Chapter 345: Knocking at Their Door
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After he hung the phone, Hans gave Li Du a bizarre look.
"What’s up?" Li Du asked.
"We’re not going back yet. Someone is coming to us regarding a deal. Topic of interest is this." He pointed to the case that G.o.dzilla was holding. In it were the bottles of rose oil.
Li Du soon understood. He said with a smile, "Business has come knocking at our door?"
Hans nodded. "Correct. For once, it has come knocking on our door. It’s a blessing from G.o.d for us to make more money."
The other party seemed to view this as an important deal. Soon, an S-cla.s.s Mercedes-Benz arrived. A pair of middle-aged people, a man and a woman, alighted and walked over to them.
After they met, they introduced themselves.
The two belonged to a fragrance company called "Siguaraya." The man was Hill Crestet, the senior purchasing manager. The woman was Alice Humphrey, an aromatherapist.
Hill seemed to be in charge of the situation. He shook hands with Hans and Li Du and went straight to the point. "I’ve heard that you guys have found some rose oil, so I had come to see if we could possibly make a deal."
Hans exaggeratingly stretched out his arms and said, "Sure, of course. We’re planning to return to Flagstaff. If we were to return with Franklins instead of some small bottles, that would be best."
They had just checked out of their rooms, so they went to a nearby coffee shop. They asked for a private room of their own. They then brought the suitcase in to discuss the deal, and to validate the quality of the rose oil.
The room was not big enough, so Li Du told Big Quinn and G.o.dzilla to head off for a break. The two thought for a moment, and went to stand at the entrance. Their arms were crossed, taking the role of bouncers.
Li Du noticed the two of them when he left the room to go order some coffee. He laughed, "There’s no need for this, just go take a break."
Big Quinn said, "Boss, we need to stand here so that you guys seem more imposing when securing the deal."
Li Du patted his shoulder and said, "I’ll give you a bonus when we get back. One for each of you."
Big Quinn seemed more enthusiastic. When the owner of the restaurant saw him, Big Quinn met his stare with a smile. The owner hastily turned away.
Twenty-four bottles of rose oil were placed on the table. Besides the one that had been opened by Hans, the others were sealed with wax.
Alice opened the unsealed rose oil and inhaled deeply. She then nodded and said, "Yes, it’s rose essential oil. More precisely, rose otto."
"Alright, gentlemen," Hill said, "we need to perform some preliminary tests for the rose otto. If we don’t we can’t give a price."
"We’ll need to unseal the bottles for the tests, right?" Hans asked.
If it were necessary, then they had to carefully consider this.
The two had introduced themselves, and no one else was available to verify their ident.i.ties. It was unclear if they were who they said they were. If the bottles were opened, and they decided not to buy them, then it would devalue their rose oil.
Hill said, "There are two tests that we’ll be doing. First is the physical test—there will be no need to open the bottles. The second test, a chemical test, requires opening the bottles."
He paused for a moment. "However," he continued, "as long as the first test is done, we can begin negotiating. If you guys are satisfied with the price, then we can go into the second test."
"Which means, the physical test will determine whether you guys want them or not," Hans said, "and the chemical test will finalize the price?"
"Yes, that’s right," Hill nodded.
Hans glanced to Li Du, and Li Du nodded. It was a reasonable request.
The trunk of the Mercedes-Benz had a white metal case in it. After getting their permission, Hill let G.o.dzilla carry the case in.
When the case was opened, a white vapor emitted from it. The temperature inside was extremely low. The twenty-four rose oils were placed inside.
Hill explained to them, "This is the easiest method to test the quality. It tests whether the oil will solidify at low temperatures. Normally, below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the rose otto will start crystallizing. That’s because the distilled rose otto is 15 to 18 percent natural wax."
A few minutes later, the case was reopened, and the 24 bottles were taken out. All of the rose oils were in a colorless, half-crystallized states.
Seeing such, Hill and Alice whispered a few words to each other. Alice then brought out some reagents and began dabbing a few drops onto the outside of the bottles. She opened a bottle and used a test tube to perform some tests.
Hill smiled. "Alice will be continuing with some tests. From the looks of it, we’re optimistic about this. I think we’ll have a good chance of securing a deal."
"Since we have the opportunity, could you tell us more about rose otto?" Li Du asked.
"What would you like to know?" Hill asked. "I’ll start with some information on high- and low-quality rose oil, and how to discern the difference between them. How’s that?"
"Sure."
Hill took a sip of his coffee and began explaining, "For consumers to discern the quality of rose oil, they have to look at these factors: species, production origin, extraction method, purity, characteristics, composition data, price, and brand.
"For species, Damascena Rose is currently the best species of rose for making rose oil. It has medicinal value and is extremely valuable. There are another two common species of rose, namely Rose Alba and Centifolia Rose: these three are the best species.
"For production origin, there are three main places in the world: Bulgaria, Morocco, and Turkey. Their products are the best in terms of quality, quant.i.ty, artistic value, and price."
"Are these things that rare? Only three places make them?" Hans asked in a surprised tone.
Hill smiled. "No—seems like I’m still lacking in my explanation. These are the three main places that produce it. Russia, India, Iraq and China produce rose oil too. However, international brands like Chanel, Dior, Bulgari, and Hermès will only choose the rose oil from those three main producers."
Li Du nodded. "Please continue."
"For extraction methods, distillation is currently recognized as the best method to extract. You might have noticed that Alice said this rose essential oil was rose otto.
"Rose essential oil that has been extracted through distillation is called rose otto. Through this method, only a limited amount can be produced. As the extraction rate is low and the demand for it is high, the product is extremely expensive.
"The second most commonly used method of extraction is solvent extraction. The product is called ‘absolutes.’
"There is a tiny amount of chemical solvent used in this process, so the product isn’t suitable for aromatherapy or consumption. The price is relatively lower. Cheaper cosmetics and perfumes use this.
"Another method is effleurage, which includes ma.s.saging the petals. It was an ancient method but has been eliminated. It uses animal fats to extract. The extraction rate was low and was easily contaminated…"
Hill was eagerly explaining, while Hans and Li Du were also engrossed. Suddenly, there was a loud ruckus from outside.
Li Du said with his eyebrows creased, "Hold on, let me take a look…"
Before he finished, the door was rudely kicked opened, and two black gun barrels peered in!