Chapter 1418: Revenue
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After coming back this time, Li Du was very busy, and the pressure was no less than when he went to the mountains to look for treasure.
Of course, this consequence was acceptable. After all, just after the holiday, he had acc.u.mulated many jobs. If he carefully considered, he found that things were a little too much!
First, he decided to live in Los Angeles, which meant he would have to solve his housing problem. Second, there were the gold processing tasks. Third, the diamond mine of Amengda started producing, and some doc.u.ments needed his approval. Fourth, some infrastructure projects have begun on Seagull Island, which he needed to finance. Five, Remonin needed more military power and money…
In addition, Brad Pitt wanted to talk to him about leasing the Tiger Tank when he got back to Los Angeles. Li Du soon got another call from one of his Hollywood contacts for the rental of the Tiger.
At this time it was almost the middle of July. Li Du had thought he would return to Los Angeles in early July, but so many things happened during this time, delaying his trip, so Brad Pitt was very anxious.
They agreed to meet at a Beverly Hills cafe called Lucky Blue Cat.
This was Li Du’s first official contact with Los Angeles since he decided to move to the city, so he did not drive, but used the same mode of transportation as the locals.
More than a decade ago, the city put forward the slogan of “car-free Los Angeles”. Of course, this was nonsense. This was a city on wheels.
However, Los Angeles was so advanced in alternative transportation methods that one could go anywhere without a car. As early as the 1980s, there was a popular song t.i.tled, “n.o.body Walks in LA”. It was known that Los Angeles residents didn’t walk anywhere.
Los Angeles’ transportation culture has become less about cars since then, and residents used subways and bicycles to get around smog and high gas prices.
Sophie’s party temporarily rented a villa in the suburbs. The villa was in a good location, two or three hundred meters away from the subway entrance, so Li and Sophie went by subway to the cafe.
The subway in Los Angeles was very affordable, offering unlimited rides across the city for as little as five dollars.
There were many people on the subway, just like above the ground. However, there were no traffic jams below. Therefore, as long as they were on the subway, they could reach their destination without any restriction.
Sophie’s interest was not in Brad Pitt, but in the Andean condor that Li Du has just acquired. She said, “You haven’t told me how you got it.”
Li Du said, “There is nothing much to tell. I got it thanks to the Markelov brothers. They were both poachers, but I persuaded them to mend their ways.”
The two brothers were now in the hospital. The ident.i.ty card that Steve asked someone to prepare for them has not arrived yet, and Brother Wolf suggested the two brothers do micro plastic surgery so that they could avoid potential detection in the future.
Li Du felt this was very reasonable, and paid to send the two brothers for minor surgery. He was familiar with this process, as Ivana needed to do minor plastic surgery every month, so he knew all the relevant hospitals in the United States.
After boarding the subway twice, they returned to the ground level and looked up to see the landmark of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.
Li Du has been there several times, but he still felt mesmerized every time he came.
This was the dreamland in the mind of many people worldwide. Los Angeles was a very famous city, some of the highest-grade business streets in the world, and numerous Hollywood stars lived there, making LA the Holy Land of the movie world.
Beverly Hills covered an area of six square miles, or almost fifteen square kilometers, and had a resident population of 35,000 people, but the number of daily visitors would come up to ten times more than that.
Most of these people were tourists, and a few are beautiful men and women with dreams of becoming stars, hoping to be spotted by the local managers and directors who would offer them a role.
As they walked out of the subway station, Li Du’s eyes widened to take it all in. For the first time, he felt that he was a little ugly when he noticed that many people were so beautiful and handsome.
Sophie was much more confident. Her appearance was considered beautiful by anyone, and to Li Du, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Sophie had a special aura that would make her s.h.i.+ne anywhere.
The Lucky Blue Cat was a historic coffee shop that has been around for nearly a century. It was located between two fine luxury stores and had the style of a log cabin.
By contrast, two specialty stores nearby were resplendent, one with a polished marble and bra.s.s door, the other with an arched fountain in front of it.
The small cafe placed between them was like an ugly duckling looking up to a white swan, but there was a certain appeal in its unusual style.
Li Du pushed the door open. Behind the door was a string of bells, which made a ringing sound after being touched. Then someone greeted him and asked politely, “h.e.l.lo, sir, madam. Do you have a reservation?”
“Er, yes, Cat’s Paw Booth, Mr. Brad Pitt’s reservation, thank you,” Sophie said.
The waiter took them to a small private room. The interior of the cafe was as antique as outside, but not shabby. Several blue cats were resting on the bar, lending authenticity to the café’s name.
Li Du and Sophie had gone out of the house early and were ten minutes ahead of time. The waiter asked them what they wanted to drink, and to his astonishment, Sophie ordered two gla.s.ses of juice.
Five minutes later, the door was pushed open again and a handsome face appeared in front of them. Brad Pitt, one of Hollywood’s most famous men, arrived with his a.s.sistant.
Both sides have been in contact on the phone many times before, and Pitt and Sophie met once. Sophie gave him some information on the tank for his reference, so this meeting was not strange to them.
Pitt first asked Li Du about the details of the tank. The tank was being a.s.sembled and repaired, and some parts needed to be replaced, or it could not be started.
This time, Li Du found treasure. The old soldier paid great attention to the maintenance of the tank. This Tiger Tank was still operational, making it one of the two only working tanks of this type in the world. This was why Pitt wanted to rent it.
Li Du gave Pitt a brief survey on the tank material. There was a video on his iPad which he presently turned on and played, showing the Tiger Tank slowly start and changed the direction continuously. It was awe-inspiring!
Seeing this, Pitt laughed happily.