Chapter 249: Life-changing Technologies
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The problem with the final unit was that the tools were not covered and most of them were exposed. Units like this would probably end up with a higher bidding price and a lower rate of return.
The auctioneer knew the value of the unit was high and started the bidding at 1,000 dollars.
Li Du placed a bid of 1,500 dollars and the bidding price soared to 3,000 dollars in just a few exchanges. He shook his head and did not place any more bids.
The unit was sold at a final price of 4,500 dollars, which Li Du felt would hardly earn any profit. Although the stuff in there could sell for at approximately 5,000 dollars, one still needed to factor in the manpower costs needed to clear the unit.
The auction ended, and it was time to clear the units.
As the weather was still very warm, Li Du hesitated for a while and said, "Let’s pack up the unit after the sun sets."
The storage units had no air-conditioner to supply them with cool air while they packed up the unit. During the auction, many treasure hunters were already drinking a lot of cold water to cool down, even though they were outside the storage units.
Godzilla felt that he could handle the heat and said, "Never mind that, boss, I can do it!"
Li gave him a pat on the shoulder and his hand felt wet—Godzilla was already perspiring from the heat.
"Since I am your boss you should listen to me," Li Du said. "There aren’t a lot of things inside the unit anyway. You could clear a unit like this in, at most, two hours. Let’s come back tonight."
Godzilla nodded his head vigorously. "Okay, boss!"
Hans remarked, "That’s cool! Li, you know how to be on someone’s good side."
Li Du pointed at Hans. "You should be thinking about how to be a good son-in-law," he teased. "You’re very capable with the ladies. You got yourself a wife just by attending an auction."
Hans was rendered speechless. Not too far away, there was an Infiniti parked under a tree. Avril’s parents were chilling under the shade and looking at Hans at the same time.
Both of them looked at Hans with such eagerness and fervor that even Li Du who was inexperienced on such matters could figure out that both Mr. and Mrs. Larry were looking at Hans like their prospective son-in-law.
When the three of them left the storage company, Mr. and Mrs. Larry stopped Hans. Hans glanced to Li Du—he was seeking help.
Li Du gave a pat on his shoulder and faced the middle-aged couple. "My buddy here is a traditional Christian. He’s a rather shy man when it comes to personal matters. So just be straightforward with him."
Hans almost blurted out all the cuss words that he knew!
When it was evening, the temperate got much lower and Li Du brought Godzilla to pack up the unit.
Soon after they opened up the storage unit, Hans came back as well, looking listless and exhausted; his steps seemed feeble and weak.
Li Du couldn’t help thinking otherwise. "Bullsh*t—don’t tell me you did it? Isn’t that too fast?"
"Get lost!" Hans yelled. "How did I get a friend like you? D*mn, I’m ruined by you!"
Li Du said, "You need to thank me, Big Fox—you’ve already reached the marriageable age!"
"I’m not going to get married!" Hans said sternly.
While the two of them were verbally sparring with each other, Godzilla was packing and carrying box after box of items, loading them onto the Iron Knight.
Soon, the quaint, old-fashioned vending machines came into view.
Hans’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the vending machines. "Hey big guy, get the vending machines out first!" Hans instructed Godzilla.
Li Du asked with interest, "This thing’s valuable?"
Hans nodded. "If this is the vintage lever vending machine, then it’s valuable. Otherwise, the regular ones could sell for some cash too."
Li Du asked, "Have you done some research on vending machines?"
Hans looked at Godzilla moving the machines out slowly and replied in a casual tone, "Of course—I know when the world’s earliest vending machine was made."
"When?"
"Two thousand years ago. How about that? Are you surprised? It was first seen in a temple in Alexandria, for the purpose of selling their holy water."
The answer astounded Li Du. "It was so long ago? Are you kidding me?"
Hans showed the middle finger at Li. "Don’t ever doubt Big Fox. Big Fox is an expert in this industry. At that point in time, the church had designed the machine using the lever principle. The ancient Egyptian coins could tilt a receptacle to open a tap that would pour the holy water until the receptacle returned to its original position."
Li Du acclaimed, "It’s amazing that holy water was sold in such a manner!"
"Of course," Hans said. "These religious believers were good businessmen."
When the red automatic vending machine was moved over, Hans knocked on it a few times before using a wrench to remove the back door of the machine.
Li Du also helped remove the back door of the machine; a complicated view of electrical components and wiring circuits appeared.
Hans used the flashlight to look for the label that contained information of the year the machine was made. "Very good, this machine’s worth some cash. It’s a modern machine."
After pondering for a short while, he added, "I think we can sell this for 2,500 dollars."
Li Du laughed. "Wow, looks like we found some good stuff."
"Definitely," Hans said, "a new machine costs at least 4,000 dollars!"
Li was not well-versed in these things. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I thought a machine like this cost 400 dollars."
Hans cackled, "You’re so naïve, my dear buddy—did you think that the automatic vending machine is only a big cabinet that gives Coca-Cola when you insert coins into it?"
"Isn’t that so?" Li replied.
Hans said, "Don’t be silly—this is a technologically-advanced product. Look at the refrigeration system: it chills precise products based on consumer demand, this is known as ‘zone cooling.’
"Zone cooling only cools the drinks likely to be sold next, instead of cooling everything in the machine like a refrigerator. The on-board computer calculates the number of drinks to cool based on time-specific sales data.
"There’s more: this is the Coca-Cola Peak Shift Vending Machine. Do you know how much power it consumes a day? It consumes less than half the electricity of an electric fan!"
Li Du was intrigued by these facts. "Unbelievable! It actually consumes so little power?"
"Peak shift machines avoid cooling the drinks during the day," Hans explained patiently. "Instead, they cool the drinks at night, which is more efficient."
Working in the storage auction industry meant that they needed to keep gaining new knowledge so as to avoid missing out on any potentially valuable item that they might come across.
Li Du quickly took out his mobile phone, searched on the Internet, and began to read.
However, his aim was not to learn about the vending machines, but about the green cola bottles that had attracted the little bug.
If there had only been the two vending machines, he would not have bid for the unit, as he had not known that vending machines were pretty valuable.
They had bought the unit for 500 dollars, and it seemed like they could make a profit of at least 5,000 dollars.
Looking at the information on the internet, the modern vending machines were indeed low energy consuming machines.
This was because, in the year 1991, the Vending Machine Manufacturers Association invested a huge sum of money to develop a number of energy-saving measures.
Between 1991 and 2012, they successfully reduced the annual electricity consumption per canned and bottled beverage vending machine by more than 70 percent.
Coca-Cola had its own vending machine production plant, and their level of technology was higher.
The Peak Shift vending machine was the most widely used amongst the Coca-Cola vending machines due to its power-saving feature. There was a solar panel affixed to the top of the vending machine that enabled it to generate electricity during the day. The energy was stored, and used at night for night-time illumination.
In addition, the machine display featured LED lighting which, used in combination with a sensor, would only light up when there was a sale in transaction.