Chapter 9: Cleanup Operations

During the Victorian era, rooms and kitchens used by servants in noble estates were often designed in semi-basements. This was due to the reliance on various wells for water, as there was no running water at the time, making it easier to access water sources from such locations.

However, with the changing times, these dim and damp rooms were either repurposed for other uses or abandoned altogether.

The semi-basement of this estate had likely been abandoned for a long time. As Liang En walked through the corridor, he noticed a series of clear footprints on the ground.

Upon opening the kitchen door and the sunlight filtering in through the glass windows above, Liang En could clearly see the state of the room.

Perhaps due to the room's prolonged closure, there was some dust, though not too thick.

Numerous items, accumulated over who knows how many years, were scattered throughout the kitchen. Some were placed inside cabinets, while more items were strewn all over the place.

"This is simply outrageous." Standing at the doorway and using a flashlight to survey the kitchen, Liang En couldn't help but mutter.

He noticed several fresh-looking footprints on the kitchen floor, and there were signs of tables and cabinets being opened.

Evidently, the magnate who had hired them today had already conducted a rough inspection of the house. Naturally, if anything valuable was found during this process, it wouldn't have been left behind.

What was even more frustrating was that this Russian magnate had covered his tracks perfectly. The daily labor fee of 600 pounds, while a bit low given the circumstances, fell within a reasonable range.

However, for people like Liang En and Pierce who had traveled from London, when you subtract accommodation and travel expenses, there wasn't much money left to be made.

In a way, this behavior was akin to how some businesses open blind boxes, take out valuable figurines, reseal the boxes, and then sell them – a rather unethical practice.

But the issue lies in the fact that some unwritten rules are just that – unspoken. If the other party is wealthy, powerful, and not deeply involved in the trade, they have the capital to act as they please.

For instance, in Liang En's previous life in the antique business, there were rules like "No counterfeits in the antique market" and "Pay and take, no returns."

But he had also heard of a high-profile individual who spent a hefty sum on an antique as a gift, only to have it exposed as a fake at the recipient's banquet, causing him embarrassment.

He sued the seller upon returning, and the prominent owner of a renowned antique shop in that city was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison on charges of fraud due to the substantial amount involved.

So, after a few complaints, Liang En realized that he could do nothing to change the situation and had to accept this reality.

After a brief inspection of the room, he returned to the backseat of the van, took out some pulleys and ropes, and improvised a makeshift lifting apparatus. Together with Pierce, they started moving the heavy items out of the semi-basement through the windows.

After all, whether it was the servants' quarters or the kitchen, there were numerous heavy objects that needed to be cleared out, such as tables, cabinets, beds, and the cast-iron stove.

If they relied solely on the narrow staircase outside the basement, they wouldn't be able to finish cleaning these four rooms in three days. So, using tools was a necessity.

On their way to get the tools, they encountered several other secondhand dealers who had come from out of town to clean the rooms as well. From their expressions, it was evident that the Russian magnate was quite thorough in his approach. He must have inspected all the rooms beforehand.

Once the lifting apparatus was prepared, the cleaning began. The first to be cleaned were the three servants' quarters on Pierce's side. These three rooms had simple structures and were relatively small, making the cleaning process more convenient.

The items left in the servants' quarters were mainly beds, cabinets, and chairs.

While these items appeared to have a history of seventy or eighty years, both their materials and condition were fairly average, and they weren't worth much.

So, rather than discarding entire pieces of furniture, they decided to use axes and saws to break the visibly damaged pieces into wooden boards or planks on the spot. Then, they bundled them up and took them to the ground.

Compared to disposing of whole pieces of furniture, these dismantled wooden furniture pieces occupied less space and could be given away to churches or charitable organizations as firewood, saving on waste disposal fees.

During the process of disassembling the furniture, they occasionally stumbled upon small surprises, like coins or hairpins wedged between the crevices of the furniture.

Although these items were quite common and not of high value, they were popular in the market and could be easily sold.

Considering the cost of traveling halfway across England for this job, they naturally hoped to find enough items to compensate for the loss they suffered after being taken advantage of by the Russian magnate.

With just a day and a morning's work, the two of them managed to clean the three servants' quarters.

In total, they cleared out nearly 30 antique coins, two brass horse-shaped lamps, a gold-plated silver brooch, and several pieces of furniture in relatively good condition.

"If I'm lucky, the things I found might fetch over two hundred pounds," Pierce said as he headed toward the kitchen with various tools slung over his back. "Now let's see how things are on your end."

According to their prior agreement, Liang En and Pierce were working together to clean the rooms, but the spoils of their labor would come from the rooms assigned to each of them.

In other words, anything found in the kitchen belonged to Liang En, just as everything found in the servants' quarters was Pierce's.

"That group cleaned out things quite thoroughly."

Upon entering the kitchen, Pierce took a quick step to the nearest cabinet, opened its door, and clearly saw marks on the layer of dust on the shelves.

Clearly, these cabinets had held plenty of items before, but they were all gone now.

"No, it wasn't cleaned out that thoroughly," Liang En replied, opening another cabinet and discovering a stack of pottery bowls and a few ceramic plates still neatly placed there.

"But they've pretty much taken away anything that seemed valuable. For us, it's no different from them emptying out the entire room."

Pierce shook his head, then joined Liang En in cleaning the kitchen. Compared to the servants' quarters, the kitchen had more and more varied items. Unfortunately, most of them were just miscellaneous items.

Fortunately, the business Liang En and Pierce were involved in now was in the mid-to-low range. Items like oil lamps, lampshades, horse lamps, and candle holders were what they needed. However, the upcoming cleaning and refurbishing work might keep them busy for a while.

They worked tirelessly until noon of the next day before finally emptying out everything from the kitchen.

Interestingly, when compared to the contents that could be packed into a single suitcase on the first day, the things they cleared from the kitchen had piled up to about half a person's height, forming a mound in the center of the kitchen.

"Now would be a perfect time to try out my tarot card," Liang En said, looking at the cleaned kitchen and suddenly thinking of something.

"Perfect to check if there's any overlooked treasure in this room and to see which of these findings is the most valuable."