Chapter 115: If Others Antagonize Me
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The auctioneer thought that the price could go higher, and so happily increased the bidding price.
But Li Di did not make an offer, and only watched the nervous Lucas and company with amusement.
Hence, Lucas realized he had been deceived, and said angrily, "Hey, Chinese as*hole, were you not going to make an offer?"
Li Du said casually, "Did I say I was going to make an offer? Did you imagine what you heard? I only wanted Mr. Auctioneer to continue the bidding because I really didn’t want to hear your voice."
The auctioneer shouted "eighty-one thousand dollars" three times, but there were no takers.
Therefore, he tapped on Lucas’s shoulder and said, "Eighty-one thousand dollars. Guys, this great storage unit is going to this good fellow. Let us congratulate him. Crazy Lucas has successfully bidded for the first unit!"
Li Du applauded with all his might, and said, "Mr. Lucas speaks impressively, but it was more like impressively stupid."
The Mexican man ignored him, as he was immersed in happiness.
He had successfully bidded for storage unit 31, and through buying this unit, he had regained some fame and trust. He was happy and complacent since he had killed two birds with one stone.
The only pity was that the price at which he had bought it was too high. But there had been no choice. After he had spent money to buy the accurate information regarding the unit, he knew that it would not be easy to get the LED advertising screen.
As he had known that the news could not be kept under wraps, he revealed the news about the unit in exchange for some fame. In the end, he had achieved his goal. Storage unit 31 was locked up, and then they entered the second unit for sale, which was storage unit 47.
When the storage door opened, what could be seen were many neatly arranged, good quality, industrial sewing machines.
On seeing these sewing machines, the treasure hunters gasped in unison, and then starting discussing animatedly.
"D*mn! RB sewing machines, especially used for producing denim clothing."
"This is good stuff! Shine the light over, let me see what brand this is."
"Get it—f*ck—there’s money to be made today!"
When it was Hans’s and Li Du’s turn to look into the unit, Li Du turned a strong flashlight on the machines while Hans took out his binoculars to carefully look for the machines’ brand.
On seeing this, a long-faced man standing with Lucas said sarcastically, "Wow, you have excellent equipment. You even brought binoculars—do you also need a command vehicle?"
Hans gave him a cursory glance. "Sure, if you can drive it over, I will be willing to accept it. Why do you care if we use binoculars? Will we steal your stuff or peep at you?"
"We won’t be peeping. We are not interested in donkeys," Mr. Li chipped in.
Binoculars were quite commonly-used equipment for treasure hunters. Half of the eighty people there were holding binoculars, and when they heard the conversation, they burst into laughter.
The long-faced man was exasperated. Lucas gave him a look to ask him to shut his mouth, and called him a fool in his heart. He actually bashed the entire group with his one remark, and it threatened to ruin the reputation he had just built up so painstakingly.
After looking at the machines in the unit, Hans said, "These industrial sewing machines, by RB Mitsubishi Machinery, are liked by many clothing manufacturers. Department stores also like them. With so many machines, their value is great."
"As high as the advertising screen?" Li Du asked.
The long-faced man laughed aloud upon hearing this. "Buddy, you haven’t given up? If each of these could sell for 100 dollars each, you should thank God. How many machines are there here? A hundred?"
"Are you still trying to prove that Lucas was wrong? Sorry to disappoint you. The value of this storage unit is not even half as much as that of the last one."
"Half? No, no, no—it would be good if it were even one-fifth of its value!"
On hearing the treasure hunters’ disdainful remarks, Li Du said, "You all are right. But, there is a presumption here that the advertising screen works. What if it has a problem?"
As soon as he had said this, the treasure hunters who were laughing shut their mouths.
Lucas said confidently, "Definitely not. According to the accurate news that I have gotten, that advertising screen is not damaged."
Li Du responded with an inscrutable smile, "May God bless you."
Looking at his smile, some treasure hunters got curious and asked, "Li, do you have some other information?"
