Chapter 94: Jade Carving Competition

  The next morning, Zhang Wei and Wang Haomin, as well as Gu Lao, rushed to attend the meeting, while Sima Lin took Li Yang and other association members on a leisurely stroll. Sima Lin rarely participates in such boring meetings, and by taking Li Yang along, they can also avoid this dull conference.

  Although bureaucracy is not good, it gave Li Yang and others who participated in this gathering for the first time a resting and adapting time. In just one day, Li Yang and others were already familiar with several places of this event. Li Yang and others admired the jade culture that has been passed down in Nanyang for thousands of years.

  After a good night's sleep, everyone in the Mingyang Jade Stone Association got up early the next morning to prepare for the jade carving competition.

  The Nanyang Jade Carving Competition venue was set up at the Nanyang Liberation Square. When Li Yang and his friends arrived, the square had already become a sea of people. After exerting great effort and showing their Jade Stone Association membership certificates, they finally managed to squeeze in. As the opening act of this gathering, all members of the Jade Stone Association were allowed to enter the innermost area.

  "Look, this is one of the four major events in our jade world - Nanyang Ji Shi. This is just the beginning, and later on, there will be even more people. Last year, according to incomplete statistics, during the Nanyang Ji Shi period, over 40,000 jade enthusiasts and merchants from all over the country gathered in Nanyang. This year, it's likely that there will be even more."

  After squeezing inside, Zheng Kai Da couldn't help but sigh, this year's feeling is that there are more people than last year.

  "Brother Zheng, what are the Four Great Events? And what's with Nanyang Market Gathering?"

  Wu Xiaoli suddenly asked a question, and Li Yang also looked at Zheng Kaida curiously. The term "Four Great Events of the Jade Stone Boundary" was something Li Yang had never heard before.

  "The four major events are self-sealed by our domestic jade industry peers, namely Nanyang Gathering Market, Pingzhou Public Disk, Hetian Opening Market, and Ruili Gambling Disk. Because Nanyang is the market triggered by the gathering place, it is called Nanyang Gathering Market."

  Zheng Kaida slowly explained, Li Yang and Wu Xiaoli nodded continuously. Wu Xiaoli was not very interested in gambling stones and didn't understand the four major events of the jade world, which is normal. These four major events are all related to stone gambling, among which Pingzhou Public Disk and Ruili Gambling Disk are all activities related to stone gambling.

  It's the He Tian opening market activity represented by Ruyan, also has a shadow of gambling on stones. As for the Nanyang gathering market they are participating in, the last week is all about gambling on stones, which shows how great the influence of gambling on stones is in the jade industry.

  Zheng Kaida introduced Li Yang, the host began to explain the purpose of this event. On the rostrum sat several elderly people who were leaders of Nanyang Jade Association and Henan Jade Association. It was said that the headquarters of Jade Association also sent representatives to attend this grand event.

  The host's introduction ended quickly, and fifty carvers of different ages immediately brought their own tools to the center of the square. They will complete their most satisfying work under the gaze of everyone in two hours, then sell it at cost price, and then evaluate it in the afternoon to determine the Jade Carving King this time.

  As the president of the Provincial Jade Association announced the start of the competition, fifty skilled craftsmen immediately waved their small knives and continuously carved out everything they had previously imagined on the jade, and the surrounding crowd also became more lively with the start of the competition, with many people even bringing binoculars to take a closer look.

  "Li Yang, we just received the notice. This time Mingyang has two bidding indicators, these two indicators are for you and Old Gu to go, Li Yang, it's up to your luck now."

  Zhang Wei rushed over, Li Yang was slightly stunned, buying this jade carving still needs indicators, this statement he heard for the first time.

  "I believe in Brother Li's luck"

  Simar Lin smiled faintly, Zhang Wei slowly let out a breath. The two indicators were not easy to divide, and he thought for a long time before dividing them between Li Yang and Gu Lao, an old man from the Jade Stone Association. Giving one indicator to Gu Lao would not raise any objections, but giving it to Li Yang might lead others to have ideas. However, as long as Simar Lin's opinion was not strongly opposed, Zhang Wei had ways to resolve any issues that arose.

  Li Yang also understood what was going on with this indicator. When he arrived two days ago, Zheng Kai Da had told him that to buy the best jade carving in the Jade Carving activity required luck. There were only fifty jade carvings available on site, and being able to obtain a purchase qualification was already a kind of luck.

  "Alright, Li brother, you must take a good look, and act quickly later. Find the best one and buy it immediately. This time, whether Mingyang can get the first prize depends on you."

  Zhang Wei turned back and said another sentence to Li Yang. To be honest, he didn't think much of Li Yang's eyesight, but this time the most important thing wasn't eyesight, it was luck. If Li Yang's luck wasn't good either, then there really was no way.

  This time's competition, the carvers are all top-notch, carefully selected from among the best. It's hard to tell who's better until the very last moment, and even then, you have to compare repeatedly to know which one is the best. If a carving is good, go buy it, luck really plays a big part.

