Chapter 545: Show Your Fighting Spirit
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hans laughed after hearing Li Du's plans. "You bad*ss, grumpy bad boy—I like it."
Li Du patted Hans's shoulder. "Mess with them. Have some fun in our stressful job. But, don't carry it too far by deceiving them too hard."
Lu Guan snapped. "Just watch me."
He spoke to the tour guide and pointed to Hans while doing so.
The tour guide showed an expression of realization and talked to the tourists in Korean.
Soon enough, the tourists wore expressions of admiration and respect to gaze at Hans. The tour guide also introduced Lu Guan to the tourists. Lu Guan's fluent Korean won the liking and goodwill of the tourists.
And so the tour guide, along with Lu Guan, started to tell them more about the storage auction industry. In no time, the Korean tourists started to surround Hans. Some Korean girls tugged on his arms and kept talking to him, calling him "Oppa."
Embraced by the girls, staring at their large chests, full hips, and long white legs, Hans went into a state of euphoria; he obviously enjoyed all the attention, especially from the girls.
The auction started. The auctioneer raised his hand and said, "The starting bid for this unit is 100 dollars, 100 dollars, 100 dollars!"
Hans spoke to the tourists and told them about the contents of the storage unit.
Even without Li Du, Hans was a veteran treasure hunter who had great foresight and an impressive amount of knowledge.
As long as the items were exposed, they would not escape his eyes. However, he could only see what was exposed—anything hidden was beyond him.
Before he had Li Du's help, although he knew the industry well, he still incurred losses. In the end, he had been left with his old, problematic F-150 pickup.
Hans was aware of this fact, and he positioned himself as a qualified treasure hunter, not a good treasure hunter. When he worked with Li Du, Li's opinion always took priority.
As he participated in more auctions and gained more experience, Hans's ability to bullsh*t leveled up as well. The tourists could not detect that what Hans said was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Bullsh*tting was a strong ability of Lu Guan as well. And so when the two of them joined hands, the Korean tourists were destined to suffer a catastrophe.
Li Du understood what they were capable of, so he had warned them not to overdo it. The main motive was so they would understand and then watch their behavior. There was no need to make them lose all of their money just because of some unkind words.
One hundred dollars was not a large amount for the tourists if they could travel across half of the world from South Korea to the United States. One hundred dollars was probably nothing to them.
True enough, hearing the starting bid, a tourist raised his hand and shouted excitedly, "I bid 100 dollars!"
"Ha, then I'll bid 150 dollars. Oppa, please let me have this unit, okay?"
"I'll bid 200 dollars!"
"Three hundred dollars!"
"Five hundred dollars!"
The regular treasure hunters wanted to bid for the first unit as well. When the price hit 500 hundred dollars nearly immediately, they were shocked!
This unit didn't have many valuable items; no one wanted to risk it and bid too much.
Li Du raised his hand to shout, "600 dollars."
He was not interested in the unit, and he was confident that it would not fall into his hands. The tourists wouldn't care about a 100-dollar difference.
Sure enough, a well-dressed, middle-aged tourist made his bid, shouting, "700 dollars!"
Li Du shrugged. Okay, this unit is yours, he thought.
He didn't place the bid to scam the tourists. He wanted everyone to think that he was interested in the unit, and that might be interested in other units. This way, when it was time for the sports equipment unit to be auctioned, nobody would notice that unit was his real target.
The price was now fixed at 700 dollars. After calling three times, the auctioneer waved and said, "Very good sir, this unit is now yours!"
When the unit had first been opened, the auctioneer had actually been worried that it might go unsold. He never thought that a trash unit could be sold for 700 dollars. This made him pleasantly surprised.
The tourist group was cheering and clapping enthusiastically. Some congratulated the middle-aged tourist; some were even shouting, "Daehan Minguk Manse!"
The Koreans were very united. These tourists might have come from different areas of Korea and competed with each other during the auction, but when someone won the unit, everyone sincerely wished him well.
The second unit on auction was opened. Hans replaced the tour guide and became the pillar of the tour group; the tourists gathered around him to listen to what he said about the second unit.
When the auction for the second unit started, the tourists immediately started to bid.
Maybe Hans had said something; there were many tourists who were interested in the unit. The price started at 200 dollars and quickly rose to 1,000 dollars.
Li Du placed a bid when the price was around 1,200 dollars. And he had no other chances to place a bid because the price shot up to 1,500 dollars, thanks to the tourists.
Seeing this, several treasure hunters shook their head and left. Some of them were cursing under their breath, "F*cking greenhorns. You're paying a ton for a bunch of sh*t. I can't wait to see how you're going to move it back home!"
Some treasure hunters crossed their arms and rested under the shade. It seemed like they were waiting to see what would happen next.
The subsequent units were opened and with Hans and Lu Guan's lead, the tourists were like locusts passing over fields of crops. They fiercely placed their bids for the units and won them one after another.
By now, eight units had fallen into the hands of the tourists. The treasure hunters scored nothing against them. Some tourists had won a couple units; their financial prowess left the treasure hunters speechless.
Li Du heard a white treasure hunter sighing helplessly, "F*ck, why did all those rich foreigners come to America? You snatch our food, snatch our houses, snatch our women, now you're even snatching the f*cking trash units?"
Mr. Li nearly burst out laughing upon hearing this, but he controlled himself as he suddenly realized something: this might be what the treasure hunters think of him as well.
Before the auction for the ninth unit started, Li Du knew he had to do something. This unit was a must-get for him!
Therefore, when the auction for the eighth unit ended, he walked over to the treasure hunters and said solemnly, "My friends, show your fighting spirit! What's the matter? Why are you backing down? You're backing down on your own turf?"
The treasure hunters were bewildered. Thoughts ran through their minds:
What are you doing?
Is the commander of the Imperial Roman army giving a pre-war speech?
Aren't you the Treasure Tycoon of Flagstaff? When did Winslow become your territory?
With the icy looks of the treasure hunters, Li Du already knew that his words wouldn't have any effect on them. They would not listen to him and they'd pit recklessly against the tourists using their hard-earned cash just to win a unit.
The words that Li Du said were actually for the tourists. The tourists knew he was Mr. Treasure Tycoon.
Standing outside the storage unit, he continued to position himself as a righteous treasure hunter of Winslow and shouted, "My friends, this is our territory! We can't let visitors just take our units like this, we can't be defeated! I'll fight for the next unit and I'll definitely win it. This is our pride as treasure hunters!"
The tourists looked on at the scene unfolding in front of them with interest. Some sneered, some curled their lips in disdain while some clapped their hands. "Wow, this man really lives up to his name as the Treasure Tycoon. But he's a Chinese, what a pity!"
The ninth unit was opened. After viewing the unit, Li Du wore a serious and determined expression, as if he were about to fight a strong battle.
Hans and Lu Guan shook their heads at the tourists and spoke softly to them. And throughout the conversation, they kept shaking their heads.