Chapter 33: The Problem of Fund Allocation

The lunch passed in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the auction began right on schedule. Jiang Cheng naturally lacked the credentials to bid, but Murong Xue certainly had them. He had already agreed with her that she would place the bids on his behalf, but the choice of which stone to bid on and how much to offer would be decided by Jiang Cheng. Murong Xue had no objections; the money would simply be considered a loan to Jiang Cheng. If the price was too high, Murong Xue would naturally worry, but if there was a bargain to be picked up, Jiang Cheng would not hesitate to strike.

Jiang Cheng, Murong Xue, and Wang Hao took their numbered paddles and found their assigned seats. Soon, a young and beautiful female auctioneer stepped up to give an introduction, covering the quantity of raw stones in this auction and the specific bidding procedures.

Before long, the first raw stone was brought out by the staff. The starting price was 400,000, with increments of no less than 50,000. The stone was not large—roughly the size of a basketball—with a yellow sandy rind. Jiang Cheng was slightly startled by the starting price. The pieces he had bought before were, at most, worth a few tens of thousands; they were small-time play compared to this, where prices started at hundreds of thousands. It was truly thrilling!

However, Jiang Cheng quickly channeled his vision, staring at the stone for three seconds before a mischievous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. It was a piece of junk.

While Jiang Cheng was using his vision to appraise the stone, several buyers began to bid. Murong Xue looked at Jiang Cheng and whispered to ask if they should bid. Jiang Cheng said nothing, merely shaking his head. In the end, the stone was sold to someone for 750,000. Jiang Cheng looked at the buyer with a face full of sympathy. The saying "one cut to heaven, one cut to hell" was no exaggeration. Having spent 750,000 on a piece of waste, he wondered what the buyer’s reaction would be once it was cut open. But Jiang Cheng didn't care about others.

Soon, the second stone was brought up, followed by the third and the fourth, one after another. Jiang Cheng remained unmoved. Beside him, Murong Xue was breaking out in a sweat, anxious and restless, wondering what on earth Jiang Cheng was up to. She wanted to snap at him, but the setting made it inappropriate to say anything. She even began to suspect that Jiang Cheng was just playing with her.

In reality, it wasn't that these stones were all worthless, but that their actual market value was not much higher than the auction price. Even if they won them, the profit would be negligible. Jiang Cheng wouldn't bother with such thankless tasks.

When the sixth stone went up for auction, Jiang Cheng’s eyes lit up. He thought to himself, "There's something in this one!"

The cross-section of this stone was about the size of a washbasin, though its appearance was mediocre. The starting price was 600,000, with 50,000 increments. Jiang Cheng, however, appraised its value at a staggering 12 million. My goodness, if he managed to snag this bargain, this single stone would be enough to sustain him for a lifetime.

Jiang Cheng could no longer hold back and used his X-ray vision on the stone. What he saw left him stunned. The entire interior was filled with a jade core, leaving only a thin layer of black tungsten sandy rind on the outside. It was a colorless, ice-variety jadeite. It was dense and highly transparent; its pure, colorless clarity was like unmelted black ice, crystalline and translucent. The only pity was that there were quite a few cotton-like inclusions, and they were unevenly distributed, or else it would be worth even more. Even so, Jiang Cheng was deeply shaken.

He quickly steadied his mind, showing no signs of his excitement. Soon, someone bid 650,000. Jiang Cheng remained still. Murong Xue whispered to ask if they should bid, but Jiang Cheng didn't move. She assumed he wasn't interested and didn't give it another thought.

Immediately after, another buyer bid 750,000. Jiang Cheng still didn't move. He was waiting for the auctioneer’s "three-call" rule. The stone’s quality wasn't great, and the starting price was high, so there weren't many people bidding. The auctioneer began the final calls.

"800,000, going once!"
"800,000, going twice!"
"800,000..."

Just as the auctioneer was about to call it for the third time and strike the hammer, Jiang Cheng raised his paddle. "850,000!"

The buyer with paddle number 35, who had been bidding, immediately looked toward Jiang Cheng. Seeing it was just a young pup, he rubbed his chin, considering whether to raise the price again. Murong Xue was also bewildered; she thought Jiang Cheng hadn't been interested in this piece.

