As Cao Fan and Tang Chaoyang chatted, Li Du came to understand why Cao Fan had been so happy to see him, and why he had immediately invited him to join the intimate dinner.
Tang Chaoyang, who needed a batch of diamonds but had yet to secure them, had been upset.
It seemed that Tang Chaoyang and Song Biaozi were quite powerful. Cao Fan was a very skilled man, and he wanted to do both of them a favor, so he’d brought Li Du along to solve this problem.
Since the topic surfaced, Li Du could not ignore it; he asked, “How many diamonds do you need? I’m a shareholder of the Harry Winston Group and may be able to help you see the Group’s diamond stock condition.”
Hearing this, Song Biaozi was excited and cried, “Really? We need—”
“How many diamonds could Mr. Li provide us?” Tang Chaoyang interrupted with a smile. “The more the better.”
“I am not sure,” Li Du said awkwardly. “I have to speak with the president of the Winston group. May I know how much are you all willing to pay? I can help discuss this matter.”
“The international diamond price is ten percent higher than the original price of the diamond. If the quality is good, you can increase the price—the point is to have enough stock,” said Tang Chaoyang.
Li Du nodded. This price was not low—he could go and try to discuss things with the president.
Still, he was skeptical of what Tang Chaoyang had said and asked, “The more the better? How much can you take? You know, diamonds are very expensive.”
Diamond was very expensive. Many people in society evaluated it as just a stone, claiming it was a hyped material and that there was no value.
Indeed, the gem was hailed as one of the greatest marketing hoaxes of the 20th century, providing a typical textbook example of modern marketing: the consumer of goods and services was an unsophisticated concept, and the consumer of goods in the form of education was the most sophisticated achievement.
Many people had come up with evidence that the diamond’s fame was originally created by the Russians, and they hired the stars and celebrities of the time to wear them around the world, making the stone go into the world market.
Li Du did not accept this theory—this was nonsense, diamonds were not worthless!
First of all, diamonds had been around for a long time. Indians discovered these beautiful stones very early on. However, they lacked cutting skills and technology so could not shape diamonds and push them into the market.
However, in that era, beautiful natural diamonds had become a rare commodity. Relative to the price of that time, diamonds in that era were much more expensive than they were today.
Second, a diamond’s value was not all based on its appearance. Its hardness and some of its other physical properties made it just as useful in other industries.
On top of that, Li Du believed that people who thought diamonds were worthless probably hadn’t been exposed to enough diamonds.
This stone was so beautiful, especially when it was completely cut and put into lights and sunlight, that it gave off beauty that could touch any normal person’s heart.
The appreciation of beauty is the highest form of enjoyment pursued by human beings. Beautiful, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and the gem of extreme beauty, the diamond.
However, Li Du also believed that the diamond wasn’t worth such a high price. This stone was very beautiful but could be easily faked, unlike gold and other precious metals.
There was also the fact that diamonds were still quite abundant on earth, and the diamond market could collapse if jewelers dug a lot of them out.
So, in Li Du’s opinion, diamonds were very nice and beautiful, and everybody liked them very much, but they were not worth the current market prices.
Tang Chaoyang smiled and said, “We can take them all. You can just get them ready. My brother and I have saved a lot of money over the years.”
“Sorry to ask, young master Tang. Why do you need so many diamonds? Are you going to use them to impress a princess?” curiously asked Big Cat.
Song Biaozi laughed, “Princess? There’s no damn princess to impress! We have other uses. We have to go in one place and use diamond refraction—”
“Let’s eat! Eat!” With a flash of his hand, Tang Chaoyang took a piece of duck and stuffed it into Song Baozi’s mouth.
Li Du roughly understood what they meant and said, “Then why do you need natural diamonds? There should be a lot of industrial diamonds, right? They’re cheap.”
Song Biaozi wanted to laugh again, but Tang Chaoyang shook his head. “No, industrial diamonds can’t be used. We have to use natural diamonds, but we also don’t know why.”
Like how they didn’t know the Rolls-Royce umbrella could be used to hold off the wind, they didn’t know what the use of diamonds were to these men.
Li Du guessed that they needed many diamonds because maybe they wanted to pave the path with diamonds.
Cao Fan’s goal was not really to help Tang Chaoyang find diamonds. He wanted to let Tang Chaoyang and Song Biaozi understand his attitude of trying to help them.
After dinner, Li Du returned to the hotel. Cole booked him a room at the famous Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a luxury VIP room for 1,000 dollars a night.
The hotel was just a block away from Central Park, overlooking half of New York City’s night view, and using the east concept decorations as an attraction. It was fantastic.
The hotel offered night snacks; all kinds of drinks, fruits, and snacks with relatively few ingredients. This also included Japanese fish, Chinese dumplings, Vietnamese sandwiches, and Korean barbecue.
By breakfast time, the menu was hearty: New York hot dogs, smoked salmon with egg and onion sturgeon, grilled cheeses, tortillas with pork floss and omelet, waffles with foie gras, cornmeal with Oaxaca cheese, chili green chili peppers with pickled halibut in cranberry sauce.
Li Du and Sophie chose a vegetarian diet, which was the hotel’s specialty breakfast and a good meal for clearing their bowels.
After breakfast, Cole waited in his office for Li Du and introduced him to some shareholders and dignitaries of the Winston Group.
On the way to the headquarter of the Harry Winston Hroup, which was located in Midtown, Li Du viewed the most classic image of New York:
Busy office workers, soaring skyscrapers, the windows on 5th Avenue, a steady stream of traffic, and other New York City attractions.
Being able to set up the headquarters here could show the strength of the Winston Group and, at the same time, cause great financial pressure.
Once the group’s funds were available and the headquarters building looked great, if there were a problem, it would become a rope around their necks and a reminder of their responsibility.
Li Du, dressed in a Tang suit to show his ethnic identity, entered the office briskly under the guidance of Cole’s secretary.
Cole’s office was large and spread over a hundred square feet. Cole and a dozen other people were discussing something inside. They stood up once they saw Li Du.
In that moment Li Du sensed hostility.
