On the day of departure, the whole family came to see An Feng off.
His parents repeated their instructions, his sister and brother-in-law offered blessings, and little Xiaoyu clung to him with teary eyes.
The scene felt more like a permanent farewell than a vacation.
An Feng wiped sweat from his forehead and laughed.
“Hey, I’m just traveling, not going to Mars.
Why does this feel so dramatic?” The adults chuckled, but Xiaoyu kept tugging his shirt, demanding he keep his promise to take her to America.
After some coaxing from her mother and a pinky promise from An Feng that he would bring her next time, she finally let go.
Carrying a bag of tea eggs his mother had made, he boarded the bus to the city.
He flew from the provincial capital straight to Beijing.
By the time he checked into the hotel it was already night.
He called Tony to confirm their meeting, then logged onto his computer and checked the auction results.
The “Gemini” pair had sold for an average of 1.2 million US dollars per carat, totaling thirty-six million US dollars.
‘In RMB, that’s over two hundred million yuan.’ Luxury houses, sports cars—people would call him godfather for a fraction of that.
And this was just the beginning.
The larger blue diamond and the rest of his collection would likely bring even more.
‘If I unlock the full catalog or master the man-made diamond tech… I might actually be thinking about moon vacations one day.’ The thought kept him up.
Instead of sleeping, he chatted online with old classmates, roasting the ones posting honeymoon photos.
Early the next morning, he took a taxi to the notary office to get his driver’s license notarized for international use.
The normal processing time was five days, but money opened doors.
The VIP channel delivered it in one hour.
Tony picked him up that afternoon and accompanied him to the consulate for the US visa.
With Tony’s company letter in hand, the process went smoothly despite An Feng’s blank passport.
After a full day of errands, they boarded the long flight from Beijing to Los Angeles.
Tony, ever the professional, explained, “You’re a big client now.
The company takes good care of its VIPs.” Having Tony as a translator was a huge help—An Feng’s English was decent for tests but rusty in real conversation.
More than ten hours later, they landed at LAX.
The California sky was bright even though it was nighttime back home.
An Feng stepped outside and took a deep breath.
‘The air feels… cleaner.’ Tony muttered that Los Angeles air wasn’t actually that great, but compared to some Chinese cities, it still felt like an upgrade.
They stayed near the airport that night.
The next day they flew across the country to New York.
At the arrival gate, a tall, bearded white man in his thirties or forties held up a sign with Tony’s name.
He looked a bit like a rugged Beckham.
“Mr.
An, hello!” the man said, shaking An Feng’s hand firmly.
Tony introduced him.
“This is my boss, Anthony Blulane.
He came personally to welcome you.” Anthony grinned.
“Mr.
An, you just helped me earn over three million dollars in commission.
I have to keep an eye on you in case you bring me a few million more!” An Feng smiled awkwardly.
‘Foreigners really are straightforward.’ They climbed into a sleek black BMW 750.
Anthony and An Feng sat in the back while Tony drove.
Anthony was excellent at conversation and quickly made An Feng feel at ease.
When talk turned to the payout, Anthony sighed.
“That big tax bill—over ten million dollars—is going to hurt.
Ready for the IRS?” “Really that ruthless?” An Feng asked.
He had heard Americans feared the tax agency more than the FBI, but one-third of his earnings disappearing still stung.
Anthony leaned back.
“I might have some advice.
If you just want to grab the money, travel, and go home, pay the tax and enjoy.
But if you stay here, invest, buy property, create jobs… the tax office will give you plenty of deductions next April.” An Feng nodded slowly.
“I’m not familiar with US tax laws.
How exactly does that work?” “You’ll need a good accountant for the details.
But here’s the big picture: if you invest over a million dollars and can show you’re creating jobs, immigration authorities will practically roll out the red carpet.” “I’ll think about it,” An Feng said.
“You should think seriously,” Anthony replied.
An hour later they reached the auction company’s offices in the city center.
An Feng received his check in a private reception room.
Anthony popped open a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses.
“Congratulations, Mr.
An!
Any vacation plans yet?” An Feng held up the check.
“I need to figure out what to do with this first.” Anthony offered to recommend a VIP bank that could handle everything smoothly, especially since An Feng didn’t have a Social Security Number yet.
A thought clicked in An Feng’s mind.
‘He’s testing whether I plan to stay and invest.’ Anthony raised his glass with a knowing smile.
“Why not?
For the poor, America can be hell.
For the rich… it’s heaven.” An Feng had already made up his mind during the car ride.
Returning to China with this kind of money and tech had limited upside.
The high-end diamond market here, filled with wealthy buyers who loved flashy stones, felt like the perfect fit.
‘People with money to burn.’ He clinked glasses with Anthony.
“Let’s do it.” Anthony grinned, stepped aside to make a quick phone call, then returned.
“Wait here.
I’ll get things moving.”