Yang Xuan, accompanied by Stana, entered Fujide Auction House. As he gazed upon the splendid scene before him, the memories of his first visit remained vivid, as if it had been a lifetime ago.
"Xuan, you're here. Welcome, welcome," greeted Little Zhang warmly.
"I'm troubling you again," Yang Xuan replied politely.
"It's the least I can do. The buyer is waiting for you in the private room. Gold prices have been soaring on the international market lately, Xuan, you're going to strike it rich this time," Little Zhang said with a smile.
The two of them chatted as they made their way to the private room.
"Xuan, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Andrews from the United States. He's a friend of mine, and this is Yang Xuan," Little Zhang introduced the two parties, then discreetly left the room.
Yang Xuan examined the middle-aged American before him, and Andrews did the same.
"Hello, I'm Yang Xuan," he extended a friendly greeting.
"Hello, I'm Andrews. Yang, your English is quite authentic," Andrews remarked in astonishment.
In today's society, many people could speak English, but having a pronounced American accent was quite rare.
"I want to confirm first, Yang, how much gold do you have? If the quantity is low, the price may not be very high since transporting it back would be quite difficult," Andrews asked straightforwardly.
Yang Xuan remembered what Little Zhang had said: a low quantity wouldn't interest anyone, so it might be better to claim they had more.
"Andrews, it's not much, just 100 tons. What do you think?" Yang Xuan replied nonchalantly.
"Wha—what? You can't be serious. Are you telling me that in China, gold transactions are already measured in tons?" Andrews's eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
"Believe me, I can provide far more than 100 tons of gold. The key is, can you handle it?" Yang Xuan said with confidence.
"Yang, forgive me for asking, but is this your first time dealing in the black market for gold?" Andrews inquired suspiciously.
Yang Xuan diverted the topic, saying, "Why do you say that? Are you doubting my ability to provide gold?"
"NO NO NO, Yang, please don't misunderstand. In the international gold trade, it is divided into personal, group, and national levels. I am involved in personal gold trading, and my financial resources are not sufficient to handle 100 tons of gold. Let alone 100 tons, personal gold transactions typically don't exceed 1 ton. Groups can usually handle up to 10 tons, and only national forces operating covertly can trade in hundreds of tons of gold," Andrews explained.
"I see, it looks like we can't proceed with the transaction today. But we have a saying in China, 'If a deal doesn't succeed, integrity will.' I'm glad to meet you, Andrews," Yang Xuan stood up, preparing to leave.
"Yang, there's no need to rush. Although I deal in personal gold trading, I know quite a few group contacts, and some of them are in China. We can call them over to discuss this together. What do you think?" Andrews persisted.
"That's fine, but it's best not to involve groups connected to national entities. You should be aware that trading gold on the black market can easily attract the attention of countries, and that's not in our best interest," Yang Xuan emphasized.
"Yang, rest assured, generally, groups associated with national entities are well-funded and quite arrogant, so they wouldn't deign to cooperate with us. I'll excuse myself for now," Andrews replied helplessly.
Twenty minutes later, the door opened, and a group of people filed in. As for Yang Xuan, he remained calm, while Stana stood behind him, pouring beer.
Seeing the noise and hustle and bustle around him, Yang Xuan couldn't stomach red wine and was feeling bored after waiting for twenty minutes, so he ordered something to drink.
"Yang, these are teams based in the Magic City. They work in business and economics. You can talk to them, and I'll join you," Andrews explained after everyone had taken their seats.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Yang Xuan. To keep it simple, I have 100 tons of gold. It's up to you to decide if you can handle that and how the distribution is managed within your group," Yang Xuan said.
"Ah."
"What?"
"Dear me."
"Could it be a scam?"
As soon as Yang Xuan's voice fell, a cacophony of skeptical and questioning voices erupted. All voices shared a sense of doubt.
"You can receive the gold first and then pay. There's no problem with that. You can quote the price now, but keep in mind that the unit of measurement is grams, not ounces, according to the Chinese standard," Yang Xuan reassured.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are you really that confident in me? If these 100 tons of gold were in the United States, the entire underground world would go wild," teased a European female representative.
All conversations came to a halt in the noisy environment as everyone looked at Yang Xuan.
Yang Xuan took a sip of beer and said slowly, "Trust me, if you swallow my gold, none of you will be able to leave China."
A burly Eastern European man suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "You're overestimating yourself, sir."
"It's not a matter of underestimation or overestimation; I'm just stating a fact. No one would challenge money. There will be many business opportunities in the future, such as arms trade or some sensitive matters," Yang Xuan said confidently.
The crowd was taken aback. It seemed that this young man in his early twenties had a significant background.
No one blamed them for their skepticism. After all, in China, a country with strict gun control, anyone who could deal in the private trade of firearms already had unimaginable connections.
After an intense discussion, each representative had decided on their respective shares for the gold purchase.
"Is everyone in agreement now? So where should the goods be stored?" Yang Xuan asked.
"Tonight, at the port in the Magic City. You can place the gold in container B2-2-6. We'll have our people inspect it, and once everything is settled, how would you like to be paid?" said the European female representative.
Yang Xuan took out his phone and typed, "Red Queen, please open a bank account for me at a Swiss bank."
"Alright," the Red Queen responded through text.
"Young lady, may I ask for your name?" Yang Xuan inquired of the European woman.
"You can call me Elizabeth," she replied.
"Here is my Swiss account information, Miss Elizabeth," Yang Xuan stated.
"Great, everything is settled. How about having a meal together to celebrate?" Yang Xuan suggested.
"No problem," John replied.
"Agreed."
"Sounds good."
In this way found a hotel, and everyone began the party happily.
