pjbooks Chapter 220 Look, he still has to thank us.
Chapter 220 Look, he still has to thank us.
Chapter 220 Look, he still has to thank us.
After confirming the information, Ma Jie naturally looked away without any change in expression.
There are essentially two scenarios right now.
First, the stall owner didn't know the true value of the jacket and mixed it in with other clothes.
Secondly, the stall owner knows its value and that's why it's displayed here for sale.
Objectively speaking, the second scenario is unlikely to occur, because such an expensive, limited-edition jacket should at least be stored away. Even if it must be displayed, it should at least be covered with a transparent plastic film, right?
Who would just hang their clothes on a hanger like that, risking dust or water damage? They'd be heartbroken.
"What's wrong, Jack? Do you want to buy this kind of clothing?" Seeing Jack stop in his tracks, Valentina looked at him with disdain: "In my impression, only shut-ins who stay at home playing games all day would like this kind of clothing. You're definitely sporty, this style doesn't suit you at all."
"Of course it's not for me to buy." Ma Jie immediately made up a lie: "Jimmy likes it. His birthday is coming up soon, and I'm having trouble deciding what gift to get him."
"Jimmy?" Valentina rolled her eyes. "Since the children's clothing store is still open, I can go with you."
"Nonsense!" Ma Jieke was also amused: "If he heard you say that, he would definitely fight you to the death."
"How do you spell it? Jump up and hit my knee?"
Listening to Valentina's teasing, Ma Jie finally understood the kid's feelings. Almost everyone liked to make fun of him, and even though he knew there was no malice, it still made people feel uncomfortable.
"Sorry bro, I overheard you talking about a birthday present." The Black vendor chimed in, seizing the opportunity, "For a good friend, right? Trust me, a cool hoodie or jacket will definitely stand out from the crowd of cliché gifts. While others are busy topping up their gift cards, you'll already be ahead of the curve. You can wear it to school, on a date, or to a party. Wherever you go, you'll be the most stylish person there..."
"OK, OK, stop nagging, buddy. You should be doing stand-up comedy, not running a stall here." Ma Jie interrupted him impatiently, pretending to think for two seconds: "I remember his favorite movie is the Star Wars series, he's seen it at least 20 times."
"Any recommendations?"
Ma Jie didn't point directly to the rare jacket, because doing so would make him too conspicuous and alert the target.
"Star Wars? What a treat, Crab! You've come to the right person, bro. I've been a Star Wars fan for decades; nobody knows Star Wars better than me!"
As he spoke, he casually picked up a hoodie with a picture of a mysterious figure holding a red lightsaber and wearing a black cloak. He said with great familiarity, "Look at this! A classic still of Darth Vader, the number one most popular villain in the hearts of all Star Wars fans. Not 998, not 588, just 198 yuan to take it home!"
Wait... who did you learn this from? It sounds so familiar.
"198 US dollars?" Before Ma Jie could speak, Valentina interrupted, "Bro, are you sure it's US dollars and not Mexican pesos? Who's crazy enough to spend that much money on a hoodie? I don't even need to include my underwear and socks to cover all my clothes, it wouldn't cost fifty US dollars. Are you trying to scam me?"
This isn't some harsh criticism, but the truth: people living in California are the least concerned about their appearance. Because the weather here is great, no matter the season, the daytime temperature never drops below 18 degrees Celsius, and most of the time it's between 22 and 28 degrees Celsius. So when people go out, if it's hot, they wear short sleeves, shorts, and flip-flops; if it's a bit cool, they put on a jacket or sweatshirt. It's all about the relaxed feeling.
Discount stores are everywhere, creating incredibly high-value items like "2-dollar clothing stores." Fashion-loving but poor girls will also go to charity secondhand stores like Goodwii to find clothes and high heels that others have worn. Usually, they can get a complete outfit for just over ten dollars.
In comparison, a $198 hoodie is indeed hard not to be tempted.
Faced with Valentina's overreaction, the black stall owner patiently explained, "Lady, you can't compare my clothes to those from a street stall. My clothes are all collaborations; you're not just wearing clothes, you're wearing faith and culture."
