Chapter 425: Achieve great success!
Baichuan Feng chose Hetian jade not just because of its reputation, but because among all types of jade, Hetian jade has the highest appearance.
Blue Mountain Jade, Dushan Jade, and Xiuyan Jade are mostly green in color. Although beautiful, they are not Baichuan Feng's favorite .
Hetian jade has a warm color and fine texture, especially the type called mutton-fat white jade in the picture album, which is crystal white and flawless.
Even though Baichuan Feng didn't understand jade, he knew that this was a good thing.
"Sir, you have a good eye. Mutton-fat jade is the most valuable type of Hetian jade.
All the mutton-fat jade in our country comes from the jade collection in Hotan County, and the ones that are traded have been screened by jade experts and are definitely top-grade jade.”
Seeing that Bai Chuanfeng had been staring at the mutton-fat jade, Lin Ning took the opportunity to start introducing it.
China is still too poor these days, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade will not miss any opportunity for foreign trade.
What's more, although Hetian jade sounds nice, the only people who are really interested in it are overseas Chinese and businessmen from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
As for the mainland, there is no mature jade market at all at the moment.
People are still pursuing material conditions such as food and clothing, while spiritual aesthetics has yet to be explored.
So because the market is limited, Hetian jade is actually very cheap now.
After discussing with Tanaka Yuko and the others for a while, Shirakawa Feng nodded, "Okay, let's go with mutton-fat jade."
"How many kilograms do you want, sir? We will arrange for someone to clear the customs, but you will need to figure out how to transport it to Neon."
Having received the accurate information, Lin Ning immediately became alert. It seemed that he was indeed a wealthy man and asked for the most expensive mutton-fat jade right away.
But after all, it is used to make accessories. If the quantity is too small, the shipping cannot be included, otherwise you will lose money before making any profit.
But after hearing the other party's statement, Baichuan Feng was stunned.
Kilograms? He always felt that something was wrong.
Isn't jade sold by the gram? Is it because carving it into a jade pendant or a ring requires more raw materials?
Forget it, Baichuan Feng himself doesn’t understand it, but he is not short of money.
So he said without hesitation, "Because we need a lot of jade, just give us a few more kilograms.
By the way, how much is this mutton-fat jade per kilogram? "To be honest, he was also quite curious about the value of the legendary Hetian jade.
Lin Ning knew that Bai Chuanfeng's identity was not simple. She also saw it when the curator received them just now.
Moreover, judging from the clothes she was wearing and the jewelry worn by the women around her, they were obviously not ordinary items.
Since we are not short of money, can we generate more foreign exchange for the country?
In recent years, the country has been in severe shortage of foreign exchange.
After hesitating, Lin Ning stretched out four fingers and said, "40,000."
"40,000 US dollars? So cheap?" Baichuan Feng was stunned. The priceless mutton-fat jade in later generations was sold by kilogram, but it was only 40,000 US dollars?
"Uh...uh..." Lin Ning and Gu Shangying, who was setting up a stall, were also stunned.
The unit of her quotation was 40,000 Japanese yen, which was still a high price.
Do you know how much the merchants from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan pay for one kilogram of mutton-fat jade? 200 yuan, RMB.
Because this is a top-grade jade that has been specially selected for trade, Lin Ning offered a price of 500 RMB.
In fact, this price is already very high. You should know that at that time, the salary of an ordinary worker generally did not exceed 50 yuan per month.
500 yuan is almost equivalent to an ordinary person’s annual salary. How can it not be expensive?
In 1985, the official exchange rate between RMB and Japanese yen was 1:80, so 500 RMB was equivalent to 40,000 Japanese yen.
After all, we are in Neon now and the other party speaks Japanese.
So of course Lin Ning quoted the price in Japanese yen, but the other party blurted out 40,000 US dollars and even thought it was very cheap.
Lin Ning and Gu Shangying looked at each other, the former swallowed and spoke carefully.
"Sir, do you have any special requirements for the jade? For example, does it need to be peeled, polished, or processed in other ways?"
"Of course," Baichuan Feng nodded without hesitation, "Not only will I process it, I'd also like to ask you to help carve it into jade."
As he spoke, Baichuan Feng asked for a piece of white paper and started writing and drawing on it.
Soon, several simple schematic diagrams were presented.
"Here, one is a circle with a maple leaf inside. Please carve it on the ring.
Another bird-seal character "川", please put it on the jade pendant.
As for other decorative carvings, I'll trouble you, as you are the experts in this area."
The circle plus the maple leaf is the Shirakawa family crest, and it is very appropriate to put it on the ring that represents status and ability.
As for the word "Chuan" on the jade pendant, it is easier to understand. It is also a symbol of a certain identity.
After taking a quick look at the pattern, Lin Ning quickly agreed.
"Please rest assured, sir, the most skilled jade carving masters in China are all in the Yanjing Jade Factory.
Comrade Wang Shusen will be in charge of your commission. He is a top-level arts and crafts master in our country. He has a family background in arts and crafts and is best at carving jade pendants."
Are you kidding? 40,000 US dollars. Of course, we have to invite a national treasure-level artist to be in charge.
"But Comrade Wang Shusen..."
"Oh, it's okay, I understand." Bai Chuanfeng waved his hand nonchalantly, "I wonder if Master Wang can take over the commission for $400,000."
