Chapter 66 Flea Market
Zhang Ailun rode his bicycle to the Green Door Laundry on Viking Street and found it quite lively here, with people coming in and out from time to time.
There were two big white men smoking and standing at the door, checking the belongings of people coming in and out and collecting a fee for watching the car.
There is a yard with parked cars and vehicles next to it. From the conversation, I learned that there will be no police officers coming to issue tickets in this area, and there will be no car thefts.
If someone's vehicle is lost here, they will be responsible for finding it or paying compensation according to the bill.
This is good!
Zhang Ailun locked his bicycle in the parking area and paid the other party a $2 fee to watch the bicycle.
I walked into the backyard of the laundry room and found that there were quite a lot of people, it was very lively, and many people were setting up stalls here, some were black, some were white, some were brown, some were yellow, and some were colorful.
You can see a lot of Valentino, Hermes, Gucci bags, men's belts, leather shoes, sneakers on the stalls. All the vendors are black, and the sources are traceable, and they are basically genuine big brands!
There are also many antique-looking things, such as snuff bottles, porcelain, and jade.
Modern items, computers, TVs, PS5s, microphones, as well as pirated CDs, skateboards, folding bicycles, everything you can think of!
Zhang Ailun walked around the market.
During the visit, I also took a fancy to an emerald green Pisces jade pendant sold at a stall and asked the other party about its price.
The old white male stall owner immediately introduced the origin of the items enthusiastically, "Oh, my dear customer, I can tell at a glance that you are a connoisseur of goods! I bought all of these from an antique dealer in Chinatown! This is the favorite Pisces jade pendant of Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty, which he gave to his concubine, Nianhulu Zhenhuan, on his 999th birthday. You can buy it for only $99, not $!"
"..." Zhang Ailun was silenced after hearing this.
You are quite good at fooling people.
The jade pendant that Puyi gave to Zhen Huan? Have they met? Don't you know that they are of different generations?
He immediately gave him a speechless look.
Seeing this, the old white man immediately apologized, "Sir, you don't like this? I'm so sorry, I have many more good things! Take a look at this bronze ware unearthed from the Shang and Zhou dynasties!"
Take out a palm-sized bronze candlestick carved with a pig head from the Angry Birds movie.
???
It seems that the bronze ware unearthed from Sanxingdui was snatched away by you, right?
"Look at this pig head, it is definitely carved by a famous master, with such gorgeous colors, and it has been preserved for at least several thousand years! It is absolutely genuine! It matches your temperament very well! " the old white man enthusiastically promoted the product.
"Do I look like a pig head?" Zhang Ailun asked.
"Sorry, sir, that's not what I meant!"
"Don't say sorry! You're not sorry to me, you're looking down on me!"
Zhang Ailun immediately cursed: "I know a little bit about it. What holy relics from the Shang and Zhou dynasties? I think it's from last week! Real bronze artifacts can only be found in museums. How could they appear here?"
How can there be good things coming out of Chinatown?
The old white man also got angry. He immediately put away the bronze pig head artifact unearthed last week and said in a dialect with a strong accent, "Fuck! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought you were some Southeast Asian who didn't understand the market!"
"You can speak Chinese?" Zhang Ailun's face was full of disbelief. Or was it a Northeastern accent?
"Nonsense! I studied in Asia, and my whole family is engaged in the antique export business here. Let me tell you! As an expert in this business, don't come and ruin our business!" The stall owner immediately turned his face against him.
"..."
Both of them were speechless.
It seems like they are trying to conduct a sting operation here.
Zhang Ailun was too lazy to disrupt his performance, so he just let him continue to bully the foreigners and the Red Boys, and turned around to continue strolling around the trading market.
Finally, I found that in this black market flea market, except for the items sold by the black man, all the other white, yellow, and brown items are fake! They all learned bad things from Chinatown!
Zhang Ailun finally understood that if you want to buy something, you have to buy it from Laohei! At least he really risked his life to buy it for free. A popular Gucci bag costs only 40-80 US dollars, and a 200% new Apple phone costs only US dollars.
What more bike do you want?
This is not some fake California porcelain from a small mall in Yiwu.
All of them are genuine, no deductions!
After another round of walking, I spotted an old black man with a backpack, a green vest, and dreadlocks. He was sitting in a corner stealthily, taking things out of his bag and selling them at a stall.
The old black man named Xiao D was not good at speaking. He just took out a piece of paper and scribbled a few strings of English words, then sat there staring at others.
A Chinatown mud horse with a damaged front hoof is being sold for a low price of $45.
Stainless steel pocket watches are on sale for as little as $20.
Ink paper is on sale for $15.
No, isn't this pocket watch made of platinum? William Airy's platinum pocket watch from 1860, during the Western Expedition.
Isn't this horse made of ceramic? The authenticity of the one from Chinatown needs to be verified. If it was stolen from a rich person's house, then there is at least a 50% chance that it is authentic. If it came from an antique shop, it would be worthless.
This ink paper... Zhang Ailun looked at the words on the Ming Tongxing Baochao and said, "I think you are really humorous!"
This old black man really doesn't know what's good.
There were also other miscellaneous items, coins, rings, necklaces, and anything that was not mentioned in the daily intelligence, which Zhang Ailun ignored.
Pretend that you are passing by here, attracted by the items on the stall, and squat down with interest.
"Bro, your horse looks good, can you make it cheaper?"
"How much do you want to pay for it?" Little D asked casually after taking a look at the mud horse with a damaged front hoof.
When Zhang Ailun heard that there was a chance, he knew that Lao Hei must have been unsure of the price and had no idea what was so good about such a clay horse. He probably just thought it looked good and sold it, and ended up breaking its hoof along the way.
He immediately wielded the Dragon Slaying Sword.
"Fuck, 15 dollars! This pocket watch is 10 dollars, and that ink paper looks great, as if it's a work of art. I'll take it for dollars. If you can, we can trade now!"
Lao Hei's brain froze instantly, as if he had never seen anyone bargain so fiercely.
He frowned and estimated the value. After a long while, he nodded and shook his head. "I can sell you the ink paper for 5 dollars, the pocket watch for 15 dollars, damn, I want 30 dollars!"
I raised the price for myself very sharply!
My good brother, you are so honest!
Zhang Ailun held back the urge to chop again with tears in his eyes, so he hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed, "Okay! Deal!"
He took out $50 and gave it to Lao Hei, who also thoughtfully gave him a gender-indeterminate Walmart shopping bag, packed the things and gave it to Zhang Ailun.
"Welcome to visit us next time." Lao Hei seemed to be quite satisfied with the price. With 50 US dollars, he could buy a box of authentic Leaf brand cigarettes.
"Goodbye, buddy." Zhang Ailun also walked out of the flea market with his bag contentedly.
As soon as he got out of the door, he rode his bike straight to George's Pawn Shop, fearing that the black man would realize that he had sold the goods at a too low price.
I am also curious about how much these things are worth. But at least it is true that you will not lose money!
(End of this chapter)
