Chapter 100: Opening with a Flourish (Second Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

  The next morning, without Zhang Wei's reminder, all the members of the Ming Yang Jade Stone Association gathered together. Today's activity was what they liked most, and now there was a lucky person following them, everyone looked forward to today's activity.

  What I'm most looking forward to is Zhang Wei, today's opening red activity is even more important for the club, Zhang Wei has brought a treasured item that he had been reluctant to use before, and must achieve a good result in the opening red.

  After everyone gathered, we took a minibus with the Kaifeng Yushi Association to the venue of today's event, which is the Jade Stone Cultural Square, where many people will gather.

  The minibus was provided by the Nanyang Jade Association, allocated according to the number of people. The host's approach is still very satisfying. During the gathering period in Nanyang, there are many outsiders, and it's not convenient to take a taxi.

  Jade Stone Culture Square is located at the foot of Dushan Mountain, not far from the center of Nanyang City. However, it took more than half an hour to get there by minibus, and along the way, there were many cars heading to Dushan, including taxis and private cars, with many vehicles having out-of-town license plates, indicating that they were driven by outsiders who came to participate in this gathering of jade enthusiasts.

  Yu Shu Cultural Square is more like a market than a square, it's a huge open space covering hundreds of mu. When Li Yang and others arrived, the place was already crowded with people, and the venue for the Provincial Jade Association's event was located in the central area.

  Outside the central area, there are hundreds of vendors who have come from outside to sell jade stones. The quality of the jade stones sold by these vendors is much better than those on Jade Street in the city. However, it's not guaranteed that there are no fake products, but if counterfeit jade stones appear here, they will be severely punished by the management office. In comparison, the Nanyang Management Office is much stricter with these outside sellers than with local merchants.

  Members of the Jade Association from various provinces in the central region have gathered, and there are many people on the periphery who occasionally glance over at them. Those with eyes flashing with a hint of resentment must be members of jade associations from other provinces and cities, while those who are curious or slightly provocative are scattered gamblers who came to join in the excitement.

  When Mingyang and Kaifeng arrived, the people who were originally standing inside all gave way to them. Everyone's attention was focused on Li Yang. For the past two days, Li Yang has been the most talked-about person, especially after he exposed the fake Subo Yu yesterday. In the provincial jade association, he is now a household name.

  Being watched by so many people, Li Yang's face turned a little red. Zhang Wei had already walked to the side and was chatting with the presidents of several other provincial jade associations. The leaders of the Provincial Jade Association would not be present this time, and without official participation, everyone could feel more relaxed and happy during the event.

  "Lao Deng, what about Shen Hao from yesterday?"

  As soon as he saw the president of Zhengzhou Jade Association, Zhang Wei immediately walked up with a big smile. Li Yang and Wu Xiaoli had both looked carefully just now, but Shen Hao from yesterday was not seen on the scene. This guy probably has already left Nanyang.

  Old Deng, who was only in his forties, immediately looked very ugly. Yesterday, not only Shen Hao lost face, but also the Zhengzhou Jade Association lost a big man. As the president of the association, he lost even more face.

  "Old Zhang, you lucky kid, got another ace up your sleeve. How's that? Got a good chance to move forward this year, right? Can't always be stuck in the bottom three."

  Lao Deng's words immediately stiffened Zhang Wei's smiling face, this old Deng was really vicious, coming straight to Zhang Wei's most painful place, but Zhang Wei wasn't much better off either, yesterday's matter had already become a taboo for Lao Deng.

  "You two stop arguing, those people outside are watching us with envy, waiting for our opening red, no matter what the opening red cannot lose to these outsiders"

  Luo Yang's elder, Old Hou, came up and advised a sentence. Old Hou was a well-known good man among the elders. Zhang Wei and Old Deng both nodded and stared at each other, but neither of them said anything.

  In fact, such cold ridicule and satire are not uncommon within these associations. Every gathering is a competition, and it's impossible to accumulate some resentment over time. However, when facing external opponents, these people can also unite and come together, which is also a Chinese characteristic.

  The opening red is the most important activity for each club leader, and after this activity ends, they will pay attention to selecting good gambling stones for the next opening red. Some club leaders even travel thousands of miles to Ruili or Pingjiang to select gambling stones, and some even go directly to Myanmar to purchase them, all in preparation for today's opening red.

  Last year, on the first day of the opening game in Henan Province's Yu Shi Association, a member of Pingdingshan Yu Shi Association brought back a piece of jade from Yunnan and solved the rare glass species, allowing Pingdingshan to win both the opening game and the championship.

  Unfortunately, last year an outsider player solved a better glass variety than them, causing the Provincial Jade Association to lose the overall championship.

  The sun is getting higher and higher. Fortunately, it's now spring in Nanyang, with warm weather and blooming flowers, making it the best time for outdoor activities.

  Before you know it, it's already nine o'clock. Five sets of stone removal machines were pushed to the center at the same time, which was also prepared by the Nanyang Jade Association. The host has the geographical advantage and is wealthy and generous, taking out five sets of stone removal machines without any problem.

