Serendipitous Journey

Mo Qiong's Large Pearl had speculative value. Selling it directly like he did was the worst way to go.

With good marketing and packaging, the value of such a pearl could double.

This was why Xiao Kun initially said he couldn't afford it, but then decided to buy it when he saw Mo Qiong wanted to sell it directly.

It was a sure profit, so why wouldn't he buy it? Although packaging and speculation had costs, his family had done this many times before and had a dedicated team to handle it.

It might take two or three years of brewing and fermentation, but the profit would be huge in the end. Not only would they make money, but they would also gain fame, which would help their brand image.

Here, Mo Qiong had to thank Zhang He.

Mo Qiong wanted to convert it to cash as soon as possible. Without money or influence, Xiao Kun could easily lower the price and buy it as a piece of jewelry. Mo Qiong might have sold it for three million.

Even though Mo Qiong knew it was far too little, he couldn't raise the price to six million. Not to mention that Zhang He had strongly pressured Xiao Kun at the end, adding another million to reach seven million.

In just a few words, Zhang He helped Mo Qiong earn an extra four million.

This was the benefit of having a friend speak up for you.

After settling the deal, Mo Qiong received seven million yuan and felt incredibly happy.

In his delight, Mo Qiong smiled at Zhang He and said, "Thanks. I'm a decent swimmer. Call me next time you need something."

Zhang He smiled and replied, "What's there to thank me for? Just treat me to a meal. I love making friends at sea. Meeting each other on the vast ocean is fate."

Xiao Kun rolled his eyes and said, "So in the end, I'm the one losing money? Why are you thanking him? He only said a couple of sentences, but I'm the one paying."

Mo Qiong chuckled and quickly added, "Right, right, thank you to the financier as well."

Xiao Kun said, "How come I feel like a sucker?"

Zhang He scoffed, "You? I might not make a profit buying this for seven million, but you definitely will. If you're family, you won't die from earning four million less."

"Just tell me, how much can you earn? If this thing becomes a legendary heirloom, your family's auction house might even rank among the top in Asia."

Xiao Kun scoffed, "Legendary heirloom? Do you think it's like drinking soup? Without a truly important figure to make a name for it, its value will cap out at ten to twenty million."

"Jewelry only has significant value when there's a buyer willing to take it. Only cultural relics don't worry about buyers; if individuals don't take them, the state will."

"Relying solely on speculative added value won't work. To rank among the top in Asia, it needs real cultural appeal to attract major collectors who are willing to bring out their own treasured antiques for auction. Otherwise, it's just small-time stuff."

"Especially good items with cultural backgrounds and the essence of ancient art. They don't need much hype; there are always people who know their worth and can easily fetch tens of millions. "

"If there was a true legendary heirloom, it could sell for over a hundred million. Unfortunately, we don't encounter one in years. Last year's spring auction had thirty-eight lots, selling for just over two hundred million combined. My family is going under..."

Mo Qiong, however, was stunned and asked, "How much?"

"Just over two hundred million. Don't let the large number fool you; that's the total for thirty-eight items," Xiao Kun replied.

Mo Qiong asked, "No, I mean a true legendary heirloom, selling for a hundred million?"

"Of course, they call it a legendary heirloom for a reason. A hundred million is nothing," Xiao Kun said.

"Aren't cultural relics supposed to be non-tradable? Aren't legendary heirlooms priceless?" Mo Qiong asked.

Xiao Kun chuckled, "Relics are relics, antiques are antiques. Items with restricted circulation that are brought to auction are legally private collections. Those that can't be sold are definitely dug out of the ground, belonging to the state. Unless they were dug up abroad."

"If our country's relics are discovered abroad, domestic museums will do everything they can to buy them back. If my family's auction house can facilitate such a repatriation, our reputation will soar, and we'll be rich."

He then looked at Mo Qiong and asked, "Why are you asking all this? Your pearl doesn't count. You found it at sea and left; who knows it was discovered in international waters once it's in my hands."

"Haha," Mo Qiong chuckled, lost in thought.

Milling about on other people's ships, Mo Qiong felt he had learned a lot.

Interacting deeply with these people, he realized that while Zhang He and Xiao Kun's families weren't super-rich, they had extensive connections.

