America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 127 Finding Bargains and Selling

Zhang Ailun immediately got up, washed up, took out the ingredients from the refrigerator, and cooked a hearty breakfast himself: bacon, fried eggs, sausage, and milk.

Do as the locals do.

I don't have much of an appetite, so I'll just eat whatever's available.

Opening the window, the enticing aroma of food wafted out, and Zhang Ailun greeted Dave, who was getting up for work. Sig, also keeping up his daily workout routine, passed by on his way from the RV.

Zhang Ailun couldn't stand it anymore, so he simply invited him over for a meal.

"Alright." Sig chuckled.

"I haven't even brought up what happened yesterday with you," Dominic said irritably.

"What happened? What happened yesterday?" Sig pretended to be clueless.

Dominic saw that he was cheating and didn't bother to bring it up again, lest people think he was a sore loser at cards.

Jennifer also woke up and, unusually, got up early. The four of them set up the dining table and had a simple breakfast.

During the meal, she even took the initiative to feed Zhang Ailun, who couldn't refuse and could only passively lie down and enjoy it. Dominic was already full from watching her before even finishing his meal, which left him somewhat speechless.

Sieg was much more straightforward; he ignored everything else and focused solely on being a freeloader.

They just buried their heads in their food.

After finishing their meal, they took turns washing and cleaning the dishes and putting them in the cabinet. Zhang Ailun took out her phone and glanced at the message Mary had sent her.

Mary: Good news, the new boss was indeed a criminal, and his gang has been arrested. Bad news, the bar went out of business before it even opened, and I'm out of a job!

Zhang Ailun: What about my garbage truck? Have you decided what kind of job you want to find?

Mary: The bar was confiscated by the police and the court, and all the equipment was taken away, except for the garbage truck. It might be sold off at a low price through a judicial auction. Geese and I have worked here for so long and have accumulated some savings. We've also developed a certain attachment to this bar. Instead of working elsewhere, we might as well try being our own boss. We might try bidding at the courthouse. If we can buy the bar, we can officially start operating it!

Zhang Ailun: That's indeed a good idea. What's the lowest starting bid for Sanji's Bar?

Mary: We don't know yet, but the starting bid should be only $1, with a deposit of $1,000. If the price exceeds $50,000, I think we simply can't afford it. If the price is below $50,000, we can still hope to buy it by taking out a bank loan and paying in installments. We still don't have enough money. Hamburger, would you like to invest?

Zhang Ailun: I do have some spare money, but I don't know what to do with it right now. If I could buy this bar, it would be a proper business. But it doesn't seem like it would make much money, and I don't want to get involved in illegal street businesses.

Mary: You can leave the management to me and Giss; we can buy it together. If you can come up with $20,000 in cash, you'll be the big shareholder and owner of the bar!

Zhang Ailun was quite interested in the bar business, but he had never run one before and didn't have much experience in it. He was also unsure about the auction price. He could only advise Mary not to pin all her hopes on the bar, as doing business these days is very easy to go bankrupt or fail.

Mary was also very rational; she just wanted to try and become her own boss, and if that didn't work out, she would continue working for someone else. Trying might give her a chance to turn things around, while not trying meant she wouldn't even have a chance.

Zhang Ailun put away his phone, said goodbye to his friends at the camp, and drove his pickup truck to a vehicle scrapping and recycling center in the suburbs, hoping to snatch up the $5000 before the gangsters could react.

The journey was smooth and there were no police officers checking anything. After leaving the city, it took twenty minutes to arrive at the Tucker Motorcycle Processing Center.

It seemed like no one was open for business early in the morning. Only a number of people from modification shops were trying to recycle screws and spark plugs. The place was full of scrapped motorcycles, and there wasn't much of value. It was no match for the largest recycling center where Mike's modification shop was located.

Zhang Ailun parked his pickup truck on the side of the road, pushed open the wire fence gate, and went inside.

"Hey buddy, did you know that a bright orange Chevrolet wrecked car was towed over yesterday?" Zhang Ailun asked the young white man who was busy disassembling the carburetor.

Next to the other party was a green toolbox. The pickup truck, which was being dismantled, had its front end smashed to pieces and its engine had been emptied.

The car windows were shattered, and there were bloodstains on the broken A-pillar and airbags. The accident scene must have been horrific! I wonder how many spirit rings this car has.

The other person peeked at Zhang Ailun and pointed in a direction, "Those are all the scrapped cars that were brought over yesterday. Every day, at least five or six, sometimes more than a dozen scrapped cars are brought over here. There's no shortage of parts. But buddy, you're looking for yesterday's car? You're too late, you know? There are quite a few people waiting here. That car was transported over yesterday, and it must have been completely dismantled by now."

