Chapter 1470: Big KillTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The California customs warehouse auction was scheduled to start in mid-September. From the end of August to mid-September, there were no warehouse auctions in which Li Du was interested. However, there were many real estate auctions recently.
The last time, through Hans, he had attacked Logan’s side and obtained several houses. This trick would not work the second time, as Logan would be on his guard against strangers.
On the first Friday of September, there was another auction.
The auction took place in downtown Los Angeles. Li Du, Hans, Sophie and Barbara, two men and two ladies, went to the auction. The two women accompanied each other as shopping partners.
Barbara had hardly ever left Riverdale before. She had never been outside Arizona. This was her first time in a busy city like Los Angeles.
She was the typical country girl who had just come to town and was curious and surprised by everything.
Sophie had taken her to Montana Avenue, Santa Monica’s top-end shopping walk, and Barbara had nearly fainted at the prices.
When they went to Melrose Boulevard in West Hollywood, Barbara was barely able to speak and could only say weakly, “Oh my G.o.d, this cake in front of me costs 120 bucks and this pair of shoes, oh my! Eight thousand? You could buy our whole town for that!”
The salesgirl who accompanied them smiled and said nothing. The local salespeople were all highly professional and would not laugh at any customers. However, if there were no sales value, they would not show enthusiasm.
These people’s eyes have been on a lot of customers, and at a glance, they could roughly judge the other side’s purchasing power.
A girl like Barbara had an almost shabby simplicity about her, and even if she didn’t speak, the saleslady could guess that she would not buy anything.
Barbara got excited about a pair of stylish high-heeled shoes she would never have seen in Riverdale, but the price kept her away.
Sophie sensed her inclination and said, “Those shoes would look great on you. Buy them.”
Barbara shook her head. “No, I won’t.”
Sophie chuckled. “Don’t worry about the price. You may not know how rich your fiancé is. He could buy you a pair of shoes like this every day.”
The salesgirl smiling next to them was cursing in her heart. She had seen girls who liked to act rich before, but seldom with such good aura.
Barbara casually said, “No, you look at the shoes. This is suede, isn’t it?”
The salesgirl nodded and said, “Yes, ma’am, these are made from sheepskin collected from an exclusive pasture in the south of New Zealand. It has gone through 18 processing steps, and the design belongs to the French fas.h.i.+on master Jean Reddy.”
Barbara said, “It’s not about where the suede is from. Suede is not suitable to be made into a shoe base because it is too soft and would be easily damaged by friction.”
The salesgirl was stunned and said, “Damage? How would it be damaged? These shoes are for special events, they are for the red carpet.”
Barbara frowned. “The red carpet? Who would spend all that money on a pair of shoes for the red carpet? How many times do you walk the red carpet in your life?”
She turned to Sophie. “When does that red carpet event happen?”
Sophie took out the palladium card that Li Du had given her and handed it to the salesgirl, smiling. “When you get married.”
The salesgirl was confused for a moment. She had seen the palladium card many times, but she did not think that the girl in plain clothes would carry one.
She soon realized that she was mistaken. A girl with such a temperament could not pretend to be rich, she was indeed rich.
Li Du looked at the time, tapped his watch and said, “Let’s go to the auction first. Let the ladies keep shopping.”
Hans went over and squeezed Barbara’s hand. “Tell Sophie what you like. Don’t be shy. Sophie is a nice girl, you can just be real around her.”
Babara said with a smile, “I’m real. I’m not from a movie or a book. I’m standing right here.”
It sounded like a joke, but Li Du knew she meant it.
He now knew that Barbara’s birth had been difficult and she suffered some brain damage from a temporary lack of oxygen. She was not r.e.t.a.r.ded or handicapped, but there was a certain level of excessive simplicity in her thinking.
Barbara’s family was so angry when they saw Hans with her because they thought Hans intended to exploit the naïve girl and take advantage of her. However, Hans has been showing extreme devotion, so Barbara’s family has accepted him as her future husband.
Outside the store, Li Du took a cab to the Los Angeles housing and urban development bureau.
“When are you going to get married?” he asked Hans on the way.
Hans asked, “What about you?”
Li Du said, “If everything goes fine, next year.”
Hans laughed. “How about a double wedding? The more the merrier.”
Li Du nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”
At the door of the housing and urban development bureau, d.i.c.kens’s party was waiting.
Li Du saw them and called out, “Come on, guys. This time we have a total of 21 houses. I hope that today we can have a good harvest. Here is my summary of the house information, and you can discuss how to allocate them.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of houses,” Ollie laughed.
d.i.c.kens patted his chest and said, “I’ve prepared enough money. I just sold two houses, and today I want to buy more!”
People were waiting for them to bid, and Logan made a rare advance into the lobby, surrounded by many of the city’s real estate hunters, like the king of wolves with his pack.
Logan leisurely looked at his phone, and the men around him looked at Li Du as if they were facing an enemy, giving out a battle aura.
At the beginning of the auction, the first house was valued highly, with a starting price of $140,000, but Li Du estimated it would sell for $240,000.
Ollie called out, “150,000!”
Someone from Logan’s side raised his hand and said, “$151,000!”
Some uninvolved people who were interested in the house too followed up with the bid, which now rose to 160,000.
This hapless buyer was a stranger, and Logan immediately made a higher offer. “$161,000!”
It was clear that he was unwilling to step aside for anyone.
Ollie was actively bidding, and after a dozen rounds, the price went up to 200,000, at which time ordinary property buyers dropped out of the compet.i.tion. Some people came just for this house and left after realizing that they would not be able to buy it.
200,000 was within Ollie’s budget, and he called out, “210,000!”
When he raised the price, Logan’s fellows followed the bid. “220,000!”
That would make the profit lesser, but Ollie stubbornly gritted his teeth and shouted, “230,000!”