Chapter 203
People who are passionate about something often have an obsessive streak.
An An had dealt with all sorts of stones since she was a child, and as an adult, she worked in the same field.
She had an almost fanatical love for jade.
To improve her skills in every way possible, she was not only willing to pay a great price but also ready to humble herself and ask for guidance from anyone, even if they were a beggar.
This attitude couldn’t help but move Chenyang.
If he truly had some secret technique, he would have shared it without hesitation.
But unfortunately, an ability like x-ray vision couldn’t be shared or taught!
However, his method of identifying herbs by scent could indeed be somewhat useful for appraising jade.
So, after a moment of thought, he briefly explained the principles behind it.
After he finished, An An mulled it over for a moment before saying, "Besides knowing how to identify things by smell, you probably also need to improve your nose’s sensitivity, right? Are there any techniques for that?"
"There are, but not many. And without a basic understanding of medicinal herbs, a sensitive nose is useless. It’s like a dog that’s lived in a sealed room its whole life. No matter how good its sense of smell is, if you let it out after a few years, it might not even be able to tell the difference between meat and shit!"
"Crude, but true!" An An laughed. "Looks like I’ll need to pay a visit to a few herbal medicine shops."
"Er... actually, this method is only a supplementary tool. It’s fine to practice it occasionally, but there’s no need to spend too much time and effort researching it."
"No. Even if it only helps a tiny bit, as long as it can improve my abilities, it’s worth my time to study."
Seeing her determined expression, Chenyang suddenly felt a pang of guilt, as if he’d been caught in a lie.
After a moment of thought, he said, "I’ve been practicing this method since I was a kid, so it’s definitely not something you can master overnight. If you come across any stones you’re not sure about, you can call me over to take a look."
"Can I really call you for help?"
"Of course. You’re Sister Liu’s friend, which makes you my friend, too. And friends are supposed to help each other, right?"
"That’s great," An An said with a smile. "Thank you, Brother Chen."
"Don’t mention it." Chenyang waved his hand and got back to the point. "So, can we talk about the price of my piece of jade now?"
"The quality of this raw stone is excellent. It’s crystal clear with almost no impurities, making it a top-grade piece within its category. But since it’s jasper mined from a small-scale source like ours, even with its high quality, it can only be considered a third-rate jade at best. This type of jade fetched a decent price a few years ago, but market interest hasn’t been very high recently, so the price won’t be too steep."
"I don’t know the market for jade, so just tell me straight up what this piece is worth."
An An weighed the stone in her hand, and after a moment’s thought, she made an ’eight’ gesture with her hand. "This is the most I can give you."
"Eight thousand?" Chenyang’s lips twitched in disappointment. ’I was thinking it would be at least fifteen thousand. Still, I bought it for a hundred, so making a profit of eight thousand isn’t bad.’
"Not eight thousand," An An said, shaking her head.
"Don’t tell me it’s only eight hundred. I might not know jade or the market, but I can tell the quality of this raw stone isn’t bad. Even if the category isn’t great, there’s no way it’s only worth eight hundred!"
As he spoke, Chenyang pointed at Liu Yun. "Sister Liu is our mutual friend. Ripping me off right in front of her isn’t right, is it?"
An An said helplessly, "I’m not ripping you off, you misunderstood. I meant eighty thousand!"
"Eigh... Eighty thousand? This raw stone can sell for that much? Didn’t you say it wasn’t that great?"
"It’s not great compared to jasper from Nephrite Jade, but compared to jasper of the same quality from other sources, it’s actually quite good."
Liu Yun then added, "However, if you were to sell it elsewhere, you’d get forty or fifty thousand at most. After all, this is a raw stone. To maximize its value, it still needs to be carved and processed by a craftsman. After subtracting labor costs, even fifty thousand would be considered the highest end of the market price."
Chenyang looked at An An. "Then if you give me eighty thousand, won’t you be taking a loss?"
"I won’t lose money. Didn’t I say before? If this stone really contained jade, I’d buy it for double the market price."
"You were joking."
"I wasn’t joking. And I won’t lose money at eighty thousand. After all, I got to meet someone as skilled as you, and you even taught me another method for appraising stones. Consider the extra amount my tuition fee."
"No, no, no, I bought this stone for a low price to begin with, so now..."
"Finding a steal for a low price is a skill. Besides, I only got this stone for a few dozen yuan myself. I didn’t lose anything selling it to you for a hundred."
"Those are two different things. I..."
"Brother Chen, don’t say another word. If you consider me a friend, then this is settled."