I Spy With My Secret Eyes

Chapter 138

As Oliver and Manuel walked alongside Forest, Felix glanced at Oliver and then quietly asked Manuel, “Manuel, are you partnering with this young guy? Which family’s son is he?”

In Felix’s view, for Manuel to be speaking so highly of this young man, he must be trying to bask in his family’s glory and wealth.

Although Manuel had a fortune of over a hundred million dollars, among the truly wealthy, he was a small fish.

It’s not that easy to get into the rich world.

Of course, Manuel understood what Felix was thinking. He smiled and didn’t respond.

Felix smirked, thinking that this guy didn’t want to disclose the information, likely to avoid getting entangled with the wealthy second-generation as he had.

The sandalwood was stored in the factory’s main hall, lined up one by one and occupying a large portion of the space. Each piece of sandalwood had a description sign and a base price.

Forest explained as they walked, “These materials were sourced from our neighboring country. They’re quite cooperative over there, and as long as you pay, everything is possible. In our country, it’s nearly impossible to buy them anymore, because the authorities have imposed strict regulations on the logging of sandalwood due to its endangered status. The same goes for scentedwood. What’s available for sale now is mostly old stock from previous years.”

Manuel had experience gambling with sandalwood and whispered to Oliver, “These sandalwood materials are excellent. It’s quite rare to find pieces of this size. However, it’s a gamble just like with

scentedwood. While in scentedwood, we gamble on whether there’s a burl or ghost face inside, with sandalwood, we gamble on whether the wood is hollow inside.”

Sandalwood is often called the “Emperor of Woods” and is considered the top-grade wood. Historically, it was primarily reserved for use by the royal family. The growth of sandalwood is very slow, with one growth ring appearing approximately every five years.

Besides, these rings aren’t very prominent. Additionally, sandalwood typically matures over 800 years. Most sandalwood logs develop a hollow center when they reach a diameter of 8 inches, which means that only the outer 8 inches of the wood can be used:

Therefore, sandalwood is not as risky as scentedwood. Everyone knows that the profit of sandalwood is actually the selling price of finished products.

For example, if you purchase a set of furniture materials for 1 million and create a set of furniture, like chairs or sofas, the selling price is usually at least 4 million or even higher.

When Oliver took a look at these sandalwood materials and quickly assessed them, he lost some interest. After examining the results of one piece of wood, he said to Manuel, “Manuel, I don’t think we should get into this. The gambling difference is minimal. Essentially, it’s about buying these materials to create high-end furniture and making a profit from the craftsmanship and the intrinsic value of the sandalwood.”

Manuel’s enthusiasm waned as well. Without the thrilling gamble for ghost faces in scentedwood or the excitement of gambling on raw jadeites, it just wasn’t as interesting, and it didn’t showcase Oliver’s exceptional abilities.

Besides, Oliver and Manuel weren’t in the woodworking and processing business, so there was no need to acquire the sandalwood.

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Oliver took a quick look around and confirmed that there was nothing interesting. He then signaled to Manuel and said, “Manuel, let’s call it a day and head back to the hotel. There’s nothing fun here.”

Manuel readily agreed, and he was completely reliant on Oliver’s decisions. He had no attachment to the situation, and as soon as Oliver mentioned leaving, he nodded and turned to go.

The driver was lounging in the car, playing on his phone and waiting. He made a few thousand just for this easy and carefree job.

Once they got outside, Manuel opened the car door and motioned for Oliver to get in first. Only then did the driver realize they were leaving. He hurriedly sat up and asked, “Mr. Camden, is it over already?”

Manuel laughed and said, “It’s over. We’re the only ones who made money here. Staying around would just be asking for trouble. Haha, let’s head back.”

The driver, while starting the car and turning on the air conditioning, continued with a smile, “Congratulations, Mr. Camden. It seems like you and your partner are the only ones who made money today. This probably has something to do with skill. I noticed so many people coming today, and the fact that no one else made money suggests that it’s more than just

luck.”

Manuel grinned and replied, “You’re absolutely right. We made money based on our abilities. Haha. Your fee for today is 600 dollars, right? I’ll add another 1,400 to make it an even 2,000 dollars.”

The driver was taken aback for a moment but then smiled and expressed his gratitude, and then he said, “Thank

you, Mr.

Camden. Honestly, in all my years of driving, you’re the first person I’ve met who’s been so generous and open-handed. Truly!”

Manuel waved his hand and said, “It’s not a big deal. We made more than 16.8 million dollars today. It’s nothing to give you 2,000 dollars.”

“You earned more than 16 million dollars in such a short time?” The driver shouted. He was so shocked that he couldn’t even think straight.

Manuel nodded with a smile and said, “That’s right. We made it from betting on scentedwood. Everything we bet on has significant value. The others bought expensive scentedwood that turned out to be useless scrap wood. We purchased a total of 18 pieces, and each one is worth a fortune. Out of the 78 pieces of scentedwood pieces here, only 18 revealed ghost faces. We’ve got good luck… Haha!”

When talking to outsiders, Manuel attributed their fortune to “luck”, but he knew deep down that it was Oliver’s exceptional skill that had made it all possible.

No one can be lucky forever. Since Oliver gambled on jadeites, he realized that Oliver’s abilities were beyond ordinary people’s imagination. Even those so-called top veteran players and appraisal experts can’t match his skills.

Someone like Oliver will inevitably soar to great heights, and money is of no concern to him. So, Manuel used various means to pull Oliver close to him.

Of course, Manuel had no ulterior motives. His approach was to forcibly share half of his profits with Oliver, something that most people couldn’t do.

However, Manuel had a far-reaching and clear perspective. He knew that as long as he treated Oliver well, Oliver’s personality would never allow him to abandon their friendship. Oliver would only become more loyal. So, no matter how high Oliver climbed or how far he went in the future, he would never leave Manuel behind to seek wealth independently.

The driver hadn’t started the car yet when someone blocked the front of the vehicle. “Mr. Eastwood, please step out of the car. I have something to discuss with you.”

This person was none other than the beautiful Jenifer.

The driver was also taken aback and looked back at Oliver.

Oliver and Manuel had no idea what was happening. Manuel even wondered if Jenifer was taking advantage of her local status to make things hard for Oliver.

Oliver didn’t get out of the car but leaned out of the window to ask her, “What’s the matter? We’re not familiar, are we?”

Jenifer glanced at him, then at the others, pursed her lips, and lowered her voice. Then she said, “You… get out of the car. I have something to say to you.”

Wayne and Simon got out of the car first, standing on the left and right, watching Jenifer.

Jenifer frowned, feeling a little annoyed, and said to Oliver, “Why? I just want to talk to you. Do I need two big men to come out with you? Am I a wild beast or something?”

Wayne and Simon looked a little embarrassed. They clearly saw that Jenifer wasn’t someone skilled in martial arts or combat, and she wasn’t carrying any dangerous weapons.

Oliver immediately got out of the car, gestured to Wayne and Simon to move a bit further away, and then asked Jenifer, “What do you want to talk about?”

Jenifer glanced back at Manuel inside the car, blushed again, hesitated, and pointed to the other side, and then she said, “Can we go a little further away to talk?”