My Counterattack System After Reborn

Chapter 29: Meeting Mr. Roberts and Harvey Occam

Eve’s question caught Todd off guard, and he froze. The only reason he had for knowing where she lived was because of his relationship with her in his previous life. Of course, he could not tell her that. Think Bower! – he scolded himself – Say something!

When his mouth finally opened, his face turned. He said, “This is embarrassing to admit, but I have been watching you…”

Eve blushed. In another situation, with a different man, she might have felt like her privacy had been invaded. It was different with Todd, though, because she had been doing the same thing to him. She had been watching him, and she too knew where he lived.  

While they were chatting, a middle-aged man with a shabby face in a torn shirt passed by the car. When he saw Eve, he knocked on the car window and started yelling Eve’s name.

"Dad?" Eve became a little flustered when she saw that her father was there. She was worried that he would think that she was doing something bad, so she quickly opened the door and got out of the car. Her father had always had a bad temper, so she hoped that she could explain everything to him before the situation escalated. As it turned out, though, she need not have worried. Her father showed no signs of being upset.  

Todd got out of the car, walked around to where they were standing, and offered Eve’s father his hand. “Mr. Roberts, so nice to meet you. My name is Todd. I am one of Eve’s classmates.   

Eve's father greeted him politely. Then he turned to Eve and said, "Eve, since he drove you home, you have to say thank you."

Eve was still surprised by the strange change in his father's personality, but she generally did what she was told to do, so she thanked Todd.

“It wasn’t a problem.” Todd smiled and said, “Anyway, I will see you tomorrow.” Then he got back into his car and drove away.  

Mr. Roberts watched the car drive away. He had one hand raised and he continued to wave until Todd disappeared.

Eve was a little surprised at her father's abnormal behavior. "Dad, what's the matter with you?" she asked.

“Are you crazy?” Mr. Roberts grabbed Eve's shoulder. "My God!” he exclaimed. “Was that a Porsche? I heard that their cheapest model on the market costs five hundred thousand dollars and that their sports cars cost almost a million dollars! That car is worth more than all of our assets combined... 

“Tell me, sweet heart; does he like you?"

"Dad, don't talk nonsense!" Eve's face turned red again.

Mr. Roberts could tell that his daughter was not telling the truth, and as they walked into the house, he tried to reassure her. "Daughter,” he said. “You can talk to me. I am a Modern Man. If you are in love, I will not stand in your way. There are very few high-quality boys like this. If you don't get him as soon as possible, he may be taken from you."

Eve shied away from what her father had said. She did care for Todd, but she wanted her father to like him for who he was, not for how much money he had. It was a good thing that he didn’t know that the car was worth almost three million dollars. If he did, he would have really been on her ass about nabbing him.

***

After dropping Eve off, Todd grabbed some takeaway and returned home. In the past, Todd’s mother had prepared home-cooked meals every night, and he considered these fast-food dishes to be a poor alternative. He missed the home-cooked meals, but he missed his mom even more – and, of course, his dad. 

The evil Asian monk was to blame for all his troubles, but so far, he had been unable to deal with him. The most important thing now was to deal with his economic crisis so that he could keep his villa and sports car.

Once he was done eating, Todd went back to his room. He took out the business card that the old man had given him, and he thought about the tale that he’d told about a rich grandmother, her master craftsman/lover, and his protégée. After having fallen on hard times, he had been forced to sell some of her prized possessions, and thanks to his relationship with the protégée, he is able to procure custom orders as fancy and pure as the golden rose.

The old man had told him that most people were more interested in wood than gold. After checking the Internet, he saw that there were many common rare blocks of wood. Some of the more expensive ones were African Blackwood, Red Sandalwood, Yellow Rosewood, and Purple Heart. And from these woods, Yellow Rosewood carvings had the highest value. This was because of the peculiar fragrance of the wood itself. The scent was of great benefit to people, so many dignitaries liked to put Yellow Rosewood carvings in their homes.

According to information that Todd found on the Internet, at an auction in 2014, an exquisite Yellow Rosewood rabbit sculpture had sold for 20 million dollars, which amounted to eight million dollars per kilogram. Of course, in addition to the artistic value and the wood's value, the sculpture also carried unique historical and cultural value.

"Holy crap!” Todd exclaimed. “Yellow Rosewood costs almost ten thousand dollars for a kilogram!!!" Todd almost fainted when he saw this.

In the Pretentious system, one kilogram of Yellow Rosewood cost ten Slap-Face Numerical Value, which was exactly how much one gram of gold cost, and the difference after being converted into RMB was three hundred times that!

"It turns out that there are woods that are more expensive than gold," Todd muttered. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and once he had calmed down, he dialed the old man's phone number.

As the phone began to ring, Todd read the information on the business card for the first time. According to what it said, the old man's name was Harvey Occam, and that he was a staff member of an auction house. Of course, he did not know if any of that was true.

The call was accepted, and Harvey said,” Hello. This is Harvey Occam. How can I help you?”

“This is Todd,” Todd said. “I am the handsome guy that sold you that golden flower. You must remember me…” 

“It is good to hear from you!” Harvey exclaimed. "Did the master agree to your proposition?"

“He did.” Todd smiled and said, "Mr. Occam, the master craftsman has two pieces of Yellow Rosewood that he has no plans for. For the right price, he could be convinced to do a custom order. Are you interested?"

Harvey was ecstatic when he heard that. He was so excited that he squealed, and the high pitch pierced Todd’s eardrums like ice picks, forcing him to pull the phone away from his ear. “Hey!” he shouted. "What gives?!?! You practically blew out my eardrums."

"I'm very sorry,” Harvey said. “I am extremely excited. I promise that it won’t happen again. Anyway, do you have any more details?”