Chapter 204 Integrity (1/2)
Chapter 204: Integrity
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hans rode fast up to the house on the motorcycle. There was a lot of dust on the road, and he looked cool when the dust cloud formed as he rode by.
Li Du saw him and said, ”You should ride slower. This is a motorcycle for God’s sake! Are you trying to kill yourself?”
”You think I was riding too fast?” Hans laughed cheekily. ”There are many carriages that use this road—that’s why there’s so much dust. ”
He saw Li Du about to argue, and quickly said, ”Okay, brother, calm down. Let’s have a look at the goods. You asked me to come quickly. Is it because you saw something great?”
Li Du said, ”It might not be great, but I like it very much. It’s a specimen of a big bird.”
”What big bird is it?” Hans asked. ”Is it an emu, an ostrich, an Andean condor?”
Li Du brought him to the front yard of the Amish household. He pointed toward the skeleton specimen and said, ”That’s the one—I have no idea what bird it is.”
Hans stared at the specimen and blinked; he asked, ”Why are you interested if you don’t even know what kind of bird it is?”
Li Du said, ”Have you heard of ‘love at first sight?’ I had no idea what kind of person you were when we first met, but I decided to work with you from the very beginning. This is because I believe in fate. ”
Hans opened his arms and said, ”Fine, you win. I’ll ask about it. ”
He went to the Amish lady and spoke with her. They started talking about the farm and the onions they were growing. Then, he got into the topic: ”What species of bird is this? It’s very large. ”
The lady shook her head. ”I’m sorry, I don’t know. This was one of the things left by my grandfather—some of his things are from Africa, and I guess they are quite valuable. ”
Hans said, ”Alright, my friend is interested. He wants to have it. What do you need?”
The lady said, ”My roof is leaking, so I need a rawhide—at least 100 pounds of rawhide.”
”Got it!”
”My husband likes carpentry, but he lacks many tools. He doesn’t have a hand mill, a hand drill, or a hand plane. ”
”Okay!”
”Our horse is too old to till the land. It would be great if we had a young horse…”
As the lady’s request continues, Hans started to get nervous. ”Excuse me, madam, but are you out of your mind? This is just a bunch of bones—how many things do you want in exchange for it?”
The lady laughed, ”Although I have no idea about what bird it is, I know that it’s valuable. My grandfather followed a British adventurer to East Africa when he was young, and this was what he brought back.”
Hans said helplessly, ”But they are just bones. It looks like an ostrich specimen. It can’t be that valuable.”
The lady shook her head. ”That’s impossible—it’s at least a hundred years old. It’s very valuable! Look, my grandfather kept it in good condition.”
”A hundred years?” Han was dumbfounded. ”A hundred-year-old specimen? Madam, are you kidding me?”
The lady said seriously, ”No, I’m not joking. My grandfather said he got this from an African chief. This was in one of the chief’s collections, and the chief had told him that every collected item was at least a hundred years old.”
Hans told her to wait and he returned to Li Du. ”I met a vigorous opponent today. She’s good at bargaining.”
Li Du understood what he meant, and said, ”I must have this specimen, no matter what it takes.”
Hans rolled his eyes and wiped the sweat from his brow. ”Okay—I got you.”
He returned to the lady and said, ”Fine, I agree to your conditions... I must be insane—”
”I’m sorry, sir,” The lady said. ”That’s not the last of my requests.”