Xiao Kun's family ran an auction house and was involved in many other intermediary industries, so their network was naturally vast.

Zhang He's family was in investment, managing over a dozen foundations and holding shares in numerous industrial and service companies. Their connections were even broader.

These days, the second generation of the rich faced less pressure to inherit and take over businesses.

Even when the older generation retired, they wouldn't hand over their businesses to their children but to professional management teams.

As long as they didn't interfere with company operations, they could smoothly take over, allowing them the leisure to travel and without much malice.

The Ryukyu Crown was a truly priceless treasure, and the treasure accompanying it would undoubtedly be precious cultural relics.

Even if he obtained it domestically, it would be difficult to sell. But Mo Qiong realized that since it was overseas, he was determined to find it.

However, even if found abroad, if it wasn't on their own territory, it would still belong to a foreign country.

It would be very troublesome for Mo Qiong to try and sell it.

But with the Large Pearl as a precedent, Mo Qiong secretly thought he might be able to use Zhang He and Xiao Kun's connections.

Mo Qiong knew very well that without any connections, it would be incredibly troublesome to possess the entire treasure.

There were plenty of treasures, but what he lacked was connections.

If he could use this pirate king's treasure to completely establish a connection with Zhang He, Xiao Kun, and the others, it would be beneficial in many ways. In the future, when he had good items, they would be easier to sell.

The risks and rewards would be shared. If they gained benefits, they would handle everything related to the treasure better and more proactively than he could...

He didn't seek fame or power, only to share in the profits.

In the long run, even if he only got a small portion of the treasure, it would be a huge profit.

After mining so many pearls, everyone didn't linger and immediately decided to leave this place and head into the high seas.

Along the way, they encountered ships from the Philippines, but since they were yachts, they wouldn't be inspected as long as they didn't enter territorial waters.

Once in the high seas, because everyone was in a good mood, they found a place to stop and lay on the deck to sunbathe.

Looking at the boundless sea and sky, and smelling the scent of the sea breeze, everyone felt very relaxed.

"Xiao Mo, want a drink?" Zhang He came over in his swim trunks, carrying a bottle of red wine.

Mo Qiong smiled and took a glass.

On the other side, a few girls were sizzling fish on the grill. It was the mackerel he had casually picked up when he was mining pearls.

After a couple of sips of wine, Mo Qiong said, "Tsk tsk... drifting freely on the sea, drinking wine with the sea breeze, grilling fish, and mining pearls, this life is truly blissful."

"Hahaha! We're used to it, but we didn't expect to find pearls. Your luck is really good," Zhang He said.

Mo Qiong chuckled, "This isn't my luck, it's that storm last night that blew the ship right over there. We were just looking for a shallower spot to dive, and I hadn't swum far when I found a large patch of pearl oysters. I smashed one open... tsk tsk, seven million."

"That's true, these are the surprises of the sea!" Zhang He laughed.

"Stop talking, you're too much of a European Emperor. I swam for half a day and didn't see anything. You got seven million, we only got pocket change," Xiao Kun said.

"Go with the flow, go with the flow. That pearl and I had fate, and when fate arrived, I naturally found it. Zhang He, you looking for that sea monster too, didn't you find it by accident?" Mo Qiong said.

Zhang He asked, "What if I have no fate with the sea monster?"

"Uh... don't force it. I don't know if you have fate with the sea monster, but I think I have a lot of fate with you guys," Mo Qiong said with a smile.

"That's right, you were drifting on the vast sea, sleeping, and you missed our call for help. But instead, we crashed into your ship. How much fate is that!" everyone laughed.

Mo Qiong seized the opportunity and said, "How about this, we turn off the navigation, sail randomly, turn off the engine at night, and drift wherever we end up? We can fish and dive every day, and just play it by ear for a few days, what do you say?"

"Great idea! We've never played like this before," someone immediately responded.

Zhang He also found it interesting, to deliberately get lost at sea and play it by ear for a few days.

Crashing into Mo Qiong was fate, finding pearls was fate. This kind of aimless travel, out on the sea, no one knows what will happen next. The surprises and excitement within it are what people who love going out to sea enjoy the most.

"Okay! Let's do it. From now on, no matter where we go, it's all up to fate!"

"Let heaven decide where we play!"