Lucas’s confidence had dissipated with Li Du’s smile. After all, he had previously been taught a lesson by Li Du. However, he put on a strong front, and said, "Don’t believe this fellow’s words. He is trying to be a clown and win everyone’s favor."
The auctioneer raised his hand; the bidding for this storage unit was about to start.
"Everyone has taken a look, so let’s keep it short. As this is also a great unit, so let me give it an appropriate price: How about 5,000 dollars? Any takers?"
Hans said immediately, "Five thousand dollars is fine."
"Someone is taking it for 5,000 dollars. How about 5,100 dollars? Anyone for 5,100 dollars?"
"Yes!"
"Five thousand five hundred dollars, five thousand five hundred dollars?"
"Six thousand dollars!"
"Eight thousand dollars!"
"Ten thousand dollars!"
The value of this storage unit was obvious. Without needing the auctioneer to name the price, the treasure hunters kept raising this unit’s pricing, and soon it had reached 15,000 dollars.
Hans gave Li Du a questioning look, and Li Du nodded.
There were a total of 25 sewing machines in the unit. Only 20 of them could be seen from the outside; the other five were in a corner. If the storage unit could be bought for less than 20,000 dollars, a profit could be made.
Hans said readily, "Twenty thousand dollars."
The price caused many treasure hunters to shake their head.
"It’s meaningless to offer 20,000—there’s hardly any profit here, and possibly a loss."
"The country bumpkins are really loaded! This unit is theirs."
"Could there be something we did not see? Other than these machines, there is nothing valuable in the unit."
Hans asked Lucas, "Weren’t you not going to let us take any of Phoenix’s storage?"
Lucas smiled coldly. "I will not let you guys take the most valuable storage! This junk? Ha! If you are willing to lose money, then that’s your prerogative!"
"This is junk? There were dozens of people fighting for it earlier—are you saying these people were fighting over junk?" Hans immediately pushed him into the position of being the treasure hunters’ public enemy.
Lucas was smart; he smiled coldly, but did not speak. He folded his arm and whistled as he walked toward the next storage.
They won unit 47. The door of the storage unit 48 was opened. What was heard were sighs of disappointment. The treasure hunters all shook their heads.
"This is a junk unit."
The auctioneer gave it a low bidding price: "One thousand dollars, one thousand dollars, one thousand dollars. Look, there is so much denim material in there. It is definitely worth at least one thousand dollars."
Hans was the first to bid: "Yes, me!"
On seeing how fast he had accepted the bid price, those who had thought it was a junk unit started to get suspicious. They went toward the entrance and peered inside, using their flashlights to illuminate the interior of the unit.
Of course, they could not see anything and, in the end, they turned away feeling bewildered.
Lucas laughed, "There is nothing inside. Friends, this is a junk unit. Country bumpkins like to collect junk."
"Then let him have it. Let him help clear Phoenix of junk. The Chinese like to do such work—I have seen many Chinese people working as cleaners."
"They are born to do this kind of work. I heard many Chinese smuggle themselves into America to be cleaners. Ha!" Lucas’s laugh was evil.
Li Du was also smiling, but his smile was getting icier.
He let the little bug into storage unit 31, to enter the LED advertising screen. It started to absorb the light in the light-emitting diode (the LED), causing it to be worthless. Earlier, he was not extreme enough in his action, and the LED display screen could still be repaired. This time, no amount of repair could give it any worth.
As a Chinese man under the influence of Confucianism, he had always followed the principle of repaying any favor someone did him many times over, and trying his best to help others.
But having been in America for a year, he discovered that being a good person in the violence-favoring and barbarism-advocating North American area did not pay off.
Especially when conducting business in America, the people here were in favor of the law of the jungle; strong over the weak and survival of the fittest.
Under such a culture, it would be too foolish to insist on the principle of repaying an evil action with a good action.
Li Du would not do evil, but, if anyone were to intimidate him, then he could certainly be the more vicious and ruthless one!
I would live and let live if not antagonized. If I am antagonized, punishment will be dealt, regardless of the distance!