Chapter 9. I Became the Early Bird
Chapter 9. I Became the Early Bird
Chicken enchiladas.
A dish made by filling thin tortillas—corn-flour flatbreads—with shredded chicken and cheese, rolling them up, pouring over a sauce made from chili and tomato, and baking them in the oven.
Because of the sauce, the color was reddish, but in reality it was a comforting flavor, with a moderate spiciness blending together with the richness of the cheese.
It was one of the easiest, fastest, and cheapest foods to get in the American South.
And strangely enough, whenever a tray of chicken enchiladas fresh out of the oven sat in the middle of the table, it instantly made the whole place feel like a home.
Though, the plate in front of me right now had cooled somewhat.
“...Would you like me to heat it back up? Enchiladas are best when they’re hot.”
Rachel asked as she tapped the now-cool plate with a wooden spatula. Her mouth was curved in a gentle smile, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
“No, no. Actually, I’m not very good with food that’s too hot. Enchiladas that have cooled down this much are perfect for me.”
I shielded Noah as much as I could, worried that the blame might end up splashing onto him for coming to call me.
“Oh? Really? I see... all right. I’ll remember that from now on.”
It felt like she had added yet another misunderstanding to her growing list about my enchilada preferences, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
“Then hurry and taste it.”
Since the two of them were waiting for me, the guest, to take the first bite, I cut off a rather exaggeratedly large piece and stuffed it into my mouth.
“Mmm...! This is really good. It tastes a little different from before, doesn’t it?”
That was not just politeness. It really was delicious. I had eaten Rachel’s chicken enchiladas quite a few times, but I could honestly say this one was the best of them all.
“Oh, you noticed? Actually, I tried adding just a little garlic to the tomato sauce. I was worried I might have been messing with it for no reason, so I’m really glad to hear you say it tastes good.”
At my response, Rachel’s face brightened.
Come to think of it, the last time I visited, she had asked whether it was true that Korean people liked garlic.
Did she seriously remember that?
No... I’m nothing that special.
Rachel and Noah had every right to hate and resent me. No, if anything, that would have made more sense. So why were they being like this...?
Clenching my teeth, I stared silently at the vacant seat at the head of the table.
The seat no one had sat in since that day.
“I... I think this version tastes better too.”
Noticing the subtle change in my expression, Noah cut in with his usual blunt voice.
The little punk...
“Oh? You do? Then from now on, our house enchiladas are officially garlic enchiladas!”
The mood brightened again.
Not wanting to miss the chance, I finally forced out the words I had been hesitating over the whole time.
“Rachel, actually... I’m thinking of staying in Arizona from now on.”
“W-What? Really?”
Clang—
At what I said, Rachel was so startled that she dropped her fork. I could feel Noah flinch too.
“Arizona where? Don’t tell me Tucson?”
“No, farther out in the desert than that. I’m thinking of trying automobile restoration work there.”
“Oh my goodness... Jason! That’s... that’s such wonderful news. I was worried you’d keep drifting around forever without ever putting down roots...”
Rachel’s voice wavered, and in the end she could not finish her sentence. Her bowed shoulders trembled faintly.
For the past three years, the goal of my life had been to keep Rachel and Noah from crying as much as possible.
But now that I looked at it, it felt like I, of all people, had actually made her cry the most.
“So please don’t hate it too much if I start coming by more often. And please keep putting garlic in the enchiladas too.”
“Mm... If you call before you come, I’ll make sure to add garlic, and I’ll even take them out of the oven ahead of time. So they won’t be too hot.”
“Ah, uh... yes. Thank you.”
I faltered awkwardly as I answered,
“Pff, pffft...”
and beside me, Noah, who knew the whole story, twitched at the lips as he barely held back his laughter.
“Pff—hahaha!”
Seeing his trembling mouth, I could not hold it in either and burst out laughing.
“Huh? Both of you, what’s so funny?”
Tilting her head, Rachel looked back and forth between us with a puzzled expression. The tears at the corners of her eyes had already dried without my noticing.
.
.
.
“Thanks for the meal. It was really delicious.”
