Chapter 1569: Planning the New Village
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The fact that the King had pa.s.sed on there had caused some commotion. After all, his grandfather used to be a famous person in that land.
People were not fixated on him; instead, they were watching the trade he left behind. The old King had left behind many things. The recent King had been his only descendant. Hence, there was a lot of inheritance that pa.s.sed to him.
Now, the owners.h.i.+p of that inheritance was the key to the attention it was getting from many people.
“Actually, the trouble has only just begun. Over the past few days, there was not that much trouble,” Zhong Da Pao said.
“Why?” Li Du asked, surprised.
“That’s because the news of the King’s pa.s.sing had yet to go out. That man was a little crazy. He would often go missing for some time. Hence, initially, n.o.body found his disappearance unusual.”
“Besides, Tu Qin had come out to help him settle some things. He had concealed the death notice of the King. He took the bodyguards and moved a large amount of liquid funds and then they all smuggled themselves to China.”
“Tu Qin is very tight-lipped. He managed to keep this a hush-hush. However, the bodyguards were all split up. Some followed Tu Qin to China, some had family around here and so chose not to leave. In the end, one bodyguard who stayed was a blabbermouth. He told people about how the King was killed.”
Li Du asked, “What exactly did he tell?”
He wanted to know who the bodyguard had presented as responsible. Did he emphasize that Tu Qin killed him, or that it was Zhong Da Pao who urged him to?
Zhong Da Pao laughed. “What do you think? It was all about Tu Qin. The bodyguard revealed the news because he wanted to extort the fellow.”
Liu Zi added, “That bodyguard was focused on threatening Tu Qin. Tu Qin had said that he would give the guy some money, but he was extremely cunning. He dragged it on for some time and then ran off with the liquid a.s.sets. The bodyguard was beyond angry. Would he say anything good about Tu Qin?”
Li Du heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Then it has nothing much to do with us.”
Zhong Da Pao waved a hand and said, “We can’t shake off this case entirely. However, I’m not afraid. That punk from the Suo family wanted to harm me and thought I wouldn’t retaliate? Ha, besides, we are not the ones who killed him. We only egged Tu Qin on with a few words.”
Hearing how convicted Zhong Da Pao was, Li Du began to relax. He said, “That’s good. Master Liu, how the situation with you? Everything is done so soon?”
Liu Zi laughed loudly. “Soon? Hey, I, Master Liu, have been here for a few days. It’s just a small problem, just scratching the surface. Not a big issue.”
Zhong Da Pao kicked him and said, “In front of whom are you calling yourself Master Liu? You’re out of line. Before Master Li, you are just Liu Zi, you understand?”
Liu Zi quickly rubbed his hands and said, “Understood, Master Pao. I, Liu Zi, understand now.”
Da Mao hissed, “D*mn, are you bootlicking now?”
Zhong Da Pao laughed sheepishly. “Master Mao, you are a master too. This time around at the auction, you have to work well together with Master Li. If we can make a tidy profit…”
Li Du got his meaning now and understood why he had been so polite.
Hence, he rea.s.sured Zhong Da Pao. “This time around, our profit split is fifty-fifty. However, about this issue with the King, I will not interfere. You guys have to think of a way to remove me from the equation.”
Hearing that, Zhong Da Pao was elated. “Really, Master Li?”
Li Du looked at him seriously and said, “Remember, I don’t want to be embroiled in this. You figure out how you want to deal with this. If someone makes me their target, you can forget about working with me in the future!”
Zhong Da Pao immediately patted his chest and said, “Master Li, rest a.s.sured, this issue is a personal matter between Zhong Somebody and the rascal from the Suo family. Master Li, you have never appeared in this situation.”
Li Du grinned and nodded. “Alright, let’s discuss the public auction and get ready to make good money.”
“Make good money, make a lot of good money!” Liu Zi laughed happily.
In less than two weeks, the Chinese village had undergone a huge change.
The broken houses in the South sector had been torn down flat. A few tents had been put up on the empty land. Some construction teams were busy building new houses. As the new houses would be single-story, they did it very fast. The scaffolding was already done.
The roads with pits and dirty water had been filled with sand and gravel. Now the cars could drive easily around the village.
There was pork, beef and lamb meat hanging in front of the houses. Many of the families were drying the preserved meat. There were huge pork trotters hanging in front of some houses, too. Those were meant for preparing the traditional dish.
Seeing the change in the Chinese village, Li Du nodded in satisfaction. Zhong Da Pao was really quite a decent man. He had obviously not spent the money he made on himself. Instead, he had invested it in revamping the village.
Li Du said, “You’ve done well, Master Pao. You have made our people proud. How about this? I will donate ten million RMB. Consider that as a gift to our own people.”
Zhong Da Pao slapped his thigh and laughed. “Hey, Master Li, you are very charitable! I represent our people who have gone overseas and commend you. Very thankful to you!”
Da Mao said, “Then I will also donate some funds. Let me donate ten thousand dollars.”
Zhong Da Pao patted his shoulder and said, “Alright, Master Mao is a kind man as well. In the future, I will build a nice house for you. You will definitely live comfortably.”
Da Mao smirked. “I don’t intend to stay here permanently.”
Zhong Da Pao said, “You will. I have hung around Hpakant for a few decades now.”
Da Mao straightened his neck and said, “Impossible! I will never become like that.”
Liu Zi laughed. “They all say that.”
Da Mao was still quite respectful towards Zhong Da Pao. However, things were different with Liu Zi. Da Mao always quarreled with him.
Liu Zi brought out a notebook and dangled it around. He said, “There are some details here. Master Pao and I have gotten some information. It’s about a man called Zhong Hang.”
Hearing the second part of that sentence, Da Mao instantly flinched. “Information about my, my… my dad? What have you found?”
Liu Zi pa.s.sed the notebook to him and said, “Check it out yourself. Not much for now, but you guessed right. Your father must have offended someone.”
Li Du wanted to hear about what happened, but Da Mao did not look like he was planning to explain. He carried the notebook into a house and started to read it.
Seeing that, Li Du did not pursue the matter. Instead, he started to talk about the plans for the Chinese village. “Master Pao, you are planning to tear down the worn-out houses and build new ones, right?”
Zhong Da Pao scratched his head and said, “Yes, there’s that plan.”
Li Du said, “Then why are you building single-story houses? You should build multi-story buildings. Do you know about Kowloon Walled City? You can turn the village into something like it. To be able to gain standing in Hpakant, you need to build up high.”
Zhong Da Pao laughed. “We have thought about that, Master Li. However, my plan is to split the area into two. The South will be single-story. The North will have multi-story buildings. First, we will build the single-story houses for everyone to hang on through winter. Next year, we can build another batch of houses. It’s not easy to build a house. There’s the need to have a good foundation, a clever design, and it’s not possible to get those done before winter comes.”