Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Twenty-eight pieces of bright material were all cut open, and they found four pieces of good quality material that could sell for about 60 to 70 million. Although it did not pay back all the capital, it reduced their losses.
Li Du clapped his hands and motioned to the bodyguard who was left behind by Tu Qin to lock the warehouse. “Look carefully, brother. We didn’t move any of your stones, what we cut were all the raw materials that belong to us.”
The bodyguard hurriedly smiled and said, “Yes, Mr. Li, no problem, everything is fine.”
Zhong Dapao was dissatisfied and said, “I have a problem, Young Master Li. We lost a lot of money, our investment was not earned back, and it’s a big loss!”
Li Du smiled and said, “What did you lose? Didn’t we make a profit?”
Zhong Dapao said, “We made a profit? What do you mean? How did you make it?”
Li Du said, “Why don’t you tell me what we lost?”
Zhong Dapao held out his hands and said, “We invested many millions of RMB. With that idiot of the Suo Family, the total expenditure came to 200 million RMB. And we only got this.”
Li Du said with a smile, “The King’s money has nothing to do with us. Our investment was more than 90 million yuan. Now we can recover an estimated 60 million yuan. If we find a suitable buyer, these stones could sell for 70 million, and we will only lose 20 million.”
“Yeah, but that’s still a huge loss,” Zhong Dapao said sadly.
Li Du said, “Think of it as an investment of 20 million to get rid of the King’s control. We entered Huika successfully. Isn’t this a major gain?”
Liu Zi shook his head and said, “Gain? A 20 million entrance fee? How would we gain it back? Besides, it makes me damn angry when I think about how they stole our stones. They made a profit. Those stones must be worth a lot of money!”
Li Du shook his head and said, “It’s impossible. Those stones are not worth much. Compared with their investment of about 100 million RMB, they would be lucky to recover half of it.”
As a matter of fact, he knew that they could not get a penny back because the lost stones were in his black hole.
At the very beginning, Li Du played to his strengths, making full use of the black hole space, knowing full well he would never be caught.
In the eyes of outsiders, he bought stones randomly, like a silly man with a lot of money. In fact, he carefully selected the stones he bought, such as when he bought the pile of black ore outside the mine. Through the little bugs’ eyes, he saw those stones contained good jade, so he bought them.
The black ore has not been cut and polished and all stones looked the same, so no one could remember how much he bought and what the stones looked like when he bought them, so he put the best pieces of ore into the black hole space on the spot.
Later, he bought the raw materials that were expensive and could not be bought in batches but only in single pieces. After buying them, he did not directly hide them in the black hole space because of their unique appearance, knowing that others would remember them easily.
When it was time to cut the stones, at first he brought forth a pile of black material to provoke the King of Hpakant. Then when they went into the warehouse to take the raw materials to cut them, he only moved and hid a few pieces of high valued stones that were mixed in between.
In the end, he succeeded in tricking the King.
Because the warehouse belonged to the King of Hpakant, the people who guarded the warehouse were also his men. There was no surveillance camera inside the warehouse, so when the stones inside the warehouse disappeared, no one would doubt that it was the King’s fault.
The King was greedy and had a bad reputation, so no matter how one looked at it, everyone would think that it was the King of Hpakant who hid the stones.
Li Du was in a good mood. 200 million RMB had bought him a lot of good material, and he estimated that he could earn a few times more money from selling it. And the King of Hpakant has gone, so that was two birds with one stone.
Zhong Dapao and Liu Zi were despondent. 20 million was a huge sum of money for them.
Li Du said, “Come on, don’t be so sad. The big sale is just around the corner. Wouldn’t we have the chance to earn money? Besides, this loss is on my account, and has nothing to do with you.”
Zhong Dapao shook his head and said, “This can’t be so. Master Li, you are humiliating me, Zhong Dapao, by saying this.”
Li Du said, “Don’t be stubborn. Keep your money to feed the people in the village. This loss is my fault. I did this to chase away the King of Hpakant, but the loss is worth it.”
Liu Zi said, “Hey, Master Li, if you want to, I will take my brothers to fight with the King’s men. We’ll have a great fight. It will be a big deal to save 20 or 30 million RMB. I would be willing to fight even with the government.”
Li Du shook his finger and said, “The most precious thing in the world is life. No matter how beautiful a stone is, it’s nothing compared to your life.”
Liu Zi said, “That’s in America and China, In Hpakant, life is not worth a damn. Hey, Da Mao, stay close to me. There are many people trying to get you now. Watch out, don’t fall into their hands.”
The reason why the King’s incident happened was the existence of Da Mao. Including Da Mao, everybody thought Li Du lost the money because of him.
Da Mao apologized to Li Du in embarrassment. Li Du pulled him to his side, smiled and said, “Why do you want to apologize? Let’s pick more stones, what we have to do is to earn money nicely in the coming days.”
When they got back to the market, a group of people gathered around him and showed him the stones.
“Boss, boss, look at my stones. This kind is rarely seen in Huika.”
“Mine is good, look at the oil skin of my stone, isn’t it bright? It’s bright green, and inside it might be emperor emerald.”
“Boss, this piece of mine is good material for Nam Kay. You’ve just cut a Nama Kay jade, right? This is definitely a good piece…”
Li Du pushed aside the line of people, pursed his lips and said, “Are you thinking I am a fool with a lot of money? None of this material is worth a penny. I’m not buying.”
The big stone sales presented a collection of materials each mine. The market was lined in a crisscross manner, and every place had traces of raw stone materials.
Da Mao led the way. Li Du was responsible for the money. Together, they began to choose the stones carefully.
Huika was their last stop. Although Li Du has not yet gone to Longken, Xiangdong and Old Hpakant’s private market, he decided to give up on going to those places.
His black hole space has been filled with weapons and jade, and he decided enough is enough. He would come to Hpakant next time and clean up the private market in Longken and other mines.
The group stayed at the club for two days and two nights, going around the market and buying materials that cost more than 60 million.
According to the rules, they only cut open half of the ore. The rest of the stones were taken back, and they would open a little of them every three to five days. Otherwise, the gain frequency would be a little too eye-catching.
In fact, even half of the stones they had cut attracted much attention because they have gained hundreds of millions. The jade they found was of excellent quality.
Fortunately, hundreds of millions of jade seed would be found every day in the big sales, so people would focus on their harvest and fervently believe in large hauls.
Leaving Huika, they were ready to return. When they were ready to leave, Zhong Dapao came hurriedly and said, “We have a bit of trouble. I just got bad news from a brother.”
