Every time he thought that Li Du had not only cheated him of $550,000 in cash but also stolen his gemstones worth millions of dollars, Blanchett felt distressed.
He wanted to cry but had no tears!
Although he had relatives in the police station, he had no relatives in the court, and according to Australia's justice system, even if he had relatives, there was nothing he could do.
After all, he was the one who proposed to buy back the number 115 mine, and he was the one who did it voluntarily.
As for the hole in the number 115 mine that led to the number 114 mine, he could not prove that Li Du had dug it, let alone that the gemstones had been dug out of the hole.
The grievance in his heart drove Blanchett crazy. He could not officially retaliate against Li Du, so he wanted to do it behind his back.
However, after the previous fight, he had understood how powerful Li Du was and knew that he might not be a match for him, so he wanted to join forces with Wright and the others.
He had inquired and learned that Wright and the others had been beaten badly by Li Du.
Li Du did not notice that Blanchett was with his new neighbors. His attention was on the two target mines.
The staff of the bank and the person in charge of the government came to the trading hall. There were some chairs in the hall that was usually empty, and the bidders could sit there.
The auctioneer was a tall, fat, middle-aged white man. He was the mayor of Lightning Ridge, named Branso Barron.
Barron was the epitome of a politician, always smiling, tactful, and glib.
He seemed to know all the mine owners present. When he arrived at the trading hall, he greeted, chatted, and joked with the mine owners like a butterfly flying through flowers.
When he saw Li Du, he took the initiative to hold out his hand. "Wow, wow, wow, you must be Du Li, who has recently become famous in Lightning Ridge. Nice to meet you. I'm Branso Barron."
Li Du smiled. "I'm even more honored, Mayor Barron. Lightning Ridge is really an excellent place. You are amazing to have built such a good town."
Barran laughed heartily. "It's all thanks to everyone. This is the Home of Miners, the territory of us miners. I have to thank everyone for their help, especially people like you."
Saying this, he winked at Li Du. "I've heard that you acted in time to avoid a terrible disaster. I have to say, you did a good job, young man!"
After a simple greeting, he went on to entertain the other mine owners. His journey was smooth and impressive.
At 9: 30, the auction officially began.
Barron stood on the auction stage and first thanked everyone for their participation. He then began to introduce the importance of the black opal mine to Lightning Ridge and once again thanked the mine owners and miners for their help in the construction of the town.
After expressing his gratitude, he cut to the chase and began to introduce the mines.
All the mines covered an area of 20 acres, so he only needed to introduce the location. If there was a mine that had dug out gems in history, he would also focus on the glorious history of the mine.
Unfortunately, no gems had ever been excavated in the 120 mine. It was truly a sh * t mine.
The value of this mine decreased with every trade fair. The previous mine owner had bought the mine for less than two hundred thousand dollars, which was already the lowest price.
But on occasions like the mine auction, there was no minimum starting price, only lower.
"… Everyone already understands this rich mine, right? Then, please prepare your identification cards. I will start the bidding. The base price of mine 120 is — 100,000 yuan! "
Li Du shook his head. Steve asked, "What's wrong? The price is too high. Is it not worth competing?"
He smiled and said, "No, the price is really low. I bought my first mine for 550,000 dollars."
"Then what are you waiting for? It's ours, isn't it?" Steve asked cheerfully.
They were not in a hurry to raise their placards. Both Li Du and Steve were veterans in the auction house. Of course, the auctions that Steve had participated in were high-end art auctions held by large auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's.
The price of one hundred thousand was very low. Some miners who usually paid more attention to saving money had this kind of money, so the initial bidding was very fierce. "I bid one hundred thousand!"
"I bid one hundred and five thousand dollars. I'm number 18."
"One hundred and ten thousand dollars, guys, I'm determined to win this mine!"
"One hundred and twenty thousand..."
"Get out of the way, I bid one hundred and fifty thousand!"
When the price reached one hundred and fifty thousand, there were fewer mine owners interested in bidding.
Seeing this, Li Du knew that everyone was not very optimistic about the mine. He gave Steve a look, and Steve raised his placard and said, "Two hundred thousand!"
He raised the starting price by 50%, which was very aggressive and domineering.
The mine owners and miners, who were hesitating whether to bid or not, gave up. Someone shouted, "Is there a mistake? The last time this sh * t mine was sold, it was only for two hundred thousand. Now it's asking for two hundred thousand?"
When the mine was auctioned, part of the money went to the bank to repay the loan, part to the town, and the new mine owner had to pay taxes, which would fall into the town's financial purse.
Therefore, when he saw Steve bid so high, Barron was overjoyed. He pointed to him and shouted, "This lovely young man has made a lovely bid. There is no doubt that he is now the closest to the number 120 mine. He has offered two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand. Is there anyone willing to bid higher..."
All the mine owners shook their heads. Barron did not waste any more time stirring up the mood. Seeing this, he hit the table with a small hammer and shouted, "OK, two hundred thousand, sold!"
Li Du and Steve high-fived. The plan had gone smoothly, and they had won the first mine.
As the auction went on, Li Du began to realize that their bids had been a little too aggressive and fast. His opponents did not have keen eyes and were not very enthusiastic about the mine.
The number 120 mine was sold for two hundred thousand, but the next two mines were not auctioned!
The starting price of these two mines was also 100,000 dollars, but no one was willing to take them.
Li Du had gone to inspect them, and indeed, the two mines were worthless.
The mine owners knew more information than he did. The two mines had been excavated by many mine owners, and they had almost plowed the ground thoroughly, but to no avail!
One by one, the mines were put on the auction table. Some were not auctioned, and some were won. Most of the mines were sold at low prices, with the most expensive being only 360,000 Australian dollars.
The mine owners told Li Du that the sh * t mine was worth that much at most.
This showed how badly Li Du had been cheated by Blanchett when he first came to Lightning Ridge. For the same sh * t mine, Blanchett had sold it to him for five hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Fortunately, in the end, he got back the five hundred thousand dollars he had lost, and earned four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash and a pile of gems.
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