Of course, privately, I paid Old Man Qiao 500 million RMB. That's real money!
I've been incredibly busy these past few days, dealing with underworld figures, legitimate people, and those who are half-legitimate and half-illegitimate. I managed to meet with all the nominal VIP members at the club during the several meetings Old Man Qiao hosted, including a few big shots who even hold some shares in the place, making them part of our alliance.
However, this clubhouse wasn't exactly a publicly visible business, so such a large-scale business transfer didn't attract media attention. It wasn't that the media hadn't heard about it… but rather that everyone knew the rules: some things could be reported, and others were best left unsaid.
In contrast, another press conference held a week later by Huaxing Company's Shanghai branch attracted more attention.
I made my official and high-profile debut in front of the domestic media, and strode confidently onto the stage of the press conference. I was no longer the sickly person I had been before; instead, I was full of vigor and high spirits.
My reappearance immediately became the focus of media attention. I first announced a share swap between Deep Blue Entertainment and Huaxing Entertainment, a common practice in the business world. After all, both companies are now under my control, and this share swap strengthens their interdependence. Then I announced a series of other announcements:
First, regarding Deep Blue Entertainment's development plans, which had been frozen for several days, I'm announcing that Jenny, currently in Hollywood, has officially signed on for a film co-produced by Billy Hill Films and Deep Blue Entertainment. The male and female leads will be played by Jenny, who is incredibly popular in China, and Lei Xiaohu, a rising American action star. As for the director, James Cameron won't be involved again… just kidding, he's a director known for his extravagant spending. Jenny's new film, according to the plan, won't have a huge budget; for a newcomer and a new film, stability is key. If James Cameron had been hired, the film's budget would have been difficult to guarantee wouldn't exceed the budget.
Then, I announced that Huaxing's headquarters had officially moved from Vancouver, Canada to Shanghai, China! In other words, the Shanghai branch became the headquarters, while Huaxing in Canada became a branch.
At the press conference, I declared confidently: "I am Chinese, I have yellow skin, black hair, and black eyes! Therefore, returning to China to develop my career is my dream, and this decision is to let everyone know my determination!"
This high-sounding reason was naturally beyond question—did you really want to question the patriotic heart of a wealthy overseas Chinese?!
At the same time, I would like to announce once again that "given that Huaxing Company's headquarters has been moved to Shanghai, China, the domestic business will be Huaxing Company's top priority in the future. Furthermore, Huaxing Company's North American branch, European branch, and... African branch will all send personnel to the headquarters to report for duty and work together to strive to build Huaxing Company's new headquarters in Shanghai into a large-scale operation as soon as possible!"
During the subsequent Q&A session, I answered some trivial questions, such as how my leg was healed, which was what the reporters were most interested in.
Of course I was lying all the time.
"What exactly do you want?!"
This is Wu Gang's question to me.
His face looked terrible, extremely terrible!
Ever since I announced at the press conference that "Huaxing's North American, European, and...African branches will all send personnel to headquarters to report for duty," he has very keenly sensed something!
Sure enough, in less than three days, "selected staff" from Huaxing Company's branches around the world appeared in Shanghai!
The group from the Canadian branch consisted of dozens of young men. Wu Gang glanced at them and knew they were definitely not "employees of Huaxing Company"—they were elites from the Canadian Huaxing gang!
As for the staff in the African branch... they almost made Wu Gang furious!
When the “Huaxing Company Africa Branch Business Delegation to China”, consisting of more than 100 burly black men, stood in front of me, Wu Gang rolled his eyes at me fiercely!
With his sharp eyesight, he naturally recognized them at a glance. These hundred-odd burly black men, though all dressed in black suits, were all strong and ramrod straight, some even with ferocious expressions and a murderous aura…
This is no business delegation! These are all mercenaries hired by that old warlord Kunta!
However, the documents themselves do not allow anyone to question the legitimacy of these people's identities!
Because the document is a valid legal document, personally signed by General Kunta, the great head of state of G country! Of course, for more than a hundred people, I paid that guy Kunta half a million dollars.
The fact that human life is cheap in Africa is even more evident in this respect!
Then, I left the frustrated and speechless Wu Gang behind—anyway, he couldn't do anything to me before I took any action, and I'll just ignore his warnings for now.
After leaving Wu Gang behind, I formally met with Old Fox Qiao and asked him for a favor.
"Are you looking for a jeweler?"
"Yes. And it has to be the most powerful jeweler in the country." I said calmly, "Don't send any foreign jewelry conglomerates' agents in China to see me... I want to meet the real local leading figures in the jewelry business, not many, just three or four will do."
