Firstly, his seemingly indifferent attitude towards the expensive diamond made Roy somewhat more trusting of him. If he could treat such a valuable diamond so casually, he probably wouldn't have any other ulterior motives, right?
The group spent several hours in the room, watching TV, playing games, and before long, they were ready to leave the country from Johannesburg International Airport with Xiao Ye and his friends leading the way.
The car they took was very old, resembling a car from the 70s or 80s. Roy and his companions squeezed into the back seat, having to scrunch up to fit. Xiao Ye and his friends did have better cars, but for now, it was better to remain inconspicuous, so they chose to drive this old, common vehicle, which was a bit uncomfortable for the three men in the back.
Arriving at the airport, the group, carrying their travel bags, looked like backpackers as they entered the airport lobby.
From the parking lot to the boarding gate, Roy noticed at least three groups of people watching the passengers. These people, in groups of three to five, did not attempt to conceal the fact that they were not travelers; they didn't carry any luggage, but their waists bulged, clearly indicating they were armed, and they did not seem like good people.
People passing by seemed to sense their ill intentions and almost all of them avoided walking too close to them.
These people didn't bother anyone randomly; they only stopped lone travelers or groups of two or three white men to question them.
Roy was grateful to have Xiao Ye with him; with him around, those people paid less attention to them. Also, their attire was very low-key, and it was hard to compare them to the old Roy and Leonardo.
It wasn't until they boarded the plane and watched it finally ascend into the sky that the big stone in Roy's heart finally landed.
He couldn't help but kiss the engagement ring on his finger as if this would convey his kiss to Laila.
Whether it was luck or Xiao Ye's skill, he was finally going home!
It was just a one-night flight from South Africa to the United States. When Roy woke up from his sleep, there wasn't much time left before the plane landed.
"Xiao Ye," he nudged the man sleeping next to him with his elbow.
"Are we there yet?" Xiao Ye wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, looking drowsy.
Roy couldn't help but find his appearance pure, making it hard to look directly at him. Who could have imagined that this man, who drooled in his sleep, had recently descended from the sky and defeated the enemy?
"We're almost there. Remember not to tell Laila about what I did there."
"Hehe." Xiao Ye chuckled mischievously. "I get it. You just want to surprise your boss, right? You rich people really know how to play. You went so far, risking your life just to get a diamond. Brother, I'm not saying, with your wealth, what diamond can't you get? Just go to an auction house and bid, you have plenty of money anyway."
This man in front of him was a world-class movie star, with almost $20 million for just one movie, even more with the shares. In his eyes, since he was so rich, he might as well just buy it instead of almost dying in a foreign country, which would be much safer, right?
"You think I haven't considered that?" Roy gave him a look that said, 'Are you an idiot?' "I've been looking for months and couldn't find a suitable one, that's why I went directly to the source."
It was also thanks to his luck that he was able to get this one. After searching several countries for the ideal diamond and failing, he heard from Leonardo that South Africa had produced many high-quality diamonds, so he went there.
Actually, Leonardo knew about these things because he had a script called "Blood Diamond" in his hands several years ago. He also learned a lot about it. However, due to various reasons, the film had not been made, so he assumed he knew a lot about South Africa and diamonds.
It was because of his overconfidence that Roy fell for his scheme and was deceived into visiting this country known as the Rainbow Nation.
Surprisingly, he was quite useful, finding an acquaintance who brought an intermediary. This intermediary was just a middleman, connecting buyers and sellers and taking a commission.
However, Leonardo didn't know at the time that this middleman operated in shady ways, with all his resources being untraceable stolen goods.
The people in South Africa might not have recognized Roy as a big star, but they knew Americans had money. When the middleman heard that Roy wanted a high-quality diamond for a ring, he immediately thought of someone who happened to have such a diamond and was willing to pay him a hefty commission.
When Roy and the others first saw the man, they couldn't have imagined that a man who looked like a beggar walking down the street would have what they wanted. Yet he did, the diamond that Roy later obtained.
The final price was 3 million. In Roy's eyes, he made a big profit. To buy a diamond that satisfied him, he studied many methods of identifying diamonds and understood the market. He knew that a diamond of this quality could not be obtained for less than $6 million. If it were to be auctioned after processing, he had no doubt it could fetch an even higher price.
The diamond was exactly what he wanted, making him happy that this trip was not in vain. However, in his happiness, he forgot a very important thing: as long as it was put on the market, even if it was sold to a jewelry store that bought diamonds, it could easily fetch more than 5 million. So why would this person abandon so much money and rather sell it at a discounted price?
Any experienced person could detect that something was wrong, but unfortunately, Roy was not in this business. As the saying goes, a barrier separates professions, and he had no experience in this field, so naturally he didn't understand the situation.
The middleman knew, but the problem was that he was already in this business, dealing in the dark and dealing with untraceable resources. How could he explicitly reveal this?
In his eyes, Roy was a big, stupid American with no background, naive and rich, so he was easily fooled. As long as he could get his commission, what would happen to him in the future had nothing to do with him.
So, the naive and wealthy Roy, along with the jealous Leonardo, happily left with the satisfactory diamond.