Chapter 41 Selling Diamonds

  "Mr. Zhou, this is the appraisal result of the first diamond."

  The appraiser took out the appraisal instrument's paper strip, No. 001 diamond, weight 5.06 carats, color F, clarity VS1, cut EX, polish EX, symmetry EX, fluorescence N... The market price is $315,600 USD, if sold to the Bounty Hunter Association, the price would be $252,480 USD.

  The color of diamonds ranges from D to Z, with letters closer to the front indicating a purer color, and colors starting to turn yellow after H.

  As for Cut EX and VG, they are excellent and very good in English, respectively perfect and extremely good.

  Clarity VS1, meaning Very/slightly/included, has very few inclusions (invisible to the naked eye), with the highest clarity being FL, meaning flawless, perfect without blemish. This type of diamond is extremely rare and can usually only be seen at diamond exhibitions.

  Fluorescence means that the diamond emits a blue or yellow light when exposed to ultraviolet light, N represents none, which means no fluorescence. Since fluorescence is generally not visible under normal lighting conditions, it usually does not affect the price of the diamond.

  The second one is slightly inferior, although the diamond weighs 6.12 carats, but because the color is only L and the clarity is general, the final price is less than $1 million.

  The appraiser examined each one carefully, until suddenly he let out an "Oh my God, how excellent!" of admiration.

  The twelfth diamond, weighing 5.20 carats, color D, clarity FL (flawless), cut EX, polish EX, symmetry EX, fluorescence S (strong blue)...... The appraiser finally gave a sky-high price of $1.68 million.

  Diamonds with a clarity grade above 5 carats are extremely rare, and all of its properties are perfect except for blue fluorescence. Many diamond enthusiasts prefer diamonds without fluorescence, thinking that such diamonds are the purest, but some people like blue diamonds because they represent romance.

  The price of $1.68 million is just an estimate based on the industry's conventional pricing method, but if it encounters a diamond collector who pursues perfection, it will definitely not be limited to this price. A top-quality blue diamond with perfect attributes is absolutely priceless in the market.

  Even Zhou Jian was reluctant to sell it, and Sun De Guang's 28 diamonds were 80% from a diamond collector's collection, rather than from a diamond mine, otherwise the quality would not be so high.

  The appraiser took a short time to identify all 28 diamonds, and the final total price was $69.8 million. After discounting, the Bounty Hunters Association offered a purchase price of $55.9 million.

  Upon hearing this price, Ruan Jian had long been prepared in his heart, but he couldn't help being excited for a moment, this was equivalent to over 300 million RMB!

  "Are you going to sell everything, sir?"

  Zhou Jian hesitated for a moment, he really wanted to keep the most perfect diamond, feeling that such a precious diamond was sold to the Bounty Hunter Association in a similar wholesale form, it was too wasteful, but now he also needed money to invest.

  The appraiser noticed Zhou Jian's hesitation and suggested, "The Bounty Hunter Association also accepts pawned goods. If you can't bear to sell it, you can pawn the diamond here and redeem it later. The annual interest rate is 7%, simple interest, for a term of three years, no extensions."

  Zhou Jian calculated that 7% was just over a million US dollars, which was barely acceptable. Even if he had to wait three years to redeem it, the diamond would only appreciate to the market price, not too much of a loss. So he said: "Okay, pawn this FL diamond, and sell all the rest."

  The appraiser showed Zhou Jian an appraisal certificate and then gave him a Diamond VIP card from Bounty Hunter Bank, saying: "Because the amount is relatively large, the transfer period is 24 hours, and the transaction can be completed at that time. This Diamond VIP card can be overdrawn by one million US dollars in Bounty Hunter Bank, and apart from this, all consumption under BH Financial Group's industries with this card enjoys an 80% discount and priority."

  Zhou Jian nodded, although he could also think of the value of this card and the status it symbolized with his knees, but for Zhou Jian, it didn't mean much, as he wasn't planning to stay in the US for long.

  Zhou Jian walked out of the appraisal center with a pleasant mood, while Andy seemed to have received the news and was already waiting outside. At this time, there was also an Asian girl in her early twenties standing beside him, but it was unclear which country she came from.

  "Mr. Zhou, are you satisfied with the appraisal result?"

  "Very satisfied, thank you Mr. Martin."

  "No need for formalities, let me introduce you. This is Lucy from Singapore, she's the translator our association arranged for Mr. Zhou's trip over the next couple of days, her Chinese is very good."

  "Hello, I'm Lucy." Lucy said in Chinese, her Chinese had a hint of the Lingnan island accent, sounding a bit delicate.

  "Hello, actually I don't need a translator, thank you." Zhou Jian waved his hand, he indeed didn't need a translator much, and most importantly, he had the secret of the Ghost Killer on him, it wouldn't be convenient to have a translator following him.

  The female translator named Lucy was apparently somewhat disappointed. She had already heard from Andy about Zhou Jian's identity, strength and wealth.

