I felt a prickling pain in my arm, a sensation I remembered from childhood when I had a high fever and was given an IV drip, with the needle inserted into my wrist just like this. Just then, a grizzled old Burmese man entered from outside. He greeted Qing Ge from afar, as if they hadn't seen each other in ages.
Qing Ge beckoned him over and introduced Leopard Ge to him.
Qing Ge said, "This is Mr. Teng Ji, my old friend. He owns five or six mines in Damakan and provided quite a few rough stones for this jade exhibition."
Leopard Ge stood up. Qing Ge continued, "This is my brother from inland, Ah Bao. He's a powerful figure in Ruili. You two should stay in touch, exchange ideas, and collaborate. That way, I, an old man, can bask in your reflected glory."
Teng Ji didn't speak much Chinese, but he understood. He nodded repeatedly, and then they shook hands, performing a Burmese greeting to signify their acquaintance.
I wondered about Qing Ge's motives for introducing this bearded man to Leopard Ge. Did Leopard Ge want to get into the jade business? Or did Qing Ge have other plans?
Teng Ji spoke a few sentences in Burmese, and Qing Ge translated, "Teng Ji wants you to inspect his mines. As long as the rough stones are under 100 kilograms, he can personally clear them through customs without any government reporting."
Leopard Ge nodded and told Qing Ge, "We'll decide after the exhibition concludes."
So, Leopard Ge was indeed interested in the rough stone business. This meant Qing Ge was certainly not just a simple intermediary; there had to be some kind of transaction involved.
If that was the case, then the giant stone became much simpler. At least subjectively, Qing Ge wouldn't try to manipulate this particular stone. Whether it contained anything valuable would solely depend on luck.
Just then, a bell chimed from outside. Qing Ge gestured for everyone to head out. The exhibition had begun.
On a temporary stage stood an official-looking person, speaking entirely in Burmese, with no translator. Everyone looked bewildered.
Although this was an internal exhibition and most guests were from inland, they should have considered the guests' feelings.
Fortunately, most of the service staff communicated in Chinese, which made things much easier.
After the man finished speaking, another bell rang, signifying the official opening. People could now start bidding on the stones.
Leopard Ge was there for the giant stone and wasn't interested in other roughs. I told Leopard Ge that the moment for the giant stone hadn't arrived yet and that I'd go take a look at other stones first.
I remembered my master saying that public exhibitions were the true showcases for rough stones. One could find truly exceptional pieces, but if one misjudged, they could also be ruined.
In other words, apart from the fully revealed stones, it was a game of skill and luck with the rough, unpolished ones.
I didn't linger among the revealed stones. Those were almost all top-quality pieces with prices at the ceiling. Unless one was involved in the finished product business, gamblers of rough stones wouldn't stop there.
I headed straight to the area for unpolished rough stones.
There were many unpolished rough stones from various mining areas. Their outer skins were brushed clean and sorted into piles based on weight.
When I arrived, I had the card I got from Jing Lei. If I found anything suitable, I would try my luck at the exhibition.
I bypassed the black-skin roughs and went directly to the Damakan rough stone section.
The Damakan mining area is located downstream of the Wulu River, west of the old mining area, bordering the old Hpakant mining area, about 30 kilometers from Hpakant. Centered around Damakan, the jadeite deposits are collectively called Damakan gambling stones. The jadeite deposits are mostly alluvial. In the early days, mining focused on the topsoil sands along the riverbanks. The jadeite deposits here did not experience significant water erosion or long-distance transport, so the rounding was not pronounced. They are semi-weathered, semi-transported, semi-mountain, semi-water alluvial jadeite. The lower mineral layers are very hard, cemented mainly by calcium carbonate and clay. Mining becomes more difficult as one goes deeper. Damakan mining is not that ancient. Famous mining sites represented by the Damakan area include Damakan, Quebing, Da Sanka, Yingge Die, Huang Ba, and nearly 20 other sites.
The highest quality from Damakan are the semi-mountain, semi-water stones. The rough stone skins are generally thin, and the individual jadeite pieces are smaller, usually not exceeding five kilograms. These rough stones are gambled on for their "mist," which comes in various colors: red, yellow, black, and white. Generally, ten mist stones have nine with water.
Qing Ge mentioned earlier that Teng Ji's mine was in Damakan. It's likely these stones came from his mine. The Damakan stones were displayed in three areas: mountain stones, semi-mountain/semi-water stones, and water stones.
Mountain stones are on the surface of the deposits. They are much larger than semi-mountain/semi-water stones, with distinct sharp edges and various shapes, like a pile of rubble used for building foundations.
I walked over to a pile of semi-mountain/semi-water stones and squatted down to look for a piece I liked.
Damakan has been mined for many years, and the pit depth has reached twenty to thirty meters. From the original surface to the current fifth or sixth layer, semi-mountain/semi-water stones have become very scarce, with most being water stones.
These are likely old stock.
Semi-mountain/semi-water stones have experienced riverbed transport, so their edges are somewhat blurred, but they are not as round as water stones, making them relatively easy to distinguish.
I picked out a piece weighing around five kilograms. It had a yellowish-brown skin that felt very dense. When lit, it didn't seem very transparent, suggesting it might have a dark mist that absorbed the light.
This stone was about half the size of my palm, ten centimeters thick, and flat, like a flattened cornmeal flatbread from the north.
If this rough stone had good flesh, a fine texture, and sufficient water, it could be used to make bracelets, pendants, and charms.
I touched the surface. The grain wasn't very rough, like fine sandpaper. I didn't see any veins or cracks, and the color was uniform, like a very large mango that had been flattened.
I glanced at the lot number and the reserve price, 03236, with a starting bid of one thousand US dollars.
This starting price wasn't low. The final price would also incur a 40% tax, so the tax needed to be factored into the bid.
I wrote down a bid of one thousand eight hundred and placed the sealed bid into the bid box.
There were thousands upon thousands of unpolished stones here. As long as no one maliciously bid against you, you could usually win the bid at your offered price.
The bid boxes were opened once every hour. One person would read out the bids, and another would record them, similar to a village vote. The highest bidder would win.
The revealed stones were opened only once a day, in the afternoon.
After waiting for a while, I heard the bell and guessed that the unpolished stones' bids were about to be opened. I walked over to the stage to wait for the staff to read out the bids.
Since the exhibition had just started, there weren't many bidders. After calling out a few, it was my turn. My bid was the final one, and no one else bid higher.
I went to the cashier to pay with my card, and the staff helped me with the international currency exchange.
One thousand eight hundred plus seven hundred and twenty in tax came to two thousand five hundred and twenty US dollars, about twenty thousand Chinese Yuan.
The staff returned my card shortly. I took the receipt and went to collect my lot.
On the other side of the stage were rows of cutting machines, ready to cut stones for customers.
I took my stone over and handed it to a young craftsman, asking him to make one cut at the top.
The craftsman secured the stone and made a cut about a centimeter deep at the narrower end.
After cutting the stone, the craftsman handed it back to me. The cut surface was very smooth and even. I couldn't see the texture or water content; it was a layer of dark gray mist. Even with a flashlight, I couldn't see inside. It looked like a dark, lumpy stone.