After reaching a consensus, all of them began to draw their tiles again.After Elaine finished drawing her tiles, she flipped her tiles around and almost screamed out in excitement as soon as she straightened her tiles!Her tiles were perfect!The so-called ‘Heavenly Hand’ meant that they could win as soon as they drew their tiles!She had to have so much good luck to be able to draw such good tiles!Besides that, the tiles that she drew were really very good. She had a pair of seven to eighty thousand, and this would mean that she would be able to win with a sixty or ninety thousand.Generally speaking, as long as the ten thousand and ninety thousand were in someone else’s hands, she would not be able to win. That meant that from this moment onward, as long as someone discarded a ninety thousand dollars, Elaine would win the game immediately!Under this kind of circumstances, she would be able to win at the highest multiplier!As she thought about this, Elaine excitedly arrang
”I win!” Linda yelled excitedly as she pushed all of her tiles down suddenly! “I have fifty-eight thousand, all in one suit, a Concealed Hand, and a Concealed Kong! This is a multiplier of forty-eight, and that means I win four hundred and eighty thousand dollars! Sorry, Sister Elaine!”Elaine felt as though she had just fallen into an ice cellar!Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars just because she discarded one tile?She had just won three hundred thousand dollars after such a long time, and she was already giving up all of her winnings just like that. She even had to top up another one hundred over thousand dollars to make up for the losses…That was more than a hundred thousand dollars!Elaine felt very uncomfortable, and she felt as though she was breaking apart mentally.Hannah hurriedly persuaded her, “Oh! Elaine, it cannot be possible for you to win every game anyway! You have already won so many games. It does not matter if you lose one game. You will get back all o
Even though Hannah was trying to stabilize Elaine’s mentality and emotions, Elaine’s mentality had already collapsed at this point!To put it bluntly, she did have some skills when it came to playing mahjong. However, the biggest problem was that she could not change the tiles that she drew. There was nothing she could do if she had a bad hand. At this time, all of her emotions were openly displayed on her face.For instance, she could be very excited for a very long time if she won, but when she lost, she could not help but wait to eat the other person alive!She had won so many games earlier, but she had only won about three hundred thousand dollars. However, she had lost so much money after losing two big games. This naturally made her feel very uncomfortable. Not only did she lose the three hundred thousand dollars she had won, but she also lost more than two million dollars! This was literally half of her life savings!Elaine had not earned much money for herself in this life,
This set of tiles was another Heavenly Hand. She could win with two North Winds and a red tile.Most importantly, if she could get a North Wind tile, she would be able to get East, South, West, and North Wind. She would be able to win a big four!Winning with a big four was one of the biggest multipliers!If she could touch a North Wind, she would be able to win her two million dollars back!As she thought about it, Elaine really wanted to yell in excitement as she wanted to get a North Wind tile.She felt that the North Wind tile or the red tile would usually be of little use to anyone. Therefore, an average person would usually discard these tiles when they have it. So, even if she could not draw the tile on her own, someone would definitely discard one of these tiles.Little did she know, these tiles that she had were already a dead-end!The North Wind and the red tile that she needed were already in Gianna’s hand. That was to say, like her previous Heavenly Hand, the set in
Elaine had completely fallen into a pit. She did not realize that she had already fallen into a trap. All she could think about was how she could win her money back.Therefore, Elaine got very nervous when she heard that Linda did not want to continue playing anymore. At this time, she blurted out immediately, “How can we stop playing just because you want to stop playing now?! We already agreed to play another eight rounds! We have only played three rounds now!”Linda replied helplessly, “Sister Elaine, it’s not that I do not want to play with you anymore. However, the point is that you do not have the money to play with us anymore!”After she was done speaking, Linda said, “Why don’t we take a step back instead? Why don’t you settle this account first and then, we can play a smaller game? I will still accompany you to play even if it is a one thousand dollars or one hundred dollars game. Will that be fine?”“One thousand dollars? One hundred dollars?” Elaine blurted out anxiously
