Chapter 57 Lucky Again (2/2)

A bald, middle-aged man bid 4,100 dollars. The President's Umbrella immediately raised it by 400 dollars to 4,500 dollars. The next person bid 4,600 dollars, which The President's Umbrella brought up to 5,000 dollars without hesitating.

Seeing this, the other treasure hunters pulled out. Quite a few of them made throat-slash gestures at The President's Umbrella. ”Go f*ck yourself!” someone cried out.

”Hey, sunglasses guy!” Li Du yelled. ”Do you plan on buying up all the storage units?”

The President's Umbrella smirked. ”I’ll use all the cash I brought!”

Having secured the antique clocks, Li Du felt at peace. Their objective at this auction had been accomplished.

There were still four other storage units with some value, but he had no intention of participating in the auctions. They weren’t worth much—maybe one or two thousand dollars each.

It would have been acceptable if he didn’t have to share the profits. But now, he had to split the profit with not just Hans, but also The President's Umbrella. He’d get only a few hundred dollars—it wasn’t worth it.

There was another reason—it would be evening by the time all twenty-five units were sold. If they were unable to clear the storage unit out at night, then they would have to come back the next day.

But the key to the storage unit would be working with The President's Umbrella. Li Du didn’t trust him. What if he slipped off with the antique clocks during the night? They might as well just divide the antique clocks amongst themselves and be done with it.

The President's Umbrella was still interested in the other storage units up for auction, but Li Du shook his head. ”The antique clocks are in storage unit 240,” he said. ”Do you want to go check them out?”

Since Li Du seemed confident, The President's Umbrella was optimistic. He said, ”I’ll take a look first. If the clocks really are in there, then we’ll divide them amongst ourselves first. If they aren’t there, then we’ll keep going!”

Having paid and gotten proof of ownership of the storage unit, they opened it up and pulled out the huge roll of cowhide.

It was quite heavy. Two men could barely carry it.

They started opening the wooden boxes. ”Be careful,” Hans said. ”These boxes are at least a hundred years old—they’re works of art in and of themselves that we can also sell, so take care when opening them.”

The President's Umbrella picked one up and shook his head. ”No need to open this box. It’s empty.”

After moving out more than ten boxes, they finally found a heavy one. All three of them felt their spirits lift. They opened the box carefully. The antique namwood clock displayed itself.

The President's Umbrella chucked his sunglasses aside. Gritting his teeth, he said, ”Yes! D*mmit, rushing all the way back from Florida was the right thing to do! Dear Lord, I’ve made it!”

Having moved all fifty-four of the boxes out, they started to discuss how they would divide the nine antique clocks between the three of them.

”Sell off the antique clocks and split the profits equally,” Hans said. ”That’s the rule.”

Li Du disagreed. ”That’s not a good idea. There are too many clocks and only two originals among them. The other seven are fake. Selling them will be a huge pain. God knows when we’ll be able to get our hands on the money.”

The President's Umbrella agreed. ”So what should we do?”

”How about we test our luck?” suggested Li Du.

”How?”

”Put them all back into their boxes. The first one who picks can take four, leaving five for the other party. How does that sound?”

The President's Umbrella hesitated. ”It’s too risky.”

Li Du smiled. ”It’s going to be difficult to sell them in the short term. If we don’t split them now, who will keep the clocks? You, or us? Frankly, we don’t trust you.”

The President's Umbrella pondered this for a long while, then nodded. ”Fine. That’s a good way to do it. Who goes first?”

”It’s based on sheer luck,” said Li Du. ”The one who picks first can take four of them. The other party will go to the storage unit, put the clocks into the boxes, and place them randomly.”

The President's Umbrella stared at him, suddenly bursting into laughter. ”China Li, you really are a sly fellow.”