C158 – Shock
Upon catching the scent of fruit, Su Ming’s initial thought was: Could this be akin to fennel?
The trees bore pears, but was there something else special about them?
Approaching for a closer look, Su Ming was astounded.
The trees were laden with diamonds!
These weren’t like the diamonds he’d unearthed before; these sparkled with color.
Pink diamonds, blue diamonds, black diamonds – all of considerable size.
Su Ming had a friend who was a designer in the diamond industry, who once mentioned that a 24-carat pink diamond fetched 320 million yuan at auction.
That was a decade-old price. Today, it would have surely doubled at the very least!
Nearby, a pink diamond dangled from a branch, appearing even larger.
The notion of diamonds as luxury goods was a deception in itself.
Long ago, there was no link between marriage and diamonds.
Yet, diamond merchants coined a phrase that married the two concepts, crafting one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever.
It shifted the marital values of countless people!
While diamonds are seen as luxury in society, they aren’t inherently rare.
The world is home to numerous diamond mines.
If all the earth’s diamonds were extracted, everyone could have a handful, diminishing their worth. Diamond merchants, to maintain market value, curtailed mining.
Yet, the value of colored diamonds has never waned.
Colored diamonds are the epitome of luxury!
Each tree bore diamonds of a single hue – one tree pink, another blue.
Su Ming recalled an auction four years prior where a 14.62-carat Auburn Heimeran diamond sold for an astonishing 400 million yuan, breaking the world record for diamond auctions!
Su Ming blinked in disbelief.
With roughly ten diamonds per tree, the collective sum amounted to thousands.
He had fretted over financial sources, but with these gems, thirty billion seemed trivial.
Even now, Su Ming was momentarily stunned.
He swallowed hard and rushed back inside to grab more bags for harvesting diamonds.
After a quick tally, he estimated nearly 2,000 diamonds in his possession!
The yield seemed modest compared to when red wine had grown in his cornfield.
But when placed next to diamonds, red wine just seemed too inexpensive.
Su Ming chuckled heartily, ready to unfold his grand plans at last!
Real estate was foreign territory to Su Ming.
But President Chen and Wang Guohui were likely to assist him with the endeavor.
He needn’t be involved personally.
The top priority was to offload these items.
He needed to make enough money.
Lying in bed for a bit, Su Ming drifted off to sleep.
The next day, bright and early, Su Ming had just finished freshening up when President Chen arrived.
“President Chen is here so early,” Su Ming mused.
Feeling somewhat resigned, Su Ming watched as President Chen, without disturbing him, quietly made his way to the three-acre plot and started watering and fertilizing.
Su Ming chuckled to himself as he headed downstairs.
“Mr. Su, you’re up early!”
President Chen expressed his surprise. Mr. Su had the air of a sage about him, but he was still a young man. Sleeping in would have been perfectly normal.
Su Ming couldn’t help but smile at President Chen, thinking about how he must have been up late again last night, likely in a lengthy battle of sorts, undeterred by the thought of his wife being exhausted.
“President Chen, I need to ask you something,” Su Ming said.
“Of course, ask away.”
President Chen responded eagerly.
“Do you know of any places that offer diamond recycling services?” inquired Su Ming.
“Diamonds?” President Chen paused briefly before responding, “Our bank provides that service. Plus, there are specialized jewelry stores that also recycle diamonds.”
“Ah, I see.”
Su Ming nodded, showing his understanding, then posed another question, “Can your bank handle a 30 billion transaction?”
“How much?” President Chen was taken aback.
He had assumed Su Ming would bring out a few more diamonds from his stash to sell.
President Chen had figured Su Ming might want to offload diamonds worth a few tens of millions at most.
But the idea of Su Ming wanting to sell diamonds valued at a staggering 30 billion caught him off guard.
For a moment, President Chen couldn’t decide who was more out of touch with reality – himself or Su Ming.
Then he remembered their conversation from the day before.
That explained why Su Ming had asked him about the cost of purchasing two buildings.
“Mr. Su, diamonds are indeed valuable, but 30 billion...” President Chen hesitated, unsure how to continue.
Ordinary diamonds worth 30 billion would require such a massive quantity, they’d need to be hauled by train.
And even several high-grade diamonds wouldn’t fetch a price anywhere near 30 billion.