"What faith? I believe in God, so does that mean you can print Jesus' image on a $2 t-shirt and sell it to His followers in church for $200?"
"That example isn't quite right, but that's the point." The black vendor shrugged, not wanting to argue with her further, and looked at the thoughtful Ma Jieke: "Buddy, I'm really not lying to you. Star Wars collaboration jackets rarely cost less than $200 on the market. I've already given you a significant discount. If you don't believe me, you can take a picture with your phone and ask your Star Wars-loving friend. He should know what he's doing and be able to tell if it's authentic."
"No need, I've heard him talk about it before, it really isn't cheap."
Ma Jie casually brushed it off, subtly offering guidance: "But he seems to have told me that his favorite character isn't Darth Vader, but some kind of captain and princess."
"Captain Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon and Princess Leia, the leader of the resistance?" the other person blurted out, turning around to quickly search the clothes rack. "Wait a minute, buddy, I'll definitely find what your good friend wants. What size does he wear again?"
After a moment's thought, Ma Jieke gave a figure that was slightly off the middle, which roughly corresponds to the 175/96A in China.
In fact, the kid usually wears the smallest size clothes, but not to the point of wearing children's clothes.
"How about this one?" The black vendor took down a white hooded jacket, held it up on a wooden stand, and showed it off. It had a spaceship and a prominent "StarWars" logo on it.
"Not really." Ma Jie shook his head, arms crossed. "Do you have any in black? Preferably a stand-up collar jacket."
"Wait a minute." Upon hearing the specific request, his gaze became like a scanner, and the person's heart jumped, afraid that he wouldn't see the clothes.
"Phew, found it, found it." A few seconds later, the other person finally reached for the rare jacket, but after taking it down and glancing at the tag, he couldn't help but frown: "Sorry, bro, the size seems to be a size too big. Let me look around and see if I can find something that fits better."
"No..." Ma Jie almost blurted out, but he swallowed it back and explained under the black guy's surprised gaze, "A size larger is just right. This guy has been gaining weight recently."
"Gain...weight?" This question baffled the stall owner. He had seen people lose weight, but what the hell was gaining weight?
Fortunately, Valentina quickly added, "Jack, you mean to build muscle, right? That kid really needs to work out; his physical fitness isn't even as good as a girl's."
"Alright, alright, stop talking about people behind their backs, it's very impolite." Ma Jie smiled calmly, "Boss, I'll take this jacket, please wrap it up for me."
"Okay, thank you for your patronage. The total is $198."
The stall owner quickly found a gift bag, folded the clothes, and stuffed them inside, afraid that Ma Jieke might change his mind.
The latter generously took out $200 and handed it to him: "No need to find a waiter, consider the extra two dollars a tip, after all, you've been busy for so long."
"OK, thank you sir, good luck."
The deal was done, and the child excitedly blurted out in Chinese: "The boss is generous, the pot is stuck with the brown country."
Even after everyone had disappeared from sight, he was still clutching his US dollars, secretly pleased with himself. The purchase price of his batch of goods was no more than $20 per piece. All those so-called "authentic" products were just counterfeit high-quality imitations. Anyone who didn't know better could easily fool him, and even those who did might not be able to tell the difference. These were clothes, not porcelain. As long as the fabric and workmanship were roughly the same, the rest was all about brand and IP premium.
"Jack, I think you're really wasting your money, spending $200 on such a shabby piece of clothing."
Back in the car, Valentina continued to nag like a busybody, reminding everyone that she was, after all, a working-study college student with a certain level of spending power.
"A tattered jacket?" Having received the item, Ma Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief. "What would you think if I told you this jacket was released in 2013, with only 777 pieces made worldwide, and worth between $6500 and $7800?"
"I'm wondering if I should send you to a mental hospital to have your brain checked!"
"Okay, you doubt my judgment, huh? Now take out your phone and open any secondhand trading platform."
"I would have done it even if you hadn't told me!" Valentina said, already opening eBay and using the photo recognition function to find similar items. She actually found some, and the prices were almost identical to what MaJack had said, the cheapest being over $6500 and the most expensive even daring to list at $8000. However, seeing such exorbitant prices, she didn't show any surprise. Instead, she calmly said, "Even if someone is willing to pay that much, how can you be sure that what you bought is genuine and not a counterfeit?"
