America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 67 Old George's Dragon-Slaying Sword

Zhang Ailun rode his bicycle quickly to George's Pawnshop. When he arrived, he found a pickup truck parked outside the store.

Upon entering, I immediately saw several people huddled together, seemingly discussing the price of an item, and the noise was quite intense.

George turned his head and saw that it was an acquaintance visiting the store. He immediately smiled and said, "Hey! If you have anything for sale, please wait a moment. If you're buying something, please feel free to do so."

"Okay," Zhang Ailun replied politely, without any rush.

I went over to see what kind of rare thing it was, just to join in the fun.

Zhang Ailun stood outside the crowd and glanced at it, instantly stunned. It was actually a machine gun?

The large iron wheels, resembling those of a horse-drawn carriage, supported a shuttle-shaped machine gun. The magazine cover resembled a single, large steel plate used for cooking. The gun muzzle consisted of two joined steel pipes and a hand crank, which looked like a tractor. It was displayed there like an exquisite exhibit.

But it is also undoubtedly deadly, full of 19th-century firearms style.

Old George seriously negotiated the price with the customer. "This Nepalese Rabi machine gun, produced in the late 19th century, was a copy of the Maxim machine gun. Although only 15 were ever produced worldwide, your machine gun is just a replica made in a small workshop. It has no company markings, most of the parts are not handmade, the parts are not interchangeable, and it is not in good condition. It is basically unusable. I can only offer $9000 to buy it."

The gun seller looked constipated. He was stunned and his scalp tingled from being slashed by the dragon-slaying sword.

"My target price is $35000, and you've already cut it down to $9000. Do you think that's a reasonable price?" the pawnbroker asked old George.

Old George shrugged, looking completely unfazed. "The price I offered is already very reasonable, buddy. To be honest, if you took this big guy to a pawn shop in Las Vegas, you'd have a hard time getting $8000!"

"That's why I asked someone to contact you and drove hundreds of kilometers overnight to your city in California to sell it. You said it was worth at least $15000! How come it's only $9000 now!" the pawnbroker asked, quite indignant.

"You yourself said it was the online price. I only looked at the photos and didn't see the actual product. How could I have imagined that your machine gun would be so bad? The internal gears and structure are already rusted. It's unusable. What use is a machine gun that can't fire to me, is it?"

Old George explained patiently as well.

The pawnbroker looked helpless. "Alright, how about you add a little more money, $10000?"

$8500.

"???"

The pawnbroker instantly turned red with rage, shouting, "You just said $9000!"

Old George bent down and pulled a screw and a rubber ring from the bottom of the machine gun. "Look," he said, "I didn't check the bottom carefully enough and didn't find the problem with the gun in time. If you had delayed any longer, it would have been down to 8000. 7900, 7500, 7000..."

As old George kept finding fault with the product using a magnifying glass, the price he offered kept decreasing.

The pawnbroker's mental fortitude crumbled instantly; she nearly broke down, shouting, "I'm not selling anymore!!"

"Alright! 8900! I'll give you a friendly price, $8900! I'll take the loss and buy this big guy!" Old George saw that the seller was a bit overwhelmed, so he quickly gave his own price.

The pawnbroker's face turned pale, then flushed, and he said resentfully, "If I didn't desperately need the money, I would never have sold this antique. Fine! $8900! I want cash!!"

"OK!!"

Old George readily agreed, beckoned to the two porters in the store to move the thing aside, and then went inside to write a receipt.

He took a large sum of money from the safe inside the house, counted it, and handed it over to the guest.

"Welcome back next time, sir. Here's a generous discount coupon for you."

Old George said with a chuckle.

"I don't think I'll ever come back." The pawnbroker took the money, sighed, and immediately turned and left.

Zhang Ailun was also examining the imposing machine gun. You won't lose out if you buy it for 8900, you won't be cheated if you buy it for 8900.

He leaned closer and whispered, "Is this thing really unusable?"

