Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 254 - 221: Is it an Unexpected Gain or a Trap? _2

Chapter 254: Chapter 221: Is it an Unexpected Gain or a Trap? _2

Heine walked over to Sean Knight and whispered an explanation:

"Mr. Hawkins had a failed investment and owes a large sum of money, so he needs to sell off assets to pay off his debts. Not only the ancient books but also quite a few assets, including this villa, will be sold off."

Sean immediately understood why Mr. Hawkins was not in a good mood.

No one would be happy in such a situation.

When they entered the villa, Sean found its decoration was quite elegant, with a bit of an Oriental touch.

"This villa used to belong to a Chinese actress who came over here. She later moved back to Hong Kong, and then I bought it."

Seeing that Sean was admiring the villa, Mr. Hawkins explained, with a hint of hope on his face.

However, Sean didn’t respond but asked:

"What about the ancient books...?"

"Please follow me." Mr. Hawkins looked somewhat disappointed at Sean’s reaction, but he soon recovered and led Sean to the basement.

There were constant temperature and humidity control devices here, but Sean noticed that these devices were not meant for preserving ancient books because Mr. Hawkins asked someone to open another door.

Although this room was not as messy as the storage room where Old Man Hans kept the "Yongle Encyclopedia," its condition was very average compared to the neighboring room.

However, Sean was soon attracted by the items inside and completely forgot about the room’s condition.

The room was large and filled with many shelves. On the shelves were ancient books vacuum packaged!

Sean even saw some bamboo slips!

Even though he was not an expert, he could tell these bamboo slips were in poor condition. Most of them were bent and deformed, and some had even cracked into several pieces.

Although they were also in vacuum packaging bags, their broken parts could still be seen as some residue inside the bags.

Mr. Hawkins saw Sean’s expression and explained:

"These items were purchased through a middleman. They were said to have been excavated from a looted ancient tomb. There were also some bronze and gold products, but they were bought by others."

Sean wanted to curse!

The tomb that produced these items must not have been an ordinary one!

Maybe it was the kind that could rewrite history!

And as a result, it was sold here!

Moreover, Sean was convinced that these items in front of him must have been sold at a sacrifice!

Damn it!

He restrained himself from looking further, walked forward, and saw some very familiar text that he couldn’t read a single word of!

Oh my god!

Isn’t this the Xixia script?

Wasn’t it said that at that time, Kublai or his elder wiped out all the writing of this dynasty in history?

How could it still exist here?

Sean felt a sense of absurdity as if he had gone through a twisted history!

There were two Xixia ancient books in total, one very thin with only three to five pages; the other a bit thicker, with about a dozen pages, but it looked quite ragged.

Then there were some ancient Chinese books, and Sean found some Mongolian letters and something like military orders among them.

When the Sky Eye scanned them, all these items were indeed genuine.

There were about a hundred pieces in total.

After checking all the items, Sean asked Mr. Hawkins:

"Mr. Hawkins, do you want to sell all these things?"

"Of course." Mr. Hawkins observed Sean’s expression while tentatively asking:

"These are very rare ancient books from your country, Mr. Knight. Would you like to buy them?"

"Of course, I am interested," Sean nodded, and as Mr. Hawkins was about to smile, he added, "provided that the price is right."

Don’t think of me as a fool!

Seeing Sean walk out of the collection room without any hesitation, Mr. Hawkins felt that he was dealing with a tough opponent!

He followed Sean to the living room and gestured for the servant to serve tea.

After the servant left, Mr. Hawkins said to Sean:

"Mr. Knight, I urgently need money here, so I don’t want to waste words. To sell these ancient books, my psychological price is 1.5 million US dollars."

"I think Mr. Hawkins must have made appointments with others, so I’ll leave first." Sean didn’t bargain at all and just stood up, ready to leave.

This guy really took him as a sucker!‌

These things might be considered priceless treasures in China, but this is the Beautiful Country!

