Thalira had a regretful look on her face. She scrunched her face. "My grades aren't that good this semester, so my eldest brother wants me to focus on studying harder and take remedial courses."
It was really convenient to use her eldest brother as a shield every time.
She glanced at Scarlett, who might have misunderstood her earlier. "He sends me some money to move my dormitory to a private room so that he can monitor my progress…"
The two girls had weird looks on their faces. Thalira blinked innocently, like she hadn't just slandered her brother.
"Come visit us often." Evelyn had a look of pity on her face. "It must be boring staying alone after you have roommates."
The two girls offered to help Thalira to move some of her things after that. She accepted it and promised to treat them to a meal. After she was done for the day, Thalira laid in exhaustion in her bed.
She locked the door and entered her inner world, planning to sort some of her things. There were some things she learned from the human realm. She shouldn't put her eggs in one basket or showing off her wealth.
In order to earn money fast, she couldn't rely on Austin and Mr. Brown alone. Austin proved to be a decent person so far, but human hearts were still the most unpredictable. Would he tell her third brother about their business?
Meanwhile, some people were like Mr. Slade, greedy and deceitful.
With a lot of thoughts in her mind, she drifted off to sleep, holding several jewelries she planned to sell on her hand.
The next day, she directly went to the bank, selling some gold bars. She didn't only visit one, but several of them. One gold bar earned her around one hundred thousand points. She went to five banks and sold five bars each, so now she has more than three millions in her account if she calculated it with the pocket money.
She also went to a pawnshop to sell her jewelries which consists of some bracelets, rings, and necklaces, each inlaid with sparkling gems or had pearls on them. This time, the money she got shocked her.
She actually received around five millions for the three jewelry she pawned off in the first shop. Thus, she hurriedly went back to her dorm, counting her profit after she visited the second shop–where she got another two millions. She could still handle three or four adult men, but if she got surrounded, it will still be troublesome.
Nevertheless, such amount was still not enough for her to squander. Some humans live only under a hundred years, but a divine beast like her live longer. Well, she was now a cat, but soon she would regain that majestic appearance of a white tiger again. Right?
"How was it, Austin?"
Just as she thought about more ways to earn money, she received a call from Austin.
"Most of them are decent antiques." He began, "There are quite a number of brooches that look very old, probably a few hundred years old in age. The lowest price is around one hundred and fifty thousand points. The porcelain figures are the most sought after in this collection and the most expensive. Most antique collectors are looking for them…"
Thalira listened as Austin patiently explained about the appraisers' evaluation of her antiques. Her collections actually weren't that old, but some of them were given by her parents and siblings when she was little just to keep her occupied. It was them who should be considered antique in the human age…
Oh, her mind wandered off. She reflected on herself and went back to focusing on listening to Austin's explanation again to appreciate his efforts.
"Do you want to sell those to us, Thalira? We can give decent price, but if you put them through auction, the price might can go higher." Austin added after he gave her a total of six millions for the entire antique.
She contemplated it for a while. "How long until the auctions starts?"
"It will be held each week on Saturday, but to be honest, for personal collection, the number of items that can be auctioned is limited. Two at most. A well-known, registered shop antique usually get five spots. Those antiques also need to go another screening to determine its rarity and authenticity." Austin explained.
Thalira frowned, not expecting it to be that troublesome. She held her forehead and decided. "I will just sell those to your shop then."
The process was very quick. As if afraid that Thalira would go back to her words, Mr. Brown, who was nearby, quickly helped to settle the process. Thus, her account got additional six millions points.
"Don't you feel a pity selling those things? If they are your ancestors' collections, they might be quite precious to your family." Mr. Brown commented from Austin's side, but his voice still went to Thalira's side.
She pursed her lips, and then in a bright tone, she replied, "Then should I stop selling those things….?" Her voice trailed off in a deliberate tone.
Mr. Brown actually seemed torn, not understanding the girl's decision, but also coveted her unique collection at the same time. Nevertheless, the decision was still hers to make. Although they couldn't determine which era in history those things came from, her items were quite interesting. As such when he heard her words, he sighed and changed his tone. "If you want to sell, then sell."
"Don't worry, Mr. Brown. I know what I am doing." Thalira assured. Even if the antiques didn't come from her private collection and actually belonged to the Eleoness family, she would still sell them. After all, antiques, no matter how old, were useless in the apocalypse.
"For the auction, does such a thing only exist in our city?" Thalira continued to ask.
Austin was very smart and had an excellent memory, which also allowed him to take double degrees at university. He could remember a lot of information and thus, proceeded to explain similar auctions in the nearby cities.
Hearing Austin's explanation, she frowned. It was no wonder that the old man Mr. Brown still opened the antique shop in this city despite the presence of the despicable Mr. Slade. This city was one of the centers for antique items. Other big auctions were a bit far away, and might require some days of journey. Not to mention some auctions there were only held once a month.
Time was the most pressing matter at this moment.
Austin seemed to notice that Thalira was crazily collecting money for some reason, but he didn't pry at her personal affairs. Hearing the trouble in her tone, he mulled over it for a moment. "Quality over quantity, Thalira. If you believe in us, we can help you to appraise some of your antiques and pick the best ones to be presented."
"Oh?" Thalira's eyes lit up, and she eagerly inquired about it. "What kind of antiques are high in demand right now? Or the most expensive ones."
Thalira just found out that the most expensive antiques didn't necessarily have to be jewelry. It can even be furniture or painting.
"You can consider porcelain and ceramics. Such antiques are in high demand, but there are also paintings or ancient books," Austin told her.
Thalira frowned. Should she just sell more jewelry? Those things Austin just mentioned might indeed be in high demand, but they also needed to identified the era of history where they came from. Otherwise, antique collectors would consider those as imitation.
This time, she was lucky the Brown family brought most of her items. She felt a bit embarrassed because she thought she was somewhat scamming them. Thankfully, Mr. Brown already made his intention clear that he was going to study them for a while. Most likely, those things she took out didn't align with any historical records here.
Well, she can use some other way to pay for their kindness later.
"I will bring them to you tomorrow." She finally decided.