readx; I don't know if it's because of jet lag or because of excitement, Tian Wenjian woke up at 6 o'clock in the morning. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The snow fell heavily at night, and when I came out, I saw that the whole world was white, and the snow on the flat ground was almost a meter. Most of the cars parked on both sides of the street are buried in the snow, and cars can only see the bulging inside the snowdrifts, and only jeeps and the like can see the roof slightly. The trees on both sides of the street were also crushed by the snow, and they were scattered in all directions. Tian Wenjian is a southerner, and it is the first time he has seen such a heavy snowfall.

A cute squirrel, jumping across the road in the snow, out of playful instinct, Tian Wenjian yelled at the squirrel, the cute little thing was stunned for about a second, and quickly pulled out its legs and fled to the nearest big tree.

Xiao Ling, who was having breakfast, was frightened by what he had done, and hurriedly ran out and educated him as a New Yorker. One is that he is rare and strange, and he is ignorant, which will make the neighbors laugh; Second, if you are seen by the police, you are likely to suffer a lawsuit.

The experience of the next few days made Tian Wenjian feel more and more about what real nature conservation is, and what the relationship between animals and people should be. In metropolises like New York, including downtown Manhattan, squirrels and pigeons can be found everywhere, and the brave even dare to eat from children. Different is different, which makes Secretary Tian very ashamed.

By the time of the meal, the snowplows of the municipal axe had already been dispatched. A large truck with a shovel in front of it was sprinkling snow salt while pushing the snow to the side of the road. The snow on the road was shoveled to the side of the road, and a thick wall of snow was piled up.

As soon as he put down Wu Bolan's call from Los Angeles, An Xiaobin took out two shovels from the utility room and walked over, twisted his head outside, and said with a wry smile: "Brother, you have to finish your work before you can go out." If the snow in front of the door is not cleared, and someone else slips and falls and is injured, then I will not only have to compensate for the loss, but also have to suffer a lawsuit. ”

Is it so serious? Tian Wenjian was stunned for a moment, hurriedly took the shovel, and said happily as he walked outside: "Let's go, build a snowman!" ”

"I'll go too!"

Seeing that Chief Engineer Wu was going out to help, Xiao Ling immediately grabbed his arm and said with a smile: "It's not only cold outside, but it's also very slippery. Wu Gong, don't worry about it when you're old, let the two of them do it young. ”

It's already embarrassing to eat and live, how can Wu Huabin sit still? was really about to speak, Xiao Ling pointed to the stack of documents he brought, and continued: "I read it for most of the night, and there are a few things I don't understand very well. Our family has a mom-and-pop shop, and I bother you to always point fingers. ”

"This ...... This ......"

Seeing that he wanted to speak and stopped, An Xiaobin nodded and said with a smile: "This is a serious matter, the work is important, don't worry about the snow sweeping when you are old." ”

The streets were full of snow shovelers, some children were fighting, and a few neighbors were standing on the side of the road chatting. The little snow in front of the door, two big men wielding shovels, finished it in more than half an hour. was sprinkling snow salt, an old lady stumbled over, pointed to the villa not far away, and muttered something to An Xiaobin.

As Mr. Wu said, a foreign language learned without a language environment is a dumb foreign language, they spoke for three or five minutes, and Tian Wenjian was stunned and didn't understand a word.

"The old lady has no labor at home, and the snow in front of the door and in the backyard is too thick for anyone to shovel, so she wants to find someone to help."

Seeing the old lady looking at him expectantly, Tian Wenjian didn't think about it, so he blurted out: "Neighbors, who will help if you don't help?" ”

An Xiaobin was happy, nodded slightly at the old lady, and walked towards her door with a shovel on her shoulder, while laughing: "Eighty dollars for half an hour, there are not many opportunities like this, let's go...... Earn dollars to go. ”

"Collect money?" Tian Wenjian was confused, with an incredulous expression.

"Of course you have to collect money, who will do it for her if you don't give money?"

