Of course, when Lawrence mentioned the price of thirty million, Zhou Xuan was shocked, but his face remained expressionless after Wei Xiaoqing translated it. This was a trap he had set. It was a scheme he had devised. The result was better than he had imagined, and certainly much better than being shocked out of the dark!
Lawrence offered this price. After Zhou Xuan gestured the price, seeing that Zhou Xuan had no expression, he pondered for a moment.
Fujimoto gritted his teeth. Lawrence was too strong, and he didn't want to fight him financially, as it wouldn't benefit him regardless of the outcome. However, he still wanted to buy the Buddha statue from him because it was the only way he could solve his predicament.
With difficulty, he held up one finger. Fujimoto said hesitantly, "I'll offer thirty-one million!"
Ito quickly explained in Chinese that Lawrence hadn't expected to acquire the Buddha statue so easily. This was after countless battles and clashes. It wasn't much different from going to war. Both were bloody battles, one risking life and limb, the other risking money. But for some, what difference is there between money and life? Money is life, and life is money!
Lawrence was about to raise the price again when Zhou Xuan spoke up first: "Alright. Mr. Fujimoto, I've decided to sell it to you for thirty-one million!"
Wei Xiaoqing was taken aback. Although she didn't know much about this industry, Lawrence was clearly bidding high, which was advantageous to him. Why did she immediately block Lawrence's path and set the price?
She couldn't understand it, and Lawrence couldn't understand it even more.
Ito Kinji heard this clearly and, overjoyed, quickly said loudly in English to Fujimoto, "Mr. Fujimoto, Mr. Zhou has agreed to sell it to you for 31 million yen. Congratulations!"
Ito said this intentionally so that Lawrence could hear it. It would be best to make things clear so that he would stop on his own. This was not a formal auction, and there was nothing that could be said if industry rules were not followed. Besides, Zhou Xuan was the owner of the Buddha statue, so it was better for him to speak.
Fujimoto was overjoyed and quickly came over to shake hands with Zhou Xuan, then asked, "Mr. Zhou, how would you like to conduct the transaction? Cash, check, or online electronic transaction?"
Zhou Xuan immediately replied, "Electronic trading!"
Because cash is not a small amount. It would definitely take a lot of time to process. And it would certainly require a trip to the bank. Fujimoto couldn't possibly carry that much cash and checks, and there were also security risks, as checks usually have a minimum cashing period of one day. They can only be cashed within 24 hours unless something unexpected happens. And after the transaction, how could Zhou Xuan guarantee that the Buddha statue would maintain its golden state for 24 hours? Electronic transaction is the best option, depositing the amount into his account. It's convenient and straightforward, and once the transaction is complete, Fujimoto has no way to retrieve it.
Fujimoto Tsuyoshi then took out his notebook from the side; Eide Kogane, this kind of online transaction was to him. (Light carriage road)
Of course. His heart was pounding and his blood was boiling. He'd lost his usual composure, and there was another reason. He certainly didn't have the enormous sum of $31 million in cash himself; he'd used cash from Sumitomo Bank's New York branch—a sum within his official capacity.
At this point, Fujimoto was essentially gambling everything, believing that this one transaction would be enough to get him out of his predicament. Even if the group's higher-ups found out later, he could use the profits from the Ashura Buddha statue to make up for it.
Lawrence watched with considerable frustration as Fujimoto opened his laptop and transferred money to Zhou Xuan, but he could tell that Zhou Xuan intended to sell the Buddha statue to Fujimoto. Although he didn't know the exact reason, that was the gist of it; otherwise, why wouldn't he want to sell it for a higher price?
This was the first time Lawrence had encountered something like this!
Fujimoto was worried that Zhou Xuan might change his mind. He was also worried that Lawrence would offer a higher price to lure Zhou Xuan, and was even somewhat impatiently preparing to transfer money to Zhou Xuan.
After turning on the computer, Tengben asked Zhou Xuan for an account. Zhou Xuan smiled at Wei Haihong and said, "Brother Hong, use your account. It's internationally recognized and fast."
Wei Haihong nodded. He walked up to Fujimoto and entered his account number on the bank transfer page of the computer.
After completing the formalities, when it came time for the final confirmation, my fingers were trembling with excitement. I tried to calm myself down before clicking the confirm button.
Electronic transactions between international banks are instantaneous. Wei Haihong took out his phone and checked. Then he nodded to Zhou Xuan and said, "Little brother, the money has arrived."
Zhou Xuan smiled, pushed the Asura Golden Buddha statue, and then used ice energy to transform it again. This way, it would still last for six hours, whereas it had just taken more than an hour.
Once things are fixed, Fujimoto will be happier for a while longer. Then let him fight it out with that Ito devil.
