Pick up bargains in Chinatown and make 10,000 times the profit at the beginning

Chapter 72 Cat's Eye

"Brother Lin, what about this? The lady said it was a cat's eye stone, but the quality is not good."

Lin Yuan didn't reach out to take it, and smiled: "Cat's eye is a precious gemstone. A high-quality cat's eye stone over 10 carats can be worth millions of dollars. Do you think it's possible?"

The main mineral component of cat's eye is beryllium aluminum oxide. When exposed to strong light or sunlight, the cat's eye will reflect a concentrated dazzling light. When the intensity of the light source changes, the reflected light band of the cat's eye will also become stronger or weaker, thicker or thinner.

When the cat's eye stone is rotated, the reflected light band will change flexibly, resembling a cat's eye, so people figuratively call it "cat's eye".

Qiao Yufan: "I knew it was fake at first glance!"

"It cannot be said to be fake. It depends on what kind of cat's eye it is. There are many stones with cat's eye effect, such as quartz cat's eye, diopside cat's eye, actinolite cat's eye, apatite cat's eye, tourmaline cat's eye, scapolite cat's eye, etc.

The cat's eye phenomenon occurs due to the parallel fibrous structure inside these gemstones.

But their specific gravity and refractive index are much lower than that of cat's eye of chrysoberyl.

In appearance, the texture is relatively rough, the reflected light is not bright and clear, and the color quality is not as pure and crystal clear as chrysoberyl. Compared with the real cat's eye stone, the value is hundreds or thousands of times lower. "Lin Yuan also made up for it in the past few days before he could talk about it.

"So, this is indeed a cat's eye stone, but it's a worthless variety?"

Lin Yuan still shook his head: "To be precise, this cannot be considered a cat's eye stone. It's just a stone with a cat's eye effect."

This is a bit similar to night pearls. Many so-called "night pearls" on the market do glow, but they are actually just luminous stones, such as fluorite, not night pearls.

Real night-shining pearls are very valuable and are not just commonplace.

"Besides, who would use a cat's eye stone to get a hole? Wouldn't that ruin the eyeliner of the cat's eye stone?"

You know, the most valuable part of cat's eye stone is actually the eyeliner, which is the essence.

When everyone heard it, it seemed right.

Lin Yuan placed his eyes on Huo Qingtong's hand and asked her, "What is that thing in your hand? Let me see."

Huo Qingtong opened her palm, on which lay a thumb-sized diamond-shaped object that looked a bit like a yellow gem.

"It's the pendant under the bracelet. I dropped it just now." Huo Qingtong said. Then, she handed the yellow diamond-shaped pendant to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was a little confused: "Together?"

This is strange. The treasure-hunting instrument just now actually missed this thing. Is it out of range? This is the only explanation.

Huo Qingtong felt a little hopeful and nodded like a chicken catching rice: "Yeah! That's right! The pendant under the bracelet. Brother Lin, do you think it's valuable?"

Lin Yuan nodded slightly. He knew that a string of eighteen beads consisted of not only the main bead, but also "Buddha heads", "pagodas", and pendant beads.

Obviously, this is the pendant on the eighteen-bead bracelet.

"This is tourmaline. It's of very high quality, reaching gemstone grade."

Huo Qingtong was immediately delighted because she knew about tourmaline.

Brother Lin had told them earlier that tourmaline was one of the materials used to make the top hats and feathers of first- and second-rank officials in the Qing Dynasty, and was also used to make the court beads they wore.

At the same time, tourmaline was also one of the favorites of Empress Dowager Cixi, so during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, tourmaline received unprecedented attention in China.

Tourmaline has a complex composition and its colors are also complex and varied. The international jewelry industry basically divides tourmaline into commercial varieties based on color, and the richer the color, the higher the value.

Green and yellow tourmaline are the most common of all tourmaline color variations, so their value is inferior to blue and red tourmaline. Li Qiushui and others envied and were curious: "How much is it worth?"

"This kind of high-quality tourmaline is calculated by carat, and costs several thousand or even more than ten thousand yuan. I'm not too sure about the exact amount, so I can ask Uncle De and the others when I get back."

He only knew that the price of tourmaline ranged widely, from tens of yuan per carat to thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan per carat. The specific price depended on factors such as the quality, color, and transparency of the tourmaline.

Huo Qingtong happily put away the tourmaline diamond pendant.

This time, it seems that she is lucky. Apart from Brother Lin and her uncle, she has the biggest gain.

Lin Yuan and his friends continued walking forward and saw someone selling guns.

"Can you sell guns like this?" Lin Yuan was very surprised.

Although I know that the United States is very tolerant and even permissive towards guns, I didn't expect it to be permissive to this extent!

If you don't go along with the stall owner when bargaining, won't he pick up a gun and shoot you?
My uncle shrugged his shoulders and said, "There are gun shops everywhere on the street, so why would it be strange to see someone setting up a stall? Besides, the gun is second-hand, so whether it fires or not is another matter."

He is not bragging or slandering. In the United States, the more hidden streets are full of shops selling guns, with a wide variety of guns.

All right! Lin Yuan was convinced.

My uncle added: "You can practice some other time when you have time. It is necessary to have two guns at home."

In the past, when our family couldn’t afford to spend a few dollars, if a thief broke in, they would think it was bad luck. But now it’s different. Now that we have money, it’s inevitable that some people will covet it.

Without a gun, how can you protect your property? Rely on those Buddhists?
Speaking of guns, Lin Yuan is no longer sleepy.

In China, although you can play with guns in some places, it is impossible to own a gun of your own.

"Okay! We'll go when we get back." Lin Yuan responded immediately.

Qiao Yufan could understand Lin Yuan's feelings. He felt the same way when he first came. What man doesn't like guns?

As they were chatting, they passed a stall selling potted plants. There were several pots of flowers and trees on it, two of which were orchids. If I remember correctly, one seemed to be a Phalaenopsis. The orchid in the other pot was a bit strange, like a frog in a jumping state.

Lin Yuan stopped.

The others also stopped and turned their eyes to the stall. They knew Lin Yuan and knew he would not stop for no reason. He probably saw something valuable.

"Hey! It's the ghost orchid." Qiao Yufan exclaimed.

Ghost orchid is an epiphyte. Although it also entangles other plants, it is different from parasitic plants. It does not absorb nutrients from the host plant, but uses its own roots to photosynthesize and absorb water.

Their roots are well integrated with the bark, and the eye-catching white flowers look like ghosts floating in the air, so they are also called "ghost orchids".

This kind of orchid is a rare protected plant all over the world!

The ghost orchid is extremely rare. It is said that there are only about 2000 plants left in the United States, its main distribution area, and all of them grow in the swamps of southern Florida.

Even in the United States, it is illegal to collect this orchid.

He is really brave enough to sell it.

Qiao Yufan thought that Lin Yuan had taken a fancy to this ghost orchid, so he reminded him, "Brother Lin, it's best not to touch this kind of orchid."

(End of this chapter)