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.