Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 905 - 901
Bi Fang wrapped a torch around his forearm to secure it and tied a strip of animal skin around his forehead. He also made a second torch and inserted it into a crevice between the rocks to provide light.
Once everything was ready, Bi Fang began to climb down the rock wall beside the circular platform.
Harley stood at the edge of the platform, peered out, and made a few swiping gestures downward with his forelimbs, but ultimately he retracted his claws and paced on the platform.
Since entering the mine, the unique environment had left little room for the leopard to be of any use, so Harley's presence was hardly felt.
Watching Bi Fang get further away, Harley called out a few times. Seeing no response, he could only lie down helplessly on the ground within the circle of light, waiting for Bi Fang to come up on his own.
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"Whew."
As he breathed, the air flowed into his lungs and spread to his limbs and body.
There were no stable anchor points nearby to secure a safety rope, so he had to climb with his bare hands. Besides, the insufficient lighting made the climb even more challenging.
The audience watched with hearts pounding and palms sweating.
The oppressive environment, combined with the challenging movements, had even Bi Fang sweating profusely.
At this moment, the usefulness of the animal skin on his forehead became evident, effectively absorbing sweat and preventing it from slipping into his eyes. This allowed him not to fuss over wiping his face, so he could focus more intently on climbing.
"If you're not a professional and don't have adequate safety measures, please don't try to imitate me, otherwise..." Bi Fang lay against the rock wall, took a deep breath, and continued, "Remember, a single misstep can lead to everlasting regret."
Seeing such a scene, the online audience began to doubt whether those few poor-quality diamonds were worth the risks Old Fang was taking.
Bi Fang paused on a protruding rock, leaning against the rock wall for a brief rest. Hearing this, he laughed and said, "My goal isn't for money, or at least money is only a small part of the reason."
Are diamonds valuable?
Undoubtedly, they are valuable. If anyone says they are not, they can send them my way, and I'll take as many as they give.
Are the alleged marketing scams false then?
No doubt, they are all real. Common diamonds depreciate as soon as a regular person purchases them, and second-hand ones can't even sell for half the price.
It sounds contradictory, but in fact, both statements are true and not contradictory at all.
The fundamental reason is that diamonds are valuable, but not as valuable as the price tags in malls or major brand jewelry stores suggest.
The existence of marketing scams doesn't mean that diamonds are worthless.
"Diamond rough is a type of mineral product, according to 'Theory and Methods of Mineral Resources Exploration,' a mineral deposit is defined as a geologic body with economic value, and an ore is defined as a mineral or rock with economic value."
"Mineral products are defined as 'economically valuable geological body extracts, sorted or purified products.' These are widely accepted definitions, not something I've made up."
"Since diamonds originate from mineral deposits and need to be sorted from ore, they are mineral products and hence economically valuable, by definition."
"Also, according to the National Mineral Reserve Committee Office, 'Reference Manual for Mineral Industry Requirements' and DZ/T0205-2002, the industrial grade of diamond deposits is 0.0008 grams."
"I know you might not understand what that means, so let me explain it simply. It means that if you can extract more than 1 gram of diamond from 1250 tons of ore, you can cover the mining costs."
"Compared to gold mines, where 1 ton of ore needs to yield 1 gram of gold to cover costs, it's clear that the average value per unit mass of diamonds is greater than that of gold."
[Swearing without exposing one's shortcomings]
[Honestly, was Old Fang a miner before?]
[A gold miner, right?]
[Strange knowledge has increased again]
[The main thing is professionalism]
"So from a cost perspective, it's impossible for high-quality diamonds not to be valuable; mining costs alone are already quite high."
"But there's one thing to note," he said, "diamonds are not investments, they are consumables!"
"This needs to be distinctly differentiated from gold, or rather, most gemstones are consumables, not investments."
"This is also why the seemingly contradictory points previously mentioned can coexist, which is key."
Buying things that make you look good, feel comfortable, and happy is called consumption.
On the other hand, products that aim to preserve or increase in value are called investments.
For most people, whether buying skincare products, cars, clothes, or jewelry, the objective is certainly not to preserve value.
Those who spend thousands or tens of thousands on a diamond ring do so just like buying clothes or a car—to wear them.
The aim is to look good, to have face.
But like clothes and cars, once they are bought, they depreciate, not being able to be liquidated like gold.
Especially when reselling a diamond ring bought from a jewelry brand, you would find that a ring originally bought for 20,000 might not even fetch half that price, unlike gold, which, if the price increases, could still be sold for 20,000 or more.
Unless you're buying multi-million dollar, rare pink diamonds, then that could be considered an investment.
In the foreseeable future, as long as no diamond mines with large reserves and high-quality that can be mined with existing technologies suddenly emerge, they will hold their value.
But this is largely irrelevant to the average person.
Moreover, with artificial diamond technology becoming increasingly advanced, Bi Fang heard that diamonds can now be grown and they look just like the natural ones, though he wasn't sure about the authenticity; certainly, it also sped up the depreciation of diamonds.
Regardless, diamonds still "have value to depreciate."
After explaining this to the audience, Bi Fang continued to climb down.
Everyone finally understood that terms like "lasting forever" and "worthless" were biased.
With the understanding that diamonds are valuable, explaining Bi Fang's actions at this moment wasn't hard.
Of course, he wasn't really short of this bit of money, unless there was a diamond the size of a pigeon's egg below.
Few knew that Bi Fang had some hoarding tendencies, especially for such rare items in the wilderness.
It's like the scars on a hunter's body, symbols of bravery.
Those rare trophies were also proof that Bi Fang had been in this wilderness and served as his medals.
The process of obtaining them himself was like pinning a medal on his chest.
His shoes hit the ground, yet made little noise, the thick dust acting like a carpet had a perfect effect, and the kicked-up dust nearly reached his calves.
Bi Fang lifted his foot, a clear imprint of the sole appeared under the torchlight.
There was almost no wind in the cave, but the falling volcanic ash had accumulated over many years, causing the dust beneath to build up several millimeters thick.
Holding the torch, Bi Fang followed the curved passage between the rostrum and the rock wall for a few steps, and after turning the corner, he saw a shocking scene.
Two skeletons, dressed in tattered denim work clothes, were piled together in a bizarre, overlapping manner.
The skull of the bottom skeleton was shattered, with only half remaining intact, its empty eye sockets seeming to stare at the explorers who stepped onto this ground.
The live stream burst into excitement like a nuclear explosion.
But the two skeletons were not the main attraction.
Bi Fang shifted his gaze to a side not far from the skeletons, where there was a palm-sized leather pouch, its drawstring long broken, unable to close the mouth. The pouch tilted to one side, spilling some of its contents.
Under the torchlight, everyone could see clearly.
The sparkling diamond fragments.
