Chapter 519: Finally Got It Back
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After these two conditions, Princeps looked kind of grim. The conditions were tolerable to him, however, and he accepted them.
"Anything else?"
"I'm not a greedy person," said Li Du, shaking his head. "These two conditions are good enough."
Princeps felt relieved when he heard those words. Suddenly, Hans interrupted and said, "No, that's not enough, Princeps. There's one more condition."
Princeps looked gloomy again and said coldly, "Say it."
"Unit number 2," said Hans. "We are interested in unit number 2. You know what you did to get that unit from us. You need to transfer the rights to us."
Princeps was about to be consumed by his anger. "Don't you think you're asking for too much?"
At this time, a treasure hunter hurried over and said, "Princeps, there's some trouble. We need you to handle the matter."
Princeps was already feeling frustrated; when he heard that, he flared up and cried, "F*ck! Who's creating trouble? Thrash him!"
The treasure hunter could tell that Princeps was in a bad mood, so he spoke cautiously/ "It's unit 10. The unit owner is here, fussing and making a ruckus."
"What happened?" Princeps asked. "What's there to fuss about? Let me go take a look!"
Li Du gave Hans a look and said, "Come on. Let's go and see what's happening."
In front of the entrance to storage unit number 10, a thin, young white man screamed, "This unit belongs to my family! You gotta return it to me! Who told you to auction it away? Who said that I'm not willing to continue the lease? Who said that?!"
Princeps hurried over and asked, "What's going on?"
The young man saw Princeps and pointed at him. "You're the one who took my unit?"
Princeps was still not in a good mood. "Sh*t, this is my unit. I won the rights to this unit. It belongs to me now!"
"No!" The young man yelled. "It belongs to me! This unit is left behind by my grandfather. It belongs to me!"
The young man's emotional state suddenly changed from fury to pleading. He grabbed Princeps's arms and pleaded, "Please return it to me. I didn't know the lease had expired. I forgot to renew it. Please, I beg you, return it to me..."
Princeps pushed him away, his brows creased. "Now it belongs to me."
"But it's no use to you," the young man said pitifully. "This unit only contains wooden planks and pieces of wood dismantled from my grandfather's cottage. They're not worth much. You can take a look."
The entrance of the unit was already open. Princeps's men were already there to clear it.
He looked at one of his men; that man nodded and said, "It's only some pieces of wood and wooden planks. I'm not sure what they're for, and they look really old."
Princeps flipped a few wooden planks. They were definitely old and the material looked worn. The planks were just ordinary wood. If they were sold like this, they wouldn't fetch much money.
Li Du followed them and entered the unit as well. Then he turned to Hans and spoke in a low voice. "These wooden planks are old and there's obvious wear and tear. There's no value."
The young man came over and picked up two wooden planks. "These were the wooden planks used for the wall of the cottage. Look, they can be connected. All these wooden planks and pieces can all be used to reassemble the cottage. I spent my childhood in this cottage."
After putting down the planks, he pulled out some paper for everyone to see.
"Look at this—these are the designs for the cottage. As long as you follow this paper, you can reassemble the cottage. I want to reassemble it. This is our Karmel family's heritage—me and my grandfather's heritage."
The young man pointed to the paper and started to mumble something else; he sounded a little incoherent. It seemed like his mental state was rather unstable.
Princeps felt that it was going to be a headache dealing with the young man. He was hesitating about how to deal with this unit when the company manager in a suit arrived at the scene. "What happened?"
A treasure hunter told him the situation. The skinny young man went up to the manager and started yelling at him. "You sold my grandfather's unit? You gave the instruction to auction off this unit? You sold it?"
"Who are you?" the manager asked.
"I'm Ted Karmel," said the skinny young man. "My grandfather is Bruce Karmel, Bruce Karmel is my grandfather. This cottage belongs to him, belongs to the Karmel family..."
Princeps asked the manager, "What's going on? Who's Bruce Karmel?"
"The owner of the unit," replied the manager. "He's an old man without much money."
Princeps had now confirmed that it was really the case of the owner looking to get their unit back.
Such situations were very common in storage auctions. Sometimes the owner had forgotten to renew the lease, and sometimes they missed the contract renewal information sent by the storage company, which resulted in the unit being put up for auction.
There were also some cases of units left behind by a deceased family member and no one else in the family knew about the existence of the storage unit. Thus, if they did not renew the contract when the lease expired, the storage company would auction the unit off.
And if anyone in the family learned about the existence of the unit and that it had been auctioned off, they would usually kick up a fuss as there might be some valuable items in the unit.
Looking at the apparently mentally unstable young man, Princeps thought for a moment and said to Hans, "I agree to your request, pal. I'll return this unit to you."
Hans was hesitant but Li Du flatly rejected the offer. "No, we don't want it. This unit is trouble!"
The young man became worried and said, "This unit is mine. It belongs to our Karmel family. You need to return it to me—return it to my family!"
Princeps brushed him off impatiently and said, "This unit is not mine. Don't look for me..."
The thin young man grabbed Li Du's arms and implored, "Friend, is this unit yours? Could you return it to me please?"
Li Du became soft-hearted and relented. "Alright, alright. Big Fox, give the money to them. Get unit 2 and unit 10 transferred over to us and transfer unit 10 to this fellow."
Princeps had a sly smile on his face. "No, your terms are too harsh. I'll only transfer one unit, and that's unit 10."
Li Du glanced at Hans and asked, "What's with unit 2?"
Hans shook his head. "Nothing, we better hurry and clear our units. It's a deal, we'll transfer this unit to this fella, and that's it."
"Don't go off yet," said Princeps. "We need to sign the transfer papers. You'll also need to pay for the unit."
The transfer papers were just a simple contract. The company prepared the papers and both parties just needed to sign and pay up. Storage unit 10 now belonged to Li Du.
After getting the contract, Li Du puffed a sigh of relief. "We finally got back what belonged to us."
Princeps felt something was amiss. He glanced at Ted Karmel and asked, "Hey, you're not getting your unit back?"
The thin young man wore a cheeky expression. "No need to. I wanted it for my boss."
Princeps felt his uneasiness surge with this reply. "Who's your boss?"
The young man pointed at Li Du. "It's him, Big Li."