Chapter 373: Price Wars
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Seeing Harris give Lil’ Rick a slap, Hans stuck his tongue out and then said, "Wow, that guy’s temper is as terrible as ever. Why does he like slapping people so much?"
Lil’ Rick was dumbfounded by the slap. He didn’t understand what he’d done wrong. He looked to Harris in shock and said, "Uncle Harris, what’s going on?"
Hearing his son’s friendly way of addressing Harris, Rick’s eyebrow twitched again.
He went up to pull his son away and reprimanded him coldly, "Shut up, shut up!"
Lil’ Rick felt wronged and extremely embarrassed. His face was stinging, and he didn’t know if it was from the slap or from the embarrassment.
If it were in private, a slap wasn’t a big deal. Rather than a slap, at the Comanche Casino, when they were being pursued to pay their debts, he had been beaten until his bones almost broke.
However, it was in the public light now. The people who had seen him get slapped were low-tier treasure hunters, which fueled his level of embarrassment. He felt that all eyes were on him now, and those gazes were full of pity, ridicule, and apathy. This feeling was driving him crazy.
Without another word, he ran to the truck and drove out of the parking lot.
Li Du glanced at Harris and Rick, saying, "You guys went over the top."
Rick almost vomited blood from anger after hearing those words. He roared, "You were the one who started things, b*st*rd, don’t act like a nice guy now! You are always the one inciting things!"
Such groundless accusations annoyed Li Du. Clearly, there was no way of communicating logically with them, so he kept silent.
However, Hans couldn’t bear seeing his brother getting insulted. He poked Rick’s chest with his index finger as he said, "Hey, buddy, your son was the one who came over here to provoke him. Li has already been nice enough to him. If the person he had wanted annoy were me, then he wouldn’t have been slapped only once!"
Rick wanted to say something, but Harris gave him a shove and said with frustration, "Enough, stop stirring up trouble! It was your son who came over here to start things, can you just keep quiet and focus on making money?"
Harris’s attitude enraged Rick and he snapped, "Old friend, you’re too much, what was that for? Who do you think I am?!"
Facing Rick’s anger, Harris was unfazed. He said coldly, "When you finish paying your debts, I will return to that friendly demeanor."
Since the start of this commotion, Frank and York had been watching silently at the side and had no intentions to butt in.
The crowd dispersed, and York said, "These people from the countryside are interesting."
Frank curled his lips to the side as he said, "Interesting my *ss. Seems that Arizona is truly a gathering of crude men. Still, I like it here, and I love kicking the *sses of these d*mn barbarians."
The auctioneer came out and the place started returning back to order. The auction was going to begin soon.
Unit 41 was the first to be opened. Neatly-arranged mahogany furniture appeared before the eyes of the treasure hunters.
Seeing the furniture, the crowd immediately heated up:
"D*mn, the news was right, there is mahogany furniture!"
"It’s fragrant rosewood! Look, the color goes from pale yellow to a dark red. The surface has dark rings—it’s rosewood!"
"Too far, I can’t see clearly. Still, it sure looks good! I must get it!"
Li Du had blended into the crowd. When it was his turn, he received a pair of binoculars from Hans and examined the unit. He then leaned his head in to smell, and even stretched out his hand to touch a chair near the door.
Seeing that, the auctioneer called out from behind, "No touching anything inside, buddy. Don’t make me warn you a second time."
Rick and the others were carefully observing the scene. Frank went up to Rick and said in a quiet voice, "We’ll need to examine it close up, huh?"
"Who knows?" Rick shook his head and walked away.
The viewing was over. The auctioneer glanced at his price list and said, "Ok, ladies and gentlemen, gather around, I’m going to start the bidding. I’ll assume everyone knows the rules, so I’ll start straight away. A thousand dollars, the price is a thousand."
Hans gave Li Du a glance, but Li Du shook his head. "Relax first."
For a unit full of mahogany furniture, 1,000 dollars was extremely cheap. Immediately, someone raised his hand up and said, "I’ll take it!"
"One thousand five hundred dollars!"
"Two thousand dollars!"
"Three thousand!"
"Five thousand!"
The price quickly shot up. Clearly, the treasure hunters were full of interest in the furniture.
Harris shot a look to Rick as he whispered, "Hurry up and bid. Why aren’t you bidding?"
Without a change in expression, Rick said, "Don’t be hasty, Mr. Harris. We’ll let them fight amongst themselves first. This isn’t a good time to enter the competition."