Old George shrugged. "It's definitely unusable. But I didn't say it couldn't be fixed."

You son of a bitch... you scoundrel!

"How much will it be worth after it's repaired?" Zhang Ailun began to doubt whether he was right to sell things in this store.

Old George smiled mysteriously: "Guess?"

"It must be worth at least $2, right?" Zhang Ailun exclaimed with deep emotion.

Without a profit margin of more than double, this old guy from Texas would never be laughing so happily. Opening a pawn shop is faster than robbing people!

There were two other people queuing up to sell nearby, and Zhang Ailun continued to wait patiently.

The chubby, middle-aged man with a thick beard took out a box and a black canvas bag, and pulled out a rough stone from them. And a…prosthetic limb?

It looks like a limping style from the pirate era. And it's the same prosthetic gun as Barbossa's.

Wow, I've learned something new. This thing can actually be sold?

As for the stone... Zhang Ailun couldn't recognize it at all.

The chubby guy confidently began his introduction, "This is a 10,000-year-old mastodon ivory fossil, which is very valuable to collectors. This pair of peg-legged flintlock muskets is said to be the relic of a Caribbean pirate captain. I've done my research and know that your pawnshop also needs to make a profit, so I'm only willing to sell you these two items for $5000."

"700 dollars." Old George glanced at it with a magnifying glass, then immediately brandished his dragon-slaying sword. "A prosthetic flintlock rifle, this is the first time I've ever seen one, but it has no rifling and is very old. I don't think anyone would collect such a bizarre item. I'll take it for 200 dollars."

Fatty's brain was instantly shut down.

No, wait a minute. How much?

His expression froze, completely bewildered, questioning the meaning of life.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to curse, but his good upbringing made him hold back.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you clearly, what did you say?" Even his voice lacked confidence.

Looking at the fossilized ivory in your hand, are you sure it's only worth this much money?

"$500." Old George smiled at him and explained, "After my examination, this is not a mastodon tusk fossil at all. It should be a fossil of the left tusk of a walrus. This is an elephant species that lived in the western saltwater lake area. Native Americans had a history of hunting walruses and liked to use walrus tusks as ornaments. This tusk should only be one to two thousand years old. Its market price is only around $500."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ailun immediately took out his phone to search for prices.

The amount found was indeed around $500.

But it costs $500 per pound.

This fossil is at least 4 pounds in weight.

Walrus ivory fossils can be freely traded on the market, and they will be more expensive if carved into works of art.

Holy crap, you old geezer, you make so much profit from just one transaction?

"Okay, let's compromise. How about $1000?" The fat guy was somewhat convinced; he was getting a headache from all the haggling.

Old George hesitated for a moment, then said, "750 dollars. That's the highest price I can offer. If you don't agree, I'm sorry to say."

"Okay! $750! I want cash!" The fat guy reluctantly handed the two big treasures to old George.

People who come to pawnshops to sell things are either desperately poor and in dire need of money, or have other reasons such as the items being of dubious origin and unacceptable at auctions. Who would want to come here and get ripped off?

"Welcome back next time." Old George returned to the house with a smug look on his face, wrote a receipt by hand, counted out $750 in cash, and handed it to Fatty.

He then looked at the next woman in line, as if she were a lamb to the slaughter, and greeted her kindly, "Madam, what would you like to sell? Is it pawned or sold?"

The woman was startled by his bargaining manner and hesitated for a long time before taking out the black box.

He took out a gray-white photograph from inside and began to explain its history.

"This is a photo with President Lincoln's autograph, along with a certificate issued by an expert."

Old George immediately became serious.

P.S.: Thank you to "因错而对" for the 1500 coin reward, thank you to "LOVEFORYO" for the 100 coin reward, thank you to "c大调" for the 100 coin reward, thank you to "江山羽客" for the 100 coin reward, thank you to "呆呆浪" for the 100 coin reward, thank you to "废土法律" for the 100 coin reward, and thank you to "羫i" for the 100 coin reward.

(End of this chapter)