After leaving the wholesale market, Li Shi offered to treat Gemstone Sister and her companions to a meal, but they graciously declined.
"You're a fan of mine, and you've travelled a long way. I should be the one treating you to a meal. However, we have important work tonight, I'm really sorry."
"Not at all, Gemstone Sister. You helped me buy the diamond I wanted. I should be thanking you. That's it, when you guys go to Tan Zhou, be sure to contact me and I'll arrange some authentic Hunan food for you."
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Shi bade farewell to the two women from Gemstone Sister's group, hailed a taxi and asked to be taken back to Peng City North Station.
His initial plan was to thank Gemstone Sister and her companions by treating them to a meal after purchasing his items, spend the night in Peng City, and head to Yang Cheng the next day, from where he would go directly to the Ping Zhou Jade Market in Buddha Three City.
Now that the plans have changed, he thought it best to go ahead, after all, there are many high-speed rail services from Peng City to Yang Cheng. With a departure every few tens of minutes, and a short travel distance, he could arrive there in half an hour if things go well.
"Didn't get to treat them to a meal, next time she's live streaming, I'll tip her with virtual gifts."
Considering that he would be staying overnight in Yang Cheng, Li Shi opened the hotel booking function on WeChat, and searched for hotels near Yang Cheng Express Rail South Station. The first result was a hotel in Fo Shan, but he knew Yang Cheng South Station in Pan Yu District is adjacent to Fo Shan.
However...
"The hotel is 4.1 km away from the southern station in a straight line. This must be an advert, but it looks alright. It's close to a park and a lake, and is just ten minutes or so from the Ping Zhou Jade Market...A little pricey though, as it costs five to six hundred yuan per night."
He rarely stayed in hotels before, and when he did, it was on business trips, staying in hotels costing less than two hundred yuan.
"Before, there was the pressure to save money due to financial constraints, but now …"
Thinking about the substantial balance in his bank account and the nearly one wealth attribute point on his learning panel that hadn't been redeemed, Li Shi went ahead and booked a 520 yuan per night deluxe lake-view king room.
After booking the room, he took out his tablet and continued to study the high school literature textbook.
The literature textbooks for second and third year high school were a new edition, with only three books in total: upper, middle and lower volumes of Selected Compulsory Literature.
He was currently studying the second unit of the first volume.
This was the ancient literature unit, there were six articles in total: "Analects - Chapter Twelve", "The Way of the Great Learning /Book of Rites", "Everyone Has a Heart That Cannot Bear to See the Suffering of Others/Mencius", "Laozi - Chapter Four", "Five Stone Gourd/Zhuangzi", and "Complete Love/Mozi", etc.
These six articles are rightly considered classics. The philosophies contained within are the essence of various schools of thought and Li Shi deliberately slowed down his review to study them in depth.
Throughout the journey, Li Shi was immersed in this ocean of knowledge.
He suddenly realized that immersing himself in learning like this, his whole being seems to enter a state of "quietness".
It seems that the whole world around him is moving, and he is the only one sitting still, as if in a different world.
Even in the bustling Peng City North Station waiting room, he was still capable of studying.
He studied all the way to Yang Cheng.
Upon leaving Yang Cheng South Station, he took a taxi to the Shiwan Holiday Hotel and checked in.
This was a very new hotel. Compared with the hotels Li Shi had stayed in before, its decoration was luxurious, it was much cleaner, and even the hotel staff were more professional, serving with smiles throughout the process.
The beautiful front desk manager chose a room for him with a great view, saying that he could enjoy a beautiful lake view during the day. Li Shi politely thanked her.
Upon entering the room, he carefully checked every corner for safety.
With so many hidden camera videos from hotels circulating on the internet these days, he unplugged all the power sources, including the power plugs for the lights on the ceiling, the TV, and the set-top box. He only took out the newly purchased diamond to appreciate it for a while after that.
"This thing is really beautiful, even I like it. If it were increased several tens of times, wouldn't those rich women go crazy when they see it? No wonder the information says that collector-grade pink diamonds have always been one of the most marketable colored diamonds."
Li Shi retrieved the information he had saved on his mobile phone browser and focused on studying the transaction conditions of pink diamonds at domestic auction houses.
In 2019, at the autumn auction held by Ribo, a 5.57 carat pink diamond set in white and rose gold sold for 49.45 million yuan.
In the same year, at the Hong Kong Dejia auction, a 4.68-carat pink diamond of internally flawless clarity and heart shape fetched HK$26.38 million.
In 2017, at the Hong Kong Sotheby's auction, a 59.6-carat oval-cut pink diamond with internally flawless clarity was sold for a record HK$553 million, or about US$71.2 million.
...
The more Li Shi looked at the data, the more excited he became. The 0.22 carat pink diamond he bought today had no issues with clarity and color. Regarding the cutting technique and shape, if there was a suitable way to sell it, he could offer a specific conceptual imagination at the time of exchange, and then exchange it directly using the learning panel!
"If one wants to maximize the benefits from diamonds, the best way to sell is via auction."
"If you want the other party to pay attention, you need to present something with weight... at least three carats or more."
"One kilogram equals five thousand carats!"
...
While Li Shi was looking up information, he came across many netizens complaining about the current state of auction companies soliciting consignments. Many auction companies do not accept consignments from the general public.
He checked the official websites of various major auction houses, and found that among all the well-known auction companies across the country, including Hong Kong, only two were currently accepting consignments from the public. And when he saw an announcement recently posted by Hong Kong Dejia (China) Auction Company about consigning consignments, his eyes lit up.
"There's more than a month left until the end of their summer jewelry special consignment period, that should be enough time for me to prepare."
Li Shi was not in a hurry to exchange the diamond. After reviewing the information and formulating a plan, he ordered a meal through room service, then continued studying on his tablet.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, he hailed a ride-share to the Ping Zhou Jade Wholesale Market. He spent half the day there, ultimately spending twenty-five thousand yuan to buy a tiny piece of Yang Green jade for a ring surface.
The ring surface was small and not very well-shaped. It was a category of high-quality jade, but the best part had a bit of glass category. What Li Shi was interested in was this bit of glass category!
According to the rules for exchanging wealth attribute points, it's about whether one owns the material one wants to exchange, regardless of the quantity!
He spent over twenty minutes bargaining with the seller over this piece of jade, using everything he had learned from watching jade videos.
It was just after five in the evening when Li Shi returned to the Holiday Hotel, satisfied.
Just as he walked into the hotel lobby and his eyes swept past the reception desk, his steps involuntarily slowed.
The female guest checking in had a tall figure and, upon seeing her side profile, was quite pretty.
Li Shi glanced at her twice, then picked up his pace—admiring a beautiful woman wasn't as important as studying. On his way back, he set a goal for himself: to complete the rest of the textbook tonight, complete the middle and bottom volumes in three days, and strive to complete the university textbooks within half a month, to upgrade his "Chinese" to a master level!
As for the sample at hand, he wasn't in a rush to exchange materials. It could wait until he had sorted out a way to sell it.
Exchanging it now would only mean he had to worry about its safekeeping.