Everyone stood up from their futons and bowed to Caden to express their gratitude before they walked out while relaxing their muscles.Nanako was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, she asked Aurora excitedly, “Aurora, have you mastered the secret of endoscopic ability?”Aurora scratched her head and said, “It seems like it, but it doesn’t seem like it either… It feels like the bottom of a particularly deep pond. When I try to dive down, I can’t go any further every time when I feel that I’m almost at the bottom. It’s really annoying…”After saying that, she asked Nanako, “Nanako, you look so excited. Have you already mastered it?!”Nanako nodded heavily and exclaimed in a low voice, “I seem to have mastered the secret of endoscopic ability. It’s just like the diving that you mentioned. I always could not dive further down in the beginning, and I felt that the closer I was to the bottom of the pond, the greater the repulsive force of the water. There seems to be forces pushing me tow
Caden praised and affirmed Nanako’s talent, but Nanako was extremely humble. After bowing deeply, she said calmly, “Thank you for your compliment, Master Howton. I’m just like an elementary school student who has just started compared to you, so I dare not say that I’m a martial arts genius. I should work harder since I’ve just discovered my endoscopic ability.”Caden complimented her and said, “In addition to talent, a good martial arts methodology is the second element of martial arts practice, and not being arrogant or impetuous is the third element of martial arts practice. Miss Ito, your future will certainly be unlimited since you have all three of these elements!”Nanako bowed again and said, “Thank you for your affirmation, Master Howton. I’ll certainly do my best!”Caden nodded and said with a smile, “The lunch break is short, so you should go and eat quickly. We will continue our lessons in the afternoon.”Nanako smiled, then shook her head and said, “I won’t be taking a
Charlie asked her: ‘Why do you want to thank me?’Nanako said: ‘You’ve helped me so much and even arranged for me to learn martial arts here. Isn’t it right for me to treat you to a meal now that I’ve finally entered the path of martial arts? Just think of it as a thank-you meal. Charlie-kun, I wonder if you’ll do me the honor?’Charlie thought for a moment and replied readily: ‘No problem. Just tell me the time, and I’ll be there on time.’Nanako replied: ‘Master Howton’s classes end at half past six in the evening every day. Let’s meet up a little later. What about 8:00 PM?’Charlie replied: ‘No problem. You should practice hard, then. I’ll see you at night.’Nanako was elated and hurriedly replied: ‘See you tonight!’Charlie knew that Nanako was eager to practice, so he did not plan to go in and bother Nanako. He replied directly: ‘In that case, you should go and practice well first. We will talk more when we meet later at night.’Nanako replied: ‘Okay!’ She then turned on th
Meanwhile, at Scarlet Pinnacle Manor. Vera was standing in front of the desk, looking at the landscape painting in front of her that was already completed. The winding mountains stood tall in the painting, and there seemed to be ripples in the water in the lake, which was extremely beautiful. Vera stretched out her slender fingers and touched the thickest part of the painting like a dragonfly splashing on water. After determining that there was no sticky feeling, she looked at her clean fingertip again and saw that there was no ink stain there. Thus, she was certain that the painting was already completely dry.She then used the scroll that she had prepared to carefully mount the painting into a golden scroll. After the mounting was completed and rolled into a scroll, Vera sealed the scroll with a silk ribbon. Mr. Raven’s voice sounded outside the door as he said, “Miss, can I come in?”Vera said loudly, “Come in.”Mr. Raven, who was already slightly hunched, staggered in. W
Mr. Raven bowed and left. Vera then held up the scroll with both hands and walked slowly to the long desk. The memorial tablet that Vera had always carried with her was placed on the long table. The characters ‘Elijah Lavor, Father’ were inscribed on the memorial tablet. Vera knelt down in front of the memorial tablet slowly, then carefully placed the scroll aside. She then clasped her hands together, looked at the memorial tablet, and said respectfully, “Dad, if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to meet again with my benefactor, Charlie Wade, tomorrow. When I appear in front of him, his vigilance will definitely be aroused. I don’t know if I will be able to gain his trust, but I hope that you will give me your blessings so I can gain his trust…”As Vera spoke of this, she had a complicated expression for a moment before she reached out and touched the scroll on the ground as she said softly, “If… If Charlie can’t trust me and treats me as his enemy, I… I may be left with no choice but to tel
Nanako was about to bow and thank Emi when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring. She quickly said, “Charlie-kun must be downstairs. I’ll go and pick him up!”Emi nodded and said with a smile, “Go ahead.”All the apartments at Thompson First had elevators for entry. One would not be able to take the elevator without a physical access card. When Charlie came to visit them, he could only ring the doorbell of the unit at the entrance of the door in the underground parking lot. After the access to the door was unlocked from upstairs, he could then enter the elevator and press the button for the designated floor. Nanako only needed to open the door for Charlie from upstairs, but she still said to Charlie through the access control system, “Please wait a moment, Charlie-kun. I will come down and pick you up.”In Nanako’s traditional Japanese concept, if she allowed the man she loved to take the elevator upstairs himself, it would be equivalent to a wife who did not kneel at the door to
Yahiko was actually a full-fledged martial artist when he was young. He was one of those men who were deeply influenced by Bruce Lee in the 1970s and 1980s.Nanako had become obsessed with martial arts since she was a child under his influence. Yahiko had always been willing to invest in his daughter’s hobby. Therefore, he had invited the best karate masters as well as combat and fighting masters in Japan to come and teach Nanako.Nanako showed extraordinary talents in the process of learning these foreign combat skills. When Nanako was fifteen years old, these famous masters in Japan had already taught her everything that they had learned throughout their lives. Yahiko had hoped to find an opportunity for Nanako to learn martial arts at the time.In Japan, the only two things related to martial arts were ninjutsu and swordsmanship.After all, ninjutsu was rather wretched and not suitable for a lady like Nanako. On the other hand, swordsmanship emphasized the extraordinary stat
After saying that, Nanako added, “Therefore, the difficulty of martial arts is to control and safely separate one’s consciousness from the body without causing damage to oneself. It will only be possible for one to gain endoscopic ability by doing this. Thus, I thought of the method of imagining my consciousness falling from a height and quickly finding that safe sense of near-death. I was just trying it out of curiosity, but I didn’t expect it to work…”Charlie said nothing, but he could not help but sigh as he thought to himself, ‘Nanako is truly a martial arts genius to be able to think of such a method…’After hearing this, Yahiko had a shocked and fascinated expression on his face. He could not help but murmur, “I never dreamt that martial arts could be so mysterious. It’s great to be young. I would have given my best to give it a try if I was still a young man!”Nanako smiled and said, “Otou-san, it’s never too late as long as you’re willing to take action!”“No, no…” Yahiko
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
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