Chapter 252 Auction
After arriving at the auction entrance and undergoing inspection and capital verification by security personnel, Zhang Ailun and Old George received number plates and temporary passes and successfully entered the auction site.
I didn't expect that the minimum entry requirement for this thing is to have real estate and assets in Los Angeles, and a minimum entry ticket of 200 million US dollars! Or have an acquaintance guarantee.
Fortunately, the chief is a billionaire, otherwise, if he comes for the first time, he will be easily mistaken as a deadbeat who comes here to eat and drink for free. After seeing the more than 10 million US dollars in the foundation's account, the security personnel also changed their faces at the speed of light and warmly welcomed them into the auction.
As soon as I came in, I saw the eye-catching high platform, the chandelier on the ceiling above my head, the red carpet under my feet, and the seats at neatly arranged round tables. At first glance, it looked like I was attending someone's wedding or funeral.
There is still some time before the auction starts, and many people have already arrived at the venue.
The chief leader found his seat, table number 124, but he was not in a hurry to take the seat.
Many people who come here are not here for the auction items. Their main purpose is to expand their network and exchange contact information.
Of course, there are also LSPS who come here purely for the purpose of picking up and sleeping with female stars.
For example, the bald middle-aged man Coulson, as soon as he came in, he set his eyes on a female star in the crowd who was dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, Kathryn Newton.
The blonde, with blue eyes, wearing a dress and exquisite makeup, was chatting and laughing with the producer.
The old fellow was like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey. He impatiently threw a word to a few people and ran towards the other party.
Old George and his friends were not surprised by this and complained: "Every time this guy does business with a beautiful female client, he will try his best to use sweet words and various tricks to hook up with the other party, but many women really fall for his tricks."
Zhang Ailun didn't take it seriously and waved his hand, "Men are like that. Exchanging resources is something we both agree to."
The opponent is bald, how can he not be strong?
Everyone who has made it to this place is an open-minded person with a lot of ideas in their minds. It's obvious that you are greedy for my body and I am greedy for your money and resources. There's no need to keep it a secret. It's just a matter of words to see if it works or not. No one suffers any loss anyway.
You may not be willing to do this kind of love, but there are many people who are willing to do it.
Do you still want to talk about love here?
After following Old George and the others around the auction restaurant, he had a glass of champagne and cake for free. Looking at the scantily dressed white waitresses, the leader seemed to be back in his dream to a party on a private island.
The last time I was doing security mission, I was standing in the corner like an ant, but now I have squeezed into the upper class circle.
It is not as high-end as imagined. Everyone has his own circle. Those people are either shareholders of private equity funds, directors of food and snack companies, or investors of film and television entertainment companies, self-media, e-commerce experts, YouTube celebrities, and film and television stars. They are basically wealthy people with assets of millions or tens of millions, and there are all good and bad people in them.
Basically, they can be divided into two types: the big guys who build platforms and provide resources and connections, and the cash cows who rely on big trees and companies.
Then there are the hot money like Old George who exploit loopholes to make money.
The leader's circle is obviously focused on waste recycling and pawnbroking. Most of the people he met were in the recycling industry. For example, the major shareholder of Parker Resource Recycling Company was frowning and complaining to his peers about the downturn in his business.
Zhang Ailun also saw the shareholders of Bali Food Company, and thought about how he had relied on the other party's relief food truck to survive during the first few days when he arrived on the West Coast.
It was obvious that Old George's network of contacts was more extensive than the leader had imagined. He could talk to many of the wealthy people present. He also took Zhang Ailun and a few others to say hello to the boss of Parker Resource Recycling Company.
The chief leader also saw Lei Ke, the department manager of Parker Resource Recycling Company.
Last time, with the help of the chief leader, he caught his wife cheating on him and taught Craig and the basketball coach, Old Black, a lesson. I don’t know whether the two have divorced or what the court’s ruling was.
Lei Ke was obviously also surprised that Zhang Ailun was able to come to the auction. After all, it was understood that although the chief had some power on the streets, he only ran a bar and a recycling station, and he probably didn't have a very wealthy family.
"Burger King... No, Mr. Jin, are you here to auction or consign items?" Lei Ke asked.
"What else? Man, I can't be here to hook up with a female star, right?" Zhang Ailun said half-jokingly. It felt good to meet someone he knew here. "How did you get in? This doesn't seem like a place for a worker like you to come. How's your divorce from your wife going?"
Are you polite?
Open it up close to your face.
"I am already a shareholder of Parker Resource Recycling Company, so of course I am eligible to attend the auction." Lei Ke coughed lightly: "Let's not talk about the past anymore. I am single now."
