Stephanie said politely, “Thank you for your kindness, Chief Light, but indeed, we are not suitable for each other.Chief Light asked her, “You really don’t want to think about it?”Stephanie said with a bit of difficulty, “Sorry, Chief Light.”Chief Light paused for a moment, smiled slightly, nodded, and then said, “It’s okay. It’s okay. When it comes to these kinds of matters, it’s all about your love and wants. Although I’m not highly educated, I still have excellent emotional intelligence when it comes to such matters. I will never force you if you are not willing.”Having said that, he straightened his body, looked around, and asked curiously, “Where is my cousin sister? Why don’t I see her coming out to say hello to her cousin brother?”Stephanie said, “Claudia is busy, so perhaps she did not hear you come in.”“What is she so busy with? Don’t I know about the situation in your store? Don’t you usually have no customers at all after mealtimes?”As he spoke, he looked at Ch
Stephanie was visibly relieved after Gopher had left.Charlie asked her, “Stephanie, does Gopher Light often come to harass you?”Stephanie shrugged and said helplessly, “That guy is infamous for his reputation as someone who is kind on the surface but in reality, he’s actually really cruel. You would often see him smiling, talking, and being polite with people, but he is in fact more terrible than anyone else.”Charlie frowned and asked, “Can you be more specific?”“This...” Stephanie glanced in the direction of the warehouse and then whispered, “I’ll tell you about this slowly when I have the chance.”By the time her words fell, Claudia had already come out. Claudia looked at Charlie and said seriously, “Gopher Light committed telecommunication fraud in Oskia. After that incident, he fled to Canada to seek refuge with my mother...”“Gopher’s grandfather and my grandmother are siblings, so the both of our families are more or less related. Gopher is the only child in the family,
Stephanie asked again, “What if they do not feel comfortable and want to get rid of everything?”“No way.” Claudia shook her head and said, “They had already disguised the death of my parents and brothers as a major accident in itself. Now that I’m back, in everyone’s eyes, I am the only pitiful one who has survived.”“If I were to also suddenly die one day, it would then look too deliberate in the eyes of outsiders. So, as long as they are certain that I do not know of the inside story, they will not take the risk of killing me.”“What’s more, if I want to avenge my parents and my two younger brothers, I will have to come back to Vancouver to have the opportunity to do so!”As Claudia spoke of this, she broke into tears once again and said, “It’s just that when I came back, my parents and two brothers had already been cremated and buried hastily. As their only family, I was not even able to say one last goodbye to them at all...” After hearing this, Stephanie could not hold back
This short sentence shocked Claudia completely.She subconsciously covered the scar on her face and blurted out, “You... How could you tell?!”Charlie said indifferently, “Although your scar looks very realistic, it is only a visual effect. If it was a real scar, it would still be a part of your body tissue. In other words, a real scar would look alive, and no matter how realistic a fake scar might seem, it is just an external material.”Claudia could not understand Charlie’s explanation.She could understand that the scar was fake, but she could not understand how Charlie could see that. To Charlie, his perception ability based on Reiki was far beyond that of vision itself.Charlie had already realized that Claudia’s scar was completely devoid of any semblance of life from the very first time he had seen her.It was just like how an artificial flower could never have the vitality of a real flower itself no matter how realistic it looked. Charlie could already judge that the
He did not doubt the truthfulness behind Claudia’s words. This was because this world was never as peaceful or kind as ordinary people thought it was.Despite the high development in the economy in Europe and the United States, the underground world in Europe and the United States was also the dirtiest place in this world, and it was second to none.Claudia herself was the daughter of the former leader of the mafia, and she must have heard about these things. What Charlie was most angry about was the fact that these mafia members who had hands and feet and were perfectly capable of working were making huge profits from selling women. This was simply outrageous. So, he suppressed his anger and spoke up to ask Claudia, “How did you know that Gopher is planning to make a move on Stephanie?” Claudia took out a lipstick-like flashlight from her pocket and said, “This is a violet flashlight with a specific wavelength which is not quite the same as the wavelength for the violet light
Claudia thought that Charlie did not understand her words and so, she panicked as she repeated herself again, “Mr. Wade, what I’m saying is that they have at least seven or eight hundred men, and this is still the most conservative estimate. If you include some of them with nepotism, there might possibly be a thousand men...”Charlie nodded and said, “It would still be somewhat useful if you could gather a thousand men together.”Claudia hurriedly said, “Mr. Wade, you certainly would not be able to deal with them alone... And they would still be more or less restrained during the day. They probably would not dare to mess around if you took Stephanie away. Stephanie will be able to escape the disaster as long as she gets to the airport. If you really wait until night, you might not be able to leave even if you wanted to...”Charlie smiled faintly and casually said, “It’s okay. I have no intention of taking her away, anyway. It’s easy to leave, but it does not make sense to do so. Why
