1048 George
Conrad was groaning from the blow. Shielding his head with both his hands, his body
curled up, he rolled on the ground.
A sluggish look remained on Merlot's face. He looked like a statue, sitting in the
warehouse wordlessly.
The owner of the warehouse company was getting nervous. He shouted, "Stop fighting,
stop fighting! F*ck, let him give me the money before beating him! Dammit, pay up!"
Li Du got his accountant to transfer five million. Then he handed over four more
hundred-dollar bills.
Li Du said to the owner, "Don't be anxious. He will definitely pay you. Otherwise, he had
better stay out of the auction industry for the rest of his life."
"He might not have that much money. It's a million and a half we're talking about," a
treasure hunter nearby gloated.
Li Du smiled, "He doesn't have it, but his father does. His father will have to cover up for
him. Otherwise, his family would lose all their resources and connections in the auction
industry."
Old Anthony had only one son, Conrad. He single-mindedly wanted to nurture his son,
bringing him up to be an outstanding treasure hunter that would take over the family
business. He had guided Conrad for many years and gave him the freedom to auction
by himself for training purposes. He had high expectations of Conrad.
Unfortunately, Old Anthony had put all his focus into his son's capability, intelligence,
procurement channels, and other technical areas. He had neglected the development of
his son's character, which led to the current situation.
Of course, it could also be that Old Anthony had never placed an emphasis on his son's
character. After all, he was infamously known himself in the treasure hunter circle. The
apple did not fall far from the tree.
It was getting late in the day. Li Du had originally wanted to go through the two
remaining warehouses the next day. However, Hans suggested that they organize the
warehouse containing the dated books. Compared to machines, old books were easier
to organize and pack.
Godzilla, Big Quinn, Brother Wolf and Big Ivan started working. Their attitude was
commendable as they got through the tasks productively. That invited envious looks
from the other treasure hunters nearby.
Lu Guan chipped in enthusiastically as well. Someone recognized him and asked,
"Brothers, are you also the moving company?"
"No, we are not."
"But you are also doing the moving work? And putting so much effort into it?" That
treasure hunter was surprised.
Lu Guan laughed, "We all love this team, and want to contribute to the best of our
ability."
The treasure hunter, envious, asked Li Du, "Li, how did you set up the team? Where did
you find all these people? They are unbelievable."
Hans answered for Li Du, "If you pay your subordinates ten thousand dollars every
month, they will definitely display enthusiasm when they do their job."
"Ten thousand dollars a month?" the treasure hunters scoffed. "Come off it!"
Godzilla shrugged after exchanging a look with the rest of the team. In fact, Li Du paid
them more than that. Counting their trip to Africa, overall, not a single person on the
team received less than fifty thousand.
Bringing boxes of books with them, they drove towards the hotel in their rented truck.
Li Du wanted to see if there were any limited-edition collections among all the comics
they had brought back. However, as the comics had all been boxed up, it was not easy
to sort them back in the hotel. Hence, he had to leave them in the boxes.
The next day, they had to return to organize and clean up warehouse number 102.
There were still some machines and watches inside.
Opening the warehouse, Hans smiled, "50,000 dollars for all these. You put a lot of
thought into punishing that bastard Conrad."
Li Du shrugged, "I did not take down this warehouse just to deal with him. Are you
saying these can't be sold off even for fifty thousand?"
Hans said, "They are fakes, nothing very valuable."
Li Du pushed the cabinet aside, revealing a few machines behind. He asked, "What if
we included those?"
Seeing the machines, Hans' eyes lit up. Running his hand over them, he said, "Strap-
cutting machine, precision machine tool, assembling machine and dial-adjustment
machine. Hey, they are not too shabby."
Li Du asked, "What's their worth?"
Hans said cheerfully, "That depends on our sales channel. However, my estimation is
that we will not make a loss. We would be able to get back our 50,000 dollars."
As they were discussing this, someone walked over hurriedly.
Brother Wolf stopped him, "Sorry, sir, this is a private warehouse."
The stranger was a middle-aged blonde man. Wearing a pair of shades and a wide
smile, he did not look threatening.
Once Brother Wolf stopped him, he took off his shades slowly and said, "I want to talk to
Mr. Li. He is here, right?"
Hearing that, Li Du stuck his head out, "Who is looking for me?"
The two of them quickly scanned each other from head to foot.
Looking at the man, Li Du frowned. He seemed familiar, as though they had already met
before. "You are?"
"George Anthony," the middle-aged man smiled. "We come from the same town. We
are both Arizona guys."
George Anthony was the father of Conrad Anthony. It was clear to Li Du now. No
wonder he seemed familiar. Conrad had his father's eyes.
Li Du imagined that the recent episode would perturb George Anthony. After all,
Conrad's losses amounted to a million and a half. However, he had not expected
George Anthony to arrive so quickly. He must have gotten here overnight.
George held out his hand, and Li Du, seeing no reason to refuse, shook it.
Shaking his hand, George did not seem angry. Instead, he smiled, "Li, I've heard all
about you. A good lad from Arizona and an outstanding treasure hunter from Flagstaff."
Li Du could not make out George's intentions and responded vaguely, "You flatter me."
George released his hand and pointed to the warehouse next to them. He said, "My son
is in there. He ran into some conflict, with you, right? I've asked him about it, and it is his
problem. I'm here to apologize to you."
Li Du thought that George was here to confront him for beating Conrad. He had been
long waiting to deal with George Anthony.
In the end, it was just the opposite of what he expected. George chatted politely and
took the initiative to apologize first. It was a sincere apology. He even mentioned that he
would teach his son a lesson and said that he hoped they could be friends.
Although Li Du agreed warmly, he did not believe George's words. If those words had
come from the great Chris Bell, Li Du would have believed them. Bell was a man of his
word and a rare gentleman.
George Anthony, on the other hand, was someone who said one thing and did another.
He was known for putting up a front.
However, George and Li Du did not get into any conflict and had a good chat. In the
end, they even exchanged contact information. It was like meeting a new friend.
Li Du apologized too. He mentioned that he had not expected all that had happened. He
had not known that number 103 warehouse carried counterfeit goods. It was only when
Conrad opened up the warehouse that he knew they were all fakes.
They were still chatting when a shout rang out from the warehouse next door. Then
someone ran over.
Li Du glanced over. Wasn't that Hans' former partner?
Merlot dashed over and shouted at George Anthony, "This is not fair! This is not fair! I'm
not the leader, I'm just his partner. Why must I fork out one million?!"
Hearing that, Li Du understood what had happened.
At the auction for warehouse number 103, Merlot and Conrad had been partners. They
were to share the cost of that bid. If they both shared an equal standing in the
partnership, they would pay equal shares and split the profits equally. Otherwise, they
were to shell out money based on their standing in the partnership.