Jean was furious after hearing Dominic’s words. “What are you trying to say? You tell me this junk is a true treasure of your shop, but to him, you say it’s worthless.""Are you outright trying to scam me?”Dominic’s expression shifted subtly. Since he’d already swindled Jean, and she’d caught on, there wasn’t much point in hiding it anymore.He didn’t expect to be able to do business with her again after this. Prioritizing Finn’s favor seemed wise, so he decided to drop the act.“You thought those flea market items could be the true treasure of my shop? Only fools would believe that,” he sneered. “Serves you two right for being so clueless.”With that, he turned to retrieve a different painting featuring a breathtaking scene of lions in the throes of battle, their fierce eyes gleaming with intensity. At the center, a powerful lion lunged forward, jaws wide open in a bloodthirsty snarl, as if ready to leap out from the painting itself.Frederick glanced at it and confirmed it was
Frederick wasn’t a stingy person; he just disliked people like Finn. But for someone like Edmund, who simply wanted to take a look, he felt no hesitation. He opened the painting for him.Seeing the rather suggestive artwork, the crowd quickly guessed it wasn’t from any renowned artist."Heh, you’re showing this to Mr. Harrington?""This is a disgrace—practically a vulgar scene!"Dominic, eager to flatter the esteemed Edmund, chimed in. “Mr. Harrington, a piece as crude as this shouldn’t even meet your eyes.”“I was going to throw it out as trash, but this fool picked it up instead. Why not browse the other antiques in my store?”However, Edmund paid no mind to his comments. Adjusting his glasses, he examined the painting carefully. "Judging by the canvas, it’s definitely from the Victorian era."Dominic immediately echoed, “Mr. Harrington, your expertise is unparalleled! You can tell the period at a glance. It took me ages to determine that.""But a piece like this is neither w
Upon hearing Frederick’s words, the crowd started to hurl insults at him, saying things like, “You’re just trying to take advantage of Mr. Harrington's great passion to raise the price.”Another person joined in, “Are you even a Salmasianese? Taking money for something like this is shameless!”“If it were me, I wouldn’t even take a penny, let alone two million dollars. I’d just give it to Mr. Harrington for the benefit of Salmasian. What’s the harm in contributing?”Edmund, with a look of earnest hope, gently appealed to Frederick, saying, “Young man, it’s not that I’m stingy. It’s simply that this piece isn’t worth that much. I can’t go beyond this.”Frederick felt somewhat helpless at this point, finding it hard to continue refusing. He responded to Edmund with a touch of empathy.“Actually, there’s no great historical value to study about the artist.“”His full name was Alessandro Gabriel Rosetti. He was just a street artist in the Victorian era, who, when he couldn’t afford food, w
“The one holding the mirror in the painting is Cupid. This really is Venus in the painting.”Historical records described Venus's appearance in great detail. The reason Edmund hadn’t recognized her at first was because she was dressed as a servant, a detail that made him think of anyone but the goddess.Frederick, seeming to understand what Edmund was thinking, sighed and explained, “This was merely one of Alessandro's twisted whims.”Hearing Frederick’s explanation, Edmund was deeply impressed. He hadn’t expected the former to know so much about ancient arts, even the obscure details.“My young friend, I’ve thought it over. I’m willing to pay five million dollars for this painting. I truly want to study it closely.”Though the painting was a replica, the original The Rokeby Venus was not something Edmund could obtain. This replica alone made a valuable study piece.Frederick, hearing this offer, felt a headache coming on. He had explained so much in an attempt to satisfy Edmund’
Frederick nodded lightly. “Of course, Mr. Harrington. Once you see what’s hidden inside, you’ll understand why I didn’t want to sell it.”At his words, Edmund carefully pulled white gloves from his bag, then took out a magnifying glass, examining the piece that had fallen out from within.The crowd held their breath, sensing that what lay inside might be extraordinary. They had never seen a painting with a hidden artwork like this.When Edmund lifted the piece, he saw it was a calligraphy scroll, covered in flowing alphabets. As he studied it closely, his voice gradually shook with excitement.“Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote…” he murmured, his tone growing more astonished with each word.The onlookers stared blankly at one another. Some seasoned collectors recognized this as the famous Pilgrim's Journey of Windmere.Edmund gasped, filled with awe. “My goodness, this is the original manuscript of the Pilgrim's Journey of Windmere!”As the crowd saw the unassuming paper
