Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du enjoyed a beautiful sunrise standing by the window.
At sunrise, the river flowed redder than fire. In spring, green waves turned as blue as
sapphire.
There was a poem that Bai Juyi wrote, called “Remembering Jiangnan”, which was
reminiscent of the Atlantic Ocean thousands of miles away from Jiangnan.
Li Du’s trip to New York was over, and he would have been back in Phoenix overnight if
not for the invitation from Carlston. He did not feel like leaving his parents and family
away any longer.
The stocks were temporarily out of his hands. He had been able to outwit Carlston, but
for now he had to admit defeat.
On the way back in the plane, Li Du thought that maybe Carlston was the kind of person
one wouldn’t want as a rival. You know you shouldn’t get too close to him because he
wants to take advantage on you, but you have no choice.
Back in Phoenix, the preparations for the engagement party were almost over.
When the number of guests was confirmed, Hans booked rooms at the Hilton Hotel. No
matter who their guests were, whether rich men like Porter and Steve or ordinary
treasure hunters, they would all stay in the five-star hotel.
Li Du had left detailed instructions regarding the party, and Hans and Lu Guan have
done a good job.
After talking about the party, Hans closed the folder and said, “Hey, buddy, you don’t
seem to be in the right mood. I think you have something on your mind.”
Lu Guan shrugged, “If I was getting engaged, I’d have a lot on my mind. But boss,
everything will be fine, don’t think about it.”
Li Du smiled and said, “You have misunderstood me. I am not worried. I am thinking of
something else. Well, I was thinking that I don’t have a house of my own yet, you know
what I mean?”
“Then why don’t you rent one?” asked Hans.
Li Du kicked his chair and said angrily, “Nonsense, I mean I want to buy a house of my
own.”
Although he was not an American citizen, he could buy a house in the United States,
which had nothing to do with the household registration or even his green card.
Why didn’t he buy a house before? One of the reasons was that Li Du was not
interested, another reason was that he found it unnecessary. He would have many
expenses. When one bought a house in America, it meant paying a yearly tax.
Although Li Du was already quite rich before, he had wanted to buy a villa instead of an
ordinary house, but the tax for a villa was expensive, and it would have been
burdensome for him.
Now? It was no longer burdensome.
This time, after visiting Carlston, he was determined to buy a house. Although renting a
house was quite comfortable, it was still not their own home.
In addition, there were other reasons why he didn’t want to go on living in his present
house. One was that he had lost interest in the villa since he realized that it was part of
Cole’s plan.
The second was that the recent earthquake had caused some damage to the villa. The
walls were cracking, the piping had problems, there were dents and holes on the
outside, and it was not comfortable to live there anymore.
Hearing that Li Du wanted to buy a house, Lu Guan’s spirits rose and he asked, “Are
you planning to buy a mansion?”
Li Du nodded. “Right, certainly a mansion. I would buy a castle if there was one!”
“Where is there any f**king castle in Arizona?” said Hans contemptuously.
Li Du looked at him and said slowly, “Who was talking about Arizona?”
“What do you mean?” asked Hans in surprise.
“Los Angeles! I’m going to the city of angels!”
Li Du wanted to buy a house in Los Angeles. He didn’t have to stay in Arizona, certainly
not in a small place like Phoenix.
He now wanted to make it clear that his main business in the future would not be
warehouse auctions, and there was no need to continue focusing on this industry.
He thought he should go to a big city like Los Angeles, where he could not only make
money but also develop contacts.
“To Los Angeles,” Hans sounded hesitant.
Li Du said, “Yeah, we will develop our business in Los Angeles in the future. Don’t you
think it’s great? You should like LA, right? There’s a lot of fun and nightlife.”
Hans shook his head. “No, I hated that life.”
It sounded extremely hard to believe.
“We’re here in Phoenix because we’re already the kings of Flagstaff, and we should be
in a bigger space to expand,” said Hans. “Right now, we’re not the kings of Arizona yet.
I mean, should we go to California right now and start fighting across state lines?
Wouldn’t the step be too big?”
Li Du said in a careless manner, “Treasure hunter kings? What is this?”
Hans looked at him carefully and said, “This is a dream. Have you never thought of it
before? It would be legendary to be the king of Arizona.”
Li Du stared at him and said, “Are you kidding?”
To be honest, he did have such an idea before, but now that he has made a lot of
money from the gem industry, he was no longer interested in the little profits from the
warehouse auction.
Hans nodded gravely. “This is my dream.”
Li Du thought this dream was a bit absurd. Shouldn’t it all be about money?
However, he soon realized that he and Hans were on different roads.
He had a diamond mine, an island he was going to own, and there was a lot of opal on
the island, but Hans did not own it. Hans could make a profit from the mine but he did
not know of its existence.
For him, a warehouse auction that could fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars was still
his main business.
For Li Du, it was like a drop in a bucket.
Hans was quick to point this out, saying, “Li, you’re going too fast. We just came from
Flagstaff to Phoenix, and you’re already talking about going to Los Angeles. You have
the ability, but I don’t.”
Li Du nodded and said, “I know what you mean, but you know what kind of guy I am. If I
have it, you have it.”
Hans said, “I believe in you, but this makes me even more afraid.”
When he spat out the last word, he sighed.
“We seem to be growing further apart. Los Angeles is another level of the auction
world,” he said. “I’ve stumbled there. I’m afraid of it, but you’re not afraid of anything, not
anymore.”
Now was different from the past. Whenever Li Du was going to attend an auction, he
would carefully prepare for the work, worried about possible trouble or accident.
Now, Li Du was not afraid of anything. Instead, he was eager to explore the world, see
more things, and make more and more useful connections.
Thinking about his life from before, Li Du’s voice softened. “I’m going to buy a house in
Los Angeles. I’m going to do this before the wedding. But let’s stay in Phoenix for now
and be the treasure hunter kings of Arizona.”
Hans smiled happily and said, “Are you very confident?”
Li Du hummed and said, “Let’ do it! I’ll let you see my powers! Get ready, and hopefully,
you won’t be afraid anymore!”
