Kiss Me if You Can-Chapter 21Vol. 2

Emma's shout brought Joshua into the house, where she was referring to the barbecue grill they had placed in the backyard. Sometimes, when Father cooked barbecue, the family would gather around and eat dinner there. Father would hold a beer in one hand and tongs in the other, endlessly grilling meat. After Father passed away, they had never used it again.

Joshua, momentarily stunned, quickly snapped out of it and checked the grill. Thanks to Father’s habit of always cleaning it thoroughly after use, it was in good condition and ready for cooking. After checking to make sure it was properly connected, he picked up the grill and walked it toward the garage.

Meanwhile, some people had been snooping around the things they had laid out. But that was about it. Soon, they left, and Emma, who had been nervously watching, slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

"Don’t try too hard."

It was meant to ease her burden, but Emma didn’t see it that way. She shot him a harsh glare.

"We’re going to sell all this and pay the electricity and water bills for this month. Do you know how tight our budget is? You just keep lazing around!"

"Just lazing around? That’s too harsh."

Joshua raised his hands in mock surrender but didn’t get much of a different response. The truth was, he had been hanging out with useless people late into the night just to escape the gloomy atmosphere at home. After that, he went on silently, pulling things out and setting them up according to Emma’s instructions.

"Where are you going now?"

Just as he thought he had finished arranging things, Emma, who had noticed, stopped him with a sharp voice.

"I'm going for a test drive."

Joshua held up the keys to the car Mother had given him, smiling.

"It’s been a while since I’ve used it, so I should check if it runs well. Want a ride?"

Usually, when he smiled and said something like that, there was no one who wouldn’t go along with it. But his younger sister was the exception. She glared at him with a venomous look and bared her teeth.

"Where do you think you're going? Shut up and come here."

"Oh, Emma."

"Can’t you come here right now?"

Pointing to the spot where she was standing, Emma growled, her face more menacing than ever. Reluctantly, Joshua shrugged and turned back to do what she asked.

"Stay here, customers will be coming soon."

"Coming? From where?"

After glancing around at the empty neighborhood with no signs of life, Emma picked up her phone and dialed a number instead of answering. After a few rings, she spoke in a cheerful voice.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"Hey, Alyssa. What are you up to? No, we’re having a garage sale right now. Did you see what I posted on my account? Yeah, do you want to come check it out? Oh, no. I’m in charge of organizing, Joshua’s handling the sales. Yeah, you can ask him if you have any questions. Alright, bye."

Emma ended the call and immediately turned to stand in front of Joshua.

"Did you post it? I told you to advertise on your account."

It had been something she had been saying for days. Joshua had ignored it, but now there was no escaping it.

"Do I really have to...?"

His voice trailed off as he avoided her gaze, and Emma immediately gave her orders.

"Do it now. If you don’t promote it, how are we going to sell all this?"

Seeing her glaring at him with such determination, Joshua realized she was serious. Mother was showing some enthusiasm for the first time in a while, so it would be better if they got results. Joshua didn’t say anything and posted on his account as Emma instructed. He took a few half-hearted photos of the items and wrote that they were for sale.

"Give it here."

Emma wasn’t just ignoring Joshua’s account; she wouldn’t even tell him her own username. Joshua also knew she hated being asked about hers. So, there was no way for him to check how the post went. Without hesitation, Emma snatched his phone from his hand. She quickly scanned the post with a displeased look and muttered to herself before returning the phone. She didn’t forget to glance at the number of comments and the post shares, checking them like a hawk.

"When else would you use it?"

Emma mumbled to herself before glancing at Joshua once more and turning her head away. No matter how much he was the popular quarterback at school, from Emma’s perspective, he was just a handsome loser. Fortunately, Joshua didn’t hear her muttering since he was busy responding to a mention from a friend.

While Joshua was distracted, Emma grabbed a marker and started changing the prices on the items. The prices for some things doubled, others even increased fivefold, and Joshua stared in surprise.

"Emma, what are you doing? Do you even want to sell this stuff?"

Emma boldly wrote $300 for the barbecue grill. Joshua, who had raised his hand to point at the price in disbelief, was met with her proudly lifting her chin.

"This is the grill Dad worked on every week. It’s as clean as new, and it’s got Dad’s touch on it."

"It may look like new, but it’s not. Dad’s touch isn’t the same as Marilyn Monroe’s either."

