Chapter 406 Stupidity (2/2)

Big Beard Carl took out a cattle skull. These were all imitations made using plastic, costing around a few dozen dollars each. This type of thing was considered a kid’s toy in the States.

A treasure hunter remarked, ”If we had Big Li’s sharp powers of observation, we wouldn’t have gotten tricked. But we don’t have that—we’re in a fix!”

”One thousand six hundred dollars plus fuel and manpower costs,” said Dickens in desperation. ”My loss is 2,000 dollars!”

Li Du patted his shoulders and said, ”Let’s look at the situation first. Don’t worry, we’re here.”

The second unit was opened up; this unit contained a tractor that looked well-maintained.

The little bug flew around the unit. Li Du gave a bitter laugh. ”How much money did you pay?”

A dejected-looking Olly replied slowly, ”D*mmit, 3,600 dollars.”

”Okay pal,” Li Du sighed, ”that’s some bad luck.”

”What’s up with the tractor?” Hans was unable to detect any problem when he stared at it from the entrance.

Li Du couldn’t either. He only could with the help of the little bug.

”Do you remember the auction we attended in February where there was one unit that contained motorcycles without their engines? This tractor has no engine either. The tires are scrap items—this is just an empty shell.”

The treasure hunters were shocked. ”How did you know?”

Li Du turned on his flashlight and shined it on the tractor. ”Look here carefully. See the reflective light on the front metal cover of the tractor?”

”Yes, but what about it?”

Li said, ”Well, you see, that means there’s nothing in there.”

”Huh?” The treasure hunters were puzzled.

”Precisely, there’s a problem when you can’t see anything,” explained Li Du patiently. ”If there was an engine inside, you would not see this kind of reflective light. This only appears when there’s nothing in there. As for the tires, you can tell they’ve already been scrapped from the appearance.”

Li had used his usual, natural tone to say all these. Because of that, everyone believed him and was once again in-awe of his awesome powers of observation!

Hans had gotten used to Li’s amazing abilities. Li Du used to tell him that he had his ancestral art of prospecting that enabled him to find out the worth of a storage unit. When Hans had first heard about that, his inner voice was already telling him that these were just lies.

Now he had gradually determined for himself that Li Du possessed extraordinary powers of observation and reasoning—practically nothing in a storage unit could escape his eyes.

One by one, the units were opened up for Li Du. He shook his head at each and every unit. And he was able to give an accurate judgment of ever problem with each one.

”D*mn,” Ferris commented regrettably, ”if only Li had come to the auction, we wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.”

All these units had been won by those who had managed to make some money at Smith’s Storage with the help of Li Du.

As they had managed to make some profits, they were more generous and daring during this auction and had placed higher bids.

All their earnings had basically gone down the toilet due to their losses this time.

Turis and all the other treasure hunters had been fooled, and they could not take it lying down. So all of them, including Li Du and Hans, marched angrily into the office.

Li Du asked, ”How do all of you know that this was a trap set up by Frank and York?”

”That b*st*rd Dog Ears is in it too,” cussed Olly. ”He shouldn’t be called ‘Dog Ears,’ he should be called ‘b*st*rd!’”

Li Du motioned for everyone to remain calm. ”When the auction ended,” explained Turis, ”we went to make our payments and saw the three of them in the office, laughing at our stupidity. They’re too much!”

”We should have known,” lamented Dickens. ”Yesterday a local told us that there were some Californians delivering goods to the town. In the end we didn’t take those words to heart. D*mmit, I’m so stupid!”

Big Beard Carl added, ”We should have been wary when Frank and York didn't show up at the auction. We're really stupid!”