  "Andy said: 'Does Mr. Zhou not need a guide?'"

  "It's not needed anymore." Zhou Jian smiled and refused.

  "Alright, I've already booked a room for Mr. Zhou at the Vienna Hotel, I think he won't refuse this time." Andy personally came to arrange all of this in order to improve his relationship with Zhou Jian, even if Zhou Jian wasn't from the Huaxia Ancient Martial Family it didn't matter, he had already learned about the total amount of this transaction from the appraiser. If Zhou Jian could bring such a big business every time, the commission that this manager would get would also be quite considerable.

  The Vienna Hotel is a six-star standard industry under the American Black Hand, and it costs thousands of dollars to stay in it for one night. This is just a standard room, if it's a luxury suite, it can cost as much as $7,000 or $8,000 per night.

  However, this luxurious suite is rarely open to the outside world and most of the time it is used to entertain distinguished guests.

  Zhou Jian thought for a moment and then nodded: "Okay, thank you Mr. Martin."

  "So I'll send a car for you?" Andy asked.

  "It's okay, I'll go myself." Zhou Jian planned to return to his own hotel first, so he didn't want Andy's people to follow him.

  "Alright then, I'll take you back to the underground bank."

  "Thank you."

  Zhou Jian returned to the underground bank in his car and arrived at the hall. Linda had been waiting there for a long time.

  Upon seeing Zhou Jian, she exaggeratedly said: "My Huaxia hero, you've finally returned."

  When he heard the title of Huaxia Hero, Zhou Jian couldn't help but feel a little amused and said, "You're still waiting here?"

  "Didn't I tell you to wait? What's wrong, is it a terrible thing to see me?"

  "Of course not. But my business is already settled, I'm just worried you have your own things to attend to." Zhou Jian meant that he no longer needed her company and she could leave, although he admitted it was pleasant to have a stunning Western beauty by his side, but having her follow him as he switched identities would be inconvenient.

  But Linda apparently didn't have that awareness, and she said excitedly: "Don't worry, I've been too idle recently! Except for completing my graduation thesis, you know that writing an archaeology paper doesn't require doing experiments, just reading materials and writing out your own views is fine,"

  In America, winter break starts very early because Christmas is equivalent to their Chinese New Year and now it's already December, Linda will be on winter break soon.

  "You're not familiar with Las Vegas yet, I can be your tour guide and translator, I grew up in Las Vegas!"

  "Uh... actually I roughly understand what you're saying, and as for traveling, I don't plan on going out to have fun either."

  "You Chinese have a saying 'guest follows host', right? Since Qingyun has handed you over to me, I'll take care of the arrangements."

  Zhou Jian was speechless, what's going on here, this ocean horse is too enthusiastic, it's a bit unbearable for him. "Uh, Andy has already arranged a room for me, no need to arrange one for me, here is the VIP card."

  Afraid that Paula wouldn't believe him, Zhou Jianliang took out the VIP card Andy had given him, with which he could exchange for a room card at the hotel.

  "This is... wow." Linda stared at the card in Zhou Jian's hand like she was looking at a panda, her bright blue eyes widening even further, "A VIP card for the luxurious suite on the top floor of the Vienna Hotel, you actually got your hands on this thing."

  "Uh, luxury suite? How much does it cost per night?"

  "Nine thousand bucks! And that's after a discount with the Bounty Hunter Bank Diamond VIP card, normally it'd be over ten thousand."

  "It's really expensive." Zhou Jian secretly clicked his tongue. Nine thousand US dollars didn't seem like much, but converted to RMB it was almost 60,000 yuan. In a remote city, the down payment for a small residential unit would be about this price. In China, how many people struggled and rushed around just to buy a house? But for the wealthy, this amount of money could barely cover their expenses for one night, that's the difference between high society and the lower class.

  But this time, the Bounty Hunters Association at least brought them an income of one million US dollars, and spending less than ten thousand US dollars to enjoy themselves for a night is nothing.

  Of course, Linda didn't know any of this, and she continued: "And this luxurious suite isn't something that just anyone with money can stay in. It's usually used as a special room for the Mafia to entertain their VIP guests. In all of Las Vegas, among the hotels owned by the Mafia consortium, there are no more than ten rooms like this one, and the Mafia has many VIPs, so most of the time you can't even book a suite like this."

  Linda's eyes were already shining at this point. However, she also found it strange that Zhou Jian, who was so young, could have such a big face. Was he some kind of big shot in Hua Xia too?

  "It turns out that's the case, I guess it's winter now, and it's considered off-season, so many of the Black Hand Society's hotel rooms are empty." Zhou Jian made a few perfunctory remarks, thinking that this time Linda would finally have no reason to follow him, but he didn't expect Linda's next sentence to almost make him bump his head on the door frame.

  Linda said: "Why don't we live together?"

  －－－－－－－－－－