C7 The Success Rate vs. The Purchasing Manager

About fifteen minutes later... "Well; upon first look at it ... it's a decent-sized emerald; but, there doesn't seem to be anything extraordinary about its coloring ... it rather has a lackluster hue to it. Seems to me it hasn't had enough water." Jiang Nan though to himself, "'Hasn't had enough water' ... do emeralds even drink? ... Why do I feel like these guys are about to try and take me for a ride?"

The appraiser seemed knowledgeable enough ... an old master in his upper sixties; who appeared to Jiang Nan to look more like a university professor ... smartly attired in an ensemble of neatly pressed slacks and dress shirt; finished off with a Tweed sports jacket and penny-loafers. He started to closely examine the gem through a fancy, expensive-looking jeweler's glass; slowly moving it across the entire surface of the emerald ... viewing it with discerning eyes.

Shortly; the purchasing manager inquired, "Tell me, Master Xin; how much do think an emerald like this is worth?"

Jiang Nan picked up on a strange ... though very slight ... connotation in the manager's inflection. He started thinking something was fishy; as if they were up to something. He thought, "Perhaps this is where 'the ride' begins'." And, if these two really are in cahoots; this could be a problem.

While still running his jeweler's glass over the gem; the appraiser surmised, "As I said; the emerald is of a decent size ... but; as far as the quality of the gem..."

The appraiser pulled the emerald away; and lowered his jeweler's glass. "I'd have to say 10,000 yuan; no more."

Jiang Nan scoffed in his mind, "10,000 yuan ... who are they kidding? What are they trying to pull?" Admittedly; Jiang Nan knew he was far from being some sort of precious stone expert ... but, even with his limited area of expertise, he did know that emeralds were quite valuable ... and, since they had set the price of a slightly larger than a fist-sized chunk of rock ... even with the possibility of there being an emerald inside ... at 1250 yuan; then, that emerald was easily worth more than 10,000 yuan.

The appraiser handed the emerald to the purchasing manager; who, for a brief moment, gazed upon the gem with a glimmer of greed in his eyes; as he very slowly rolled it around in his hand ... like as if he was 'feeling it up'. He then returned it to Jiang Nan; and, told him, "Sir; Master Xin is our top senior appraisal expert. I can personally assure you that with his impeccable knowledge of precious stones and expertise in the field, he would never make a mistake in determining the value of any gem."

Jiang Nan noticed a bit of shiftiness in the manager's eyes as he slyly grinned at him; and, the first thing that popped into Jiang Nan's mind was ... 'weasel'.

The manager then told him, "Of course, the decision's yours; you can take your emerald elsewhere for a second opinion ... but; I doubt they'd tell you any different. If anything; they may even try to cheat you, and offer less. ... Think it over carefully; then, let me know if you still want to sell it to us."

The purchasing manager turned to the appraiser, "Master Xin ... while our esteemed guest is thinking it over; allow me to escort you out." The old master nodded; and, they headed for the door.

Standing at the door ... the two huddled close together, while having a brief discussion; taking turns whispering in each other's ear. At the end of their discussion ... as the appraiser was slowly walking away ... Jiang Nan noticed the appraiser raise three fingers up. The purchasing manager immediately nodded; acknowledging that he understood the 'message'.

The purchasing manager walked back; and, sat down behind his grand, mahogany desk ... displaying those 'shifty eyes' and 'sly grin'. "So; sir ... have you given it any more thought? Shall we commence with the sale?"

Jiang Nan thought, "'Shall we commence with the sale?' Who talks like that? ... Oh yeah; those two were definitely up to something. They're trying to pull one over on me? Luckily, I have the Success rate on my side." Jiang Nan started wondering...

"Is the value of this emerald around 1 million yuan?" Rate: 0%. Yeah ... Jiang Nan knew that was an impossibility even without checking with the Success Rate; but, like a lie detector, he wanted to 'calibrate the device' to be sure of the accuracy.