Seeing such a rare treasure was enough to make everyone, including Edmund and the antique dealers present, feel they’d stumbled upon an extraordinary stroke of luck. Yet some couldn’t help but feel a bit envious of Frederick. After all, every one of them wanted to possess a priceless treasure like this.But one person, in particular, felt as if his heart was bleeding. Dominic just realized he had practically given away the Pilgrim's Journey of Windmere as part of a two-million-dollar deposit. This piece alone was enough to make a fortune for multiple lifetimes.A scheme quickly formed in his mind, and he addressed Frederick with a hearty laugh. “My young friend, you’ve certainly got quite the eye,”“Helping me sort through antiques and finding such a rare piece in my little pile of junk… truly impressive. I owe you my thanks. You will get a hundred thousand dollars as a reward from me.”The crowd looked on, stunned, uncertain of what was happening. They couldn't help but wonder if
After saying this, Dominic displayed the surveillance footage from earlier, showing the moment when Frederick and Jean entered the store and went through the process of picking items from the stall.Oddly enough, there was no sound in the video at all. Frederick looked up at the surveillance camera, noting that it did have an audio feature. The only explanation was that Dominic had deliberately removed the audio.The footage showed Frederick picking up the painting of the noblewoman, rolling it up, and preparing to leave, after which Dominic abruptly stopped the video.Jean, feeling pleased with herself, addressed the crowd, “You all saw that, right? Frederick personally selected that item. There’s no doubt it belongs to him.”The crowd, however, frowned, sensing something amiss. The evidence Dominic presented seemed to confirm that the item belonged to Frederick, not him. But something about the footage felt off.At that moment, Dominic raised his voice. “Nonsense! That item is c
Dominic lightly shook his head, feeling relieved. He had already deleted the sound from the surveillance footage earlier, so it was impossible for Jean to show any proof. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed and thought everything was fine.With a confident smile, Jean said, “Then please replay the surveillance footage.”Dominic smirked, thinking that her plan was just to rewatch his surveillance. Since the audio was gone, he had no reason to worry, no matter how many times they watched it.He played the footage once more, and the crowd watched intently, eager to see if there would be any changes. But it looked exactly the same as before.Suddenly, a bright, lilting voice rang out, “So you’re really not giving me my money back?”Then, a shrill male voice responded, “Pick one of those antiques, and we’ll call it even. Or don’t, and I won’t be so friendly next time.”Everyone looked on in shock. Those were clearly the voices of Jean and Dominic.Dominic, on the other hand, felt his he
Mary's case was the most severe, while Ivan's symptoms were the mildest, and Frederick could roughly deduce the sequence of transmissions among them. It was clear that Mary infected Nigel, who then passed it to Kimberly, then finally passed it to Ivan. Frederick also saw that Ivan was actually a decent person who unfortunately ended up being betrayed and infected. However, Nigel was primarily worried that Ivan might start trusting Frederick, as he wanted Ivan to believe in his capabilities to carry out his plan.Originally, he intended for Mary to insult Frederick for being poor and unskilled, but she ended up attacking him for having an unpleasant odor, which backfired when Frederick exposed her for contracting syphilis. Now, Nigel had no choice but to take matters into his own hands, he then said to Frederick, "Hehe, Frederick. We all know Ivy is a director, what exactly do you do to be worthy of her?"Nigel assumed that Frederick was just a low-level salesperson, something
Hearing Frederick's words, Kimberly jumped with joy and stopped crying. While wiping her tears, she pointed at Mary, laughing and said, "You're covered in syphilis, yet you're making fun of me.""Slut, I wonder how many people you've slept with!" After being pointed and insulted, Mary was furious and she was ready to fight Kimberly. "You bitch! I am going to teach you a lesson!" At this moment, Nigel felt terrible. If Mary was diseased, he'd be the first victim. He grabbed Mary and shouted, "Bitch, let me teach you a lesson first. Now I know why you always wanted the lights off! I thought you were shy, but you just didn't want me to find out."In a fit of anger, Nigel slapped Mary hard across the face. Just as Mary was about to explain, she was interrupted by another slap. Holding her face, she yelled angrily, "Nigel, how dare you hit me?! Do you want me to expose all your little schemes and tricks?"Nigel froze in horror; if Mary exposed him, it would have been disastrous.
