Chapter 9: Got Money!

The scene was so heated that Cao Chuan, like Li Douzhan, now had his eyes locked dead on the man surnamed Ma.

President Ma smiled and shook his head. "Two hundred fifty is unlucky. Two million four hundred fifty thousand. Shopkeeper Hu, please, go ahead."

The old man slowly stood up. His aged eyes lingered half a moment on that pair of blood-red seal stones before he finally turned and walked toward the door. Halfway there, he looked back and added, "Li, if anything changes, my earlier offer still stands."

Li Douzhan scurried over to open the door for the old man, a stream of pleasant words tumbling from his mouth. "Shopkeeper Hu's strength in the trade — who in the business doesn't know it? Rest assured, if this deal falls through, Li will definitely come find you again."

President Ma, still in his chair, let out a snort of laughter at Old Hu's retreating back. He pulled out his phone and dialed out. "Yeah, it's me. How much cash is in the shop right now? Mm-hmm, listen carefully — withdraw all of it. Then bring someone to Ru's place; there's cash there too. Once you've got it, come find me on Qingchun Road."

Hearing this, Cao Chuan felt his adrenaline spike. A gut feeling told him that if he didn't do something, he might just die. He glanced around, hurriedly poured a glass of water, and set it in front of President Ma.

President Ma ignored the water entirely and dialed another number straight away. "Yeah, it's me. Baby, there's business today. Take six hundred thousand in cash out of the safe. Manager Zhao will come pick it up later — just give it to him. Mm-hmm, don't fuss. Get the money ready quickly. I'm not coming home tonight; I'll stay at your place."

Just then, Li Douzhan came back in. President Ma raised the phone in his hand. "The money will be here within half an hour. Li, you're an insider — you know the rules. Since I'm paying cash, once the deal's done, we're square. Once you step out that door, I won't admit anything happened here today."

Li Douzhan beamed all over his face. "President Ma, how could I not know the rules? As long as Li still wants to eat from this bowl, your side of things has to be crystal clear. Set your mind at ease, a hundred and twenty percent."

President Ma nodded. His gaze shifted to the two pieces of semi-transparent rough stone on the table, and in that instant his eyes softened considerably. He reached out a finger and slowly stroked the stones, murmuring something under his breath.

The three of them sat there in the room like that, none daring to let their eyes stray from those two stones. About forty minutes passed before President Ma's phone finally rang. Not long after, someone knocked on the door.

Li Douzhan got up to open it but was grabbed and held back by President Ma. "You should know Manager Zhao well enough. Check who it is before you open the door."

Li Douzhan nodded, looked through the peephole, and opened the door. Two people came in — a middle-aged man in the lead, followed by a sturdy young fellow, each carrying a leather case.

The middle-aged man nodded at Li Douzhan as he entered, then headed straight for President Ma and whispered a couple of sentences into his ear.

President Ma waved a hand once he'd heard. "Give the cases to Li. Both of them."

Without a word, the middle-aged man set both cases at Li Douzhan's feet. Li Douzhan swept a glance at Cao Chuan, then stepped aside to open them. The two brothers had a tacit understanding: Li Douzhan counted the money, while Cao Chuan did nothing but silently keep his eyes fixed on the stones on the table.

Both cases were stuffed full of cash, every stack neatly bundled. Seeing Li Douzhan open the cases, the middle-aged man added, "Ten thousand per stack."

Li Douzhan nodded. He first casually pulled a few notes from the pile to check their authenticity, then went straight to counting the stacks — very much in Golden Triangle style. He was done in just a few minutes.

He shut the cases, and Li Douzhan handed the wooden box to President Ma. President Ma laughed heartily, gently placed the two seal stones into the box, and, flanked by his subordinates, strode off in triumph.

Sunlight streamed in through the window. The room was silent. On the tabletop sat two hundred forty-five stacks of currency, square and upright. The two men lay sprawled across the table, just staring at them. Neither spoke, until one of their stomachs rumbled, and they realized that noon had crept up on them without their noticing.

Li Douzhan stood up and patted his belly. "All these years I've been messing around with antiques — before today, it was pure dabbling. Today was the first proper, serious deal. Let's go find some food and have a little wine to celebrate."

Cao Chuan, without a word, began counting the money. He counted out twenty-four stacks, tossed them straight at Li Douzhan, and started packing the rest into the cases.

Hugging the pile of cash, Li Douzhan suddenly grew worried again. "If this pair of stones had been paid by bank transfer, and I'd issued a formal transfer agreement, hitting three million at the auction wouldn't have been impossible. Are you sure you're okay with this? If not, take my commission too — put it all toward your payment."

Cao Chuan kept packing the money as he spoke. "Today was perfect just the way it was. My goods are all of unclear origin. A little less money doesn't matter — what's important is staying hidden. Hidden, you understand? From now on, we deal with people like this. The way I see it, this President Ma definitely won't go around broadcasting his sourcing channels. That's exactly what we want."

Li Douzhan nodded. "Since you put it that way, I get it. So the two of us have struck it rich. What do we do next?"

"You tidy up and go offload the goods. Sell off all this junk in the room. I'll wait until you've left before I head out. First, I'll go rent a place to live. We'll meet up tonight. Today's a winning start — my treat, the full package."

The moment Li Douzhan heard "full package," his eyes lit up. "Red Tripod, then?"

"You decide. Martell first, then 'Ya Ma Die.'"

Li Douzhan's spirits instantly soared. As he packed up, he lavished praise on President Cao for his leadership aura, his righteous generosity with wealth, a true Red Hare among men.

Cao Chuan packed all the money into the cases, then helped Li Douzhan load the junk onto the electric tricycle. He watched him ride off into the distance, then went back inside. With a flick of his hand, he stowed both cases of money into the ring.

Perhaps he'd already endured too much stimulation these past two days. Even though he was, in fact, now a millionaire, he simply couldn't muster any excitement at this moment. Thinking about it, he found it rather amusing.

He went back to the inner room, gathered up all his belongings, and stored everything in the ring. First, he went out to fill his stomach, then casually walked into a real estate agency.

He told them he wanted to rent a place. The conditions: immediate move-in, fully furnished, internet and everything already connected, preferably somewhere nearby.

The agency girl quickly pulled up several listings. Cao Chuan couldn't be bothered to go view them. He glanced over the details and felt that one in the Jade Garden complex looked decent enough. Seeing the monthly rent was six thousand, he played the local tyrant for the first time in his life, nodded, and said it wasn't too pricey. As for the apartment, no need to see it — just sign the lease directly.

The agency girl pegged him for a rich kid and bustled to prepare the contract. They signed it in no time, and the keys were in his hand.

He took a taxi to the new place and had a look. Very nice. It wasn't far from Li Douzhan's, and the Jade Garden complex was very quiet. The apartment was on the third floor — four bedrooms, one living room, tastefully renovated, with furniture, bathroom fixtures, and everything complete.

Cao Chuan dropped off his bag and went to the supermarket across the street. He bought all the bedding and toiletries he needed, returned to the apartment, sat down, and thought things over for a while. Then he got up, went out, hailed a cab, and told the driver to head straight for the nearest grain-and-oil wholesale market.

The wholesale market was on the outskirts of town. He hadn't passed many stalls after entering when he spotted the target of his trip — salt.

Bag after bag of salt was piled there. Various open samples sat at the front of the stall. Cao Chuan examined them one by one, finally grabbing a pinch and spreading his hand open for the proprietress who had come over to greet him.