Turning a twentyfold profit, Jin Muchen certainly had no reason to refuse.
The recent interaction between Rick and the African American was enough to prove the old man's character. Moreover, Fang had instructed beforehand that Rick was an absolutely trustworthy friend.
"Mr. Rick, would you be willing to acquire this tea set?"
"Of course, no problem at all. I'm delighted!"
Rick was also pleased to receive such a exquisite silverware, especially since his clientele mainly consisted of wealthy bankers from Manhattan. These folks didn't care much about money, but they had unique tastes. Although this tea set wasn't mainstream, it wouldn't be difficult to sell.
The two hands, both bearing the marks of labor, clasped tightly together. A happy transaction indeed!
"By the way, Muchen, how would you prefer to transact? Cash, wire transfer, or cheque?"
The United States is a country with advanced credit networks. Wire transfers or cheque transactions are common here. Moreover, due to the prevalence of firearms and rampant crime in this country, many businessmen prefer not to keep large amounts of cash at home. However, this is true for other industries. Antique dealers, on the other hand, generally like to keep cash at home because cash transactions are often necessary in this line of business. After all, many times, the items acquired by antique dealers are not exactly legitimate. Another reason is that cash transactions are easier to evade taxes!
Jin Muchen naturally chose cash transactions. While wire transfers and the like might be convenient, they could easily lead the Internal Revenue Service to investigate your financial transactions. These bloodsuckers don't care whether you have American citizenship or not. As long as you engage in business activities in the United States, you have to pay taxes. If you try to evade taxes, well, these folks can make even the FBI tremble.
So Jin Muchen didn't want to cause trouble for himself. Besides, keeping cash at home can be troublesome for others, but he has a purple jade space with him, so carrying cash with him is not a big problem.
Thirty thousand dollars tucked into his pocket, then transferred into the purple jade space, Jin Muchen bid farewell to Rick.
However, after leaving Rick's shop, he didn't rush back to Flushing but headed straight to Chinatown in Manhattan. There are many financial companies with Chinese backgrounds there, which are essentially underground banks.
Now that he had money in hand, of course, he wanted to send some back to China.
The first time he made money from the Yongzheng Famille Rose bowl, he made twenty-eight thousand and kept three thousand for himself, sending the remaining twenty-five thousand back to his mother in China.
As for the one hundred and fifty thousand he earned the second time and the thirty thousand he earned this time, he planned to send it all back without keeping a single cent.
When he called his mother before, she always reassured him that things at home were not a big deal and would be resolved soon, but he could tell she was just trying to comfort him.
Clearly, his family needed a large amount of funds now, and he happened to have found a new way to make money. Since he had no worries about food and drink, he decided to send all this money back to his parents, also as a way to repay some of their kindness in raising him.
The underground banks in Chinatown have very good reputations, and the exchange rates they offer are much better than those of large mainstream banks. Therefore, many people working illegally in the United States choose to remit money to China through this channel.
Usually, if you hand over the money to them here today, the next day, the corresponding amount of RMB will appear in your relatives' accounts in China.
Before remitting the money, Jin Muchen called his mother and asked her to check her account the next day, then completed the transaction before returning to Flushing.
"Hey, Muchen, you're really not coming tonight? Pete's bringing in several white girls today, you know? Don't think I don't see it. You're clearly not into us black folks. You're not used to the black girls at parties, but with white girls tonight, you can't possibly refuse, right?"
Once again, it was Friday, and it was also payday. Everyone received text messages from the bank confirming the deposit of their salaries at noon. Paul, that guy, came pestering again, inviting Jin Muchen to join their party tonight.
This guy was always so enthusiastic towards Jin Muchen, and he had been pestering him for a while now, saying he wanted Jin Muchen to be his mentor and learn martial arts from him. But Jin Muchen, who had been busy studying antique knowledge and making money lately, had no time to deal with this guy.
He knew this guy was all talk. If you really tried to teach him martial arts, he wouldn't be able to endure the hardships.
This guy had been pestering him tirelessly for weeks. Originally, Jin Muchen had been considering accepting his invitation to attend his party on Monday night just to show his face. After all, this guy had boasted about him in front of his friends, and if Jin Muchen didn't show up to let his friends see him, it would be too embarrassing for him.
