Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du felt that he was considered as someone of moderate fame. Upon hearing the words of the lady, he smiled and said, “From the news? Media, television or from the computer?”
The lady shook her head slowly and said, “No, I saw it through a phone. I saw a photo of you from a phone. You were on a ship.”
Li Du was perturbed. A photo of himself on a ship? He definitely was aboard a ship, and had taken a photo on a ship. However, those photos should not have been publicized.
The phone of one of the ladies started ringing. After going to a corner to pick up the call, she returned and waved to Akkalou, “Goodbye, cute guy. If you’re still hanging around in Los Angeles, we will meet again.”
Akkalou smiled gallantly and bowed, “Looking forward to the next time we meet.”
Seeing the lady leaving, Turis said, “Aren’t they here for a manhunt at the Playboy Mansion?”
Akkalou said, “Are you thinking of getting laid with that foresight of yours? Their watches are from Patek Philippe, and their jewelry is a full set from Tiffany’s. Also, their clothes are masterpieces. They are obviously girls from rich families. Why would they come to the mansion for a manhunt?”
“Wow, doesn’t that mean that if I manage to hook up with one of them, I can just enjoy my life by lying on the bed for the rest of my life?” Olly’s eyes lit up immediately.
Li Du smiled, “That’s right. That will be the case. But, you’ll have to find a girl who is blind.”
Lively laughter from the group rang out.
“Sounds about right, Boss Li.” Dickens and Li Du bumped fists before he asked, “Are you planning to stay in Los Angeles in the future? Not returning to Phoenix or Flagstaff anymore?”
Li Du was put in a spot. Someone spoke up, “If I’m Boss Li, I would have long left Arizona. Los Angeles would be my stage.”
Li Du smiled as he shook his head, “I’m not going to limit myself to stay anywhere. I’ll go wherever the money is.”
“This time round, we are here just to make money, Boss Li. I’ve sold off my pickup truck, hoping that I will make some money by following your lead this time,” Olly said.
Li Du said in surprise, “Sold your pickup truck? You really have confidence in me.”
Olly rubbed his goatee and smiled, “Of course, full of confidence. I only have confidence in two things. One, that’s you, Boss Li. The other one is my motherland, the United States of America.”
“Scram, you sound gross,” The bunch of them started laughing again.
The auction would start the next day. That day, their task was to check out the houses.
There were twenty-five houses, and Li Du brought the bunch of men around. First, they went to the modern bungalow.
That sort of dwelling arose from the community modelled by the government in order to encourage the inflow of people. The entire plot of land in that area were bungalows that looked similar to one another. Each of them looked like a small villa on its own. It had its own door and backyard, a lawn and a garden.
However, when they looked around the place, all the other houses looked the same. Hence, the villa lost its unique aura. All of the houses seemed to come from a template, with a similar environment. They could only be identified from their house number.
There were two units to be auctioned in that district. One was B24 and the other was E45. Coincidentally, when Li Du and his people arrived at B24, there were also other people who were checking out the house.
Needless to say, people who would do that were either robbers or house-pickers.
Now, checking out the situation of the warehouse was common among treasure hunters. That was a practice that Li Du had introduced and which started becoming a norm. When other people realized that Li Du would always check out the situation of the warehouse prior to the auction, they followed suite.
Of course, they did not have little bug. Even if they went, there was no use.
It was different with the house-pickers. The windows of the house was just there. As long as nobody noticed them, they could check out the situation inside the house by peering through the window.
In reality, doing that was against the law. For example, in the case of a bungalow, it usually had a fence or barrier around its small courtyard. The house was in the small courtyard. Without the permission of the owner, nobody could enter the courtyard and naturally, they would not be able to near the window.
From the car, Li Du saw that someone positioned himself at the window and peered in. From that, he could deduce the identity of the person. Then, he said through the intercom, “Let’s go and scare them. Accelerate all the cars and then surround the house.”
“Okay.”
The cars suddenly sped up. With the lead of the two Ferrari, more than ten cars surrounded the small bungalow.
The house-picker who was climbing the window was shockers. When the car doors opened, a bunch of tough, well-built men alighted. The house-picker thought that they were the owners or friends of the owner and quickly scurried off.
Li Du laughed after seeing that. He had an impression of those two men. He had seen them at the auction in Santa Monica. Those two men had mocked him fervently.
When Li Du got off, the two men recognized him and their embarrassment turned into anger. “Hey, China dude, what are you doing? You’re still alive?”
The treasure hunters from Flagstaff held Li Du with high regards. When they heard the two house-pickers insulting Li Du, ill-tempers Olly and Carl could not stomach it. They went forward and pushed the two men, “Shut your d*mned mouth. You’ve offended us!”
Neither Olly nor Carl were big-sized. However, it depended on who they were compared to. Compared to the well-built treasure hunters, they were considered scrawnier and weaker. However, compared to the pampered house-pickers, their size was still considered rather threatening.
The two men had almost fallen to the ground from the push. Naturally, they were furious.
One of them stood his ground and said, “What are you guys trying to do? Want to beat us up? Hey, China man, you even brought along fighters?”
At the very end, he no longer dared to address Li Du as ‘China dude’.
Li Du smirked at the two men and then he waved, “Buddies, go forth, beat up these two son of a b*tch!”
More than ten of the tough men folded up their sleeves and rushed towards the two men. The two men immediately ran off.
Turis turned his head and laughed, “Hey, Boss Li, why do I feel like we are like the Tucson gang?”
Li Du waved his hands, “I don’t do that sort of evil things. I just wanted to make fun of those two men.”
He looked towards the backyard and said, “Let’s go, check out number 45. Let’s not look at this house anymore.”
The bunch of them could not understand and started to ask, “Why are we not checking this out anymore?”
“Are we going to chase after those two men?”
“Didn’t we just arrive?”
Akkalou coughed and said, “Since you guys have chosen to believe in Boss Li, then let’s listen to him. You guys should know that he never fights a losing battle.”
Li Du laughed and said, “This house is useless and does not have any value. We don’t have to waste our energy here.”
“How did you tell?” The men asked in surprise.
Li Du pointed to the walls of the house and asked, “Did you guys see something? Look carefully.”
The bunch of them observed closely and then shook their heads.
Li Du said, “Termites. The walls of this house and the flooring must be full of termites. The previous owner must have left a termite in the house. He wants to wreck this house.”
The treasure hunters entered the yard for a look and finally noticed a few termites on the white walls. Someone picked at the corner of the wall. There were more termites there.
