51: Yuan Shikai silver dollar in hand!

Even though Chen Kai had jogged all the way there, he found he was still a step too late; the woman struggling to carry the air conditioner had already walked into the second-hand floor-standing air conditioner shop.

His heart tightened. He stood at the shop entrance, paced around twice, and overheard the conversation between the woman carrying the air conditioner and the second-hand air conditioner reseller.

"Do you buy air conditioners here? It's a first-hand one from home, two-horsepower floor-standing model, bought five or six years ago. My husband got a promotion, so we're celebrating by buying a larger air conditioner and getting some new furniture."

"We do. This floor-standing air conditioner looks quite new; I assume it's for personal use? May I inspect it?"

The boss said indifferently. After getting the woman's permission, he took the air conditioner in his hands to examine it.

"Hey? This air conditioner likely has some minor issues, doesn't it? Why does it clank when I lift it up?"

The boss asked suspiciously, then shook the air conditioner and discovered the sound was coming from inside.

Moreover, the sound was quite loud, definitely not a sound a normal air conditioner should make. It was possible the filter screen was broken.

However, this provided room to drive down the price. The boss smirked, "Something in this air conditioner is definitely broken, and I'll have to refurbish it, which will cost quite a bit. A normal two-horsepower floor-standing model can sell for 1,500.

Since yours is broken, I have to fix it myself before I can sell it. The labor costs and replacement parts aren't cheap. Let's deduct 600; I'll buy it for 900. How about that?"

Standing outside, Chen Kai heard this and thought to himself, 'This is bad.'

This wasn't some broken part; it was clearly the sound of the yuan shikai silver dollar.

If the merchant bought it, he would definitely take it apart to check the situation; it was impossible to sell it without opening it up.

This was going to be troublesome.

He slowly walked into the shop, pretending to browse around before returning to the man's shop, continuing to look at the air conditioners, while his gaze secretly focused on the woman selling the air conditioner.

"How much? 900?"

"I'd rather throw it on the side of the road than take 900. It's a waste of time."

The woman said, turning around to leave.

"Go ahead. Other shops will offer the same price, maybe even lower than what I'm offering. 900 is still money."

"Maybe if you lug it to another place in this sweltering heat and ask for a price, they'll offer 800, and you'll still end up bringing it back to me."

The boss looked indifferent. He could just shout in the peers' group chat later. This air conditioner was actually quite good, a premium item; selling it for 3,600 or 3,700 certainly wouldn't be a problem.

Once he shouted in the group, all eight air conditioner shops in this market would refuse to buy her air conditioner; they would only offer lower and lower prices.

In the end, she would still come back to his shop to sell it, and he could just share a bit of money with his peers.

The boss sat in his chair and suddenly noticed Chen Kai, who had entered the shop at some point.

"Young Man, what's your budget? I see this is your second time here. Other shops really aren't cheaper than mine."

A sudden inspiration struck Chen Kai. He deliberately coughed twice to attract the woman's attention. He saw the woman, clutching the air conditioner with a pout, turn her head to look at him.

Chen Kai then continued, "My budget is over 2,000. I don't have any specific requirements, I just want to buy a floor-standing one, but I haven't seen any models I like."

He shook his head, then suddenly turned to look at the air conditioner in the woman's arms, putting on a look of pleasant surprise.

The woman holding the air conditioner also noticed him and rolled her eyes slightly.

A sly smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth. She knew her air conditioner made noise when carried, but it still worked, though she certainly couldn't sell it for much money.

And she would still be exploited by the middleman.

But when she saw Chen Kai looking at this air conditioner, his eyes had clearly lit up.

She simply coughed lightly, used the air conditioner to block the boss's view, secretly turned her back, and gave Chen Kai a look.

She also quietly pointed outside with her finger, muttering something, but made no sound.

From the woman's lip movements, Chen Kai could clearly read: "Come out, I'll sell this air conditioner to you, cheap."

Afterwards, the woman deliberately feigned anger, clutching the air conditioner and walking outside. With every step she took, the air conditioner made a clanking sound.

"Boss, are you really not considering selling it at our shop? Other shops won't offer a higher price than I did."

"Not selling! I'd rather throw it on the side of the road!"

"Hehehe..." The boss smiled indifferently, watched her back, and sent a message in the WeChat group.

Chen Kai browsed around, deliberately shook his head, and turned to walk out.

As soon as he walked out of the shop, he saw the woman with the air conditioner heading to the second-hand air conditioner shop next door.

Chen Kai's heart skipped a beat. 'What the hell, going back on her word? Didn't she say she'd sell it to me? Why did she turn and go to another shop?'

Just as he was hesitating whether to follow her in, he saw the woman walking out of the shop, clutching the air conditioner and cursing.

"700? How are you even ashamed to say that? I'd rather throw it on the side of the road to let dogs get some breeze!"

From the other air conditioner shop came a man's chuckling voice, "I'm really sorry, but I think this air conditioner is only worth 700. Maybe others' prices are even lower than mine."

"Bullshit! I'm not selling!"

The woman stormed out, and as soon as she exited the shop, she saw Chen Kai waiting for her.

Her eyes lit up instantly, and she walked towards Chen Kai.

"Young Man, didn't you want to buy an air conditioner? This is a purely personal, first-hand one, and the breeze is super cold. Why don't you name a price? Just buy it and take it away; they are just colluding to drive down my price."

The woman said pouting, but a subtle, imperceptible smile curled the corner of her mouth.

Chen Kai feigned difficulty, held up one finger, and said, "How about 1,500?"

The woman deliberately frowned and said thoughtfully, "Oh my god, what are you thinking? You can't buy an air conditioner as good as mine for 1,500."

"The quality of their shop's units isn't even as good as mine."

Chen Kai also frowned, "I can give you 1,800 at most. Will you consider it?"

"Deal! 1,800 is 1,800. Scan me."

The woman had been hesitating a second ago, but in the next second, she beamed and displayed her payment QR code.

Chen Kai was stunned. 'Damn, I paid too much.'

But it wasn't a loss! The yuan shikai silver dollar was worth 23,000, so he could still make 21,000.

He quickly took out his phone, scanned the woman's Green Bubbles payment code, and hesitantly paid the 1,800.

"Alright, received! Do you want me to help you carry it to the entrance?"

The woman said enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. She had sold it for 900 more and saved herself the trouble of running to so many places.

"Thanks for the offer, but I can carry it over myself."

Chen Kai smiled back and waved his hand to decline.

If something went wrong while she was carrying it, everything would be ruined.

"Alright then, I'll be heading back. Take your time."

Chen Kai nodded, carefully carried the air conditioner, took small steps towards the entrance, and called Zheng Liu Chang.

"Hello? Godson, drive the iveco jinbei to the entrance of Furniture City No. 11 to pick me up."

"Coming. Half an hour."

Just as Chen Kai hung up the phone, he unexpectedly saw the woman at the entrance, waiting for a ride-hailing car and talking to her husband on the phone.