Chapter 17: A Stroke of Incredible Luck

“This piece of tea ice jadeite...” Tang Yan pondered for a moment, then said earnestly, “I can offer you up to 180,000 yuan for this one. As for the other piece, white base with green, it’s 350,000 yuan. Altogether, 530,000 yuan. If that works for you, I’ll have someone bring the cash immediately.”

Although tea ice bangles are rare, their market value isn’t very high. The brand and pendants are similarly priced.

The white base with green jade, however, is much more valuable. Even an ordinary bangle of that material can easily fetch seven or eight hundred thousand yuan, sometimes over a million, though the raw piece is a bit small.

Zhao Chen didn’t agree right away but smiled and asked, “Ms. Tang, how much could a finished ice-floating-flower bangle sell for?”

Tang Yan thought he was bargaining and quickly explained, “It’s hard to say. Even if it’s suitable for a bangle, I’d be taking a big risk. If there are cracks, inclusions, or dirty cotton inside, the value drops sharply. So the finished product’s price is often much higher than the raw material. I hope you understand.”

As the saying goes, no cotton, no jade; no cracks, no jade. Dirty cotton, cracks, and hardness issues are common in most jadeite materials.

For those large, pure base blocks, even just carving a cabochon from them can command several times the price of a regular bangle.

“I’m not haggling with you. Your price is fair. I just want to understand the range of finished product prices,” Zhao Chen explained. “Perhaps I’ll enter the jewelry business someday, so I’m asking for your insight.”

Most finished products have a fixed price range. The prices marked on display counters often have a huge markup. A bangle priced at 20 or 30 thousand yuan might be marked at 100 or 200 thousand, so the labels aren’t very reliable.

Tang Yan was momentarily stunned, then smiled slyly: “For those finished pieces outside, just knock off about 30% from the marked price and that’s roughly the sale price. Our store’s prices are quite reasonable.”

Jadeite finished products have different price levels for laypeople and experts. When dealing with someone knowledgeable, the true value of the material and the premium for craftsmanship are well understood, making it hard to ask for overly high prices.

But ordinary goods of moderate quality occasionally sell for several times their actual worth.

Overall, this industry is very murky. She didn’t want another competitor, so she didn’t tell Zhao Chen the whole truth.

Zhao Chen nodded slightly. “Then let’s go with the price you just mentioned. I’ll buy it.”

Finding high-quality jadeite is difficult for most, but effortless for him.

Right now, his priority was to save up the first pot of gold to open a jewelry store. The price was good enough.

Tang Yan’s eyes lit up excitedly. “Brother Zhao, you’re really generous! I’ll send someone with the cash right away. We don’t have enough cash on hand, so you can go over there and have some tea and rest.”

The tea ice material didn’t have much appreciation potential, but the white base green was different—finished products made from it could easily triple in value.

So she deliberately played a little trick, quoting a high price for the tea ice and a low price for the white base green.

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Since the first time she met Zhao Chen, she knew this guy was definitely a naive fool who had been scammed into Myanmar and was working for free under Wen Min.

People like him were easy to fool—a little cunning could yield huge profits.

Taking Zhao Chen to the tea area, she personally poured him tea and had the staff bring some snacks. Then she said, “Brother Zhao, if you ever come across good material, don’t forget me. I’ll definitely give you the highest industry prices.”

“Sure,” Zhao Chen said, watching her coolly.

Though a layman, he wasn’t a fool. This girl was obviously trying to fleece him. Trusting her would be absurd.

But since he couldn’t find a better buyer right now, he’d just tolerate it.

While waiting, Zhao Chen went over to the jadeite opening area.

Pan Yumei’s livestream was still ongoing, but her expression was helpless.

The company had sent mostly worthless brick-like materials this time.

Though they were large, there was nothing valuable inside.

Seeing Zhao Chen watching, she smiled and asked, “Mr. Zhao, interested in opening jade? These are just ordinary pieces, not as valuable as your two pieces. Just for fun.”

“I’m just taking a look.”

Zhao Chen’s eye for jade wasn’t as good as she thought, but his hands were like the most precise X-ray machine. Pretending to browse, he touched some pieces, unexpectedly discovering a pleasant surprise.

Among the pile of waste material Pan Yumei was opening, there was a gray-white Muna jade with a cut edge at the bottom, standing on the ground like a towering mountain.

The moment Zhao Chen touched it, a dazzling green light appeared before his eyes!

The green glow wasn’t large—about the size of a fist—but its intensity was unlike anything he had seen.

Just then, Tang Yan and some staff arrived, dragging two large suitcases over to Zhao Chen.

“Brother Zhao, here’s 5.3 million yuan. Plus, I’m giving you an extra 50,000 yuan for tea expenses. If you find any good material, be sure to contact me!”

Tang Yan beamed and made a phone gesture. “We’re still missing one treasure piece for the store. We’re counting on you.”

Zhao Chen casually checked the cash and, satisfied, smiled. “No problem. I’ll definitely bring you good stuff.”

Then he asked Pan Yumei, “Sister Pan, how much is this stone? It looks like a mountain peak. I want to take it home and make a display piece.”

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Pan Yumei glanced at the two large suitcases full of money, her smile turning strange. “This kind of material isn’t worth much. I’ll give it to you for two thousand yuan.”

In truth, this kind of broken waste jade was no different from ordinary stones by the roadside. She just wanted to grab some money from Zhao Chen to boost her performance.

Zhao Chen smirked and bargained, “Twenty. That’s my highest.”

The livestream chat exploded with laughter and “haha” comments.

“This guy’s bargaining is fierce—from two thousand to twenty yuan, hitting rock bottom!”

“Waste jade’s worthless, I wouldn’t even take it for two yuan.”

“Maybe he saw something valuable inside? Sister Mei, don’t sell it! It’s worth at least twenty thousand.”

Pan Yumei didn’t have time to read the comments. Just as she was about to haggle, Tang Yan generously said, “Since Brother Zhao likes it, just give it to him. Twenty yuan isn’t even enough for a milk tea.”

“That won’t do. The money must be paid.”

Zhao Chen pulled out twenty yuan in small change and handed it over. Then he asked, “By the way, can I borrow your jade opening machine?”

At these words, Tang Yan’s eyes widened.

What did this mean? Buying half a piece of waste jade for twenty yuan and opening it right on the spot?

Pan Yumei stared at him wide-eyed, uncertain. “Mr. Zhao, you mean there’s something inside this piece?”

“I’ve never opened jade myself. I just want to try it out for fun. Don’t read too much into it,” Zhao Chen grinned.

If they knew there was a fist-sized imperial green inside that half piece, they’d regret it bitterly.

Seeing he just wanted to play, Tang Yan readily instructed, “Master Zhang, please help Brother Zhao cut open that half piece so he can experience the process.”

Then she called over other jade cutters in the store to examine the two good pieces they had just received.