Zhou Xuan had considered the risk of exposing his abilities. However, after personally verifying it, and after he had secretly installed the device right under his nose, and after the timeline returned to normal, his biggest suspicion was that someone had switched the devices midway, since he and Ito had been watching the entire scene.
Such private transactions, once shipped back to Japan, resulted in the original wooden Buddha statue being replaced. Even if Fujimoto suspected him and Wei Haihong, he would only question how the item was switched, not the supernatural abilities involved. Besides, he was present at the scene; buying and selling is always a fair transaction. It's a willing buyer and a willing seller; taking a loss, being cheated, or making a profit are all perfectly normal occurrences, and he can't do anything about it. These transactions aren't protected by law either. Two Japanese and two Chinese people, trading on American soil—who will protect this transaction?
No matter how much Fujimoto and Ito suspected, they wouldn't even entertain the wild idea of supernatural abilities. And no one would believe it if they told others.
The transaction was complete. Fujimoto stood up with a smile, shook hands with Zhou Xuan and Lawrence to say goodbye, and wasn't worried that Zhou Xuan would go back on his word; it would be useless to do so anyway.
Fujimoto's face and forehead were covered in sweat. He must have been too excited.
Zhou Xuan glanced at Ito again. This guy was equally excited; the two must have made a deal behind the scenes, like dogs fighting. Let them go back and fend for themselves. The original wood carving was returned to them, and they made a net profit of thirty million US dollars. All their resentment towards the Japanese had almost vanished by now!
As Uncle Benshan once said, the most painful thing in life is to be alive but have no money!
You little devils, go and enjoy your impoverished lives!
Fujimoto and Ito carried the golden Buddha statue of Ashura King out together. Although Ito's hands were injured, his expression was a mixture of pain and excitement, probably more so the excitement of having made a lot of money.
As soon as the two left, Zhou Xuan said to Wei Haihong, "Brother Hong, let's go back too. We should pack our bags and head home!" Lawrence chatted with Wei Haihong for a few minutes, feeling a bit down. Wei Haihong got up to say goodbye and invited him to visit China sometime. Hearing this, Lawrence perked up again. He had originally wanted to build a relationship with Wei Haihong, and it hadn't taken much effort at all.
The journey back was much easier. Wei Xiaoqing skipped and hopped around, trying her legs out from all sides. She couldn't help but wonder if she had really been injured. If she had been injured, how could she have recovered so easily?
Wei Haihong smiled at Zhou Xuan without speaking. At this moment, he seemed to understand. His niece's leg injury might be related to this. The young man had secretly treated her, had he? It was simply too astonishing; even with the most advanced medical technology in the world, such a recovery rate was probably impossible.
Is Zhou Xuan's earth-based internal energy really that miraculous? But then Wei Haihong thought about it and it didn't seem so strange. The injury he suffered last time was many times more severe than his niece's leg injury, and he's still alive and well, isn't he?
Volume One: The First Budding Buds, Chapter Fifty-Two: Looking in the Mirror
After saying goodbye to Lawrence, David reluctantly left and took a car back to Wei Xiaoqing's accommodation.
As soon as Wei Xiaoqing's leg injury healed, her lively personality became apparent. She was busy rummaging through drawers and cabinets at home. This time, she probably won't come back to New York. She has many beloved things she wants to take back with her, but she can't take them all, so she is very reluctant to part with them.
Wei Haihong shook his head as he watched her stuff the two large suitcases to the brim, while Wei Xiaoqing was still stuffing several stone specimen-like objects into them. He simply stopped looking at her. Anyway, there were only two suitcases; if they could fit, great, if they couldn't, they couldn't.
Wei Haihong said to Zhou Xuan with a wry smile, "This girl,"
Zhou Xuan naturally didn't say much. It wasn't his place to interfere in other people's family affairs, even though Brother Hong treated him like a brother.
"Brother, tell me about those little devils you were dealing with?" Now that they were back, Wei Haihong brought up the topic again. "I have a feeling you lured those two guys into the cage, but I don't understand. That golden Buddha statue was... the real thing. Where did you get it? We went empty-handed, and came back..."
Suddenly pausing, Wei Haihong seemed to remember something and abruptly asked, "Brother, what about that wooden Buddha head we bought for a million?"
Wei Haixing then remembered that he had forgotten about the matter because he was excited by the 30 million US dollars from F at the scene. If it were someone else, they might not have forgotten. Even if it didn't matter, it was still a million US dollars!
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Brother Hong, I can't hide it from you. The golden Buddha statues we sold to those two Japanese devils, Fujimoto and Ito, were fakes that we bought from them. I just tampered with them a little and then resold them to them!"
Wei Haihong was stunned for a moment, still not understanding!
"That thing is clearly real. If you say it's fake, do you think Lawrence and Fujimoto are three-year-olds? They're not that easy to fool. Even I, who's not very knowledgeable, can tell that the Buddha statue is real!"