"Mr. Valentine, this is the seller I was talking about, Mr. Elrond Elrond, a warrior who has just returned from the battlefields of Europe. You may address him as Elrond." Wan Chongxin brought Elrond to a luxury apartment outside of Chinatown to find Mr. Stellan Valentine in front of him.
After Wan Chongxin's explanation, Mr. Valentine warmly welcomed the two into the bedroom's living room, and Elrond could tell from Mr. Valentine's surprised expression that this was indeed a knowledgeable collector.
"Mr. Elrond, thank you for stepping up when the world needed you. You may call me Valentine." Valentine warmly reached out to shake Elrond's hand and expressed his gratitude for Elrond's status as a soldier of the Allied Forces.
Unfortunately, Elrond was not keen on the so-called "standing up for the world in its time of need", and it was not his wish to fight with the Germans in Europe, and it would have been better to fight with the Japanese on the Asian battlefield. Therefore, Elrond did not want to communicate with this veteran on this topic, and only wanted to end the transaction quickly, and grasp the time to start their own plans.
So after shaking hands, he smoothly pulled out the two Ruger P08s wrapped in holsters in his backpack and set them on the coffee table, saying, "Mr. Valentine, hello, nice to meet you. These are the two Ruger P08s that I managed to get with great difficulty, you can appreciate them. I hope you can be satisfied!"
Valentine didn't mind Elrond's directness, his eyes having long since been captivated by the two pistols on the table. Running his hands over the leather holsters like he was caressing his lover's delicate skin, Elrond sat quietly to the side with Wan Chongxin, waiting for the buyer to inspect them.
Apparently Valentine really liked the Ruger P08, he held the two pistols in his hands, turning them over and over, disassembling and then assembling them. It was only after a long time that he read the guns and put them back on the desktop, and spoke, "Elrond, I believe Wan has already told you that I once issued a bounty on the Ruger P08, so I really like these two pistols, and I don't know how much your offer is?"
"Mr. Valentine, I'm really sorry, because I don't really know the collection, so I can't give an accurate quote, but you can name a price, and we'll make a deal if I think it's right. Is that alright with you?" What Elrond said was really true, he really didn't know the value of this pistol, and at that time it was also purchased under Carlo Gambino's strong suggestion.
He wasn't completely unfamiliar with price negotiations, though, and could test Valentine's offer to see what he had in mind, as long as it wasn't too far off from his own expectations; he preferred to spend his time procuring cigarettes.
"Elrond, how about this! I understand that the market price for a standard Ruger P08 is around five hundred dollars, if you want I will buy these two Rugers of yours for twelve hundred dollars how about it? That's two hundred dollars over the market price, and there shouldn't be anyone who can offer more than I can." Valentine considered for a moment before speaking.
"Mr. Valentine, you also said five hundred dollars was the price for the standard model, but are you sure you've looked at these two pistols I have? This one of mine is not a standard model oh!" If Elrond was really captured on the battlefield may be really fooled by Valentine, unfortunately Elrond these two pistols is he bought on the black market fifty dollars, in the black market but there are still a large number of Ruger P08 standard model, the price is cheaper than he bought these two as long as, so Elrond knows that Valentine thought that he did not understand the situation, want to pick up a leak in his body.
"Ah! Like this? I'll take a closer look!" Valentine wasn't embarrassed to hear Elrond's answer, and as if he had really looked away, he once again picked up the two Ruger P08s and examined them.
As soon as Elrond took a look at Valentine's stance, he knew that he didn't want to show his bottom card directly and wanted to grind the price with Elrond a little more, but Elrond didn't want to waste time with Valentine here and spoke directly, "Mr. Valentine, this long-barreled P08 on your left hand is an artillery type, and this short-barreled one on your right hand is a naval type, and both of these Rugers Both are relatively rare types, especially this Navy type, which should still be a very rare type in the U.S. market, so I hope we can all be open and honest and quote the right price. It would be best if we can make a deal, if not I'll go find the next buyer can I?"