The buyer with number 35 bid two more times. Jiang Cheng remained calm, following in 50,000 increments until they reached 1.05 million, at which point the other buyer stopped. In the end, this stone, worth 12 million, was won by Jiang Cheng for 1.05 million.

Jiang Cheng naturally paid for this stone himself. With the 1.9 million he had earned previously and the 1.3 million the old Taoist had transferred to him that morning, he had a total capital of 3.2 million. This stone fit perfectly. After deducting the cost, he would have 2.15 million left.

Seeing Jiang Cheng win the bid, Murong Xue asked curiously, "Is this one very valuable?" Jiang Cheng just smiled without answering, earning a roll of the eyes from her. She didn't mind, though; Jiang Cheng had promised that any stone he sold to her would be guaranteed to have a window cut or be fully opened. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if what he had picked was truly a treasure. If it was, the profits would be enormous. She shook her head; high profit meant high risk, and she didn't dare gamble on stones casually. These weren't thousands or tens of thousands—millions were no small sum. She would leave that risk to Jiang Cheng. Besides, if it turned out to be a treasure, it would be hers anyway.

Next, Jiang Cheng proceeded to win three more stones, all with Murong Xue’s help in bidding. He used the same technique as before. Surprisingly, these three stones were consecutive—numbers 7, 8, and 9. Counting the sixth one he had already won, that meant four consecutive stones all contained treasure! Jiang Cheng was stunned! Was the yield rate of this auction really this high?

The three stones were worth 35 million, 58 million, and 80 million respectively, while their winning bids were 2.3 million, 1.85 million, and 3.85 million. To be honest, Murong Xue was nervous as she bid. With the way Jiang Cheng was going, he was bidding on every single one! Four in a row, and all consecutive numbers! She began to wonder if something was wrong with his brain. Who auctions like that?

Although she had 200 million borrowed from her mother, she had already spent 70 million on opening the shop, initial inventory, and processing, leaving her with only 130 million. Her goal was the "King of Stones" at this auction—the main event. Who knew what that might end up costing?

She whispered to Jiang Cheng with some hesitation, "Jiang Cheng, have you lost your mind? At this rate, no amount of money will be enough for you to burn through! I think we should skip these small players. Let’s save our capital to compete for the King of Stones! I heard it came from the old Hpakant mine in the Flour Country, auctioned off by their government. You know what that means, right?"

Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment, beginning to hesitate as well. He knew Murong Xue’s capital was limited. While a few million was insignificant compared to the King of Stones, when competing for the top prize, even a few tens of thousands could be the deciding factor. If they spent all their money now and the King of Stones turned out to be a real monster, they wouldn't have the funds to win it.

That was the downside of auctions; stones were brought out one by one, not laid out like a street stall where you could see the value of everything at a glance. No one knew the value of the next piece. Therefore, bidding strategy was crucial. Many people present were aiming for the King of Stones, so even if they liked the earlier pieces, they refrained from bidding to conserve capital. This had allowed Jiang Cheng to easily pick up bargains.

Jiang Cheng had thought, "If I can bid, I will; if not, so be it." But Murong Xue was thinking of the hundreds of millions worth of premium stones, making the capital issue critical. An auction wasn't a private venue where he could wait to sell one stone before buying another. Your capital determined how many stones you could buy. If you couldn't pay, someone else would take the stone. No one was going to wait for you to cut a stone and make a profit before you came back to bid.

Thus, the allocation of capital for raw stones became a major problem. His current approach was indeed problematic. After thinking for a long time, Jiang Cheng tentatively asked, "How much capital do you have left?"

Murong Xue rolled her eyes. "You've bid on four items: 1.05 million, 2.3 million, 1.85 million, and 3.85 million. That’s a total of 9.05 million. I have 130 million left."

Jiang Cheng thought it over. After spending 9.05 million, there was about 120 million left. If the King of Stones was truly a massive prize, that might not be enough.

"How about this," Jiang Cheng said after a moment. "I have 3.2 million. Let’s count the 1.05 million and 1.85 million ones as mine—I’ll cover those—and you cover the rest, how about that?"

Murong Xue looked at him suspiciously, wondering what kind of scheme he was cooking up.