In Lord Moore’s opinion, Charlie had always been the best candidate for the son-in-law of the Moore family.With his eighty years of life experience, he knew at a glance that Charlie was extraordinary!Charlie was the first man he recognized to possess powerful abilities that were comparable to a true dragon on earth!In addition to the wonderful effects of the Rejuvenating Pill, he was more convinced of Charlie’s ability and wanted to lean on him.Establishing a good relationship with the Webb family was nothing more than diversifying more routes to make even more money for the family.However, the Moore family was considered rich even though they were not as wealthy as the Webb family.There was not much difference between a net worth of 100 billion dollars or 200 billion dollars, it only equaled one thing—they already owned more money than they could spend.Moreover, for Lord Moore, money was no longer important. Lifespan and health were the most important of all!Therefore,
Jasmine was the best candidate as his son’s wife!Donald was a little hesitant and indecisive when he thought of it.Following Donald’s gloomy silence, the atmosphere turned into an awkward reticence.Reuben secretly punched his knuckles in dismay when he witnessed this awkward scene.If both families fought and generated an irreversible crack or in the worst-case scenario, turned against each other, it would undoubtedly be a massive blow to the Moore family!More importantly, Jasmine would be even more unlikely to marry Sean!If Jasmine didn’t marry him, his position as the future heir would be unstable!Even if he was appointed as the head of the family, Jasmine might have a part in the family’s inheritance!He was determined to not let Jasmine stay with the Moore family, and so, he would definitely oppose strongly for Jasmine to marry Charlie and let him live in their house!Therefore, he hurriedly stood up to lighten the mood and said, “Hey, Uncle Webb, Sean, today is my g
The crowd started to walk toward the banquet hall where the birthday celebration was about to begin.Lord Moore exchanged a few words with Charlie and went to sit at the main seat.Sitting next to him was his eldest son, third son, and fourth son.Among the second-generation heirs of the Moore family, Reuben’s father was the eldest son, and Jasmine’s father was the second son, but he had died young, hence, Jasmine was the only one left in this line.As for the family of the third and fourth sons, they were relatively young and their children were still in the teenage or elementary school age, thus, they were not considered in the inheritance competition.The rest of the guests sat down at their assigned tables.Charlie sat with the Quinton family, the White family, Albert, and so on.Donald and Sean were sitting with a few local families. Some of them were families who were busy buttering them up, and they surrounded the Webb family’s father and son, continuously flattering them
At this moment, he received a text from Jasmine: [Master Wade, I hope you don’t take what happened earlier personally. With the Moore family around, the Webb family will not be too presumptuous.]Charlie smiled and replied: [Of course, I don’t mind, they are nothing but a bunch of circus clowns.]Meanwhile, Donald and Sean were sitting in the VIP seats on the other side.Sean looked at Jasmine, then at Charlie, and saw that both of them were looking at their phones. When she put it down, he picked it up, and when he put it down, she picked it up again. It was obvious that they were exchanging texts.As he watched their exchange, he was even more agitated. He had added Jasmine as his Facebook friend, but she had set her profile as private!In fact, she rarely responded whenever he chatted with her.However, as he watched the frequency of her chatting with Charlie now, she was so acute and responsive, almost as though she was afraid to miss his message for even a second. She even h
Sean shivered in elation at the thought of killing Albert tonight!His father was right, Don Albert was Charlie’s firearm in Aurous Hill!If they wanted to attack Charlie, they must first remove his firearm!Not only must they remove his firearm, but they also had to turn the firearm into their own!That way, the firearm would become the bridgehead for the Webb family to march into Aurous Hill in the future!At that time, Charlie would pay the price with his own life for insulting them and tackling Sean’s girl!The Quinton family and the White family would also pay the price for not taking the Webb family’s side!Donald looked at Sean and said flatly, “You must learn to calm down and put up a poker face, don’t let your true emotions show so easily on your face and body language.”Sean quickly retracted his grin. “Okay, Dad, I understand!”“Good.” Donald nodded, putting Charlie’s matter behind him, and he asked, “Have you prepared the birthday gift for Lord Moore?”Sean nodded
After the three sons, Jasmine and Reuben walked on stage, knelt in front of Lord Moore, and presented their gifts.Oscar then announced:“The eldest grandson, Reuben Moore, presents a pair of imperial jadeite ornaments, worth 80 million.”“The eldest granddaughter, Jasmine Moore, presents a painting, The Blinding of Samson by Rembrandt, worth 70 million.”After the family finished their rounds, the guests stepped forward one after another, giving gifts.Although the guests’ gifts were not as valuable as the Moore family members’, they were also quite pricey between the range of 10 to 30 million.Next, Donald and Sean stood up. Sean held the gift carefully and walked toward Lord Moore with his father.On his way, Sean shot a scornful look at Charlie.He was about to give Lord Moore a priceless piece of authentic painting from Vermeer, it had to be the most valuable gift among all the guests!He was certain that Charlie’s gift would pale in comparison to his gift, he would know
