Chapter 1037: 400 Million

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

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 s.h.i.+ned on the diamonds below.

Under the beams of light, the large number of diamonds emitted a brilliant glow and vibrant colors. They s.h.i.+ned 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, “d.a.m.n, 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 ident.i.ty 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.”

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Chapter 1038: Palladium Card

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the afternoon, Li Du, together with Brother Wolf, alighted from a cab and entered a JP

Morgan branch in Los Angeles.

They took a queue number and waited for the counter clerk to announce their turn.

Then Li Du walked up to the counter and pa.s.sed over a pale gold card. He said, “Hi, I

would like to check the balance.”

The clerk smiled and said, “Sir, you can check your balance at the ATM… oh, please

accept my apologies. I will check this for you right now.”

Halfway through his speech, the clerk noticed the card and straightened his back. He

took Li Du’s card at once, turning around and mumbling at the same time.

He typed furiously, half-hidden behind the computer screen, and said to Li Du, “Please

enter your pa.s.scode.”

Li Du said, “There should be no pa.s.scode on this card.”

The clerk looked at him with sluggish eyes.

Li Du said again, “There is not supposed to be a pa.s.scode for this card.”

The clerk nodded and said, “That’s right, sir, it has no pa.s.scode. The… the balance is,

is, is, if I’m not mistaken, it’s 401 million dollars… G.o.d!”

The clerk could not help but let out a moan.

Although seeing long strings of numbers was common in the bank, they were all

numbers from general ledgers. However high the amount of money, the staff was

mentally prepared and would rarely be shocked.

Li Du’s card was different. That was a personal banking card. As it had a few million or

more belonging to it, the regular counter clerks would not be the ones handling it. That

card would belong to a VIP client and there would be special personnel in charge.

Seeing that the card he was handling contained so much money, the clerk was giddy.

He was a regular run-of-the-mill worker, and never interacted with such a rich client

before.

Besides, he had never come across so much money either. Regular employees had

never even seen a fraction of such a sum.

Having confirmed the balance in the card, Li Du felt more relaxed at once.

Initially, he had some misgivings. Tang Chaoyang had casually pulled out a card and

transferred a few billion just like that. That seemed impossible.

This could, perhaps, happen on television or in the movies, but in real life, transferring

more than four billion US dollars would not be easy for most banks. It would require an

entire slew of processes, some of them involving the ministry of finance.

Li Du had interacted with many rich people. Even for Cole, if the amount added up to

tens of millions, the transfer would require at least half an hour.

Yet here they were dealing with hundreds of millions. In Tang Chaoyang’s hands, that

transfer was almost instantaneous.

Now, Tang Chaoyang and his partner were still in their hotel rooms. Big Quinn and

G.o.dzilla were guarding the door to keep them under surveillance. According to the

agreement, they could only leave after Li Du completed the transfer to his account.

After confirming the balance, Li Du was just about to inquire about transferring the

money into his account when a white-haired middle-aged man hurried over under the

guidance of the lobby manager.

The man wore a smart suit, had neatly parted hair and walked with quick but steady

steps. One could tell that he was a calm person able to deal with any situation.

The two of them stopped in front of Li Du and the white-haired man held out his hand.

“How are you, Mr. Li?”

Li Du was stunned and said, “Do we know each other?”

The man grinned and said, “We received a call from our main branch. They gave us

your key information. Please follow me so that we can a.s.sist you in the transfer.”

JP Morgan Chase Palladium card. That was one of the best cards. Li Du had heard

about those but had never seen one before. When Tang Chaoyang pa.s.sed him the

card, somehow that had slipped his mind.

Hence, when he received the card, he saw the name of the bank and its logo and

nothing more. He was aware that the card was plated with gold, but he had not

expected it to be an alloy made from palladium and 23K gold. Palladium was an

extremely rare and expensive metal. With the gold plating, that card itself was worth a

lot!

The palladium card was a credit card that could also be used for savings. In the upper-

cla.s.s American society, that card was like a business card, something you could use to

open new doors.

According to someone, only JP Morgan Chase Palladium card could open the doors in

the White House. This was unverified, but from that, one could a.s.sume the power of the

palladium card.

As a worldwide top bank card, JP Morgan Chase Palladium was reserved for exclusive

customers. One requirement was to have at least 25 million fluid funds… yes, the

requirement pertained to fluid funds and not total a.s.sets.

Many people had more than 25 millions’ worth of a.s.sets. However, it would be harder to

meet the criteria of having that amount of fluid funds. To date, there were only about

5000 such cards in the whole world.

Li Du was not an American. He had Sophie’s parents help him with his application for a

student visa. Later, Cole had helped him to arrange for his green card.

The middle-aged man was the bank manager, named Birkins. After seeing Li Du’s

green card, he asked enthusiastically, “Mr. Li, would you like to apply for citizens.h.i.+p?

Our bank can help you to arrange that.”

The palladium card was so powerful because having the card meant that one could also

benefit from the influence of the JP Morgan Chase bank. The bank would be able to

help with any matter.

Li Du shook his head; he preferred to keep his Chinese citizens.h.i.+p.

Birkins helped him to process the transfer personally, and all Li Du needed to do was

provide the doc.u.ments and sign.

In the end, the bank card was placed in an exquisite, unique crystal box and pa.s.sed to

him.

Unlike before, this time around there were many numbers and letters on the bank card.

It did not have embossed characters like a regular plastic credit card, but laser-printed

ones.

Li Du’s name was on top, and Birkins handed the crystal box with the card to him. He

provided Li Du with some information regarding the card. For example, the annual fee

was five hundred and ninety-five US dollars, and if there were any problems, he could

call the phone number behind the card.

The phone number at the back of every palladium card was different. It showed that JP

Morgan Chase had allocated a personal service staff member for each customer, ready

to provide a.s.sistance twenty-four seven.

Of course, the funds pertaining to the card were the most important part, with a sum of

more than four billion dollars, Birkins politely asked if he could keep that amount within

their branch.

Li Du said that that was no problem, and Birkins happily went to process his orders.

Learning that Li Du had taken a cab to the bank, Birkins hurriedly located a Bentley and

said, “As long as you are in Los Angeles, you can use this car anytime. Also, thank you

once again, Mr. Li, for putting your trust in our bank, thank you very much!”

Li Du went out and, with some apprehension, proceeded to the Wells Fargo bank

nearby. At the Wells Fargo ATM, he checked the balance once again.

Indeed, there were 401 million US dollars. Apparently, there were no issues with that

sum of money!

There was a security store next to the bank. After some thought, Li Du went in and

bought a few bottles of pepper spray, a high-voltage baton, a stun gun, and some other

tools. Those items could be useful for self-defense in the city. At his current net worth,

he had to be prepared for the worst and know that someone might be targeting him.