In the eyes of the vast majority of people, wealth was a symbol of strength, but Charlie had never taken money seriously at all. The facts also proved to him countless times that money was, in fact, not everything at all times.For example, so what if Jordan had a fortune worth a trillion US dollars? He still had to rush to spend more than two hundred billion US dollars to buy a Rejuvenating Pill. Even Charlie’s eldest uncle, Christian, was willing to pay more than three hundred billion US dollars in exchange for a mere Rejuvenating Pill.Theoretically speaking, as long as Charlie was willing, he could use the Rejuvenating Pill to scour all the wealth of all the old and wealthy people in this world. In that case, his wealth could even surpass that of his grandfather’s family, the Saudi royal family, or even the Rothschild family. However, when Stephen had given Charlie ten billion dollars back then, he had not even known how to spend the money. So what if he had more money th
After all, the flight number of a private jet would not appear on the big screen at the airport.It was already eight o’clock local time when the full-size Cadillac SUV sent Charlie to Hilton Hotel.The driver carried two huge suitcases from the trunk first, both of which were the Hong Kong specialties that Shawn had prepared for Charlie. After that, the driver took out a small twenty-inch suitcase from inside the car, which was Charlie’s own carry-on luggage. Charlie also put the Patek Phillipe watch that Marianne had given him into this suitcase.When the bell boy at the hotel saw that Charlie had three big suitcases, the bell boy hurriedly pushed the luggage cart and placed all three of Charlie’s suitcases on it. After that, he followed Charlie to the top floor of the Hilton Hotel. At this time, Claire had just had dinner with Elaine. Over the past few days ever since Elaine had come to the United States, she had already familiarized herself with the city of Providence. S
Elaine opened the door and prepared to make some noise outside the door. However, when she suddenly saw Charlie standing outside the door, her ugly expression immediately became extremely happy as she said excitedly, “Oh, my dear son-in-law! When did you return? Why didn’t you tell us in advance?”Charlie smiled slightly and said, “I didn’t tell you guys in advance because I did not want you both to worry.”Elaine smiled and said, “I know that it must be because you want to give Claire a surprise!”When Claire, who was inside, heard the commotion, she walked toward the door and asked, “Mom, is Charlie back?” Elaine hurriedly turned her head and shouted inside, “Claire, my dear son-in-law is back! Come quickly!”As she spoke, she saw that there was a bellboy who was pushing a luggage cart behind Charlie. When Elaine saw that there were three suitcases on the luggage cart, she immediately asked excitedly, “My dear son-in-law, I remember that you didn’t seem to bring any luggage wit
After saying that, she did not forget to say to Charlie, “My dear son-in-law, I’m already very happy and satisfied that you have this intention, but you have to remember not to buy things indiscriminately, okay?!”Charlie smiled faintly and nodded gently. “Okay, Mom. I know.”Elaine had a somewhat melancholy expression, but she still had the sense to forget about the Van Cleef & Arpels topic, and she quickly focused her attention on the jewelry box in her hand. As she opened the box, she thought to herself, ‘I just bought a Bvlgari Emerald Goddess Dream necklace a few days ago. I wonder what kind of jewelry Charlie is giving me from Bvlgari this time? If it’s a bracelet from the Emerald Goddess Dream, it can be paired with my necklace, which would be really great, then!’Elaine opened the box joyously with this in mind.Right after that, however, the item that caught her eye then caused her to be stunned.“This... This...” Elaine looked at the familiar necklace nestled quietly i
“Homesick?!”Claire was completely stunned and confused by Elaine’s sudden outburst, and she asked inexplicably, “Mom, Dad is still in South Korea, and Charlie and I are in the United States. How can you be feeling homesick?”Elaine had an embarrassed expression as she said, “I’m just thinking of Aurous Hill. It is indeed a little difficult to adapt, and it feels a little uncomfortable to live in a foreign country. It seems that Aurous Hill is still the best for me. Why don’t you take a look and see when there’s a flight back to Aurous Hill, and you can book a ticket for me to go back, then.”Claire looked at Elaine in astonishment and blurted out, “Mom, didn’t you say that you could not sleep because you missed us and couldn’t stand being alone at home in such a big house? Isn’t that the reason why you came to the United States to find us? It’s only been a few days, yet you already want to go back to Aurous Hill? Wouldn’t you still be alone when you go back to Aurous Hill? Wouldn’t
