Chapter 661 Buy Mine Then (2/2)

As he walked out of the restaurant, Li Du said, ”The service at a Michelin 3-star restaurant is really outstanding. Great value for the money.”

Cole laughed, ”No, Li. I think they must have mistaken us for Michelin's food inspectors, and so put in extra effort to please us.”

Michelin's rating of restaurants was done by a select group of food inspectors, who were known as ”gourmet inspectors.” When the inspectors visited a restaurant or a hotel to review it, they would need to be discreet about their visit and rating. However, they would often discuss the food at the table while they undertook professional reviews.

Perhaps today, the servers and manager of the restaurant had really misunderstood who they were.

In any case, Li Du was very satisfied with that evening's dinner.

Roger had arranged for him to stay at a hotel. There was no news about the gemstones all night but by the time they had lunch the next day, the result of the appraisal was ready.

The 600 pieces of fire opals were worth a total of 72 million US dollars; the average value of each gemstone was more than 100,000 dollars.

The reason why the value was so high was that in this pile were some remarkable ones of good quality—it was those which had contributed to the higher worth.

The opals that Li Du had gotten from Surgi and Hughes were relatively higher. They were worth about eight million dollars in total.

Having made about 70 million dollars in 20 days, Li Du felt that this was his chance to become the world's richest man. This meant that if he worked hard, he could earn a billion dollars within a year!

While he was immersed in this appealing thought, Cole's words interrupted his daydream. ”Li, I don't know how you managed to get hold of so many precious gemstones. Firstly, I have to congratulate you. Next, I want to ask if you still intend to supply these stones to us in the future?”

With a tinge of pride, Li Du said, ”Of course. As long as the group needs it, I can continue to provide the gemstones.”

Cole shook his head. ”Sorry, after this acquisition, the group won't be able to take in any more fire opals. Besides, if you continue to offer fire opals later on, we wouldn't be able to offer the prices we are offering now.”

Dumbfounded, Li Du asked, ”Why?”

”Because the market would be saturated then. The fire opal is not a gemstone that is popular globally. It has only has market value in Europe and the US. If we continue to push them out, its value will keep decreasing,” Cole explained.

Li Du understood what he meant: things that were rare had higher value. Because of its scarcity, the fire opals could fetch high prices repeatedly. When it was no longer so rare, it would not be able to retain the value.

But what he didn't understand was, ”In terms of the whole European and American market, this shouldn't be that big a quantity, right? How could this affect the market pricing?”

”If you base it on the 365 days in a year, it's not much. But in terms of a one-time launch, it's sufficient to bring about a certain impact on the market,” Cole explained.

Li Du nodded to express his understanding.

He had understood what Cole's unspoken words were. The truth was that Harry Winston didn't have the ability to continue buying the fire opals. On the other hand, the other luxury companies would still have the purchasing power to do so.

Cole didn't dwell on this topic. He asked again, ”Li, as far as I know, you're currently acquiring the shares of the group, right?”

Li Du nodded. ”Yes. I have great confidence in the company's growth.”

Hearing that, Cole smiled and said, ”I'm very glad to hear of your positive view. I would like to know, what would you be doing with the money you gain from selling these gemstones? Are you using all of it to buy the group's shares?”

”Yes.” As he had nothing to hide, Li Du gave his answer frankly.

Cole's smile widened. ”Then are you interested in buying my shares?”