At the same time, Isaac was giving a detailed report to Charlie as he told him, “Young Master, at present, all applicants who registered to participate in the auction are all staying in Shangri-La, and not a single one is missing. In addition, the additional twenty backup candidates ranked 201 to 220 will arrive in Aurous Hill one after the other tomorrow.”Charlie nodded slightly and instructed, “These backup candidates should not be charged for their accommodation-related expenses. They will most likely have to accompany the runners, and I’m afraid that they will not even be qualified to enter the venue by then.”“Okay, Young Master.” Isaac answered and then hurriedly asked again, “Young Master, are we going to let them make a trip here for nothing this time, then? Many of them came from overseas, and it has been quite difficult for them to come all the way here.”Charlie thought about it for a moment and said, “Why don’t we do this, then? If they do not get the chance to replace
Chandler had been waiting for Charlie to contact him after checking into the executive building.He knew that he did not have the financial strength to compete with those top tycoons when he came to Aurous Hill this time, so the only purpose of his visit to Aurous Hill was to meet Charlie. Therefore, when Isaac contacted him, he said without thinking, “Please tell Young Master Wade that I’m waiting and ready to meet him at any time.”When Charlie heard this, he did not delay any longer, and he asked Isaac to take him directly to the executive building where Chandler’s room was at.As soon as they met, Charlie said respectfully, “Old Master Lennard, we meet again.”Chandler hurriedly clasped one of his hands over the other as he bowed and said respectfully, “Young Master Wade, I should be the one saluting you!”Charlie hurriedly reached out his hands to support Chandler as he muttered under his breath, “Old Master Lennard, you’re being too courteous. How can I accept your salute?
At this moment, Chandler used a match to ignite the seal incense which had been pressed into the shape of a lotus flower, and then said to Charlie with a smile, “Young Master Wade, you should not be repelled by the smell of incense, right?”Charlie smiled slightly and looked at the smoke that rose into the air as he sniffed the unique aroma of the agarwood that had been ignited, and he only felt extraordinarily relaxed. So, he spoke up and said, “Old Master Lennard, you are indeed elegant. I’ve only smelled this kind of seal incense because I was with my mother as a child, and after so many years have passed, the scent still lingers in my memory now that I am smelling it again.”Chandler nodded and said seriously, “Your mother was very famous in the United States. It was said that when she was alive, she spared no effort in promoting the Oskian traditional culture in the United States. Many noble young ladies from the upper-class society in the United States are all proud of being ab
In truth, deep inside, Charlie had been looking forward to meeting his maternal grandfather at the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill.However, he did not know why he would have such a thought.After all, he hadn’t actually thought about acknowledging his maternal grandfather’s family. As they talked about Charlie’s maternal grandfather, Chandler seemed to suddenly gain some interest as he smiled and said, “Young Master Wade, to tell you the truth, I’m really looking forward to seeing your maternal grandfather coming to participate in the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill.”Charlie asked curiously, “Old Master Lennard, what makes you say that?” Chandler smiled and said, “Your maternal grandfather has been in the United States for too long, and he has been seriously westernized. He only believes in so-called science for everything, and he treats all traditions as dregs.”Charlie nodded and said, “That’s understandable. I heard my mother mentioning before that my maternal grandfat
Chandler hesitated for a moment before he looked at Charlie and said seriously, “Young Master Wade, there is actually something that I don’t know if I should say or not.”Charlie said, “Old Master Lennard, you don’t have to be so courteous with me. There is no harm in speaking your mind.”Chandler said, “Although you have broken out of the dragon stranding predicament, getting back to the fate of the dragon that originally belongs to you is not the end! In the ‘Tales of Strange Matters’, it is recorded that it takes five hundred years to form a water dragon, a thousand years to form a dragon, and the dragon will turn into a horned dragon in five hundred years while a winged dragon would take a thousand years. This means that someone with the fate of a dragon does not really have the highest fate as there are still the horned and winged dragons above this.”The contents of the Apocalyptic Book instantly came to Charlie’s mind. There were indeed records of the water dragon as well as
Chandler’s words made Charlie ponder.What he was thinking about was not about whether he should borrow the strength of his maternal grandfather’s family to achieve his own goals in the future, but what he was thinking about was that the higher in the world he rose, the narrower the road would be. If he wanted the Wade family to stand at the pinnacle of the world, he was bound to meet with the Acker family on the narrow road someday in the future.He could not help but think about whether the Acker family would be his enemy or friend if they were to really meet on the narrow road one day in the future. After all, the Acker family was now one of the top three families in the world. If Charlie wanted to realize his father’s last wish back then, it would be inevitable for the Wade family to want to stand higher than these three big families.If the three big families did not want to see a rising star above them, that could also trigger a battle of life and death between the new king
When Charlie heard these words, he admired Kathleen a little more.This woman was really something. At the very least, because Kathleen was using favor as her mode of attacking, Charlie had already long decided that if Kathleen’s grandfather could not win the bid for the Rejuvenating Pill, he would still give him half a Healing Pill so that he could live for another two more years. Combined with Chandler’s words, it was basically certain that even if something unexpected were to happen to Jordan while he was in Aurous Hill this time, he would have half of the Healing Pill to save his life.Charlie knew that Kathleen was going to engage in using favor as her mode of attack, and he also knew that no matter how she attacked, it would still be far from the worth of half a Healing Pill.However, Charlie always felt that if he did not repay this favor and kept owing Kathleen all the time, he would definitely feel very awkward and twisted. This was the brilliant thing about Kathleen.
