Chapter 286: Summer Hunting
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du’s words had caused Hans to become a bit paranoid. Indeed, if those people knew of the existence of the bejeweled dagger, they would seek them out.
None of this would have happened if the storage unit had not been returned to them.
However, the way in which the other party had wanted to get the unit back was rather despicable; Hans was filled with hatred when he recalled it, and couldn’t resist saying, "Sh*t, I’ve been in this line for so long and have never been so humiliated before!"
Li Du said helplessly, "What could have been done? It was fortunate that we didn’t get into any issues and left in one piece."
Feeling indignant, Hans gave it some thought and then laughed, "Maybe we should take some preventive action. Before they seek us out, we could get these jerks into trouble—we really shouldn’t let them off so easy!"
"How would we do that? Don’t try anything funny."
Hans winked at him. "Don’t worry, I won’t. Send me those photos you have of them with their weapons. I’ll report them to the police and the Immigration Department to say they’re illegal immigrants."
G.o.dzilla, who was driving, pursed his lips. "Very bad idea, but this will get them into a lot of trouble."
"Of course, that is my goal," Hans burst out laughing.
Li Du thought it was a good idea to get those Arabs into trouble and get him off the hook.
Hans received the photos and then started to send out emails. After making some calls, he laughed, "Alright, the police and Immigration Department are now on the case."
By this auction had taken place, it was already the end of July, the hottest period in Arizona.
The Playboy had been trying his best to help contact clients; the purse had indeed attracted many people’s attention. The offers were also acceptable in Li Du’s book: the lowest was 250,000 dollars, while the highest was 280,000 dollars.
But the Playboy was still not satisfied—he thought that the purse could fetch at least 300,000 dollars, as it was unused and well-kept.
Furthermore, this could be the last purse on the market. Six had been kept as mementos, while the remaining nine were with tyc.o.o.ns and would probably never be on the market again.
He was holding on to the mentality that this was a rare opportunity and hoped to fetch a good price for the purse.
The Playboy had promised Li Du to sell the purse for a lot of money. If he could not sell it in Flagstaff, he would contact clients from Phoenix. Otherwise, he would go to Los Angeles or Las Vegas to make the sale.
The other furniture and clothing had already been sold. The cabinets and cupboards had been sold for 10,100 dollars; the clothes had been offloaded cheap—the piles of branded clothes, shoes, and hats had been sold for a total of 10,500 dollars.
Among the clothing was Armani, Vero Moda, LV, Chanel, limited-edition Versace, and according to the Playboy, some of the articles initially sold for over 10,000 dollars.
It could not be helped—post-season, the designs of the clothing were no longer popular in Europe and America. Coupled with the fact that they were secondhand, it would be considered a pretty good deal if they could be sold for even ten percent of their original prices.
The main issue was that it was not easy to find buyers. Those who could afford such clothing were not willing to wear last season’s secondhand items, while those willing to wear these extravagant, secondhand clothes usually could not afford to pay top dollar.
Eventually, it was a clothing manufacturer who had bought it all. Besides manufacturing regular clothes, they also reconditioned clothes, smuggled branded clothing, as well as produced counterfeit items for profit.
The Playboy said that after they had bought the clothes, they would clean and recondition them before sending them to South America, Africa, Asia, and other underdeveloped areas to be sold as new items.
"With this change in hand, they could earn up to 100,000 in profit," he said. "For them, such business makes them their fortunes. Too bad we haven’t the channels, and could only sell them for cheap."
Hans snorted, "We’re the poor, raw material providers, right?"
Li Du sighed, "I know why my country went crazy industrializing and digitizing – it’s not profitable to produce raw materials and semi-manufactured products!"
He was still pretty pleased with this sale price —they had earned 20,600 dollars. It was only the starlike purse which remained unsold.
After a heavy rain in mid-July, the Grand Canyon National Park area had become lush with luxuriant trees and dense foliage. Last year, several rainstorms in late October had also contributed to the exuberant growth of the plants and trees.
With ample food and water, the wildlife in the national park’s forests and swamps started to flourish. As their food and shelter needs were taken care of, the wildlife had begun to breed offspring.
In an effort to protect the environment, as well as to prevent the wildlife from multiplying and causing ecological stress, the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office both issued hunting licenses.
Hans bought a few licenses, with one costing 200 dollars; they could then hunt for animals depending on each specific license.
Li Du asked, "Such a warm day. Are you sure you want to go hunting?"
Hans replied, "Of course bro, this will be interesting." After a moment, he started counting: "Hare, reindeer, elk, wild boar, pheasant, mallard, and many more. Guys, all of those can be hunted!"
G.o.dzilla sniffled and said, "Roasted rabbit, pickled venison, lamb stew, roast pork, roast chicken, roast duck—a lot of food."
Li Du smiled, "Okay, then let’s organize something."
Hans pumped a fist into the air, "THAT is what I call a good idea. We gotta enjoy life, and not be slaves to our jobs."
Li Du said, "I’m not not enjoying life. I just feel that we should strive hard to achieve our goals while we’re young."
Hans patted his shoulders and said, "I bet that in your next life, you’ll be a top tyc.o.o.n, just like those guys Morgan and Carnegie—just like them!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Hmm, you’re welcome. This is a fact: you guys are all lunatics crazy over making money," Hans laughed heartily.
Li Du said grudgingly, "You’re really a b*stard who finds joy easily."
"That’s because the things that happen to me make me happy."
As he spoke, he pa.s.sed him a copy of the newspaper.
Li Du opened up the newspaper to have a look; there was a photo of Immigration officials escorting some people. The headline said, "Joint Operation in Central Arizona Leads to Expulsion of Illegal Immigrants from the Middle East and South America."
He looked at it carefully, and spotted the big bearded man and the Arabian man who had partic.i.p.ated in the auction in the photo.
The content said that the Immigration Department had received a tip-off from helpful citizens, and had checked many gathering points for illegal immigrants. As a result, a total of 25 illegal immigrants had been arrested.
"What will happen to them?" Li Du asked.
Hans couldn"t care less. "They’ll be expelled and sent back to where they were from."
Li Du said, "We’re guilty then."
Hans laughed hysterically, "What c.r.a.p are you talking about, brother? We’re law-abiding citizens and did what citizens should do. This may not be good for them, but they broke the law first, so who should they really blame?"
Li Du was still troubled; Hans grabbed his shoulders and said, "Alright bro, let’s go buy some guns and get ready for our ‘Summer Hunting Extravaganza.’"