Chapter 473: Celebrities from All Walks of Life
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du stood there stunned as he stared at Ah Ow—was she really a wolf?
Sophie had actually suspected this because Ah Ow never wagged her tail. Even though her tail wasn't big or thick, she only ever rested it below her bottom.
Also, once she was angry, her gaze became very scary.
When she was very young, she would only let out whimpers—this was okay, as most dogs sounded like that before they were two months old.
However, Ah Ow should have now been able to bark, but she still whimpered and had even started to howl—a noise that was extremely similar to a wolf.
As she was stared at by Li Du, Ah Ow's little ears shuddered as though she had detected something was not right; she became despondent and her gaze wasn't as lively as before.
Sophie noticed and immediately carried her away. "How could Ah Ow be a wolf?" she asked. "Czech Wolfdogs are like this. When they are young, they have the characteristics of a wolf."
As she spoke, she glared at her dad; her gaze was as ferocious as Ah Ow's when she was angry.
Mrs. Martin hurriedly nodded her head. "Yes, yes, yes—what you said makes sense. Czech Wolfdogs are like this—other species of wolfdogs are all like this."
Sophie then glared at Li Du and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Du replied, "Ah Ow is my daughter. It doesn't matter if she is a dog or a wolf. It doesn't change anything. Isn't that right, Ah Ow? Come, be a good girl."
He picked up Ah Ow, and Ah Ow peed on him. But as she was relatively dejected, the stream of pee was not continuous.
Sophie was then satisfied and returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Mr. Martin moved to Li Du and whispered, "What do you think? When this dog is angry, isn't her gaze scary? I don't think this has anything to do with her species—she learned this from Sophie."
Li Du forced a smile; regarding this, he could only listen.
Holding Ah Ow, he took out another object. He had not yet figured out what it was. This was the copper glove retrieved from the Hopi territory.
What he said was similar to what Ma Cheng had said: this was probably an artifact originating from Yemen with a long history. It was just difficult placing a value on it.
Artifacts and Antiques had two factors affecting their values. First was the economic value, which depended on the market. If there was no one willing to collect an item, even if it had 10,000 years of history, then it was worthless.
Second was the value of scientific research. There were a lot of carvings of ancient Arabic writings on this copper glove—there could probably be some research value.
Mr. Martin wasn't knowledgeable about this as he wasn't too sure about the history of the Middle Eastern region. He could roughly determine the identity of the copper glove but was unable to identify the writings on it.
He took a picture of the copper glove and said that he was going to let a few of his colleagues look at it and told Li Du not to worry.
Li Du wasn't worried; the following day, they went to the Flagstaff museum together to donate the suit of armor.
The museum placed a huge emphasis on these types of donations. The director, vice director, and the main researchers were there, and they had also invited the mayor of Flagstaff.
Based on the agreed meeting time, they drove to the museum at nine am and saw a group of people waiting for them.
He didn't recognize almost all of them except for one familiar face, an energetic middle-aged man with a mustache. He had read about him in the newspaper before: the mayor of Flagstaff, Thompson Thoman.
Mr. Martin introduced everyone to him by first introducing the mustached man."This is Thompson Thoman, mayor of Flagstaff, a gentleman with an appreciation for the arts."
Thompson nodded subtlety. "Professor Martin, nice to see you. Mr. Li, nice to meet you. My pleasure to spend today with you gentlemen."
Mr. Martin continued introducing Li Du to people; they all seemed to be people of importance.
"This is Harron Hogan, the chairman of the Flagstaff congress, an important donator for this museum…
"This is Kent Mario, the director of this museum, a postgraduate professor of paleontology at the University of Northern Arizona…"
Li Du was continuously shaking hands and Mr. Martin introduced the personnel in a detailed manner. Li Du took the opportunity to compliment them as he could somewhat identify what they liked to hear. He was able to do this not because of his communication skills, but because on the way here, Mr. Martin had already informed him of their backgrounds, families, characters, hobbies, and other details.
The process of donating was simple. The parties were introduced to each other and Director Kent brought the researchers to inspect and took photos to archive. The most important thing was to verify the authenticity of the suit of armor and evaluate it. Director Kent was not inferior to Mr. Martin in this aspect, while Mr. Matin was also one of the appraisers.
The identity of the armor was easily determined and the value was pegged at 680,000 dollars. After receiving the armor, they decided that it could not be directly exhibited but that it first had to undergo maintenance.
Once the armor was stored, the ceremony had ended and Li Du and the rest were welcome to leave. However, since the appraisal had taken some time, the crowd was left to converse with one another.
Li Du exchanged contacts with Mayor Thompson, Chairman Hallen and the rest and he was also awarded a certificate. The certificate was issued by the Congress of Flagstaff to thank him for his contribution to the city.
The crowd treated him with enthusiasm, but this had nothing to do with the armor. It was mainly because Mr. Martin had introduced him to everyone with great enthusiasm.
The mayor and chairman of the Congress were wise people. They could tell that Mr. Martin treated Li Du especially well, and as he repeatedly mentioned his daughter, Sophie's relationship with Li Du, they could naturally hazard a guess.
Mr. Martin was reputable in Flagstaff, he and his wife were high intellects and many students respected them. Hence, they were important citizens and the mayor and chairman had to favor them as well.
In the meantime, Li Du explained how he'd come to Flagstaff and the National College at Flagstaff, which had cheated him. Of course, he only briefly brought it up, because this issue embarrassed the municipal government.
The board of directors of the fly-by-night school had already escaped and they still hadn't been caught. This issue resulted in the citizens condemning the Flagstaff government.
It was good to have connections. Mayor Thompson told Li Du some confidential information.
The Board of Directors had over ten people, and it was close to a year already since the scandal had happened. With the advanced nature of the American Police Force, it seemed almost impossible that they hadn't managed to detain even one person.
They hadn't been able to detain anyone because the backgrounds of the Board of Directors were complicated, and there were some who were backed by wealthy people. The wealthy people did not want to be involved.
Additionally, most of the students had been international students. Besides the American students who had just wanted a certificate, most Americans wouldn't come to this school. Those who had had merely wanted a certificate, belonged to the lower-income part of society, and weren't wealthy enough to put much pressure on the police.
Getting the money back from this bogus school was proving to be a challenge.
What could Li Du say? He felt uneasy, but that was the truth. This was the nature of society and he felt helpless.
But it was better than the past when he had known nothing. At least someone was telling him the truth now, and he wasn't completely unaware like before.