1037 400 Million
The suitcase, placed on the table, was not too big. It was simple designed, not pretentious in the slightest.
Li Du snapped his fingers and glanced at Tang Chaoyang and Song Biaozi. "Please."
Song Biaozi looked at the case and said in disappointment, "Only this?"
Diamonds were very hard, incredibly hard, so they could damage each other. They were extremely valuable so they were generally stored separately.
There were small compartments in the storage suitcase, and each contained a diamond. This prevented the diamonds from colliding and becoming damaged during transportation.
In this case, a small suitcase really could not store many diamonds.
Song Biaozi casually went over and lifted the case. As he lifted it up, his expression became surprised. "Hey, this is really heavy."
The calm and composed Tang Chaoyang waved his hand and said, "Don't move. Open the case."
When the case opened, a densely packed pile of diamonds appeared in front of them.
This suitcase was a special case for the transportation of diamonds. There were small, high-intensity lights in the case. Once the case was opened, the small lights shined on the diamonds below.
Under the beams of light, the large number of diamonds emitted a brilliant glow and vibrant colors. They shined like a stream of twinkling water. It was extremely beautiful!
These were not raw diamonds. Li Du had found someone to cut and polish them. Thus, they were way more beautiful and valuable than raw diamonds. He did not want to sell raw diamonds because it would be easy for people to cut down the price as if he was an idiot.
Song Biaozi was dumbfounded for a short moment, and then he praised, "Damn, they are beautiful!"
Tang Chaoyang went to grab a handful of diamonds. He spread out his hands and ran them over the precious gems.
Li Du smiled and asked, "Do you want all of them?"
Tang Chaoyang nodded and, relaxed, said, "Yes. Otherwise, how could I treat your diamonds as I wish?"
Li Du gestured for them to sit down and said, "Then, we can talk about the price now."
Tang Chaoyang said, "Yes, we can. But let me be clear first: I don't need diamonds with large carats. For me, there's no difference between crushed diamonds and big diamonds. So, you better retrieve the big diamonds and leave me with the small and low-priced ones."
Li Du said, "Let me be clear too. These diamonds do not have any certificates. If you are taking them away, it is best to beware of the cops. Once inspected, there's nothing I can do to help."
As Tang Chaoyang heard this, he smiled. "Hah, that's great. Originally, our agreement was above the market price. Now that the condition has changed, I'm offering 50 percent of the market price!"
Li Du was intrigued. Fifty percent of the market price was very reasonable. If he dealt with these diamonds through other channels, he would only get 30 or 40 percent of the market value.
However, he felt that he could still fight for it and said, "Fifty is too low. How about 70 percent?"
Tang Chaoyang smiled. "I don't like to bargain. Time is precious. How can we waste time cutting the price? Fifty percent—this price is very reasonable."
On the contrary, Li Du loved to bargain. He slapped the table and said, "Sixty percent with additional conditions. If you're not in a hurry, I can continue to supply you a batch of diamonds every season."
"Fifty," Tang Chaoyang insisted. "But the condition you offered is quite valuable. I can offer you a piece of equally valuable information."
"What kind of information?"
"You used to engage in storage auctions, right? A treasure hunter?"
"Yes."
"I'm giving you information about a warehouse that is going to be auctioned. There are units worth at least ten million dollars. But as to which one, you have to figure it out on your own."
Li Du thought about it and compared it with the 60 percent offer—10 million was not enough.
But considering Tang Chaoyang's behavior, he realized this man would not waver. So the warehouse information was a bonus that he might as well take. In any case, it was still worth ten million dollars.
After considering it, he nodded. "Alright. It's a deal then. Let's weigh the diamonds."
Song Biaozi laughed, "This was the first time I saw such a diamond transaction. It's like buying vegetables and selling meat. Weighing for the price before evaluating the quality."
Li Du smiled. Indeed, how could diamonds be sold in such a way? This was not gold or silver. Every diamond had a different value. The price of two diamonds with the same weight could be much different.
However, he was in a hurry to get rid of these diamonds, as they had been obtained through illegal means. He did not have any other appropriate channel to deal with them. Thus, he could only sell them to Tang Chaoyang.
The pricing of a diamond was very complex. First, the diamond had to be evaluated from all aspects, giving a 4C rating.
They compared it to a diamond pricing chart, and found the section that matched the grade, and then applied the diamond pricing formula. This would produce an approximated price for the diamond.
If a specific price was required, the further evaluation had to be carried out. The fluorescence of the diamond, the degree of modification, and the ratio of the cut would affect its price. It was a very difficult process.
Li Du had many diamonds. If every piece had to be rated, he would need to hire a professional team and it would take a long period of time to complete.
It was easy to create confusion when there were many people involved. Thus, it was better to sell all of them to Tang Chaoyang.
In the eyes of Tang Chaoyang, these diamonds were no different than ordinary stones. He did not care about their individual weight. The total weight, however, was 8,210 grams. The number after the decimal point was directly erased.
Currently, in the international market, the price of crushed diamonds ranged from 2,000 dollars to 20,000 dollars per carat. Tang Chaoyang offered the median, regardless of the quality of the diamonds, which was 10,000 dollars per carat.
Li Du accepted the offer. The average price of a whole diamond per carat in the market would generally cost a little over 10,000 dollars per carat, so this price was relatively high for crushed diamonds.
Eight thousand two hundred ten grams of diamonds, after conversion, equaled 41,050 carats, which cost up to 410.5 million dollars!
Li Du looked at Tang Chaoyang and said, "Do you have . . . ?"
Tang Chaoyang took out a light golden colored bankcard and pushed it to Li Du. Then, he said, "410.5 million dollars. You can go and check."
Li Du looked at the card and then looked at Tang Chaoyang with a quirky expression. "You prepared the money before you came? How did you know the weight of the diamonds?"
Tang Chaoyang laughed, "I can predict the future. Do you believe me?"
Li Du stopped touching the card and shook his head. "I don't believe it!"
Tang Chaoyang said, "You're right for not believing that! When I came here, there was not even a penny on this card. It was an empty credit account. But I just sent a message. Now there's 410.5 million dollars in there."
After a pause, he added, "In addition, JP Morgan Chase Bank will send someone to help you fill up the identity information of this card. From now one, this card belongs to you.
"Also, I promised to give you a piece of auction information. This warehouse company is called Wild Golden Hill. Their auction should be starting this week, with a total of about ten storage units."
Li Du nodded. "Okay, which storage unit is the valuable one?"
Tang Chaoyang glanced at him with a half smile. "Do I have to tell you this, too? I believe you can manage that part yourself, right?"
Li Du shrugged. "As long as there's such a unit, I can probably manage."