Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Li Du said that he would get someone to deal with him, it was naturally a lie. He planned to be the one to deal with Xie Lao Hou himself.
The public auction would go on for ten days. By the last day of the auction, there were few people left. Most of the people had already submitted their bidding slips and were leaving it up to luck.
They could do what they needed to do, but the success and failure were out of their control. They had submitted their bids and whether they would be able to win or not would depend on whether fate ruled in their favor.
Li Du’s mantra was ‘my life belongs to me and is not up to luck’. With the enthusiasm of a young man, he made his moves in the main auction hall, throwing in his bidding slips one after another.
As he was able to see the numbers of the bidding slips in the box, he was able to cheat. Hence, he would bid a few tens of thousands higher than the highest bid submitted. He was able to fork out a little extra to gain much more.
Out of the hundreds of thousands of jade stones, Li Du was interested in about fifty. He, therefore, placed a bid on those, and once the bid went through, they would go to him.
Zhong Da Pao’s gains would come from the result of Da Mao and his agreement. Of course, his profits would not be shabby but would also not be as high as Li Du’s.
Based on his estimation, those fifty-odd pieces of stones would be able to bring him close to 500 million RMB in profits!
This trip to Myanmar brought him wealth that he had never had before. Even the diamond mine at Amengda was incapable of giving him such huge profits!
At the same time, he destroyed a few of the bidding slips. The owner of those slips was, of course, Xie Lao Hou. Xie Lao Hou had also submitted quite a number of bids. As he had stone gambling experts by his side and was a stone gambler himself, the stones he was bidding on were pretty decent too.
Li Du used the little bug to destroy the bidding slip with Xie Lao Hou’s highest bid. He wanted Xie Lao Hou to fail to win any stones. As for those bidding slips that did not have the highest numbers, he did not tamper with them.
The capability of the little bug was becoming stronger and stronger. It was able to absorb the time capability of the objects much more speedily and cause greater destruction. For objects like a piece of paper, it was able to turn it into scraps in just a few seconds.
These paper scraps would soon oxidize and decay, eventually becoming ash, disappearing without a trace.
When the bidding was over, it was time to wait for the association to inform them of the results during the next two days. Then, the winning bidder would go and sign a ‘winning bid agreement’ with the auction association.
Zhong Da Pao told Li Du that typically in the past, the stones that people had won would be given to them in 90 days. This year, the lead time had been shortened to 60 days. That meant that the association would be leaving less time for the winning bidders to pay up.
The process of retrieving the jade stones worked in this manner: If the winning bidder had the financial ability to pay up the full amount, he would be able to get customs clearance, complete the transfer formalities, and have the sales and certifications handled by the public organizing committee on the spot.
However, if the winning bidder were unable to pay the full amount on that day, they would have to sign a ‘winning bid agreement’. In 60 days, the bidding would have to complete the transfer to a bank account designated by the association. The Myanmar Raw Jade management group would handle customs clearance and transportation for free.
However, if the bill was not paid up in 60 days, the bid would be rendered invalid and the stone would be withdrawn. It would be kept and put up for bidding again in the next public auction or sold in the private markets.
Without surprise, Li Du won all the stones he had bid for. The total amount was 1.2 billion RMB.
On average, every stone that he bought was worth slightly more than two million RMB. He did not have a choice. The starting bids of the stones were high and there were many competitors. Hence, the final price would definitely be inflated.
His profit did not go up to 500 percent. For a public auction, that was not too much. Every time, there would be people who made profits of one thousand or two thousand percent. For example, if they spent four to five million to buy a stone, and if the stone produced icy glass jade, the price could quickly go up above four, five, or even ten million.
However, in terms of profitability, it was still the best. In the entire history of auctions, one would seldom be able to make four or five billion RMB at a time. That was sensational.
Li Du did not have any intentions to become high profile. Those who became ripe first also turned rotten first. The bird that flew off first would be killed by the hunter first. The fattest pig would be slaughtered first. The best wood would be chopped first. There were so many olden day sayings that warned people about the repercussions of becoming high profile.
After paying up, he immediately opted for express delivery to send the stones to America.
That jade would be able to support Harry Winston’s development of a new jewel branch. He could lie down comfortably while watching the profits multiply!
Although the diamonds, opal, and jade were sufficient for him to start a new luxury company, he did not wish to do that.
That was because, if he were to start a new company, he would be busy managing it. Although he could hire professional managers to handle the work in the company, as a boss, he would still have a lot to be busy with and many engagements to go for.
If he went with that, he would be under the spotlight. He did not wish for that to happen and he did not wish to be so busy and tired either.
All the diamonds, opal, jade, and the antiques that he had collected previously added up to more than a few billion.
If he added in the new jade mine that was hidden in the Dena Mountain, the value would be even higher. The hidden jade could be worth another billion!
To him, money was just a number now.
Besides, if he really needed money, he could just have another go in the jade market of Myanmar. However, he felt that for the next two years, he would not go to Hpakant any more. If he visited Myanmar, he would be going to Wooku Town.
The jade market in Hpakant would suffer a hit this time around. For the next two years, the amount of high-quality jade produced would be a lot less.
When the public auction ended, all the good stones from the different fields were brought out. The most important thing was, Li Du had fulfilled his mission in Myanmar and it was time to return to America.
Da Mao had to stay behind, as he needed to investigate the case of his father and uncle. At the same time, he needed to assist Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi in stone gambling.
Before he left, Li Du said, “As agreed before, Master Pao and Master Liu, the first point is that Da Mao will have the final say in stone gambling. He is an expert through and through. You both just have to listen to him.”
“Second, in the next six months, do not strike. Spend that time on investigating the case. If you need my help, tell me and I will do my best.”
“Third, work in a low-profile manner. Develop the Chinese village and investigate the case. Don’t provoke anyone and try to stay as much as possible in the Chinese village, okay?”
Zhong Da Pao patted his chest and said, “Master Li, rest assured, I agree to all of that! However, are you going to leave just like this? There are still plenty of good stones in the various fields.”