459: Chapter 456 Ivan’s Methods 459: Chapter 456 Ivan’s Methods Gao Yang and his group showered, changed out of their combat gear into street clothes, and, each armed with only a handgun, followed Ivan majestically to trade their emeralds.
Bogota has the world’s largest emerald market, known as Emerald Street, which is filled with gem shops of all sizes, selling both processed jewelry and raw, unprocessed gemstones.
Naturally, every shop here also purchases uncut stones.
Gao Yang and Ivan rode in the same car.
In the car, Ivan seemed to remember something, rummaged through his bag for the two largest emeralds, and handed them to Gao Yang, saying, “Put these away, and when I tell you to show them, reluctantly take them out.”
Although Gao Yang didn’t understand what Ivan was planning, he still pocketed the two largest gems.
Upon reaching Emerald Street, Ivan led Gao Yang and the rest directly to a gem shop.
After getting out of the car, the group of more than a dozen people marched grandly into the not-so-large shop.
All the salespeople in the shop were men.
Although the shop was small, it still had four employees, and after Gao Yang and his group crowded in, they nearly filled up the space.
The language barrier was indeed a trouble; a clerk spouted something unintelligible to Gao Yang, who couldn’t understand a word.
After Ivan exchanged a few words with the clerk, the clerk looked at Gao Yang and his group skeptically, shook his head, and it was unclear what they had discussed.
Gao Yang waved at Lucica and then whispered, “What are they saying?”
“Ivan said he had an appointment with their boss and asked the clerk to take us inside, but the clerk said there were too many of us to enter.”
Gao Yang nodded and was about to agree with Ivan that they would leave if they couldn’t enter when he saw Ivan speak again.
The clerk then went to a door at the back of the shop, spoke a few words after pressing an intercom, and after shaking his head at Ivan, he finally opened the back door.
Ivan waved Gao Yang over, smiling, “Come on, there’s no problem now.”
Since there was no problem, naturally Gao Yang had to follow and see for himself.
The retail space was small, but it extended far back; from the shop emerged a narrow and long corridor.
After walking a distance, they came to a closed iron gate.
Once the leading clerk spoke a few words, the heavy iron gate opened, and Gao Yang’s group was allowed to continue on.
Through the iron gate was a courtyard where several burly men with assault rifles watched Gao Yang and his group warily.
They climbed a short flight of stairs into the second floor, where several armed guards stood watch at the entrance.
On seeing Ivan, one of the guards with a gun stopped him and motioned for a search.
Ivan shook his head and suddenly shouted, “Salo, all my people have guns.
If you have to search us, then I’ll just leave.”
Ivan had barely raised his voice when a quick response came,
“Ivan, my friend, you’ve finally arrived, I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”
With the sound of that voice, a plump man with graying hair quickly emerged from an inner room.
On seeing Ivan, he let out a hearty laugh, then hugged Ivan tightly before smiling broadly and saying, “Welcome, my friend, I’ve been waiting for you.”
After speaking, the man named Salo glanced at Gao Yang and his group and said, “What’s with all the people?
Don’t blame my staff for being tense; seeing so many people, they obviously have to be careful.”
Ivan shook his head and pointed at Gao Yang, “Don’t misunderstand; he’s my friend, not my bodyguard.
Can’t you see?
All these people are his bodyguards; this guy here is the real big seller, I’m just the middleman, don’t get it wrong.
Okay, no more questions or tests; my friend is just here to sell goods.”
Ivan didn’t intend to introduce Gao Yang.
Although Salo was curious about Gao Yang, he refrained from probing and instead greeted Gao Yang with a hug before booming, “Welcome, my friend!”
Gao Yang now understood what Ivan was up to; he kept a straight face, nodding slightly in a reserved manner without saying a word.
After ushering Gao Yang and Ivan into a large and luxurious reception room, Gao Yang and Ivan sat on the sofa while Glolov and the others discreetly stood behind Gao Yang, making him seem like the most important person in the room.
Once Gao Yang and his team were seated, Salo said impatiently, “Ivan, bring out your goods for me to see, I can’t wait any longer.”
Ivan grabbed his backpack, looked at Gao Yang, and asked, “Sir, shall we start the trade?”
Gao Yang kept a stern face, nodded, and after a dismissive hand gesture, Ivan opened the backpack’s zipper and poured all the gems onto the coffee table in front of Salo.
The backpack for the gems had many compartments.
As Ivan pulled out more and more stones, Salo’s expression grew increasingly satisfied.
Once Ivan indicated all the gems were on the table, Salo nodded, took out a magnifying glass, and leaned over to begin inspecting the gems on the coffee table.
After a brief glance, Salo said a few words to his stern-looking bodyguard standing behind him, and then four more people came over.