The old fox glanced at me: "You're also interested in the jewelry business?"
I smiled slightly, then took a small black cotton bag from my pocket and, facing him, slowly turned it over, emptying its contents onto the glass tabletop in front of me…
Whoosh...
The old fox's eyes widened immediately!
These are approximately one hundred diamonds! Even the smallest one is at least one carat!
"They're all genuine, all-natural, and completely unprocessed." I said casually. "This is just a portion. If needed, I can give you another two or three hundred more." Looking at his expression, I slowly dropped another bombshell:
"And this is only the first batch!"
A glint of shrewdness flashed in the old man's eyes: "You...you got this from Africa?"
"As you probably know, I've done some things in Africa. The current head of state of G country, that old warlord named Kunta, is my friend." I smiled faintly. "I own a portion of G country's diamond mines. However, unfortunately, due to international blockades, G country's diamonds cannot be exported and can only be smuggled out."
Old fox Joe, being a seasoned veteran, frowned and thought for a moment: "But African diamonds have always been smuggled to Europe. The world's largest diamond organizations are all in Europe. If you want to get them domestically... I'm afraid it will be quite difficult."
I sighed, this time a genuine sigh: "I've talked to people in Europe... but you know, their prices are so low, it's practically exploitation! But they monopolize the market, and there's nothing I can do. So I'm thinking of trying my luck in China."
The old fox remained silent.
I continued, “I’ve sent people to Africa to manage this business, but it’s not going well. Those European diamond merchants are wolves in sheep’s clothing; I don’t want to deal with them anymore. I’ve done my research; Asia’s largest diamond processing industry is in India. And the domestic diamond market is largely monopolized by Europeans. Companies like Tongling Jade Diamonds have branches in major cities across the country; these are all European companies. Domestic jewelers have very little access to supply. They can only import from Europeans or from India. My idea is, we need to find a way to legalize the diamonds I have and then ship them to China… After all, China is a huge market. The annual diamond sales are astonishing!”
The old fox closed his eyes and thought for a while; I was waiting for him to speak.
I had no choice but to cooperate with him. After all, although I rose to prominence very quickly, the areas I've expanded into are still too few.
In terms of relationships, I'm far, far behind a seasoned veteran like Steve Jobs. In this diamond deal, I was completely outmaneuvered by the Europeans.
My plan is to find several large domestic jewelers as buyers. Of course, to legalize these diamonds, I'll need to find a way from abroad.
India would be the ideal choice. It has Asia's largest diamond processing industry.
I registered a company in India, obtained diamond distribution rights, transferred the diamonds I smuggled to that company in India, and then imported them into China, where they became "legal diamonds from India"!
But I can't do all of this by myself.
I know. Old Fox has businesses in India; he owns a software company and an import/export company (he seems to do some smuggling too). I need his connections and relationships in India. I also need his help with jewelers in China, whom I don't know at all.
How profitable is the diamond business? At the beginning, I didn't really know. Even when negotiating with Kunta, I estimated that making at most 20 to 30 million a year would be quite good.
But after these days of careful investigation by my people who remained in Africa, the results shocked me!
At the very simplest level, in the market, a one-carat diamond in a jewelry store can sell for around $15,000.
This is the legal price of a diamond!
So, what about smuggled diamonds? It's unbelievable! A smuggled diamond from Africa, sold to diamond smugglers, costs... less than a thousand dollars per carat!
That's many times the profit!
All the legitimate diamond groups around the world are actually involved in diamond smuggling! Two-thirds of the diamonds circulating in the market are of dubious origin! This is practically an open secret! Imagine, those European diamond groups buy smuggled diamonds from Africa at low prices, then launder them somewhere, giving them a legal name, and then sell them at ten or even dozens of times the price!
Now that I've seen the huge profits involved, I'd be a fool to sell diamonds to those European diamond groups at a low price!
"This matter needs to be planned carefully." The old fox did the calculations and realized that this could generate hundreds of millions in profit every year, which tempted him.
“Let’s cooperate. You’ll be my middleman, and I’ll give you 15% of the annual profits,” I said casually.
“Thirty percent.” The old fox smiled slyly. “Business is business. You’re after my business in India. You need the network of connections I’ve built up in India! You can’t do it without me.”
"Hmph." I glanced at him: "Old fox, what are you doing with so much money... it'll just benefit my son in the future."
These words immediately made the old fox's face fall. He glanced at me twice, gritted his teeth, and said, "You're right! Fine, 20%! That's the lowest I can go."
