Early the next day, a piece of news spread among the treasure hunters:
Vendetta Storage Company had found mahogany furniture. The company was shocked and contacted a Chinese mahogany expert to verify the authenticity and value of the mahogany!
The more shocking news was that the mahogany expert had recognized the authenticity of the mahogany in the storage units and had given a very high valuation. Therefore, the storage company did not plan to auction the units.
Li Du heard the news while he was eating breakfast. He called the storage company's auction management office and said angrily, "We protest! The storage company cannot withdraw the units that have been put up for auction!"
The storage company could withdraw the units that had been put up for auction because some renters were greedy and would renew the contract on the last day. Such units would not be put up for auction.
But this time, the storage company was upset. They did not intend to withdraw the units on the auction list. They said, "Sir, we will not withdraw the units that have been put up for auction."
"You can't do this," Li Du said angrily. "We came to the auction because there are so many units up for auction. If you withdraw seven units, then what's the point of us attending?"
Hans said angrily to the treasure hunters in the same hotel, "Everyone, call the storage company. We can't let them do this!"
The treasure hunters took out their phones and the auction hotline of the storage company exploded with calls.
In the hotel restaurant next door, the Ricks, Frank, York, and the others sat down for breakfast and then prepared to go to the auction.
When they entered the restaurant, they saw a middle-aged Chinese man eating with a white man.
Rick did not know the Chinese man, but he knew the white man. He was the logistics supervisor of Vendetta Storage Company.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the middle-aged Chinese man had almost finished his meal. The food on the table was sumptuous, and there was even a bottle of good Mexican tequila.
Sweeping away a piece of stewed and sticky veal, the middle-aged Chinese man stood up and said, "Mr. Powell, it's nice to meet you. We had a pleasant conversation. Goodbye."
The white man smiled happily and said, "It's nice to meet you too. Thank you, Mr. Liu. You're really knowledgeable."
The middle-aged Chinese man smiled and said, "You flatter me. I only know a little about China's architecture and furniture. If I can help you, that would be great."
Finally, he waved his hand and left the restaurant.
Rick stared at the back of the middle-aged Chinese man for a while before he gave his son a look and whispered, "Go, follow him and see what's going on."
After Lil 'Rick left, he walked up to the white man and said with a smile, "Powell, my old friend, what a coincidence to see you here. What are you doing?"
Powell wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "Breakfast. Someone just treated me to a very good breakfast. It's really good."
Frank also walked over and asked, "Mr. Powell? Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I'm Frank Boll, a professional treasure hunter … "
Powell shook hands with him, and he casually complimented him. Just then, his cell phone rang. He frowned and said, "What? Who spread the news? Alright, let me go back and see what to do. "
After hanging up, he said to Frank and Rick, "I'm sorry, both of you. Something happened at my company, so I have to hurry back. It was nice meeting you guys. Talk to you later."
"Let's talk later." Rick nodded with a smile.
After Powell left in a hurry, Frank looked at Rick and asked, "What's going on?"
Rick's eyes flashed a few times, and then he said, "Mr. Frank, do you know why this auction attracted so many people?"
Frank was an experienced treasure hunter. This time, he was also there for the storage auction, not just to show off.
Hence, when he heard Rick's words, he said, "There might be a batch of mahogany furniture at this auction?"
Rick nodded and said, "Yes, there's a batch of mahogany furniture. But I'm not sure if you have any more in-depth information? There's something wrong with this batch of mahogany furniture! "
Frank asked cautiously, "What's the problem? I only got some general information. Do you have any more detailed information? "
Rick said, "Yes, I've contacted the storage manager here and got some photos."
Saying this, he became a little smug. "You know, Frank, everyone has their own territory, and Arizona is my territory."
Frank knew that he was showing off to him, so he laughed coldly and said, "And then?"
Rick continued, "Then I showed the photos to a mahogany collector. He thought that the furniture might be fake."
The United States was a nation of collectors. Furniture collecting was an important branch of it, and mahogany furniture was an important branch of furniture collecting.
Since the Opium War of 1840, more than 10 million pieces of Chinese cultural relics had been lost to Europe, America, Japan, and Southeast Asia. In many history museums in the West, Chinese classical mahogany furniture could be seen everywhere.
In fact, in museums in the United States and England, China's collection of Ming and Qing Dynasty rosewood furniture exceeded that of the Forbidden City, and the Forbidden City had about 10,000 pieces.
From this, one could see how much mahogany furniture was collected in foreign countries.
Other than museums, there was another interesting rumor. It was said that 100 years ago, many caves were dug in the western United States. They stored tens of thousands of pieces of Chinese classical furniture in these temperature-controlled caves, so that they could be kept for future generations.
Of course, regardless of whether it was museums or caves in the western United States, they all collected famous mahogany furniture. For example, the Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli's yellow rosewood throne was in the Danish Museum.
However, unlike other national treasures, most of the mahogany furniture and handicrafts that were leaked to the West were not through robberies, but through free trade and auctions.
This included the Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli's yellow rosewood throne. It was bought by a Danish collector at a Sotheby's auction and eventually given to the National Museum.
Therefore, when it came to mahogany collections, it was not convenient for China to ask for them back. This increased the popularity of related collections, and many collectors were born.
Any mahogany collector would have a deeper understanding of mahogany. Rick had contacted such a person to help him analyze the authenticity of the mahogany furniture.
He had already determined that the mahogany furniture was fake, but with the incident in front of him, he was no longer confident in his judgment.
This was because the collector had said that he could not get an accurate conclusion from looking at the photos. The collector was also an amateur, so his conclusion was not very authoritative.
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