America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 66 Flea Market

Zhang Ailun rode his bicycle to the Green Gate Laundry Room on Viking Street and found it quite lively, with people coming and going from time to time.

Two large white men were standing at the entrance, smoking and checking the belongings of people coming in and out, and collecting parking fees.

There was a yard next door with parked cars and vehicles. From the conversation, I learned that the police would not come to issue tickets in this area, and there would be no car theft.

If anyone's vehicle is lost here, they will be responsible for finding it or providing compensation.

This is great!

Zhang Ailun locked his bicycle in the parking area and paid the other party a $2 parking fee.

I walked into the backyard of the laundry room. I found that there was quite a lot of people around, and it was very lively. There were many people setting up stalls here, some black, some white, some brown, some yellow, and all sorts of colorful people.

The stall displays a variety of brands, including Valentino, Hermes, and Gucci bags, men's belts, leather shoes, and sneakers. All the vendors are Black, and the products are traceable and mostly authentic designer items!

There were also many antique-looking items, such as snuff bottles, porcelain, and jade.

Modern items, computers, televisions, PS5s, microphones, as well as pirated CDs, skateboards, folding bicycles, you name it!

Zhang Ailun strolled around the market.

During this time, I also took a fancy to a jade pendant with two fish in emerald green color sold at a stall and asked the seller about the price.

The elderly white male stall owner immediately began enthusiastically introducing the items' origins: "Oh, my dear customer, you clearly know your stuff! I bought these from an antique dealer in Chinatown! This is a double-fish jade pendant, the favorite of Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty, which he gave to his concubine, Niohuru Zhenhuan, on his 80th birthday. Not $999, just $99, you can buy it!"

"..." Zhang Ailun was rendered speechless after hearing this.

You're quite the smooth talker, aren't you?

The jade pendant Puyi gave to Zhen Huan? Did the two of them ever meet? They're from different generations, don't you know that?

He immediately gave him a speechless look.

Upon seeing this, the elderly 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 artifact unearthed from the Shang and Zhou dynasties!"

Take out a palm-sized bronze candlestick carved with the pig's head from Angry Birds.

???

So you've managed to steal the bronze artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui, haven't you?

"Look at this pig's head! It's definitely carved by a master craftsman. The colors are so beautiful, and it's been preserved for at least several thousand years! It's absolutely genuine! It matches your style perfectly!!" The white-haired man enthusiastically promoted the product.

"Do I look like a pig's head?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"Sorry, sir, that's not what I meant!"

"No need to apologize! You're not apologizing to me, you're looking down on me!"

Zhang Ailun immediately retorted, "I know a little bit about this. What Shang and Zhou relics? I bet they're from last week! Real bronze artifacts only exist in museums, how could they possibly appear here?"

Can you expect anything good from Chinatown?

The older white man got angry too, immediately putting away the bronze pig-head artifact he'd unearthed last week. Speaking in a thick, thick Northeastern accent, he said, "Damn it! Why didn't you say so earlier? I thought you were some Southeast Asian guy who didn't know anything about the trade!"

"You can speak Chinese?" Zhang Ailun looked incredulous. "And it's a Northeastern accent?"

"Nonsense! I studied in Asia, and my whole family is in the antique export business here. Let me tell you! You, who know the business, shouldn't come here and sabotage us!" The stall owner immediately turned hostile.

"..."

Both of them were speechless.

It seems they're using this as a sting operation to enforce the law.

Zhang Ailun was too lazy to expose him, so he let him continue to mess with the foreigners and the Red Boys, and turned around to continue strolling around the trading market.

In the end, it turned out that apart from the black man selling relatively reliable items, everyone else in this black market—white, yellow, and brown—was selling counterfeit goods! They've all learned bad habits from Chinatown!

Zhang Ailun finally understood: when buying things, you have to buy from Black people! At least they're genuinely risking their lives to buy things for free.

A currently popular Gucci bag costs only $40-$80, and a nearly new Apple iPhone costs only $200.

What more do you need, a bicycle?

This is not some cheap imitation or counterfeit California porcelain from a small market in Yiwu.

All genuine products, honest and trustworthy!

After wandering around for a while, they spotted an old black man with a backpack, a green vest, and dreadlocks, sitting furtively in a corner, taking things out of his bag to sell at a stall.

The black man named Little D was not good with words. He just took out a card, scribbled a few English words, and sat there staring at the other person.

A Chinatown mud horse with damaged front hooves is for sale at a low price of $45.

Stainless steel pocket watch for sale at a low price of $20.

Ink paper is sold for $15.

No, isn't this pocket watch made of platinum? It's a William E. Lee platinum pocket watch from 1860, made during the Western Frontier period.

Isn't this horse ceramic? Whether it came from Chinatown or not remains to be verified. If it was stolen from a wealthy family, there's at least a 50% chance it's genuine. If it came from an antique shop, then it's worthless.

This ink-stained paper… Zhang Ailun looked at the words “Great Ming Dynasty Circulating Treasure Notes” and thought, “You’re really funny!”

This old black man really doesn't know what's good for him.

There were other miscellaneous items, such as coins, rings, and necklaces. Zhang Ailun ignored everything that wasn't mentioned in the daily intelligence report.

Pretending to be just passing by, I was drawn to the items on the stall and squatted down with great interest.

"Bro, your horse looks good. Can you lower the price a bit?"

"How much do you want to spend on it?" Little D asked casually, glancing at the mud horse with its damaged front hooves.

When Zhang Ailun heard that there was a chance, he figured that the old man was probably unsure about the price and didn't know what was so great about this clay horse. He probably just thought it looked nice and sold it on a whim, only to ruin one of its hooves on the way.

He immediately brandished the Dragon-Slaying Saber.

"Damn, $15! This pocket watch is $10, and that piece of ink paper looks pretty good too, kind of like some kind of artwork? I'll take it for $2.5. If you're interested, we can do it right now!"

Old Hei's brain went blank for a moment; he seemed to have never seen anyone bargain so aggressively.

He frowned, calculating the value, and after a long while nodded, then shook his head. "I can sell you the ink paper for $5, the pocket watch for $15, but damn it, I want $30!"

They drastically raised their price!

Good bro, you're such an honest guy!

With tears in his eyes, Zhang Ailun resisted the urge to cut the price again. He pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "Okay! Deal!"

He took out $50 and handed it to Lao Hei, who thoughtfully gave him a gender-neutral Walmart shopping bag to pack the items and then handed it to Zhang Ailun.

"Welcome back next time." Old Hei seemed quite satisfied with the price; $50 was enough to buy a pack of genuine Leaf brand cigarettes.

"Goodbye, buddy." Zhang Ailun walked out of the flea market, satisfied, carrying his bag.

Once outside, I hopped on my bicycle and sped straight to George's Pawnshop, afraid that the old black man would realize he'd sold it for too low a price.

I'm also curious to see how much these things are actually worth. But at least I'm not going to lose money!

(End of this chapter)