First Deal

"In the meantime, Sam, I need you to come with me to meet the buyer for what we have on hand," Amy Lee said, and I followed her.

With Bobby now conscious, I felt all the stress lifting off my shoulders.

When you feel relief and lighthearted, your mind tends to wander off.

The Jeep was parked under the sun, and it was warm and stuffy inside.

Amy Lee couldn't stand the heat, so she unbuttoned two buttons on her shirt and used the slack to fan herself.

I couldn't help but peep at her; her breasts were nicely hugged by a white lace bra, jiggling a little whenever she fanned.

She noticed, shook her head, then grinned and turned towards me.

I quickly turned my head, pretending to look out of the car window.

"Oh, I get it," she smirked as if she had figured out something very important. "You're still a virgin!"

She started laughing uncontrollably, her body bent forward, with her head and one hand across the steering wheel, and the other hand hitting my arm.

I twitched a bit but stopped for a moment when I saw gravity doing its work.

Amy Lee sensed that I had frozen, looked down at her cleavage, realized it, and sat upright.

"What time is our appointment?" I quickly asked to change the topic.

"Relax, we have more than enough time," she said sheepishly, giving me a questioning look before deciding to let me off this time.

It took an hour for us to reach our destination.

A huge bungalow with a luxurious garden at the front was located right in the heart of the city.

When our Jeep approached the gate, two armed security guards stopped us.

Amy Lee rolled down her car window, reached into the glove compartment, took out an envelope, and passed it to the security guard.

The security guard read the document in the envelope, spoke into his walkie-talkie, then waved for us to enter the compound.

The electronic gates slowly opened, and our Jeep moved in.

I could see all the different ornaments among the plants.

They were antiques; among them were Ming Dynasty flower vases and Qing Dynasty stone statues.

The owner of the bungalow must be an avid collector.

Finally, our Jeep parked at the car park, and servants were ready with umbrellas to shelter us from the sun.

A man dressed in butler attire then led us into the house.

I felt like a kid in a candy store.

There were display cabinets with all sorts of antiques inside.

Coins, porcelain plates, copper swords—you name it, and you could see it.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was in the Museum of Pontianak.

"Welcome, Miss Amy. And this is?" A fit middle-aged man in an army uniform greeted Amy and asked who I was.

"One of my team members, a disciple of Groundhog Liu."

"Groundhog Liu? Then this young man must be good." The man shook hands with me as he spoke.

"Sam, this is General Warianto, in charge of the region. Show him the sample."

I took out some of the copper coins and jewelry from the tomb, then laid them on the table.

Gen. Warianto took some of it and passed it to his butler.

The butler inspected the items carefully, then nodded to Gen. Warianto, indicating they were genuine.

"How much are you asking for?" Gen. Warianto asked as he opened a bottle of whiskey and poured a glass.

"USD $500K," I said, always asking for more first to shift the burden of guessing to the other party.

"That's a bit too high. But I can see now, you truly are the disciple of Groundhog Liu."

Gen. Warianto took a drink from the glass.

"Well, it's our first time meeting, and I do wish to make a good impression. USD $350K, how's that?" I smiled and offered a 'discount' of $150K.

As my Shifu says, if you're in someone else's territory, don't overplay your hand.

"Deal. When can I receive the rest of the goods?" Gen. Warianto agreed.

Of course, he knew the goods were worth at most USD $200K.

Knowing that I understood the power dynamics and respected them was good enough for him.

Amy Lee then coordinated with him on the payment.

I went over to the Jeep to get the remaining items.

The butler checked the remaining items and gave Gen. Warianto a thumbs-up.

And so, my first deal was completed.

Why was I eager to sell off the goods?

My Shifu always says, we are not collectors. Get the money as soon as possible.

If not, you'll be caught one day, and prison time awaits.

"Check your bank account," Amy Lee said as we traveled back to the hospital.

I took out my phone, logged into my banking app, and saw the account balance had increased by USD $30K.

After splitting the USD $60K profit among the six parties, I had to share the profit with Bobby.

Not bad for our first tomb.

I was happy and eager to share the good news with Bobby.

…

"Hey, Bobby, check your bank account. There's a surprise for you," I said with a wide grin.

"Let me see…." Bobby logged into his banking app and sat straight up in bed.

"$30K?! Sam, I'm okay now. Let's go make some money. There are still many antiques inside," Bobby exclaimed with excitement.

"Quiet… you want to get us into trouble?

"You can discharge if you want to, but don't come crying to me when you miss the gentle and beautiful nurses who took care of you in the hospital."

"I've fully recovered; let's go." Bobby swung his arms around, showing that his hands had fully recovered.

Amy Lee agreed and went to arrange Bobby's discharge.

With Bobby back, the team got back to business immediately.

After replenishing essentials, we drove to Mandor and waited for nightfall again.

Having tasted how profitable tomb raiding can be, my eyes filled with determination.