At this moment, Kathleen felt that all of her plans and rhythm had instantly been disrupted by Charlie’s sudden invitation.She did not even know what Charlie’s purpose was.Was it just that he simply wanted to invite her to participate in the auction, or had he detected her motives long ago and so, he was deliberately taking advantage of the situation?Hence, she suddenly did not know how to react for a while. Just as she was at a loss for words, Charlie then asked a follow-up question, “Miss Jane, are you not interested in this kind of auction? In truth, you don’t have to worry too much. I’m not helping the auction to attract customers, but I just think that this auction might be more interesting and so, I wanted to invite you, as a guest who came from afar, to come over and enjoy it. You could also kill some boredom and pass time there.”As Charlie spoke, he laughed and said, “After all, I am also married. It would be more or less inappropriate if I invited you out to watch a
"Alright!" Trippy was at once fawning, tagging along behind Raymond like a little child.Around thirty people were waiting in front of Treasure Measure by now. The collectors came in twos or threes, and all ten numbers had since been taken.Before Raymond arrived, he had a brief look at the collectors' faces through the security cameras before walking over, and he was really relieved to see no familiar faces.Having traded Oskian antiques for years abroad, it was only natural that he was acquainted with some of the elite collectors in the country.He also knew that they were especially demanding with the quality of their collection and wanted almost flawless items. As such, the bronze sculpture which had been completely lost wouldn't interest them.Still, he was also a little concerned that amongst the elite collectors he knew, there might be some who were losing money and losing purchasing power in turn. If they happened to take an interest in the bronze sculpture on top of that,
Trippy grinned. "I mean, just look at my stall—ain't no way I'm getting any business here. Why not let me check out this item of yours? And see how interested they are? I'm really interested in learning and upping my game."Then, as if worried that Raymond would refuse, he quickly added, "Don't worry—I promise to stay in a corner and just watch."Still, Raymond could guess right then that someone must have sent Trippy to spy on him.It didn't matter whether it was Mick, Jacob, or Zachary either—they were all in this plot together, and one knowing meant all three knowing.Trippy was a gossiper in nature. If he was allowed to witness the whole process, everyone down Antique Street would definitely know before long.In fact, he could use someone like that right now, and Trippy had come straight to his doorstep.With that in mind, Raymond smiled, "Come join me if you're interested. It's not like there's anything to hide…"Pausing, he then warned Trippy, "But since you're going in my
After watching Mick's video, Jasmine's opinion of the man improved considerably.She was actually well aware that the decline of Vintage Deluxe was mostly due to Mick's incompetence.However, as Jasmine was now managing a billion-dollar company, she couldn't spare any time to ask many questions about Vintage Deluxe's performance. In her opinion, as long as Vintage Deluxe didn't lose too much money or ruin the reputation they had worked so hard to build, she wasn't interested in a regime change.It was the same mindset as Marianne Long, who begged her father to keep that lane full of food stalls in Hong Kong over sentiment.As such, seeing that Mick actually had some skill pleased her considerably.She couldn't resist checking out the comments of the video too.She saw that many were praising the manager of Vintage Deluxe for taking a tough stand against the scammer as well as how Vintage Deluxe's reputation was long-standing and without comparison.She soon noticed Jacob's comme
Soon, more collectors had gathered outside Treasure Measure even before Raymond showed up at Antique Street, with over ten of them gathered outside in no time at all.Since Raymond had only prepared ten slips, the rest left in disappointment seeing that they had no chance.Even so, the ten collectors who had gotten a number were nervous—save for the first man who had arrived.The details on the online sales post insisted that the price was fixed, and that first-come first-serve applies.If he bought the bronze sculpture, the other nine would have come all this way for nothing.However, if the seller decided to make it an auction, they would have a chance too, although their net profit would thin in turn. After all, they could have acquired the bronze sculpture for just 20 million, and that meant a solid 8 million in profit.An auction would at least raise the price to 27 million, and more would make it chicken feed.If they gave up at that point, it was a waste of a trip.If
