Chapter 376: The Peel
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Rick’s 60,000 dollars was already nearing the previous closing bid. But for unit 42, it was just one of the first few bids.
For unit 41, everyone had been reluctant to bid because they were unsure of the authenticity of the furniture.
When it came to unit 42, the treasure hunters were now more confident since they had attempted to appraise the furniture with their own ways and had received positive results.
The furniture seemed to be mahogany material.
As such, after Rick called for 60,000 dollars, there was someone who followed almost instantly:
"Sixty-one thousand dollars!"
"Sixty-two thousand dollars!"
"Sixty-four thousand!"
"Seventy thousand!"
The treasure hunters were raising the prices themselves. There was no need for the auctioneer to speak, and he was happily watching with his arms crossed.
"Everyone’s going crazy, all thanks to you," Hans said.
"Relax," Li Du said. "With Harris here, the others can’t get this unit."
Harris was a greedy man, and he had money. As long as he had confirmation that the unit would make money, he would definitely let Rick get it.
Different people also had different evaluations of the unit. Those who had more connections could sell the goods at a higher price, and thus would have a higher evaluation of the unit.
Rick and Frank were treasure hunters who would appraise the unit at a much higher value. Their bids would naturally be much higher than the ordinary treasure hunters.
Li Du made two calls, pushing the bid to 80,000 dollars. When the price came to that, he shook his head and backed out, as did many other treasure hunters. As he’d expected, Frank and Rick were the two remaining.
Eighty thousand dollars was within Frank’s acceptable range. He hadn’t just called for people to validate the authenticity, he also asked them to evaluate the price for him; he’d received an estimation of 120,000 to 150,000 dollars.
As long as it was in the 100,000-dollar range, he was willing to bid.
Rick had also found friends to help him make an estimation, and they too said it could go up to 120,000 dollars. Harris’s words were that anywhere under 110,000 dollars, they would make a profit.
The two exchanged blows with Frank and York: it went from 80,000 dollars to 90,000 dollars.
Harris was glaring at Frank and York with a look so sharp that it seemed to cut the air.
Seeing that there was only one person left competing against them, he decided to play underhanded. He gave a look to his two Native American henchmen, signaling for the two to take care of Frank.
Rick noticed it and quickly held him back, saying in a quiet voice, "Don’t do this, Harris, they’re our allies!"
Harris said irritably, "To hell with your allies. What kind of allies are these? Allies for getting in our way?"
Rick didn’t want to offend Frank and York. Harris didn’t belong in this business, so he could cause whatever troubles he wanted, but Rick could not.
Especially right now, Frank was not the enemy; Li Du was. He wanted to collaborate with Frank to deal with Li Du.
If Harris’s men threatened or injured Frank, then the two parties would become eternal enemies.
With that in mind, he stopped Harris. He walked over to Frank and whispered to him, "Buddy, you already have a unit. How about you let this one go?"
Frank said belligerently, "Dream on. Who doesn’t want to make more money?"
Rick was ticked off. However, he still had to hold back his temper and explained, "The guy with me is a Native American thug. He wants to get this unit. If you continue bidding, he might do something to you guys."
"Are you threatening me?" Frank scoffed.
"No," Rick said patiently, "that b*st*rd really will do anything to get what he wants. I want to remain on friendly terms with you, Frank. You should understand, that I’m really trying to help you!"
York remembered how Harris had taken out the blade in the coffee shop. He pulled Frank to the side and said, "Forget it, let this one go."
Arizona was not their home turf. Frank had a bad temper, but he wasn’t mindless. After some consideration, he ended up accepting the request and backed out with a grim expression.
Rick smiled at Harris. "No need for violence. I’ve settled things with them."
The auctioneer pointed to the two and rambled, "86,000 dollars, 86,000. Anyone going any higher? How about 87,000?"
Rick and Harris were about to claim the unit as no one was bidding, when suddenly Li Du’s voice rang, "90,00 dollars!"
Hearing his call, the vicious fire in their hearts that they were desperately trying to restrain started blazing. Harris glared at Li Du with murderous eyes. Beside trying to
intimidate the other party with a glare, he had no other ways to vent his frustration.
