Chapter 4: Friends

"Hey, Lawrence, how's everything going lately? Have you made any significant discoveries?"

Early the next morning, Liang En arrived at the entrance of the Emerald Antique Shop, transporting his spoils from yesterday in his car. As soon as he pushed open the door and entered, he heard the sound of the doorbell, and the shop owner, Pierce Murphy, emerged from behind the counter to greet him.

Pierce was a tall, slender young man with dazzling red hair on his head and a pair of wire-framed glasses on his face. Despite his slightly worn plaid suit, he seemed more like a scholar than a merchant.

"Thanks for your well-wishing. This time, I managed to score some good finds," Liang En said, placing a cardboard box on the counter and then pointing to the back of the car.

"Oh, by the way, didn't you mention before that there were quite a few broken spots on the wooden floor in your house that you wanted to replace? This time, I found a worn oak cabinet and took apart several wooden panels. It should be just enough to replace those damaged floorboards of yours."

"Haha, you truly are my best friend." Pierce opened the cabinet door beside the counter, stepped out, and hugged Liang En tightly. Then, he took the car keys from him and headed outside to move the items.

This Pierce was a friend Liang En had met back in university, an Irish-British descendant.

Due to the fact that his family ran an antique shop, he went to the University College Cork in Ireland to study archaeology, ending up being assigned to the same dormitory as Liang En.

After graduating from university, Liang En, due to a crossroads in his life and his desire to unlock hidden potentials, discreetly sought advice from his friends regarding career paths. It was Pierce's suggestion that brought him to London.

Thanks to Pierce's assistance, Liang En had a job and a place to live in this unfamiliar city.

After all, this kind of work wasn't something anyone could just jump into. Without reliable local help to gather information and provide guarantees, outsiders might not even be able to get information in this field.

During the two months he had spent in London, Liang En had not only been studying on his own but had also been learning various tricks of the trade from Pierce.

Even the second-hand van outside had been acquired at a low price directly from its previous owner through Pierce's connections.

For Pierce, their family held onto the habit of lending a hand whenever possible. Especially for friends, such assistance was reciprocated.

Although Liang En, as a newcomer, hadn't found many valuable items recently due to inexperience and bad luck, he was willing to help the small shop whenever he had the chance as a way to repay the favor.

Because of this experience, Pierce, who had also recently taken over the family business, understood why his father had taught him to be kind to others, even if it sometimes required a bit more effort.

"These wooden boards are great. Though there's some paint on top, a quick scrub with some basic chemical solvents will do the trick." Soon, Pierce removed the bookcase that Liang En had disassembled into wooden panels from the back of the van.

"Alright, let me see what treasures you've brought back this time." After neatly stacking the sturdy oak panels alongside Liang En, Pierce opened the cardboard box he had brought with him.

"Haha, hardcover books, and mostly about literature and history." As he took out hardcover books wrapped in brown or black leather from the box and looked at their titles, Pierce seemed quite excited.

"The traditional social season of London's winter is approaching, so the wealthy are shopping around for things that enhance their status. These types of books are in high demand recently, as the wealthy need them to fill their bookshelves."

Decorating with books is actually a global practice, especially in comparison to highly specialized science and engineering books, where literature and history books are more suitable for such occasions.

So, in places like London, these well-preserved and good-looking hardcover books are considered valuable items, easily exchangeable commodities. Even if Pierce wasn't a second-hand book dealer, he would still find buyers for them.

"These are quite nice. I can tell the previous owner didn't really read these books, so they're hardly worn." After a quick glance, Pierce closed the hefty book he held.

"I actually have a client who asked me to find these sorts of things recently. So, your collection here will help me seal the deal."

"Are these books valuable?" Liang En asked curiously, as he didn't have much knowledge about this area. "I always thought they were similar to those cheap second-hand books we bought back when we were in university."

"No, no, my friend." Pierce immediately shook his head upon hearing Liang En's words. "These books were published over half a century ago, so they can be considered antiques, and antiques can't possibly have the same price as those second-hand items."

"I see!" Liang En nodded. Evidently, memories from another world led him to subconsciously think that things with a history of forty or fifty years couldn't really be called antiques.

"By the way, how much could these books fetch?" After Pierce had gone through all twelve books in the box, Liang En engaged in a serious discussion about business. For the British, friends were friends, but business was business.

"Your books are at least 90% new, and they're all decades-old, some of them in relatively rare editions." Pierce pushed up his glasses and looked at the books on the table.

"Based on the current market prices, the cheapest of these books would go for 30 pounds or more, while the most expensive could sell for at least 150 pounds."

"So, how much are you willing to pay?"

"520 pounds. After all, I need to make a profit too."

"Alright, deal." Upon hearing Pierce's final offer, Liang En immediately nodded, agreeing to the price.

This price could be considered quite fair. Although he knew that Pierce would likely sell these books for 900 pounds or even 1100 pounds in the end, if he were to approach other buyers or sell them himself, there was at least a 90% chance he wouldn't get more than 520 pounds.

After counting out the 520 pounds in cash, handing it over to Liang En, and securing the books, Pierce's face once again lit up with a smile. "Looks like your business is finally up and running. By the way, did you make any other discoveries?"

"Of course, or rather, the real treasures are yet to come." Liang En reached into the pocket of his overcoat as he spoke. "Oh, by the way, do you have a weapons sales permit?"

Unlike the UK in another world, in this world, the UK has much more relaxed regulations on firearms, closer to Canada. Even so, to engage in this type of business, one still needs to go through a series of procedures.

"Of course, my dad arranged this years ago. Unfortunately, I've had to pay for this permit every year for the past decade, even though the shop has handled fewer than ten firearms in total."

Saying this, Pierce pulled out a certificate from a drawer and handed it to Liang En. "Wait, did you actually find a gun this time?"

"Yes, I found this treasure in a hidden compartment of that oak bookcase." Liang En placed two boxes on the table as he spoke. "Today truly is my lucky day."