457: Chapter 454: One Must Not Be Too Greedy 457: Chapter 454: One Must Not Be Too Greedy Gao Yang walked out of the cabin and casually tossed the tube bag filled with emeralds to Li Jinfang before walking over to Lucica’s side.
He pointed at the shed and the people squatting all over the ground and asked, “Who are these people, and what’s going on?”
“Those in the shed are workers, some are locals, and many were deceived and forced to mine for gems; there are over forty people inside the big house, all armed guards.”
Gao Yang nodded, then turned to Ivan and said, “The number of armed guards doesn’t match up; it seems we’re short on some, also, how should we deal with these people?”
Ivan shook his head and said, “Don’t bother with them; just take their weapons and let them leave on their own.
What I’m concerned about now is Arturo’s mine.
I feel it’s not that simple.”
After speaking, Ivan went into the room where the armed guards stayed, called out a few commands in Spanish, then had Antonov escort someone out from the room.
He engaged in a murmured conversation in Spanish on the side for a while.
After asking his questions, Ivan then had Antonov take the person back into the room and said softly to Gao Yang, “It’s all clear now, we can leave.”
Gao Yang pointed at the big house and asked, “What about those people inside?”
Ivan shrugged and replied, “Just take away their weapons, that’s it.
See those people?
Without their weapons, those guards won’t be an issue, and these workers who were forced to toil in the mine without pay will take care of the rest for us.”
Following Ivan’s instructions, everyone entered the house, collected all the weapons, and seized the communication equipment, like phones and walkie-talkies.
However, Gao Yang and his team certainly weren’t going to take those with them; there was a cliff right next to the camp, so they just threw the weapons over the edge.
Once everything was settled and they confirmed that no one in the camp posed a threat anymore, Gao Yang and the others immediately left.
On the way back, Ivan sighed regretfully, took one last look at the camp, and then, with a reluctance in his tone, said, “You know, Arturo hit a streak of dumb luck by finding an old mine shaft.
I really want to continue mining it, but I guess I’ll let it be.
Establishing a fixed industry in one place isn’t my style, but it’s truly a pity.”
Gao Yang asked with interest, “What do you mean by that?”
Ivan shrugged and explained, “Let me give you the details.
Colombia is the largest producer of emeralds and also the top producer of the finest quality emeralds.
There are three major emerald mining areas in Colombia—Muzo, Chivor, and Coscue, with the Muzo Mining Area recognized as the world’s best source of emeralds.
The illicit mining of emeralds has never ceased.
Arturo thought he found a high-quality emerald vein in the Muzo area.
He borrowed money from me and went to great lengths to dig a mine shaft, only to come up empty in the end.
After losing money, Arturo had no choice but to flee to avoid his debts.
However, his luck was indeed good; he came to Laguna de Guatavita, which is where I am now.
Before the 15th century, Indigenous People of Colombia mined emeralds on this mountain.
After the Spaniards arrived, they plundered the Indigenous People’s gold and gems.
Later, the Indigenous People sank all their gold and emeralds into a lake at the foot of the mountain and sealed all their mine shafts, concealing them until now, with no one knowing where the ancient Indigenous mines are.
The mountain we’re on has already been extensively mined; the emerald veins have been depleted, and no one continues to mine here.
Arturo just wanted to try his luck, but who could have imagined that when he dug down, he would break through to an old Indigenous mine shaft?
And so, he found an emerald vein with immense reserves.
That’s how things stand.”
Ivan’s words gave Gao Yang a lot to think about.
He reflected, “To have stumbled upon a hidden old mine shaft…
I really don’t know if Arturo is lucky or unlucky.
How much money could he have made if he had kept mining?”
Ivan shrugged and replied, “You mean how many emeralds could be mined from that shaft?
Only God knows that.
Maybe fifty million, maybe a hundred million, maybe even a billion, but certainly not a small amount.”
Gao Yang laughed and said, “Then why don’t you continue mining?
It shouldn’t be hard for you, right?”
Ivan shook his head and responded, “One must not be too greedy in life.”
After a moment of reflection, Ivan said with a wry smile, “It’s a real shame to let go of this mine, but I’m just an arms dealer.
Even if I do take on some side jobs now and then, they’re short-term and quick cash deals.
Running this mine would require me to either deploy a lot of people here to prevent it from being taken over, or to cooperate with the local gangs.
Plus, I’d have to keep it a secret.
