Chapter 257: The Greenhorn
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du used the little bug to check all six storage units. There was nothing that had attracted the little bug, but there were units that could enable them to make reasonable profits.
Of the six storage units, the first one had more than ten new household appliances: microwave, blender, water heater, and others in great condition.
Li Du speculated that the unit could have been used by an electronic appliances store as temporary storage.
When the auction started, Li Du spoke to Hans in a low voice, "This unit seems good. Go for it as long as it’s below 2,000 dollars."
The appliances in the unit could be sold to second-hand stores for a good price. He estimated they could make a gross profit of four to five thousand dollars.
Hans nodded quietly, knocking the bid paddle onto his other palm, waiting for the auctioneer to start the bidding.
After all the treasure hunters finished viewing the unit, the auctioneer raised his hand. "Okay everyone, it’s time to place your bids. I see there are people interested in bidding for this unit so I’m going to start at 500 dollars..."
Hans leisurely raised the bid paddle and said, "Five hundred dollars, me."
The auctioneer nodded. "Okay, 500, 500, 500 dollars, how about 600, 600, 600 dollars anyone?
A young black man whistled and said, "Okay!"
The auctioneer promptly pointed at the young man. "Okay, 600 dollars, how about 700, 700, 700 dollars..."
Immediately another treasure hunter shouted, "Me!"
The auctioneer raised the bid price again to 800 dollars; the young man nodded again to accept the offer.
The price slowly increased—nobody escalated the price by a large amount, but there were many different people bidding for the unit. It quickly reached 2,000 dollars.
Li Du unconsciously eyeballed the unit; he was confused. The appliances were kept in their boxes, not left in the open, so why was everyone bidding for the unit as if they knew its actual worth?
Li Du knew very well that if he did not have the little bug, he would not know that new appliances were kept inside the unit.
Once the price hit 2,000 dollars, Hans shook his head and asked, "Bud, what should we do?"
Li Du helplessly stretched out both hands and said, "Well, we can only stand here and watch!"
The bid price kept increasing. It soon reached 2,800 dollars, then 2,900 dollars.
The young black man who had been actively bidding shouted confidently, "3,000 dollars!"
Many treasure hunters gave up bidding when the price got this high.
"Alright 3,000, 3,000, 3,000 dollars—anyone for 3,100 dollars? Don’t be defeated by 100 dollars my friends, 3,100 dollars..."
No one else made a bid. The auctioneer shouted 3,000 dollars a couple more times and pointed at the young man. "Very good, this fantastic storage unit belongs to you!"
The young man and his friend cheered and high-fived, apparently very excited about it.
Li Du pretended to walk past casually, and asked: "Hey, what's the secret of this unit? You've been bidding for it relentlessly."
The young man glanced at Li Du sideways and said, "Looking for some trade secrets?"
Li Du shrugged his shoulders and said, "The auction’s over for this unit."
The young man’s companion seemed interested in chatting. "Hey friend, you just joined this industry? Still a greenhorn, right?"
Li wore a wry smile. "You’re right. Many people have said that today."
The companion made an "I knew it" expression and pointed to the boxes holding the new appliances. "I’ll give you a pointer. You see those boxes?"
Li Du appeared to be startled for a while and replied, "Yeah, there’s a pile of boxes."
The companion sounded dissatisfied with Li’s reply. "Just a pile of boxes? They could be hidden with totally new appliances. Look at how clean the boxes are—they could be new, unused appliances!"
Li Du was shocked. "You spent 3,000 dollars because of that chance?"
The young man patted Li’s shoulder and replied, "Storage auctions are the same as gambling, greenhorn. This is a game for the tough guys—if you don’t dare to gamble, don’t enter the auction!"
Li Du was left speechless.
The treasure hunters proceeded to view the second unit. Hans strolled leisurely behind and said, "Now you understand why I said today’s gonna be tricky?"
Li Du nodded his head in disbelief. The young man was the real greenhorn. They had acted as gamblers—placed their bet just because of a possibility.
However, their bet had paid off, as the boxes did contain new household appliances. The unit would enable them to make a profit. They could probably earn at least 1,000 dollars.
Li Du had already checked the second unit with the little bug: it was a normal household unit where the previous tenant had dumped their trash and old appliances. No one would be able to tell if the old appliances could still work.
Li Du did not want to participate in the bid. He shook his head and said to Hans, "No value."
However, many treasure hunters appeared to be full of interest. This was because they saw something similar to a metallic chest lying in a corner of the unit. Some of them felt it could be a safe.
The auctioneer pointed to the unit and yelled, "Those interested in this unit please come to the front, raise your hand high so I can see you clearly. The starting price for this unit is 500 dollars, 500 dollars—"
"Me." The young man who had called Li a greenhorn raised his hand enthusiastically.
"Okay, 500, 500, 500 dollars—how about 600 dollars, 600, 600 dollars anyone?"
"Me!" A blonde man with green eyes raised his hand.
The auctioneer continued to steadily increase the price, shouting, "600, 600, 600 dollars—how about 700, 700, 700 dollars..."
The young man raised his hand again, yelling, "seven hundred!"
The blonde man, quite a distance away from the young man, shouted, "Hey, young lad, did you drive a cash transport van here? You want all of the storage units today?"
The young man answered confidently, "If I’m interested, then the storage is mine!"
The blonde man made a cutthroat gesture at him. "Fine, let’s see how much cash you’ve brought today—1,000 dollars!"
The auctioneer smiled and pointed at him. "Now the price is 1,000 dollars—"
The young man whistled and said, "1,500 dollars!"
The auctioneer turned to point at the young man again, but his eyes were looking at the blonde man. "This young fellow over here made an offer of 1,500 dollars, 1,500, 1,500—"
"One thousand six hundred dollars!" The blonde man made his bid.
The young man spat with disdain and shouted, "2,000 dollars!"
After he placed his bid, he looked at the white man provokingly and curled his index finger at him.
Hans shook his head, frowning at the sight and said, "A group of greenhorns! A group of d*mn greenhorns—I hate dealing with them!"
Li Du smiled wryly. He had once been a greenhorn, but he had never been arrogant, unlike this group of novices.
The greenhorns seemed to treat storage auctions as a stage for showing off their vain, egotistical, conceited selves.