Volume 1 Rebirth - The Eve of High School Chapter 18 Ma Yuxi

  In 1997, Ma Yuxi was thirty-four years old. He was a peasant by birth and went out to work in the eighties. Later, he followed others into the jewelry business. In the nineties, he came into contact with jade gambling in Myanmar, from which he could not extricate himself.

  Gambling stone, as the name suggests, is a gamble on stones, but these are not ordinary stones, but rather raw jadeite with the reputation of 'king of jade'. There are two types of raw jadeite, divided into mountain material and child material. Mountain material is directly mined from jadeite mines, without outer skin, irregular shape, many edges and cracks, coarse and loose structure, poor quality.

  The pebbles are jade extracted from the river bed, which is formed by weathering and fragmentation of jade rocks rolling down the slope, carried into the mountain gorge or small river by flood or river water, wrapped in a outer skin, roughly round or oval gravel. The pebbles come in all sizes, with large ones weighing several thousand tons, even tens of thousands of tons, and small ones as small as thumbs.

  Because the surface of the jade material is covered with a layer of weathered skin, it is impossible to see the internal situation, so people rely on their own experience to judge whether the jade material has formed jade or not, and the pros and cons of the jade. This makes it difficult for people to distinguish the quality of jade materials in the transaction of jade raw materials. Such transactions are similar to gambling. Therefore, people call the jade raw material with skin "gambling stone", "gambling material" or "hairy stone", "hairy material". Gambling stone is also a business behavior, but this is a mysterious existence in the jewelry industry, and those who want to participate need to have familiar relationships and channels.

  Gambling on stones is called gambling because even experienced and skilled practitioners can't have complete control. Some people buy a stone that makes them rich overnight, while others spend a lot of money to buy a stone, only to find it's all white and worthless after cutting it open, leading to financial ruin! It's often said that 'ten gambles, nine losses' is a real test of one's mental quality. If the cut reveals green, it's called 'gambling up', but if the cut reveals all white stone, it's called 'gambling down'.

  High-quality jadeite is extremely rare, with Myanmar producing only about 300-600 tons of jadeite per year, of which high-quality jadeite accounts for only 2-5% of the total output. The Burmese government also holds an annual Jade Auction, inviting heavyweight jewelers to participate. In 1991, the price of top-grade imperial green jadeite had already reached $2,000 per carat! Even a ordinary 7-8 carat jade ring face would cost tens of thousands of dollars, or hundreds of thousands of RMB.

  So, even if it's a gamble with a high probability of loss, there are still countless people who have been doing this for generations. If they're lucky, they can excavate jadeite rough stones worth tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions of yuan!

  Ma Yuxi is one of the countless jade gamblers, but fortunately, he once cut open a very rare glass-containing green jadeite and sold it for 30 million yuan. The value of glass-containing jade with color is higher than that without color, while the glass-containing full-green jadeite is a top-grade jadeite and extremely rare. A pair of glass-containing jadeite bracelets with green color can reach hundreds of thousands of yuan.

  So, Ma Yuxi became rich and famous in the jade stone industry after years of hard work. He was known for being a man of his word and had a good reputation among his peers. However, his luck didn't last long. In 1995, he went to Myanmar with friends to attend an urban meeting and bought a high-quality jade rough stone worth over 40 million at an auction. After cutting it open, the stone indeed turned out to be green, but unfortunately, it was a "dead" jade. The term "dead jade" refers to a type of jade that looks dull and lifeless, lacks luster, is not transparent, and has a coarse texture, making it worthless for collection purposes. As a result, Ma Yuxi lost everything he had invested and was left with nothing but disappointment. After that, he suffered a series of small losses in his gambling endeavors and eventually lost all hope in the jade stone business. He returned to Yang City with his wife and opened a small jewelry store on Pan Mountain Road, occasionally visiting others who were cutting stones and buying jade at a low price if it was available. Of course, he didn't have much capital, but he still loved these things.

  However, apart from a few large markets in the south, cities like Yangshi in the north rarely have jade gambling. Even if they do, it's usually on the outskirts or in remote areas, as jade gambling is a completely different world and circle! Moreover, there aren't many good quality jades, mostly small stones, and the jadeite that opens up is mostly ordinary goods.

  Although gambling on jade is not illegal and is a form of risk investment, most people have never heard of it in their lifetime.

  After finishing her morning run, Ziying greeted Song Xueyi, who had risen early to borrow a guitar from Ziying, and then drove down the mountain for a stroll. Since learning that Ziying was proficient in playing the guitar, Song Xueyi admired her greatly and her attitude towards her had undergone a significant change.

  Found a small restaurant, parked the car nearby and walked in on foot. It was still early at this time, and there were hardly any people inside, which suited her just fine to calm down. She ordered a bowl of mixed noodles, she needed to sort out her thoughts properly.

  While eating breakfast, two people walked in from outside, a man and a woman. Zi Qing didn't pay much attention and continued to eat with her head down.

  Just as they were about to finish eating, the couple who had just entered suddenly started quarreling loudly, and then smashed two bowls and plates. The woman stormed out of the door, while the man continued drinking beer in big gulps.

  Seeing Ziying's confusion, the shop owner's wife came to her side and sighed, "This man, when he was doing well, everything was fine. But once he fell on hard times, even his own wife would scold him loudly!"

  "Uh-huh?" she replied absent-mindedly.

  "Ah! That man is Ma Yu Xi, back in the day, countless people envied him here! Big boss! I heard he made his fortune from gambling on stones, with assets of several hundred million! Later, he even gambled away all his family's wealth. I told my husband, this thing called gambling is really not to be trifled with! Now Ma Yu Xi is what? Even living day by day is a struggle! His wife quarrels with him every day." The boss's wife started bragging, pretending to understand.

  Upon hearing this, Zi Qing showed some interest "Gambling on stones? What does that mean? How do you gamble?" Ever since she had gained her special abilities, Zi Qing was somewhat sensitive to the word 'gamble', so upon hearing about gambling on stones, she became slightly interested.

  The boss's wife gave a "you don't understand, I do" look and said with a smile, "I heard it can open jadeite. It seems that there is a kind of stone that has jadeite in it. Ma Yuji was able to cut out a piece of jadeite and make a fortune! Later, he lost everything again. He opened a small jewelry store across the street. Can ordinary people afford to gamble like that?" She sighed again, "We are from the same village. At that time, wherever he went, wasn't it all prosperous? Now who isn't laughing at him behind his back..."

  Finally, when the boss's wife stopped talking, Zi Qing ignored her surprised gaze and walked straight to sit down in front of Ma Yuxi.