. This business may be done at a loss, but it can't ruin our reputation!"

  Tian Hong Group is the largest private enterprise in Shicheng, and its boss Li Gongliang has a very deep background. It is rumored that he has a strong backing in both the province and Beijing. Although Nie Tianbao is also a well-known figure in Shicheng, compared to him, he still pales by three points.

  Nie Tianbao would rather lose money than let Li Gongliang buy jade from Qi Shi Zhai, as it relates to the credibility and face of Yu Shi Zhai. He cannot afford to lose this person in the stone market business community, and it also affects the future share of Yu Shi Zhai in the Yunnan jade market.

  Zhao nodded and said, "That's all we can do, Old Ge has a lot of connections in the trade, maybe he really can bring out some good stuff."

  "Damn it, this jade is different from Hetian jade, only that Burmese place produces it... Ah, Old Zhao, do you have anything else..."

  Nie Tianbao cursed angrily, although he didn't finish his sentence, but Zhao Zhuang's face revealed a knowing expression, he knew what the boss was thinking.

  Hebei jade is valued for its white color, but not all white jades are Hebei jades. For example, Qinghai jade and Russian jade also have high-quality white jade, but the price will be much lower than that of Hebei jade.

  So in the jade industry, using Qinghai jade or Russian jade to counterfeit Hetian jade is a common occurrence, and it has almost become an unwritten rule within the industry.

  Just like the Hetian jade pendant in the glass cabinet of "Yu Shi Zhai" by Nie Tianbao, more than half of them are made of cheap Russian jade and passed off as good ones.

  But what gave Nie Tian a headache was that jadeite was only produced in Myanmar, and there were almost no alternative gemstones. Domestic jade merchants had little contact with it, and in the stone market, Nie Tian was one of the earliest batch of people.

  What's more important is that Nie Tianbao had only heard that raw jadeite could be tampered with on the surface, but he hadn't heard of any way to fake the jade inside.

  "Boss, I've been in contact with soft jade before, and I don't know much about jadeite either. This is really hard to say."

  Zhao shook his head, he's only in his fifties this year, and since he started playing with jade, it's been Hetian jade all along. He only recently began paying attention to emeralds, and Nie Tianbao is also at a similar level.

  "Hey, I'm telling you two little rascals, don't you want to live?"

  Just as Nie Tianbao was talking to Zhao Zhuang, a loud "bang" suddenly came from outside, followed by the shouts of the shop assistants.

  Nie Tianbao was taken aback, turned his head to look outside the open gate, but only saw two young men, one fat and one strong, running desperately forward, almost in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the crowded streets.

  "Zhou Bing, what's going on? Who is this?" Nie Tianbao walked to the door and only then discovered a young man covering his face and lying on the ground at the entrance, furrowing his brow involuntarily.

  "Nie Shu, this kid's wallet was stolen. The thief had already been caught, but it turned out there was an accomplice. He punched the kid and when those two ran away just now, they bumped into your car."

  The fellow named Zhou Bing, upon hearing Nie Yuandong's question, revealed a smile of schadenfreude on his face. In fact, earlier when this person was looking at things outside the store, Zhou Bing had already discovered that he was being targeted by a pickpocket.

  To be honest, that little thief's skills are not great. The wallet was already almost out, but his hand shook and it nearly fell to the ground. If that hadn't happened, the kid wouldn't have noticed.

  Zhou Bing is a distant relative of Nie Tianbao's family, this kid also has a belly full of bad water, just watching the excitement, earlier when that young man was beaten, he almost shouted out in delight.

  If it weren't for that last sturdy little thief running away and crashing into the car, Zhou Bing wouldn't have even bothered to say a word, such things were not uncommon on Antique Street.

  "Didn't the car get damaged? If it's fine, let him go, isn't blocking here delaying business?"

  Nie Tianbao furrowed his brow, but didn't think much of it. This antique street was filled with tourists from all over the place, and it was a mix of good and bad people. Almost every day, someone would lose their wallet. As long as it wasn't stolen in his shop, Nie Tianbao wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.

  When the boss finished speaking, Zhou Bing walked down the steps and kicked the young man covering his eyes with one foot, saying: "Hey, kid, are you okay? If nothing's wrong, hurry up and get out of here, don't just stand there like a pillar!"

  "What the f***, how dare you kick your own grandfather?"

  What Zhou Bing didn't expect was that the young man who had just been punched in the face suddenly flew into a rage, raised his right hand and slapped Zhou Bing's face with a loud "slap".

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