In truth, Charlie did not want Elaine to stay here and disturb his time alone with his wife.The reason why he had tried every possible way to get Elaine to come over before this was mainly because he was going to Hong Kong and could not bear to leave his wife here alone. So, he had tricked Elaine into coming over to the United States so that she could keep Claire company and take care of her during the few days when he was in Hong Kong. Now that Charlie was back, there was naturally no need for Elaine to continue to stay here.After all, Claire did not know of Elaine’s current economic situation, but Charlie knew it very well. Claire felt that Elaine definitely would not leave the United States, and she would continue staying with them if she didn’t have any money. Elaine would only return to Oskia after Claire was done with her training course. Therefore, it was now Charlie’s top priority to let Elaine leave on her own accord as soon as possible.It was also because of this th
Claire felt somewhat helpless when she saw Elaine’s firm attitude.However, after a little consideration, she also felt that it was indeed more convenient and comfortable for her mother to go back instead of staying in the United States. Furthermore, she had to attend classes five days a week, so she did not have much time to spend with Elaine. Since that was the case, Elaine would definitely cause trouble for Charlie, then.So, Claire said, “Mom, we’ll drive to New York after class the day after tomorrow, which is Friday. I’ll book you a flight ticket for Sunday.” “That’s great!” Elaine was suddenly very excited and blurted out, “Hurry and help me book the flight ticket. Otherwise, it might already be sold out.”Charlie, who was aside, spoke up and said, “Mom, I’ll book it for you.”Elaine hurriedly nodded and said, “Okay! Thank you, my dear son-in-law!”Charlie was also very straightforward, and he took out his cell phone immediately, found a flight back to Oskia from New Yo
Charlie did not expect that Claire could predict Elaine’s behavior so accurately. So, he smiled and said, “Oh, you should not worry too much about this. Since it’s a gift for Mom, she has the freedom to do whatever she wants with it, and we have no right to interfere.”“Besides, I don’t think Mom would do such a thing. If you don’t believe me, you can check and see if she still has this necklace with her when we return to Oskia.”Claire could not help but sigh and say helplessly, “I don’t want to interfere in her affairs, but what she does sometimes can be really disappointing. After all, you gave her this necklace, so I hope that she will not be so materialistic and sell it.”Charlie smiled and said, “Don’t worry. This necklace will definitely still be there when we get back.”Claire did not know why Charlie was so certain, but it would not be good to discuss this kind of hypothetical issue too deeply. So, she nodded and sighed, “I hope so...”***The Fox family, New York.When
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
While Jacob was feeling delighted after pulling off his con, Raymond had posted details of the bronze sculpture online.The website he was using was the biggest platform for antique collectors and the antique trade where each user could set a favorite tag in the antique category and era. If a user who preferred canvas art pieces of the Tudor dynasty set that label as their favorite, they would immediately be notified with text or desktop notifications in regards to any item with the same label.As medieval bronze sculptures were rare in the first place, most who were interested had already set that label on their favorites and were immediately notified soon after Raymond posted pictures of the bronze sculpture online.The collectors were naturally eager to check it out as gilded sculptures of the medieval era were really rare, and most collectors would go a lifetime without picking one up for their collection.On top of that, the seller had even listed a major flaw and was only ask
"Nope," Jacob chuckled. "We were both working separately and just happened to get back in at the same time."Then, he immediately became smug and excited, "Guess what, dear? I made 200 thousand out of the deal! In net profits!""For real?!" Elaine gaped. "200 thousand in just one night?! That's amazing! How did you do that?"Claire was surprised to hear that too, and she came over to ask, "What deal was it, Dad?"Jacob grinned, "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. It's just that I managed to pick up a nice antique item thanks to my wisdom and then sold it for 200 thousand."Pausing, he then sighed in dismay, "However, the buyer wasn't too rich—I would have squeezed him for 400 thousand, but he couldn't afford more, so I had to settle for less."Elaine quickly exclaimed, "Shit, we're talking about a loss of 200 thousand! People would work a year and still never earn that much…"She trailed off for a moment before asking, "By the way, dear—are we still flying out first thing tomorrow?
