50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 310: The Beginning of Boasting

Upon hearing that the two had agreed, Sun Zhiwei quickly took out a stack of cardstock from the counter drawer, cut it to the appropriate size, and handed one stack to each of them.

"Only two things need to be written on the card: the name of the item and the price."

“Let’s go, let’s put up the prices.” Sun Zhiwei led the two to the gate and began putting up the prices.

The first item priced was a black pottery cup with an antique pattern.

"This is a wine cup that was buried in the pyramid of a pharaoh during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, around the 17th century BC."

"As for the price, let's set it at $5000."

Belinda and Sophia were dumbfounded by the introduction; they looked at Sun Zhiwei as if he were a big liar.

They exchanged a glance and were basically certain that the boss was planning to rip off whoever came first, with no intention of getting repeat customers.

However, this description is too exaggerated. In the 17th century BC, that's an artifact from 3700 years ago.

If your little shop had such antiques, you wouldn't need to open a small shop; you could open a museum directly.

Sun Zhiwei completely ignored the two women's gazes.

No matter what he says, the two girls will think that everything he has is a fake antique, so what's the point of saying anything more?

He hadn't yet mentioned that this cup was a vessel used by Egyptian pharaohs to hold the blood of young girls.

He mainly felt that the description of the space was not harmonious enough and that it was unnecessary to write in such detail, so he omitted it.

He immediately moved on to the second item, a foot-long white tooth.

"This is a saber-toothed tiger tooth from the 30th century BC."

"It was killed by the primitive people of the Americas and made into a pendant. You can see that there is a hole here."

Sun Zhiwei even pointed out the two small holes at the end of his teeth to the two girls.

The girls exchanged glances and were fairly certain that it was a young ivory tusk, though it was hard to say exactly when, but probably seven or eight years ago.

Despite her thoughts, Belinda obediently wrote on the piece of paper: 30th century BC American saber-toothed tiger tusk pendant, $3700.

Well, as the boss himself said, he doesn't expect to sell it. It's just an exhibit, so no matter how much he brags, he's not afraid of getting beaten up.

Sun Zhiwei continued to introduce the next item, which was a long, narrow stone, about a foot long, with the front half being a smooth, curved shape.

"This is the middle toe of the left foot of the statue of Athena in the Erechtheion Temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dating from the 4th century BC."

"See that? That smooth, rounded shape is the toenail."

You know what, after Sun Zhiwei's introduction, this ordinary-looking stone really does look like a toe.

The two women thought to themselves, "This boss is really good at making things up."

How did he manage to connect a broken stone with an ancient Greek statue from thousands of years ago? No wonder he can become a boss.

"This is too badly damaged. Can you make it cheaper? Write $1500 on it."

Sofia rolled her eyes and thought to herself, "This price is cheap my foot!"

But his hands didn't stop; he honestly wrote down: "The middle toe of the left foot of the Athena statue at the Erechtheion Temple on the Acropolis of Athens, 4th century BC, $1500."

For the next three hours, Sun Zhiwei kept introducing the exhibits and quoting prices, repeatedly shattering the two women's worldviews.

From the arm bones of ancient humans from 10,000 years ago to the spears from the Trojan War 2,000 years ago.

From ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts to Sumerian cuneiform stone inscriptions, from Africa to the Americas, from land to islands, antiques from both ancient and modern times are all included.

What angered the two of them the most was that he had set the prices very high, showing no awareness of the fact that he was selling counterfeit goods.

Three hours had passed, and they had only written less than 500 pieces.

But among these hundreds of items, the cheapest one, which Sun Zhiwei calls half an oil painting from Van Gogh's early practice sessions, was also priced at $1000.

The most expensive item, according to Sun Zhiwei, is a draft of the Declaration of Independence, written by Benjamin Franklin.

Even though there was only a single, incomplete piece of paper, he still priced it at a high price of $40.

Belinda and Sophia rubbed their aching hands with wry smiles, especially Belinda, who was about to start working at the store.

She felt that once word got out about what happened here, the shop could become the laughingstock of the entire Georgetown.

And she herself, who is responsible for introducing these counterfeit goods, will become famous in Washington as a result.

Although there is no word for 'social death' in American English, she still felt a strong sense of shame.

Looking outside, the sun had already set, and Sun Zhiwei sighed, "I didn't expect this matter to be so complicated."

He clapped his hands and said, "Girls, your work is done for today. Would you like to take the $30 or choose a small gift?"

"Dollar." "Dollar."

"Okay, okay, I thought you wanted to pick out a gift you liked. To compensate you for your hard work today, I can temporarily raise the range to $200."

"No, no, we'll choose the US dollars." The two girls hurriedly refused; who wanted his counterfeit gift?

In particular, there wasn't a single item priced under $1000 today. If they chose those, would they have to pay an extra $800?

"Oh, is that so? That's a real shame. Come on, come to the counter, let's pay today's wages."

Sun Zhiwei took out six $10 bills from the cash box in the counter drawer and handed them to the two men.

"Thank you for your hard work today, Sophia. Will you come again tomorrow?"

"As you can see, I still have so many things to price. If you hadn't come, Belinda would have had to do all of this by herself."

This was a threat. Sophia and Belinda both sensed the threat in Sun Zhiwei's words, and they both glared at him angrily.

Sun Zhiwei, being thick-skinned, wasn't afraid at all when the two girls glared at him.

Both girls had excellent handwriting, and they even used a fancy calligraphic style when pricing their items. He didn't want to give up such useful and cheap labor.

"Okay, I'll come again tomorrow." Sophia agreed through gritted teeth, promising to come and help again.

It seems she won't be able to go shopping for the next few days, but for her best friend's sake, she has no choice but to compromise.

“That’s great, then see you tomorrow, ladies.”

Goodbye, boss.

Belinda politely greeted Sun Zhiwei before preparing to leave, but Sophia dragged her away without looking back and turned to leave Sun Zhiwei's shop.

Sun Zhiwei watched the two leave and nodded with satisfaction: "Today is another beautiful day."

Then he began tidying up the counter and cash box.

Belinda was dragged away by Sofia, so he'll have to clean the store himself today.

(End of this chapter)