"I'm not in your line of work," Zhang Ailun said without explaining much.

"Then there's no problem." The young white man, his face covered in grease, nodded and continued disassembling the machine.

Zhang Ailun followed the direction he pointed out and soon found the Bumblebee in the pile of rubble that had been dismantled into parts and chassis.

Good heavens, this Cruze was worth over $50,000 at the modification shop yesterday. The biggest operation it had done was maintenance and replacing the brake discs. Today, the whole car is totaled.

The car body was charred black, with bullet holes riddled with fenders; you could even see bullets lodged in the steel plates. The engine, tires—everything usable had been removed.

Zhang Ailun went back to his old ways and started searching. He quickly found the brake disc in a pile of rubble, and after wiping away the dust, he could see the serial number on it.

That's it.

It felt and felt heavier than other brake discs, but you couldn't tell unless you weighed it carefully. It also looked crooked and cracked, rendering it unusable. No wonder no one bothered to recycle it.

Zhang Ailun put the brake disc in a bag and put it away. He then continued searching for the Toyota Highlander mentioned in the intelligence report, but there were simply too many abandoned vehicles here, including dozens of Highlanders. He could only use photos to match the vehicles.

It took Zhang Ailun some time to finally find the Highlander that had been flattened, but it was beyond repair and was considered scrap metal that no one would even take for free.

Zhang Ailun had no choice but to do it himself. He found a crowbar in the ruins and spent a lot of effort prying open the car door and pulling out the seat from the inside.

After searching around, I finally found a gray and dirty watch.

I blew on it, and I could vaguely see tiny diamonds reflecting the sunlight. Fortunately, the glass surface had no obvious scratches, but I didn't know what was wrong with the internal mechanics and parts; the hands had stopped moving.

I don't know how much it can sell for.

Zhang Ailun searched for prices online and found that the gold Rolex with a starry sky design generally costs between six thousand and ten thousand US dollars, which falls into the category of luxury goods.

However, it will not depreciate over time but will appreciate with the price of gold. This should be an 18-karat gold watch, and the model should be from around 2015. At that time, the price of gold was $1061.20 per ounce. Even now, it has not depreciated significantly and can be sold for at least $4000.

If old George really had a conscience, he could have given him $5000 for this watch.

Zhang Ailun put it away with satisfaction. Considering that this was the suburbs, with a large area and sparse population, no cameras, and infrequent police patrols, and with lawless bandits everywhere even in broad daylight, he readily opened the bottle after obtaining the target item.

Nobody pays any attention to what Zhang Ailun got here. The most valuable thing in a bunch of broken cars is the engine. After countless inspections and scrutiny, anything of value has already been taken. It's hard to find anything worthwhile here.

However, Zhang Ailun is clearly the lucky one.

After leaving the Tucker Recycling Center and returning to his car, Zhang Ailun started the vehicle and drove back for more than ten minutes. He stopped on a deserted roadside, took out a screwdriver, and disassembled the brake disc, revealing the ink-stained banknotes wrapped in plastic film inside.

After checking, the $5000 was all there.

His net worth has returned to $25031.

Is there anything more satisfying than reaping the benefits without lifting a finger?

Zhang Ailun felt refreshed. He restarted the vehicle and returned to the suburbs. Instead of going back to the camp, he headed straight for Old George's pawn shop, intending to sell the Rolex first.

Park the pickup truck on the side of the road and get in.

"Welcome to George's Pawnshop... Hmm? Guest, it's you?" Old George immediately flashed a bright smile when he saw that it was a familiar face.

Zhang Ailun felt that the way the man looked at him was as if he were a sucker.

Looking around, he found the store empty except for Old George and a new female clerk.

The female shop assistant is fair-skinned, beautiful, and has long legs.

Zhang Ailun walked over and said half-jokingly, "Boss, business isn't so good today? Did you scare all the customers away because you're too greedy? Is this lady your new employee?"

"If I were really that heartless, would you have come so many times?"

Old George remained unfazed. Did he not know whether someone had a conscience or not? Otherwise, how could he afford to open a chain of stores?

Compared to the many pawnshops on the market, his prices have always been fair and honest, and he only makes an average of 50% profit from his customers, occasionally catching a big fish.

Unlike those unethical pawnshops in Las Vegas, where they'll break your bones at the drop of a hat. One year you're driving a luxury car, two years you're living in a villa, three years you're in jail.

"This is my girlfriend!" Old George introduced.

? ?

Zhang Ailun glanced at George's young girlfriend, who looked to be no more than eighteen years old, and then looked at the old Texas gambler.

Damn it! Is this some kind of case of an old cow eating young grass?

All the good cabbages have been eaten by pigs.

