76 Chapter 77: First Collaboration

After getting off the car, Liang En and his group quickly located the auction organizers who were surrounded by a crowd of treasure hunters. After waiting for over half an hour, the auction started.

As this wasn't a formal auction, the procedures were naturally not very formal either. Once most of the people had gathered, the organizers announced the rules for the auction.

Perhaps the auction organizers hoped to make more money this time, so they opted for a silent auction instead of an open one.

According to the rules, the hosts would lead them to walk past the fronts of each of those houses one by one, stopping for five minutes at each doorway. After that, everyone would secretly place their bids, and the highest bidder would win.

"What can we deduce from this?" After the organizers finished announcing the rules, Fan Meng looked at the row of small buildings in front of him with a puzzled expression. In his eyes, although these precarious houses had some stylistic differences, he couldn't discern which one was more valuable.

"Of course, you can deduce a lot." Since Liang En and Fan Meng might be partnering for a long time to come, Liang En quietly shared some knowledge about this with Fan Meng.

"You see, these houses are all standalone units with gardens. So, compared to the common row houses in the city, these places usually house higher-level white-collar workers or small business people."

"Got it. In other words, because people from this area are wealthier, it's easier to find valuable items inside the rooms." Fan Meng was just unfamiliar with these aspects, so a simple explanation from Liang En cleared up the situation.

"Exactly. While valuable items might not always be in the expensive boxes, the probability of finding valuable items in those expensive boxes is generally higher than in the shabby ones."

Since they were on the topic, Liang En didn't mind elaborating a bit more. "However, the problem is that many things you can notice, others can notice as well."

These small buildings appeared quite similar, with peeling paint and broken glass giving them a rather dismal look. Nonetheless, their condition was much better than the buildings Liang En had seen before, where even the roofs had collapsed.

Unless there were unforeseen circumstances, these rooms were likely to hold a substantial amount of items that had survived until today—treasures for seekers like Liang En.

However, the number of people attracted by these treasures today was quite high. There were even several prominent figures in the treasure hunting community, individuals who owned companies or clubs.

So, even though Liang En had the advantage of ample liquid capital at his disposal and placed bids on all 16 houses in this row, he ended up winning only one of them.

"After making the payment and getting the keys, those experienced ones have really sharp eyes. The three rooms I was most hopeful about have all been taken by them," Liang En said to Fan Meng as they walked towards the room.

"Thankfully, we didn't miss out on this backup room, so we won't go back empty-handed."

"Why don't we bid a bit more to focus on those rooms you favored?" Fan Meng asked with some confusion. "If we raise our bids further, I believe we should be able to secure one or two of those three rooms."

"That might be because everyone has different habits," Liang En replied as they reached the room's entrance.

"I'm not too fond of taking excessive risks, so I always set a maximum line for each bid. Even if something is more appealing, I'd choose to give up if it surpasses that line."

With that, Liang En used the antique bronze key to unlock the room's door and walked in. Just as the door opened, a gust of wind swept in, stirring up dust in the hallway.

"Alright, where do we start looking?" After a glance at the furniture placed near the broken glass window, which had deteriorated to the point of ruin, Fan Meng turned to Liang En. "And, what exactly are we looking for?"

"We're looking for various valuable items. Anything of value is our target," Liang En surveyed the living room and continued, "But the specific targets range from small decorations to furniture."

"Understood." Fan Meng nodded and began searching with Liang En, starting from the living room. Soon, Liang En's focus settled on the coffee table in the living room, covered by a tattered tablecloth.

"Is there anything special about this coffee table?" Fan Meng asked with a puzzled expression after they uncovered the piece, revealing a coffee table with drawers.

To him, the coffee table looked drab, lacking any decoration. The copper handles and rings were covered in green rust, making it quite unremarkable.

"This coffee table is an oak piece from the Victorian era, and it's in remarkably good condition considering its age," Liang En lightly tapped the coffee table's surface and said, "If we clean it up, it shouldn't be too difficult to sell for around 1,000 pounds."

"Just this coffee table is worth 1,000 pounds!" Fan Meng widened his eyes, looking at the seemingly ordinary coffee table. If he were alone, he wouldn't have realized that this coffee table was worth that much.

"Don't forget, I spent 2,150 pounds to buy this room, so having a coffee table worth 1,000 pounds inside is not that surprising," Liang En explained, surveying the living room.

"However, it seems that this living room has only this valuable item. As for the other furniture, I don't even think they're suitable for firewood."

He said this because the remaining furniture in the room, mostly pine and particleboard, had all deteriorated and cracked over time, some even growing mold.

Initially, Liang En thought the wool carpet near the interior of the house had an interesting pattern. He planned to roll it up and clean it, hoping to sell it for a few dozen or a hundred pounds.

But as he tried to lift it by hand, a piece the size of his palm tore off the main carpet. Upon closer inspection, Liang En realized that although the carpet appeared nice, it was practically disintegrated. He couldn't even lift a corner.

After inspecting the living room, they moved on to the kitchen and dining area. Unfortunately, the house had been in use until the 1960s or 1970s, so all the items inside were from that era, limiting their value.

However, as Liang En was about to leave the kitchen full of junk, he noticed that Fan Meng had been standing by the kitchen door, staring at something above the door, as if he had discovered something.

"What did you find?" Liang En approached Fan Meng and asked.

"I think there might be something hidden right at the center above the door." Fan Meng stood on his tiptoes and pointed to the beam above the door. "The beam is pressed down severely, curving the entire thing into an arc. This shouldn't be the case under normal circumstances."

"Indeed." After examining it from within the kitchen, Liang En also realized that there was something odd about the door beam.

So, he asked Fan Meng to fetch a handsaw from the car, and he himself found a sturdy wooden stool in the room. Climbing up, he began sawing the beam.

Soon, he discovered that the center of the beam was hollow. The space inside was filled with small square paper parcels wrapped in yellowed newspapers.

"These are quite heavy. They might be hard currency." Liang En jumped off the stool after cutting through and Fan Meng pointed to the six square paper parcels on the table with a smile. "I doubt anyone would be bored enough to place lead blocks in a door frame."