Chapter 658: Are You Surprised? Is This Exciting?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With the roaring of the plane, Li Du flew straight from Flagstaff to Las Vegas.
In America, air travel was indeed the best mode of transport as it was fast, cheap, safe, and convenient. Li Du did not drive there this time around.
The only inconvenience was when passing the airport security. After the security guard saw, through the X-ray machine, the large number of gemstones inside the two boxes, he had an astonished look on his face and a look in his eyes that showed he was ready to start trouble, which made Li Du anxious.
When he walked out of the Las Vegas airport terminal, the driver arranged by Harry Winston had already arrived. Director Roger Golden had come over personally in a Rolls-Royce limousine.
He drove directly into the airport and picked Li Du up from inside. As the magnificent, luxurious Rolls-Royce sparkled with a crystal-clear brilliance, it attracted the gaze of a large number of passengers.
From this, Li Du saw the power that Harry Winston possessed; even when dying, it was still greater than most.
This was, after all, one of the top jewelry companies in the world. If not for the bad investment, it would have been difficult to buy its shares.
Despite that, Li Du's appearance was more eye-catching than the limousine as he had three bodyguards: Godzilla, Big Quinn, and Brother Wolf with him.
If Hans hadn't been busy selling balance springs found in watches, Li Du would also bring him along.
Both Godzilla and Big Quinn were tall and huge. Even though Brother Wolf, who was at least six feet tall, already looked very huge in front of ordinary people, he looked like a shriveled youngster when compared to the both of them.
Of course, the person in charge of security was still Brother Wolf.
All three of them were dressed like bodyguards with their black suits, white shirts, black ties, huge sunglasses, and professional demeanors.
Naturally, the person walking in front of them was the boss. Li Du wore a blue jacket and walked with swagger, making him look like a powerful person in charge.
With that, the four of them were very eye-catching, as expected. After Roger saw them, he extended his hand from afar. "Li, welcome to Las Vegas."
Godzilla and Big Quinn opened the trunk of the limousine and placed the two boxes inside.
Seeing the boxes, Roger's eyes lit up. He tentatively asked, "These are?"
Li Du smiled. "All fire opals."
Roger inhaled a breath of cold air and, trying to keep his volume low, excitedly said, "The company can organize a large-scale special conference on opal jewelry!"
This type of special conferences for jewelry were important launch events for luxury goods companies. They would invite celebrities from all over the world and famous magnates to the launch events. From these events, the celebrities and magnates could earn money as well as increase their popularity.
While starting the limousine, Roger asked Li Du if he wanted to rest a while. Li Du shook his head and told him that he was not tired. It was only about a one-hour flight from Flagstaff to Las Vegas.
With that, the limousine drove to the Harry Winston location and both parties went straight to the point.
Before opening the boxes in the office, Li Du asked Roger, "Hey, I brought a lot of fire opals this time around. Is the company able to take them?"
The excitement on Roger's face was hard to hide. "No problem—we definitely can! I have already informed the headquarters of your situation. President Cole was very interested and convened a meeting with the board of directors. Everyone agreed on the strategy to procure high-quality fire opals!"
However, Li Du was unhappy after hearing his words and sighed, "The company is indeed in a precarious situation."
A batch of fire opals alone was able to rouse the whole board of directors, which would have been unthinkable before Harry Winston's bad investment in the diamond mine.
They would take fire opals this seriously as the company had no other solutions and currently needed to grab onto any opportunity to make a profit.
Seeing himself expose the company's secret in a moment of excitement, Roger suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
Li Du casually changed the subject and said, "The number of opals this time is even greater. Be prepared."
"I am already prepared." Roger was still unable to control his excitement.
Although a batch of fire opals and a one-time special conference on fire opal would not be able to revive Harry Winston, it would change the current situation of the company.
The gemstones that Li Du brought were like ginseng for critically ill patients. They were magic drugs that could keep the company breathing. Only when the company was able to breathe, would there be plans later on to restore the company.
Seeing him excited, Li Du smiled. "I am not asking you to be mentally prepared, but to be financially prepared."
After Li Du nodded at Godzilla and Big Quinn, both of them opened the boxes without any expression. Orange-red gemstones that filled the boxes appeared in front of them.
Through the room's large floor-to-ceiling windows, the bright sunlight shined into the room and onto the gemstones. All of a sudden, the rays of light were reflected and illuminated the room. A glaring halo appeared!
Roger was dumbfounded. He whimpered, "Oh, God!"
Previously, Li Du had brought over 58 gemstones. This time around, he'd brought over 600 pieces!
In the time span of 20 days, Li Du had harvested more than 700 gemstones. There were a lot of defective gemstones among them. These gemstones, which were small, lackluster, or too cloudy, had been taken out by him.
The remaining gemstones were practically all decent-quality.
The way that Li Du selected gemstones was different from ordinary people. As the speed at which Li Du searched for gemstones was very fast while using the little bug, it was likely the little bug would overlook gemstones that were lackluster.
The little bug did have its own selection process during the hunt for gemstones, so the quality of the gemstones was never terrible.
The quality of gemstones inside the box Godzilla held was exceptionally good.
Among which, the largest piece of gemstone was the size of a baby's fist. Without a doubt, this piece of gemstone was priceless!
Li Du spoke while gesturing with his hands. "Do you understand what I mean? I need the company's account to have enough cash."
Hearing his words, Roger recovered from the shock.
Roger was a man who had seen much of the world. As the director of the Southwestern Region, which was one of the six regions that Harry Winston divided America into, he had seen countless pieces of jewelry, gemstones, and luxury items.
If these gemstones were diamonds, Roger would not be as shocked even though the price would be much higher. This was because it was possible for a diamond mine to produce tens of thousands of carats worth of diamonds in one batch, which he had seen before.
However, opals were rarer than diamonds while fire opals, which were only produced in northern Mexico and the American southwest, were even rarer. It was a huge shock for him to see so many fire opals at once.
Roger took a deep breath and said, "I need to give President Cole a call. I think he would really like to meet you."
Li Du nodded. "Great, I would like to meet him too."
He needed to meet the leader of the company he had invested in. Previously, he was not qualified to do so as his shares had been too little. Now, he was not only a shareholder, he was also a big customer and was qualified enough to meet the president of the company.
Harry Winston was a family business that had been started by Harry Winston himself and was subsequently taken over by his eldest son, Ronald H. Winston, in the 1970s.
Five years ago, as Ronald Winston had no choice but to step down due to health issues, he'd handed over the company to his eldest son, Cole Winston.
The person Li Du wanted to meet was Cole Winston.