Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As his fame rose, Li Du had become a well-known figure in the California auction industry. Although he started his career in a non-mainstream auction environment, his record of zero loss was still outstanding. Hence, many collectors were full of interest in him.
It was now August and autumn was not far. Many places would hold the most important auction of the year in this season.
Li Du was not interested in such high-level auctions. That was because it would be almost impossible to try to pick up something that others missed. At such events, every item would have been repeatedly verified. The value would have been fixed.
However, such auctions were good for networking. Hence, he managed to receive a few invitations through Harry Winston Inc.
Initially, he had only needed two invites. He could just go with Sophie. However, Carl gave him four invites, and those were all VIP seats. He could not let those go to waste.
Hence, he gave Hans a call and got him to bring his girlfriend to Los Angeles. He could not possibly stay forever in a small town, right? He invited Hans to travel out of there and attend the auction together.
Hans had really changed his nature. From the point he had decided to stay in Riverdale, he had anchored himself there. Other than giving Li Du a few calls now and then, Hans did not keep much contact.
Besides Sotheby’s Autumn invite, Li Du had also received a few other invitations for other auctions. Amongst them, there was a folk collection auction. That auction had invited Li Du to be a guest of honor, and he agreed.
Such folk collections were most likely to have items that others had missed. Of course, 90 percent of them were fakes. However, as long as one could grab hold of the few authentic pieces, they would be able to make huge profits.
The auction would take place in a small theatre in the West Hollywood area. The theme was rather interesting. It was ‘Peek into the private life of Hollywood’s lowest-profile stars’. It would be held at the end of August. Li Du did not have anything planned for that period and so he decided to attend the auction out of curiosity.
After learning about his decision, the bunch of treasure hunters followed him.
“As long as we follow Big Li, we will be able to make a profit,” Dickens laughed.
Whenever Li Du brought them along for a property auction, they managed to earn a tidy sum. In every auction, they had been able to make at least ten thousand dollars in profits. After arriving in Los Angeles, they had attended four auctions. Now, each of them had made close to 100,000!
Of course, not all of their profits were in cash. Some of the money was in the form of real estate, as the houses had not been sold yet.
However, the houses that Li Du guided them to buy were all valuable. As long as the owners were not too greedy, they would be able to sell them off quickly to exchange the houses for cash.
The bunch of them took a train and followed Li Du to West Hollywood.
When they entered the train station, a bunch of youngsters got in their path.
These were boys in their teens, with the oldest around fifteen or sixteen years old. Most of them were African Americans, and despite their youth, they walked in a way that looked demanding and seasoned. These teens were holding baseball bats, steel pipes and other items. They looked like they were going for a fight.
Li Du stepped into the train first and when the teens saw him, they whistled at him. Then, they walked over, clearly with ill intentions.
Simultaneously, the big-sized treasure hunters and tough bodyguards appeared behind Li Du.
Seeing that, the youths spat on the ground and hung back.
Li Du could not comprehend such behavior. Looking at them, he said, “Whose kids are these? They are completely wild.”
Olly laughed. “They are youths after all. They are like that. They either drink or fight and think that they are some heroes. With time, they will become more mature.”
Following the directions, they arrived at the small theater slightly more than an hour later.
There were many theatres in Los Angeles. The theater that was hosting the folk collection was called Glenwood.
Li Du took out his invitations and passed them to the security. After verifying the invites, the security guard got him to go backstage. The rest of the treasure hunters were able to enter and they did not need any special invites.
Such auctions were keen to get attention. As long as people were willing to join the auction, it was all good as far as the organizers were concerned, regardless if it was just to join the fun or actually buy anything.
For the organizer, it was fine as long as there were enough people who attended the auction. It was best if there were more people than seats. It would be good for their future publicity efforts.
Li Du went to the backstage where the auctioneer and organizer invited other guests to sort out their clothes. They even had the items for the auction on display.
Seeing his invitation, a middle-aged African American lady came forward to shake his hand warmly. “Welcome, Mr. Li. Very pleased that you were able to join our auction.”
Li Du said humbly, “My honor.”
Looking at the items that had been neatly arranged for the auction, Li Du let out the little bug to start searching for anything valuable.
The little bug had yet to find anything when Li Du spotted a small jar.
He stared at the painted can. The more he looked, the more he felt that it resembled something. That ‘something’ should not have been there – a burial jar containing someone’s ashes!
It was only when he saw the black-and-white picture printed on the jar that he could confirm his conjectures.
He pointed at the can and said in shock, “God, this… what’s the motive behind placing that here? It can’t be entered in the auction, right?”
The black lady smiled proudly. “That’s right. That’s one of the most high-profile items in this auction.”
Li Du hesitated before saying, “I may be a bit ignorant, but… is this an ash jar?”
The black lady replied, “Yes, Mr. Li. You’re not ignorant at all. Actually, we think that your general knowledge is very wide. That is an ash jar. However, it’s not a typical burial jar. It’s Mr. Truman Capote inside.”
The name brought up by the lady confused Li Du. He had not heard of that man. The only person named ‘Truman’ that he knew of was Harry Truman, the famous United States president.
However, Truman was the president’s last name and the first name of Mr. Capote. Obviously, the two had nothing to do with each other.
Li Du was clueless. Someone near him noticed that and laughed, “Ha, you don’t know Truman Capote? You haven’t even heard of him? Then how do you deal with art?”
Someone else spoke up and said, “I know this dude. He’s from the warehouse auction trade. That trade has nothing to do with artists, writers, and the likes. All they need is courage.”
Hearing that, the backstage broke into laughter.
Li Du turned and looked at the two men. He said, “Honestly speaking, everyone, I really do not know who Truman Capote is. However, I know Wang Xizhi, Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, Wu Daozi. Do you guys know them?”
The two men exchanged a look. They said, “No, who are you talking about?”
Li Du said, “You guys don’t even know the most famous calligraphers and painters in China’s history? When they created art, the United States was not even on the map yet.”
He was obviously making fools out of the two men. One of them got angry and said, “We are not Chinese. Why should we know about your calligraphers?”
Li Du said, “I’m not an American, why would I need to know this Truman Capote?”