An Xiaobin nodded, looking as a matter of course, pointed to the row of cars buried in the snow, and continued: "It is natural to work and collect money, and if you don't collect money, others will think you have any intentions." Brother, today is a good opportunity to make a fortune. If you don't believe you're going around the streets with a shovel, you'll be asked to help you shovel snow and dig up a truck. ”

The front of the old lady's house is about ten square meters, and the backyard is about five or six square meters. It's too easy, as long as you have the strength, you don't need any skills. You can earn eighty dollars in half an hour, which is equivalent to nearly 500 yuan in Chengren people's currency, this Yankee is really not ordinary rich.

There is nothing to say about the process of snow clearing, it is nothing more than sweating like rain, it took more than half an hour to clean up the front and backyard, especially the front, and sprinkle a layer of snow salt after sweeping. The old lady was very satisfied, and not only paid the two of them a big man, but also a Chinese young man who was full of white gas, and paid $80 as previously agreed. An extra $10 tip was given for a coffee with two of them.

Just as he was about to go home, An Xiaobin was pulled by a female neighbor again, and following the direction of their eyes and fingers, Tian Wenjian realized that they should be talking about digging the car out of the snow.

There is a free labor force that works neatly, and An Xiaobin is determined to learn from Lei Feng and do good deeds to the end. After some haggling, he agreed to the neighbor's request without hesitation. The heavy snow closed the road, many units did not go to work today, and Tian Wenjian, who was in a hurry, had to bite the head and continue to work hard under the command of An Xiaobin.

After doing this and that, the first morning of coming to the United States was spent in labor. Although he was sweating profusely, it was nothing compared to the flood relief.

An Xiaobin was very excited, and as soon as he pushed open the door, he handed Xiao Ling the dollar in his hand as if he were offering a treasure, and said with a wicked smile: "A total of three hundred and twenty-five dollars, it stands to reason that you should be divided into half." But considering that you are too polite, I won't embarrass you, just your room fee. ”

Tian Wenjian gave him a punch, and while going upstairs to find clothes and prepare for a bath, he scolded with a smile: "No matter how black the capitalists are, they only exploit the surplus value of the toiling masses." It's good that you don't give anything worth, the whole black-hearted slave owner. ”

Looking at his depressed look, the three of them burst into laughter. The heavy snow closed the road, and they couldn't go anywhere, and after lunch, An Xiaobin and Xiao Ling could only accompany them around the area.

Several supermarkets are already open, and when you go inside, the shelves that should be full are almost empty. Especially where bread, drinks, and instant food are stored, there is almost nothing. The remaining bags of bread were all because the packaging was broken. It seems that Lao Mei is quite experienced, and when she heard the weather forecast that it was going to snow heavily, she immediately went out to buy daily necessities. Because if the snow is heavy, it is likely that you will not be able to bring in anything for several days.

Next door to the supermarket is a sporting goods store, with two floors, the first floor filled with all kinds of ball games, mostly basketball, baseball and football. After looking for a while, I saw our national ball in a small corner...... Ping pong. It's just basketball, although it doesn't play well, but you can still see it. You can't even read football and baseball, and you don't know which team won?

I was shy in my pocket, and I didn't buy anything after a circle. On the contrary, Xiao Ling saw that the two of them were thin, and secretly bought a coat for each of them. Looking at the trademark, Tian Wen Jianle was happy, and it was embroidered with the English words "Made in China".

At 4 p.m., I received an email informing me that due to the snow, the scrap auction originally scheduled to be held at Guernsey Auction was held on the fourth floor of Christie's. This is a big deal, even if the knife is outside, Tian Wenjian has to participate. In order to ensure that there were no problems, An Xiaobin, who had already entered the state, immediately dialed the lawyer's phone number to consult the matters that need to be paid attention to to participate in the scrap round auction.

…… At seven o'clock in the morning the next day, the four of them prepared for the middle of the night and set off early from Fortlee Town.

New Jersey is separated from New York City by a body of water, and there are three roads from New Jersey across the Hudson River to Manhattan, two of which are tunnels and one of which are bridges. The two tunnels are the Lincoln Tunnel and the Dutch Tunnel, and Tian Wenjian vaguely remembers that Stallone once made a famous disaster movie, which seems to have been filmed in one of these two tunnels.