"Is the value of this emerald around 500,000 yuan?" Rate: 0%. Again ... knew it.

"Is the value of this emerald around 200,000 yuan?" Rate: 0%. Of course not.

"Is the value of this emerald around 100,000 yuan?" Rate: 1%. Ladies and gentlemen; we have entered the stadium ... but; are still nowhere near the playing field.

Jiang Nan was a bit taken aback that he got a response so soon ... but; he was rather enthusiastic over it. He continued...

"Is the value of this emerald around 80,000 yuan?" Rate: 1%. Okay ... not much; but, that's alright ... we'll get there.

"Is the value of this emerald around 50,000 yuan?" Rate: 30%. Now we're talking.

"Is the value of this emerald around 40,000 yuan?" Rate: 35%. Alright...

"Is the value of this emerald around 30,000 yuan?" Rate: 100%. BINGO!

The whole idea of the Success rate's 'data' still felt a little incredulous to Jiang Nan; and, he briefly wondered if this was really happening, or if it was concocted in his mind. But, he quickly dispelled that thought; reminding himself that he did continually select winning bottle after winning bottle of black tea. There was no way that feat was merely a streak of lucky happenstances. No ... this was the real deal.

The purchasing manager suddenly spoke up, "Sir ... how about it? Have you decided, yet? Would you like to sell us your emerald ... I can transfer the 10,000 yuan to your account as soon as you agree." Jiang Nan thought, "Ah ... speaking of deals..."

Jiang Nan figured that since he was in the Stone Gambling Market; he might as well take a gamble. "Right ... about that. That was 10,000 yuan your offering me; correct?" The purchasing manager nodded ... seemingly salivating at the mouth while pulling out his scanner to transfer the money into Jiang Nan's account, and take the emerald. Jiang Nan held the emerald up in front of his eyes, and briefly rolled it about in his fingers; then, looked over at the purchasing manager, and grinned. "Sir ... I may be young; but, I wasn't born yesterday. And, please; don't take me for some novice, fortune-seeker who doesn't know anything about emeralds ... because, if that were the case; I certainly wouldn't bother risking spending my money here. I may not be as 'knowledgeable' as your so-called 'expert', Master Xin ... but, I do know that my emerald is worth at least 50,000 yuan."

The purchasing manager nearly jumped out of his seat; as he blurted out, "Fifty thousand?!"

Those 'shifty eyes' instantly opened up wide; as the 'sly grin' rapidly dissipated ... and, the corners of his mouth nervously twitched. The scanner slipped from his suddenly weakened grip, and dropped down onto his desk.

The manager thought, "Just who exactly is this kid? How could he know so much for such a young age?"

Truth was ... going through the right channels; and, with the proper connections ... he certainly would be able to sell that emerald for 50,000 yuan. But; this was a very little known trade secret that outsiders from the industry wouldn't be aware of that. The purchasing manager wondered how'd Jiang Nan knew about it?

The manager grumbled in his mind, "If we pay this snot-nosed, little kid 50,000 yuan; then, we'd get no profit at all from it. The only money the company would see from this punk is the 1250 yuan he paid for the raw stone. ... And, about that; I heard that from the looks of the stone, everyone was convinced that there wouldn't be an emerald inside ... so; how the hell did this brat figure out that there was one in it?"

After recomposing himself a little ... the purchasing manager brusquely shook his head; and, vehemently refused, "No way; 50,000 yuan is out of the question ... it's too much." Then; he started to feign being the 'victim', "Sir ... the Stone Gambling Market has been a long standing establishment with an honorable reputation; and, is known for its fair compensatory payout to its patrons. But, since you apparently don't trust us ... doubting the expertise and integrity of our staff ... then; you can take your business elsewhere. Who knows; perhaps you might come across some gullible buyer who you can dupe into paying you a better price ... but; I highly doubt it."