"Elrond, you're right, these two Rugers are indeed different from the standard models I've seen, I don't know what price you have in mind!" Since Elrond had already explained the specifics of the guns, he obviously had some information about them, so Valentine tried again.
"Mr. Valentine, do you want one or both?" Elrond stopped nagging.
"If the price is right, I certainly want the best of both."
"If you want both, my offer is three thousand dollars, I don't know if you can accept it."
"Oh! Gosh! Elrond your offer is just too high, with such a high price, no one will accept it, it's just a mass manufactured industrial item, even if he has some collector's value, it's not as high as this." Mr. Valentine said with an unbelievable expression.
"Then since Mr. Valentine finds the price unacceptable, we will have to see if there is a buyer who truly knows what they are doing. Thank you for your hospitality Mr. Valentine." Elrond saw the look on Valentine's face and didn't want to tangle with him, he just stood up and tried to put away the pistol on the table and put it back into his backpack.
Valentine, as a businessman, obviously hadn't encountered an opponent who would directly retreat at the drop of a hat like this. Hurriedly got up and said, "Elrond, don't be impulsive, we are doing business, the price always needs to be talked about! Is it okay if we sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk about it?"
"Mr. Valentine, coffee is not necessary, I'm not a businessman, I'm a soldier, and if you are indeed interested in the Luger I have, I suggest you don't beat around the bush, better give a price in your heart that matches its value, and if I think it's right we'll just close the deal, is that okay?"
"Haha ..... Right! As a veteran of WWI, we're all soldiers then let's be direct. I'm able to accept two thousand dollars."
"That's not an offer that a veteran could make, Mr. Valentine, and you were already prepared to spend twelve hundred dollars earlier, to acquire two Standard types. But this is an artillery model, and a cherished naval model, and I really don't think this price is commensurate with the value of these two Rugers. I'll let you have another two hundred dollars, this is my final reserve price, two thousand eight hundred dollars, if you can accept it we'll have a deal, if not I'll have to see if Mr. Wan can help me find a new buyer. If that's not possible, I'll just have to be the one to bring my own defense."
Elrond knew that Valentine's offer of twelve thousand was because he thought Elrond didn't know any better, so once again, he brought that offer out to disgust Valentine.
"Elrond, two thousand five hundred dollars. That price definitely matches their value, no problem I'll pay in cash now." Valentine looked fleshy.
"Mr. Valentine, like I said, I'm a military man, two thousand eight hundred dollars and we'll have a deal if you can accept it. Since you can't accept it, I can only be looking for the next buyer." After saying that, he turned his head to Wan Chongxin who had been silent next to him and said, "Mr. Wan, I think you'll have to hurry up and help me look for the next buyer, I don't know if you have any qualified clients on your hands."
Watching Elrond put the gun away in his backpack, Wan Chongxin, who had gotten up and stood up, also hurriedly stood up and said, "Mr. Elrond, of course there's no problem, I can continue to take you to another very powerful buyer right now."
Although he wanted to close the deal outright, the two sides couldn't negotiate and he had to side with Elrond because he had the goods in his hands and without him, he had no chance of getting the brokerage fee.
Seeing that the two were about to just give up on this business without looking back, Valentine could only speak out at the last minute, "Alright! Elrond, you win. Although your offer is really super high, but who asked me to really like these two goodies! Two thousand eight hundred dollars is sold."
Elrond heard Valentine finally agree to deal at two thousand eight hundred dollars, his heart was happy, his face didn't move as he turned his head and said, "Believe me, Mr. Valentine, this deal is definitely worth every penny, and you won't regret it."
Seeing the two men's hands clasped tightly together, Wan Chongxin was also out of breath, because as a rookie who had just joined the industry, he couldn't find so many buyers on his hands for a while, and he was all set to look for new customers by sharing the proceeds with another agent if he couldn't close the deal.
Fortunately, in the end, Valentine agreed to the deal so that he would not only get the brokerage fee, but he would also be able to get a fifty dollar bounty at the hands of Mr. Valentine. This was a large sum of money, so at least for a month and his sister would no longer have to worry about food.