Zhang Ailun was a little surprised. "What happened in the meantime? You actually became a shareholder of the company?"
After asking around, I also learned that Parker Resource Recycling Company's recent business environment is not very good. It is in a precarious situation and is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The company was also worried about lawsuits because a fire and explosion occurred accidentally in a Parker plant in the suburbs of Los Angeles, burning 120 tons of electronic waste and sorting machines, causing losses of nearly 12 million US dollars and killing workers.
The family of the deceased is now suing to protect their rights and demanding compensation of up to million yuan from Parker!
The court ruling also came down, classifying the accident as a result of inadequate safety measures, requiring the company to pay a minimum compensation of US$760 million to each family of the deceased employee and a fine and deposit of US$300 million before it could continue operating.
Twelve families, that means $9120 million. Add to that the loss of the factory and the loss of resources and customers, the company almost declared bankruptcy!
Not to mention how much of this was dividends received by the law firm, and the amount that reached the families was certainly not that much, probably only one or two million dollars. But Parker Resource Recycling Company really lost money and has already sold several recycling plants.
Now it still owes the bank 2000 million yuan in debt, and its assets may be reclaimed at any time to pay off the debt.
Parker Resource Recycling's annual turnover barely reached over 100 million US dollars, and its profit was only tens of millions. The shareholder dividend profit was only a few hundred million each year. Now many shareholders are clamoring to run away. Lei Ke, a hardworking old employee, was promoted at this juncture. He was forced to take over and was trapped.
The boss of Parker, who has worked in the recycling industry for half his life, will be harvested and recycled by the cruel market if he goes back to the time before liberation.
As the incident happened suddenly, they could only quickly find someone to do public relations to suppress the situation, prevent the media from reporting on the incident, stop public opinion from fermenting and the situation from getting out of control, and spent a lot of public relations fees for this.
He then found the shareholders of the entertainment company, and after communicating with them, he bought the future of an unknown 18th-tier female star under the other party, and exposed the other party's black material and big gossip. This was considered a way to conceal the truth, minimize the impact of the storm, and quickly cover it up.
No wonder I haven't seen much news about it. When I open YouTube and the media, all I see are reports of female celebrities cheating on their spouses, dating a certain professional athlete, using more than a dozen condoms in one night, or straining their groins, and all kinds of exaggerated news push.
Truly influential news is generally not broadcast, and only those who truly understand it or are in the circle know about it.
"How could a fire break out in such a healthy factory?" Old George and others also lamented.
Parker's boss, Parker, also sighed, "We guessed that this might be a man-made accident, because we had a business conflict with Azure Metal Renewable Energy Company a while ago, and we didn't expect that they would directly choose malicious competition! Of course, this is just our guess, because there is no actual evidence, and no suspicious persons appeared during the period. The fire destroyed all the survivors and facilities in the factory, and the cameras and chips on the site certainly would not survive. There are not many clues left, only a part of the white phosphorus powder that was burned into slag, but it cannot be used as direct and effective evidence."
Lei Ke next to him also said: "Our company is currently in a slump and we need to find someone to invest and acquire it in order to continue operating. If no one is willing to help us, we can only sell the site and declare bankruptcy."
Boss Parker’s face was haggard and numb.
What a coincidence. This isn't it.
Zhang Ailun pondered: "In other words, if your company finds out that it is malicious competition and finds relevant clues, does it not need to bear the main responsibility and pay compensation to the family members?" "If we can find clues that it is Weilan Recycling Company that did this, the court will definitely re-examine the case, and Weilan Company will have to pay a heavy price for it. Malicious competition is illegal everywhere! But the fact is that we can't find any effective relevant clues. Even though we have commissioned private detectives and privately searched many street and dark web channels, it didn't play any role."
Parker sighed, "Now that the company's shareholders have withdrawn their investment, it's a mess. We can only take one step at a time. This time I came here to sell a sea view villa and two apartments, as well as my luxury cars and various collections. In fact, I am also trying to attract investment. If I can't bear it, I can only auction my company at a low price."
Zhang Ailun also lamented the impermanence of life.
"Mr. Jin, you should have some connections in the intelligence channels, maybe you can help us find some clues?" Lei Ke was just trying his best to save the situation, so he turned to the chief leader for help.
After all, no matter what, the chief's recycling station has signed a recycling contract with Parker Company, so it can barely be considered half of their own.
Parker went bankrupt, so your recycling station will have to find another buyer. The contract terms offered by Weilan may not be as good as those offered by Parker.