The manager tried to convey his most 'righteous looking' face; as he thought to himself, "Nailed it ... the brat's gotta believe me, now. This sale's in the bag." But; to his surprise...

"Well; since you put it like that..." Jiang Nan immediately stood up. "I'll go do that. Have a good day."

Jiang Nan started heading for the door. With his back to the manager ... a huge smirk etched across his mouth; as he mused in his mind, "And, 3 ... 2 ..."

The purchasing manager jumped up from his chair; shouting out, "Hold on; wait a minute!" Jiang Nan stopped in the doorway; then, finished smirking, and turned around. "Yes?" The manager let out an exasperated huff, "It seems that I may have insulted you somehow; sir. I apologize; I meant no offense. So; how about this ... in order to show you my utmost sincerity ... twenty thousand. I'll pay you 20,000 yuan for your emerald. That's double what our appraiser said it's worth. What do you say; do we have a deal?"

Jiang Nan grinned at the purchasing manager. "There must be some misunderstanding ... you haven't offended me, sir; I know this is all just business. And; being just business ... and, taking into account your 'utmost sincerity' ... thirty thousand. I'll accept 30,000 yuan; and, not a yuan less."

The manager simply reiterated, "Thirty thousand?" Jiang Nan simply nodded.

The purchasing manager felt like he had just been kicked in the gut ... or perhaps, wallet is more like it.

Jiang Nan was asking for the purchasing manager's absolute bottom line; refusing to concede lowering the price any further. This had the manager feeling 'a little pain'; and, he remained silently standing there.

"What's wrong; 'cat got your tongue' ... or, does your silence mean no deal? ... Fine; whatever. See ya." Jiang Nan turned around, and started to walk out of the room.

The purchasing manager instantly gulped, then 'bit his tongue'; and then, defeatedly shouted out, "Alright; deal ... thirty thousand!" He thought to himself, "Damn this brat is a tough nut to crack!"

Jiang Nan smiled; then, turned around and walked over to the purchasing manager's desk. He took out his cellphone, and immediately brought up his WeChat account; then, extended his arm out, and waved the screen in front of the manager's face. "That'll be 30,000 yuan; please."

Humiliated over the fact that the 'snot-nosed, punk brat' got the best of him; instead of the other way around ... the purchasing manager glared at Jiang Nan with seething disdain in his eyes; then, angrily huffed as he pounded the code into the device, and brusquely swiped it across Jiang Nan's cellphone screen ... instantly transferring the money into his account.

Jiang Nan stepped out of the Stone Gambling Market's management office building, and gazed down upon his cellphone's screen ... which was still displaying his WeChat account page ... and; a huge, grimacing smile stretched across his countenance. To say that he was in an exceptionally good mood would be an understatement.

This was the largest amount of money he had ever had transferred into his account, in a single transaction.

This was the 'Mother' of all paydays!! ... 30,000 yuan; not too shabby.

Jiang Nan started running over 'post-negotiation scenarios' in his mind. Taking into account the 'data' provided to him by the Success rate; the most probable highest value of the emerald is probably somewhere around 50,000 yuan. ... 80,000 to 100,000 did have a 1% chance of probability; but, he would have to be extremely lucky ... like super-super-super-lucky ... to come across a buyer willing to pay that much.

Receiving 50,000 yuan for the emerald would probably be feasible; but, that would probably require a lot more running around and effort on his part to find the appropriate buyer.

But; in order to make a quick, easy sale ... 30,000 yuan was the most he'd be able to ask for if he wanted the guaranteed sale.

So, in the end; having sold it back to the Stone Gambling Market for the maximum price of 30,000 yuan was most definitely the optimum scenario ... where he obtained the greatest benefit.

Jiang Nan was very happy with the results ... and, proud of himself. Not to mention; extremely thankful for the Success rate.

Jiang Nan was amazed when saw just how incredible the Success rate truly was.

He wondered how else he could use it for his benefit. For all he knew; the possibilities were endless.