Chapter 396: Thank You, You Are Welcome
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the fun, Li Du and the others avoided Frank Boll and Jim York. Both of them were still arguing with the boss of the fish stall; it seemed like it would be hard for them to leave.
The black boss was worried that his pikes wouldn’t sell now. How could he let this man go without making him pay for them?
After all the people left, Turis still seemed confused. "How could he faint? Seriously, that b*stard shook like jelly!"
"I guess he might have high blood pressure. My uncle has high blood pressure. He always feels dizzy—he faints all the time without reason. "
"That’s impossible. Frank has a bad temper. If he had high blood pressure, he would have ruptured his heart and brain vessels by name. "
"That’s none of our business. Quick, grab something and let’s head out. How could this godd*mn weather be this hot?"
The bright September sun was hanging in the sky. The maple leaves by the roadside had started turning reddish-yellow. The sun, however, remained blazing hot.
While everyone was picking stuff out, he checked the time and decided to call back home. Now that he wasn’t worried about money, he didn’t care about the rate of an international call. He called back home from time to time.
Li Du’s parents tortured themselves over the rate of international phone calls. They were happy, however, as long as they could talk and keep in touch with their son.
Parents usually just wanted their child to be healthy, happy, and safe. However, Li Du’s parents also knew that their son was successful. He sent eight to ten thousand dollars home almost every week; they had received almost forty thousand dollars in the past month.
This is what they talked about during the phone call. "Dad, I have sent 10,000 dollars for you. All you need to do is spend it."
His father said with hesitation, "You earned 10,000 very quickly. Is it easy to make money in the USA?"
"No," Li Du answered. "After converting, the money becomes more. You try to convert it—ten thousand CNY equals only 1,000 US dollars."
His father nodded. "Well, yes it is." One thousand was easy to make in China. When he was healthy and working at a construction site, he could earn over 2,000 CNY per week.
Li Du’s mother interrupted, "Don’t tire yourself out."
"I’m not tired, not at all. I’m much younger than you. Also, I’m considered talented, okay? I work with my brain. I follow my mentor to study projects; we get the funds from the government. It’s easy to make money."
"Do you get the money from the project like embezzlement? Your father’s foreman used to do this—he ended up being sent to jail."
Li Du’s father said with dissatisfaction, "Nonsense! Don’t you know our son? Our son would definitely never do this kind of thing. "
"Never. And I also wouldn’t put myself into jail with this little money. Relax, I’ll be back during the Lunar New Year."
"Okay, you have your plan. You don’t need to rush back. They don’t celebrate Lunar New Year in the USA, right? If you are busy over there, you don’t have to come back. Your work there is more important."
"Do you want our son exhausted?" Li Du’s mother said angrily.
"Your view is really short-sighted. Now is the time for our son to build his career. Look at our country town—whose kid who studies abroad earns this much money?"
"No way! Dear son, you must rest as well. We’ve had enough of money. We are not short of money. Your father and I have made 100,000 dollars this year."
Li Du quickly smoothed out the argument. He sighed deeply in his heart; his parents had never had it easy, and had been struggling for half of their lives. After all their sweat and work, they could only earn 100,000 CNY.
For Li Du, he was no longer willing to do business that earned him lower than 10,000 US dollars.
Hanging up his phone, he prepared to buy some coal for the grill. At this moment, his phone rang again.
He saw it was from Ma Zhi-an. He answered hesitantly, "Hello, Brother Ma, anything I can help you with?"
Ma Zhi-an’s forthright laugh came through the phone. "Hahaha! Good afternoon, don’t treat me like a stranger. What’s the matter? Can’t I call you just to chat?"
"I didn’t mean that," Li Du said. "Brother Ma, I hope I’m not distracting you from your work."
Ma Zhi-an laughed, "I know that, I’m just kidding. Here’s what up: I have some information."
"What’s information?"
"Don’t you work with storage auctions? While sorting some of our members’ data today, I happened to find some members who work in the same business as you."
After a short pause, he went on. "So, I am thinking, maybe you guys can help each other out. I have sorted out their information. If you would like, I could send it to your mailbox."
"Thank you, Brother Ma. But is it appropriate to do this?"
"How could this not appropriate? Those members I found, a couple of them are the storage keepers of storage companies. One of them is an auctioneer. Try to get in contact with them, maybe you can help each other."
Li Du became interested.
Indeed, these networks were useful to him. The auctioneers and storage keepers controlled a lot of information about auctions and storage units. Treasure hunters were always inquiring about the information.
Then, Li Du stopped being formal. He thanked Ma Zhi-an for several times.
"Don’t mention it," Ma Zhi-an said. "We are in the same organization. We must not only talk about helping each other out, we must actually do it."
"We must," Li Du agreed. "Brother Ma, if your teammate needs my help, I will try my best."
"Hahaha. You get your things done first and check your mailbox later. "
Ma Zhi-an hung up his phone and addressed things with crisp precision. After a few minutes, Li Du’s ringtone went off. He opened his mailbox; a report had been sent to him.
He read through this information. After a while, Turis and others carried some food and daily essentials back; they said joyfully, "Big Li, let’s throw a party."
With Li Du’s guidance, they had each earned something in the storage auction yesterday, and they were very appreciative. After making some money with his help, they were determined to uphold Li Du as the Treasure Hunting Tycoon.
Other members of the Hundred Thousand Club, no matter if it were Dog Ears Rick or Sky Eyes Andrew, only worried about their own business, and never helped anyone else make a fortune.
Li Du was different. Last time in Los Angeles, when he had stood up for a common treasure hunter, everyone recognized him as a leader in their heart.
When they drove to leave the market, they saw Frank and York dragging a net with both hands. There were pikes in it, alive and jumping.
Li Du drove over and rolled the window down. "Buddies," he shouted, "you like fish a lot, huh? That’s good fish to eat—they’ll make your brains grow and you’ll be smarter."
Seeing him, Frank was outraged; he looked like a brute full of bloodlust. He waved his hands and threw the net of pikes, shouting, "Go to hell, son of a b*tch!."
The net was not strong and broke when he threw it. A couple of big pikes flew into the air toward the car.
Li Du decelerated time and leaned out the window; like a baseball player catching a ball, each hand caught a pike. Then, he threw the pikes into the car and waved at Frank and York. "Thanks buddies. We’re not welcome, see you soon. We have fish to eat tonight! "
The pickup left with great speed, driving into the distance.