What puzzled him was that if it was understandable that one tunnel was named after Lincoln, the other was called the Dutch Tunnel, and he wondered what the people of New York had in mind.

Instead of tunneling, An chose the legendary George Washington Bridge to give them a view of both sides of the Hudson River.

Obviously, his hard work was in vain. Neither Tian Wenjian nor Chief Engineer Wu were interested in any of this. Their hearts had already flown to the auction house, for fear that they would return empty-handed from their trip to New York.

Christie's is located near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, New York's busiest street, and is a high-rise building facing the famous Rockefeller Center. In front of the door, an elderly doorman stood to greet the guests politely and help them push the turnstiles. Entering the hall, several security guards dressed in black suits and holding walkie-talkies stood in several places, majestic.

An Xiaobin's lawyer arrived a long time ago, and he is a blue-eyed American. After saying hello to Tian Wenjian and the others, he led them to go through the formalities in order to obtain the bidding qualifications.

There is no need for a security deposit, only a bank certificate and company documents, which is a credit. In less than 20 minutes, all the formalities were completed. After receiving the scrap wheel information provided by the auction house, Chief Engineer Wu hurriedly sat aside, put on his glasses and studied it carefully.

"The auction house is very busy, and the auction of scrap wheels will start in an hour, why don't we go and see how others are auctioning?" An Xiaobin looked at his watch and said thoughtfully.

Professional things are done by professional people, with Chief Engineer Wu here, how much is the waste wheel worth? Will I lose money when I shoot it? Tian Wenjian was not worried at all, so he nodded and said with a smile: "Let's go up and have a look first, and leave it to Lawyer Wu Laohe here." ”

On the fourth floor, an auction of classical European furniture was underway, and the sound of the auctioneer's offer was transmitted down the central staircase to the first floor, and the three of them came to the auction hall in search of the sound.

There are more than a dozen rows of chairs in the middle of the hall, and thirty or forty buyers sit scattered around. Behind the high auction table in the front right of the hall stood a middle-aged female auctioneer, and to her left stood two assistant auctioneers. There are rows of long tables on the left and right sides of the hall, and behind them sit a dozen telephone commissioners holding telephones. The LED display in the front left of the room is constantly changing prices in the currencies of each country as the auctioneer's bids are made.

"After filming the furniture and shooting the waste wheel, it's a real evil door today, and it's all old things." An Xiaobin sighed lightly, pointed to the last row of chairs, and beckoned Tian Wenjian and Xiao Ling to sit down.

The auction table is very high, and the auctioneer at the back must be standing on a high platform, because the table top only reaches the bottom button of the auctioneer's shirt, which is higher than the common art auction table in China, and the table position is lower. Perhaps a lower table is more conducive to the auctioneer's arms, where they can perform and play with ease.

The assistants' tables and the tables at their feet are correspondingly shorter than those of the auctioneer, highlighting the height of the auctioneer and the height of the auctioneer's table.

"How about $3,000?"

The female auctioneer holds a small auction hammer in her left hand and a pen in her right hand, which can be stretched and retracted, and her posture is relatively elegant.

One buyer replied, "2000!" ”

Where is this auction? It's clearly a bargain. Just when Tian Wenjian was puzzled, the female auctioneer smiled and confirmed: "Okay, the bid here is 2000, is there a price increase?" ”

She always has a smile on her face, especially when she sees that the buyer is hesitant to increase the price, always give a smile, patiently give the other party time to consider, or gently add: "Do you want to add more?" Or, "Don't add it?" ”

Although they are doing business, the communication with buyers is very cordial and natural.

Probably because of the heavy snowfall, the atmosphere of the auction was not hot, and several pieces of old furniture did not sell for a high price, and even four pieces were unsold. But the auctioneer is very dedicated, and every time before the hammer is dropped, there are some reminders with different expressions.

For example: "Almost, I'm going to sell!" "Didn't add more? "If not, I'll sell it for 2,500 yuan?" Then the hammer fell in about 3 seconds, and the expression before the hammer fell seemed to be different each time, just like the expression when they quoted the auction price was also different, and it was a reason to pay attention to the change and richness of the language.

