After clearing the storage unit, Li Du and his group happily left the storage unit company and returned to the Steampunk Hotel.
Li Du’s Volvo Iron Knight headed off, followed by a series of trucks, each one with a full load. The treasure hunters looked on with joy.
The Flagstaff treasure hunters had had a great harvest during this storage unit auction. Princeps and his gang also obtained many storage units, including truckloads of ore, as if they were miners.
Back at the hotel, Li Du tapped a tea brick on the lobby’s bar.
Nicole was startled. “What are you going to do with that brick?”
“Treat you to tea.” Li Du laughed.
Nicole looked at him suspiciously. “What do you mean? What do you want to do?”
“Treat you tea,” Li Du repeated.
Bedes noticed what was in his hand. He leaned over to look at it and asked, “Oh, is this the tea brick? Chinese brick tea?”
Li Du shook his head and said, “No, this is an Indian black tea brick. The market is rare.”
“It’s a good brick,” said Bedes, carefully picking it up and looking at it through the sun. “Thank you, Li. It’s not cheap.”
“I have a bunch, so it’s certainly not expensive for me.” Li Du laughed.
“I don’t give a d*mn. Wait a minute, I’ll boil water and make tea. Let’s taste it together,” said Bedes.
Curious, Nicole asked, “Is this a tea brick? An Indian black tea brick? As far as I know, aren’t tea bricks China’s special type of tea? How does India have them?”
“Around the world, tea bricks preserve the aroma of tea leaves more easily and are easier to transport,” Bedes answered.
Bedes disassembled the bricks with a knife and chisel, parceled out some of the tea, and then poured hot water into it along with some fruit.
Indian black tea was different from traditional Chinese black tea. It was generally used for afternoon tea. Tea made with fruit naturally had a fresh fruit flavor.
Soon the tea was bubbling, and Bedes poured it into the cups in front of Li Du and Hans.
“It’s delicious,” Carl said after squeezing in and pouring a cup of tea.
The color of Indian black tea was dark red with brown, and the texture was smooth. Li Du blew on it and took a sip, which was different from smelling it. When he drank the tea, the tea had a little rose aroma. It was the signature flavor of orthodox Indian black tea, which many people enjoyed drinking in the afternoon. Its light floral aromas were known for putting one in a good mood.
One of the more famous ways to drink black tea was to drink it with milk or cream. After drinking a cup of tea, Li Du took out some milk and poured it into the black tea.
As the group sipped tea around the bar, Ollie laughed. “We are like upper-class people, drinking tea and discussing world news.”
“It is glamorous enough sitting with Li,” Carl said.
“Hey, man, I’ve known you for ten years, and I’ve never seen you being such a good kiss-ass,” said Dickens looking at Carl.
Carl laughed and said, “You’ll find out later.”
Someone opened the door and came in. The treasure hunters turned around and got to their feet. The man who had come in was Chris Bell, the “son of God” of west coast treasure hunters.
Li Du rose to his feet as well. Bell had helped him at the auction. If he hadn’t stopped Conrad, he would have paid $100,000 for the storage unit. He had been determined to get a hold of storage unit number ten, and Conrad saw that and dared to outbid him.
When Bell entered the room, Bedes offered him a cup of tea and asked him to sit down. Bell’s reputation as the son of God was not a boast in their profession. Everyone admired him very much.
Bell graciously thanked him. He did not care about his status, and he sat with a group of ordinary treasure collectors to chat. After a few jokes with the crowd, he said to Li Du, “Hi, Li. This time I’m here to see you and Big Fox. I’d like to ask for your help.”
“It’s very kind of you. If I can help, I’d be happy to.”
Bell took a sip of tea and said, “Well, I’d like to hold a charity event in a few days and invite some scavengers to Los Angeles to help kids in distress. Would you be interested?”
Li Du nodded and said, “I don’t have anything coming up. Count me in. Big Fox, how about you?”
“I would love to be able to do something with the son of God. It’s something to brag about,” said Hans.
“I’ve been looking forward to doing charity with all of you,” Bell said, laughing at Hans’ bragging.
Ollie asked about the date, and a few more treasure hunters wanted to join. Bell warmly welcomed them into the group. These charity events required them to donate, so the more people there were, the better.
When Bell had finished his tea, he left, saying he was going to invite more people. He chose to hold charity events at this time due to convenience, considering that the auction had attracted a large number of treasure hunters that were already gathered together.
Li Du said, “You should have made a phone call instead. Wouldn’t it save time rather than running around?”
Bell laughed. “No, I have to come to the door and extend an invitation. I can’t express my gratitude over the phone.”
After he left, the party discussed him. Chris Bell hosted a number of charity events each year in which he gave away large amounts of his income. His activities were not limited to Los Angeles and California. All in all, Bell was highly praised by the treasure hunters who knew him, and Li Du estimated that he would get a lot of votes if he ran for president.
Bell’s event would take place a week later, so Li Du had time to return to Flagstaff. He spent two more days at the hotel, during which Li Du went to find a sketch artist. The group then left Phoenix early in the morning and returned to camp early.
When they had left the camp, everything was bleak, but now it was lush again. Hans turned on the water pump at the well’s entrance, the clear groundwater gurgled out, and the stream that had encircled the camp reappeared.
Looking at the camp, Li Du felt a little sad. His plans had not kept up with the changes at the camp. He had put a lot of effort into the camp, preparing for an auction at the camp’s base.
