Chapter 37: The Box
It was a rare trip to downtown Micano City. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, Old John decided to take Everly around for a while.
Coincidentally, it was the weekend, and just two blocks away from the dental clinic, a flea market was open. After discussing it for a bit, the two decided to go explore the flea market and see what they could find.
American flea markets sold just about everything: secondhand furniture, vintage records, all kinds of antiques, cheap trinkets, car parts… Even just browsing without buying could be a very interesting experience. However, since most of the vendors at flea markets were immigrants and the sources of their goods were complicated, the chance of encountering fakes was high—especially antiques and secondhand luxury items, which were notorious for being counterfeited. So, if one wanted to score a bargain here, a sharp eye for spotting authenticity was essential.
Everly didn’t lack money. She was a quietly wealthy young lady. Beyond the trust fund Old John bought for her every month, the fifty thousand US dollars from Old John during the cockroach disaster in Lemot Town were entirely hers to manage.
The little rich girl, Everly, walked around the flea market once, and then squatted down in front of a secondhand furniture stall to start picking out chairs. She had grown taller, and the chair she used before now seemed a bit short for her desk. She wanted to buy a new chair to take home—maybe even a dog bed. The old dog bed at home was almost completely chewed up by Buddy, so if there was an inexpensive one here, she might as well grab it…
As she walked back and forth, examining items, Everly suddenly froze.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a somewhat peculiar wooden box.
It was an old, entirely black wooden box. The box was spherical, with eight faces, each painted with strange, bizarre patterns, making it look like some kind of uniquely crafted art piece.
In front of the box squatted a black-haired woman, resting her chin on her hand as she stared at the wooden box with considerable interest.