Chapter 227 Must Win One Back
"Raw stone procurement concerns the interests of the entire Celestial Jewels." Isabella smiled faintly. "For something this important, I naturally don't mind handling it personally."
"Is Cecil also going to try his luck this time?"
Cecil nodded. "That's right. A raw stone dealer contacted me, saying he has a batch of excellent stones. I thought I'd go take a look. But I'm not with Celestial Jewels, so traveling with you all—Ms. Taylor doesn't mind, right?"
"Of course not. After all, I don't need to reimburse your airfare." Isabella said.
Cecil laughed at this. "I may not be as wealthy as Ms. Taylor, but I can still afford my own plane ticket."
Isabella also smiled. "Yes, after all, everyone knows Cecil is a famous gemstone merchant, naturally not short of that kind of money."
"Ms. Taylor is too kind. That day when I saw Ms. Taylor's twenty-seven-carat blue diamond, I realized how limited my knowledge was. May I ask where you obtained such a precious gemstone?"
Cecil was genuinely curious about where Isabella's gemstone came from.
Such a rare treasure was something even he couldn't get his hands on.
"Just a gift from an ordinary friend."
Cecil pressed on: "Which friend gave it to you? Could you tell me?"
Isabella smiled slightly. "Sorry, that's not convenient to share."
Regarding the gemstone's origin, Isabella didn't plan to publicize it. Besides, the other party was a gemstone merchant closely connected to Casey, so there was even less reason to tell him anything.
The group split up into two cars and headed straight for the airport.
Isabella rode with the procurement managers, while Casey was in a car with Cecil.
As soon as Cecil got in the car, his expression changed immediately.
"So stingy!"
"It's just a blue diamond, what's the big deal?"
Just some country woman who recently returned to the Taylor family. If it weren't for Casey's sake, did she really think he wanted to be polite to her?
He only asked her a couple questions, and she wasn't happy about it?
Who was she putting on airs for?
Cecil looked at Casey again. "Casey! That woman is really too arrogant! She clearly had the blue diamond before but didn't say anything, making you lose face in front of all the Celestial Jewels staff. I think she did it on purpose!"
Hearing this, Casey's expression immediately turned dark.
Indeed, it was because Isabella deliberately set him up that he lost all his authority!
He would definitely get revenge for this.
Casey's eyes darted around, then thinking of something, he snorted coldly. "Once we get to Veridian, that's my territory. I'll definitely turn the tables and embarrass her!"
"Exactly, she doesn't respect you at all. It's time to show her what you're capable of!"
——
The group drove to the airport and boarded the earliest flight from Lumaria to Veridian, arriving at noon.
After getting off the plane, the group walked toward the airport exit.
Just then, a middle-aged man wearing local Veridian clothing approached.
The middle-aged man came up and greeted Casey, looking quite familiar with him.
After Casey exchanged greetings with the man, he pointed to him and introduced him to everyone: "His name is Kirk Gutierrez. He's my friend in Veridian. He's a Veridian local, so he's quite familiar with all the major raw stone markets in Veridian. With him leading the way, things will be more convenient for us."
After leaving the airport and getting in the car, their next destination was naturally Veridian's Imperial City, the capital of raw stone trading in Veridian.
Every year, raw stones from major mines were basically transported to Imperial City and traded there, so Imperial City had many foreign visitors and was a mixed bag of people.
In such a chaotic place, having a local contact like Kirk could indeed help avoid a lot of trouble.
After driving about forty minutes from the airport, the car stopped beside a messy, crowded street.
As soon as Isabella opened the car door, the shouting and yelling that had been sealed outside the car window came rushing in.
Those selling raw stones, food and drinks, even poultry—all gathered together. Some had spread plastic sheets on the ground, placed stones on their stalls, and that was a raw stone booth. Next to the stalls were paper signs with prices marked on them.
Some vendors were even shouting through megaphones.
Gathered here were not only locals but also tourists from various places, crowding around the stalls picking through merchandise.
As soon as Isabella got out of the car, several vendors surrounded her with stones.
"Miss, here for tourism or to buy jade?"
"I have excellent raw stones here, pick any for a thousand dollars!"
"..."
These people were naturally shrewd—they could tell at a glance that Isabella was wealthy, and they all approached with smiling faces, competing for her attention.
Isabella ignored them and followed Casey and the others forward.
Casey was discussing the upcoming raw stone procurement with the procurement managers.
Isabella wasn't familiar with the ins and outs, so she just listened from the side.
All along the way, everywhere she looked there were people selling stones—a dazzling array that made it hard to know where to start.
Casey knew Isabella didn't understand Veridian's market and didn't know which dealers to buy stones from. Wanting to see her nervous and embarrassed, he deliberately spoke up: "Ms. Taylor, where should we go to procure raw stones next?"
Isabella paused at his words, then glanced at him and countered: "You're asking me?"
"If you need to ask me even this kind of question, what do I need you for? If you don't even know where to procure raw stones, I don't think you need to come to Celestial Jewels tomorrow!"
Casey: "..."
He hadn't expected Isabella to say that, leaving him speechless.
Casey's expression darkened. He didn't ask her anything more, snorted coldly, and strode forward.
He looked disdainfully at the raw stone stalls on both sides of the street and said:
"This street is for tourists. The stones at these small stalls are all used to trick out-of-town visitors! First-time visitors here find it fresh and curious, so they can't help but take a gamble, thinking they might get lucky or something. They fantasize about finding excellent gemstones in these ordinary stones and getting rich overnight!"
"In reality, the probability of finding good gemstones in these stones is extremely low. They're all garbage stones that the dealers have discarded and don't want, which is why they're sold on this street!"