Therefore, he said with an apologetic smile, “To be honest with you, it’s my first time here in Aurous Hill, so I’m not familiar with this place. I’m already old as well and my eyesight is not very good, so I’m a little confused.”After saying that, he took out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, handed it to Landon, and said, “Please accept this small token from me. If it’s convenient for you, can you tell me which mode of transportation I should choose so it’ll be faster?”Landon originally did not want to talk to the old man, but his attitude instantly changed as soon as he saw the other person taking out a hundred-dollar bill.He smiled and took the hundred-dollar bill from Mr. Chardon’s hand, then simply said, “The subway will definitely be the fastest, but it’s already past ten o’clock now and the morning rush hour has passed, so it will be fine even if you take a taxi to the city. It will only take you about half an hour, which will be faster than taking the subway. You mi
Landon’s eyes widened as soon as he saw the money. When he saw the other party handing a few hundred-dollar bills to him, he did not care to check how much money it was and quickly took the money from Mr. Chardon before he looked around with a sly expression on his face as he said to Mr. Chardon, “Old man, to tell you the truth, I can’t sell this ring even if I want to because it belongs to my boss. He asked me to wear it as a token to come and pick someone up at the airport.”“A token?” Mr. Chardon frowned slightly. It was not that he did not have any doubts as to why an ordinary person could possess a magical instrument. If this young man really had gotten it by chance, Mr. Chardon could be said to be extremely fortunate if he could buy the ring from him at a slightly higher price.However, this man said that this ring was a token given to him by others, which caused Mr. Chardon to feel a little wary. Therefore, he deliberately asked Landon, “Young man, what is the meaning of
“Yes!” Landon said without hesitation, “He has been in the antique business for twenty to thirty years now. He is definitely a swindler... no, I mean, he’s definitely proficient in antiques, calligraphy, and ancient paintings!”Mr. Chardon nodded, then took out a few more hundred-dollar bills and handed them over to Landon as he said with a smile, “Young man, I wonder if you can introduce your boss to me? I really want to get to know him.”Landon glanced at the old man and saw that the old man seemed to be very willing to offer him money, so he instantly had a plan in mind. He deliberately coughed twice before saying seriously, “Old man, you should know that there are rules in our industry as well. I don’t know who you are, so I can’t bring you to meet my boss just like that. If you’re working undercover and have targeted us, wouldn’t I be doomed for the rest of my life, then?”Mr. Chardon hurriedly said, “Oh, young man, you’ve really misunderstood me! Do I look like such a ruthless
While collecting money and praising Mr. Chardon, Landon did not forget to compliment him as he said, “Old man, it seems that you’re also an expert! Could it be that you were a tomb raider as well when you were young?”Landon basically meant that Mr. Chardon was possibly a tomb raider who had organized a tomb-robbing team and served as the core figure in this team.Mr. Chardon waved his hand and said with a smile, “I only know a little about antiques, but I don’t know anything about tomb robbing.”In fact, Mr. Chardon truly did not know much about tomb robbing. When he was young, he had once heard of some tomb raiders and tomb-robbing incidents, but the main point was that he had been practicing Taoism in the temple all year round, and he did not have any interest in tomb-robbing or cultural relics, so he frankly did not know much about tomb robbing. However, he had lived for a long time, and the amount of information he had actively or passively received was definitely much grea
As soon as Mr. Chardon placed some Reiki into the ring, he could immediately feel the formation that was slowly operating in the ring.He was instantly shocked and thought to himself, ‘This formation is constantly working, so I wonder what effect it has.’Although Mr. Chardon had mastered Reiki, he did not know much about magical instruments and formations.Although he had a wooden sword and there was an attack formation in the wooden sword, he could only use it but not refine it. He did not understand the mystery of formation nor could he understand the basic principles and logic of the formation.Therefore, when he saw the formation that Charlie had left in the ring, he suddenly could not figure out the purpose of this formation.In actuality, this formation was a passive defense formation recorded in the Apocalyptic Book. Once the person wearing the magical instrument was attacked, the formation would be activated immediately, using its own energy to defend the owner from the
“You want to buy it?”Mr. Chardon nodded and said, “Yes, I want to buy it. Please quote me a price for this ring!”When Landon heard Mr. Chardon asking about the price of the ring, he immediately thought of Zachary’s previous instructions. He would have to quote a sky-high price that was more than a hundred times the market price of this ring no matter who wanted to buy this ring.Landon did not understand why Zachary was doing this, but since he was just getting paid to get things done, he had to play his cards according to the routine. He was just here to pick people up, and the old man would have to go and deal with Zachary directly if he truly wanted to buy this jade ring. Therefore, he pondered for a moment. This jade ring was worth thirty to fifty thousand dollars at most, so he would have to quote a price within the range of three to five million dollars if he had to quote a price that was a hundred times the market price.As he thought of this, he clenched his teeth, stre