Claudia said, “In addition to this, they also run several bars, hotels, and quite a few establishments with illegal services. Aside from that, they also run several underground casinos.”Charlie nodded and asked her, “Who should I look for if I want to go to their casinos to play a couple of games?”Claudia asked awkwardly, “Mr. Wade... You’re not joking around with me, right...?”Charlie laughed and said, “Of course not.”Claudia thought that Charlie was eyeing the other party’s casino, and she said seriously, “The casino is one of their main sources of income, and there are a lot of people keeping guard there. Furthermore, they are also loaded with live ammunition in order to prevent people from cheating. You should not have any thoughts about the casino...”Charlie waved his hand and said, “I do not have any other intentions. I simply want to go there to play a couple of games and also lose some money to them at the same time.”Having said that, Charlie could not help but sigh
When Porter heard Charlie’s words, he hurriedly asked, “Mr. Wade, are you intending to take action against some kind of organization?”“That’s right.” Charlie did not hide it, and he said indifferently, “There is a small group that is doing a lot of evil, and I want to destroy them. However, it would not be appropriate for me to kill them all. So, why don’t I send them to you as free laborers instead? They would definitely not be able to escape in this lifetime with tens of thousands of soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies guarding them.”Porter immediately said, “Mr. Wade, do you need my cooperation?”Charlie thought about it and said, “Yes. You should arrange for another group of soldiers to come over. It’d be better for you to send more men, perhaps about two hundred people. They should arrive in Vancouver in thirty hours, which is before tomorrow night.”Porter said, “No problem, Mr. Wade. Thirty hours is enough. I will arrange the manpower and get them to set off as soon as possi
No one except Raymond expected that the terms would be agreed upon so quickly.He was utterly confident in his judgment and even more so in his value appraisal.He was convinced that once they had a good look, any one of these collectors who could afford twenty million wouldn't miss this bargain.After all, an opportunity to secure an item worth millions more than the price they paid was very rare.In fact, when the other nine collectors heard that the first collector was buying it, it was only to be expected even if it left them all gloomy. They had all held the bronze sculpture in their hands—they knew it was definitely worth that much.However, no one in the room was more shocked than Trippy.He looked utterly flabbergasted, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at the bronze sculpture while asking himself the same question repeatedly.Was that crap really worth twenty million? How?!While Trippy was still stunned, Raymond had already sent his payment details to the first
Unable to nitpick on the air stewardess' response, Elaine pouted, "Well, try to ask management to improve on your first-class cabins anyway. Maybe even make a premium-class or something since it's not like we can't afford it."The air stewardess quickly said, "We will definitely relay your message to the management."Nodding in satisfaction, Elaine waved her off. "Alright. You can go back to work now."Clearly relieved, the air stewardess bowed her head respectfully. "Always happy to be of service."After the air stewardess left, Jacob asked Elaine in curiosity, "Was the private jet that good?"Elaine rolled her eyes. "Didn't you see the stuff I posted in the chat group?""Not really," Jacob blurted. Elaine was ready to snap at him for not caring, but considering that they had made up now and she shouldn't fuss too much over the little things, she snorted, "Just remember to like and comment on all my posts in the chat group, otherwise, I will make you regret it!""No problem!"
While the ten collectors were taking turns studying the bronze sculpture, Jacob and Elaine were boarding their flight.As they were flying first-class, they had priority over the other passengers and boarded from the separate plug door at the first-class section.The capacity of the Boeing 777 was huge, and the wide-body aircraft could be connected to a special double corridor bridge where first class and business class passengers boarded separately from the economy class passengers.As the terminals to economy class and business class were connected, Elaine and Jacob were able to get through the first-class terminal unimpeded, but the passengers in economy class had a queue of over two hundred passengers. Even as she walked, Elaine was looking over her shoulder and exclaiming at Jacob, "Must be nice being rich! We used to have to queue like the rest of them, waiting for over thirty minutes just to board our flight." "In first class, we may be in the same plane, but we don't hav
Meanwhile, once Raymond had briefed everyone about the rules, he opened the door and invited everyone into Treasure Measure.It was not that wide but appeared spacious since the interior was mostly empty—it was not really crowded even with thirty-ish people.Then, locking the door from the inside, Raymond told them, "I can tell from everyone's faces that we are all veterans here, so I'm sure you understand the rules while appraising: no photos or videos, thank you very much."Indeed, there were many rules that governed the hobby, the most important being respecting the seller's requests and privacy.As the collectors listened, they knew that Raymond was selling but did not want the public to know too much about him.They all nodded, and those who had their phones out slid them back into their pockets.With that, Raymond took out the bronze sculpture that he had brought, leaving Trippy a little surprised.He had never seen the bronze sculpture with his own eyes before, only from
"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