As a stunt artist, you always have to pay for your work.
Moreover, Baichuan Feng ordered six pairs of jade pendants and two pairs of rings. Based on a processing fee of $10,000 each, that would be $160,000.
Add to that the material cost of $40,000 per kilogram, so many jade pieces would cost at least 5 kilograms.
The material cost was $200,000 and the processing fee was $160,000. Considering his hometown, Shirakawa Feng rounded it up to exactly $400,000.
Tsk, you see, isn't this settled?
"Four...four hundred thousand dollars?!" Lin Ning felt like he was out of breath.
Chinese American Gu Shangying almost broke his fingers. 400,000 US dollars, and he didn't even blink or breathe.
"Sir, please wait a moment. I'll go get the curator." The matter was of great importance, and Lin Ning didn't dare to make the decision on his own.
Soon, she jogged over and called the curator Zhong Min over.
"Sir, do you really want to customize this batch of jade products?" After hearing what happened, Zhong Min confirmed again with extreme caution.
"That's right," Baichuan Feng nodded, "I plan to use it as a family heirloom, so it must be unique and cannot be copied by others."
"Okay!" Zhong Min nodded firmly, "We'll take this commission."
This level of carving difficulty is not a big deal. With the national team behind him, Zhong Min has the confidence to do it.
Even if it takes some effort, the $400,000 in foreign exchange cannot be missed.
You have to know that the country’s total foreign exchange reserves are only more than 8 billion US dollars, and 400,000 is already a huge sum.
Normally, such a large amount of money would only be used with special approval to purchase precision equipment from abroad.
Now some stones... oh no, now some jades can be exchanged for such a huge amount of money, why not take it?
"Oh, by the way, there are a lot of jade pieces. Is the material fee enough? If not, I'll add some more?"
After all, he was an outsider, and Baichuan Feng didn't know whether the 5 kilograms he estimated could meet the requirements of jade carving.
"Enough...enough, please rest assured, it is absolutely enough." Zhong Min was trembling and spoke incoherently .
She felt that she had accepted the commission against her conscience, and it would be inhumane to raise the price further.
"That's enough." Baichuan Feng nodded, then he stretched his hand back and Sama immediately handed over the checkbook.
"This is a deposit of $120,000, which can be redeemed in cash at Neon Kitato Bank."
Baichuan Feng wrote as he spoke, "A 30% deposit is a customary practice for large transactions."
After writing the check, he pushed it forward, but everyone in the Huaxia Pavilion was staring at him blankly.
Bai Chuanfeng smiled and said, "I'm sorry I don't have so much cash, I can only use a check.
But please rest assured that checks can be used just as well. And the Bank of North City has an excellent reputation and is absolutely reliable. "
“Okay… okay.” Zhong Min took the check carefully, his face blank.
"This is my business card. Please contact me when it is ready and I will have someone pick it up."
Baichuan Feng reached behind him again, and a business card fell accurately into his hand.
"Then I'll take my leave first." Pushing the business card forward gently, Baichuan Feng nodded and left.
It was only after he disappeared at the door for a long time that Lin Ning turned around in confusion.
"Director... Curator, 120,000 US dollars?"
They didn’t do anything and just got $120,000 for nothing?
Zhong Min carefully fiddled with the check in his hand. This check was equivalent to a note issued to the bank.
But can she really get money in exchange? She always felt that the deal was too easy, even a joke.
"Director Zhong, I know about Beidu Bank. I saw a Beidu Bank in the city yesterday. If it doesn't work, I'll go and try it this afternoon and I'll know."
Gu Shangying came to Japan quite early. As a Chinese American, she didn’t need to join a tour group. She had already visited all of Tokyo a few days ago.
She was also familiar with the sign of Kitato Bank. Since the other party was so confident, she might as well give it a try.
"Okay, I'll bring a few more comrades with me. Xiaolin, you take care of the exhibition hall first.
If anyone comes looking for business again, please remember to highlight our jade artworks.”
"Yes!" Lin Ning nodded solemnly. It was his duty to earn foreign exchange for the country.
"By the way, this is the business card left by the gentleman just now." At this time, she handed over the business card left by Baichuan Feng.
Lin Ning's body trembled as he glanced at the situation, "Baichuan Electric?!"
"Hey, what's wrong with Xiaolin?" Zhong Min and Gu Shangying came over curiously.
"It's Shirakawa Electric, the Shirakawa Electric that has the super large color TV!" Lin Ning explained his discovery to the two incoherently.
When the other two understood what was written on the business card, they also took a deep breath.
They recognized the Chinese characters "Baichuan Electric" and "Baichuan Feng" written on the business card.
When it comes to Shirakawa Electric, they are very familiar with it. The 120-inch LCD TV exhibited in the other party's exhibition hall dropped their jaws.
At that time, black and white televisions were not popular in China, let alone LCD televisions, which seemed like an alien.
The robots and walkie-talkies also opened their eyes.
It turned out that the other party was the boss of Shirakawa Electric. No wonder he was so wealthy.
After realizing who they had just received, they became excited again.
Since the other party is the boss of Shirakawa Electric, the check must not be fake.
It looks like I’m going to accomplish great things this time!
