Four p.m.
Xiao Ran and David arrived at the antique store near Rodeo Street as scheduled.
Also coming together were Elaine and Fang Yufei.
But these two beauties came here to shop, not to check out the shops.
As soon as they arrived here, they went to Rodeo Street not far away to browse the luxuriously decorated designer stores.
After they left, Xiao Ran began to look at the antique store and the surrounding environment.
This is a three-story Baroque-style building with luxurious, magnificent and dynamic exterior decoration, and many stone carvings on the walls.
Of course, both this building and the various decorations on the building are antique works.
In addition to its gorgeous appearance, the building is in a great location.
It is located in the core business district of Beverly Hills, on the corner of the street.
More than 200 meters east, across a street, is the famous Rodeo Street.
Less than four hundred meters to the north is Santa Monica Boulevard, which extends in all directions and has very convenient transportation.
Surrounding this Baroque building are various famous shops, including Armani, LV, Gucci and other luxury stores.
On this street, there are many boutiques, cafes, restaurants, bookstores, and other various shops.
Unfortunately, due to the current special situation, all restaurants and cafes are not allowed to dine in, they can only do takeout, and cannot receive customers, etc.
There are also many shops that have simply closed down, and there are only a few people on the street, making it seem quite deserted.
Some of the stores even have signs for sale, including this antique shop on the corner.
Xiao Ran quickly glanced at the surrounding situation, and then shook his head slightly.
"It can be seen that business is not easy to do now."
"Even this street next to Rodeo Street is so deserted. You can imagine the situation in other places."
David nodded and then continued:
"It's true. Over the past few months, many companies and stores have reached the edge of bankruptcy. Those who have not gone bankrupt are still struggling to survive."
"This antique store is also on the verge of bankruptcy."
At this point, David suddenly lowered his voice.
"It is said that the boss here has a large bank loan due to investment failure and is eager to repay the debt."
“Otherwise, both the property and the antique store may be confiscated by the bank and then subject to foreclosure!”
"With this special situation, you can get a good bargain."
"And this is one of the largest antique stores in Los Angeles. You might find something surprising, and you can buy this place without spending a penny."
While he was talking, the door of the antique store suddenly opened and two white men walked out of the store.
One of them, a white man in his fifties or sixties, is the owner of this antique shop, and the other is his lawyer.
The moment they saw Xiao Ran, the two white men were stunned for a moment, seemingly surprised.
Immediately afterwards, a look of surprise flashed in the eyes of the antique shop owner.
Obviously, this guy knew Xiao Ran, knew about the series of miracles he had created, and even knew about the fact that he had made eight to nine billion US dollars a few days ago.
In this guy's opinion, Xiao Ran is a real nouveau riche with plenty of money, and may be the savior who saves him from suffering.
Of course, it can also be said that he was taken advantage of.
Xiao Ran saw all this behavior of the other party.
He just laughed softly and didn't take it seriously.
He couldn't bear to be thought of as someone who was taken advantage of.
After the two parties met, they introduced each other and exchanged polite greetings.
Through each other's introduction, Xiao Ran learned.
The antique store owner's name is Davis, and his lawyer's name is Chandler.
After everyone got to know each other, they walked into the antique store together.
The first time he entered, Xiao Ran took a quick glance at the store.
Due to the transfer, there were no customers in the store, not even the clerk was there, and it was very deserted.
A lot of goods were also processed in the antique store. Some shelves were empty, but about one-third of the goods were left.
Most of these goods are products of Western culture.
These include various sculptures, paintings, metal objects, and other miscellaneous items.
There are also some items from Africa and Asia, such as African wood carvings, Chinese porcelain and so on.
These things look like antique cultural relics and works of art, but it is unknown how many of them are genuine and have certain collection value.
Like all antique shops in the business district, there are also many modern handicrafts and tourist souvenirs here.
The largest number are Hollywood-related tourist souvenirs.
But in Xiao Ran's eyes, these things have no value at all.
These gadgets only serve to fool tourists from all over the world and increase some revenue and popularity for antique shops.
Now that no tourists come to Los Angeles, no one wants these things.
