Chapter 21: Wang Guodong

Li Douzhan first reported the recent accounts to Cao Chuan. These past few days he had been flying around, selling nine pieces of jade material in the antique markets of two cities, totaling seventeen million. Aside from buying himself a car, there were no other major expenses.

Cao Chuan nodded. "Keep the money with you for now," he said, then asked Li Douzhan why he had chosen this building.

Li Douzhan's reasoning was very clear: the two brothers didn't make their living through traditional buying and selling of antiques. The storefront was just a cover — casually display a few things to keep up appearances and that was enough. Antique Street had too many people and complicated eyes, and they'd have to spend time attending to walk-in customers. Better to open the shop in a quiet place, with fewer miscellaneous affairs.

The building quality was decent, and the backyard could be used for stone cutting — just put up a shed along the wall. They could also park cars in the courtyard.

Since Li Douzhan had already planned everything thoroughly, Cao Chuan naturally had no opposition. Anyway, the building was registered under Li Douzhan's name. With the natural resources of an entire world behind him, giving a brother a property wasn't even a hair.

Cao Chuan felt things were fine as they were. Both of them had a tacit understanding not to discuss the origin of the goods, which saved him from having to fabricate more lies and explanations. The two brothers happily headed toward a blissful life. As for the secret of the ring, it was best left rotting in his own stomach — telling anyone would do neither of them any good.

The two discussed together for a while longer. Li Douzhan planned to renovate the third floor, install several large safes, and remodel the third floor into two suites, so the brothers would have a formal foothold. The first and second floors didn't need changes — those broken calligraphy and rotten paintings and the tea room would all be usable later.

After settling everything, Li Douzhan decided to find a lawyer the next day to sign the contract. After that, company registration, store name change, including renovation and transfer — Cao Chuan didn't need to manage any of it. He didn't have time to manage it anyway; his passport had already been issued, and he still had plenty to keep him busy.

Finally, regarding the store name, Li Douzhan said maliciously, "Since Boss Cao put up the money, let's have cultured person Boss Cao come up with a name. It needs to have an ancient style, you know."

Cultured person Cao struggled for a long while, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. With a mysterious smile, he uttered three words: "Minglai Pavilion."

Li Douzhan felt like vomiting the moment he heard the name. Too vulgar. However, it was no use — a certain someone said, "This is all the culture I've got. Take it or leave it. You dare find fault with a name I came up with?"

"Fine, Society Brother Cao, ugly person high culture. This name is good. Too good." Weak and powerless, Li Douzhan finalized the store name.

With the house matter settled, Cao Chuan suddenly remembered something else. "Do you have anyone over in Thailand?"

Li Douzhan was stunned by the question. He only reacted after drinking some tea. "I do have someone at the United Nations. Want me to ask?"

"Can you be less sarcastic? I'm going to Thailand in a few days to handle some affairs. Help me ask around for a guide you know."

Only then did Li Douzhan realize Cao Chuan meant serious business. He took out his phone, flipped through the contact list searching for a while, then gave a hehe smile. "I do know someone in Thailand. Not exactly a local snake, just a driver. This person, you also know."

"I know him? Who?"

"Wang Guodong."

Hearing the name, Cao Chuan looked up to recall. Only after a while did he ask uncertainly, "That guy from our courtyard, two years senior to us?"

"Yeah, we even fought together as kids. You've definitely forgotten."

"I have a slight impression. What's the story?"

"This guy started working early, you're not familiar with him. I ran into him back then on Antique Street. At that time he was already driving and hauling goods for others. Later he went to Thailand to make a living. Last year when he returned home for New Year, I happened to meet him, and we had a meal together. He drives a tour bus in Thailand, running around with a bunch of black guides all day, making money off mainland tourists."

After hearing this, Cao Chuan asked, "Is his family still in our courtyard?"

"Yeah, they didn't move. His old father is still alive, and he has two brothers guarding the home."

"This guy's good. Contact him, contact him quickly. Tell him I'm going to Thailand in a few days to see him."

Li Douzhan made the call, exchanged a few pleasantries, and explained the purpose. The other party was very enthusiastic. The moment he heard the name Cao Chuan, he recalled it immediately. After Cao Chuan took the phone, he chatted a few lines with Wang Guodong, agreeing to contact him again once he arrived in Thailand, then hung up.

With all matters discussed, the two dispersed on the spot. Cao Chuan went all the way back to Cuiyuan District, went upstairs, and opened his laptop.

He planned out his itinerary, called to book a plane ticket back to his old home in Hebei — departing at eight in the evening — got up to pack some clothes and odds and ends, stuffed them all into a travel bag, then took a taxi straight to the airport.

At ten in the evening, the plane had already landed at Hebei Airport. He had no intention of going home — visiting anyone's house felt awkward. So he resorted to his old method and simply booked a room at a hotel.

The next morning when he got up, Cao Chuan first called his mother and learned that the passport was with his uncle. So he took a taxi, passed by a watch shop, and casually bought his uncle an ordinary watch. It wasn't that he was stingy — a gift too high-end would be impossible to explain. He went to his uncle's place, got the passport, put down the watch, and left.

After leaving, he strolled around while booking his flight and hotel online. The flight was settled quickly — there was one at noon.

Next was the accommodation issue. Comparing prices along the way, he soon found the Mandarin Hotel in downtown Bangkok. Boss Cao the local tyrant directly booked the Oriental Royal Suite on the top floor. The price — twenty-five thousand yuan a night, with Chinese-speaking private butler service included.

By five in the afternoon, he had already flown across countless rivers and mountains, sitting in the Bentley driven by the Mandarin Hotel's private butler, heading toward downtown Bangkok.

Lying on the terrace, with the vast Chao Phraya River before him, the luxurious suite behind him, and unfinished lobster and red wine beside him, Cao Chuan couldn't help but marvel at the incredibility of life. Not long ago, he had been a group performer living in an earth house. In the blink of an eye, he was already burping contentedly in Bangkok's most luxurious hotel.

Equally astonishing was the speed of his own corruption. Aside from feeling a bit unaccustomed in the first few days, he now spent eighty or a hundred thousand without even blinking. "Seems this brother was born with a rich and noble fate!" A certain person murmured to himself, stroking the ring in his hand.

The next day at noon, Wang Guodong came knocking as invited. The moment they met, Cao Chuan remembered him. The guy hadn't changed much — tall and thin, eyebrows slanting upward, a very shrewd person. He was darker and leaner than in his memory, probably from the Thai sun.

Wang Guodong, however, acted much more familiar than before. He shook hands the moment they met. "Not bad, little brother, staying in the royal suite now. Couldn't have seen this coming back in the day. Guess I should call you Old Chief now."

Cao Chuan smiled and invited Wang Guodong to sit, signaling the butler to bring coffee. "What Old Chief or not Old Chief — just got lucky and scraped together a living. Better to still call me little brother. By the way, I heard from Li Douzhan that you're doing pretty well over here too, old brother?"

Wang Guodong shook his head self-deprecatingly. "Mine is the real scraping for a living. Every day I just drive a bus hauling passengers. The first couple of years were okay, but these past two years the tourists have gotten smarter and smarter. Ah, money's hard to earn."

Cao Chuan burst out laughing. "With the tricks you guys pull, where would repeat customers come from? No wonder business gets harder and harder."