Landon was overjoyed and hurriedly said, “Okay, Mr. Zachary. I will definitely do my best to swindle… Oh, no, I mean, to introduce more customers to you!”Zachary reminded him, “Don’t be so focused on getting more customers. The big customer from Hong Kong might come soon, and that is the real big investor!”Landon said excitedly, “You can rest assured, Mr. Zachary! I will definitely not screw up!”After hanging up the phone, Landon paced back and forth excitedly. He was unaware that Mr. Chardon had already overheard his entire conversation with Zachary.Mr. Chardon did not notice any abnormalities from Landon’s conversation with Zachary. On the contrary, his previous judgment was strengthened, and he firmly believed that the other good things that Zachary had mentioned might be some other magical instruments. He was extremely excited as he thought of this. To him, gaining a magical instrument was an important matter that was equivalent to a martial artist suddenly gaining a comp
After Zachary hung up the phone with Landon, he reported the situation to Charlie immediately. Charlie, who received the call, had already arrived at Champs Elys Resort. Charlie planned to spend as much time as possible here during this period of time to prevent any emergencies because Champs Elys Resort was not far from Willow Manor, where his grandparents lived. He had asked Isaac to prepare a powerful rescue helicopter to be on standby here at all times so that the helicopter could take off directly and arrive at Willow Manor within two to three minutes once there was an emergency.Charlie was immediately in awe when he heard Zachary say that someone at the airport was willing to pay three million dollars to buy the jade ring he had prepared.Charlie knew that the person he was waiting for was finally here!He had guessed that the people from the Qing Eliminating Society would definitely come to Aurous Hill, but he did not expect that he would come so quickly!Zachary then a
Jacob zipped toward Raymond, his attitude immediately subservient, "I'm sure you've seen what Zachary Evans posted on his Twitter page, and to be honest, it's so terrible that my position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association has been affected too. I mean, you've made a lot of money, right?"Hell, even if you donated ten million, you'd still have another ten million and 970 thousand in net profits. So, all I'd like to ask is for you to post something to disclaim Zachary's post.Jacob's words left Raymond in thought.For Jacob, just being suspected of fraud would definitely be terrible. In fact, his position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association would definitely be threatened—if not dismissed altogether—if he wasn't cleared of suspicion.Since Jacob was Charlie Wade's father-in-law, Raymond had reason not to drive Jacob over the brink.But that also begged another question—it must be under Charlie's intention for Zachary to post his confession, and that meant Charlie in
Raymond couldn't help chuckling just as Jacob finished—he had honestly never heard of anyone who demanded a refund after donating to charity, but he was certainly seeing one now.Still, the receptionist was clearly experienced and slowly explained, "Sir, it's a legal clause of the country that all donations for philanthropy purposes can not be refunded under most circumstances—""It truly was a mistake," Jacob quickly said, cutting the receptionist off. "I was going to donate thirty thousand but pressed an extra zero by mistake. Please discuss this with your management—you just have to refund 27 thousand, see?""Sorry, sir," the receptionist apologized. "But it's a strict rule that we ourselves do not get to access the funds that have been donated into our accounts. Every donation will be screened extensively, and if you consider that there was a major oversight on your part, you may seek legal counsel to appeal for a refund. If the courts back your appeal, our organization will the
Nonetheless, Jacob darted into Treasure Measure and plucked off his mask, asking nervously, "Excuse me, Mr. Cole? It's me… Jacob Wilson…"Raymond looked up, pausing for a moment before acting as if he was actually curious, "Mr. Wilson! What brings you here? Don't tell me—you want that bronze sculpture back too?""No, no, no…" Jacob quickly shook his head. "I would never… I returned all the way from Dubai to apologize!""Apologize?" Raymond smiled faintly, and he did not play dumb this time as he asked bluntly, "Did you come back because of Zachary Evan's post?"Knowing he couldn't deny it any longer, Jacob nodded, "Yeah…"Raymond nodded and said calmly, "That's unnecessary. I was the one who benefited in the end."Jacob wasn't quite keeping up—thinking that Raymond was just trying to be nice by telling him he didn't have to apologize, he quickly pulled out his phone.Tapping on it and bringing up his transaction records, he handed it to Raymond reverently, "Mr. Cole, I understan
