Chapter 555: Need for A Plan
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At the same moment Li Du saw Rick, Rick saw him.
Rick wore a similar surprised expression. It was obvious that he found it unbelievable to suddenly be seeing Li Du.
After the reality sunk in, his mood changed and both his eyes became bloodshot. His expression was extremely aggressive. “Chinaman, why the f*ck are you doing here at my house?”
Li Du knew it wouldn’t be an easy matter to deal with, and so he remained composed and said, “This is your house? I’m sorry, Mr. Rick. Looks like I got the wrong place.”
Rick waved his perfectly fine left hand and hollered, “Make him scram, Chalmers. Make this d*mn *sshole get outta here!”
The well-mannered guy was Chalmers. He smiled. “Looks like my relative doesn’t welcome you. Goodbye, sir.”
Li Du was not in the least bothered by his eviction order. He said, “You must be Mr. Diamond? There has been a misunderstanding between Mr. Rick and myself, but there is none between us—I’m here to give you money—”
He hadn’t even finished his sentence when Rick walked over and shoved him, shouting, “Go and meet those spirits, Chinaman! B*stards like you should go to hell! Here to give money? Give counterfeit money more like it!”
As Li Du squinted at him, the smile on his face widened—this was a sign that he was infuriated.
Chalmers was very intrigued by the words “give you money.” He stopped Rick and said, “Cousin, don’t act so hastily. Let’s see what this gentleman plans to do.”
Rick yelled, “Don’t get involved with him, don’t listen to his lies. This b*st*rd’s full of tricks. He’s good at plotting how to trick people!”
Hearing his cousin’s advice, Chalmers became wary and said, “You heard him, Sir. It’s best you go.”
“Make him scram! Make this b*st*rd scram! He’s the one who had caused me to be in this state today!” Rick barked hysterically.
Chalmers and Rick had a good relationship. The moment he said that, Chalmers’s face darkened. He pointed at Li Du and said, “He caused you to end up like this? He’s that Chinaman?”
“Yes.”
Chalmers glared at Li Du in disgust. “Hey, Chinaman, get lost. Don’t let me see you in front of my house. I don’t give a d*mn what it is you want, I don’t want to see you.”
Since the first instance they had met, the two of them had been hurling insults at him continuously—even a mild-tempered man like Li Du would get angry.
He sneered, “A wise man doesn’t allow the villain to confuse him. Why don’t you ask me why I did that to your cousin?”
Chalmers went up to him and shoved him. He said, “I don’t care about that. Listen, I don’t care. I want you to leave this place now—get away from my house!”
He then added on, “I’m saying this politely now. If you continue to stay here, then I’ll have to make you get lost—I’ll use my hunting rifle to make you get lost!”
Since he had already said it so bluntly, Li Du had no reason to stay. There was no way he would be able to proceed with the transaction and get ahold of the magazines.
Looking pale with rage, he left the place. After he got into the car, he started to contemplate how to get his hands on those magazines.
Although he had gotten into the car, he didn’t drive home. Instead, he called Lu Guan to come over to gather information about the relationship between Chalmers and Rick.
The whole set of National Geographic magazines was simply too appealing—he really wanted to collect this set of publications.
Lu Guan came over quickly; he hid outside the house and listened to the conversation through the window.
Not long after, he returned and said, “Boss, they’re cousins. Dog Ears is the elder cousin. It seems like he’s here to borrow money.”
“Does Chalmers intend to lend it to him?”
“No,” Lu Guan said. “Chalmers told him that he’s broke. Doesn’t have a single penny to lend him.”
As they spoke, the door opened and a fuming Rick walked out. He limped as he walked to his car before driving off.
As he watched Rick leave, Li Du frowned as he sank into deep thought.
It would be next to impossible to get the magazines using normal methods. From what he had just gathered, Chalmers was not aware of the value of the magazines in the storage unit. He could probably make use of the nature of his work to get ahold of them.
If Rick were here, it would be difficult to execute his plan. Now that Rick had left after failing to borrow any money, he might be able to wedge himself into this crack.
After much pondering, he developed a plan.
On the 15th, which was on a weekend, Lu Guan went to Chalmers’s house and knocked on the door.
Chalmers opened the door. “How are you, buddy?” he asked, puzzled. “What can I do for you? I hope you’re not here to sell something to me. Otherwise, you’ll realize what a big mistake you’re making.”
Lu Guan rolled up his sleeves to reveal his tattoo and said, “Do you think I look like a salesman? Of course not. Actually, I’m a businessman, and I would like to do business with you.”
Chalmers asked warily, “What business?”
Lu Guan said, “I noticed that there’re quite a few storage units filled with stuff here in your neighborhood—especially these few here. Do you know who they belong to? I’m interested in that storage unit.”
He pointed at a particular storage unit—the one where the magazines were located. All of it belonged to Chalmers.
Chalmers didn’t reply but instead, he asked, “What trade are you in?”
Instead of being evasive, Lu Guan replied frankly, “I’m a treasure hunter. A treasure hunter in the storage auction trade. I assume you know of this, right?”
Upon hearing his identity as a treasure hunter, Chalmers’s eyes lit up. His cousin was a treasure hunter, and although he did not know much about this industry, he was familiar with it.
Therefore, he asked casually, “Of course I know about your work. What’s there in the unit that makes you so interested?”
Li Du had told Lu Guan how to answer this, and so he said in a forthright manner, “There’s a set of old furniture inside that looks like it could be from half a century ago. I like this kind of stuff.”
Chalmers’s interest was piqued.
There was a set of old furniture in the unit? He thought about Li Du, who stopped by before, and recalled that his cousin Rick had told him that Li Du was a treasure hunter.
At this point, he realized that Li Du could have been eying that set of furniture.
Just like how he had dismissed Li Du previously, Chalmers did not sell the items in the storage unit to Lu Guan. He didn’t even bother to open up the storage unit for Lu Guan to take a look, but instead told him to leave.
Lu Guan gave him his name card before leaving. Chalmers returned to the house and said, “Dear, where are the keys to the storage units? I gotta take a look in there.”
A lady walked out and said, “Why are you looking for the keys to the storage units again? Are you in the mood to tidy up today?”
With his lips curled, Chalmers said, “I won’t ever be in the mood to tidy up the trash in there. I just can’t understand why that stupid uncle of mine didn’t collect something more valuable. What’s the use in collecting so many of those tattered books? And so many magazines, which can be found all over eBay.”
The lady said, “Anyway, your uncle collected books. If you were an avid reader like him, you wouldn’t be selling insurance but would be in financial management instead.”
“So my uncle loved to read,” Chalmers replied grudgingly, “but what good was it? He was only a librarian. If I had been a librarian, would I be able to feed the family?”