Otherwise, once the government gets wind of it, it’s impossible to continue mining.”
For an arms dealer, it’s best to stick to selling weapons peacefully.
Cooperating with gangs is a foolish choice.
I can sell weapons to gangs, but I would never engage with them in any kind of long-term partnership.
So, it’s more straightforward just to give up on the mine.”
Gao Yang chuckled and said, “Regardless, we’ve already made quite a haul this time.
So, what’s next?
How do we handle these emeralds?”
Ivan snapped his fingers, grinning.
“I’ve already found an expert to appraise the emeralds.
He will give us a rough price after checking out our stones, and then we can just go and sell the emeralds at the Bogota gem market.”
Gao Yang asked in surprise, “Do we need to go to the market to sell the gems?”
Ivan shook his head, “No, that’s not it.
Of course, we could find a buyer to sell all the stones in one go, but neither you nor I know much about emeralds.
The gem dealers I know don’t have a particularly close relationship with me, so I can’t guarantee they won’t cheat me.
The price varies greatly depending on the quality of the stones.
So, it’s better to get them appraised, at least that way we won’t get ripped off.”
Just then, Frey, walking ahead of Gao Yang, turned around and called out loudly, “Boss, don’t sell all the emeralds, remember to save one for Yelena.
I’ve already decided; I need to keep a few from my share to make some jewelry for my mom and girlfriend.”
Gao Yang laughed and scolded, “Piss off, you don’t even need to mention that.
I’ve planned that already, sell the lesser ones and keep the best.”
Li Jinfang sighed and said, “Ah, you all have someone to give them to.
Who could I give them to if I kept them?
I’ve decided to sell them, all of them, not keeping a single one.
It’s better than holding onto them and feeling annoyed.”
Ivan laughed heartily, “Actually, you could keep all the gems.
Colombia is an emerald-producing country, so the prices are lower here.
If you take the emeralds elsewhere to sell, you could double the price, at least.
But it also depends on how much our haul is worth this time.
We’ve got quite a bulk of gems, and if their value is too high, it would be difficult to sell them all at once without the Bogota trading market.”
With spirits high from the fruitful harvest, Glolov said laughing, “I thought all arms dealers were like that vampire Uriyangko, never willing to miss out on a chance to make money.
Ivan, in this respect, you’re better than Uriyangko.
I can guarantee that if he were here, he definitely wouldn’t pass up the mine.”
Ivan smiled, “Uriyangko?
I can assure you he would never give up that mine.
They say his nickname is ‘Vampire,’ but it should really be ‘Dragon,’ because he can’t resist anything shiny and valuable.
He might be able to resist the temptation of one million US dollars and think rationally, but if it were a diamond worth one million dollars, no, even half a million, Uriyangko would lose his mind.
If you asked him to give up an emerald vein, he’d go crazy, absolutely mad.”
It had taken nearly three hours to get up to Arturo’s mining camp on the mountain, and by the time Gao Yang and his team were heading back, it was nearly the same amount of time.
They chatted and laughed all the way down to the base of the mountain just as dawn was beginning to break, and got into the car that was left at the foot of the mountain.
Once in the car, Ivan eagerly picked up the phone, calling the expert he had already arranged to meet, and directed him to go to the estate he had rented to appraise the gems.
By the time they returned to the countryside estate Ivan had rented, it was broad daylight.
After putting away their weapons and gear, they didn’t rest but went straight to the large living room of the estate.
Everyone sat on the sofas, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the appraisal expert.
Apart from Gao Yang and Ivan, only Antonov knew the full extent of their gains.
When Ivan proudly dumped the contents of two bags onto a table, revealing the jewels inside, exclamations of awe filled the room.
The emeralds piled into a small mound on the table.
Ivan placed his hand over the pile and declared loudly, “Fellas, we’ve hauled at least fifteen kilograms of gems.
Now I can happily claim that I definitely won’t be running at a loss this time, haha.”
Bruce let out a loud whistle, his face animated as he exclaimed, “F**k, I never thought that gems could be weighed by the kilogram.”
Bruce’s comment sparked another round of laughter and excitement as Gao Yang and the others were joyous over their finds.
Just then, the gem appraisal expert finally arrived.
As there were so many stones, Ivan had his previously arranged expert bring an additional assistant.
When Ivan’s bodyguards led the experts into the living room and they saw the emeralds, both appraisers exclaimed in unison, “So many!” (To be continued.
If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets at qidian.com.
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)