Elaine secretly made up her mind to earn back all of her money and make more profits this time!She gave everything that she had to continue playing the game.However, she would never have expected to lose the one million three hundred and twenty thousand dollars in just half an hour!Elaine was completely bewildered at this time. She was very unwilling to stop playing after losing all her money, and she quickly said, “Come, come, let’s play another round!”Linda said, “Sister Elaine, you don’t have any more money now. So, how are you going to pay us if you lose after we continue playing?”“I…”Elaine did not know how she should answer her question.She had completely exhausted everything she had.She had already used up all of her savings, and she had even mortgaged the only house occupied by her entire family.She did not have anything else she could mortgage anymore.However, Linda had sharp eyes, and she could recognize the value of the jade bracelet on Elaine’s wrist at
Hannah already knew that Zeke was the one who had given Charlie the villa at Thompson First.Therefore, she knew that she would have to push Elaine to the limit if she wanted to win the villa at Thompson First over from Elaine.Hannah knew that Charlie would not sit back and watch idly if Elaine did something so unreasonable.At that time, she would finally have the opportunity to take over the villa.Therefore, Hannah told Elaine, “You have already lost so much money. I think that it will be very difficult for you to win back all your money if we continue betting only ten thousand dollars. Why don’t we raise the bet instead? How about fifty thousand dollars? Anyway, you have enough money to cover your losses with the villa, but if you win, you can easily win back all your money in just two games!”Elaine had already lost all of her reasoning at this point, and she simply wanted to win all of her money back. Upon hearing this, Elaine immediately nodded in agreement as she blurted
In fact, these five million dollars was made up of Elaine’s two over million dollars, including the two million dollars that Hannah had put in as bait. Linda was simply repeatedly lending the same five million dollars that Elaine kept taking and losing back to her. After a whole night, the fifty million dollars that Elaine got from mortgaging the villa was already lost.At this time, Linda told Elaine, “Sister Elaine, I am sorry, but it seems as though you have already used up the fifty million dollars that you got from the mortgage.”Elaine felt as though she was going insane, and she blurted out immediately, “My villa is worth more than one hundred million dollars! You cannot simply take a mortgage from me for just fifty million dollars! You should give me another fifty million dollars for it!”“I am sorry.” Linda smiled slightly before she said, “We have already signed a mortgage contract, and everything is written in black and white. You were the one who agreed to mortgage the v
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!
Soon, the video of Mick's staged act was uploaded to the online group, and everyone eagerly watched it as soon as it was done uploading.Mick certainly set a new bar with his acting as none of them could see that it was an act.Moreover, everyone could see that the bronze sculpture looked like the real deal, and they might have been swindled if it were them.As such, they couldn't help being impressed as Mick had easily seen through Billy's con, and he was the definition of a pro in that video.No matter how Billy had packaged it, there was no tricking real experts like Mick Crane. Just a quick glance and he had seen through that it was a postmodern replica, matched with a base from the Renaissance era to misdirect and beguile.With that, many fellow antique dealers changed their opinion of Mick.After all, Vintage Deluxe's business had been declining after Mick took over as manager, and people were presuming that his skills were lacking.But now, they were all shown that he had
"Amazing, Mr. Crane!""It's Mr. Crane who shines through, in the end! His eyes see through everything!""I guess Miss Moore made the right choice firing Raymond and appointing Mr. Crane! Mr. Crane is infinitely better!"Mick was immediately thrilled to see them fawning over him, and he laughed, "You flatter me—I'm merely sharing my personal perspective on this. In this trade, anyone who knows would understand how hard it is to get the good stuff in this age of technology.""There are plenty of people who hold ulterior motives and change their tactics knowing that there are always those scheming to get their hands on vintage treasures, so they just have to make it. That is how they started making counterfeits of everything, from scrolls to sculptures to statues, each of them so real just to trick those fools who think they could get rich overnight!""Exactly!" Someone promptly agreed. "There's never a lack of any such fools, and I just happened to meet one. I had this piece of jade