Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The two teenagers were jumping with joy at Li Du’s words.
Anderson could see that things were going downhill for him, and that made him panic. He hollered, “That’s a stupid idea. Golf courses are private areas, how can you just waltz into one to fish for golf balls in their lakes?”
Li Du responded immediately, “That’s simple. Any sports court will need to be cleaned, no? You can join a cleaning company and clean up the lake as you scavenge for golf balls. I’m sure the club would welcome you with open arms.”
The tall teen nodded fervently. “Yes, yes, the club pays quite a bit to the cleaning companies to maintain the place.”
Victory was so close, Li Du could almost taste it. The Anthonys were becoming nervous.
Conrad piped up, “Actually, that wouldn’t work out. How many golf balls can you retrieve from a single lake in a golf course? If what you’re proposing is really as lucrative as you make it out to be, why hasn’t anyone tried it before?”
The moment the words left his mouth, George shot him a sharp glare and Anderson’s face darkened even more. “Hey, Conrad, shut up!”
Li Du laughed — that was some team kill Conrad pulled off. What he had said was as good as a confirmation that this was a job that could easily bring one hundreds of thousands each year. He had essentially plunged a knife into Anderson’s back.
Bell looked towards Carberry and Joel and asked, “What do you think?”
Anderson butted in, “There’s no rush, I still have a lot of questions. There’s definitely more to this than he’s letting on.”
Joel immediately said, “Kelly, my good man, are you still trying to come up with your own proposal? We all agreed before the bet was made that just one idea was enough. I think Li Du won this bet!”
Anderson and he were actually competitors who often locked horns with each other, so they might have appeared to be getting along swimmingly but secretly, both were waiting for the other to slip up.
Carberry pondered for another moment before he nodded as well. It was then that Conrad realized he had messed up, so he tried his best to salvage the situation. He hollered, “You didn’t answer my question yet. What if there aren’t that many golf balls in the lake? What if the club collected all of them already?”
Golf enthusiast Magic Hand chuckled. He responded, “No, little guy. First, the club would never do that. It’s too embarrassing for them.
“Second, Li Du is right. There are many golf balls sitting at the bottom of the lake. I remember reading a report once that said people who liked playing golf lost about four or five golf balls a year, so just think about how many golf enthusiasts there are. There is a significant number of golf balls in this lake for sure, and many golf courses have lakes or ponds.”
Carberry said, “Mr. Johnson is right. I think this is a possible business venture, too.”
In an instant, all the color drained from Anderson’s face.
Bell looked at him helplessly and said, “It doesn’t matter what I think anymore. I’m sorry, Kelly, you lost.”
Anderson was a typical conservative WASP — stubborn and prideful. He rubbed his hands together and said, “You can’t make your judgment so easily, guys—”
Joel countered impatiently, “That’s enough, Kelly. This is pointless; if you think we were unfair in our judgment, then disregard it.”
He might have seemed like he was trying to let Kelly off easy, but he was actually fanning the flames and forcing Anderson to do something far beyond his means. If he really did as Joel said, he would be offending Carberry and Bell.
Besides, he would lose his credibility on top of his image. For a merchant, credibility was far more important than face.
Anderson knew as much, so the moment Joel’s words left his lips, he responded, “Alright, I admit it. I lost. Haha, you’re quite the clever guy, Li, you’ve found a good business.”
Li Du gestured for the man to proceed with what he had to do, then smiled as he said, “Well then, Mr. Anderson, should I pick a spot for your announcement?”
Anderson was no sore loser. He coughed, then said, “OK, I’ll go look for one myself.”
Anderson walked ahead, the rest of the people giggling as they followed behind him to see how things would unfold.
The Anthonys stood stock still on the field, embarrassment coloring their faces.
Anderson was a good friend of George Anthony’s and he had initially wanted to stick up for his friend, which resulted in him being dragged down himself. For both of them, this was pretty embarrassing.
When they stepped out of the club’s main gates, Anderson found a turn in the road and waited until there were few cars driving by. He turned and called out to the group, “Stop laughing, guys, I’m going to carry out the promise now!”
Li Du turned to ask Joel, “You’re just going to watch?”
Joel paused before asking, “What else can I do if not watch?”
Li Du replied, “Where’s the fun in watching this all by yourself? Film it and share it with your friends. We have this saying in China, ‘a happy crowd is better than a happy individual’. Share the joy with your friends.”
Joel’s eyes lit up at Li Du’s words and he burst into laughter. “You’re right. Wow, remind me to never cross you, Li. Kelly’s really met his match this time!”
As he spoke, he took out his phone.
Kelly Anderson was embarrassed and gloomy, but he could not show it. He had to look like he was enjoying this to prove that he was no sore loser.
He faced the road and shouted, “I’m a boorish, foolish trouble-maker—”
“Alright, a little louder, now. You have to make yourself heard, just like we agreed — whoever loses has to shout loudly,” Playboy said through his laughter. There was some fun in adding insult to someone’s injury.
Anderson had no choice but to shout louder, “I’m a boorish, foolish trouble-maker! I’m a boorish, foolish trouble-maker! I’m a boorish, foolish trouble-maker!”
Now that something like this had happened, there was no way the group could continue hanging out — at least, there was no way they could continue playing golf together.
It was a good thing Bekk had planned for other activities, so they went back to the club and moved on to the next segment.
Anderson was too embarrassed to stay, so he came up with a flimsy excuse and left early with the Anthonys.
Bale tried to persuade them to stay but the three of them had already made up their minds to leave, so he did not force them.
Once they were in the car, the anger that Anderson had repressed finally came to a head. “F*ck f*ck f*ck! This damned Chink! F*ck!”
George consoled the man. “I told you, he’s not someone you should mess with. He’s too shrewd. But it’s okay, it’s fine as long as he’s still in the storage auction business. I’ll get him one of these days.”
Conrad put in, “Did that Chink really become the biggest shareholder of Harry Winston, Inc.? If that’s the case, it’s not going to be easy for us to continue dealing with him, Dad.”
What Conrad said was true. America was a society based on money — those who had money had connections and power, and they were not people you messed with.
Silence shrouded the car. The three of them stopped speaking.
A while later, Anderson’s phone rang. He checked it only to see that someone had sent him a video. It was a video of him shouting loudly toward the road, “I’m a boorish, foolish trouble-maker!”
Anderson felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him when he saw the video. No, not just knocked. It felt like someone had flying-kicked him in the chest!
Conrad was appalled. “Who recorded this? Who sent it to you?”
Anderson’s face was stern and he refused to answer. His group chats were pinging with messages. He checked every single one of them only to realize that all the messages included this video.
At the sight of that, his face turned red with anger and he screamed in desperate rage, “China man, I’m not done with you yet!”