  Li Yang took a closer look and found that all five sets of stone removal machines were exactly the same as the one in his home, and they looked even newer than his.

  "Old Gu, bring out our things!"

  The stone-lifting machine is set up, proving that today's activity is about to begin. A group of onlookers immediately gather around, including locals from Nanyang and outsiders, all eagerly waiting to see the stone-lifting performances by the masters from various places.

  Guo Lao had been holding a box in his hand all along, and upon hearing Zhang Wei's words, he immediately walked over, opened the box, and took out a piece of jade from inside, placing it on the ground. With great confidence, he looked up at the various directors around him.

  Zhang Wei took out the gambling stone, which was indeed the best performing and most valuable one he had stored in the warehouse, worth 1.5 million. No wonder Zhang Wei was so confident, this piece of jade material could very likely produce high-end ice species and glass species.

  Zhang Wei's fabric immediately caught the attention of other directors around him. After carefully examining Zhang Wei's fabric, Old Deng from Zhengzhou couldn't help but nod his head in approval. If this fabric were to be made into glass yarn, it's highly likely that Mingyang would win both the internal and external comparisons today. Even if it were to be made into ice yarn, Mingyang still has a high chance of winning. Glass yarn is not easy to come by, even at such a large market gathering, one needs to have sufficient luck.

  "Lao Zhang finally managed to scrape together his last bit of money, and he's finally brought out his most treasured possession."

  Sim Lin nodded and smiled, Zheng Kaida had the same expression, Li Yang was staring blankly at the half-gambling wool fabric under Zhang Wei's feet, with a somewhat strange expression.

  Only Li Yang is clear that this piece of jade is a fake, but now so many people are treating it as a treasure. Especially Zhang Wei, who had already been deceived at home, and now he's actually bringing it out to the most important event, the opening ceremony. Li Yang can imagine that once Zhang Wei finds out, he'll be so ashamed that he'll want to dig a hole in the ground to hide.

  "Not bad, Old Zhang, otherwise I'll give you the right to be the first to crack open the stone today"

  Nanyang Hui Zhang looked at this piece of wool after Zhang Wei, smiled and said to Zhang Wei, with a hint of strangeness on his face.

  Others have the same expression as Nanyang's president, even if Nanyang's president doesn't mention it, they will suggest letting Zhang Wei solve it first. If they can solve the glass type, they will put away the first prepared gambling stone material and take out the alternative to participate in today's opening red. Knowing that you will lose the trial, it is better to temporarily give up and leave it for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to solve, at least get a day's internal comparison with the first one.

  Zhang Wei's eyes rolled around, and these ideas that would grow he naturally understood very clearly. It was just that this time he only brought this one block of the most confident gamble stone. The subsequent gamble stones all relied on the members selecting them in the market to test their luck. In this case, whether they solved it first or not didn't have a particularly big impact on him.

  "Okay, since everyone is willing to let me go first, then I'll go first."

  Zhang Wei thought for only a few seconds before making his decision. When to reveal was all the same, so he might as well be the first to do so, shocking everyone in the process. This piece of exceptionally good half-gambling material, even if it had ice inside and jade meat that was only half genuine, gave him a great chance of winning the championship today.

  "Director Zhang, why don't we take a look first, no need to rush into solving it"

  Li Yang hastily walked up and pulled Zhang Wei, saying in a low voice that this broken gambling stone would not only make Zhang Wei lose face, but also affect the morale of the entire Mingyang Jade Stone Association. After all, Li Yang was a native of Mingyang and had a sense of collective honor.

  Zhang Wei stared at Li Yang in surprise and asked: "Why?"

  "No, nothing, just feel that our first explanation wasn't good, too high-sounding"

  Li Yang scratched his head, he had no way of telling Zhang Wei the truth, after all, he couldn't tell Zhang Wei that there was nothing in this piece of jade.

  Zhang Wei smiled calmly and shook his head at Li Yang, saying: "It's okay, let's just be high-profile, last year because of my selfishness I didn't take out this gamble stone, as a result our Mingyang's score was finally ranked last. This time no matter what we can't be selfish again, this gamble stone will have a good performance, and Mingyang will at least get rid of the last row, if you want to advance some more, it depends on you."

  Zhang Wei finished speaking and immediately hugged the jade stone and walked to a jade testing machine. Li Yang stared blankly at Zhang Wei, never expecting that the somewhat selfish Zhang Wei in his impression also had this side.

  At this moment, it can be said that Zhang Wei is not just for his own glory, he is truly working hard for the entire Mingyang Jade Association. No wonder he told Li Yang last time that this gambling stone is not for sale, probably at that time he had already made up his mind, this gambling stone must stay in the activity to unlock it.

  It's all known now, but Li Yang can't change the outcome anymore. He can only quietly watch Zhang Wei, hoping that he won't be knocked down by this blow soon.

  "Go ahead and give him a hand"

  Simmer Lin suddenly patted Li Yang's shoulder, and said that with someone helping, the speed of unloading stones would be faster. Generally, two or three people work together to unload stones here, saving more time to continue activities.