Chapter 274: Widening the Trap
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Clearly, the Mormons and Garter had achieved some sort of contact. Garter thought that Hans and Li Du didn’t know about the background of the distilling boiler.
Hans couldn’t be bothered to waste too much of his breath with Garter. He said plainly, "75,000 dollars. That’s the final price. If you’re willing to buy it, then pay up and leave with it. If not, we’ll negotiate with other people."
Garter widened his eyes and said to him, "No, bro, wait—are you sure you’re not crazy?"
"I’m perfectly sane," Hans said.
Garter shook his head, and said, "Alright, you’re sane, but you’re making an insane offer! Seventy-five thousand dollars? Bro, do you know how much your chandelier sold for?"
"How much?"
"Two thousand dollars!" Garter said helplessly. "After fixing and selling it, I only got 2,000 dollars!"
"And then?" Hans asked.
Garter yelled in a frenzied rage, "And then? And then you guys want to sell this back to me for 75,000 dollars, for something you traded for 2,000 dollars! Are you kidding me?"
"So, you’re not willing to take it at this price, right?" Hans said. "Then I can only say, goodbye, buddy. I think someone else will be accepting the offer."
When he heard that, Garter gradually calmed himself down. "Wait, someone came over and gave you guys an offer already?"
Hans laughed, "Yeah. He gave us an offer of 100,000 dollars. But I didn’t like him, so the deal’s off. I’m not selling to him."
"D*mn it, d*mn it!" Garter irately kicked a rotten sofa beside him, and roared, "I let a piece of gold slip away right before my very eyes!"
After he finished, he turned to Li Du and continued, "You’re an *sshole, Li, you’re really a piece of sh*t, a sh*t, a sh*t! You used a broken chandelier to get a sacred relic from the Mormons!"
Li Du smiled. This thing’s become a ‘sacred’ relic now? Looks like that Mormon, Nick, really knows how to talk to someone.
"Return it to me, alright? Big Fox, for the sake of G.o.d, you can’t treat me like this."
Hans replied darkly, "Treating you like what? Does this belong to you? We traded our chandelier for this—it’s our equipment!"
"You guys scammed it from me, this is a piece of treasure, it’s the real deal!" Garter yelled. "Li, you b*stard, that sculpture you wanted was a piece of junk! It’s worthless!"
Hearing him call Li a ‘b*stard’, G.o.dzilla stood up, and coldly said, "You’re calling who a b*stard?"
Seeing the large Mexican man who looked like Optimus Prime, Garter chickened out, and grumbled, "I’m being bullied, you guys are real p.r.i.c.ks. G.o.d will judge you guys."
"Cut the c.r.a.p, brother—75,000 dollars, take it or leave it, and let someone else have it," Hans said.
Garter stretched out his hand to stop him, "Okay, okay, don’t be impatient, Big Fox. Let me make a call and contact my client!"
He was worried that Hans and the others would overhear the conversation, and went back to his truck to make the call.
Hans shooed him away in disdain. "That guy is seriously an idiot."
Li Du asked, "Do you want to lower the price? I feel that Nick is right—although this is made of silver, no one would go more than 50,000 dollars."
"Relax, Garter will surely buy it," Hans said. "That guy loves to do stuff to evade his taxes too. He doesn’t know how to properly factor in taxes, so for Nick’s offer of 150,000 dollars, he’ll gladly accept it."
As expected, after he hung up, Garter came back and said, "Can’t you go any lower? 20,000 dollars, Big Fox…"
Seeing Hans’s annoyed expression, he hastily said, "No, no, 70,000 dollars, I misspoke. It’s 70,000 dollars, how about it?"
Hans shook his head. "Seventy-five thousand dollars, not a dime lower."
Garter gave a kick to the tires of his truck, and finally said as he gritted his teeth, "Alright, 75,000 dollars then! D*mn it, d*mn it, d*mn it!"
He didn’t make the deal straight away, and left instead. He was very cautious, and decided to sign an agreement with Nick before paying for the distilling boiler.
He was worried that Hans might have been collaborating with others to scam him. If he spent 75,000 dollars for a distilling boiler, and Nick and his companions disappeared, then he would end up losing everything.
After an hour, with the contract signed and the payment given, he drove back to Li Du and the others.
Alighting as swiftly as the wind, he took out a check and said, "75,000 dollars, help me move it to the truck!"
Hans examined the check. After finding no issues with it, he smiled and said, "Alright, buddy, its back with you again."
Hearing that, Garter almost burst into tears. He yelled, "I will never do business with you guys again. I’ve just been robbed 75,000 dollars!"
Hans and Li Du couldn’t be bothered with him; the man was irritating and unreasonable. With the distilling boiler in the back, the pickup quickly drove off.
Seeing the back view of the pickup slowly fading, Hans said, "You once asked me why I don’t believe in G.o.d, right?"
"You don’t have to explain yourself" Li Du replied. "I understand. I understand everything now."
Hans sighed, "Right. I don’t believe in G.o.d because no one is wors.h.i.+pping G.o.d with an honest heart anymore."
The methods of Nick and his companions were commonplace all over the world. Hans was someone who would pounce at the sight of a quarter on the street. However, such an illegal and immoral deed even someone like Hans couldn’t stomach.
However, as long as the risk was diverted away, there was still money to be made.
Li Du hesitated and said, "Isn’t this too much for Garter? We’re throwing all the risk to him."
Hans said in disdain, "You think that he doesn’t know the risk of this? He knows, but since he could make a windfall, he’ll still try to earn it. Also, he has always been evading his taxes. He’s been walking on the edge all his life."
With that, the two of them were risk-free. Even if the tax agency found out, they’d be safe, as the trade with Garter was legal.
A chandelier for 75,000 dollars. Li Du had just earned 30,000 dollars to put into his wallet.
Having more income was always delightful.
After getting the money, Hans wanted to spend it on drinks and women again. Li Du warned, "Don’t just think about fooling around, brother. Since we’ve returned from L.A., we haven’t made much money."
Hans stretched out his arms and said helplessly, "Can’t do anything about it, Li. Flagstaff is only so big, with just a few storage companies. It can’t be that there will be storage auctions every day."
Li Du drew a circle in the air with his hand. "We can venture out—Phoenix, Kingman, and even Las Vegas—we can try them all out."
"You’re a workaholic, my brother, that’s crazy," Hans said.
"It’s because I’m too poor. Hurry up, the earlier we enter the Ten Million Club, the earlier we can rest."
"No, buddy," Hans said, "the Ten Million Club isn’t so easy to enter. It’s a profitable business, but to make that much?" He pointed to the sky. "Only those blessed by G.o.d can achieve it!"
Li Du patted his shoulder and said, "G.o.d blesses good men. We’re good men, he’ll bless us."