Mark is a thrift store owner in Los Angeles. He makes a lot of money by buying low and selling high.
But what he likes most is participating in various auctions at the Los Angeles Airport, especially the blind box suitcases. The excitement gives him a surge of adrenaline and he can make a little money at the same time.
The man with the slicked-back hair is called Billy. He used to work in advertising. After making his first pot of gold by picking up leaks, he bought an antique store in Los Angeles.
For this reason, I paid someone to look after the store, but I went to the airport to pick up the leaks.
Before each auction at the Los Angeles International Airport blind box auction begins, treasure hunters have an hour of observation time.
If you see something you like, you can register by yourself first, and then compete with your peers when the bidding time comes.
Various electronic products are generally sold independently, while jewelry can be packaged and taken away. It is considered a semi-open blind box. Whether you can get something good basically depends on luck.
When observing before the auction, Mark noticed this leather luggage bag.
There was a mechanical combination lock on the suitcase. He pinched a box-like object through the leather, and from this he judged that the suitcase could be given a try.
Of course, there is a certain element of gambling involved.
If the bet is right, the bicycle will become a motorcycle.
"Four hundred and fifty dollars, is there anyone who offers a higher price?"
At the auction site, the host still shouted enthusiastically.
Mark gritted his teeth and gave Billy a look. When he checked the bag before, Billy was right next to him. Maybe the old guy saw something.
"Hahaha~!" Facing Mark's murderous eyes, Old Billy, instead of being angry, laughed.
They are old rivals, and they have raised each other's prices not once or twice.
"Five hundred dollars!" Mark reluctantly quoted the price while trying to suppress his anger.
"Okay, five hundred dollars. No. 134 bids five hundred dollars. Is there anyone who offers a higher price?"
The host in charge of the auction gets a commission. The higher the auction price, the more commission he gets. Naturally, he hopes that the bids from these people will be as high as possible.
After a short silence, it was Tang Songyuan's turn to speak. He held up the sign and spoke in broken English with a Shuzhou accent:
"Five hundred and ten dollars!"
Perhaps because of the special accent, more than a hundred treasure hunters at the scene turned around to see who was so disrespectful to Mark.
After seeing the same oriental face, they showed sarcastic, mocking and joking expressions.
Mark was even more furious. Billy just raised the price with him. Where did this oriental guy from China come from?
"Neon Man?" Mark asked tentatively.
"Chinese!"
This time, Tang, Song and Yuan's accent was extremely standard, and he responded in a loud and clear tone.
Mark, who was wearing a peaked cap and a mustache, pulled up the left corner of his mouth a few times, showing a disdainful face. He turned to look at the host and raised his sign and said:
"Six hundred dollars!"
Tang Songyuan, who had his X-ray vision turned on, happened to see his disdainful expression.
This guy said he was a neon man, which made him a little unhappy.
I am an upright descendant of the Yan and Huang Dynasties, you compare me with the Japanese?
Now I still have this look of contempt.
He snorted coldly and followed up with the quote: "Seven hundred dollars!"
He looked at Mark without showing any signs of weakness, with an expression that said he would do anything if he refused, and his eyes were full of provocation.
He was determined to get this suitcase, even if he spent all the more than 10,000 US dollars in cash on him.
With the emergence of new offers from the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, there was also a commotion among the treasure hunters at the scene.
This ordinary luggage bag has neither the logo of a big brand nor the traces of handcrafting by a master. Why is it worth seven hundred dollars?
Billy looked gloating, and he felt extremely happy when he saw Mark deflated.
The two brothers Yuri Jin and Keith Jin frowned, wondering whether or not to intervene, or when to intervene.
"Brother, those two people we met in Franco's store just now, are they under Franco's guidance?"
"No, brother, listen to me this time, more than seven hundred US dollars is not a small amount..."
The host also shouted excitedly: "No. 188 bids seven hundred dollars, No. 134 Mr. Mark, we are old friends, can you offer a higher price?"
Mark was already angry, but after the host's provocation by naming names, he immediately became angry.
He held up the sign again and called out the price: "Seven hundred and fifty dollars!"
"Eight hundred dollars!" Tang Songyuan followed immediately, quite tit for tat.
"Eight hundred and fifty US dollars!" Mark's teeth were almost broken. He thought to himself that if there was no item worth more than eight hundred and fifty US dollars in the box, he would personally take the chainsaw and give the suitcase to Huo Huo.
"Nine hundred dollars!"
Tang Songyuan stood up, raised the sign and shouted loudly.
He looked in Mark's direction, his eyes full of sarcasm, ridicule and teasing.
"Ha~!" Mark looked back at him, but finally chose to give up.
The host tried to stir things up again, but Mark never made another bid.
After asking the price three times, it was announced that the bag belonged to the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Tang Songyuan was extremely happy when his goal was achieved.
He was thinking about whether he should open the bag on the spot, take out the Patek Philippe watch, and stimulate Mark the Mustache.
Guaranteed to make him explode in anger.
But in the end, he chose to keep a low profile and planned to take back Franco Lee's antique store and open it again. If appropriate, he would ship the goods directly from Franco's place.
Tang Songyuan was not interested in the remaining suitcases, so he took Lu Qingliu out of his seat and went to complete the handover with the auction assistant.
A total of US$1,250 in cash was spent in exchange for two suitcases.
When he was about to leave the auction site, the two fat and black brothers came over and hurriedly stopped him.
"Hey bro, we just met at Franco's store!"
Yuri Jin grinned, showing his big white teeth and said hello.
To be honest, Tang Songyuan did not discriminate against skin color, he just rejected the kind that wandered around the country.
"Hey there, nice to meet you!"
Tang Songyuan responded politely.
"My name is Yuri Jin, and this is my brother Keith Jin," Yuri introduced himself and then said, "We have also been unhappy with Mark for a long time. You did a great job today!"
"hehe!"
Tang Songyuan smiled perfunctorily. In fact, he didn't understand much, so he looked at Lu Qingliu for help, and the latter automatically acted as his translator.
He replied: "I just didn't like that he said I was a neon person at first, otherwise I wouldn't be serious with him."
"What a great idea," Yuri praised.
Then he changed his subject and said: "Tomorrow morning, there will be a batch of expired warehouses on Santa Monica Street that need to be auctioned. Are you interested in this?"
