Chapter 452 Hey, You Wanna Save Face?
Perplexed, Danny asked, “Are you going to the black market, Elise?”
Elise glanced up at Danny while putting away her phone calmly. “Uh-huh,” she replied, before sitting down in the rocking chair next to her and rocking back and forth leisurely like an old man.
A while later, Alexander came back with his cell phone. He said indifferently, “I’ve gotten two tickets.”
“Yes!” Danny raised his fist in victory. He asked in surprise, “In that case, I can go with you two, right?”
“Nope,” Alexander replied harshly.
Danny was instantly filled with disappointment. Just then, however, a gust of wind suddenly blew past him, and he sensed someone flying past him in a supercilious manner.
The next second, a familiar voice sounded from behind him. “Miss Sinclair, here are the tickets that you’ve asked for. There are ten of them. Master Bryce said you can bring friends with you to the black market, and if the tickets aren’t enough, you can give the market manager your name so that the rest of them can enter,” the man said reverently.
As soon as the man finished his speech, Danny turned around and dashed back to Elise’s side with the speed of a nocked arrow, staring at the stack of tickets in the box with shining eyes.
Elise took the tickets. “Thanks for bringing me these. You didn’t have to come in person, though. Just let somebody run the errand for you next time.”
The man showed an acute sense of propriety. “Like I said, I’m honored to be at your service, Miss Sinclair. Well then, I won’t be keeping you any longer,” he said politely. Then, he turned around and left.
As soon as the man disappeared from the door, Danny jumped up and hugged Elise. “Oh, my God! What a fantastic sister-in-law I’ve found for myself! Black market! It’s the tickets to the black market! They’re so difficult to get, yet that guy gave you a stack of them!”
At the sight of the scene, Alexander’s bushy eyebrows snapped together, and he hemmed twice crossly. “Ahem! Ahem!”
However, Danny was totally oblivious to it. Wrapping his arms around Elise, he shook her in gratitude with all his might.
Alexander’s face darkened. He walked over to Danny right away, forcibly wrenching the latter’s arms away from Elise. Then, he said in a voice devoid of warmth, “It’s inappropriate to be overfamiliar with someone of the opposite gender, Danny.”
“What’s the problem with that? Elise and I are a family!” Danny argued obsequiously.
However, not even Elise could stand listening to the boy’s words any longer. She opened the transparent box containing the tickets, took a ticket out of it, and handed the ticket to Danny. “Here, take it.”
Danny waved the ticket in his hand, flaunting it in front of Alexander as if it were some precious treasure. “Look, Alexander! Now I can go to the black market even without you!”
Alexander shook his head before turning to look at Elise. He said with a note of tenderness and resignation in his voice, “Just spoil him all you want.”
Danny brazenly clung to Elise once again. “What’s wrong with her spoiling me? Since you’re not doing so, it’s only natural that someone else is gonna do it. It’s none of your business! I hereby declare unilaterally that starting from today, I’m Elise’s real brother, and I’m cutting all ties with you!”
Alexander shot a disdainful look at Danny. “What an ingrate,” he said. Then, he haughtily returned to his room.
…
Night fell soon afterward, and Elise and the others quickly set off for the black market in a car.
After following the instructions on the ticket, they arrived at the place where the black market was held. It was an undeveloped suburban area with not a single habitation within a near 100-mile radius—the deciding factor that led to the black market being held here.
Upon getting out of their car, Elise and the others saw a market as lively as the commercial street. The entire black market looked more like a street in ancient times, but it was lit with modern technology. In short, it was a retro-styled commercial street.
Despite its peaceful and prosperous facade, everyone knew that everything—from something as tiny as a needle to something as enormous as invisible power—could be traded on the black market. The interests of the parties involved in the transactions were inextricably interwoven, making the transactions far more complicated than the simple buying and selling of goods that they were purported to be.
After signing in at the entrance, Elise and the others entered the bustling market.
On the outermost fringes of the market were peddlers selling smuggled daily commodities. These people smuggled inexpensive items from abroad, then waited for buyers to purchase them so that they could pocket the price difference. Meanwhile, having gotten their hands on the items, the buyers would repackage them at low cost with obscure and incomprehensible foreign language, labeling them as top-quality goods from abroad in order to make exorbitant profits by selling them at ten to twenty times the original price.
The black market was also the best place for profit seekers to get rich overnight, which was why so many people scrambled to try getting into the black market, all in hopes of striking it rich.
When the group walked past what seemed like a fortune-telling stand, Elise inadvertently took another glance at the stall owner, upon which the man immediately latched onto her like a limpet. “Hey, sweetie! You must be a celebrity. Wanna buy some fake fans? We can also regulate comments on your social media, boost your retweets, and amplify your social media followings! Come on, we offer great value for money! You know H, the nation’s darling? She’s bought fake fans from us, too!”
Upon hearing his words, Elise couldn’t help but laugh. She stopped in her tracks and teased, “Hey, be careful lest I file a complaint against you for the false advertising.”
“That’s right!” Danny stepped forward and pushed the stall owner back a few steps. “What you said about H buying fans from you is just sheer nonsense. Does she even need to buy fake fans? She draws fans with her own talents!” He looked at the stall owner as if the latter was a retard. How dare you rip people off blindly without recognizing H herself standing right before you? Seems like not only are the black market transactions shady, but these black market traders are also evil-minded!
The stall owner dared not make a sound since he was outnumbered by Elise and her group. Then, seeing the murderous look in Alexander’s eyes, he immediately ran back to his stall.
Elise chuckled and continued to walk on.
“Ellie,” Alexander called out to her just then. “I’d like to buy something over there, so don’t wander too much. Just go straight down the road slowly and wait for me, okay?”
“Just go ahead. Don’t worry about me,” Elise replied.
With that, Alexander left with Cameron.
On the other hand, Claude had his eyes on the herb market as soon as the group entered. The instant Alexander excused himself, he immediately slipped away to the stall selling medicinal ingredients nearby, leaving no one else but Danny beside Elise.
The two strolled aimlessly along the market stalls, but they didn’t find anything they wanted to buy. Just when they reached a corner, a tall and brawny brute suddenly popped up and stared at them fiercely, saying, “Hey, you wanna save face?”