The cabbie chuckled. "You're a local yet you're heading to Antique Street right away as soon as you land instead of going home? And you're still saying you're not trying to pick up a killer bargain deal?"Come on, man—it's not just you, I want that too. We cabbies work ourselves to death only for ten thousand per month at best while our friend over there made twenty million in one night. I could keep driving cabs for the rest of my life and still not make that much money."Jacob knew that the cabbie must be talking about Raymond and became even more miserable then, grumbling unhappily, "I'm going to Antique Street for business—I'm not trying to pick up some missed bargain.""No? Then you didn't hear what happened yesterday?"The cabbie was immediately curious, and without waiting for Jacob's answer, he exclaimed happily, "Look, man—it was so ridiculous not even Hollywood would put it in their script. There were these fools who were trying to sell an antique trader a replica, but th
It was nighttime in Dubai as Jacob dragged his weary body from the hotel back to the airport.As he was flying economy this time, he was left sitting at the hard bench near the boarding terminal, waiting for it to open.While he waited, his heart was torn as he tapped into the website of the Aurous Hill Charity Fund, found their donation account, and wired the entire 300 thousand he had made over to them.He had picked the Aurous Hill Charity Fund because the circles of antique collectors in Aurous Hill were all discussing how Raymond had donated half of the 20 million he had made to that same charity fund.After Raymond skyrocketed to prominence in Antique Street and became a star, it could not be denied that people admired his profound ability.However, there were also people who envied his skill in turning the tables just as there were those who were jealous he had made twenty million in a single night.Still, Raymond moved fast—soon after word spread that he had made twenty m
Elaine quickly asked, "Well, what if you can't get it done?"Jacob was apprehensive even as he sighed. "If they really pressed the issue, guess I can't even stay at the Calligraphy and Painting Association now… We will see. If things get bad, I'll just resign. I won't ask for much right now, just as long as I don't have to go to jail."Elaine nodded. "Then you should try to reason things out with Raymond Cole or ask for Charlie's help if push comes to shove. Being humiliated is still better than prison.""Okay!"-It was nighttime at Aurous Hill by the time Elaine and Jacob arrived at their hotel.Charlie and Claire had just had dinner, and Claire pulled out her phone, saying, "I just checked my flight app, and it says my parents should have landed two hours ago. They are probably at the hotel, so I'll check in on them with a video call."She had yet to open her WhatsApp when Elaine called her on a video call.Jacob was planning to check in with Claire and Charlie to put their
Hearing what Jacob had said, Elaine became anxious and pressed him as he hung up, "What's going on? You're leaving? But we just got here! My shoes have just caught Dubai dirt, so why are we leaving so soon—"However, Jacob was wiping the sweat off his brow as he mumbled quietly, "Well, at this point, I have to leave or I won't be vice president anymore."Elaine immediately fumed. "We've been married for half our lives, and this is supposed to be our honeymoon, yet we're just leaving? I've posted about this on social media too—there are plenty of people who're waiting for more posts on our trip!"And don't forget—we spent a lot on our flight tickets and our hotels! The hotel bookings can't be refunded either!"Jacob scowled dolefully. "Well, what can we do? Why don't you stay? I'll go home and get this sorted out first….""Well, how long would that take?" Elaine asked."How should I know?" Jacob sighed, uneasy and annoyed. "Don Albert is saying I have to go back and donate the 300
"But I spent 98 thousand on that bronze sculpture!" Jacob exclaimed in agitation before he knew it. "I made 300 thousand from it, and that means my profit was 200 thousand at best, but I'm supposed to return that to him as well?! That means I'd have lost my own capital too!""I can't help you if you can't bear to part with that money, Mr. Wilson," Don Albert said quietly. "In that case, you'll just have to handle it yourself.""Wait, wait, wait!" Jacob immediately became antsy and cried out right then, "Please, Don Albert! I'll return the money! I'll return it, alright?! The entirety of my profits—202 thousand, okay? At least let me keep the money I spent, okay?""By that reasoning, Mr. Wilson, when a phone scammer is told by the cops to return the money they've made from defrauding, should he be allowed to keep the money he spent on telco charges? ""Oh, I…" Jacob was left stumped and could not come up with an answer.Don Albert then pressed on, "Mr. Wilson, I've offered a prom
"Mr. Wilson, what you boys did was truly heinous!" Don Arnold growled. "I scolded Zachary myself when I found out, and I was the one who told him to post that statement!"Jacob was shocked. "But why, Don Arnold? Are you friends with Raymond Cole?""Never met the guy," Don Arnold replied.That left Jacob even more confused. "Then why are you taking his side?""I've been doing my best to clean up my image over the past couple of years," Don Albert replied coolly. "I rarely get involved in mob business or anything illicit, and everyone in Aurous Hill knows that Zachary is my right-hand man, yet he confessed to committing such a heinous crime behind my back. What is that if not sullying my reputation?"Jacob was left reeling as he didn't expect Don Albert to be so serious, but he quickly explained, "I'm sorry. I didn't expect it to affect you so terribly… It's all Zachary's fault! I wouldn't have been aware that Raymond had returned at all, but he just had to tell me and come up with