When I left the house after we finished eating,
“Jason, thank you as always. Next time, don’t bring things like this. Just come comfortably.”
Rachel gave me a light hug and did not forget to thank me.
“Yes, I’ll come again. Noah, you study hard too. And take good care of your mom.”
I said it while giving Noah’s shoulder a light tap with my fist.
“...Okay.”
“Well then.”
After saying goodbye, I watched the two of them go back inside the house, then climbed into the truck and silently let my head fall back against the seat.
“Whew...”
Honestly, before I set out, my heart had felt pretty heavy, but even so, I was really glad I had come.
It struck me again, more than ever, that if not for those two, I never could have endured the last three years.
The people who really deserve thanks aren’t me. It’s Rachel and Noah.
Even today, the two of them had given me a tremendous amount of courage.
I had decided to go into restoration work, but since it was a road I had never taken before, it was true that I had still been carrying a vague sense of fear and unease.
But during dinner, all of that weak-hearted hesitation had evaporated completely.
Hang in there. This isn’t the time to hesitate.
From what I had seen earlier, there were plenty of things around the house that needed fixing.
Even the car was in the kind of condition where it would not have been surprising at all if it broke down in the middle of the road tomorrow. And as Noah kept growing, he would only need more and more money.
Rachel never lost that bright smile even under those circumstances, and maybe that was exactly why it hurt my heart more.
“Hyung Daniel, you’re watching, right? Don’t worry too much. This time, I absolutely won’t let you down.”
On the morning of the auction, I woke up even earlier than usual, whether from nerves or excitement.
Thanks to that, I arrived at the auction yard ahead of time and was leisurely looking around here and there during preview time—usually the two hours from 7 a.m. before the auction started—
when something unexpected caught my eye at one corner of the yard.
Is that one of the auction items too?
It was an old Ford sedan painted in a white-and-black pattern.
“Excuse me, are those cars up for auction today too?”
I quickly asked one of the staff members handling the preview.
“Oh, you mean the Crown Victorias? Yeah, they’re all auction units. It’s about time those guys retired too.”
The employee answered kindly.
But that isn’t an ordinary sedan—it’s a police car, isn’t it? So private buyers can purchase those too.
Coming in person really had been the right call.
Usually, these kinds of public auctions were mostly online bidding, but when there were larger volumes, they sometimes held live auctions like this through a contracted auction company.
Thanks to that, I could not only get a feel for the atmosphere of the auction itself, but also discover several other items I never would have noticed online.
There were five police cars in today’s auction altogether.
As I stepped closer to the row of vehicles lined up together,
[2011 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (P71)]
[Ford Crown Victoria police special-spec]
the year, code name, and detailed specifications naturally surfaced in my mind.
The Ford Crown Victoria was a car widely loved across many fields in America from the 1990s through the 2010s.
(Translator’s Note: Ford Crown Victoria / Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (P71) - The Ford Crown Victoria was a large rear-wheel-drive American sedan produced for many years and widely used as a police car and taxi. The Police Interceptor P71 was the police-spec version.)
The police cars that showed up in Hollywood chase scenes, or the yellow taxis often seen in New York-set movies like Home Alone 2, were almost always this model.
Its front end looked a little dopey at first glance, but it packed a 4.6-liter V8 engine and still offered a roomy interior despite being rear-wheel drive.
And these particular ones, with black paint on the front and rear, white doors in the middle, and a push bar bolted to the bumper—a steel bar used to shove suspect vehicles aside—were unmistakably Police Interceptor P71s.
(Translator’s Note: A push bar is the steel bar mounted on the front bumper, used in police service for controlled contact or vehicle intervention.)
An actual Police Package. Those go for at least twice as much as the civilian models.
(Translator’s Note: A Police Package means a vehicle was built or equipped specifically for police duty.)
Thump thump—
Suddenly my heart began pounding.
Calm down. You won’t know whether there’s profit in it until you check the condition first.
Starting with the first of the five Crown Victorias up for auction today, I carefully began inspecting them one by one.
