In the end, a jade gambler bought the rough stone for Rp 160,000,000.
The buyer was a senior man around fifty years old. After purchasing the rough stone, he stopped participating in the auctions held by the shop and left the jade shop with his rough stone.
Louis immediately followed him.
“Uncle, wait a second!”
“Huh?”
Realizing that someone was following him, the man immediately became more vigilant.
“What do you want?”
“I wanted to ask you for a little guidance.”
“Guidance from me?”
“About jade gambling. I saw you buy that rough jade stone just now, right?”
The man nodded.
“Why?”
“I want to try jade gambling too. The problem is, no one has told me what the complete process is. For example, I can buy a stone, but after I buy it, how do I get the jade out of it?”
“You don’t understand it at all.”
“Um.”
“In that case, you’d better find a shop that can cut the rough stone for you. You’ll have to pay them around thirty to forty percent. Still, rather than accidentally ruining a stone worth a fortune by cutting it yourself, you’re better off finding a professional.”
“So that’s how it works. Then where can I find a shop that cuts rough stones?”
The man laughed.
“Any place in this market can do it. Some shops that sell stones also offer cutting services. If they cut it and ruin it, they’ll compensate you at the original price. If you find a shop with a good reputation, they’ll do a good job. After that, it all comes down to whether you have a good eye for judging stones.”
Louis nodded as well.
“I understand now. Thank you for your guidance, Uncle. By the way, are you going to find someone to cut your stone?”
“Oh, no. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I know how to cut it myself.”
“Could I—”
“Sorry, this is a personal matter.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Still, since you’re quite polite, I’ll give you a piece of advice.”
Hearing that, Louis immediately became curious.
“What advice?”
“Don’t play with stones! Young people should work hard. Don’t waste your time fooling around. Be careful—a single stone could bankrupt you someday.”
“I understand. Thank you for the advice. Oh, right, may I give you a piece of advice too?”
The man grew curious when he heard this as well. He asked what the advice was, and Louis said, “There really is jade inside the rough stone in your hands. If you want to sell it, don’t let the sale value fall below Rp 200,000,000.”
The man blinked repeatedly. He had no idea how Louis had realized this.
Louis merely smiled and didn’t expose the secret, because he had already promised to keep his magical ability a secret from everyone. After parting with the man, Louis entered another jade shop that also sold rough stones.
Unlike the previous shop, this one wasn’t nearly as luxurious. It was also much smaller, and the rough stones for sale were vastly different.
The one thing they had in common was that the rough stones here were cheaper. The more expensive stones cost between Rp 14,000,000 and Rp 16,000,000, while the cheaper ones cost between Rp 2,000,000 and Rp 4,000,000. Some were even being sold for just a few hundred thousand rupiah.
Louis hadn’t expected much at first. He had just visited the large shop, so he wanted to take a look at a smaller one. This small shop still had plenty of visitors, and only a few people came here to buy jade. Most of them came to pick out stones.
The whole thing was a lot like buying lottery tickets. No one would dare buy a single lottery ticket for Rp 40,000,000. It was a different story when the ticket cost Rp 4,000.
Louis felt that the people closely examining those ugly-looking rough stones were much like people buying Rp 4,000 lottery tickets. They were all betting on their dreams. Who knew? A stone bought for only a few hundred thousand rupiah might actually be worth several billion rupiah.
It should be noted that this was quite possible if the jade stone had excellent color, hardness, and integrity. It didn’t matter even if it was somewhat small. Small jade was easier to sell. The reason was the same as with lottery tickets: not everyone had trillions of rupiah to casually spend on jade worth tens of billions.
Most people could afford small jade worth tens of millions of rupiah. That was also why small jade was easier to sell on the market.