  Li Yang nodded and said: "Okay, I understand. Don't worry, Mr. Zhang, I will do my best to select the best one and get it out as soon as possible."

  Zhang Wei left in a hurry again. On the side of Gu Lao, it didn't need him to make too many arrangements. With Gu Lao's keen eyesight, he might not be able to tell which carvings were the best, but he could still tell which ones were better or worse than others. Even if he couldn't get the best one, he wouldn't end up with the worst one either, so it was a safe bet.

  Not long after Zhang Wei left, some people started to enter the square from outside the cordon, but they did not go into the venue of the carving competition. Instead, they stopped at the cordon near the venue and carefully observed what each carver was doing with their hands.

  "Li Yang, you go in too. They are all people who have obtained the bidding indicator, it's convenient for them to observe at close range and bid later."

  Simmer Lin smiled and said to Li Yang, Li Yang was slightly stunned, immediately smiled and nodded, took the certificate given by Zhang Wei and ran in through security. Just after Li Yang entered, two more people chased after him, Wu Xiaoli and Liu Gang had also sneaked in.

  "How did you all come here?"

  Li Yang was somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry, he had come to bid on jade carvings, not run in here to play.

  "Follow me and take a look, don't worry, we absolutely won't cause you any trouble," Liu Gang replied with a smile, Wu Xiaoli hastily nodded vigorously.

  "Alright, just follow us as long as no one chases you away." Li Yang sighed and shook his head, these two people are now like annoying followers who go wherever they go.

  The nearest carving master is only more than three meters away from the place where you can observe at close range. If you turn around, the farthest carving master is no more than seven or eight meters away, and you can see clearly their progress and appearance.

  Experienced people all know that when the auction starts, there will be a scramble. The one you are looking at may also be looked at by others. At this time, it depends on who acts fast. Buying early not only brings honor to oneself but also allows oneself to make a small profit. Over the years, the best jade carvings have been appraised and resold for more than ten times their value.

  He was so close that Li Yang was slightly dazed, this was already the range that his special ability could cover, and using a 3D graphical interface to observe was more intuitive than looking with the naked eye.

  With this convenient condition, Li Yang didn't stand on ceremony and directly activated his special ability. In front of him, the eight master craftsmen were immediately enveloped in a holographic screen, filtering out everything else, leaving only the eight constantly changing jade carving half-products.

  This stark contrast immediately allowed Li Yang to distinguish between good and bad, and some small mistakes and minor flaws that could not be observed by the naked eye in certain carvings were also exposed without a doubt under Li Yang's stereoscopic vision.

  Li Yang was stunned again, and even he himself did not expect that his special ability could bring him such an intuitive feeling. Suddenly, Li Yang distinguished which one of the eight jade carvings was the best and which one was the worst.

  Li Yang turned his head to look at the others, who were still struggling to observe one by one. Li Yang quietly circled around the competition venue, Wu Xiaoli closely followed behind Li Yang, and Liu Gang was a little farther away, but the three of them always acted as a whole.

  In less than ten minutes, Li Yang had observed all fifty jade carvings. He already had a plan in mind and would observe them again when the competition was about to end, at which point he should have a result.

  What Li Yang didn't know was that among the crowd on the periphery, in the position where the representative of the Zhengzhou Jade Association was standing, there was a young man staring at him and Wu Xiaoli with venomous eyes. If Li Yang had seen this young man, he would have definitely recognized Shen Hao, with whom he had had dealings twice before.

  "How's it? Can you tell which one is better?"

  Wu Xiaoli pulled Li Yang's arm and asked somewhat urgently, Wu Xiaoli was also a person in the jewelry industry, but seeing that these semi-finished jade carvings were almost the same, she didn't know how to distinguish which one was the best.

  Li Yang nodded slightly: "Got some confidence now"

  Actually, Li Yang had already set his sights on three targets in his heart. Currently, these three are slightly better than the others. He would observe them one more time when it's almost over and then go for the best one.

  Time passed slowly, and the jade stones in the hands of each master craftsman began to turn into all sorts of vivid little things. Due to time constraints, the carving competition was limited to smaller items, including animals, Buddha statues, and human figure carvings.

  There were only ten minutes left, and Li Yang made another round of observation around the circle. At this time, there were more people moving around in the surrounding area. By the time Li Yang finished this round, several master carvers had already put down their carving knives and stretched their waists with a smile.

  "It's this one"

  In the last minute before the end, Li Yang chose the best one through intuitive comparison and moved his body to the position closest to this craftsman. In this position, Li Yang found that there were two more people staring straight at the person he had chosen, wondering if they really had good eyesight or just good luck.

  The game time ended, the host had just announced, and before he could say another word, Li Yang was the first to rush out, then everyone in the entire square looked at Li Yang rushing into the sculpture competition venue.

  ……………………………

  On the first day of listing, thank you for the rewards of 100 coins from three friends: Wú Fēi Lín, Shū Yǒu 110301185934963 and Luò Yàn Xián Jū.