pjbooks Chapter 102 The Deal, the Date, and the Boxing Match
Chapter 102 The Deal, the Date, and the Boxing Match
Chapter 102 The Deal, the Date, and the Boxing Match
"Great, here's my business card." Seeing that Ma Jie was interested in participating, Grace took out her business card case, took one out, and handed it to him: "Hurry up and organize your personal information and resume, and send them to my email. I'll contact you for an interview in a few days. If you know any other homeless people, you can also recommend them to me."
"The latest season of 'Store Treasure Hunt King' adopts a team free-for-all mode, with many teams from different social classes competing on the same stage. It will also be broadcast live simultaneously on TikTokLive and YouTubeLive."
"OK, I'll send it to you as soon as possible."
Ma Jieke felt that how much money he could make was secondary; the key was that the opportunity was rare.
Putting everything else aside, you can at least make some useful connections, right?
Moreover, everyone else is a blind player, but I am an open player. I can show off however I want and attract a wave of brainless fans, right?
Seeing that the two had reached a preliminary agreement, old William urged, "My dear niece, let's focus on the business at hand first. You can discuss the show participation privately."
He pushed the jewelry box in front of her, and she picked it up and opened it. Upon seeing the jade brooch inside, she immediately took off the sunglasses that were obscuring her vision, revealing a pair of almond-shaped eyes covered with false eyelashes.
After examining it repeatedly for half a minute, he said with great certainty, "That's right, Uncle. It's pretty much what you said on the phone. It's an antique Italian jewelry piece. The only pity is that it's unsigned, which will significantly reduce its value. If it were designed by a master designer from that era, it would definitely be an auction-quality collectible."
After Grace gave her advice, Versailles sighed, "Oh, I was thinking of collecting these, but unfortunately I already have many similar items."
"Are you sure?" Old William wanted to be extra careful with such an expensive item, which is why he asked his niece, who was quite knowledgeable in this field, to come.
"I'm sure." Grace nodded. "I've been collecting jewelry for almost ten years. If this piece is fake, then all the pieces in my display case at home are fake."
"Alright." After double confirmation and repeated confirmation, old William finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ma Jie with a smile: "Kid, I have to admire you. Your eye for antiques is better than many experts. How much you paid for this is none of my business, and I don't care. But now that it's here, the most I can give you is five thousand US dollars."
Upon hearing this quote, Ma Jieke chuckled: "Old buddy, that's not how you joke. You and I both know it's worth far more than what you're saying."
"That's right." Old William's smile faded slightly. "But kid, there's one thing you shouldn't forget: for such expensive jewelry, do you have proof of purchase? Do you have a certificate of authenticity from a professional institution? Or, to put it another way, do you have any transaction records? Whether it's a handwritten receipt or a bank transfer."
Damn it! You old bastard, aren't you just making things difficult for me, Fat Tiger? I just praised you for being honest, and it seems I wasted my breath, didn't I?
That one cut cost two thousand dollars. Anyone would feel the pain; it's no different than having a piece of flesh ripped off.
However, Ma Jieke also knew that this item was brought out from the dungeon. If you replaced it with a completely unfamiliar guy, he might not dare to buy it.
So, it's better to negotiate a lower price than to have the item stuck with a bad deal.
"Alright, that's enough." Having figured this out, Ma Jieke began to bargain: "How about six thousand three hundred US dollars? What you'll gain isn't just this brooch, but also a long-term and stable cooperation opportunity."
"Kid, the future is the future, and the present is the present. Let's talk about one thing at a time."
Old William was clearly not buying his rhetoric, but he still backed down: "Fine, as a loyal customer, I'll give you another two hundred."
"Six thousand is fine, for good luck."
"What kind of good luck is this? Do you think I don't know anything, kid? 6 is your lucky number, we Americans only like 7."
He is right. In Western culture, 7 is considered a sacred number.
God created the world in seven days and designated the seventh day as the Sabbath.
Many people choose to get married on July 7th, as it is considered an auspicious day in the United States.
The same applies to the business world: a seven-tiered birthday cake, $777 worth of merchandise, and even the winning screen of a slot machine features three sevens.
"How about five thousand seven hundred?" Ma Jie continued to probe, after all, going into the dungeon was quite dangerous, and the loot he had brought out with great difficulty could not be sold too cheaply.
"Stop dawdling, kid. You know I don't like haggling."
"Nobody turns down money," Ma Jieke insisted.
"Alright." Old William hesitated for a few seconds, then said helplessly, "Five thousand four hundred, this is the final offer. Any more and I really won't make any profit."
"Deal." After much negotiation, Ma Jieke readily accepted.
It's good enough if we can sell them; what more could we ask for? After all, the cost is only 50 yuan.
Just like last time, the old man first put the items away, and then turned on the cash register.
He laid out the money bills one by one on the glass counter, the whole process taking no time, and he even had a look of rapt enjoyment on his face.
Ma Jieke watched his performance quietly, not understanding the meaning behind his ritualistic behavior.
Finally, all the money that had been laid out was shuffled like a deck of cards, elegantly gathered into a stack, and presented with both hands.
Ma Jie took the items and carefully counted them, confirming that there were no more or fewer than expected. He then shook hands with old William and said goodbye.
"I'm leaving now, Jack. Remember to contact me."
Outside the door, Grace got into her extraordinary, glamorous chauffeur and, accompanied by the roar of a powerful engine, merged into the traffic.
"This car must be very expensive, right?" Valentina looked at the red phantom with envy.
This woman, exuding an air of wealth and elegance, looked to be only in her early thirties, yet she had already achieved tremendous success in the worldly realm. "Not bad," Ma Jieke said with a hint of envy, "only about a million."
"My God, I can't even imagine."