This question stumped Ma Jieke, as he indeed had no way to prove it and therefore had to find someone knowledgeable.
After much thought, I decided to go find old William. He runs a pawn shop and has spent most of his life in the collecting world. He has extensive connections and must be an expert in this field.
However, before going to see him, I followed Valentina's advice and filmed a few sets of lifestyle vlogs on a nearby beach.
The process of shooting the video was also a learning experience for Ma Jieke. From how to prevent camera shake and manually focus, to adjusting the depth of field and audio processing, Teacher Na taught him almost everything she knew.
The training course ended when the sun was about to sink below the horizon. It wasn't as difficult as Ma Jieke had imagined, and there was no need to learn too much detail. You should know that the equipment provided to the contestants by the team was all top-of-the-line, which was a game-changer in terms of performance. As long as you weren't stupid enough to forget to open the lens cap, the footage you recorded would definitely be sufficient.
Before it got dark, I drove to the pawn shop. To my surprise, the shop was quite lively, as if they were holding some kind of event, with champagne and small cakes being served.
Nevertheless, old William spotted him immediately and hurried over to greet him: "Haha, look who's here, the Los Angeles Bargain Hunter, the new boss of the Poor Street, the champion of 'Warehouse Treasure Hunt,' the loyal partner of old William's Pawnshop, my dearest friend Jack."
The exaggerated introduction drew everyone's attention, accompanied by a few nonsensical screams, giving the impression of an American version of The Return of the Dragon King.
"Old buddy, if you raise your voice any louder, you'll call the fire truck. Am I that popular?"
As a social butterfly, Ma Bangzhu wasn't intimidated at all: "Is this a store anniversary event? The time when your store was the busiest was last month during the zero-yuan purchase event, when a few clueless black guys barged in and tried to take some loot."
“That’s right.” Hearing Ma Jie mention the past, old William proudly raised his cowboy hat: “But they would never guess that I am a true Texan. When I was hunting alligators in the swamp, those bitches’ sons weren’t even born yet. If it weren’t for California’s strict gun control, I would have chased them into the street and riddled them with buckshot.”
As he spoke, old William pulled him to an oil painting, pointed to the bullet holes and burn marks left on the frame, and said indignantly, "This painting was originally worth $5000, and I wouldn't sell it even if someone offered me $5. I'm going to hang it here forever to deter those bastards and make them never dare to step into my shop again."
"Good idea." Ma Jie smiled slightly, expressing his admiration for the old Texas cowboy. After all, in many zero-dollar purchase schemes, the bosses are usually too scared to say a word, watching helplessly as their hard-earned possessions are looted before they even think of calling the police.
The LAPD has long been desensitized to these kinds of cases, with a clearance rate of almost zero. Even if they catch someone, the person will insist that they didn't rob anything, or only admit to selling it for $950. Where are you going to find evidence? At most, they'll be detained for a few days and then released. The cost of committing a crime is too low, and it doesn't pose any threat at all.
"By the way, Jack, what great stuff did you bring me this time?"
After exchanging pleasantries, old William got straight to the point. He knew that the caravan leader was extremely busy and would never be here for a leisurely stroll.
The latter casually picked up a glass of champagne, stuffed a small cake into his mouth, and gestured to Valentina not to be shy, to eat and drink as she pleased, since it didn't cost any money.
After finishing the small cake, Ma Jie smiled mysteriously and said, "I just came back from the Long Beach market."
"I see, you've found another bargain. Show it to me now."
When the old man saw him pull a jacket out of the gift bag, he immediately felt like he'd been tricked: "Kid, are you kidding me? You can find plenty of these in stores."
"See, I knew you didn't know its value."
As the two were chatting, a white man in a shirt approached, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, "Oh my god, is that a Star Wars collaboration jacket? One of those limited editions of 777 worldwide?"
"Look, this is a real expert." Ma Jie glanced at the stunned old William and extended his hand to the bespectacled man: "Sir, may I ask your name?"
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