Chapter 1598: Golf b.a.l.l.s
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The crowd was in an uproar. Anderson exclaimed, “That’s impossible! Why don’t you elaborate?”
Li Du sneered at him, “‘And why should I? Honestly, man, I find it really hard to believe you’re a business owner when you’re so ignorant.”
Anderson retorted firmly, “Stop trying to digress. I bet you’re bluffing. If this is as far as you can go, I can make the same remarks, too. To be frank, I found a six-figure job opportunity after I started coming to this place.”
Li Du said, “You’re trying to rile me up, but it won’t work. I’m interested in your proposition, however. You said you wanted to bet. Sure, let’s bet, then. How should we do this?”
At the mention of a bet, George Anthony discreetly but hurriedly tugged on Anderson’s s.h.i.+rt, hinting to the man not to bet against Li Du.
Anthony had invested a great deal of effort into learning all he could about Li Du in order to deal with him and one of his conclusions was to avoid betting with the man.
According to the information he had gathered, Li Du had never lost a single bet in his life. The people at Flagstaff called him Gao Jin, the Asian G.o.d of Gambling.
Anthony wanted to warn Anderson but he did not want to embarra.s.s the man, so he tugged lightly at his s.h.i.+rt, which could be why Anderson did not notice.
On the other hand, perhaps he did, but that temper of his made it difficult for him to back down from a challenge.
He stared at Li Du. “What are the terms?”
Bell moved to intervene, hoping to mediate, but Joel stopped him. The man said as he chuckled, “It’s boring if we only play golf. Let them go ahead with the bet. Let’s see how this unfolds.”
Li Du said, “I’ll propose a job opportunity, one with a six-figure salary, as long as you’re willing to put in the work. I lose if I can’t do that, but you lose if I can.”
“Of course,” he paused, then added, “if you can also propose a business opportunity that’s executable, then it’s my loss. What do you think?”
The terms were fair, but Anderson did not agree immediately. On the contrary, he became cautious.
He had some business capabilities, which was what made him a business owner. He quickly noticed that things were developing rather badly and were on the verge of spinning out of his control.
Therefore, he cautiously probed, “And the stakes?”
Li Du said, “Up to you. Any amount is fine.”
Bell could take this no longer. He interrupted, “Listen to me, both of you. This is no casino and we’re not here to gamble. Call it off if it’s going to involve money.”
Carberry nodded in agreement. “He’s right, adding money into the mix takes the fun out of things. There is nothing more meaningless in the world than betting on money.”
Li Du then said, “Alright, then. If I lose, I will admit that I’m a b.a.s.t.a.r.d who relies completely on luck to earn what money I have. And if you lose, you have to admit that you’re a boorish, foolish trouble-maker. Whoever loses has to go to the main road at the entrance of the club and shout those words three times, loudly. Are you on?”
Anderson relaxed after he heard these terms. This was not much of a bet since he would lose little more than his pride.
The golf course was on the outskirts of the city so the roads were usually empty. Even if he did have to stand at the entrance and shout those words, most likely no one from the outside would actually hear him.
In Anderson’s eyes, this bet was nothing more than an attempt to get even. The loss was not big to either party, no matter who won, so he thought it over briefly and nodded. “Alright, you start.”
Li Du said, “Let me just say something. The two of us are the ones betting, so we’ll need witnesses. I propose for Mr. Carberry, Mr. Joel, and Mr. Chris.”
Anderson nodded again. “Sure.”
Li Du waved two caddies over and asked them, “Are the two of you still in school?”
The caddies sensed the tension and started to back away. The two of them had worked here long enough to learn the most important lesson: if the patrons are talking, the staff should stand aside.
They knew that the people who came to the golf course to kill time were all loaded. They were just employees at the club, so they could not afford to offend any of them, much less involve themselves in their quarrel.
When Li Du called the two of them over, the caddies were evidently frightful and neither dared to speak.
Bell sensed what was going on and smiled. “Relax, boys, this gentleman just wants to chat. He won’t hurt you guys.”
One of the boys, who looked to be about 13 or 14, mustered up his courage and told Li Du, “Yes, I’m working here to help with the household expenses. My mother is sick.”
The other teen mumbled quietly, “I want to buy an iPad and rugby gear but my parents have no extra money to spare, so I have to earn it myself.”
Li Du said, “Alright, then. Since you’re caddying here, you should know the price of a golf ball, right? How much are they worth?”
The taller one piped up, “The price ranges from five to a hundred dollars. Do you want to buy golf b.a.l.l.s, sir?”
Li Du shook his head. He said, “Then you should also know that the golf b.a.l.l.s people use are not always new ones. Some get their b.a.l.l.s from second-hand shops, right?”
The teen confirmed, “Yes, and second-hand golf b.a.l.l.s are cheaper. Some only cost a dollar.”
Li Du pointed at the small lake and said, “There are a lot of dollars at the bottom of the lake. If you get a diving license and rent some gear, you can earn a couple thousand dollars in a day.”
He paused, then turned to speak to Brother Wolf, “There are a lot of golf b.a.l.l.s in the lake. Go pull out a few.”
Brother Wolf seemed unbothered by the Seattle winter. At Li Du’s command, he did not hesitate as he took off his clothes and dived into the lake as instructed.
Not long after, Brother Wolf resurfaced. He tossed a few golf b.a.l.l.s onto the ground then dived back down, going up and down like this a few times until twenty-odd golf b.a.l.l.s were on the gra.s.s.
Li Du waved, and Brother Wolf pulled himself out of the lake.
Li Du squatted and picked up one of the golf b.a.l.l.s. There were algae growing in the tiny craters of the ball and it looked dirty, but the snow-white exterior was restored after Li Du wiped the algae away with a tissue.
Golf b.a.l.l.s were made of two key components: solid rubber made up the core while the exterior was made of synthetic resin. This type of synthetic resin was smooth and tough, which meant any sort of grease or dirt could be easily wiped off.
Golf b.a.l.l.s made by big companies were usually more expensive because of the complicated production process. As everyone knew, the average rubber product was soft, but the core of golf b.a.l.l.s scored more than 100 on the Sh.o.r.e Hardness scale, which meant it was about as tough as the exterior.
To have the core achieve the same level of hardness as plastic but retain the elasticity of rubber required high-intensity impact, but it had to be done so that the material would not crack. Naturally, this required expert workmans.h.i.+p.
Aside from the rubber interior and resin exterior, other materials had to be added into the mix. At least ten other components had to be included, and sometimes there were over 20 other types of material added!
Li Du looked towards the teens and pointed at the golf b.a.l.l.s that looked as good as new, then asked them, “If I sell these to you for ten dollars, would you buy them?”
The two teens hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes.””If we sell them to the general store, we can earn more than ten dollars.”
Li Du said, “You see? If you guys learn to dive and get the golf b.a.l.l.s yourselves, collecting more than a thousand a day should be no issue, right? This lake is large enough for you to fish for more than ten days, and most large golf courses have their own lakes. You could go from golf course to golf course. How many golf courses are there in the state, let alone America? Think about how much money you can make from this.”