But yesterday, he unexpectedly received a call from Candice. The girl had finally finished her mid-term exams yesterday, and this weekend happened to be their big liberation day.
There was going to be a grand party at the Columbus Hall on campus, so she strongly invited him to attend.
Jin Muchen couldn't refuse Candice's invitation, so he had to decline Paul's invitation!
"Sorry, Paul, I have other plans tonight, so I can't make it to your event. I'm really sorry. Can we do it next time?"
"Fuck, bullshit, you're just making excuses. You clearly look down on me, don't you?"
Paul, feeling indignant, took a bite out of the Sichuan "spicy sausage" that Jin Muchen had brought him from Flushing's Chinatown and looked at Jin Muchen with his head tilted.
Jin Muchen just laughed and reached out to ruffle Paul's head, full of small braids.
"Come on, stop being silly. How could I look down on you? I really have plans tonight!"
"Hey, you, be gentle. Do you know how much I spent on this hairstyle? Three hundred dollars, just for tonight's party. If you mess up my hair, even if you sell your ass, you can't afford it..."
Paul, feeling indignant, pushed away Jin Muchen's hand and shook his head, making a very cocky pose, then gave Jin Muchen a flirtatious look.
"WTF, three hundred dollars for this hairstyle? Are you kidding me? If making three hundred dollars is so easy, next time you come to me, I'll do it for you! I promise to make it even prettier than that hairstylist."
Jin Muchen and Paul joked around, and Paul rolled his eyes.
"Come on! My hairstylist is top-notch. Many NBA stars go to him for their hairstyles, you know?"
Paul gave Jin Muchen a look of a rustic country bumpkin, and the two of them laughed and walked out of the distribution center.
"Oh, by the way, I didn't see you driving here today. Do you want me to give you a ride back?"
Paul, despite being careless most of the time, genuinely regarded Jin Muchen as a friend. Jin Muchen smiled mysteriously at this moment.
"No need, Paul. Someone's coming to pick me up."
As he spoke, a Ford Mercury slowly slid up to the two of them, and then the window rolled down, revealing Candice's radiant smile.
"Hey! Can I catch a ride, beautiful?"
"Sure, hop in, handsome!"
Jin Muchen opened the car door and got in. Then, waving to the stunned Paul, the Mercury turned around and drove off. Only then did Paul angrily throw his backpack to the ground and shout after the receding Mercury.
"On Monday, you better bring me five packs of spicy sausages. You hurt my feelings, you know? Jerk!"
The Columbus Hall was a multifunctional building in the Columbia University dormitory area, only two stories tall but with a large footprint. There were over fifty rooms upstairs and over thirty downstairs, with a very large hall right in the center upon entering.
Usually, on weekends or major holidays, the girls living here would host a grand party in this hall. Naturally, the attendees were all students from the school. Because many beautiful girls attended these parties, they gradually gained fame and became the most popular party venues at Columbia University.
However, these parties were mainly attended by white students. When Jin Muchen was at Columbia University, he had heard about the reputation of these parties but had never attended.
After all, although these parties were said to be open, they were actually aimed at students from wealthy backgrounds. If you weren't rich, you wouldn't get an invitation.
Candice used to live in Columbus Hall, so she had a good relationship with the girls here. Although she had moved out now, she was still an important member of the sisterhood here.
Today, her sorority was hosting a party here, so she naturally wanted to bring Jin Muchen to meet everyone.
When they arrived, the party had already started, and heavy metal rock music could be heard from Columbus Hall from afar.
As they approached the door, they could see small groups of people standing at the entrance, holding beers and chatting quietly.
Most of these people were white, with occasional sightings of people of color, but they all seemed to come from extraordinary backgrounds, adorned with either gold or silver.
Candice took Jin Muchen's hand and pushed open the door to the hall. The crowd inside was packed, and at the end of the hall was a small stage where a student band was performing enthusiastically. Below the stage, a group of young people was swaying and dancing with their drinks in hand.
Although it had been a long time since he left campus, and although he hadn't particularly enjoyed such occasions before, today, as he stepped in, a familiar atmosphere suddenly hit Jin Muchen. It reminded him of the time when he used to be one of them...