Joshua reacted negatively, and Emma shook the marker at him with a glare.

"The basics of sales is confidence, even in overpriced items. Marketing is about getting people to pull out their wallets, even when they know it’s junk."

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Frustrated, Joshua muttered a near curse, but Emma just turned away with a huff. Joshua, dumbfounded by her dismissive attitude, stared at her back and then, making a contorted face, yelled again.

"What’s this!"

Emma, who had gone inside to grab some useless ceramic, put it on the table and added:

"And the biggest factor in sales is decoration. It’s the psychology that makes people willingly buy pretty junk."

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

She kept going on with her ridiculous "philosophy," priced a cheap ceramic at $20, and passed by Joshua, ordering:

"Stand over there."

After saying that, she swung her long hair over her shoulder and walked away. Joshua, once again bewildered, could only stare after her.

"What? Is she serious?"

He muttered under his breath as he stared at his sister’s retreating figure, but that was all. With a sigh, he moved to stand next to the cheap ceramics as Emma had ordered.

Who would buy this junk for $20?

Even if he stuck a $2 price tag on it, no one would take it, he thought, furrowing his brow.

Just then, a cautious voice interrupted him.

"Excuse me?"

Turning his head at the voice, he saw a girl he vaguely remembered. After a moment, he realized she was from the red brick house at the entrance of the neighborhood. She was a student from the same middle school as Emma.

"Hi."

Joshua instinctively smiled and greeted her. She quickly turned red and fumbled, clearly embarrassed. Seeing her shyness, Joshua thought he should carry the conversation. He had never been at a loss for words with women, and this time he continued smoothly.

"Is there anything you need? Feel free to ask."

It was just lip service, though. The ceramic was still just a ceramic, and the grill was still just a grill. There was nothing left to explain, and there wasn’t much history behind the items. Joshua’s family didn’t have any grand stories, and they were just an ordinary family.

But unexpectedly, she listened to his boring explanations, and then bought the $20 ceramic without even asking for a discount. As she turned to leave, she added:

"I’ll come back after I drop this off."

"Okay, thanks."

Joshua smiled as he spoke, and she turned even redder, quickly walking away. He looked down at the cash in his hand, feeling strangely like he’d scammed her.

Just then, a hand suddenly snatched the bill from his hand.

As Joshua barely stopped himself from slapping the hand away, Emma, watching him, spoke up.

"See, I told you? The key to sales is decoration."

She then placed him beside a $50 side table and a set of chairs, which sold for $100 shortly after.

"Hey, Joshua. What’s all this?"

Tommy, the quarterback from the same team, came over after seeing a post online. His eyes widened as he looked around at the crowd of girls in front of the garage, just as packed as the items for sale.

"Joshua, is this yours?"

A glamorous red-haired beauty with a sweet voice asked, pointing at a bench press. Joshua smiled and spread his legs wide, sitting on the bench, and looked up at her.

"I didn’t use it alone."

It wasn’t a lie. The crowd gasped, and she leaned down, whispering seductively.

"Can you teach me how to use it later? I’d love to know how you used it."

Joshua chuckled silently, whispering back.

"I'm not part of the sale, unfortunately."

"Oh."

She let out a disappointed sigh but didn’t give up, adding with a smile.

"I can’t buy it, but I can rent it, right? I’ll be waiting."

Tommy stared in disbelief as she left, but Joshua remained unfazed.

After that, all sorts of junk sold for outrageous prices. Joshua’s old xylophone, useless wall decorations, and even a weirdly designed doormat that no one would want, even for free.

Tommy, shocked by the line marker from the sports field, asked in disbelief:

"How does that even end up in your house?"

Joshua, looking at it for the first time, shrugged.

"I don’t know. But yeah, it makes sense, given everything my dad used to buy. I didn’t expect something so crazy, though."

The line marker was sold to Tommy, who managed to haggle it down to $5. Joshua thought to himself that it was almost the same as buying a new one online.

"Wouldn’t it be better to just do a dating job?" Tommy suggested.

Joshua shook his head.

"No way. I’m still a minor."

If there was even a chance that unnecessary records would be left behind and cause trouble when applying for college, that would be a disaster. Tommy quickly accepted this explanation. After seeing him off, Joshua returned to his task. More people were coming in as the sale continued.