50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 539 Marriage Notarization
Wedding photography in the US is naturally far superior to what it used to be back home. The couple visited several studios before finally deciding on the style of their wedding dress.

However, it would take another week to make a custom order. The two of them calculated that there was enough time, so they naturally agreed to make the custom order.

While waiting, Sun Zhiwei began writing the invitations.

He had unknowingly spent several years in the United States and had made quite a few friends. He would write invitations to those he was on good terms with.

You shouldn't force people to come, but if you don't invite them, you might offend them.

Before the wedding, the couple had one more thing to do: apply for a marriage license at the Manhattan office.

With a marriage license, they can legally hold their wedding in a church or other designated venue.

After the wedding ceremony, the pastor who officiated at the ceremony signed the marriage certificate.

Then they need to take the signed marriage certificate to the state clerk's office for registration and filing, so that it will have legal effect in the future.

Perhaps to save costs, marriage certificates in the United States in the 1980s were just a single A4 sheet of paper, serving only as a document and lacking any sense of ceremony.

Unlike in the last century, American marriage certificates from that era were much more beautiful, and they even had photos of the couple on them.

Sun Zhiwei felt that only such a marriage certificate would have commemorative significance.

So he went to Reverend Irwin at St. John's Cathedral again to inquire about the old version of the marriage certificate.

As it turned out, Reverend Irwin did know, because the foyer of St. John's Church in New York had been completed in the last century and had been used to hold weddings for believers.

Therefore, he was certain that there should be old versions of blank marriage certificates in the warehouse.

Upon hearing this good news, Sun Zhiwei immediately handed over a check and then left two headshots of himself and Tong Jiajia with Pastor Owen.

That way, after their wedding, they'll receive the old, beautiful version of their marriage certificate.

For most people, the marriage ceremony ends once they receive the marriage certificate.

However, if the couple needs to use their marriage certificate abroad, such as for visa applications, immigration, or inheritance, they will also need to have the marriage certificate apostilleed.

They need to submit the original marriage certificate, or a notarized copy, to the Secretary of State's office or a designated certification body.

The certification body will review the documents and affix the Hague Apostille seal.

Once the certification is complete, both parties will receive a copy of their marriage certificate bearing the Hague Apostille seal.

This document will be widely recognized globally, providing legal support for couples in various matters overseas.

He's not in a hurry for this certification; he can apply for it later when he has time, since he doesn't need it now.

When Tong Jiajia received her custom-made wedding dress at the end of the week, Sun Zhiwei suddenly realized that he had forgotten to prepare the wedding ring.

He owns his own jewelry store and has no shortage of wedding rings, but the one he wants to give Tong Jiajia is definitely not an ordinary wedding ring.

Small diamonds are worthless, but wedding rings made of large diamonds are too cumbersome, so he thought of colored diamonds.

With time still available, he decided to take a trip to Australia, where the Argai region boasts the world's richest reserves of colored diamonds.

The lamprophyre formations in northern Western Australia are rich in vibrant rose, pink, and blue diamonds, and occasionally even purple diamonds. After explaining the situation to Tong Jiajia, he flew directly to Australia that same day.

The Argyle region of Australia is located in Western Australia, and its most famous mineral deposit is the Argyle Mine in Perth.

After landing in Sydney, he immediately transferred to a small plane and flew to Perth.

Perth is the capital of Western Australia and the fourth largest city in Australia. Located in a Mediterranean climate zone, it boasts mild temperatures, beautiful scenery, and is a particularly livable city.

Argyle Mine is located next to Perth. It was discovered in 79 and only started production this year.

Over the next 40 years, it will become the world's only mine that primarily produces pink diamonds, supplying 90% of the world's pink diamonds.

At that time, it was just treated as an ordinary diamond mine by Rio Tinto, but later, several world-renowned large pink diamonds came from here.

Sun Zhiwei was in a hurry this time, so he didn't have time to wander around. After getting off the plane, he went straight to the mine.

The upper layer of the Argyle mine is an open-pit mine. When Sun Zhiwei arrived nearby, he saw a large number of construction machines entering the mining area.

Security personnel began blocking tourists from getting too close from a distance, and Sun Zhiwei was naturally also kept outside.

He didn't force his way in, but carefully observed the surrounding terrain. It was a plateau, and the mine was located between two hills.

If they were to dig a tunnel from a distance, it would take at least several kilometers, and he didn't have that much time to waste here.

After thinking about it, he came up with the idea of ​​using the mining trucks. There was a special parking lot for mining trucks on the outskirts of the mining area, where drivers would park their trucks when they were resting.

After seeing clearly, Sun Zhiwei sneaked into the parking lot, changed into a set of mining driver's clothes, and boarded a mining truck that had just been put to rest.

After that, he followed the convoy of workers through the checkpoints and into the mining area.

The mining here is now entirely mechanized, and there are very few miners. Sun Zhiwei followed the large group of mining trucks, queuing up to wait for the ore to be transported.

At the same time, he began using space exploration to investigate underground mineral veins.

When the complete mining area appeared in his mind, he realized that the two hills he had just seen were actually an ancient volcanic crater.

It is only because of changes in the geographical environment that the two sides of the volcano's entrance collapsed, leaving two gaps on the left and right, which makes it look like two hills.

The main body of this vein is underground and on the hills on both sides. According to Rio Tinto's exploration data, the mineral deposits here can probably support mining until 2020.

But Sun Zhiwei saw things differently. In his eyes, the vein was funnel-shaped, with an inverted cone on top and a regular cone below, connected only by a narrow section of the vein in the middle.

Rio Tinto's exploration team has likely only detected the upper half of the funnel; the lower part, located deeper in the strata, has not yet been discovered.

Sun Zhiwei looked on with envy, but there was really no room left in the space, so he could only leave it for now, since it wouldn't run away for decades anyway.

He focused all his energy on the mineral veins above.

Inside the underground lamproite formation, red, blue, yellow, and purple diamonds of various colors adorned the rocks like stars in the sky.

He liked these colored diamonds more and more as he looked at them, but since it was the only colored diamond mine in the world, he couldn't just take it all. He could only pick out the larger diamonds from it.

(End of this chapter)