Chapter 547: Signature Memorabilia
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“The items in this unit are good, right?” Li Du asked. “Are the signatures authentic?”
Sophie looked at the basketballs, footballs, baseballs, and so forth. “Are there signatures on them?” asked Sophie. “Wow, there really is—”
“Of course there are signatures,” Hans interrupted, “and they’re real! Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal!
“And these footballs! Santonio Holmes Jr., Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Hines Ward, Deion Branch, Tom Brady! D*mn, that’s awesome!”
As he read the names, he became so excited that his eyes started glowing.
“All of them are stars, right?” Li Du asked.
Hans did not respond. He continued checking out the items. He became more and more excited and finally cried out, “D*mn, bud, we’re going to be rich. This time, we’re really going to get rich!”
Li Du inquired, “Are all these signature balls really valuable?”
Hans looked at him with wide eyes. “Definitely. These are not ordinary signature balls signed by ordinary stars.”
“Yeah, I know,” Li Du said with a nod. “They’re the signatures of the top superstars of the four major leagues.”
“No, you don’t know!” Hans yelled. “D*mn you don’t know!” His voice trembled. “You think they’re just balls signed by stars?”
“Isn’t that the case?” Li Du was puzzled.
“Of course not! Dwyane Wade was the MVP of the NBA All-Star Game in 2010. Kobe Bryant and Shaq O’Neal were the co-MVPs of the All-Star Game in 2009. LeBron James was the MVP in 2008. Allen Iverson was the MVP in 2007 …
“There’s more. Santonio Holmes was the MVP of the 43rd Super Bowl. Eli Manning was the MVP of the 42nd Super Bowl. Peyton Manning was the MVP of the 41st, Hines Ward was the MVP of the 40th, Deion Branch was the MVP of the 39th!”
Listening to Hans’s fast naming of the MVPs, Li Du was impressed and surprised. “Wow, I can’t believe this is not only a collection of signatures for the big leagues, there are also the signatures of the leading stars at their glorious moments!”
“These are definitely not the balls used during the competitions,” Hans said. “Those important balls used in the games are kept in the Sports Museum. Still, the signatures on these balls are genuine. They are the signatures of the MVPs of the All-Star Games and the Super Bowl seasons—it’s a complete set!”
Although Hans said it was a complete set, in actual fact, there were not that many balls. The box contained 18 basketballs and 20 American footballs. There were also some baseballs, some hockey pucks, tennis balls and more.
Li Du picked up a basketball. The flamboyant signature on it was Michael Jordan’s!
However, the most valuable item was not Michael Jordan’s signature ball, but the golf club signed by Tiger Woods.
When Hans saw the golf club, he hugged and gave it a deep kiss—so hard that a layer of the metallic skin was nearly removed from the club.
If all these were to sell separately, the most valuable item would not be the golf club, but the baseball pitching machine.
The pitching machine had signatures as well, and there were a bunch of them. Li Du was not well-versed in this as he did not pay attention to sports events.
Besides the ball memorabilia, the most valuable item would be this pitching machine because it might be the training equipment for the New York Yankees. This was attributed to the signatures—they were the names of different Yankees over the years.
If that were really the case, then the pitching machine would have great value. Although the MLB was not the most valuable commercial sports league in the United States, the value of the Yankees might be the highest among America’s professional sports teams.
In terms of overall value, if the signature balls were sold together, the most valuable would be basketballs and the American footballs.
The basketballs, footballs, and baseballs had collected the signatures of the strongest stars over the past 20 years. They were collected in the order of the most important matches of all time—they had a lot of value.
Hans personally led the team to clear up the unit and kept shouting, “Be careful, be careful, be gentle with the machine. For God’s sake, secure the balls first before moving them.”
The tourists had been looking around for Hans. When they saw him giving the instructions for moving the items, they asked, “What you are doing? Sunbae-nim? Will you help us clear our units?”
Hans did not have the time to help them clear their units. And even if he did have the time, it would be impossible for him to help due to his laziness.
Therefore, after listening to the visitors, he replied impatiently, “Why do you need to clear up the unit? It’s just a pile of rubbish.”
The tourists were shocked to hear that. “What do you mean? That’s not what you said earlier.”
Lu Guan stepped forward and pointed to Li Du. “All of you see that man? That Chinaman, he’s our boss. Just now you insulted our boss, so we punished you.”
The tourists were petrified by the news. One of them shouted, “We’ve been scammed?!”
Lu Guan waved his hands in disapproval. “Not really, just that the value of your units ain’t as high as you thought. If you are able to sell those items, you can get back your cost.”
That was true, but that was only if all the items could be sold.
The tourists dared not hurl abuses at them. The tour guide had told them that Hans was a local and had connections—this type of person shouldn’t be trifled with.
They could only hold back their grievances and go back to clean up their units. However, without anyone to teach or advise them, how were they going to clear up the items inside?
The tour guide was also unable to help them out. Moreover, there really wasn’t anything valuable or easy to deal with in the units.
At this time, the local treasure hunters made their move. They gathered around the tourists to negotiate with them:
“How about reselling the unit to me? I’ll take care of the contents inside.”
“This unit is worthless, and it’s a time-consuming process to clear everything out. Why not sell it to me?”
“I’ll help you clear the unit. But you have to pay me a fee.”
The tourists did not have other options. They tried to clear their units for a while and were now feeling tired, dirty and bored. This experience was much different from when they had attended the auction, which had been very interesting to them.
Therefore, after being approached and pestered by the treasure hunters, the tourists asked, “How much will you pay for the unit?”
“How about 100 dollars?”
“Dream on!” The tourist got angry. “I spent 800 dollars to get it!”
“In actual fact, this unit is only worth 100 dollars,” said the treasure hunter bluntly. “You spent 800 dollars because you’re an idiot—you were fooled!”
The tourists could only stare at the impolite treasure hunters. They didn’t dare become upset. Hans was a local and had connections, no doubt. These people were locals with connections too!
The tour guide tried to persuade the tourists as well. “Forget it, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get rid of them. We’re going to a Native American reservation tomorrow. You won’t have time to clear all this trash.”
“They’re just a bunch of trash units.” The treasure hunters stressed their point again.
The tourists could only get rid of the units with a much lower price. After all, they had no other way out. If they could recover 100 dollars, then so be it.