Harris nodded and said, "Looks like there’s no chance of getting this unit for a cheap price anymore, right?"
"Truth be told, my friend," Rick said hesitantly. "I don’t recommend buying this furniture. I told you: according to some sources, they seem to be just a bunch of fakes."
Harris glared at him and said, "Your sources? What kind of sources are they? Let me tell you: the Chinese man said that the furniture is all red and yellow rosewood!"
"Don’t you feel that the appearance of that Chinese man was too coincidental?" Rick said in a cautious tone. "That he appeared right before the auction started?"
"What do you mean?" Harris asked.
"I suspect that the storage company hired that Chinese man to trick us!" Rick said.
Hearing that, Harris also began to feel hesitant.
Indeed, the appearance of that so-called expert was too coincidental. They weren’t fools and wouldn’t blindly believe the statements of a stranger.
But then Li Du’s side started bidding. Hans raised his hand and bellowed, "10,000!"
It jumped from 7,000 to 10,000 dollars. Many treasure hunters shook their heads disappointedly as they hadn’t brought that much money.
Still, there were some treasure hunters who could keep up. "Ten thousand five hundred dollars!"
"Eleven thousand dollars!"
On Frank and York’s side, the two remained unsure. "Buddy, wanna have a go? If it’s real, getting it for 10,000 dollars is a great bargain."
On the American market, mahogany furniture was relatively uncommon. Frank and York were unfamiliar with it.
However, they had a database. Frank flipped open his notebook to search for information on mahogany. After some quick research and comparison with the actual furniture in front of them, he gritted his teeth and said, "We’ll have a go—bid for it!"
Hearing that, York immediately raised his hand and stated, "15,000 dollars, here!"
This increase was another big jump. Again, several treasure hunters backed out.
One of the treasure hunters said in a frustrated tone, "Where are those two from? They seem to be loaded."
Someone on the side laughed, "Are you a rookie? You don’t know those two? If you’ve ever been to California, then you’ve definitely heard of them: Frank and York!"
Li Du glanced at Frank, and then nodded calmly.
Hans also raised his hand up and said, "20,000 dollars!"
The jump in price was getting wider!
At that moment, Harris couldn’t take it anymore and said, "Listen, Rick, are you certain that the furniture is an imitation?"
Rick pondered this for a short while and then shook his head. "No."
Harris instantly raised his hand up and said viciously, "Then they have to be real—26,000 dollars!"
Rate Translation Quality
Chapter 374: Going In
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Harris’s side was bidding. Hans quickly followed, "30,000!"
Frank snapped his fingers and shouted, "31,000 dollars!"
Li Du nodded, and Hans continued, "32,000!"
When the prices came to this, it was basically a battle royale amongst these three superpowers. All the other treasure hunters had backed out of the competition.
There were several pieces of mahogany furniture in the unit. According to the current market, a full set of table and chairs made with mahogany could sell for up to 20,000 dollars in the US.
There were dozens of chairs and several tables. If they were all authentic, they would go for at least 100,000 dollars.
What was putting pressure on the treasure hunters now was that they had no confirmation of whether the things inside were authentic or not.
Whether they would make any profit from this would boil down to their eyes, sources, and experience.
To make an income from storage auctions, one should never rely on getting lucky picks. In other words, relying on lucky picks was never the true path of the storage auction business, because that meant they were relying on simple luck.
Lady Luck could smile on you once or twice; she might even bless you a third and fourth time, but she wouldn’t stay with you forever.
When Li Du had first joined the storage auction business, he had continuously experienced lucky picks and had made money off of them. However, his fame had now spread out of Flagstaff to Phoenix, mainly because of the time he caused Frank and York to suffer a defeat.
In the hearts of the treasure hunters, they were now thinking that he was relying too much on his luck.
With this conspicuous revelation of the mahogany furniture, luck couldn’t be relied on anymore, and what was being tested more were their eyes.
The treasure hunters could only try to discern whether the furniture was authentic or not, and how valuable they were, under the condition of being a distance away from the goods.
Most of them could not decide because mahogany furniture was something that rarely appeared in storage auctions. They were highly valued by furniture collectors, but in storage auctions, they were difficult to value.
Unable to put a price on them, the treasure hunters didn’t dare bid carelessly. If they had, the price of this unit would have already passed the 100,000 range.
Hans was also hesitant and asked, "Continue bidding?"