In Sean’s opinion, he was convinced that there was nothing Charlie, the deadbeat moocher, could give to Lord Moore that was comparable to Vermeer’s painting!Thus, he concluded that he would win over Charlie big time and also become the winner in the gift-giving round who surprised the guests and impressed Lord Moore the most.After all, in Sean’s view, Charlie was just a worthless loser who had chosen to marry into his wife’s family, it was impossible for him to come out with a decent gift, so no matter what his present was, it couldn’t possibly be on par with the precious painting he had given Lord Moore!Therefore, he sneered, “Grandpa Moore, I heard that Master Wade has been lingering in the feng shui fraud for some time now, he must have accumulated a significant fortune from all the scamming he did. I bet his birthday gift to you must be a precious treasure that is worth hundreds of millions, or maybe even billions of dollars!”Then, he turned his sneer at Charlie, “The paint
Charlie smiled at him with feigned ignorance and retrieved a small wooden box from his pocket.Charlie had bought the wooden box by the street for five dollars. He had bought it because he thought it was inappropriate to put the pill directly into his pocket or wrap it with a napkin.Sean couldn’t conceal his disdain when he saw the wooden box and sneered, “D*mn, what the heck is that? Did you buy that by the street for ten dollars?”Charlie smiled. “You are half right. Yes, I bought it by the street, but it only cost me five dollars instead of ten.”Everyone gaped in shock at Charlie’s remark!Did he even take Lord Moore seriously?How could he come to Lord Moore’s birthday with a five-dollar wooden box?!Even if there was something in the box, it would be some lousy junk, right?He wouldn’t put something valuable inside such a shabby-looking box.Hence, everyone started booing at Charlie.Even Reuben covered his mouth and tutted contemptuously.Sean howled indignantly as i
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
In groups like these, any gossip would immediately spread like wildfire as people share everything here with their other circles.Within minutes of these people's good work, Antique Street was abuzz even as the skies darkened: one of the antique traders had been swindled for 300 thousand, and it was Raymond Cole—the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe at that!Some of them wondered when Raymond had actually returned while others were laughing.He was supposed to be the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe, but he had messed up as well? You had to be kidding!Many were dumbstruck too—how would Raymond survive in Antique Street after losing so much money? It had been so long since such a major scam had been pulled!As such, all the antique dealers were asking one question: how did Raymond Cole get fooled?Meanwhile, Mick didn't leak the security footage right away, instead sending his people out to spread the news in other channels, claiming that Raymond thought he had won big by
Mick had already clipped the security footage and was waiting for Zachary's word.He had checked the footage repeatedly as well and was only getting more impressed with his masterful acting by the second. He looked just like a maestro, and every detail he mentioned was flawless and showed experience.Zacahry even said that Raymond had truly slipped up with that bronze sculpture, leaving him endlessly thrilled.The proverbial missing piece of the puzzle was here!Hence, calling all the staff he trusted, he told them excitedly, "Spread the word right away—Raymond Cole slipped up, spending 300 thousand on a fake Renaissance-era bronze sculpture!"His staff had no idea of the conspiracy involved, only that Mick had said that someone had tried to sell a counterfeit bronze sculpture but he had seen through it right away and chased him away, only for Raymond to end up buying the fake bronze sculpture soon after.Someone asked, "Mr. Crane, don't you think Raymond Cole bought from the man
Raymond had said everything he should and shouldn't and with complete sincerity exactly because Billy would never believe it.As Billy just wanted to swindle him, it didn't matter how sincere Raymond was—he wanted the 300 thousand whatever it took. The key here was that Billy had refused a better prospect when told it was possible, and there was evidence that would support Raymond if either he or Zachary realized the truth and came to start trouble.That meant Raymond had nothing to worry about—they could take this to the United Nations but he'd still win this case.Having been in the antique trade for so long, he had seen every form of oddity and was always cautious with people, considering every aspect of any issue.Hence, once he downloaded the security footage to his phone, Raymond decided that he needed to sell the bronze sculpture—not because he was in urgent need of money, but because he realized that there were those who wanted him out of Aurous Hill's Antique Street.Afte