Chapter 153: The Biggest Contributor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
This was his trick; he used the simplest way to sell them. All the books were classified into multiple packages and then they started to sell them to libraries
He called to all the schools and universities in Flagstaff, including elementary schools, high schools, and colleges. He also gave a call to the schools and universities located near Flagstaff.
They only spent a morning selling all the books. Compared to the time they spent classifying the books, it took a much shorter time.
Starting from the afternoon, they drove separately to send out these books and collect the money. They spent the whole afternoon and the second day to clear all the books. Finally, their house and trucks were empty.
Hans counted the money. They invested 10,000 dollars and they earned 49,000 dollars. The net profit was nearly 40,000; indeed, it was a lot.
Li Du patted his shoulder and said happily, "You did a good job. Big Fox, you’ve earned my respect this time."
"I wonder how you view me in your heart," Hans said sourly. "Why did I only get your respect just now?"
Hannah said, "Don’t you feel ashamed for saying this? Li, you don’t have to praise him. In fact, the biggest contributor is you. The books would have been unable to sell if it weren’t because you chose the hardcover books."
This was the real reason the libraries were willing to take the books; mainly because they were hardcovers and limited edition.
Hardcover books were expensive, and Hans had sold them at a fifth of the market price. That was why libraries were happy to accept the deal.
Hans felt dissatisfied and said, "My sister, why don’t you say God helped us? Without God’s blessing, we could not have sold them at all."
"Thank God." Hannah took a silver cross from her clothes and kissed it.
Hans was angry and rolled his eyes. "Get out of the way. I'm going to drink a beer."
Li Du said, "Don’t get angry—no matter who is the biggest contributor, you did a good job this time. We should bid for more books."
He scared Hans. "No, never do that unless they are all hardcover books. Otherwise, we will screw things up."
Even if there were hardcover books, he was not willing to do this again. He had worked from the night before last until now. He was exhausted.
Hans’s cell phone rang after he took a sip of beer.
He answered the call lazily and asked, "Hello, Hans Fox speaking. Who is it?"
Soon, he sat up on the sofa and said, "Yes, yes, I am the one who published the photos online. The original copies are with me. Yes, there are a lot…
"Yes, there is Egyptian architectures and patterns on the photos. I remember there are some patterns above. Please wait a moment, I’ll check it for you... "
Li Du knew what he meant and immediately took the album over.
Hans described the photos. After he hung up the phone, he looked pleased. "I am the biggest contributor. Guys, I am the biggest contributor!
Li Du asked in surprise, "Someone is interested in the photos? How much are they willing to pay?"
Hans hurried to change clothes and said, "Yes, I think he is really interested. He is willing to pay 4,000 for a photo if they were original copies. However, it seemed like they only interested in the architectural photographs! "
4,000 for a photo. They could earn a total of 160,000!
They were ready to depart after they packed the album. Hans took out the landscape photos and winked at Li Du. "Perhaps we can be profiteers without against the rules!
During the journey, Li Du found out that the man who interested in the photos was a professor from the history department at the University of Arizona. His students saw the pictures which published by Hans on the internet, so they told the professor.
Hans said, "I like dealing with well-educated people. They are easy to talk to."
They were going to the city of Tucson, the second largest city in Arizona; also the most important city in the southern Arizona desert. It was also the place where the University of Arizona was located.
There were several schools that enjoyed great reputation in Arizona. These schools had similar names, such as the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and so on.
Hans was very familiar with this area. They first passed through Phoenix, and eventually, they traveled the same distance to reach Tucson in the afternoon.
Li Du sighed. "This is really a long journey."
Ah Meow smoothed its whiskers with its paws and nodded as if it agreed with this. "Meow!"
Hans did not notice the movements of the ocelot. He reclined on the passenger seat and said, "Although there are a lot of storage units in Tucson, I will not come because we can’t travel so far."
He called the professor and then they planned to meet up in a coffee shop.
When Li Du and the others arrived at the coffee shop, a brawny, middle-aged African American man was drinking coffee with two macho, young African Americans.
Seeing the three people, Li Du asked, "Perhaps we went to the wrong place?"
He thought the three men looked like gangsters, a big boss with two sidekicks.
The middle-aged man stood up and took the initiative to reach out to him. "Lewis, Matt Lewis, a passionate learner of ancient Egyptian history and the civilization of the Euphrates River from the History department of the University of Arizona. Are you Mr. Hans Fox?"
Hans nodded. "Nice to meet you, Professor Lewis. You look very brawny."
The African American laughed, "History needs to be explored. We need to keep our bodies strong to work in archeology. If you think that the scholars are old or weak, then you are wrong."
"You must have made a lot of achievements in archeology." Hans took out the photo album and asked, "Are these things necessary for archeology as well?"
Seeing the album, Lewis’s eyes lit up. He said, "I must look carefully."
Hans took out two photos and passed them to him. He said, "If I am not mistaken, the pictures are worthless. However, some of the words on the pictures are worth a fortune."
There were many buildings on the photo. The buildings appeared damaged and engraved with hieroglyphs.
One of the pictures he took out was of a sphinx without text and another one was of a building. There were some hieroglyphs engraved on the building.
Lewis took the photos and looked at the back side of the them. He held a small lamp with his hand. With the light, two lines of words appeared behind the photo. Li Du had a look at the words and believed that they were written in French.
"Maxime Du Camp and Gustave Flaubert. These are their photos." The black felt satisfied after he had a look at the photos.
Li Du asked curiously, "Who are they? Are they explorers?"
Lewis shook his head. "No, they are a photographer and a writer. The photographer and writer who first explored ancient Egypt and captured the photos by using photography techniques."
"According to the history books, Maxime’s father was a wealthy surgeon in France. He came into contact with the camera since youth. It was possible he was one of the first people to come into contact with the camera, as photography techniques had just been invented."
"Between 1849 and 1851, Maxime was funded by the French government to present an in-depth exploration of ancient Egypt with his friend, Flaubert, who was a writer."
"They finally reached the desert after they went through all the hardships. Maxime captured a series of legendary photos with his camera and tripod, including the ancient Egyptian pyramids, the Sphinx, and Aswan statue.
"However, one of the most legendary incidents was..."