By the nature of an auction, there was no way to test-drive them or get them up on a lift.
But if I used the reward skill I had earned from restoring the Mustang—Escaping Open-Eyed Blindness—I could accurately assess the condition of every part visible to the naked eye.
—————
[Appraisal Skill (Basic Visual Inspection) Applied]
Vehicle Exterior Condition: B+
*Paint consistency: 75% - some panels repainted
*Rear wheel house (left): signs of filler after panel beating
*Rear panel (left): replaced
*Trunk floor panel: repaired and reinstalled
Visual Appraisal Score = 67
—————
Ah... It looked pretty decent at first glance too...
Unfortunately, the first one had far more hidden history than I would have guessed.
The repairs themselves had been done perfectly, but that was exactly what made it a negative for me.
This one isn’t right for me.
Because its condition had already been brought up as high as it could go, there was nothing left for me to touch, and naturally the auction’s starting price was high too.
A listing like that suited a broker who just wanted to polish it up and resell it far better than a restorer like me.
I went on to check the second, third, and fourth cars as well, but the situation with the rest was much the same.
Maybe this just isn’t my game...
By now, only the fifth and final lot remained.
Even from a distance, its front end already looked badly damaged.
This got hit harder than I thought.
Up close, the front bumper, driver-side fender, and hood were all crumpled into a mess.
(Translator’s Note: Fender — An American musical-instrument company founded by Leo Fender in California in 1946. Fender electric guitars, particularly the Telecaster and Stratocaster, became foundational instruments in rock music.)
No way those can be saved with bodywork. Those are all definite replacements.
Aside from that, though, the rest of the car—especially the interior—was surprisingly clean.
And above all—
“Auction starts at $2,100?”
The price was shockingly low for that very reason.
Any other additional problems besides that?
With sharp eyes like a hawk stalking prey, I activated the appraisal skill again.
—————
Vehicle Exterior Condition: C-
*Paint consistency: 96%
*Front panel alignment: severe deformation. Hood, bumper, and fender repairs required
*No other exterior defects
Visual Appraisal Score = 55
—————
Bingo. This is it!
Its exterior score was lower than the others, but aside from that single area, there was nothing else wrong with it.
And replacing the whole front end is easy anyway—just a bunch of bolts to remove.
In a case like this, if the restoration was done properly, it could produce a far better result than the other units that had needed cutting and welding.
Of course, even if the repair itself was simple, once you factored in parts prices and labor, this was still exactly the kind of car an ordinary buyer ought to pass on.
But I’m already well past the category of “ordinary,” aren’t I?
Ding!
I immediately opened the Coin Market in my head.
I needed to find out exactly how much cost I could shave off.
The anticipation made my hands and feet tingle.
Search. 2011 P71 front bumper, bumper beam, driver-side fender, hood...
Just by thinking the phrase, the relevant windows popped up one after another.
—————
[Crown Victoria P71]
Front bumper = 65 (C)
Bumper beam = 50 (C)
Driver-side fender = 90 (C)
Hood = 110 (C)
—————
Every single part I wanted was there, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Once again, the sheer power of this ability was starting to feel frightening.
The cost of the visible exterior parts alone came to 315 coins.
Since I had gotten ten thousand coins as my first-time reward, that was a very manageable amount.
So if I covered all of those parts through the Coin Market...
Expected profit: $8,000?
Of course, that was only a quick estimate based on used-market prices I had just searched up, so there would be variation.
And the final hammer price would definitely rise a few thousand dollars above the starting bid, so I would have to subtract another two thousand or so from that estimate.
Even so, for a beginner, it was still a very attractive amount.
Haha, this really feels like I found a hidden gem...
For a novice like me to try winning a restoration-base vehicle at auction was basically insane, but—
Okay. Let’s make this one the next restoration target.
There was not really any downside anyway.
Since I had come this far, I might as well finish the offering after seeing the rice cake.
I immediately filled out and submitted the vehicle auction participation form.
“Yes, you can participate this afternoon in the auction for Lot Number 166.”
Praying that the competition would pass this one by without a second glance.