Trippy naturally wasn't going to tell Mick everything word-for-word, so he said vaguely, "Uh, they were just being stubborn and refused to listen to anything I said. They kept saying that they wouldn't know until they saw the actual item."Mick got out of bed, staring at his phone as he mused to himself.This was getting a little ridiculous, was it not? A fool who was scammed, actually able to scam someone else? But if he really could sell it, wouldn't all their work be for nothing?With that in mind, he promptly called Zachary, who wasn't even up yet.Ever since he had started working for Don Albert, his daily routine was no longer the same as the days when he was a humble stall owner working on Antique Street, but a man of importance who slept late and woke up late.In the evening, he would be spending his time patrolling Don Albert's night entertainment properties as well as holding meetings with subordinates to decide on management policies and the like. That was why he wo
Seeing that Mick had a favor to ask, Trippy was naturally eager to seize the opportunity to get in his good graces."Don't worry, Mr. Crane!" He promptly replied. "Just leave it to me!"Returning to Treasure Measure, he went up to the first man who had come and said, "Hey, brother… Did you come to buy the bronze sculpture from Mr. Cole?"The man asked warily, "You know about the bronze sculpture?""Of course!" Trippy grinned. "I know all too well—it's actually famous here in Aurous Hill."Whipping out his phone, he played the short video that Mick had spent five grand promoting, saying, "Here—check this out!"Curious, the man took the phone and watched the video solemnly.The other latecomer soon hurried over as well and stared fixedly at the screen too.They watched as Bill entered a room with the bronze sculpture with Mick, the latter who checked it out and started commenting on it.The first man exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, it really is that bronze sculpture."The second ma
The other antique traders who were keeping tabs on the situation were left confused by Trippy's message.[Maybe even those out-of-towners know that Raymond is a sucker? So they traveled overnight just to see what happens?][I know Raymond is in trouble, but is it really worth traveling hundreds of miles just to watch?][Maybe they know he's a sucker, so they came to sell him more counterfeits?][Shit, that must be it! Suckers are rare these days, after all!][Damn straight! Just knowing that there's one in Aurous Hill, you'd be eager to come over.]Even Mick Crane who had just woken up and saw the message immediately sent a voice message: "Those conmen are just like flies flocking around shit as soon as they smell it.""Oh, but what they don't know is that Raymond has no more money! I heard he only had a few hundred thousand for the startup, and the bronze sculpture must have cost most of it. I'm afraid those people won't even get their gas money and toll costs back after travel
Trippy rolled his eyes as he texted back: [Hell no. I need to start my business instead of wasting my time. You morons can come get a number yourself if you like. Haha!]Still, Trippy had just sent his text when a trio arrived in a hurry outside Treasure Measure.Seeing that the doors were closed, the leader asked Trippy, "Excuse me, can I ask if this is Treasure Measure? Owned by a man named Mr. Cole?"Trippy was at once surprised. "You mean Raymond Cole?"The leader quickly said, "We don't know his first name, only that his last name is Cole, and his handle name was Treasure Measure's Mr. Cole."Trippy chuckled. "That'd be him. Has to be, since he hand wrote that shop sign."Pausing, he then asked in curiosity, "So, you've come to see him being a sucker?"The leader was naturally curious as to what Trippy was talking about. However, he was also reluctant to reveal why he had come since there was a killer bargain at stake. In fact, every other collector who was coming was k
Raymond also added that the 20 million price tag wouldn't be cut or increased. To put it simply, the bronze sculpture was right there in Aurous Hill and waiting—it was a race.Hence, many reputable collectors contacted expert appraisers throughout the night, some even booking night flights straight to Aurous Hill.The best amongst them was a fanatic collector of bronze items in Eastcliff.Following a brief exchange with Raymond online, he immediately called an expert who was also a close friend. As soon as his call was answered, he asked the other man if he had time to travel to Aurous Hill so that no one else would beat them to it—and they would drive out in the night if at all possible.After all, the earliest flight was at six in the morning, and it'd be eight by the time they made it to Aurous Hill Airport and nine by the time they got to Antique Street in a cab.Therefore, the ideal way to get there was by driving over six hundred miles at top speed, and that meant reaching A