Seeing Wu Huabin sitting down with the documents in his hand, Tian Wenjian hurriedly leaned into his ear and asked in a low voice, "It's almost our turn, Wu Gong, how are you going over there?" ”

Chief Engineer Wu looked back, and after seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he said: "The yield rate of the Chenggong tanker is relatively high, which can reach 90-95%, and we will be profitable below 3.2 million US dollars; The yield of the Azalea bulk carrier is about 80-90%, and if it can be controlled within 480 US dollars, it can also be started. ”

Later, a total of six scrap ships were auctioned, and because the other four were too large to be dismantled on the slipway, and the purchase price was too high, Chief Engineer Wu could only choose to give up and pin all his hopes on these two scrap ships with slightly lower tonnage.

You have to do everything step by step, you can't eat a fat man in one bite, Tian Wenjian nodded slightly, handed the number plate to Xiao Ling, and smiled meaningfully: "Sister Ling, it's up to you next." ”

The waste wheel is not old furniture, and it is millions of dollars when you hold up the sign, Xiao Ling was stunned, with an incredible expression, and asked, "Can I do it?" ”

"Just host a variety show, just don't let others see through you."

An Xiaobin took the number plate and stuffed it into her hand, and said with a wicked smile: "There is a rich man sitting next to him, what is there to be afraid of?" Say you can do it, wife, don't be embarrassed. ”

Those who sold and bought furniture all left the market, and those who sold and bought scrap ships came in one after another. There weren't many bidders, just a dozen people. But there were a few more calls next to the buyer, and when I saw their clothes, it turned out to be the auctioneer of the auction house.

Seeing Tian Wenjian's frown, An Xiaobin's lawyer immediately explained: "Gentlemen, Christie's has a lot of telephone commissions, and sometimes the telephone entrustment bidding is more than the buyer's quotation on the field, and there are even often several telephone entrustments bidding with each other. In addition, there is a function for buyers who do not understand English, and a staff member who understands foreign languages will be responsible for translating and replacing the quotation. ”

Tian Wenjian nodded as if he didn't understand, and was about to say something, An Xiaobin smiled and said: "This is New York, not Yanjing, there are not so many nurseries." What's more, they are still world-famous auction houses, and they will never do that kind of thing to smash their own signboards. ”

Selling a boat is different from selling furniture, and the male auctioneer who has just stepped on the stage did not introduce the auction items on the slide with emotion like the female auctioneer just did. There is no bluffing, no tone of voice, no high-pitched emotional mobilization, and few big gestures, and very few alternating gestures of opening the bow left and right, basically using the left hand holding the mallet and the right hand holding the pen to implicitly signal to the buyers in the audience.

At the same time, instead of bidding without a reserve price as just now, the reserve price was quoted cleanly, signaling the buyers to start bidding.

"The new bidder bid 1.63 million yuan, is there any more?"

The scrap ship that was being photographed was a refrigerated ship with a very low yield rate, and even Chief Engineer Wu couldn't look down on it, let alone other buyers with deep pockets. Seeing that there was no response from the buyer on the spot or by phone, Tian Wenjian couldn't help but ask: "Wu Gong, is 1.66 million profitable?" ”

Seeing An Xiaobin and Xiao Ling staring at him in unison, Wu Huabin pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "1.7 million have money to make, the problem is that our capital is limited, if we buy this ship, then the other two more profitable ones can't be bought." ”

At this time, a telephone commissioner raised the number plate, and the auctioneer immediately raised the gavel and shouted: "1.66 million, 1.66 million!" A new buyer bid 1.66 million yuan, do you want to add more? ”

Shipwreck deals are generally conducted privately by wreck brokerage companies, and there are not many auctions like this. There was no contact with the shipwreck brokerage company, and the Chinese shipowners in Southeast Asia contacted by An Xiaobin could not be interviewed until two days later because of the heavy snowfall.

Tian Wenjian, who didn't want to go home empty-handed, let alone miss a better opportunity, had to grit his teeth and resolutely gave up the bid for this refrigerated ship. Ten minutes later, the first scrap ship was auctioned for $1.69 million by telephone commission. Many buyers didn't bid, and sat there like tourists watching the excitement.

