Chapter 1627: A Challenge
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Other than himself, Li Du had also brought along some helpers. He got d.i.c.kens and the bunch to help with the children.
The men did not mind. Playboy guided the children along as he tried to ingratiate himself with the female teachers. They had just entered the warehouse company and the event had yet to start. A pretty blonde lady and he already started flirting.
“Today, there will be an auction. There are six warehouses. As warehouse auctions go, this is considered a small scale auction, so not many treasure hunters have come to attend,” Li Du explained.
A few treasure hunters exchanged looks. Then they looked at the hundreds of children, face full of shock – was that considered few people?
A child raised his hand and Li Du gestured at him, “You can ask a question.”
The child asked in a weak voice, “Can we hug the animals? They have not come near me yet, and I would like to touch them.”
After they got off from the bus, Li Du had pushed the animals to the children in the special cla.s.s. Hence, the other children could only watch.
Li Du laughed. “Of course. However, everyone should wait for their turn to play with them, right? Besides, our activity will go on for a day, so there’s still a lot of time to play with them.”
“I will continue to explain about the warehouse auction and how the treasure hunters work. Warehouse auction is a unique way of auctioning in America. This is very much related to our lives and resource management in society.”
“Teacher, then may I ask, how many warehouses are there being auctioned every day? How many treasure hunters are there in California?” A child asked curiously.
Li Du said, “Based on statistics, about 750 warehouses are auctioned off on average every day in America. There are about four to five thousand treasure hunters in California.”
“So many of them?”
Li Du nodded. “That’s right. As you grow older, you will realize that the youths in America do not like to buy houses. They prefer to rent. However, it will be very troublesome every time they need to move. Where would the things they do no use every day go? They would either throw them away or rent a warehouse to store them.”
“Not only will valuable items be stored in a warehouse, but there would also be some trash. As treasure hunters, your responsibility is to use your bright eyes and rich experience to find the valuable items in the warehouse, and then gain profit from there.”
A teacher standing by the side added, “During this process, it’s very important to have an outstanding pair of eyes. Hence, all of you should protect your eyes. You guys should start with your everyday practice.”
Li Du let the treasure hunters view the warehouses first. Then he organized the children to view in small groups. At the same time, he explained, “No entering the door of the warehouse. There’s a red line there. No crossing it, and no touching the things inside.”
“Every group will have one minute to view. The teacher by the side will time you guys, you cannot exceed the time limit…”
Although Li Du emphasized that point, the children did not have any sense of time. When they queued to view, they looked without purpose. They played around and wasted some time.
Hence, there was some chaos, which caused the other treasure hunters to be unhappy.
The treasure hunters came to look for Li Du and said in an annoyed manner, “Hey, buddy, what are you doing?”
Li Du smiled. “Sorry, everyone, the school has organized this activity in conjunction with the Warehouse Auction a.s.sociation and the warehouse company. I’ve brought the children here to experience it. If it has disrupted you guys, I will apologize.”
A treasure hunter said unhappily, “What use is there to apologize for? This is wasting time and interfering with this event. This is a warehouse auction, not a play date for children.”
Li Du had been polite and had explained himself. If the other party continued to complain, they were just being troublemakers.
He simply said, “We are here to join in this auction. We have received permission from the warehouse company and the owner of the company has welcomed us here. If you guys have opinions on that, then raise it with the company. There’s no use telling me.”
“Look at your att.i.tude,” A treasure hunter said furiously. “What do you mean by this? You’re saying that we are making trouble out of nothing?”
Li Du nodded. “Yes, I feel that you guys are making a big deal out of nothing. You guys come here to complain to me because you think that I’m an easy target and will give in to your guys, right?”
Besides that, he could not think of another reason why the treasure hunters were giving him problems. It was the warehouse company who allowed the students to join in the activity. It had nothing to do with him.
Beside them, d.i.c.kens tapped on the screen of his phone and said, “If you guys come with that intention, then I have to tell you that you fellas are barking up the wrong tree. Do you guys know my friend here? He is Li Du, the youngest Billion Dollar Club member in California.”
Those treasure hunters were of a lower level. Li Du had chosen that auction because it was small-scaled, in a secluded location and one that did not promise to have very valuable items. Hence, there would be few treasure hunters and they would be amateurs.
They had not seen Li Du before and hence, did not recognize him. However, the people in the trade have all heard of the name. After learning his ident.i.ty, the treasure hunters froze.
Many people had heard of Li Du and knew that he was not to be trifled with. However, they did not want to leave just like that either. That would be disgraceful for them.
Hence, a youth wearing a jacket said, “So what if he’s Li Du? So what if he is a Billion Dollar Club member? It’s just that he’s lucky! Ha, I want to challenge you today!”
“That’s right, we want to challenge him, we want to win over this dude today!” The rest of the treasure hunters were roused up.
Li Du could not be bothered to deal with them. He shook his head and then walked off decidedly.
The viewing had ended and Li Du represented the school in the bidding. He wanted to lead the students to partic.i.p.ate in the process. Hence, after waiting for the last group to leave the viewing, he asked, “What did you guys see inside?”
“An electric fan, a damaged one. It’s worthless.”
“I saw a lot of trash. There’s a bunch of junk inside. It must be one of those useless warehouses you mentioned before.”
“I saw a bicycle inside. I used to have a bicycle like that in the past, but I threw it away…”
Hearing the children vying to answer, Li Du laughed. He walked back to the entrance of the warehouse and pointed at a corner. He said, “Did you guys notice the box there? One of the corners is broken. From this angle, can you guys tell what it is?”
He had not held high hopes for the children. However, one of the boys went back to look and said, “Oh, I know what it is. It is a cigar box, there are cigars inside!”
Li Du was shocked. He did not expect any of these children to be so well versed.
He smiled encouragingly. “Are there other guesses?”
The children shook their heads. Some of them started to have an animated discussion. The possibilities of the box being a gun case, a cosmetics case, a toolbox, and various other things were thrown out. It seemed like there were few people who knew what that box was.
The treasure hunters followed them and looked in from the door. They could not tell what the box was either but found something amiss.