After sitting down, Hans shouted, "Allahu Akbar, two spicy chicken fried rice, two barbecued lamb skewers, and a plate of fried lamb meatballs."
A bearded man wearing a small white hat turned around and repeated in broken English, "Chicken fried rice, spicy, what's the taste of barbecued lamb skewers?"
"Spicy!"
"Okay, spicy!" The man turned around and started cooking with two children of Middle Eastern descent.
Hans said, "This place's fried rice and barbecued meat are very authentic. The lamb meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Trust me, you'll be tempted by the food later."
Li Du smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
The reason why the night market was so prosperous was that the peddlers could evade taxes. After all, the people from the tax bureau were off work at this time.
For many peddlers, the tax they could save could improve their lives. Hence, gradually, more and more people came to the night market.
Li Du asked, "Just because the tax bureau doesn't work at this time? I don't think so. If the tax bureau wanted to investigate these peddlers who evade taxes, they would be willing to stay up all night to do it. "
Hans said, "This market has existed for a long time, since the end of World War II. At that time, this was a place for the poor to barter. Everyone did it to avoid paying taxes.
"Later, the number of old-fashioned people decreased. Everyone was used to trading with money. However, the tax bureau was used to not collecting taxes here, so it became a small duty-free zone."
At this time, the fried lamb meatballs were served. They were small and fried until they were golden brown. The plate was surrounded by cheese, salad dressing, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin powder, and other condiments.
Li Du dipped the meat in chili powder and tasted it. Other than the skin, the meat inside was very tender and tasted delicious.
Looking at the bustling market, he asked while eating, "It seems very chaotic here. Aren't the police worried about people doing illegal transactions here?"
"You mean illegal drugs, right?"
"Yes," Hans said.
"This is another reason why the market has survived until now. All the peddlers have to sign a contract when they enter. The contract states that if something bad happens that threatens the existence of the market, all the peddlers have to come out and fight."
Li Du suddenly understood. "In other words, if there are drug dealers or underground casinos here, all the peddlers have to chase them away?"
"Yes."
Hans said as he picked up a skewer of roasted lamb. The lamb fat was still sizzling on the skewer. He opened his mouth and tore off a large piece of meat. Then, he grimaced in pain. "Awesome!"
Li Du was still curious. "There's a saying in my hometown: a snake can't survive without its head. If there's no one to lead the way, will the merchants take the initiative to fight against these evil forces?"
"Of course, it's a tradition here. Hundreds respond to a single call." Hans was getting impatient. "Why do you care about this? Eat your food honestly. "
Li Du said, "Of course I have to care. I have an idea, buddy."
Hans crazily ate the skewers. In his free time, he asked, "What do you think?"
Li Du said, "Every time we attend an auction, we always get a pile of rubbish. Every time we deal with the rubbish, it's a headache. So why don't we set up a similar old goods market?"
Hans blinked blankly and said, "I don't understand."
Li Du said, "What I mean is, we can find an empty space and put the trash and old goods we get there."
"This way, if someone is interested in our old goods, they can take it away for free. But they also have to take away the rubbish with the old goods."
Hans looked at him strangely and said, "Then why don't we sell the old goods and use the money we earn to deal with the rubbish?"
Li Du said, "First, we might not be able to sell the old goods in time. Second, the money is too little. It's not worth the trouble. Third, this can be a channel for us to enter the old goods market."
In the future, the people who would be most interested in their old goods would definitely be the treasure hunters in the old goods market. If they had enough dealings with them, then Li Du and Hans could be considered to have entered the industry.
There was also the most important reason that he did not mention, because Hans might laugh at him. That was, he had an ambition: to control an old goods market!
Every time he attended a storage auction, he would get the most valuable items. These items could be sold at a higher price at the auction, but it was not practical to send them to a regular auction.
Hence, the old goods auction gave him the idea.
Hans did not think much of it. He was not a diligent person. After hearing Li Du's words, he nodded and said, "Alright, brother, I'm convinced. Let's do it this way."
Although he was lazy, if there was work that was assigned to him, Hans would work hard to complete it as soon as possible.
For example, after returning home, Li Du said that they had to find a storage unit to participate in an auction. Hans immediately went to the computer to search for information.
Li Du was puzzled. He felt that this guy was very contradictory. On one hand, he was lazy, but on the other hand, he seemed to be very responsible and diligent.
Hannah explained to him, "My brother is a Virgo. This guy has OCD. If he doesn't finish his work, he can't eat or sleep well."
Li Du laughed and said, "Then I'll have to arrange more work for him in the future."
Hans, who was in front of the computer, turned around and pointed at him. "Don't force me to kill you!"
Ah Meow understood his threat. He flashed his claws and meowed at him, "Draw your sword, scumbag!"
Crispy Noodles did not know what was going on, but he had been trying hard to improve his relationship with Ah Meow. When he saw Ah Meow flashing his claws at Hans, he also opened his mouth and showed his teeth.
Hans threw a piece of salmon at Crispy Noodles and killed the threat in the cradle. The two furry kids ran over to grab the piece of salmon.
After sitting in front of the computer for a while and making a few calls, Hans said, "We have business. I'll bring you to see a new storage unit auction model."
"Similar to a book auction?"
"Yes, an old house auction," Hans said.
Li Du was shocked and asked, "An old house auction? We're buying a house? "
Hans laughed and said, "Of course not! An old house auction refers to some people who want to move or tear down their house. In short, they don't want the furniture in their house anymore, so they will auction it off as a whole.
"During this auction, we can walk around the house for up to one minute. We can look around the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and everything else. But just like the storage unit auction rules, we are not allowed to touch these things.
"Then, just like a storage unit auction, the auctioneer will bid, and we will bid according to what we see. Whoever bids the most will get the things inside."
Li Du said, "Just like a storage unit auction, we have to take everything away and clean it up, right?"
Hans snapped his fingers, pointed at him and said, "You're right. He's made for this business."
The old house auction was held in a town under Flagstaff. The organizer was a real estate developer who had acquired the land and was preparing to develop it into a country villa.
Before starting construction, they had to demolish all the houses on the surface. Needless to say, the demolished houses and the things inside would create a lot of waste.
American landfills were divided into different grades of waste. Waste formed by the brick walls and steel bars of the house was classified as Grade II waste. Waste formed by furniture, appliances, and other daily necessities was Grade III waste.
It was more expensive to dispose of Grade III waste than Grade II waste. Therefore, they wanted to use the old house auction method to dispose of the things in the house. This way, they could earn money from treasure hunters and save on the waste disposal fee.
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