There is no doubt that they must have come for the last three scrap ships of more than 100,000 tons. Thinking of this, Tian Wenjian breathed a sigh of relief. After all, his capital is limited, and he can only purchase and dismantle scrap ships of less than 30,000 tons at this stage.

“…… Ladies and gentlemen, the information of the Success was announced a month ago, this is a 28-year-old 15,000 light ton tanker, has been sailing on the Atlantic route, the ship's plate corrosion is 2.1mm, the reserve price is 2.85 million US dollars, each increase is still 30,000 US dollars, and the auction is now open! ”

The oil tanker on the slide is the main target of everyone's trip. As soon as the auctioneer finished quoting the reserve price, two telephone consignors raised the number plate.

It's a little better than just now, but it's not quite hot. Just when Xiao Ling was hesitating whether to bid too, the auctioneer pointed to an on-site buyer on the left, smiled and said, "2.94 million yuan, 2.94 million yuan, 2.94 million yuan on the spot, is there any more?" ”

Seeing that several other well-dressed buyers still looked indifferent, Xiao Ling lazily raised the number plate with an indifferent expression. Although for those international buyers, her performance is a paediatric. But Tian Wenjian still raised his thumb under his seat, expressing 10,000 points of satisfaction.

Wu Huabin was extremely nervous, and buried his head very low, for fear that others would see something from his face. After all, this is too important for the Longjiang shipyard, if it can be won at a price of 3.1 million US dollars, the shipyard will have at least 8 million yuan in profits.

"A new buyer bid 2.97 million, do you want to add it again?" Seeing a beautiful Oriental lady holding up the number plate, the auctioneer couldn't help but take a few more looks.

What are you afraid of, what is coming! Someone on the other side of the phone table held up the number plate again. 3,000,000 ...... 3.03 million ...... 3.06 million! Finally, the rising price stopped at Xiao Ling's 3.06 million.

"Almost, I'm selling! Didn't add more? If not, I'll sell it for 3.06 million yuan? ”

Everyone's hearts were pounding, for fear that something that didn't have long eyes would suddenly raise the number plate again. There was silence for about 3 seconds, and the auctioneer, who was afraid that the world would not be chaotic, finally dropped the gavel, and the oil tanker Chenggong announced the transaction at a price of 3.06 million.

More than 3 million US dollars is more than 20 million yuan, although the credit union granted 50 million yuan to the shipyard, but the balance is no longer enough to participate in the next auction. What's more, An Xiaobin also contacted several Chinese shipowners, and if the negotiation is completed, there is no money to pay. After all, such a good thing as an auction is hard to come by, and if you want to gain a foothold in the ship recycling industry, you have to buy a ship directly from the shipowner.

The basic purpose has been achieved, and everyone gives up the next bid. Under the leadership of the staff of the auction house, I went to the eighth floor to sign a contract with the seller of the Success. The procedures are very cumbersome, such as the purpose of the sale of the scrap ship is limited to the dismantling, the buyer must provide the seller with a certificate of the start of the dismantling and the completion of the complete dismantling, and the dismantling process to send a representative to supervise the dismantling of the actual ship, etc., up to more than 100 pages!

Fortunately, a lawyer was hired, otherwise such a transaction would never have been completed by the four of them. The auction is only a reference price, and according to the Basel Convention, Mr. Wu requested the seller to deduct the garbage removal fee from the ship's price.

The seller is not a shipping company, but a bank that is not in the name of the word. Mr. Davis, a banker of diminutive stature, did not hesitate to agree to this request after consulting with the accompanying lawyer.

After a busy afternoon, the transaction was only halfway through.

Chief Engineer Wu also needs to provide the original completion drawings of the shipyard with the approval seal of the classification society provided by the seller; The original shipyard certification letter and the original certificate of classification of the ship, which certifies that the Chenggong does not have any fixed ballast, and confirms that the light tonnage is true; The corresponding drawings of the shipyard of the Success refit project; The actual ship moored at Staten Island will be inspected and verified, and the entire transaction can only be completed after confirmation.

(To be continued)