Jacob rolled his eyes in annoyance and jeered, "Do you think money from rich families grows on trees? Working for wealthy people is just about the market price. Are you saying the janitor sweeping the floors at Apple makes a million dollars a year?" "You really have some nerve, Jacob Wilson!" Elaine scoffed and scolded. "How can you compare our sweet daughter to a janitor? So, in your eyes, Claire is on the same level as a janitor at Apple?" "That's not what I meant!" Jacob snapped and quickly explained, "What I'm saying is, even if you're working for Apple, you just earn what you're supposed to earn. Claire has done well in her field, and earning a few million a year is already pretty good. It's only been a short time since she went to the U.S. yet you're already expecting Miss Fox to pay her tens of millions? That's ridiculous!" Elaine rolled her eyes and disdainfully snarled, "Clearly, you don't understand the ways of the world. Miss Fox had Charlie help with Feng Shui multipl
Charlie dropped the formalities and said, "Thank you very much then, Miss Fox." "You're welcome, Mr. Wade," Kathleen said. "It's my honor to serve you." After reaching an agreement with Kathleen, Charlie then called Doris. Doris hadn't received a call from Charlie in a long time, so her voice was filled with excitement as she said, "Mr. Wade, what can I do for you?" Charlie replied, "Are you familiar with the situation at Sonfo Valley? I want to acquire the entire area, but I can't do it too conspicuously, so I can't offer a price that's too outrageous to avoid drawing attention. Do you think that will be difficult?" "Sonfo Valley..." Doris thought for a moment before speaking, "Sonfo Valley is an older residential area. After I took over Emgrand, I reviewed the company's previous documents. That land was actually something Emgrand considered competing for initially, but later, they gave up because the surrounding area lacked supporting infrastructure. It's located in the mou
The next morning, Charlie met up with Nanako and drove to Champs Elys together. He wanted to send Nanako to the villa halfway up the mountain so that she could concentrate on improving her control of Reiki while he himself would take the oral fluid and distribute it to all the martial arts students. At the same time, Julien had already crossed the Pacific Ocean in a private plane, getting closer and closer to Aurous Hill with only a few hours left. While Charlie was on his way, Caden said to over 400 martial arts students who were doing morning training, "Guys, I have good news for you. Master Wade will come to see you later with gifts. He will give them to you personally." The students were excited upon hearing this. Aurora, Rosalie, the Harker family members, and the members of Ten Thousand Armies all knew that Charlie had a special medicine that could enhance the cultivation of martial arts. Although Sonia wasn't familiar with this, ever since she had arrived in Oskia, she c
The people in the audience answered in unison, "Yes!" Some even said loudly, "Not only that, but it is extremely beneficial!" "Yes! The improvement is indeed very significant!" "My personal understanding of martial arts has also become much clearer!" Among the crowd, Sonia gathered the courage to say loudly, "Since coming here, cultivation has truly been twice as effective!" Charlie recognized her voice and curiously asked, "Miss Letterman, you trained under Master Howton too when you were in the United States, and it is the same here. Why does this place make you feel that way?" "I... Uh..." Sonia was taken aback as she did not expect Charlie to direct a question to her, so she stuttered nervously. "I speak only the truth and am not exaggerating. The reason I feel it is twice as effective lies mainly in three factors." With that, she paused briefly, gathered her thoughts, and continued, "The first reason is that when the Taoist Sect was in America, Master Howton was not
Albert then selected a few students to help him distribute a bottle of oral fluid to everyone. Even Caden, who had already reached the Great Perfection Realm of the Illuminating Realm, got his share. After the distribution, Charlie said, "What you're holding in your hands is a special supplement for strengthening the body and the meridians. After you take it, it will help your cultivation. If you happen to be at the critical stage of a realm breakthrough, you might be able to complete the breakthrough with this bottle of supplement." Everyone was especially excited when they heard that it was a medicine that could improve cultivation. For martial artists, the most valuable things were complete internal capabilities and supplements that could improve strength. Many martial artists spent their entire lives in arduous cultivation without ever receiving the assistance of any medicinal elixir. At times, they could feel that they were just one step away from breaking through to the nex
At one point, Sonia thought about summoning the courage to go to Charlie and beg him for mercy. But upon the thought of her previous arrogance and outrageous remarks, she resisted the urge. Thus, she became even more depressed and sat cross-legged, staring at the floor. Charlie only needed a glance to notice Sonia's dejection. After all, in a crowd of people cheering excitedly, she sat there silently, looking completely out of place. Charlie knew very well that Sonia's frustration was undoubtedly because he had sealed her meridians. On her own, she no longer had the possibility of further advancement. Recalling her earlier disrespectful remarks, he chalked it up to the personality of a young martial arts fanatic. It wasn't that Charlie was petty or unwilling to let go of past grievances, but the key issue was that he had already opened all of her meridians in one go. If he were to seal them back up, she would instantly become a master at the Great Perfection Realm of Illu
Before Sonia could fully understand the meaning behind Charlie's words, he had already reached out and gently tapped her shoulder. In that instant, Sonia felt her previously sealed sixth meridian completely open! Her cultivation immediately broke through into the six-star warrior rank. Every advancement in a small realm brought a refreshing feeling, and Sonia clearly sensed the changes within herself. She was instantly overwhelmed with excitement, unable to control her tears of joy. Just a few minutes ago, she was feeling frustrated and desperate about her future cultivation, but Charlie had so generously opened her sixth meridian for her. To be clear, even if Charlie hadn't sealed her three meridians, she still wouldn't have reached the stage of breakthrough to a six-star warrior yet. Even though she was in the late stages of becoming a five-star warrior, it would have taken at least a few more years to make a breakthrough. What Charlie did not only removed the shackles on
At ten o'clock in the morning, a private jet converted from a Boeing 747-8 landed at Aurous Airport. Once Julien, heir of the Rothschild family, and his entourage had arrived, customs clearance was completed as quickly as possible. The family's staff stationed in Oskia had been waiting for his arrival. Although it was unknown when Julien would be in power, for them, he was the second-in-command of the family, so they treated him with great respect. As Julien left the airport, a Cadillac convoy was parked outside. These vehicles were all ordered by the Rothschild family from the United States, featuring the same models as those used by the president. Although they didn't appear as extravagant and luxurious as Rolls-Royce cars, each of these vehicles costs much more than a Rolls-Royce Phantom. In fact, the old money families had already abandoned Rolls-Royce a long time ago. Nowadays, Rolls-Royce wonders were more often young second-generation rich individuals or those who su
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!