Kimberly heard her laughter, and body odor had always been a sensitive issue for her; a wound she'd tried to cover up over the years. For Frederick to bring it up in front of everyone felt like rubbing salt into an open wound. Yet what hurt even more was Mary's laughter; as a fellow woman, it felt like salt to the wound, then roasting it. Kimberly was furious, pointed at Mary and said, "What are you laughing at? Do you want me to come over there and shut you up?"Mary felt wronged, she had only let out a reflexive laugh, but now Kimberly's anger was directed at her. "Did I laugh at you? What proof do you have that I laughed at you?""You're the one with body odor, yet you're taking it out on others. You're such an unreasonable woman!"Kimberly grew even angrier after hearing Mary's retort. "You're the one with body odor, your whole family has it!" "Look at what you're wearing, it's like you just threw on two pillowcases. You're a shameless woman, just trying to show off t
When everyone heard Ivy's words, they laughed even more. Her words effectively confirmed that Frederick did indeed have an unpleasant odor. It wasn't entirely her fault as Kimberly's words had been a bit of a trap. "Haha, if you smell, just take a shower and don't embarrass yourself here.""With all that cheap stuff on, no wonder he has a smell."Hearing this, Frederick simply gave a slight smile and then asked Mary and Kimberly, "Are two really that fragrant?"Mary and Kimberly lifted their heads proudly after hearing Frederick's words. "Why don't you ask everyone here, ask them if we smell good or not?""Exactly, go ahead and ask."Both of them considered themselves beautiful, and of course, they would smell pleasant. The men around them quickly chimed in, especially those eager to admire Mary, who was dressed in a way that gave them a bit of eye candy. "Of course, they smell good. How could these two beautiful ladies not smell good?""Hehe, Frederick with his cheap, th
In a hidden corner, Nigel said to Mary, "Damn it, that bumpkin Frederick keeps stealing my spotlight. I am worried that our plan won't go well later.""You should help me humiliate him properly, and Ivan's girlfriend will back you up."Mary pursed her lips and said to Nigel, "Every time something comes up, you just ask me to handle it. My bag hasn't been bought yet, and you've lost 300 thousand dollars"Although Nigel was annoyed by Mary hitting a sore spot, he kept his tone calm and replied, "Help me humiliate Frederick and talk him down in front of Ivan. After that, leave the rest to me. Once it's done, I'll get you more than one bag, I could get you ten bags and it wouldn't be a problem. I don't care about that small amount of money. You saw that Porsche just now, right? I wouldn't mind burning it if I had to." Hearing this, Mary was delighted and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, babe." She hadn't realized that Nigel was so wealthy and even had a Porsche. Up until th
Knowing Martin as someone who knew a lot about wood, everyone immediately looked as though they were ready for a good show. They were convinced that the Saint George statue couldn’t possibly be made of anything valuable.Martin let out a strange exclamation. "What the hell!"Kimberly, thinking that Martin was angry, quickly said, "Mr. Lawson, tell us what’s so disastrous about this wood. Are you saying it’s just a piece of junk?"Contrary to expectations, Martin replied angrily, "I’m saying that whoever preserved this Saint George statue was a jerk. This is genuine sandalwood, and yet it’s completely neglected, covered in dust."Most of the group had no idea what sandalwood was worth, but judging by the name alone, it sounded impressive.Kimberly asked curiously, "Mr. Lawson, are you saying this is really antique wood?"Martin examined the statue carefully, scrutinizing every detail. "Judging by the texture, this carving must have been made at least 150 years ago."Everyone was
"The Saint George statue was indeed a fitting choice for a karaoke." Nigel chuckled, turning to Ivy.“Why didn’t you just go on Amazon and buy a new one for a few dozen bucks? This one is obviously second-hand. Or was it picked up from some junk stall?”Frederick heard Nigel’s mockery and nodded in agreement, a faint smile on his lips. “You’re not wrong. This statue actually was picked up from a street stall.”“At the Treasure Hall in the antique trade market, no less. And yes, it’s an antique.”The truth was, the statue was from the Victorian era. Even the owner of Treasure Hall, Dominic, had recognized its age but dismissed it as worthless, tossing it onto a stall outside.Frederick had picked it up casually, thinking it would come in handy one day, and now it was the perfect gift for Ivan.Hearing this, Nigel burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. “An antique? Treasure Hall? You’re really trying to fool us.”Kimberly chimed in, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she glance
The group’s attention was fully captured by Frederick’s words, their eyes all on him. Nigel, knowing that Kimberly had informed Ivy at the last minute and that she likely didn’t have a gift, sneered at Frederick."Well, if you’ve got a gift, go ahead and show it.""Considering Ivy and Kimberly’s relationship, the gift should be pretty decent, right?"Everyone was now staring at Frederick with anticipation, curious to see what kind of gift he could produce.Ivy, on the other hand, was completely flustered. She hadn’t handed any gift to Frederick, though she understood he was trying to help her out of a tough spot. But wasn’t this making things even more awkward?Nigel continued to press him, "Where’s the gift? Come on, take it out already.""After all this time, you still can’t take it out. Don’t tell me you don’t even have one."Frederick glanced at Nigel with a calm smile. "Oh? Are you planning to bet 300 grand with me again?"Nigel froze. There was no way he had another 300 t
Ivan was deeply moved, feeling as though all the unpleasantness from their school days had been swept away. A sense of childhood nostalgia, unique to old classmates, welled up within him.The crowd continued to shower Nigel with praise, giving him thumbs up one after another."A gift worth 10 grand is no small amount. Nigel is truly generous.""That’s right. These days, even classmates hesitate to prepare gifts, but Nigel has shown such generosity.."Most of the attendees had come because of their connection with Kimberly. Each had prepared gifts with costs ranging from a few hundred dollars. Compared to Nigel’s grandiose gift worth 10 thousand, their contributions paled in comparison.Hearing the compliments, Nigel waved his hand dismissively, feigning modesty. "It’s nothing, really. After all, Ivan and I are good friends from way back."Then, Nigel’s expression shifted slightly as he added, "Speaking of good friends, I’m sure it’s not just me and Ivan here who share a special b