"Get in, silly girl." Jumping into the $8000 pickup truck, the man couldn't help but sigh, "Instead of just envying others, I'll go home and weave my own net. We'll see. One day, I'll fill my garage with all sorts of top-of-the-line luxury cars."
Listening to his grand ambitions, Valentina couldn't help but laugh and say, "You mean in the game, right?"
"Haha, how did you know?"
The two smiled at each other, and Ma Jie took out the payment, counted out 2700 yuan, and handed it to her: "It's yours."
"Huh?" Faced with so much money, her voice became tense: "Wh...what do you mean?"
"It's a profit-sharing arrangement, as agreed beforehand. If we lose money, it's yours; if we make money, we split it 50/50."
Seeing her stunned expression, Ma Jieke had no choice but to explain, "I bought it from a child for $50, using the money you gave me."
"But..." she seemed hesitant to speak. $2700, what does that mean? Including what she earned from opening the Lego box, her earnings reached over $3200.
This money, combined with the money he earned from selling scrap and the advance on his salary, was enough not only to pay off his debts but also to leave him with a surplus of several hundred dollars.
"Take it, that's how the game is." Seeing that she didn't dare to reach out, Ma Jie simply stuffed it into her hand, and smiled helplessly: "Actually, I also regret it. Why did I promise you such rules? But I'm a man of my word, and I never break my promises to my friends."
Holding the life-saving money, Valentina's feelings were complicated, and she had no idea how to express her gratitude.
The United States is a credit society, where everyone has a credit score similar to Sesame Credit.
When your score is too low, it will be difficult for you to do anything, and the first thing that will happen is applying for a job.
All talent and ability are worthless in the face of dishonesty.
If you can't find a job, you have no income; without income, you can't repay your student loans; if you default on your loans, your credit score will drop even lower, and your life will fall into a vicious cycle.
Thinking of these serious consequences, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat, forcing back her tears, her head almost buried in the valley: "Thank you, Jack, really, thank you for helping me through this difficult time. Without you, I really don't know what I would have done—"
"Are you just going to express your gratitude with words?" Fearing that her emotions would build up and she would burst into tears, Ma Jie quickly interrupted, "If I were you, I would first treat him to a big meal, then buy him two movie tickets, and finally, when the movie ended, I would hold his hand tenderly and tell him that I wanted to repay him with my body."
"Ugh, why are you always so glib?" Valentina was amused by the second half of the sentence: "Okay, okay, I won't banter with you anymore. Tell me, what do you want to eat? It's on me."
"Boston lobster, king crab, Wellington steak, black truffles, and caviar..."
Listening to him rattle off the menu, Valentina crossed her arms and said, "You might as well just eat me. I've only ever seen these things on TV."
"Just kidding, it's just a chain fast food restaurant, as long as it fills up, it's fine."
Ma Jieke knew very well that this girl didn't have much money and shouldn't go to high-end places.
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled mysteriously: "How about Wendy's? Let's go to the one where we first met. I want to relive that moment."
"No, is there any need to relive that tragic scene?" Ma Jieke couldn't help but complain, "That will be a stain that accompanies me for the rest of my life."
"But you can go if you want; guests should follow the host's lead."
Ma Jieke doesn't care where he goes. When it comes to eating, the most important thing is not where you eat, but who you eat with.
What followed was quite routine: young men and women going out for meals, dates, and movies—it was all standard procedure, no matter where they were.
By the time I drove her back to campus, it was almost dark.
Before getting off the bus, Valentina took out the hand-woven Eye of God and insisted on giving it to him as a gift.
Despite Ma Jie's persuasive words, he ultimately failed to win her over, and she voluntarily hung it behind the windshield as interior decoration.
"Hey, why would you do something so expensive?"
"Hmph, I'd love to." She smiled smugly. "This was hand-knitted by my mother; it's sure to bring you good luck."
"Yes, Miss Angel, I shall comply."
"Hey, look over there—"
"What?" Just as Ma Jie turned his face to the window, someone secretly kissed his other cheek.
It felt tingly and numb, like an electric shock.
When I turned around, the girl had already opened the car door, her face flushed.
"I'm leaving now. Drive carefully. See you later, bye." Okay, see you.
"
Watching her run briskly towards school, she was a completely different person compared to her preoccupied appearance yesterday.
Will she start relying on me from now on? Foreign girls are so bold; they never hide their feelings for the opposite sex.
And so, a beautiful day came to an end. Facing the magnificent sunset on the horizon, we drove back to base camp.
As soon as they entered the camp, Max stopped them from a great distance.
Beside her stood her old acquaintance, Sawa, who looked hesitant and awkward, as if he had something to say but dared not.
Max, on the other hand, was not at all distant. She came up and hugged his arm affectionately: "Jack, I want to talk to you about something."
"You'd better just say it directly, this is making me feel a bit uncomfortable."
"Screw you, forget it, I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore. Sawa told me someone offered you a high price to fight in a boxing match, are you going or not?"
"High price?" Hearing this word, he immediately became interested: "How high?"
The reason is that on the way back, I roughly calculated my current savings, which is about ten thousand US dollars.
This amount of money might not be enough to participate in the "Warehouse Treasure Hunt King" competition.
After all, he had seen clips of that program before. A private storage unit costs at least six or seven hundred US dollars, and sometimes as much as two or three thousand US dollars. He even saw it auctioned off for five thousand US dollars at one point.
Therefore, to maximize profits, you must raise more capital before participating in the program recording.
"Just like last time, you'll be facing three opponents in a row." Seeing that Ma Jie was interested in participating, Sawa quickly said, "The sponsor is Mr. Tang, who gave you the big rocket gift last time. If you can beat the game, you can get $30,000 in one go. Even if you lose, you'll still get $10,000. How about it, are you in?"