Chapter 174: The Lost Mingkuai Typewriter
However, even so, this friendly middle-aged man still focused most of his attention on Chen Yiyang.
He even introduced to Chen Yiyang about a washing machine his grandmother once used.
It's now also up for sale.
The price is almost like giving it away for free.
After all, if it doesn't sell, disposing of it himself would incur a garbage disposal fee.
Soon, Chen Yiyang saw the typewriter he wanted to buy.
"What is this?" Chen Yiyang asked, pretending not to know.
"Actually, I'm very curious about it too," the middle-aged man told Chen Yiyang,
"I found this in my wife's grandfather's basement. My wife asked me to deal with it.
But it's really heavy, so I brought it here to see if I could sell it."
The middle-aged white man, while speaking, pointed to some characters on the typewriter and said, "These seem to be the characters you Huaxia people use."
"Indeed," Chen Yiyang admitted without hesitation, "Maybe it's a Chinese typewriter."
"A Chinese typewriter, I've never heard of such a thing. But I know you Huaxia people use English letters to type on computers, so you probably don't need such a heavy machine to assist in typing."
"Yes," Chen Yiyang nodded.
The Pinyin system, despite having its supporters and detractors,
No one denies how convenient it is in today's information age.
Just look at the keyboards used in various countries or regions, and you'll see how Pinyin has seamlessly integrated Chinese into the information age in the most succinct way.
As long as you understand Pinyin, you can use any keyboard from any country or region seamlessly.
While people in these countries or regions find typing difficult if they use another keyboard because there are no labels to guide them.
"How much is this? I'm very interested in it," Chen Yiyang asked, pointing at the typewriter in front of him.
"A thousand US dollars?" The middle-aged man tentatively quoted a price, "After all, it's so large and uses a lot of materials."
"How about eight hundred and eighty-eight US dollars? The number eight is considered very auspicious in our country."
"Alright, deal." The middle-aged man was quite pleased.
After all, he was prepared to throw it away as garbage if no one bought it after this sale.
Selling it now for over eight hundred dollars was indeed lucrative.
"Then it's a deal." Chen Yiyang counted out enough dollars for the other party, who then handed the typewriter to Chen Yiyang.
"Wait a minute, could you write me a transaction receipt? Otherwise, I'm afraid I might run into trouble taking it through customs."
After the transaction was completed, Chen Yiyang suddenly made this request.
"No problem." The other party readily agreed.
He then found a pen and paper and wrote Chen Yiyang a transaction receipt, proving he sold the item to him for over eight hundred dollars.
Once Chen Yiyang loaded the typewriter onto his car, he left the neighborhood.
About an hour after Chen Yiyang left,
A middle-aged white woman came over.
The white middle-aged man who had just sold the typewriter to Chen Yiyang greeted her enthusiastically.
This was his wife.
"Dear, where is that typewriter?" The wife asked anxiously.
"I just sold it to a Chinese tourist, what's the matter?" The man asked, puzzled.
"Before I handed you the typewriter, I took a photo and posted it online.
Now a lot of people are telling me that it's a quite famous Chinese typewriter, and it's been lost for a long time. If we're willing to sell it, it could fetch tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars!"
The wife was very excited.
She never expected that the old item she found in her grandfather's basement could be worth so much.
However, as soon as his wife finished speaking, the man's face turned increasingly pale.
He instantly realized why Chen Yiyang specially asked him to write a transaction receipt earlier.
He had happily sold such a precious item for just eight hundred dollars!
He suffered a huge loss!
In fact, news of the Mingkuai Typewriter resurfacing quickly reached back to Huaxia.
Because this typewriter is so distinctive and the related information is always quite mysterious.
So when the photos of this typewriter were posted online, it immediately caught the attention of Chinese people.
It's not long before experts and scholars identified it based on its appearance, confirming that it was indeed the long-lost Mingkuai Typewriter.
This typewriter has been extensively studied by both Taiwanese and Mainland scholars, and quite a few scholars specializing in East Asian culture in the United States also wish to purchase this legendary typewriter.
Therefore, this typewriter could easily sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
Realizing this, the middle-aged white man was filled with endless regret.
How could luck be so bad that as soon as he put up the typewriter, a Huaxia tourist came and bought it?
How much money was lost in this transaction?
By this time, Chen Yiyang had already taken the typewriter back to his hotel, admiring it greatly.
Mingkuai Typewriter photo.
It must be said, the internal structure of this typewriter is indeed quite complex.
Chen Yiyang didn't dare to operate it casually, fearing it would be difficult to repair if it broke.
So he had the guide order a custom wooden box to prepare to bring the typewriter back when leaving the United States.
In the evening, while Chen Yiyang was having dinner,
Zhang Yuling called him.
"What's up?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously why Zhang Yuling suddenly contacted him.
"I heard from Xiaosheng that you're in California in the United States?"
"Yes," Chen Yiyang occasionally called or video chatted with Xu Xiaosheng.
Of course, Chen Yiyang could always use work as an excuse not to answer the girl's call,
Ensuring there was no worry about things getting awkward at some point.
"It's like this. I just saw online that a Chinese typewriter, suspected to be made by a famous figure from the Republic era, has appeared in California, United States.
One of my clients is very interested in this typewriter and hopes to buy it before it goes up for auction.
Otherwise, once the typewriter enters the auction process, it could quickly be bought by private collectors, sealing the mysteries of its internal structure forever."
"How much is your client willing to offer for this typewriter?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously.
"This client may not have deep pockets but can offer you some other additional help."
Zhang Yuling spoke very cryptically.
Chen Yiyang immediately realized that this client might be someone with an official background.
"I'm returning to the country in a couple of days. We can talk in detail then," Chen Yiyang said.
"Are you so sure you can buy the typewriter back? You know the true identity of that typewriter has already been made aware online to the person who posted the photos.
So it's likely to go to auction, and buying it then might result in an inflated price, making it not very worthwhile."
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