This old man is so old and still going to have such wild ways. Don't you already have a son? The stepmother you found for your son is even younger than him. What kind of behavior is this?

"Guest, what good stuff do you have to sell me this time?" Old George couldn't wait to take out his Dragon Slayer Sword and make a fortune.

Zhang Ailun, a seasoned veteran, is no longer the naive young man he once was. He pulled out his Rolex watch, a gold and diamond-encrusted timepiece, and immediately offered: "I want to sell this watch for $50000."

It wasn't you...

To seize the young?

"You haven't even explained what this is, and you want me to spend $50000 to recycle it?"

Old George's hand trembled, feeling that this was a bit outrageous. "Are you possessed?"

"You'd better be able to recognize what this is. Look at its design. This price is definitely worth it!" Zhang Ailun said earnestly.

Old George picked up the Rolex watch and examined it carefully. He then took out various testing instruments to analyze it. After a long while, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought it was something serious. It turns out it's just a Rolex gold watch released in 15."

With a confident air, he put down the watch and began explaining to Zhang Ailun and his girlfriend, "This watch is definitely a genuine Rolex, but it seems to have had some bumps or knocks, causing some wear on the internal mechanical springs, and the hands are no longer moving. However, it can be used again after a professional repair. Even if it's fake, it can be recycled at the gold price. The diamonds are undoubtedly real; if you were to sell them separately, the small diamonds alone could fetch $500! The dial is also one of the rarer and more sought-after pieces; there should be many collectors who would appreciate it."

"Just give me a reasonable price." Zhang Ailun, sunglasses on, looked indifferent to everyone. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms.

His 18-year-old girlfriend stared at him, completely mesmerized.

"I can offer $1500," old George said seriously.

Very well, you quoted $1500 right off the bat. Are you trying to rip off your old customers?

Zhang Ailun was already used to his tactics, and countered with, "5000 US dollars, otherwise it would be difficult for me to sell it to you."

"$3000 is not out of the question." Old George skillfully raised the price. "The price is negotiable. This watch of yours also needs to be disassembled and repaired, which will be an additional expense."

Zhang Ailun laughed and said, "Aren't you very good at repairs? I saw you repairing watches the first time I came here. This watch has some collectible value; Rolex is a global hard currency, you could sell it even in Africa. Why don't you ask your girlfriend if she thinks it's worth spending $5000 on this watch designed to enhance a woman's elegance?"

His eighteen-year-old girlfriend, who loved sparkly things, tugged at old George's arm and said sweetly, "I think the diamonds on this watch are so pretty. Honey, why don't you just buy it for me?"

Old George sensed something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

But he was completely captivated by his girlfriend's charms and, after a moment's serious consideration, said, "$4200. I'll take it if it's acceptable."

"Deal." Zhang Ailun didn't try to negotiate any further. His target price was $4000; any increase of $100 above that would be a huge profit.

"Cash or cash?"

"Of course. Remember to get a receipt; I need to file taxes when I get back," Zhang Ailun reminded him.

"You're going to pay taxes on something of dubious origin?" Old George looked at him in surprise. "Then what's the point of you asking me for cash?"

"How about I give you an idea? Hire a lawyer and go to a private bank called Showerhead on Sixth Street. Open a savings account called a collateralized savings account. Take the receipt I gave you, register your information, and then regularly deposit more than $10,000 into that savings account. The bank staff can help you file your taxes, and you can get up to 99% tax deduction!" Old George said.

"You can do that?" Zhang Ailun looked at him suspiciously.

"You can give it a try. But only profits from antique collecting and selling are tax-deductible, and there are also discounts for buying and selling items at my pawn shop."

Old George accepted the watch with satisfaction, then turned and went back into his room to get the money.

Zhang Ailun decided to consult Dave after returning home, as this could be a legitimate way to avoid taxes.

While waiting for old George to withdraw the money, he chatted with the other man's young girlfriend.

Without the other party's presence, it wouldn't have been so easy to sell this watch so quickly; the other party was also a key contributor.

From the conversation, I learned that she was originally an intern nurse at the hospital. Because Old George was injured and hospitalized recently, and had no children by his side, she took on the night shift to take care of him. It was her duty and responsibility, but Old George felt that she was kind-hearted, gentle and reliable, with fair skin and a nice butt.

After a while, they ended up sleeping together.

She went directly from being an intern nurse to becoming the owner of a pawnshop.

Good heavens, isn't this a kind of road to heaven? Nurse, you really are very dedicated!

Old George is really getting worse as he gets older.

No wonder the recent transactions didn't seem as fierce; it turns out he's fallen into a trap of intimacy. In a while, he might not even be able to lift the Dragon-Slaying Saber anymore, crippling himself and starting to rust.

(End of this chapter)