Have these people ever truly regarded Chinese cultural relics as treasures?

The reason for the sky-high prices is just to scam money from Chinese local tyrants.

Mr. Hawkins didn’t expect Sean to be so straightforward, which made him regret offering such a high price, and he hurriedly signaled Heine with his eyes.

Heine, being the middleman, and needing a favor from Mr. Hawkins, had no choice but to persuade Sean:

"Mr. Knight, please don’t be hasty. Mr. Hawkins has high expectations for these ancient books, but he doesn’t understand Chinese culture after all. Having these things isn’t of much use.

If you’re interested in owning them, offer a suitable price. In a transaction, both parties can change their views and reach an agreement through communication."

Sean was actually just bluffing. Upon hearing Heine’s persuasion, he took the chance to sit down and took a sip of tea.

Mr. Hawkins also felt that his asking price was too high. Although he had heard that Sean had risen quickly, making quite a lot of money, he didn’t know exactly how much. It seemed that Sean might not be easy to exploit, regardless of whether he had made a lot of money or not.

Adjusting his emotions and showing a smile, he said:

"Mr. Knight, how much do you think these ancient books are worth?"

Sean put down his teacup and said:

"I’ve looked through them, and there are about one hundred and fifty ancient books here. I’m not an expert, but I know that some of them are more valuable than others.

For the sake of Mr. Heine’s face, I’ll give an average price: 10,000 US dollars per book, totaling 1.5 million US dollars..."

As a businessman, Mr. Hawkins was already making a profit.

He had spent no more than 500,000 US dollars in acquiring these items.

However, as a businessman, his belief was to maximize the value of merchandise!

So he immediately shook his head:

"No, no, no, this price is far from matching their value."

"Well, I trust that Mr. Hawkins will be able to find a buyer who can offer a matching price."

Sean stood up again, this time really intending to leave.

"Mr. Knight, please reconsider. I think 5 million dollars is more appropriate..."

Sean shook his head, nodded slightly at Heine, and left the room with Elijah.

Mr. Hawkins hurriedly followed, continually lowering his price as he went:

"Mr. Knight, 4 million dollars... no, 3 million... 2 million will do!"

Sean waved his hand, left the villa, and drove away.

Heine walked over to Mr. Hawkins and said:

"Sean is a very determined person. Once he sets a price, it’s going to be very difficult to change his mind."

Mr. Hawkins was a little unconvinced, and after some thought, he said:

"This afternoon, I’ll invite two other Chinese people to see these ancient books. I believe they will give a suitable price."

Heine nodded, but he didn’t think so in his heart.

He knew those two people. Although they were businessmen, they might not be more generous than Sean in terms of transactions.

He preferred Sean mainly because he thought Sean’s money came quickly and he paid more willingly.

Those two people might offer a high price, but they definitely wouldn’t pay as cheerfully.

As expected, that afternoon, Mr. Hawkins called Heine with a very disappointed tone:

"Those two Chinese people really want these ancient books, but the price they offered is less than half of Mr. Knight’s! What stingy businessmen!"

Heine thought to himself that it was just as he expected.

When Sean received another call from Heine, he wasn’t surprised.

He felt that his offered price was already a premium in the American market.

If Mr. Hawkins wasn’t satisfied with that price, he could only keep it to himself.

The second day, Sean came back to Mr. Hawkins’ house with Elijah. This time, Mr. Hawkins’ smile was sincere and cautious.

He was afraid that Sean would suddenly lower the price - after all, the negotiation had almost fallen through yesterday.

However, Sean was a kinder person than he had imagined. He didn’t lower the price. After both parties reached an agreement and Sean purchased the batch of ancient books for 1.5 million dollars, and after checking them and immediately having them moved, he felt relieved.

It turned out not to be a conspiracy.

However, after supervising the people who moved these ancient books, Sean didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he asked Mr. Hawkins:

"Mr. Hawkins, are you selling this villa?"

Mr. Hawkins’ smile immediately grew even wider!