"Deal." I smiled.
The old fox, having his weakness exposed, seemed somewhat unwilling and couldn't help but snort, "I'm telling you... you little brat, you've signed that contract, and I've transferred this place to you. When are you going to get Qiaoqiao to give me an heir? I'm getting old, the sooner the better."
I shrugged. "Have a baby? Don't worry, she definitely will. But Qiaoqiao said she's still young and wants to enjoy herself for another two years, so she doesn't want to have a baby so early... I can't force her, why don't you talk to her yourself?"
Thinking about his daughter's rebellious nature, the old fox shook his head and said, "Forget it, you two should try to communicate with her yourselves. She might not listen to me."
He paused for a moment, then asked me again, "Why did you bring so many thugs back from abroad? They're all black, you can tell they're soldiers who've taken off their uniforms. This is China, not Western countries. Don't expect to do anything outrageous here. If something really goes wrong, nobody can help you suppress it!"
I smiled slyly: "You're right... yes, they are indeed soldiers, soldiers without their uniforms... but they are also human. Once they put on suits, they become my company employees, don't they?"
Seeing that I wouldn't speak frankly, the old fox didn't press me. He glanced greedily at the diamonds on the table, frowned, and said, "These things aren't good quality, they're too small... Don't you have any large diamonds in your diamond mine? Do you have any ten-carat ones?"
This time, I could only manage a wry smile.
"Big ones? Of course we have big ones! But..." I shook my head, looking helpless.
Sigh, I accidentally let Qiaoqiao see this bag of diamonds yesterday.
Women go absolutely crazy when they see diamonds!
Gentle Yan Di, understanding Fang Nan, and even rational and intelligent Yang Wei were no exception!
Even the little money-grubber who came to chat and reminisce with Yan Di almost had his eyes pop out of his head.
As a result... the largest diamonds in the bag were immediately picked up by several women.
Especially Miss Qiao; when she looked at that bag of diamonds, her eyes practically screamed "robbery!" She even fantasized about getting a diamond shoe... just like the glass slipper Cinderella wore in the fairy tale!
My God! Shoes made of diamonds? Then I might as well give up on the diamond business; how many diamonds would that require!
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter 125: The Diamond Business
Jojo's old man does indeed have business in India, one of which, in particular, is an import/export trading company in New Delhi that I'm very interested in. Based on experience, I suspect the old fox might also be involved in some shady smuggling activities.
It's quite simple. In reality, almost 90% of import and export companies engage in some illegal activities, such as smuggling, tax evasion, and so on. They all do these things to some extent. Even some of the large state-owned foreign trade import and export groups in China are not entirely clean.
As for India, how to obtain the legal operating rights for the diamond business is up to the old fox to figure out. Whether he tries to bribe, solicit donations, or find a company with diamond operating rights to cooperate with, that's a problem he'll have to worry about.
Over the next two or three days, thanks to the old fox's connections, I met with several jewelers or their representatives in China.
However, the meeting itself was far from pleasant.
Because I feel that domestic jewelers always seem to have a bit of a petty mentality... Yes, that's right, petty! They seem to be hesitant and indecisive when doing business, wanting to make money but also worried about risks, always timid and hesitant. No wonder that for so many years, the domestic jewelry industry has been small-scale, and there hasn't even been a single brand with any regional recognition! Don't tell me about spiritual communication; that's from Belgium.
Over the years, I've gotten used to dealing with adventurous and exploratory foreigners abroad, and when compared to them, the difference is immediately apparent!
It may sound harsh, but I have to say it.
Foreign businessmen, when engaging in cooperation, are more concerned with: how can we make more money!
Domestic businessmen, when cooperating, are more concerned about: being careful not to be cheated!
People at different levels have different perspectives, so naturally, their outcomes will also be different.
"How can you guarantee that the diamonds you give me are legal?" The first jeweler I met was a representative from the north.
I glanced at him: "Can you guarantee that the diamonds you're currently dealing in are legal?"
"Of course!" he exclaimed. "Our goods all have proper customs import procedures and certificates of origin!"
I chuckled and said, "I'll also give you all the legal paperwork, and the certificate of origin for the goods... well, it'll be issued by Indian customs."
"I'm not asking about documents and procedures... I'm asking if your diamonds are legal!" The representative seemed quite displeased: "We are a legitimate state-owned company, we don't do smuggling!"
I laughed and looked at him: "I know. Right now, all the diamonds in jewelry stores in China are imported from foreign merchants, mostly from Europe, right? Can you guarantee that the diamonds you're selling are legal?"