Demons Beside You

“One million and two hundred thousand. Going once, going twice, sold! Congratulations to Mr. Risfar for getting the Rawls Wine Cellar 1842 red wine.”

John glanced at Risfar. Only he would spend 1.2 million on a bottle of wine.

Risfar had been running an ocean shipping company, GDB Ocean Shipping.

Its market value was twenty billion. GDB Ocean Shipping had 18 supercargo ships, four of which were ranked among the top ten cargo ships in the world.

GDB Ocean Shipping was also the largest shipping company in Europe, accounting for 21% of the total ocean imports and exports in Europe.

Now, GDB Ocean Shipping was planning to extend its influence to America.

While John himself was also quite rich, he knew that his wealth was insignificant before Risfar.

Risfar held 25% of the shares in GDB, that is, he had over five billion worth of assets.

Of course, it was only the market valuation. He obviously did not have that much money in his bank.

Nonetheless, if he wanted to sell his shares, there would definitely be countless people and firms waving their checks and begging to buy them.

Just then, Risfar’s phone rang.

“Hi, Manus?”

“Mr. Risfar, I just discovered something.”

“What?”

“That Chinese is buying natural pearls.”

“Huh? Do you know the reason?”

“No. He needs quite a lot, one ton actually.”

Risfar turned his head and looked at John. “John, do you have one ton of pearls?”

“Yes, I have more than ten cultured pearl farms in Thailand and the Philippines. I can even get you a hundred tons.”

“No, I mean natural pearls.”

“Natural ones? Why do you need that much?”

“Gift for someone.”

“That Chinese?”

“Yes.”

“Sure. I’ll help you to get them.”

Natural pearls had always been insufficient on the market. Their demand was way higher than their supply.

Even though John was the biggest jeweler in the region, he did not have an entire ton of natural pearls.

Nevertheless, with his influence, getting one ton was not a difficult task.

…

“Hi, Jenny, how much natural pearls do you have? I want all of them.”

“Spike, I have no natural pearls. Do you want cultured ones?”

“What? Didn’t you just purchase 100 kilograms of natural pearls half a month ago?”

“Yes, but someone bought all of them today.”

“Okay. I’ll ask another person.”

Spike asked another jeweler, “Rowling, I need some natural pearls.”

“Sorry, I’ve sold all of them.”

“What? To who?”

“Mr. John. He’s purchasing natural pearls. I’ve sold all my pearls to him.”

“Alright.”

Spike did not give up. He asked a few more jewelers but only received the same reply.

“Hmm… Why is Mr. John buying natural pearls? Could there be some insider information that the price of natural pearls is going to increase?”

Spike would not have thought so if it was cultured pearls instead since their supply had always been greater than demand.

On the other hand, natural pearls had been in short supply.

Therefore, if a pearl field encountered a storm or a big jewel brand had some plan, the price of natural pearls would increase.

This was precisely Spike’s guess. Otherwise, why would Mr. John and that Chinese buy natural pearls?

There must have been a leak of insider information, although Spike had yet to receive the news.

After some consideration, Spike made his decision.

He would also purchase more natural pearls. In addition, he would contact all the jewelers in the eastern region too, instead of just Los Angeles.

As for that Chinese, Spike did not want to sell him anything already.

“Mr. Chen, I’m sorry but I think our deal cannot continue.”

“Why?”

“There has been a fluctuation in the natural pearl market. All the jewelers are hoarding natural pearls and I can’t get any.”

“How much do you have? I’ll buy those first and think of another way for the rest,” Chen Zhao said.

“How much money will you give?”

“The original price you said, 280 dollars per kg.”

“That’s not the current price anymore.”

“Then how much is it?” Chen Zhao was somewhat impatient.

“350 dollars per kg.”

Chen Zhao was very frustrated, but he still gritted his teeth and accepted the price. “Fine.”

“Wait… I said it wrongly. It’s 400 per kg.” Spike thought that since Chen Zhao had agreed so easily, his price must be too low. Chen Zhao surely had the secret information too.

China was a major pearl market. Perhaps Chen Zhao knew something precisely because China was about to make a big move.

“It’s robbery!” Chen Zhao shouted, annoyed.

“No, it’s the market. We had no contract and have not finished our deal, so we can still change the price. I can, and so can you.”

“I don’t want it anymore!” Chen Zhao did not like being fooled by others.

“Then goodbye.” Spike hung up.

Chen Zhao was so angry that he almost smashed his phone on the ground, but he eventually did not, considering that he had just bought it recently.

…

“Boss, we’ve bought enough pearls. However, because of this, the price of natural pearls has changed greatly. Now it’s already 340 dollars per kg. We have also spent more money as a result.”

“So high? Is there insider news?”

“No, we’ve confirmed that it’s because of your purchase. A lot of jewelers think that there’s actually some insider information.”

John laughed. He usually would not trade natural pearls, but as the largest cultured pearl supplier in the region and the owner of the famous jewel brand Alida, he still had a big influence.

When other jewelers realized he was buying large amounts of natural pearls, it was normal for them to think that he had some insider information.

Nevertheless, when they discovered there was nothing after two days, the price would fall back.

“Then release fake news to remove some of the individual jewelers from the game.”

As the main player, John could easily control the market. His every action could cause people to become suspicious and the market to fluctuate.

John took his phone and called Risfar, “Mr. Risfar, I’ve enough pearls.”

“Call him directly.”

“Me? Shouldn’t it be you?” John was confused why Risfar would give him the opportunity to help Chen Zhao.

Although John was really grateful for what Chen Zhao had done, he could return the favor later.

Why did Risfar ask him to call Chen Zhao directly?