Of course, this is just Xiao Ran's personal opinion.
For him, this antique shop is just a cover.
He didn't expect this antique store to make money at all, as long as he could dispose of some second-hand items of little value that he had found.
What can really help him make a lot of money are those unknown but valuable antiques and works of art, which he needs to discover with his eyes.
After quickly scanning the store, Xiao Ran asked with a smile:
"Excuse me, Davis, what do you plan to do with the remaining goods in the store? Will you transfer them together with the antique store, or will you dispose of them yourself?"
"What about the boutiques and cafes on both sides? Will they be moved or will they continue to operate?"
Davis paused and then explained a few words.
"These goods will be transferred together with the antique store and will be included in the total price. As for the value of these goods, we can sit down and discuss slowly."
"The sale and purchase does not break the lease. The leases of the boutique and cafe next door will be transferred together, but their lease terms are coming soon, so it is not a problem!"
“That’s okay, it’s quite reasonable.”
Xiao Ran nodded in response.
After a pause, Davis continued:
"Sean, what you see now is just part of the remaining goods in the store."
"There are two warehouses and a safe behind the store, as well as several rooms on the second floor, which also store a lot of goods, and they are even more valuable."
"All goods stored in these places will also be transferred together with the store."
"Please come with me. I will show you around. After understanding the situation, we can sit down and talk about the transaction."
With that said, Davis led everyone deeper into the antique store.
As he stepped out, Xiao Ran secretly activated his clairvoyance ability and began to investigate the situation deep inside the antique store and upstairs.
This was for safety reasons. If guys like Davis were playing some tricks and planned to plot against him in the store, he had to be on guard.
Because he had a concealed gun permit, Xiao Ran also took some precautions when he just left home.
At this moment, he had an HK45 pistol and several magazines stuck in his waist, just in case.
With this pistol and his clairvoyant powers, he is confident that he can deal with most dangerous situations and ensure his own safety.
Under the perspective, his sight instantly penetrated the wall and several shelves, looking into the depths of the antique store.
The depths of the antique store were very quiet, just a little dark, and not even a single person could be seen, so there was no danger.
As Davis said, there are still many goods deep in the antique store, placed on shelves.
There are many things radiating various colors, but unfortunately the brightness of the light is average, indicating that the value is not very high.
There were indeed two warehouses inside, as well as a small, sturdy vault.
The area of the warehouse and the vault are similar, about fifteen or six square meters in size.
In those two warehouses, Xiao Ran didn't find any surprises. The quality of the things stored in the warehouses was relatively average.
Although there were some real antiques and works of art inside, they couldn't impress him at this time.
After scanning the two warehouses, his line of sight penetrated into the small vault without any obstruction.
As soon as his sight penetrated here, a gorgeous color suddenly appeared in Xiao Ran's eyes.
The next moment, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes, but it passed quickly and no one noticed it.
He had not carefully admired the treasures stored in the vault, and now was not the right time.
After exploring the depths of the antique store, he took the opportunity to look at the goods on the surrounding shelves and looked at the floor diagonally above.
The next moment, his eyes went straight across the floor and saw clearly the situation in a room upstairs.
It was a Western-style study room with many so-called antique artworks in it, which were elegantly decorated.
The moment his sight penetrated into the study, Xiao Ran saw a beautiful and picturesque scenery again.
While he was downstairs, he pretended as if nothing had happened and walked deeper into the antique store while chatting with Davis.
"Davis, I see you still have a lot of goods here. Didn't you ask the auction house to come over for evaluation?"
"Among these goods, there may be valuable treasures."
"As long as you sell those treasures, wouldn't it solve your urgent need? There will be no need to transfer the store."
Davis shook his head helplessly.
"I asked people from the auction house to conduct appraisals. There were three batches before and after, and I also took away some items to prepare for public auction."
"But the money from auctioning those antiques, cultural relics and works of art can't solve my current troubles, so I can only sell this building to pay off the debt."
"And I'm getting old too. After dealing with these things, I'm ready to retire!"
After hearing this explanation, Xiao Ran could only nod in agreement.
"I see, it's nice to step back and enjoy life!"