"Under 50,000, bid freely!" Li Du said.
Hans whispered, "What if they give up on the bid?"
"Then we’ll take the furniture. At most, we’ll use it for ourselves. Look, they all seem pretty good."
Hearing that, Hans’s spirits returned and he yelled with his hand up. "Our final offer: 50,000 dollars!"
Chatters from the crowd could be heard:
"Fifty thousand dollars! D*mmit, I don’t even have fifty thousand dollars!"
"Is the furniture authentic? Looks like Boss Li and Big Fox are pretty confident in it!"
"God, this price is too risky. I think we should just watch, it’s not our stage to step on anymore!"
"If all the furniture is sold, how much could we make from it?" Harris asked Rick.
"There would be no problem getting 100,000 dollars," Rick said.
"Then we’ll follow!" Harris said decidedly.
"I’m not sure whether they’re the real deal or not!" Rick said doubtfully.
"I’m sure that they are," Harris said.
They didn’t even have their turn. Frank’s side shouted, "51,000 dollars!"
Rick gritted his teeth, yelling, "52,000!"
The auctioneer’s eyes had turned into slits from the large grin he had. He pointed to Rick’s side and shouted, "52,000 dollars, guys, we’ve reached 52,000 dollars, anyone want to go higher?"
Li Du shook his head. He and Hans backed out of the competition.
Frank and York were still hesitant. The two gave a timeout signal and then huddled together in discussion.
Seeing this, Li Du was stunned. "You can call for a timeout during a bidding?"
Hans said, "Whether it’s permissible or not, is completely up to the auctioneer. If the price is low, it normally isn’t be allowed. If the price is high, auctioneers tend to be quite willing to give timeouts."
York had the same doubt as everyone else. "Forget it, buddy, the furniture might not be authentic."
Frank exclaimed, "From the database that we have on mahogany, they should be authentic! Also, aren’t auctions meant to be risky? What, have you lost your guts?"
"No, I just don’t want to go in the red!" York shook his head as he said.
"We’ve made a profit from the silver," Frank said. "We’ve already made at least several hundred thousand from Arizona. Why are you afraid of losing some money this time?"
"The thing is, when we bought that unit, we had full confidence in it," York explained. "But for the furniture this time, are you confident in it?"
Frank shrugged. "Of course I’m confident. Look at this."
He showed York a webpage. On it was a news article about a mahogany workshop clearing out their storage units.
Seeing that piece of news, York now had full confidence in it as well. He raised his hand and said, "55,000 dollars!"
Harris glanced to Rick. Rick had no choice; he gritted his teeth and yelled, "60,000 dollars! That’s my final offer!"
That made Harris greatly disappointed. "Are you a rookie? Exposing your final price like that?"
"I know what I’m doing," Rick whispered.
Hearing him saying that it was his final offer, Frank jolted into action and called, "61,000 dollars!"
Thinking that he had secured the unit, Rick then shouted again, "Okay, 62,000 dollars!"
What he’d done was obviously despicable. The crowd started booing and Frank and York were enraged by him. "Despicable, that’s low of you!"
Rick remained expressionless and silent. Frank was even more exasperated now and shouted, "65,000 dollars!"
Seeing such, Rick shrugged and backed out of the competition.
Harris held him back and said, "D*mmit, you gave up on the unit?"
"There will be more later. From what I know, there are several units with mahogany furniture inside!"
Unit 41 was taken by Frank and York. The two gleefully high-fived. Apparently, they were very confident in this unit.
Next up was unit 42. The door was opened and again, several glossy and vibrant pieces of furniture appeared in front of them.
Frank was stunned. "F*ck, there’s mahogany in this unit too?"
York felt that something was amiss. "If it's just one unit, it’s believable that the manufacturer forgot to clear it out, but two?"
Harris revealed a smirk. He patted Rick’s shoulder and said, "Nice, take this unit then."
"Mr. Harris, I’d suggest that you give up on all of them," Rick remained hesitant as he said. "I think that none of them are authentic because there’s too many of them!"
Harris was not a fool. With two consecutive units full of mahogany, he too felt that something was wrong.
As the treasure hunters queued up to view, Li Du queued up at the back of the line.
Once he stood at the entrance he looked around. He then said to the auctioneer, "Hey man, this won’t do. We can’t tell anything from the furniture just by looking in from the entrance. How about you let us in to see?"
"No," the auctioneer said firmly, "don’t even think about it. Don’t you know the rules?"