Chapter 263: Super Camp
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Yes, the one interested in the boiler wasn’t Godzilla, but Li Du.
Earlier, Li Du had asked Hans about the personality of Garter; Hans had said he was a cunning, cautious person.
Thus, Mr. Li had guessed that if he were to directly offer his chandeliers to trade with the boiler, or if he were to try and purchase it with cash, Garter would probably suspect that he had some hidden intentions.
After some thought, he decided to use the jade replica to test things out, and formulated Plan A and Plan B.
If Garter were willing to exchange the chandelier for the replica, then he would execute Plan A: He would offer something else in exchange for the distilling boiler. If Garter were overly wary and unwilling to trade, then he would activate Plan B: Godzilla would state that he likes the boiler, and Li Du would then try to bait Garter into making a trade.
In the end, after testing him, it seemed that Garter was in fact an extremely cautious individual, and rejected Li Du’s offer. However, he was also quite foolish. Once Godzilla appeared, he had taken the bait.
Packing up the distilling boiler, Li Du suggested to Hans to continue trading with the treasure hunters from the old goods auction.
The camp still had all kinds of valuable old goods, such as appliances, furniture, and some decorations.
A few more treasure hunters came over. Some of the old goods caught their eye, so they brought back the useless junk around them. Some were unwilling to clear the junk, so they brought their own old goods to trade.
Li Du minimized cash trades. They either had to help clear out the junk, or they had to use old goods to barter. He prioritized these two methods.
Someone asked, "Hey, Boss Li, why don’t you sell the useful old goods? You’re just throwing your money away like this."
Li Du laughed, but didn’t explain why to him. Though, he didn’t think he could explain why in the first place.
According to his plan, bartering was to bring to them closer to the old goods auction business, while clearing the junk was a way of the laying out the initial foundations for their future scheme.
When business grew larger, the number of auctions that he had to attend would increase because he would need to get as many items as possible. It would be too much of a waste of time if he had to look into each of the storage units to search for something valuable.
Now, Li Du was more ambitious. He only wanted the most valuable and easiest-to-sell goods. He didn’t want those ordinary second-hand goods, and didn’t want to waste his energy just to make a small profit.
With these conditions, he decided that it would be better to just let the treasure hunters from the old goods auction to pick things out for themselves, and help them clear up the trash they got from the units.
Without a doubt, to treasure hunters, clearing up the trash and getting something valuable in return was a worthwhile exchange for them.
As the business grew larger with more old goods, Li Du would change his method of trade.
When that time came, Li Du would organize his own team of men to clear the junk. The valuable goods would be sold off with cash or bartering.
The reason why he could not do that now was that the scale of this business was still small. He didn’t have many valuable goods, and there were also not many treasure hunters who would come.
To put it simply, he was using this method to attract treasure hunters to his storage site.
Later, once the frequency of visitors, size, and reputation of the place increased, he would be able to start up a regular old goods market.
Eventually, he wanted to be able to set up an old goods auction.
However, all that was stuff was in the future, and not something that could be achieved in a short period of time. It also wasn’t something that he was focusing on for now.
What was more important in the present was to set up the prefab cabin.
Following the arrival of a truck, there was also a small crane. The cabin didn’t seem big, but the workmanship needed was detailed; to have set it up with just human labor would have been extremely difficult.
Li Du had already picked a spot for the cabin. The workers examined the ground before nodding to give the go-ahead.
The walls of the cabin were made of fiberglass; the floors were synthetic wood, about ten inches thick. They had a unique pattern, and were a decorative, cozy sight when laid down.
The workers cleaned the grounds, and quickly set up a waterproof and corrosion-proof layer on the ground. They then began laying down the floors.
With the floors done, they started building the east and west walls.
The crane continued the job, starting by setting up the load-bearing walls and support frames. The load-bearing walls also used synthetic wood. This material was extremely sturdy and lasting; it could stand for 20 to 30 years.
The cabin used a traditional, open-style concept. It had two stories, with the first floor as a living room, and the second floor as a bedroom. Excluding the space taken up by the stairs, the second floor had a space of 250 square feet.
With the speedy work from the workers, the cabin gradually came into shape.
A sparrow might have been small, but it still had all the functioning organs; This cabin had all the proper living facilities, including a separate bathroom, a kitchen, a large bed, and a couch.
There was even a small study set up in the corner, that could double up as an office.
The most spacious area was the living room. It had an added function: besides accommodating guests, it could also transform into a small bar, or a playground for children.
The kitchen was in the living room. It was right beside a wall, which had a vent, which was the kitchen exhaust system; there would be no issues with cooking any oily dishes.
There was also a stove, kitchen counters, and drawers. A small ice cooler was under the counter, and a fridge was beside it.
At the other side of the living room, there was a door that led to the bathroom. The facilities were very modernized, with a toilet imported from Japan. However, no matter how "modernized" it was, the sewage would have to be manually cleared.
Beside the bathroom was the shower room. Having a separate bathroom and shower room was something that couldn’t be done in many homes.
The second floor was very comfortable and was divided into two rooms. If the couch in the living room were opened up, then there would be three rooms, enough to accommodate three people.
The furniture and appliances in the bedrooms were bought as a set, with each of them having a TV and a large bed. One of them was an expensive air mattress; it would surely be heavenly to lie on them.
Lastly, with the interior done, all that was left would be to build the remaining two walls. The crane placed the roof on, and the cabin was done!
The roof was tilted, with a layer of solar panels to collect solar energy.
Even in winter, the energy collected in a day could power the LED lights for a week, because these LED lights consumed very little electricity.
In a sweltering hot summer like this one, the fridge, cooler, lights, kitchen exhaust, and heater, could all be powered by solar energy.
However, if the air-conditioning was to be used, then the generator had to be started up. A quiet, gasoline generator was also installed—everything was perfect!