After enjoying the restaurant in the mine and the mansion of the mining tycoon, Li Du continued to search the storage units for the next two days.
In total, he had checked all twenty-five storage units thoroughly. He had also found five storage units that had some value, and he had carefully memorized their numbers.
In mid-March, the auction at Red Rock Storage Company started. As usual, the two of them rushed to the location of the storage units early in the morning.
When they got out of the pickup truck, the treasure hunters who had arrived earlier turned to look at them. Many of them greeted them warmly.
"Hey, Big Fox, China Li, good morning. What a surprise to see you here."
"What's the good stuff today? Buddy, let us know. We haven't opened for business in two months. "
"For God's sake, Big Fox, don't take away all the good stuff."
Hans obviously enjoyed being the center of attention. However, he did not enjoy it for long. Some treasure hunters who came later brought news:
"Fred, why are you here too? Did you rush over from Phoenix?"
"Of course. There are a few great antique clocks in the storage unit. I wanted to try my luck."
"What, antique clocks? Where did you get the news? "
"Don't be like that, guys. Don't you know? It's all over Flagstaff. That Sky Eye guy spread the news yesterday. "
When Li Du and Hans heard those words, their hearts sank.
Just then, Hans's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and gritted his teeth. "D * mmit, it's that b * stard Andrew!"
Sure enough, Andrew's proud voice came through the phone. "Enjoy this auction. A batch of antique clocks. You must get them. Good luck!"
"D * mmit, you despicable man!" Hans scolded.
Andrew said disdainfully, "How am I despicable? Didn't I tell you a valuable piece of information about the storage units? No, I told you, and I told a lot of people. "
Indeed, the two of them had made a mistake. When they had set up the bet, they had not requested for both parties to keep the information about the storage units confidential.
Even if there had been this agreement, Andrew could have spread the news through other people's mouths.
Soon, the local treasure hunters also knew that there was a batch of antique clocks in the storage units. They immediately began to rub their palms together.
Feeling the atmosphere gradually heating up, Li Du's expression was solemn. "The situation is not good."
Hans made a prompt decision. "We need to form an alliance and choose those who pose a threat. Otherwise, not only will we have to spend a lot of money, we might not even get the warehouse."
"How to form an alliance?"
"Let me do it. You can tell me the value of the storage unit later." Hans waved his hand calmly, signaling him not to be anxious.
The auctioneer entered the venue. He was wearing a microphone and had a loudspeaker on his waist. He was as rough as one could imagine, which was indeed the style of the Stone Mine City.
"Old rules. Everyone should know our old rules. No entering the warehouse, no touching anything that doesn't belong to you, no fighting, no cursing, and I won't care about anything else. Alright, let's go."
Because Andrew had released the information about the antique clock, many people had come to attend the auction. Once again, the number of people had reached 100. The auctioneer had everyone form groups of four to watch the auction.
The first unit was unit 012. There was a large blower at the door. It looked old, and its paint was mottled.
Li Du asked, "What's the price of this blower?"
Hans pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice, "If it can be used, there's still a market for such a large blower. I think selling it for five or six hundred dollars shouldn't be a problem."
"Then we'll set the starting price at five hundred dollars?"
"Alright."
Many of the warehouses in Red Rock City were trash. They were dilapidated and not worth much, so the starting bid was very low. "Warehouse No. 012, 012012. The starting bid is 50 dollars. Is there anyone willing to bid higher than 50 dollars?"
"Yes."
"Very good. Since 50 dollars has been accepted, then 100 dollars, 100 dollars, 100 dollars, anyone?"
"Five hundred dollars!" A loud voice rang out, instantly shocking the group of treasure hunters.
Li Du turned his head to look. The person who spoke was a big man with a full beard. He wore sunglasses and had a serious expression, like a bodyguard.
Hans took a look and said in a low voice, "D * mn, the President's Umbrella. This guy is here too."
Hearing his words, Li Du was a little shocked. "Did I hear wrongly? This guy is related to the President?"
Hans laughed. "That's his nickname. Look, he always wears a black suit, sunglasses, and a serious face. Doesn't he look like a bodyguard? That's why we call him the President's Umbrella. "
This guy was very rich and had a good eye. His precise bid immediately defeated almost all the treasure hunters.
Then another person followed, and the President's Umbrella immediately bid 800 dollars. Just like that, he successfully beat the other treasure hunters and won the first unit.
Seeing this, Hans nodded and said, "It's him then. Follow me."
The two of them found the President's Umbrella. Hans laughed and said, "Hey, Rawls, how have you been? Looks like you've made a lot of money. "
The President's Umbrella was still unsmiling. "Not bad. I went to Florida and made some money there. It's nothing compared to you guys."
Hans said, "We don't have time to chat. Let's get straight to the point. How about an alliance today? If we get an antique clock, we'll split it equally. "
The President's Umbrella slowly looked at the two of them. He was very picky.
Just when Li Du thought there was no possibility of an alliance, he said, "According to the information, there are a lot of clocks here. But only two of them are antiques. The rest are replicas. In fact, there were more replicas. It's just that the rest have been sold. "
Li Du was shocked. The information they had received was not so detailed!
Hans calmly pulled him aside and nodded calmly. "Yes, only two of them are real antique clocks. But the money is enough for us to split, isn't it?"
The President's Umbrella nodded and said, "Besides this information, what else do you know?"
Obviously, what he was implying was: If you don't know as much as me, or if I'm about the same as you, then I won't cooperate with you.
This time, Hans was stunned. They really didn't know any more information. Andrew had never intended to let them make money from this unit.
At this critical moment, Li Du smiled and said, "We know which unit it is!"
The President's Umbrella took off his sunglasses and looked at his expression carefully. Finally, he nodded and said, "Alright, take out the letter of alliance. We're allies."
Both parties high-fived. The cooperation was a success. Hans heaved a sigh of relief and explained to Li the rules of cooperation among treasure hunters.
Sometimes there were treasures in a unit that could not be bought by one person. Or when two rich people had their eyes on a unit during an auction, both parties needed to cooperate.
The advantage of cooperation was that both parties could make money. However, if they did not cooperate, both parties would often compete crazily. In the end, it was very likely that no one would make a profit. Hence, this model was quite popular.
However, there were usually two partners. If there were too many participants, the split would be too little, and it would be meaningless.
Li Du did not bid on the first five units. Except for the first one, the others were all trash. Even if he bought them, he would not make a single cent.
When the sixth unit, which was number 240, was up for auction, he gave Hans a look and said in a low voice, "This unit is very valuable."
Hans nodded and gestured to The President's Umbrella. The latter entered the crowd, indicating that he would participate in the bidding.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