In fact, he was actually afraid of offending Li Du. If Li Du went to their casino and made a scene again, Marlin would kill him!
Rick suppressed his anger and shouted, "91,000 dollars!"
Li Du shrugged, indicating that he had exited this bidding. He was just trying to provoke the two and didn’t really have the intention to fight with them for the unit.
The auctioneer pointed to Rick and Harris again, shouting, "91,000, anyone else? Going once…" After three calls, the unit belonged to Rick.
Unit 43 was opened, and more mahogany furniture appeared.
The treasure hunters went into an uproar. With three consecutive units with precious mahogany, there was no way the situation was normal. The auctioneer continued with what he’d done for the previous unit and stood two steps back to allow them to enter.
For this unit, it was still difficult to see any flaws solely based on the appearance. The bids rose relatively slower, but everyone was still participating.
Li Du knew that unit 44 was also a bunch of mahogany furniture. These were the ones that were pasted with a coating of mahogany. At this point, Li Du wanted to reveal the truth.
For replicas like these, the best way to reveal their true identities was with the power of time. As time went on, the coating of mahogany and the actual wood inside would eventually separate. As the glue weakened, the coating would fall off.
However, it would take a long time: at least ten years. Li Du naturally couldn’t wait that long. He let out the bug to let it absorb the time from the furniture.
Unit 43 landed in Harris’s hands. The closing bid was lower than unit 42, at 75,000 dollars. Soon, unit 44 was opened.
Once again seeing a bunch of mahogany furniture, the treasure hunters turned doubtful. They began to realize that the furniture was suspicious. Logically speaking, no one would let go of that much authentic mahogany!
The auctioneer took two steps back and bellowed, "Let the viewing begin!"
The treasure hunters queued up to enter. When some of them approached the furniture, they sneakily touched the wood; it was one of the ways to discern the quality.
Someone touched a wooden table, and a layer of wood peeled off, revealing a surface of completely different gloss and lines underneath.
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Chapter 377: Chain of Moves
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The piece of wood peeling off was like a meteor crashing into the Pacific Ocean, swiftly creating a gigantic wave. The treasure hunters at the entrance were in shock. Someone immediately yelled, "Sh*t! We’ve been tricked! We’ve been tricked!"
"F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! They’re fakes! They are all fakes! They aren’t mahogany!"
"To hell with the mahogany, they aren’t worth a penny! But what are you so mad for, it's not like you’re the one who bought a unit!"
"Dog Ears is in trouble. He bought two of them, and that guy from LA has one too."
Rick and Frank were at the back. They couldn’t see what was happening and could only hear the discussions from the rest. It sounded as though a disaster were unfolding. They made expressions of disbelief after hearing the talk and forced their way to the front.
The auctioneer was raging. He was pushing a treasure hunter as he yelled, "Who the hell touched the furniture? D*mmit, who touched it! Get out! Get out—"
Rick shoved him away and spotted the piece of wood that had fallen on the floor. Soon, his face turned into one of despair.
He pushed away auctioneer, who was blocking the way, and rushed forward to madly slap the table. Another piece of wood fell off the top, and a couple fell off the legs.
With that, another material was revealed. The sheen and lines of the tabletop were different from the legs. They were clearly not made of the same wood.
Seeing such, Li Du patted his chest and heaved a sigh of relief. "D*mn. Thank God we didn’t buy any units!"
Rick and Frank stared at the table; the two felt as if the sky were spinning.
Harris rushed in and flipped over the table with a kick. He roared, "What’s going on?!"
The auctioneer held him back and bellowed, "Get out! You guys have broken the rules, all out!"
If the two groups hadn’t bought the previous three units at such high prices, he would have used even harsher words.
The table was overturned and slammed onto the ground. With that, even more wood was peeled off, and the fake identity of the furniture was now obvious.
Seeing such, Harris turned around to give Rick a slap. "What’s going on?"
Rick was slapped like a b*tch by him and wanted to retaliate with a kick. Some treasure hunters went forward to hold him back, saying, "It’s just that this unit is full of fakes—it doesn’t mean that the other ones are too."
