Chapter 716: Tit for Tat
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Everything seemed normal.
Right at this moment, Brother Wolf, who had been silently following Li Du, walked over and whispered to him, “There’s something wrong with the auctioneer. He’s hostile toward you.”
“You can tell?” Li Du asked softly.
“I have been monitoring him. I can tell that not only does he really hate you, he also has something planned,” Brother Wolf said without any doubt.
Hans came over. “I’ll help you monitor him. We have to be more careful.”
Although Li Du wanted to inquire about the background and backing that the vicious auctioneer had, he didn’t have time to do so as the auction was starting soon.
After he touched his nose and walked to the front of the crowd, Magic Hand passed by him and asked, “How do you feel about this storage unit?”
Li Du smiled. “Very cool. As you know, it has been a long time since I’ve seen a storage unit since I’ve been home planting crops for the past two months. Because of this, I must get the first storage unit.”
“Bent on getting it?” Magic Hand asked with a smile.
Li Du nodded. “Yes, I must get it. I have missed storage units too much. Truth be told, friend, I am very fond of them now. I can’t wait to get the first storage unit.”
Magic Hand suddenly lowered his voice. “That’s not right. There’s something you want inside this storage unit and you want to get it, right?”
Although Li Du was taken aback, he quickly responded by unfolding his arms and giving Magic Hand a blank look.
Magic Hand patted him on his shoulder. “I will let you have this storage unit. As a host, I have to have something to show for it, right?”
He paused for a while before adding, “Besides, as I don’t see what’s so good about this storage unit, I also don’t dare to rashly go against you.”
While speaking, he smiled and exposed a set of clean white teeth.
Li Du could sense the hostility in his friendly smile. Li Du was able to become a millionaire not because he was lucky or used crooked means but because he was, at the least, very observant.
The auctioneer started shouting, “The bidding for the first storage unit has begun. Everyone is clear on the rules. Since this is the first storage unit, I will quote a low price. Let’s increase its price then and see who is able to acquire the opening unit…
“Starting price, starting price, starting price, the starting price is 500 dollars!”
Once he said the price, someone could not help shaking his head. “What are you playing at? There’s just trash that an old dumpster diver collected in his house. Is there a need for the starting price to be 500 dollars?”
“Yeah, unless you give me a room as well. Otherwise, I would be f*cking crazy to pay that much money.”
“Even if you give me a small partitioned room in the basement, it’s not even worth 500 dollars!”
“This is not an ordinary partitioned room. Look, haha, it has a window. If it was in West Hollywood, it could be rented out as a room.”
“Who knows? Might even be able to rent it to a sweetheart. As you guys know, there are a lot of dumb ladies who are hot but broke in West Hollywood. They keep thinking that they can be famous all over America by just having big breasts and butts.”
A single starting price had started a discussion among the treasure hunters. Li Du observed it closely and discovered, from the discussion, the difference between California treasure hunters and Arizona treasure hunters.
California treasure hunters were really a bunch of cowards who liked to beat around the bush.
It might be a strategy of theirs. By making some negative comments to lower the keenness of their competitors to bid, they were helping themselves acquire the storage unit at the lowest price possible.
All in all, complaining aside, the crowd was still very eager to bid.
“Five hundred dollars, me.”
“I will give 550 dollars!”
“Six hundred dollars!”
“Seven hundred dollars!”
The bids quickly increased from 500 dollars to 1,000 dollars. Evidently, due to the renown that the dumpster diving master had, the treasure hunters were all willing to take over the items that he had collected. Anyhow, this was just a gamble.
With 1,000 dollars being the watershed in the bidding, the increment in the bids slowed down.
Seeing this, Li Du took the opportunity to make his move, saying, “1,500 dollars!”
The unbridled increase in the price by him had taken the treasure hunters by surprise.
Faced with such a bid, the treasure hunters were suddenly hesitant. They were unsure of the number of valuable items in the room and had bid because it was a storeroom of the dumpster diving master.
The auctioneer pointed at Li Du, shouting, “1,500 dollars, 1,500 dollars, 1,500 dollars, okay. Is there no one who is willing to bid a higher price? In that case, 1,500 dollars going once, twice, thrice! Sold!”
Just like that, Li Du acquired the storage unit.
As his procurement of it went a little too smoothly, it seemed like the auctioneer was helping him. Of course, there was no problem in the way the auctioneer carried out the auction and everything went according to the procedure.
But when the auctioneer had called out the final price three times, the speed at which he shouted was very fast and there was almost no interval between the calls. It was only when teaming up with a few treasure hunters that auctioneers would shout the bids in such a manner.
Without a doubt, this auctioneer could not possibly have teamed up with Li Du. Rather, as there was enmity between the both of them, he should not have helped Li Du. In that case, something like this should not have happened.
After announcing that the auction for the first storage unit had ended, the auctioneer firmly walked toward the second storage unit while Li Du went to lock up his storage unit.
Hans walked over and asked, “Something is definitely up, right?”
Li Du laughed. “Don’t worry about it for now. We’ll wait and see—see what funny thing will jump out.”
Later on, since he had already looked through the rooms in the villa, he decided to release the little bug to keep an eye on the auctioneer.
When the second partitioned room was opened, a messy pile of items appeared once again.
As Li Du was uninterested in these few rooms, he did not bid. Other than the first room, the last room was the only room in the basement that he was still interested in.
The viewing of the rooms and the speed at which the auctioneer shouted were fast while the sale of the rooms was also very fast.
Despite that, except for the first room, the other rooms did not have very high hammer prices that did not even reach 1,000 dollars.
The last room in the basement was opened. When the viewing of it ended, the treasure hunters prepared to bid.
After Magic Hand, who was the last to view the room, took a close look around the storage unit, he walked into the crowd while maintaining a blank look on his face and started stroking his sunglasses with his fingers.
When the auctioneer was calling out the bids, Magic Hand waited for two bids to be called before bidding once while being seemingly nonchalant about it, which was just like how he had bid for the previous few rooms.
Despite that, Li Du could sense that there was something different and that Magic Hand had his eye on the storage unit.
As it was just a hunch, which he was unsure of, he tested it. “One thousand dollars!”
Inside the room were gold and silver coins that were worth upwards of 100,000 USD. After all, as the gold and silver coins were extremely well hidden, he thought that no one would be able to spot them.
Sure enough, when the bids had reached the 1,000-dollar watershed, there was also no one calling out bids after.
At this moment, Magic Hand opened his mouth, shouting, “1100 dollars.”
Li Du responded, “1,200 dollars.”
“One thousand three hundred dollars.” Magic Hand followed suit before laughing, “I can’t give you face anymore. Boy Wonder, you have already gained something. I won’t give in to you again.”
Li Du gestured to the auctioneer to increase his bid by 100 dollars before walking to Magic Hand’s side. “You have taken a liking to this storage unit?”
Magic Hands shrugged. “I ought to get something out of this auction. Even if I wasn’t fond of it, I still have to take a storage unit away. Otherwise, I’m afraid that I will have wasted my trip here.”
“That’s not right,” Li Du laughed softly. “There’s something you want inside this storage unit and you want to get it, right?”
Li Du returned those words, which Magic Hand had previously told him, back to him. Li Du’s tit for tat was much more brilliant.
“I also know what it is that you want inside. The gold and silver coins are in this room!”