Once they arrived, Salo said to Ivan, “Can we have the gemstones taken to the next room to be tested?”
Ivan did not agree directly, but looked at Gao Yang with a smile, “Salo is an old friend of mine, his credibility is beyond question.
What do you think, can we let them check?”
After Gao Yang nodded, Ivan immediately smiled at Salo, “Please, go ahead.”
With a wave of his hand, Salo’s men took the emeralds to the next room for testing.
After the stones had been taken away, Salo smiled and said, “This batch of gemstones is quite substantial, and the quality isn’t bad either.
However, none of these stones are top-grade.
My friend, if you have anything better, bring it all out.”
Ivan smiled and said, “No rush, my friend.
Let’s first discuss the price for these goods and then we can continue.”
Gao Yang said nothing while Ivan and Salo chatted idlely.
Nearly an hour passed before someone came out from the room where the stones were being tested.
They whispered a few words to Salo and then hurried back inside, bringing out the gemstones that still belonged to Gao Yang and Ivan and placed them on the coffee table.
Once the gemstones were returned, Salo said in a grave tone, “For this batch, I am willing to offer a high price of nine million US dollars.”
Gao Yang did some mental calculations.
Ivan’s expert had initially said that the total value of the gemstones was between fourteen and eighteen million US dollars; anything within that range would be considered fair.
Gao Yang and his associates had already taken out emeralds valued over five million US dollars, including the two largest stones, so an eight-million-dollar price tag seemed reasonable.
Gao Yang felt the offer was fair, but Ivan shook his head and said, “No, no, Salo, I think ten million is a good price.”
Salo immediately shook his head with a smile, “Ivan, my offers are always very strict.
This batch is worth only eight million.
I must leave myself some room for profit.
Eight million is a very reasonable price.
You won’t find anyone else willing to pay more than I have offered.
However, I know you’re keeping the good stuff for later.
Bring them out, the better the quality, the better the price, right?”
Ivan shrugged and then took out a handful of top-grade emeralds from his pocket, placing them on the coffee table.
Gao Yang looked over and saw there were ten in total; it seemed Ivan had kept quite a bit back for himself.
As Salo was about to lower his head to inspect these top-grade emeralds, Ivan stretched out his hand and said, “These are separate, what do you think they’re worth?”
After looking them over, Salo pondered and said, “One million three hundred thousand is a fair price, but I’m willing to offer you one million five hundred thousand US dollars.”
Ivan shook his head again and said, “That’s the so-called wholesale price again, right?”
“Yes, the wholesale price.
I buy in bulk, and I must make a profit.”
After pondering for a moment, Ivan said in a deep voice, “Let’s do this: for that batch, you give ten million, for these best ones, two million, a total of twelve million US dollars, all yours.”
Salo laughed heartily, “Impossible, that’s impossible, my friend.
Your asking price is too excessive.”
Ivan smiled and replied, “Don’t be hasty.
The price I’m asking is still within a reasonable range, but once you see the really good stuff, you won’t think I am asking too much.”
After speaking, Ivan looked at Gao Yang, “Sir, please take them out.
Salo is my friend, and he will offer a good price.”
Gao Yang now realized why Ivan had wanted him to pack up the two largest gemstones.
After hesitating for a moment as if in doubt, Gao Yang nodded and took out the two largest gemstones from his jacket pocket, placing them gently on the coffee table.
Only after Gao Yang set the two egg-sized gemstones on the table did Ivan say with pride, “Look, these are the real deal.
And the price is set by us: ten million for the two, non-negotiable!”
Salo seriously picked up the two large stones and examined them.
After a while, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Buddy, you’ve got it wrong.
These are indeed good, but definitely not worth ten million.
At most, I’ll give one million.
Really, although these stones are large, they have too many cracks and impurities.
They’re not as valuable as you think.”
Playing out the full act, Gao Yang stood up silently as if about to leave, while Ivan quickly said, “Sir, don’t be in a rush.
It’s normal for businessmen to bargain.
We should at least hear Salo’s reasoning.”
With a helpless expression, Salo said, “Friend, emeralds don’t just increase in value with size.
Quality is what matters.
Of course, size definitely adds value, but these two gems are not of high enough quality to be worth ten million.”
Gao Yang, expressionless, said, “That’s not what I heard.
Seems we cannot agree.
I might as well look elsewhere.”
After hesitating for a moment, Salo could only say with a pained expression, “Friend, I don’t want to lose this deal, but I can’t possibly engage in a loss-making business.
So, I’ll agree to the price Ivan proposed, and for the two big ones, I’ll offer a total of three million US dollars – a high price.
That makes the total fifteen million US dollars, that’s my final offer.
If you can’t accept this, then I’m afraid I’ll have to give up on this transaction.” (To be continued.
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