Let Sieg and the others go wait at Old Pick’s auto repair shop first, Allen Zhang chose to drive alone to Old George’s pawnshop. Passing several traffic light intersections, he reached his destination and parked the Jeep outside the door.
Pushing the door open, he saw Old George chatting with a customer, but the customer’s little girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.
Allen Zhang felt surprised and patiently waited a while. After the customer in front finished the transaction and left with money, he approached the counter.
"Customer, long time no see, finally remembered to bring me some good stuff?" Old George warmly greeted the arrival of the regular customer.
"What did that guy just sell? A painting?" Allen Zhang glanced at the rolled up white paper in a box on the counter.
Old George didn’t hide it, directly spread out the paper for Allen Zhang to see. It was a sheet of uncut greenish US Dollar test paper, with denominations of 20 and 50.
Allen Zhang was momentarily surprised. This stuff could be sold?
"Nothing much, just some uncut US Dollar test paper from the late ’70s smuggled out of the mint. That customer said he got it by trading a bottle of Vodka with a fairly close old neighbor. These things don’t really have much collectible value currently. The guy wanted to price it at 4000 US Dollars, but I could only offer him 2500 US Dollars," Old George said casually.
Using the Dragon Slayer Sword to bargain is his usual tactic, but the General Sect Leader could tell from his expression that the real situation was definitely not as simple as he described.
This test paper from the mint had various celebrities’ portraits, along with numbers and professional grading by institutions. If the person weren’t in a rush to sell, they would certainly choose to consign it at an auction house, maximizing the benefits.
This old guy has scored a bargain again, surely made a good profit.
"Where is your little girlfriend? Isn’t she here working with you?" Allen Zhang didn’t rush into the main topic, and teased, taking out an empty wine bottle from his carry-on bag.
This thing was picked up on the fly from a countryside arms deal with beef, and it had been sitting in the trunk of the Jeep ever since, without time to sell it. This was a good chance to clear it out.
Upon hearing the General Sect Leader mention his little girlfriend, Old George immediately put on a pained face and waved his hand.
"Don’t bring it up! We’ve broken up! You can’t imagine how messy her private life was! Oh my, I thought I had found true love, a pure white lotus, but it turns out I was too superficial! Who would have thought that taking her to a Huasa bank party would lead to her cheating on me with some pretty-boy celebrity, utterly infuriating!"
Old George was visibly upset, having caught them red-handed in bed.
If the other man hadn’t been a white male celebrity, he definitely would’ve considered shooting him.
Allen Zhang was instantly shocked, no wonder he hadn’t seen your little girlfriend; turns out they had broken up.
He looked somewhat pityingly at Old George, but after all, it was also a taste of younger shades for him. At his age, breaking up wasn’t a loss. Love is always , constantly breaking up and getting back together.
The other party is young, has fair skin, beauty, and long legs. If she doesn’t like your money, would she like you personally?
Wake up! Don’t you have a clue? Just secretly be happy with your gain.
Comforting him, he said: "At least you saw through her true nature early on and managed to cut your losses timely. Imagine if you had waited until you were too old to walk, lying in a hospital bed during will distribution, only then to discover her true colors, causing irreconcilable disputes with your own children, the damage would have been much greater!"
Often walking by the river, one cannot avoid getting one’s shoes wet.
Old George was briefly trapped in a tender snare, sighed, and didn’t want to mention such a heartbreaking matter anymore. He casually picked up the wine bottle, put on his glasses to take a close look, and recognized its origin.
He evaluated, "A 1787 Chateau Lafite red grape wine bottle collectible, from Thomas Jefferson’s private cellar! Oh, this is a nice item indeed!"
With some regret, he said, "It’s a shame, had it been a full bottle of wine, its value would have been at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars, but now it’s only an empty bottle, the actual price is greatly discounted, I can offer you up to 2000 US Dollars."
"3000 US Dollars, final offer."
Allen Zhang had long seen through Old George’s tactics, and he upscaled the price.
"If you want to sell it for a better price, here’s a suggestion from me: just fill the wine bottle with red wine, repack it with the manufacturer, and add an anti-counterfeit label, couldn’t it also be sold for a higher price?"
Being a merchant, for money, anything can be done, the less conscience, the more money made.
"Why didn’t I think of that?" Old George raised his eyebrow. How could you be sneakier than him?
"But that’s a deal I wouldn’t make, it could spoil the reputation, and invite trouble."
"That’s why I’m suggesting you do it," Allen Zhang smiled.
However, unexpectedly, Old George had just gone through a relationship failure, got back on his feet from the land of tenderness, severing all emotional desires and being reborn from the ashes, the edge of the Dragon Slayer Sword was even sharper than before.
The old man now only saw money in his eyes and only undertook recycling transactions, of course, he was reluctant to give up the profits.
"2500 US Dollars, I can offer you this much at most. If you don’t agree, just take it back and sell it slowly at your recycling station. Without proper channels, ordinary people certainly wouldn’t recognize its value, nor would they consider collecting it, it might not sell for half a month," Old George said.