Chapter 104: A Different Kind of Gain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du cleaned up the papyri and carefully placed them in an airtight box.
"Just keep them dry, and don’t worry so much. These papyri did not rot for thousands of years. They’ll be fine as long as they are in a good environment!" Hans said.
Li Du said, "The Egyptians were really smart! They invented this amazing type of paper."
Hans shook his head and said, "Although we’ve found a number of papyri, they might not be from the Egyptians. This is one of the unsolved mysteries of the ancient Egyptian civilization."
"What is the mystery?"
"There are not any records about the method of making papyri among all the ancient records. Also, the modern method of making papyri is very complicated. At that time, it was near impossible that the Egyptians could have developed such a method."
Li Du laughed, "So, maybe the aliens taught them how to make these papyri. Is that what you mean?"
Hans laughed. "No matter how they did it, it was none of our business. We have to work hard to clean up now. D*mn it, four more storage units to go!"
These four storage units were all filled with sundries. Cleaning up was a laborious task.
The falling rain made their work more difficult too. Ah Meow began to help. It had something in its mouth, and helped them put items into the car.
Hans was right. They stayed up all night to clean up four storage units. At the last minute, they finally got the job done.
They were exhausted and lay on the floor; Hans was especially tired. He was used to living the life of a drunkard, so he was extremely tired because of the physical exertion of cleaning up. Most of the work was done by Li Du.
"Sh*t, I'm dying!" Hans collapsed in exhaustion after he got into the car.
Ah Meow looked at him scornfully and extended its paw out the window. It washed its face meticulously with the rainwater.
Li Du wiped it with a tissue. The ocelot looked fresh again.
They first returned to the hotel to take a nap. They continued their journey once it stopped raining.
The Iron Knight well deserved its reputation. The trunk was fully filled for the first time as they went home with a fruitful result from the auction.
Hans did not feel recharged, and he was driving listlessly. He said, "Dude, we must expand our team after we’re back in Flagstaff—we should at least hire a baggage person!"
Li Du said, "Sure, we will recruit more people when we are back in Flagstaff."
He was exhausted after he stayed up all night to clean up the four storage units. He really do not want to experience anything like that again.
The first thing they had to do was dispose of all the trash from the units. Hans drove directly to a dumping site.
They stopped and a little old man with a red helmet came over, waving his hand. "You cannot park your car here, or else your car will become a cement monster later."
Hans popped his head out and said, "We have a bunch of monsters in the car. Do you want to have a look?"
When he saw Hans, the old man laughed, "Hans, when did you buy this car? Volvo's Iron Knight, right? D*mn it, you treat it as a truck? It's like asking Sophie Marceau to cook for you—what a waste! "
Hans introduced the old man to Li Du. His name was Wilfrid Wiki. He worked as a labor contractor and also a boss for a small construction company.
"You mean the Wiki which stands for Wikipedia?" Li Du smiled and asked.
The old man nodded. "Yes, I am Wikipedia. What do you want to know?"
"I want to know how much these things are worth."
"As you wish, the search engine is started," the old man said seriously. Obviously, he was good at joking.
The tools they found in the second storage unit could be used in the construction site. Wilfrid's company was relatively small, so he felt uneasy whenever buying new equipment. Therefore, second-hand tools such as these were his favorites.
Hans was responsible for negotiating the price while Li was sitting and reading in the car.
After a while, Hans came and patted the window. He said, "Let’s start work now. We have to test whether the high-pressure cement-injection pump with the mixer can be used or not. We can get the cash only if it functions well."
This machine was made up of a cement mixer, a high-pressure device, and a nozzle. After the cement was stirred well, the machine would spray the cement out with the high pressure.
"What's the function of this?" Li Du wondered.
Wilfrid pointed to some of the buildings under construction. "Many buildings are coated with cement after they are built. With this machine, you can get the job done much more quickly."
They had to carry out a test to see how well it worked. Carrying a spray gun, Hans put on a helmet and was ready to work. The mixer was running to mix the cement and water well.
Li Du was in charge of the high-pressure machine. He was wearing a helmet too.
This was an essential part of selling some of the second-hand goods: They had to carry out the functional tests for the really old ones. The experimenter must be the treasure hunter, not the person who buys the item from them.
"The functional test for this kind of construction tool is safe. Gun tests are horrible. I know someone who pulled the trigger of an antique gun and the thing exploded. His fingers just blew up!" Hans said.
Li du asked, "So the two handguns that we have are actually very dangerous?
Hans explained: "What I am referring to are old rifles. They can be very dangerous. For the modern handguns, we can check them first before we carry out the test, so the risk is low. Okay, I have to start the test now!"
Li Du turned on the high-pressure machine and it buzzed. Hans pulled the trigger, and it functioned like a water gun. A whoosh sound was heard and the cement shotcrete was sprayed more than twenty meters away, falling on a small cart in the distance.
Hans cheered while Wilfrid laughed, "Okay, I want it."
All of the tools sold for a total of 6,500 dollars. This was mainly because of the high-pressure cement injection pump with the mixer, which was sold at 4,500.
The rest of the sundries included sofas, desks, chairs, and second-hand electronics. They packed them all and sold them to the owner of the general store, Kevin. All of these sold for 2,400 dollars.
The amount of profit was less than 9,000 dollars. After including the accommodation fee, gasoline, and other costs, they earned only around 4,000 dollars—this was the least they had ever earned.
However, Hans had two handguns, which were collective edition, while Li Du collected the mysterious papyri. These things were more attractive than money, so they were very satisfied with this auction.
In Flagstaff, it was also raining thanks to April showers. Therefore, both of them were not planning to go out; they just wanted to stay at home.
The sun shined again after the rain, and Li Du decided to go to the supermarket. He saw that someone was selling the bamboo shoots, so he called to Hans and asked, "Are there any bamboo forests nearby? I saw someone selling bamboo shoots. "
Hans said, "Of course, there is a bamboo forest in the Grand Canyon, and it covers thousands of acres. Are you interested in seeing it?"
Li Du said, "Yes, let’s go and get some bamboo shoots tomorrow! I think everyone is going to eat the bamboo shoots during springtime because they are delicious and nutritious. We need to get them before they run out!"
Hans did not want to do this. "There are plenty of bamboo shoots in the supermarket. Why don’t we go to the red-light district if we are free?"
Li Du laughed grimly. "The red-light district again? You have stayed up all night for two days in a row to deal with the storage units. Come with me if you don’t want to ruin your health. Hiking is good exercise for our bodies. You need some exercise!"
"Well, you are the boss. I will just listen to you."
The next morning, Li Du put on his hiking shoes and sportswear. Then he went out with his bag and Ah Meow.
After that, he met up with Hans. Beside him in the vehicle, he saw there were two women: Hannah and Natalie, who were both there when he bought the car!