Volume 3: Taking a Post in Hongchuan Chapter 148: The Clouds of the Past

According to the explanations given by Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao, the motive and detailed process of this case finally came to light, which also involved a big secret about Jieling Village.

Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao met Bai Zhifang seven or eight years ago. At that time, Bai Zhifang was still a young man who had just left his hometown in the countryside of southern Shaanxi and was making his way in the big city.

At that time, Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao were already well-known dealers in the Wucheng antique circle. Logically speaking, there was no overlap between them. The reason why they knew each other better was because of the popularity of the Wucheng jade market in those years.

"Gamble on stones".

Speaking of "gamble on stones", this was the most popular thing in the antique and collection circles in those years. It was called "gamble on stones" by laymen, and "gamble on jade" by experts.

Whether it is "betting on stones" or "betting on jade", in fact, to put it bluntly, it is all about guessing the content and fineness of the jade in a piece of raw jade.

This is an ancient way of trading jade materials. Sellers usually sell jade raw stones. At this time, it is difficult for ordinary people to see the jade content, and buyers are not allowed to cut the jade raw stones for inspection before purchasing.

, we can only rely on observing the appearance of the original stone to guess the jade content inside.

The buyer can continue to sell the purchased jade rough stone in the same way after purchasing, so this unique jade rough stone trading method is vividly called "gamble on stone". In fact, so far, gambling on stone is still

A method of trading jade raw stones.

Not only at that time, but also now, there is no scientific method that can effectively determine the type, color, size, shape and other characteristics of the jade hidden deep in the ore. Therefore, the jade rough trading of industry insiders still continues the "stone gambling" at that time.

practices.

Without further ado, let me say that that period was when jade was most popular in the Wucheng market, and the "stone gambling" business was much more popular than it is now.

The "stone gambling" in Wucheng City usually involves a long row of ore blanks placed in front of the jade store. There may be priceless jade hidden in the blank, or there may be nothing at all. But whether there is jade in it or not depends on

It depends on the vision and luck of the jade buyer. After the transaction is completed, with one stroke, a jadeite of excellent quality may appear, and the buyer may become rich, or lose all his money.

Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao were regular visitors to the stone gambling den, while Bai Zhifang was just a young apprentice on the antique street in Wucheng City at that time.

But don’t underestimate this young apprentice. Bai Zhifang is from southern Shaanxi, but looking at his ancestral home, his ancestors were from the Zhaoyuan generation in Shandong. They were members of the Boxer Rebellion at the time. Later, after the Boxer Rebellion was suppressed, they fled to southern Shaanxi to avoid disaster.

This place.

Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, was rich in gold mines for generations. Bai Zhifang's ancestors were once the "mining leaders" of the gold mines, that is, people who were responsible for finding gold veins in the mines. Although the family fled to southern Shaanxi, there were no gold mines here.

However, our ancestors still believed in the creed of a craftsman who would never die of hunger in troubled times, and passed down his skill of reading gold veins from generation to generation.

In the generation of Grandpa Bai Zhifang, the Bai family found a new way of settling down and making a living in Shaanxi.

It is said that although southern Shaanxi does not produce gold mines, it is not far from Lantian, the origin of a large jade mine in Shaanxi. At that time, Bai Zhifang's great-grandfather worked in the jade mine in Lantian. The art of looking at mineral veins is similar to many places.

Yes, Bai Zhifang's great-grandfather could read gold veins and had a high level of understanding. After exploring for a while, he actually became proficient in the distribution of jade veins.

This was an amazing craft at that time. Bai Zhifang's family suddenly lived a good life thanks to Grandpa Bai Zhifang, and the whole family moved to Xi'an.

After liberation, although Bai Zhifang and his family had relatively high ingredients, because of their unique craftsmanship, they still served the Lantian Mine for a period of time.

During the Cultural Revolution, life for the Bai family became difficult. Not only were they labeled as "landlords", but Bai Zhifang's great-grandfather and grandfather, who worked in the mines, were also classified as "cow ghosts and snake gods" by the rebels. At that time

Bai Zhifang's great-great-grandfather was already over 70 years old, and even Bai Zhifang's grandfather was almost 60 years old. Naturally, he couldn't withstand such a torment. After several criticisms, the two of them died.

Bai Zhifang's father also suffered a big blow during that movement, but fortunately he saved his life. Since then, members of Bai Zhifang's family have returned to the rural areas of southern Shaanxi from the Lantian mine and joined their uncles and brothers.

Speaking of Bai Zhifang's generation, they also inherited the craftsmanship passed down from their ancestors. Although Bai Zhifang's craftsmanship is inferior to that of his grandfather and great-grandfather, but after the turmoil and catastrophe, these ancient skills have been passed down.

There are not many in itself, even half-bottles of vinegar like Bai Zhifang are very rare.

Bai Zhifang's ability at the time might have been a bit far-fetched to see the jade veins, but in the "stone gambling" industry, looking at the quality of the jade wrapped in the rough stone, his ability was more than enough.

Bai Zhifang was still a young apprentice at the time. Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao discovered his ability by chance. Xu immediately brought Bai Zhifang to their side with a high salary, and was responsible for reading their fortunes when they were "betting on stones".

You can find jade veins, let alone small "raw stones". This job is naturally not difficult for Bai Zhifang. Over the past few years, Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao made a lot of money relying on Bai Zhifang.

Two years later, Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao were sentenced for being involved in reselling cultural relics. Bai Zhifang also lost his job and worked in restaurants and construction sites. This is how he later became the son-in-law of Jieling Village.

Unexpectedly, after Bai Zhifang arrived at Jieling Village, she made a new discovery.

That was what he accidentally discovered when he went to the back mountain again. From the topography and plant distribution of the back mountain, he felt that there would be a gold vein in this place.

If Bai Zhifang's great-grandfather or grandfather were still alive, he would definitely be able to tell the trend of the gold veins in this place at a glance, and even the quality and reserves. But Bai Zhifang does not have the skills of his ancestors. He can only dig here and there.

The look confirmed his guess.

It was his behavior that his father-in-law considered as not doing his job properly, and he was kicked out of the house. But Bai Zhifang couldn't bear to part with this big gold vein in Jieling Village, so she spent some of her savings from previous years to buy a house in the village.

, settled in Jieling Village.

The hard work paid off. After a long period of exploration, Bai Zhifang actually found this gold vein. When he dropped a piece of nugget gold with a hoe, Bai Zhifang was excited for more than half a month.

Bai Zhifang went to Wucheng antique market to sell the nugget of gold, but met Zhang Jiaqiang and Li Hao again. These two people had just been released from prison. Their previous properties had been fined and confiscated, and now they were in poverty.

At that time, I suddenly saw that Bai Zhifang had such a large piece of gold nugget, so naturally I had to ask about the source.

After going back and forth, they tricked Bai Zhifang out about the golden veins in Jieling Village. The two of them were overjoyed. They knew Bai Zhifang's ability well, and immediately followed Bai Zhifang back to Jieling.
Chapter completed!