Jacob laughed. "Put that issue behind us? Sure, but we're not becoming friends. Hell, I can't even hold a grudge now that you're shit out of luck."Then, his tone changed sharply and suddenly became icy, "But you see, Aurous Hill is not a place you can stay just because you want to. No… After this, you're not going to be able to make a living in the antique trade.""If I were you, I'd be running a thousand miles away, far away from Aurous Hill where no one would know my face to start over. That way, you just might be able to make a living."Raymond simply kept smiling, "You need not be concerned about how I'm going to survive here, Mr. Wilson. I'd be very grateful if you'd cease any form of harassment once you leave my premises."Jacob pursed his lips, staring at Raymond in disappointment. "I'm plenty magnanimous, so I won't stoop to such pettiness. Just do whatever you like!"Clicking his tongue, he huffed, "Tut, tut… And here I'd thought you're tough, but you're just yet another
Raymond chuckled at the title, humble as ever, "The Duke of Wastage? Now, that's quite the royal title, and I don't think I deserve such an honor…"Trailing off, he then made an especially curious look, "By the way, how'd you know they were calling me that?"Seeing that he was still so ignorant, Jacob scoffed. "You bought a Renaissance-era bronze sculpture earlier, didn't you?"Raymond nodded. "I did. But technically, it's medieval and not Renaissance, along with a Renaissance-era base."Jacob clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Oh, please! Medieval? Hahaha… You're killing me, Mr. Cole!"Raymond kept a serious look on his face. "It's really medieval. Why don't you take a look?""No way," Jacob snorted, pursing his lips. "Anyway, word has already spread that someone was selling a counterfeit bronze sculpture to defraud Antique Street for some serious dough. He went first to Vintage Deluxe, but their manager, Mr. Crane, saw through it and didn't buy it… and then he came to you, an
That was why most of the collectors only knew that such an item existed but they did not know in whose possession it was.After registering a new account and paying the ten thousand registration fee, Raymond got in.It was very safe as it was anonymous, and he posted a photo of the bronze sculpture and an announcement with an asking price of twenty million.In his opinion, it wasn't that expensive—if it was still gilded, it would be worth around a hundred million. Without it, it was plenty reasonable to cut the price down to just thirty million.And Raymond was cutting another ten million off that, so twenty million was plenty reasonable.Moreover, medieval bronze sculptures were exceedingly rare, and less than one specimen showed up annually at times. Collectors who desired it would therefore be willing to break the bank for it, and that was why Raymond was sure that someone would put in an order once he posted it.As he wrote the summary of the item, someone knocked on his door
Jacob frowned in disdain. "Why would I be worried? He's no longer the manager of Vintage Deluxe, and he just lost a shit ton of money for messing up his appraisal. I am also the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, so why would I be worried about some loser who will soon be kicked out of Antique Street?"Straightening his collar, he snorted coldly, "I am now going to see Raymond Cole and humiliate him face-to-face! He thinks he's impressive, doesn't he? Let's see how he will keep up that facade!"Zachary chuckled, "Yes, exactly! People like him need to be given a slap in the face! As hard as you can! Don't worry—I'll be right behind you. If he gets physical, I'll rush in to help. If he doesn't dare to start a fight, you just insult him as much as possible!""Good plan!" Jacob nodded since he was concerned that Raymond might get physical when pushed too far.And with his body, there was no way he could beat anyone…Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, "Come! I'l
Mick inspected every video to see who was getting the most views, and he then paid out of his own pocket to use paid advertising to get the video viral.It cost five thousand and it hurt, but reaching the trending page was definitely worth it.Mick was quite shrewd too, making sure that the paid advertising was focused locally. After all, he knew all too well that five thousand didn't buy many clicks, and clicks from elsewhere might be too sporadic to gain any worthwhile attention.As he worked in Antique Street, he naturally had to come up with a plan to promote himself in this place, ideally presenting himself as a master appraiser.That way, his fame would slowly extend throughout the province and perhaps Eastern Oskia, and eventually the country.As such, focusing on Aurous Hill was the best idea.Moreover, he also had another idea—if Jasmine Moore happened to see this video, she would see him in a new light.When that happened, he could look forward to getting really rich!