Chapter 659 She No Longer Believes in Pretty Things
Before Su Xing put on his backpack, he rummaged in it and took out a small high-intensity identification flashlight and a magnifying glass.
Shen Bai looked at what she took out and smiled again. She was quite well prepared. He had originally wanted to take her to get a copy.
Shen Bai took Su Xing inside and introduced her to the antiques and rare stones exchange meeting.
"The people who come to participate in this exchange meeting are not only from Beijing, but also many antique dealers, jade dealers and collectors from all over the country. It is divided into several areas, including the antique exchange area, the ornamental stone exchange area, the jade area, etc. The Ximen area where we are now is mainly for jade dealers, and there is also a gambling hall for stones."
When Su Xing heard the words "gambling on stones", his eyes lit up, "There is still gambling on stones? Is it the kind where you can cut the stones on the spot?"
Shen Bai looked at Su Xing in surprise, "Miss Su, do you know much about gambling on stones?"
Su Xing smiled awkwardly, "I don't know much about it, I've only heard about it. I heard that gambling on stones has a saying 'one cut makes you poor, another cut makes you rich'. In addition to testing your eyesight, there is also a lot of luck involved, so the risk is quite high."
Her understanding of gambling on stones initially came from several novels on the subject that she had read in her previous life.
Later, I looked up some information out of curiosity, but I only knew some jargon, not even the basics.
After all, she had never even seen the real raw stone.
Shen Bai smiled and said, "It is indeed very risky to gamble on all the materials. Many people who gamble on stones are looking for this kind of excitement."
Su Xing nodded.
She understood the mentality, which was similar to gambling.
Shen Bai added: "If you are interested, you can go over there and have a look. There are some small raw stones there. The price is not expensive. You can try your luck."
wake:"……"
The corners of her mouth twitched. Could you please not make buying raw jade stones sound like buying a lottery ticket?
She said, "Well... we'll talk about it later. Let's go shopping first."
She really wanted to see the gambling on stones in person, just to satisfy her curiosity and see what the gambling on stones was like as described in the book.
But there is no rush to go there now, let’s wait until we get to that area.
"Row."
Shen Bai took Su Xing for a quick stroll around the jade area.
Most of the jade here are already opened and some finished jade, jewelry, etc.
Su Xing was dazzled.
Although Shen Bai mainly deals in antiques, he also dabbles in jade and gemstones.
He explained to Su Xing on the side.
"There are many pitfalls in the jewelry industry now. Even at some international jewelry exhibitions, not all of them are high-quality goods. Many booths have some artificially optimized goods."
Su Xing smiled. What Boss Shen said was quite subtle.
She stopped for a while in front of a display case. In the square glass display case was a pair of red jade bracelets. They were very beautiful and immediately caught her attention.
The owner of the display cabinet obviously knew Shen Bai, and greeted him with a smile: "Boss Shen, how come you have time to come over here?"
"Boss Zhao." Shen Bai nodded to him and said with a smile, "I'm just taking my friend for a stroll."
The display cabinet owner looked at Su Xing who was next to Shen Bai, and smiled somewhat ambiguously, "Is this lady Mr. Shen's girlfriend? Mr. Shen is very lucky."
Su Xing was about to open her mouth to clarify, but Shen Bai spoke before her.
"She's a friend, not a girlfriend."
His smile faded a little, and he felt that this Boss Zhao, whom he was not very familiar with, had a little no sense of boundaries.
Boss Zhao noticed the change in Shen Bai's tone and didn't dare tease him and Su Xing anymore.
He said somewhat awkwardly: "Please feel free to look around. If you find anything you like, I'll give it to you at a discount price."
Su Xing said, "Let's take a look again."
She was just looking around and didn't want to buy anything.
The look in Boss Zhao's eyes just now made her feel uncomfortable, and she didn't want to even look at him anymore.
Shen Bai said, "Let's go."
After the two left, Shen Bai said, "That's burnt red jadeite."
Su Xing asked: "So... it's artificially optimized?"
"Yes." Shen Bai explained: "Artificially optimized jade cannot be completely defined as fake. Jade optimization is to change the appearance and quality of jade through physical or chemical means to make it more beautiful, more in line with market demand, and increase its commercial value. However, it can never be compared with completely natural jade."
People who deal in high-end jade look down on this kind of artificially optimized product.
Su Xing nodded, "I see."
The two continued walking.
Su Xing saw another large and beautiful piece of Hetian jade seed material.
But she just took a quick look and didn't linger for long.
After the two walked away, Shen Bai whispered, "It's imitation seed material, the leather is artificially made."
wake:"……"
She looked at another bracelet.
After leaving the booth, Shen Bai said: "The Qinghai material drum material is a dyed imitation seed material product."
wake:"……"
She no longer believes in things that are particularly beautiful and eye-catching!
"Shall we go check out other areas?"
She didn't want to go to this jade and jewelry area anymore. She hadn't planned to buy any jewelry in the first place, she just wanted to take a look. Why did she find a trap after every visit?
"Okay..." Shen Bai smiled and said, "Any jewelry exhibition nowadays is like this. It really tests your eyesight and patience. But if you take your time to browse, you will find a lot of good things. If you have anything you want to buy, I can help you choose it."
"Thank you. I don't have any thoughts of buying jewelry for the time being."
The two quickened their pace and passed through the jewelry and jade area.
As Shen Bai led Su Xing forward, he continued, "There will be an antique appraisal meeting this afternoon, and an auction will be held upstairs tomorrow afternoon. The items for auction will include antiques, ornamental stones, jade, raw stones, etc."
Su Xing's interest was aroused again, "There is also an auction."
This was a scene she had only seen on TV and in videos.
Shen Bai said, "I have some information about the items that will be auctioned tomorrow. I'll show it to you later. If there's anything you're interested in, I can be your authorized bidder."
To participate in the auction, you need to go through the procedures in advance, apply for an auction license plate, pay a deposit, etc., which usually takes several days or even weeks.
If Su Xing wanted to participate in the auction himself, it was too late to go through the formalities now.
Su Xing was speechless for a moment, then said, "Mr. Shen, you really think highly of me..."
She just wanted to broaden her horizons, she wouldn't really take pictures of any collections.
Shen Bai smiled and said, "Some of the items are not expensive."
Su Xing twitched his lips and asked, "Is the starting price not expensive?"
Shen Bai, "Uh...yeah."
Su Xing held back and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Shen Bai.
Are the starting price and final transaction price of an auction item comparable?
Moreover, the starting price that Shen Bai mentioned was not expensive was only not expensive in his eyes, right?
After passing this jade area, you will reach the area for viewing strange stones.
Su Xing discovered an interesting phenomenon: in the rare stone area, many booth owners and collectors were wearing Chinese-style double-breasted short jackets and some collectible bracelets on their wrists.
Shen Bai said: "There are many categories in the strange stone area here, including shaped stones, textured stones, picture stones, colored stones, etc., and there are also mineral crystal stones for collection."
Su Xing became interested again. "I have seen some pictures of stone paintings. There are flowers and birds, mountains and rivers, which seem to be painted on the stones. There are also pictographic stones. Some of them are really lifelike. Nature is really magical."