"You think too highly of me. Even private detectives and hackers can't find any clues. How can I, a bar owner and scrap recycler, have such ability?" Zhang Ailun declined immediately.
The bankruptcy of Parker Resource Recycling Company may not be an opportunity for the leader.
At that time, I will directly buy your company at a low price, and then find the person to claim compensation for the company's losses. Wouldn't that maximize my profits?
It is true that you can make money if you have a conscience, but it is obvious that you can make more money by taking advantage of others without a conscience.
To be honest, if you only give me 6 cents for a jar and make at least 2 cents of profit from the difference, there is no way I can help you!
The eldest brother has fallen, but the sky hasn't fallen. If the second brother doesn't stab the boss in the back now, when will he do so?
Pike and Rayko sighed again.
After chatting with each other for a while, Zhang Ailun and Old George turned around and said goodbye and left. They walked around the venue and got to know some people.
What was surprising was that Los Angeles’ circle of friends was really small. The leader also saw the director of Red Company, who was chatting enthusiastically with some hot girls and was in high spirits.
When he turned around and saw the smiling face of the chief in the crowd, he was shocked and at a loss what to do.
I hesitated whether to come over and say hello.
Zhang Ailun waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to come over, and the other party breathed a sigh of relief.
After walking around, I saw several black rappers, talk show hosts, the erotic film director of the VE website, and Victoria's sales manager.
The chief has the leverage over several people, and they are all acquaintances.
He looks glamorous on the surface, but he is a weird person behind the scenes.
Zhang Ailun also lost interest in this. He felt bored. Is this the upper class?
After the preparations for the auction were completed, the staff began to remind everyone to enter. Zhang Allen and Old George also sat down at their designated seats, and the staff also placed fruit plates and cakes.
The chief leader does nothing but show off. This is delicious, eat this, that is delicious, eat that.
He looked like a complete outsider, indifferent to other things, and seemed relaxed and happy.
The bald middle-aged man Coulson came back with a depressed look on his face and sat in his seat without saying a word.
"What's wrong? Didn't you go on a date with that little female star to find customers? Why do you have that expression? Didn't she reach an agreement with you?" Old George gloated.
"Stop talking, she stood me up! I greeted her warmly, but she actually said she had no impression of me and that it was my agent who contacted me before, so the agreement was no longer valid."
Coulson was indignant and gnashed his teeth. "She got together with a shareholder of the Celebrity Club, and the other party was willing to spend 27 to buy her collection. I was only willing to offer 20, so of course she didn't want to sell it to me. And I collected her private photos."
"I'm not selling any collections here. I just don't like your resources."
Andrew chuckled, "They are film and television actors. Isn't it normal for them to look for people in their own circle to digest the matter internally? Unless you are a billionaire, she will definitely not want to have too much contact with you."
"I am a toad who wants to eat swan flesh." Coulson complained, and then said with a relaxed expression: "But I am not without gain. I have made an appointment with a female internet celebrity. I will go to her house to see a toy collection. I am very confident that I can win her over."
"..."
Several people were speechless about this.
Soon the auction was held as scheduled, and a female auctioneer in hot and sexy clothes came out, "Ladies and gentlemen, hello, welcome to the 26th Buqi Auction in Los Angeles..."
He spent a few minutes making opening remarks and thanking the sponsors, then got down to business and picked up the remote control to play the collection projection.
"The first auction item is a collection of Long-necked Dragon skull fossils certified by a professional appraisal agency. It was commissioned by Mr. March, a famous collector from the Amazing Museum. This type of fossil has historical significance and a heavy feeling. Mr. March and members of the archaeological studio spent one year and two months searching and piecing together in Kansas. The estimated price is $1 to $35. The starting price is $46, and each bid must not be less than $15."
The spotlight and screen projected a pieced-together fossil of a Giraffatitan skull, which also looked lifelike and was a stunning appetizer.
After the auction started, everyone started competing fiercely.
"21."
"22."
"23."
"24..."
“…29 million.”
"36."
Finally, after rounds of competition, it was bought by a private collector in a suit and tie, who was slightly plump, for $56. He had a smile on his face, and the female companion next to him was also very happy and smiled beautifully.
"Congratulations to buyer No. 166 for successfully bidding on the skull fossil of the Long Neck Dragon. Please wait for the staff to contact you after the auction."
The auctioneer congratulated enthusiastically, "Let's move on to the next round of auctions. This time we have a pair of custom-made gem earrings with a Perlis pattern. The estimated price is between $18 and $25. The starting price is $7, and each bid must not be less than $2000."
(End of this chapter)