"Right. Who knows? The other furniture in this unit could actually be real."
"Rick, buddy, are you ok? Don’t be depressed, the ones before might not be replicas."
"Even if they’re replicas, it's still fine, isn’t it? Who’s never made a mistake? You guys are loaded anyway."
The treasure hunters were saying a bunch of things to calm him down, but most of them carried a mocking tone.
The corner of Frank’s lips twitched uncontrollably. He scowled at the chipped-off table for some time before he finally shrieked, "D*mmit!"
York lightly patted his back as he said grimly, "Don’t think too much about it, buddy. Our furniture isn’t fake like this stuff. We’ve contacted experts!" Frank’s eventually accepted the reality of the situation and stood quietly with a bleak expression.
They had only bought one unit. Even if the pieces of furniture were replicas, the loss was still in an acceptable range. Thus, they were not that despondent.
Rick was in a bad situation though. They had used nearly 200,000 dollars to get two units. If they were all fake, then they would lose everything!
This unit no longer had any value.
The auctioneer knew that the unit was worthless now. He had no energy in his words as he called for the initial bid: "2,000 dollars, 2,000 dollars, compared to the ones before, this is like the price of fast food, it’s worth the risk..."
Two thousand dollars was indeed low. Still, the treasure hunters were disinterested.
Li Du raised his hand and exclaimed, "I accept."
The treasure hunter pointed to him and said, "Alright, 2,000 dollars, someone has already accepted it, then 2,100 dollars, 2,100, 2,100 anyone?"
Frank raised his hand reluctantly, "Okay."
York felt his eyebrow twitch. "Buddy, you still want to risk it?" he held Frank back as he said.
Frank grunted, "What’s the risk with just 2,000 dollars? Even if these are all imitations, they could sell for at least 5,000 dollars."
That was what Li Du was thinking too.
With the price up to 5,000 dollars, however, he was still following closely. The other treasure hunters shook their heads to exit the bid. Frank exited too, and the unit ended up in Li Du’s hands.
Unit 45 was opened, and another bunch of mahogany furniture appeared. With that, the treasure hunters were sure that they were all fakes. They had lost all interest in bidding.
Li Du remained passionate. When the bidding started, he continued his calls.
Seeing such, Frank was suspicious. He asked, "Could that kid have gotten some insider info? Like some of the furniture could be real?"
"No. It's impossible, buddy," York said with a firm tone. "There’s no such news. It’s all a scam, these cunning hillbillies from Arizona have tricked us!"
Frank spat on the ground. "F*ck!"
When it came to unit 46, there was much less furniture in this unit, mainly wooden planks and boxes.
From the wood, they could tell that this belonged with the previous five units. Thus, there was only a small handful of treasure hunters who were interested.
Li Du continued bidding. With the lack of furniture, the starting bid was low at only 500 dollars. After a few calls, Li Du got it. The closing bid was 1,500 dollars, setting the new low for this auction.
Seeing him buy three units in a row, some treasure hunters started to get confused. They asked, "Li, what are you doing buying all those replicas?"
Li Du smiled, "We know that they’re fakes, but others don’t."
"You’re planning on selling them as fakes?" one of the treasure hunters said, curling his lips to the side. "Buddy, that’s not good. That’s shameful."
"What are you guys thinking?" Li Du said. "Of course not. I’m planning on using them for myself. But I won’t tell them that I used fakes. They’ll think that I’ve used mahogany for my furniture—won’t that be nice?"
"Oh, good idea," someone exclaimed.
Frank spat on the ground again. "What the f*ck, retard!"
Li Du heard that and turned his head to say, "Luckily, I’m enough of a retard to spend 65,000 dollars on a bunch of fakes. In total, I’ve spent only about 10,000 dollars."
Ten thousand dollars for a bunch of fake mahogany was actually a hefty price to pay. However, if the boxes in unit 46 were authentic, then Li Du would make a profit!
Unit 47 was opened. It was again mahogany furniture. The treasure hunters were already immune to it. Some didn’t even bother viewing the unit and went on to the next.