Chapter 708: Arrival Of A Customer
Chapter 708: Arrival Of A Customer
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tao Zhi Bo became extremely excited after hearing Li Du's words and actually cried while holding the coin.
While he was crying, he asked with a choked voice, "Really? Really? This copper coin is worth millions? You said millions?"
Li Du did not dare to confirm and spoke based on his experience in auctions. If an ancient coin that was in good condition could be auctioned off for 1,650,000, an ancient coin that was in a slightly poorer condition could also be auctioned off for millions after taking into consideration the inflation from the last few years.
Zhou Ji assisted Tao Zhi Bo in this regard. Zhou Ji said, "Don't get excited first. I have an uncle who loves collecting, I will help you ask him. I have seen him collect ancient coins before."
After dialing a number, Zhou Ji exchanged a few civilities before going straight to the point.
Soon after, he spoke to Tao Zhi Bo while covering his handphone. "As this coin could really be worth millions, my uncle is very interested in it and asked if you would like to sell it. If you are willing to sell it, he will bring an expert over to have a look. He wants to buy if it is genuine"
Tao Zhi Bo kept nodding his head. "Want to sell, want to sell—where is your uncle's house? I'll go and find him?"
Zhou Ji motioned for him not be anxious and talked briefly on the phone again before stating the location.
After hanging up the phone, he said, "No need for you to go personally. You wait here, my uncle is in Jin Jing city and will rush over in the afternoon."
Tao Zhi Bo wiped his tears and said emotionally, "I can—no problem. Thanks, guys, I will stay here this afternoon. Anyways, you look familiar. You are?"
Zhang Xue Ning introduced him once more.
This time, the atmosphere was not awkward. Everyone gathered around Tao Zhi Bo's Da Xia Zhen Xing ancient coin and began chit-chatting.
In the eyes of an ordinary person, having an ancient coin that was worth millions was the same as winning millions in a lottery as no one could anticipate it happening to them.
As the money hadn't been put into his pocket, Tao Zhi Bo was still worried. He said, "The expert has not verified it yet. It's possible that this is a fake coin. If this is a fake coin, Old Li, is it no longer valuable?"
Li Du replied, "You can rest assured that this is genuine. I promise you that if the coin is fake, I will spend 500,000 to buy it, okay?"
Tao Zhi Bo shook his head. "Don't. How could I sell it to you if it is a fake coin? Hai, hopefully it's genuine. Two to three years have passed and my family has had nothing but bad luck. Hopefully, we can be lucky this time."
Li Du patted his shoulder. "Trust me, this is not a fake coin."
"Why are you so certain?" Du Zheng Nan asked curiously.
Li Du smiled. "Because I have superb judgment. Anyways, you guys should trust me. I am simply able to promise Old Yao that the item is definitely genuine."
"Old Yao, where did you get this item from?"
"Millions. F*ck. Old Yao made a big fortune this time."
"Hey, hey, hey—let us admire, envy, and hate him for a while."
Tao Zhi Bo himself was also unclear about this. He pondered while frowning. "I've had this copper coin since I was young. As my body was weak when I was little, I would always have fevers that could not be treated—even after seeing a doctor and taking injections.
"Later on, as my grandmother speculated that there might be some dirty spirits hiding inside my body and what not, my parents found a fortune teller to have a look at me.
The fortune teller gave me this copper coin and told me that my calamities would definitely turn into blessings by tying it on my body."
"You met a master?" Du Hang exclaimed.
Tao Zhi Bo forced a smile out of habit. "Master my foot. Anyways, in the past, we suspected that he was a cheat as I would still fall ill extremely easily after wearing the ancient coin. At that time, rather than giving us the coin for free, the fortune teller charged 100 dollars for it."
One hundred dollars when he was young was not the same as one hundred dollars now. Moreover, they had stayed in a village at that time and his parents were only able to earn 80 to 100 dollars per month.
Li Du motioned for everyone to stop chit-chatting first before calling for a waiter and requesting the food to be served. After which, everyone began eating in a lively manner.
The meal started at half-past eleven and finished at two o'clock. According to the usual practice, they would have already left. This time around, they stayed gathered together and waited for the person, whom Zhou Ji had found, to authenticate the ancient coin.
After waiting until four o'clock, the antique collector, whom Zhou Ji had contacted, finally arrived.
Initially, Li Du wanted to leave. However, Tao Zhi Bo implored him to stay and help as he had never experienced a situation like this before and was a little worried.
As such, he had no choice but to accompany Tao Zhi Bo in the trading of the ancient coin.
Besides him taking part, he had also brought along Godzilla and Big Quinn. With the two of them serving as bodyguards, Li Du and Tao Zhi Bo looked distinguished and had a little more confidence when negotiating the price.
The collector, whom Zhou Ji had recommended, was called "Zheng Xilin." He was also a very famous business owner in their province who was involved in real estate development, drove a Mercedes Benz S600, and had a lot of assets.
Both parties met in a teahouse. Zheng Xilin had also brought along bodyguards for his own safety, which was understandable as the real estate industry that he was in was rather chaotic.
With Godzilla and Big Quinn having the presence of professional bodyguards, Li Du had met his goal. In the country, those who were able to hire foreign bodyguards were already very few, let alone two tough-looking and extremely sturdy men like them.
After meeting up in the private room, Tao Zhi Bo took out the ancient coin and handed it over to Zheng Xilin before waiting anxiously for his verdict.
The two old men, whom Zheng Xilin had brought along, used a magnifying glass to take a detailed look at the coin. After which, they cleansed it with a cleaning solution and placed it in front of a high-definition photograph of an ancient coin for comparison.
Instead of throwing away the cleaning solution that was used to clean the ancient coin, the solution was placed into a small machine for analysis.
After the three of them studied the ancient coin for half an hour, Zheng Xilin took off his glasses and said, "Congratulations, this is a Da Xia Zhen Xing coin. Are you guys willing to sell it?"
One of the experts sighed, "Treasures are hidden among the people, treasures are hidden among the people. Seems like there is still a need to search among the people in order to find treasures."
Hearing his words, Tao Zhi Bo broke down in tears again.
Li Du motioned for him to go and wash his face. He did not understand how this old classmate, who had been pretty tough in high school, had become such a crybaby after growing up.
They began negotiating the price with Zhou Ji acting as the middleman.
Even though Li Du had learned quite a few bargaining techniques from being with Hans, he was at a disadvantage when going against a crafty person like Zheng Xilin and hence, the price was kept low.
The difference in both parties' prices was huge. Li Du wanted 1,500,000 while Zheng Xilin only offered 500,000. In the end, he was only able to gradually increase the price to 780,000 before the price stopped increasing.
As Tao Zhi Bo was also very satisfied with the 780,000 price, he winked at Li Du to signal to him that the price was acceptable.
Noticing this, the smile on Zheng Xilin's face became even wider.
"Seven hundred eighty thousand is quite a bit, young fella. People need to learn to be content," he said slowly. "Even though this ancient coin is indeed very rare, its quality is too poor. If you had met someone who was slightly fussier, they would not collect it."
These words were directed at Tao Zhi Bo as he knew that Tao Zhi Bo was the owner.
When Tao Zhi Bo was about to speak, Li Du stopped him. "Leave it to me, Old Yao, 780,000 is a joke. No one can take this ancient coin away at a price that is less than 1,100,00."
Zheng Xilin shook his head and smiled. "Youngsters nowadays. You guys think that money is tissue paper? That you guys can just get a bunch of it anyhow? Seven hundred eighty thousand RMB. Exchanging it for two houses in the county town won't be a problem, right?"