Chapter 39 The First Gathering (1/2)
Chapter 39: The First Gathering
Translator: Vicky_Editor: Vicky_
”Who?” asked Li Du. The name seemed familiar to him.
Hans looked at the messages on his phone while driving carelessly. ”Dog Tail Reginald. A peer from the same trade as us in Flagstaff. We haven’t seen him for a while now since he drank some moonshine and nearly died.”
After hearing this, the reason he’d found the name familiar dawned on Li Du. He had heard it on the news in Flagstaff some time back.
This Reginald was quite unlucky. One of the storage units he’d bought had contained some moonshine which he mistook as fine wine. To celebrate getting so much of it at a low price, he’d opened and drank a bottle of it with his partner.
Both of them were hospitalized after drinking so much of the moonshine. Because of this, the Flagstaff police had launched an investigation, and had even interviewed Li Du because the moonshine had been stored there by another Asian.
Another car came at them head on. Hans hastily spun the steering wheel, nearly colliding with it. Li Du was shaking and covered in a cold sweat. He confiscated Hans’ phone so that Hans would drive properly.
Hans laughed nervously. ”I was a little too absorbed in the texts. Uh, I have good news. We’re famous in Flagstaff. Dog Tail is organizing a party. He invited us to go have some fun.”
”Have fun!?” Li Du screamed. ”We almost just lost our lives!”
…
The gathering was on a weekend. They had to sell off the phone before that.
Before they even lifted a finger they had a customer. This man hadn’t come to buy the iPhone, however, but the furniture. He had been brought by Kevin, the owner of the general store.
”This is Mr. Billy Gerson from Las Vegas,” Kevin said, introducing the big man. ”He works at a casino and is very interested in our furniture.”
Flagstaff wasn’t far from Las Vegas. The luxurious style of this set of furniture was similar to that of a casino’s. It could have even come from one.
Billy Gerson was a thick-set guy without a single hair on his head. His scalp was bare and smooth and so were his large brow ridges, which overshadowed deep, sunken eyes and a ferocious-looking face. Li Du guessed that he was a bodyguard for some rich casino big-shot.
Hans displayed the set of furniture. Billy pulled out a magnifying glass and looked through it, examining the furniture very closely. ”The table has a problem,” he quickly said. ”Neoclassical furniture uses inlay to give texture. The table’s decorative patterns are too ornate and showy.”
Li Du immediately understood that this was a connoisseur, not someone with brawn and no brain like his appearance suggested.
Hans was very frank. ”Yes, but I believe you’ve noticed that I made some changes to the table. Other than experts like yourself, most people can’t tell.”
Billy nodded. ”How much?”
”We want to sell it for 5,000 dollars.”
The man’s mouth twitched. ”If the table were part of the same set as the sofas, 5,000 dollars wouldn’t really be an issue. But these were obviously scrambled together. I’ll give you 3,000 dollars.”
Hans shrugged, saying, ”That’s too low, man. We can’t...” Before he could finish, Billy cut him off.
”Never mind. I don’t have the time to haggle with you. How about meeting in the middle at 4,000 dollars?” He asked, giving them his best price. ”But you have to handle the delivery.”
This price was perfectly acceptable. Hans and Li Du would have been willing to sell it even if he had insisted on 3,000 dollars. They agreed to this price, and sealed the deal at 4,000.
Hans bumped fists with him, smiling and saying, ”Thank you very much, boss. Thanks for buying our lovely furniture. I hope your casino continues doing well.”
The man smiled and pulled out wads of green banknotes from his pocket. He counted four thick stacks out and threw the money at Hans.