Chapter 280: A Change That Came Like a Storm
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The auctioneer had a similar evaluation of the unit as the treasure hunters. However, he still hoped to sell it for a high price. After the viewing was over, he shouted:
“From that last unit, you guys have shown your strength, but only one person won in the end. I see that many people are unsatisfied, so let’s bring it on for the next one! Starting bid is 2,000 dollars!”
Regardless of how well he put it, the price revealed the true value of the unit. Clearly, the auctioneer felt that this unit was not even half the worth of the previous unit.
The treasure hunters felt worse about this unit than the auctioneer did. Hearing the starting bid, they began discussing:
“It’s all clothing in there. Although there are a bunch of famous brands, it’s not worth a lot.”
“I’m not bidding. Only the furniture is worth something. These second-hand clothes—how much could they even sell for?”
“Don’t even bother selling—these clothes are all outdated. They can’t keep up with the times, and brand stuff that can’t keep up with the times, aren’t brand!”
“Perhaps they could be donated to the Salvation Army. Otherwise, I don’t see any use in them.”
With the heated discussion, for a period of time, no one was bidding.
This made the auctioneer anxious. He shouted, “2,000, 2,000, just the intricate furniture in there is worth more than 2,000 dollars!”
Hans held his chin up as he smiled; no one was bidding, so he didn’t either.
Eventually, Andrew made the move to accept it. “Me, 2,000.”
There was still something to be made from this unit. With someone taking the lead, the other treasure hunters who were interested immediately followed: “3,000!”
“Three thousand five hundred!”
“Four thousand!”
“Five thousand!”
With the price steadily rising, the auctioneer revealed a smile.
Andrew, instead, had an annoyed expression, and exclaimed, “10,000 dollars!”
The treasure hunters groaned in astonishment. It was always a sight to behold for someone to bid in such a luxurious fashion.
However, it was not just Andrew who brought a lot of cash today. They didn’t dare to go near 100,000, but 10,000 dollars was easy.
“Eleven thousand!”
“Twelve thousand!”
“Thirteen thousand!”
That was when the Playboy sneakily entered the competition. “Fifteen thousand dollars!”
Andrew gave a powerful look to the crowd and exclaimed, “I’m putting out my final offer, fellas, I don’t want to waste anymore time here! Thirty thousand dollars!”
With the 30,000-dollar offer out, some treasure hunters that had been interested slowly backed out. The furniture could not compensate for the 30,000-dollar investment.
The Playboy smiled at Andrew and said, “31,000 dollars!”
Hearing his offer, the corner of Andrew’s lip twitched. He glared at the Playboy and said, “You’ve brought a lot of money today, huh?”
The Playboy smiled and said, “If I didn’t bring enough today, I can always sell my blood and kidney. Anyway, I will be fulfilling my end of the promise—with me here today, you won’t be getting any units!”
Andrew said viciously, “I think it’s more like money you’ve made from being a gigolo. Selling your *sshole at the gay bar? Haha, what a great business you have there, only problem is that it’s easy to get AIDS!”
The auctioneer pointed to the Playboy and shouted “31,000 dollars” three times. He then waved and exclaimed, “This unit belongs to you now, buddy!”
The Playboy turned around and shook hands with Li Du. “Congrats. You, too, have gotten the unit you like.”
Li Du waved to Andrew. “Hey buddy, try harder! Hope you won’t go home empty-handed today!”
The one who had really been interested in this unit was him. From the eyes of the Playboy, this unit wasn’t worth much. He had the same thoughts as the other treasure hunters, that the branded clothing was worthless.
Clothing value had a lot to do with the current trends and fashion. Second-hand goods were already cheap, and it was even worse when they were fashion from many years back.
The third unit was opened. There were mostly ordinary life essentials inside, and they were not worth much. Li Du sent out the bug to ensure that there were no hidden treasures inside, and confirmed that it was worthless.
Andrew and the Playboy felt the same too. Apparently, both of them couldn’t be bothered with this unit.
The fourth unit was opened. Li Du once again sent the bug in to check.
Although he had been here before and looked, he hadn’t done a thorough sweep of the place. He was worried that he might have missed something.
He had always been a careful person. When he was still in school, during tests, he would always check his papers at least twice before handing them in.
This continued until the seventh unit. Li Du let the bug in, and searched the closets and boxes one more time.
This time, when the bug flew in, it burrowed into a television in the unit!
This took Li Du by surprise. He was sure that he had gone through all the units once, that there wasn’t anything that would attract the bug’s attention.
However, there was clearly something that attracted its attention now. The bug had already entered the television. Seeing this, he was puzzled. What was going on?
His first thought was that perhaps the item was something that could not attract the bug’s attention before, but today it could. But then, after seeing what the item was, he changed his theory.
The bug had entered a vintage television set, those old models that took up a lot of space. It was only 20 inches wide, and was one of those TV sets that had gone out of production.
The TV set retained its original exterior, but the wiring and circuits were removed. What had taken their place instead, was an odd, exquisite dagger!
The dagger was placed on a black stand made of some unknown stone material that had a beautiful sheen to it. There was a white mount on it, which the dagger sat on.
On both sides of the mount was a statue of a leopard. It appeared that the leopard and the mount were made of the same white material.
The leopards’ eyes were red gems. The mount also had gems of red, black, and green. The variety of colors was a beautiful sight.
What was even more gorgeous was the dagger. The hilt and handle seemed to have been made of the same material as the mount and leopards. There were also many high-quality gems on it.
With just one glance, Li Du could tell that this dagger was a treasure!
He dared say that this dagger might not have been there yesterday.
It was because he had paid extra attention to those boxes and drawers in the units, since those were the easiest places to hide something valuable.
Though the TV set was not a box or a cabinet, there was space inside. Li Du would have definitely let the bug in to check the TV if he had seen it.
If the dagger had been hidden in this TV set yesterday, he would surely have noticed.
Perhaps he had forgotten that there was a TV in this unit, but he would surely not have forgotten the dagger when examining the TV from inside!
Overnight, this unit had gained the precious dagger. Li Du was ecstatic at first, but soon became suspicious.
The dagger had likely been stored here only temporarily. For what purpose, he didn’t know, but he had to be careful, because this dagger was clearly worth an astronomical price!
Besides the precious dagger in the TV set, there was nothing else that was of much value; it was all just ordinary trash from daily lives.
The viewing was over. The auctioneer raised his hand, indicating that the auction had begun!
