Chapter 55 The Antique Clocks (1/2)
Chapter 55: The Antique Clocks
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hans was very happy with the household appliances they had gotten.
”How much can we get from this?” asked Li Du.
Hans patted the clean, white fridge. ”I bet that we can sell it for at least 4,000 dollars. If we can find the right buyer, we’ll be able to sell it for 5,000.”
Li Du was disappointed. ”So little?”
Hans’s eyes bulged. ”Hey man—do you really think that you’re the son of God? You think you’re the sworn brother of Jesus Christ? We only spent 400 dollars, and we’ll get 5,000 dollars in return! That’s a lot!”
”I think that’s very little.”
”My man, would you feel better if I told you that before this, we would have settled for storage units which could only bring in 400 dollars of income?”
Phoenix had many general stores. Nevertheless, Hans towed the household appliances all the way back to sell to Kevin, the manager of the general store in Flagstaff.
”That’s how relationships are built,” he explained.
Old man Kevin broke into a smile when he saw the household appliances they had brought. He slapped Hans’s shoulder. ”Thank you so much, man. Where did you get these babes?”
”Phoenix.”
”Okay! Thank you so much for remembering me from so many miles away! I’ll give you a price you’ll be happy with. Five thousand dollars for the whole set! Will that do?”
The price was definitely alright. It had been within the upper limit of their expected sales price.
Hans didn’t haggle and just shook Kevin’s hand. ”No problem. Same old deal, though; treat us to some lamb chops.”
After feasting on Kevin’s barbecue lamb, they went back to prepare for the auction in Jerome.
Jerome was an old mining town forty miles south of Flagstaff. It was nestled against Cleopatra Hill and was rather well known within the state of Arizona.
Its fame came from its long history and the well-known Sliding Jail, a Wild West jailhouse that slid off of a hill into the town’s main square. Jerome was almost as old as Arizona itself and was one of the first settlements to benefit from the establishment of the state.
Jerome had once produced large amounts of iron and copper ore. However, the resources had been depleted after half a century, and its inhabitants soon left.
The town now had less than a tenth of the population it had during its heyday, which explained why it was now known as the Ghost Town—there were many empty, gloomy houses there.
The town had been built on a slope. Around it was rugged mountain terrain. There were lots of ups and downs on its crooked, winding streets, and many stairs leading up to the houses there.
Walking on the street, Hans smiled. ”Does this remind you of a game from when we were kids?”
”What game?” Li Du asked. ”The games we played as kids may not have been the same.”
A look of realization appeared on Hans’s face. ”That’s true. We grew up on opposite sides of the planet.”
”What?”
”Shoots and Ladders,” Hans said. ”That’s the childhood game I was talking about.”
Li Du shook his head. ”No idea. Never heard of it in my life.”
Hans was about to explain, but they had already reached their destination—an old, worn-out looking storage company.
Seeing the sign of the company, Hans cut straight to business. ”As you know, Jerome is an old town with a long history. If our luck is good, we may be able to get some antiques that are one or two centuries old.”
That was their goal. According to the information from Andrew, the storage auction this time contained a batch of antique clocks.
The storage company was called Red Rock Storage Co. During its prime, it had up to three or four hundred storage units leased at once. It was the largest storage company Li Du had seen so far. But now, there were less than fifty storage units in operation.