Li Du released the little bug to investigate the condition of the surrounding land.
This was not an easy task. The park"s land had been dug by others hundreds, thousands of times. It was like the tourists and treasure hunters had plowed the land, turning it over and over again, transforming it into a soft sandy beach.
Searching for diamonds here was purely based on luck. Not even the slightest knowledge in a discipline or any type of skill was required. The only factor that mattered slightly here was experience but only because it helped you work more quickly.
The little bug traveled back and forth underground, but Li Du couldn"t find anything.
He walked around without digging. Sophie and others followed him, also not doing anything.
A black woman noticed them. She walked over and smiled. "Hi there, you won"t find any diamonds by just looking. You can"t only think and watch. You have to take action."
She chose Sophie to talk to. Clearly, Sophie seemed sweet and honest, which caught her attention.
Sophie politely spoke with the woman. Li Du was not bothered by this. He was still controlling the little bug as it moved back and forth underground.
The black woman had a brief conversation with Sophie, and went back to work ten meters away from them. Suddenly, she screamed, "Hey there! Come and have a look! I found a diamond! I think I found a diamond!"
Hearing her scream, people quickly surrounded her. One after another, they asked, "Where? Where is it?"
The woman raised her arm. The skin on her hands was wrinkled, like it had been soaked in water for a long time. Her complexion turned pale, and she looked slightly frightening.
This was the price to pay as a treasure hunter for diamond mining in the park for a long time. They had to come into contact with mud and water continuously. Over time, the skin on her hands had peeled off.
The woman had a small gla.s.s bottle in her hand. Inside the bottle was s.h.i.+ning stone. Its size was pretty impressive. She was in luck if this was the diamond that she"d found.
Li Du and others were nearby. They gathered together and moved close to join the excitement. They stood beside her.
More and more people forced their way into the crowd. The black woman was worried. She held the bottle tight and screamed, "Stop squeezing in! Otherwise, I"m calling the security!"
Some people had malicious intentions and tried to cause chaos. They b.u.mped against the black woman and almost caused her to fall.
Sophie quickly caught her. Brother Wolf and G.o.dzilla voluntarily stood by them like a human wall to help them stop the incoming crowd.
A lot of people started to say, "Let me have a look. I found a diamond yesterday. I"m familiar with how they look."
"This diamond! A fine diamond! d.a.m.n it! She"s gonna be rich!"
"No way. My G.o.d! That"s a huge diamond. How"s she so lucky?"
There was an appraisal department in the park. Treasure hunters who obtained a stone could go for appraisal there. The park policy was, "Help tourists protect their collected items. Provide diamond appraisal and registration services for tourists. Free of charge."
Someone had found a big diamond. This news spread quickly in the park. The appraisal department sent two appraisers to provide the free service.
The security guards also came over to control and separate the crowd.
Seeing the appraisers, the woman confidently pa.s.sed the diamond to them.
One of them took a pair of tweezers and carefully picked up the stone from the flask. The other one took a magnifying gla.s.s and carefully examined the stone.
Li Du could tell just from one look that this was, in fact, a diamond—a genuine raw diamond. Without any processing, this diamond was neither dazzling nor pretty, but raw stones were like this.
He was unlucky. The gemstone was right there but the little bug hadn"t noticed it.
The two appraisers examined the diamond again and again. They looked at the woman and nodded. "Ma"am, what"s your name?"
This was a good sign. The black woman said emotionally, "Ondra, Kelly Ondra. I come from New York."
An appraiser said, "Congratulations. Kelly Ondra from New York. You have made it to the hall of fame. You can now buy a big house in New York."
The black woman held her chest, opened her eyes as wide as she could, and yelled, "Ahhh! This is a diamond! I found a real diamond, yes?! I"m rich! My children"s school fees! Our house loan! I have the money now!"
An appraiser said, "Yes, congratulations!"
The appraiser carried an electronic scale and weighed the diamond. He wore a shocked expression. "6.35 carats! You can afford a mansion in New York!"
This size of this diamond was big but Li Du hadn"t expected it to be 6.35 carats. This was a huge piece. Although it was still a raw stone, processing it would not cause too much wear and tear.
The surrounding tourists and treasure hunters started an uproar. People were discussing it by whispering in each other"s ear. All of them were looking at the black woman with jealousy and hatred.
The evaluation standards for diamonds were very complicated. If this diamond had a unique quality, then the price could easily go up to a million dollars.
This diamond seemed like it was good quality, so it could definitely have a unique quality to it as well.
This park had produced a lot of fine diamonds. For instance, in 1990, local s.h.i.+rley Strawn from Arkansas found a 3.03 carat diamond and named it "Strawn Wagner."
When Strawn dug up this diamond, Arkansas" chief gemstone appraising expert had also coincidentally been here. He used a magnifying gla.s.s to examine the diamond and called it a rare quality find.
In 1998, this diamond was appraised at the highest standard 0/0/0. It was perfect, a score which only appeared once in every 10 billion gems.
Kelly Ondra screamed with excitement. She hugged Sophie and madly kissed her face twice. Then, she turned around and gave the appraiser a hug and a kiss. She was extremely excited.
Sophie and the appraisers were happy for her too. This diamond would become the locals" main public discussion. Many reporters would want an interview.
The two appraisers had just run a preliminary evaluation. They had to return to the appraisal center to run further checks using advanced equipment and other different methods.
Under the protection of the security guards, the few of them walked toward the appraisal center. The black woman was extremely excited throughout the journey. She continuously screamed, "I thought it was just a piece of gla.s.s. I couldn"t believe it. I wanted to throw it away at that time. Really, I actually did throw it away.
"I threw that diamond away. Haha. And then, I asked myself: why had I been impatient? Why did I not properly take a look at it?"
"Thank G.o.d! Thank the kind Mother of Jesus! I really did it. I pick it back up! Oh, G.o.d! I almost lost the stone that will change the fate of my life . . . "
Not long after, more news of the diamond emerged. It was 6.35 carats. It was the eighth biggest natural diamond found publicly by a tourist in the park. This was also the biggest diamond that had been found here over the last eight years.
On that day, the news regarding the diamond became a public discussion.