Chapter 314: The Extraordinary Umbrella
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the way, they saw Godzilla and Big Quinn with the Iron Knight driving toward them. Hans swerved the Hellcat across the lane and stopped directly in front of the Iron Knight; while doing that, he popped out his head and shouted, "Hey, stop!"
Godzilla stopped the truck. Big Quinn jumped out and asked, "What’s up?"
As the two vehicles stopped, the cars behind them slowed down.
When a car drove past them, the driver gasped when he saw Big Quinn get down from the truck, and gleefully commented, "That stupid fella overtook the truck—he’s going to be in trouble!"
"Hey take it easy, that black guy looks like he's going to kill someone."
An old Ford stopped beside them; a kind old man alighted and said, "Young man, he just wanted to be in front, he didn’t mean to offend you, don't be rash, okay?"
Big Quinn had become accustomed to being treated as a bad guy. He took off his shades and nodded in a friendly manner. "Of course, we—"
But when the old man saw his eyes, he immediately returned to his car and said, "It’s none of our business, we better get out of here."
Big Quinn was speechless.
Li Du laughed, "This is so interesting—Big Quinn’s appearance can really be lethal."
Big Quinn felt helpless and said, "Boss, don’t laugh at me. I’ve been discriminated against since childhood."
Some people were born with a naturally vicious appearance, and Big Quinn must have been among the top of the most vicious-looking.
Li Du felt that Big Quinn should have entered the movie industry. Heaven had given him a natural gift: he was born to play the role of a villain.
When they returned to the hotel, Li shared this thought with the rest of them.
But Big Quinn shook his head firmly. "No, I can’t do that. I don’t want to leave the impression in people’s hearts that I’m a bad guy, an evil thug, a villain—especially my kids. I don’t want them to have that kind of impression."
Just then Hans’s phone rang; he took a piece of paper and scribbled something on it, constantly muttering, "Okay. Okay."
After the phone call ended, Li Du asked, "Is it the silent auction? The results are in?"
Hans waved his fist in the air. "Yeah! We won unit 16 and unit 58!"
Li Du was elated when he heard that. Unit 16 was the fifth storage unit, which contained the cannon. Unit 58 was the vintage-goods unit; they got it with a bid of 2,000 dollars, which should enable them to earn some cash.
The fishing gear unit had fallen into the hands of others, which was no surprise to them. They had placed a relatively conservative bid, and there must have been someone who was willing to pay a higher price for it.
For many treasure hunters, they were just glad if there was profit to be made. Better to earn little than not make any profit at all.
That night, because they had the Spirit of Ecstasy, which they had to keep secret, Li Du decided to lie low by not going out to eat and to bring back something for dinner.
In addition, Big Quinn’s intimidating look could cause some inconvenience if he were to appear in the streets at night—it would inevitably cause some panic.
Li Du and Godzilla went out to get dinner. There was a restaurant just beside the hotel entrance. The two of them ordered takeaway for a huge amount of food that amounted to 400 dollars!
When they were on their way back, Godzilla kept frowning and glancing around their surroundings. Li Du inquired, "What’s the matter?"
The burly Mexican man had felt strange and said, "Someone’s following us."
"Is that so?" Li Du became vigilant; now that he had a certain amount of wealth and there were quite a number of people he had offended, it was worth it to be more cautious.
Godzilla looked carefully around the area but ultimately shook his head and said, "Might be mistaken."
Back at the hotel, Li Du was preparing to eat his dinner when Hans patted his shoulders and motioned for Li to follow him.
"What's up? Let’s eat first." Mr. Li was famished for he had activated the little bug’s ability on several occasions that day.
Hans ignored him and said, "I want you to see something—we found something good."
Li Du followed Hans and entered the room. As he spoke, Hans opened an umbrella.
Li Du recognized the umbrella. "This umbrella was found together with the hood ornament. What about it?"
Hans pointed to the handle of the umbrella and said, "What about it? Bud, you ask me what about it? If I told you that this very umbrella has a market value of 15,000 dollars, how would you react?"
Li Du was surprised. "Such an expensive umbrella? Who used it? Washington? Lincoln? Roosevelt?"
"It had nothing to do with who used it," Hans deliberately puffed out a sigh. "Obviously, you have not ridden in a Rolls-Royce before."
Li Du got impatient. "Of course I’ve never been in one before. What about it?"
Hans raised three fingers and said, "A Rolls-Royce has three iconic details. The first is the costly, handmade hood ornament. The second is the rear-hinged doors, and the third is that it has an umbrella!"
With that, he handed the umbrella to Li Du.
The umbrella’s silver handle was engraved with a double R logo, which was the Rolls-Royce logo, showing its origin.
Li Du was not well-versed in luxury cars. Before obtaining the little bug, he had nothing to do with such cars. And after getting rich, he was busy attending auctions; there had been no time for him to learn about luxury cars.
Looking at the umbrella, he asked, "Rolls-Royce actually produces umbrellas? And the umbrella is so expensive?"
Hans replied, "Nope, this umbrella is the Rolls-Royce’s standard feature. Some are built-in on the car door, some under the A-pillar, some inside the handrail and so forth."
Li Du searched on the internet. Hans was right: this was a standard feature for Rolls-Royce cars.
A luxury car was indeed a luxury car. The detailed considerations could especially bring this point out.
Rolls-Royce was not only equipped with the umbrella, but the storage slot of that umbrella was installed with an automatic drying device. So when one got in the car on a rainy day and inserted the umbrella back in its storage compartment, it would be automatically dried so that one need not worry about a wet umbrella.
Hans had also been very accurate in his evaluation of the umbrellas—the umbrella was really expensive at 15,000 dollars, and not only because it was by Rolls-Royce, but also because of its quality.
The material used to make the umbrella shaft was pure silver, and the other metallic parts such as the ribs, were made of alloy.
As for the material, different fabrics had been used throughout different eras. However, it was definitely the most advanced fabric at that point in time: waterproof, lightweight, windproof, and durable.
It was said that every umbrella had to undergo a wind test before leaving the factory—they had to be able to withstand very high wind speeds.
This umbrella was well-preserved, just like the hood ornament. It looked entirely new, as if it had never been used before.
Hans opened and closed the umbrella continuously, laughing, "We’ll be able to sell them for a good price if we combine these two together."
Li Du asked, "Do you know what I’m wondering now?"
"What?"
"A Rolls-Royce costs about 400,000 dollars, but just the ornament and umbrella are already worth a good 55,000 dollars. So the engine, transmission, body base, and furnishings—are these worthless?"
Hans shrugged. "A Rolls-Royce is not a sports car. It does not use its engine or transmission as its selling point. The selling point is these unique things: hood ornament, umbrella, and so on."
Well, it was none of their business, anyway. What mattered most was that the hood ornament and umbrella were both valuable.