Bab 11: Who's the Idiot
February fifth the clouds finally dispersed, leaving behind the brilliant sun.
After the freezing winter, the sky over Flagstaff appeared to be especially clear. Li Du raised his head to enjoy the blue sky and felt refreshed and lighthearted.
As the sunshine bathed the earth, a new sense of warmth swept over everyone. "Very nice, spring is here." Hans blew some warm air into his hands and said, "Big Fox's spring should also be coming soon!"
"Spring is here, so is your mating season here as well?" a coarse voice asked from behind them, followed by a bunch of chuckles. "Because if that's the case, then the female cats and dogs in Flagstaff are truly going to face a disaster."
Li Du also found this joke amusing, and wanted to join in on mocking Hans, but he knew this was not the right time. In front of other people, Li Du was Hans's ally.
All his amusement disappeared in the next moment as the rough voice continued, "Oh, you also enjoy little yellow dogs? You've got quite the taste."
Knowing that this was a sarcastic comment about his skin color, Li Du immediately frowned.
There were quite a lot people in America who were racist, but as the laws were very strict about these types of behaviors, those people could often only voice their opinions through rude behavior and degrading comments.
Hans angrily turned around and looked at a big fat man whose hair was slicked back. "Rambis, looks like your mouth is still as big as ever. How about this: I'll use the profit from getting that motorcycle today to help you pay for a lip reduction surgery in Thailand."
Li Du nodded at Rambis and added, "No need to thank him. You know, Hans is very generous. "
Accompanying Rambis were two tall and muscular men, both of whom stood over seven feet. They looked as rough and dumb as two black bears.
Hearing Li Du's comment, one of them venomously spat back, "There's no space for your comment here, little girl!"
"Barry, stop pretending to be tough," Hans replied while shoving the guy back. "You are just the follower of that wimp. Grow a pair of balls!"
"In China, there's a saying that real men don't wear earrings," Li Du continued, "so if we follow Chauncey Billups's reverse reasoning, then that also means those who wear earrings are not real men, only pink-loving little girls."
"Don't you start the fight!"
"F*ck you!"
"I want to snap the neck of this yellow wimp!"
"Come on, try it! We would love to have one less competitor," Hans taunted.
Li Du wasn't scared either. Recently, he had been trying to catch up on the rules of public storage auctions. He knew that in these places, anyone who fought would be kicked out.
"Let's see how much longer you can keep this up, poor bastard." Rambis pointed his finger at Hans's chest as he walked away, saying, "with me here today, don't even think about getting a single unit!"
Hans replied by simply raising his middle finger.
This auction would begin at eight and was scheduled to end before noon.
Li Du looked around. He realized that despite fewer units, this auction was much more crowded than the previous one. He estimated that there were roughly seventy to eighty people.
"There were mostly Flagstaff's treasure hunters last time. This time, the Harley is much more enticing, so the hunters from the nearby towns are also here today," Hans explained as an answer to his questioning gaze.
"Then where is that Rambis from?"
"That bast*rd is from Phoenix; he's egotistic, arrogant, ignorant, and idiotic. There's no need to care about him." Hans ground his teeth in anger. "But that guy has a very grisly brother-in-law that we should watch out for."
The auctioneer was still that old cowboy from the storage auction for the Smith company. Li Du recalled what happened with him last time, and found that even the opening speech was the same:
"Everyone-line-up-we-are-going-to-start-I'll-skip-the-rules-so-those-who-don't-know-them-can-just-leave!"
Once the door of the first storage unit was opened, the treasure hunters started their investigation.
In the first unit, there were the two Yamahas. Li Du knew that the engines had been removed which made both motorcycles worthless. However, with over half of their bodies being covered by canvas, from the surface it looked like they were in perfect conditions.
Hans was thrilled at the glimpse of the two motorcycles. "Hey, this is a Yamaha Road-Star and a Yamaha Aero! These two models are quite nice. How about we bid on this unit?"
"No, don't bid for this." Li Du shook his head.
"Why not? We will probably profit from this one!"
"This isn't our goal, Big Fox," Li Du firmly disagreed. "We have one goal and only one goal, and that is the Harley. Forget about everything else."
Everyone saw the two Yamahas. Hans appraised them to be around 5,000 dollars combined.
Following the investment guideline for storage auctions—which was to pay at most half of the money the items could sell for—the unit should be worth somewhere around 2,500 dollars.
After the exhibition, the bidding started. "One hundred one hundred dollars is the starting price! Is there anyone who's willing to bid two hundred two hundred dollars…"
"One thousand dollars!" someone shouted, bumping up the price. As Li Du turned towards the voice, he saw Rambis's smug smirk.
"Very well, this sunglasses-wearing gentleman has raised the price to one thousand dollars! One thousand! Anyone bidding One thousand one hundred? Anyone?" the auctioneer asked as he pointed towards Rambis.
"Yes!"
Bid after bid, the price soon rose to 1,500 dollars.
Hans also wanted to offer a bid; Li Du firmly shook his head. At this moment, Rambis came to their side with a sneer. "Are you not going to give an offer?"
"I guess that they don't have any money," one of Rambis's follower said.
"If you don't have any money, then you should just go home. Why did you even come here? Are you lusting after others' wealth?" the other follower rudely added.
"Big Fox, look at you! Like a starving dog, a stupid one drooling at a bone that doesn't belong to you. Look at how great this storage unit is. What are you waiting for? Hesitation is not in your personality." Rambis shook his head at Hans, and then raised his hand, shouting, "Two thousand dollars!"
The auctioneer pointed towards him, "The price has just skyrocketed to two thousand dollars. Two thousand dollars, now…"
"Two thousand five hundred!" Hans immediately snapped.
Li Du glanced in a panic towards Hans. Hans shook his head while lowering his voice, whispering, "By the wisdom of your great Chairman Mao, don't say anything. Trust me."
"Three thousand!" Rambis spat dismissively, raising the price again without even hesitating.
Hans shrugged said, "Look, who's the stupid dog now? If someone throws out bait, the mutt not only chases after it but does so with fervor." Hans paced away with his hands clasped behind his back.
The second storage unit also had signs of various motorcycle parts, making the bidding just as competitive. In the end, Rambis was able to win this storage as well for the price of 2,800 dollars.
At the third storage unit, the presence of a motorcycle was again apparent, but Rambis had become quiet. After all, he wasn't a millionaire; all the money that he brought with him was almost gone.
This time, the price started a bit lower, and the unit was eventually sold at 2,500 dollars. When it came to the fourth storage unit, the price dropped even further, and it was sold at 2,000 dollars.
At the last storage, Li Du gave Big Fox a look that said, "This one!"
Unlike the previous four storage units, there weren't any signs of motorcycle parts that could be seen from the outside; the starting price for this was the lowest.
"Four hundred, four hundred, four hundred dollars! This is the last unit, and as we all know we leave the best for last. Anyone going to bid four hundred?"
"Five hundred!" Hans said as he rose his hand.
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone