“Young friend!”
Yu Boyan hailed Li Mo as he stepped through the door.
In the Empress Restaurant’s number one VIP lounge, Yu Boyan and Zhang Jingshen had set up a feast.
Li Mo and Yu Boyan entered and Zhang Jingshen also greeted him. Qin Zhen was already here, along with some unfamiliar faces Li Mo didn’t recognize. But as they were invited by Zhang Jingshen and Yu Boyan, they had to be wealthy and renowned.
Qin Zhen stood up with a smile, “Young friend, who would’ve thought we’d be meeting again here? You should come and entertain your guests!”
Thump!
Empress Restaurant’s CEO, Chen Zhengzhong, was bringing in his masterpiece, the octennial exquisite duck. He heard Qin Zhen and was so startled the tray slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
A few days ago, he heard a rumor. Qin Zhen was going to give the Empress Restaurant to a great doctor. These days, he’d been on pins and needles, thinking the new boss would fry his ass.
But never would he have thought it possible that the doctor Qin Zhen spoke of, the new boss, was Li Mo.
‘I’m done for. My glory days have run their course…’ Chen Zhengzhong stood in a daze.
Li Mo was also startled by Qin Zhen’s words. He only knew about the stocks and nothing about any business.
In fact, besides cash, Li Mo had in his name the Empress Restaurant and the mansion in Phoenix District.
Li Mo walked to the trembling Chen Zhengzhong. “Get someone to clean this and redo it.”
Li Mo walked away.
Chen Zhengzhong’s mind blanked for a second, then was moved to tears. ‘What does the new boss mean? He won’t blame me?’
“Right away!”
Chen Zhengzhong called for clean up and went to work.
Qin Zhen smiled.
Under Qin Zhen’s ‘reminder’, the guests here all knew Li Mo was the new owner. They stood up and greeted him.
But one person didn’t move.
It was a woman in her twenty and wearing a red dress. Her oval face was fair and pure, with a pair of sharp black eyes. Her silky smooth hands delicately gripped the chopsticks as she ate demurely.
Li Mo recognized her.
Wasn’t she the one who made the owner of the jade pendant on antique street withdraw the sale?
Yu Boyan noticed his curious gaze at the lady and smiled, “She is Yang Hongying, the prized daughter of Yang Corporation’s chairman, Yang Zhicheng. “
“Hello.”
Yang Hongying offered her lily hand. Her hand was dainty, her fingers delicate.
Li Mo replied in kind but Yang Hongying withdrew hers before he could touch her. Then she took out a handkerchief and meticulously scrubbed her hand.
Li Mo was stunned.
Yu Boyan let out an embarrassed laughter.
Only now Li Mo realized the seats around Yang Hongying were empty.
“My hand was dirty so I cleaned it.”
She extended her hand again and Li Mo didn’t think much of it, replying to her gesture, but she again withdrew her hand.
“Thinking about it, forget it. My hand is clean, but yours isn’t. How about you wipe yours first?”
Li Mo: …
‘When you shake hands for the first time, you shy away because it’s dirty? Where’s the courtesy in this?’
‘Why offer your hand if you think it’s dirty?’
In his daze, a person came and grabbed Li Mo’s hand.
“Yang clan’s freak has always been like this. Don’t mind her.”
Li Mo saw a handsome youth in a strange attire.
Strange because it was an ancient scholarly robe. If he didn’t have a crew cut but long flowing hair, he’d be no different from the people of old.
Bam!
The youth flipped open his fan and revealed the world invincible in remarkable penmanship written on it.
“Let me introduce myself. I am Bai, Bai Wudi.(T/N: wudi= invincible)”
Bai Wudi shook hands with Li Mo.
Bai Wudi? Do normal people ever use such a name?
Li Mo looked at Bai Wudi then at Yang Hongying, finding none of them in their right mind.
With introductions out of the way, the guests took their seats as Yu Boyan took out an item for Li Mo to see.
He and Zhang Jingshen invited Li Mo over just for this.
The item was a mechanical box made of pure gold. The weight and size were bigger than the wooden box from the auction.
Yu Boyan explained, “I won’t hide it, young friend, this mechanical box was in brother Jingshen’s care. He got this item in his prime and tried everything he knew to open it for the last three decades. We saw how young friend opened the wooden box at the auction with such ease and thought this golden mechanical box would be no different.”
What Li Mo didn’t know was that while the Battle of Changban affair was underway, Yu Boyan and Zhang Jingshen extended the invitation to Huang Lixing first. The result, Grandmaster Huang showed his true colors. What golden box, when he couldn’t even budge the wooden one!
What was true was true, and fake was fake. Yu Boyan then told Zhang Jingshen of his run into Li Mo on the antique street. Zhang Jingshen decided on the spot that the truly skilled one wasn’t Grandmaster Huang but the young Li Mo.
Li Mo peered at the golden box, fiddled around, and tried opening it.
He pushed five times before they heard a click.
Zhang Jingshen was amazed, “When I got this box, I also found the right way to open it but I only managed to reach the fifth step, when it closed itself shut just like it did now in young friend’s hand.
“I reached the fifth step because someone told me how to open it, but young friend just looked at it a few times and realized it on the first try. I truly admire your skill.”
While Zhang Jingshen was in awe of Li Mo, the portly Su Mingqi snorted, “Old Yu, Old Zhang, if you consider yourselves second, no one would dare proclaim to be the best. You are renowned and reputable in antiquities. Your word is golden. If you can’t do it, then I believe no one can.
“Our Su clan’s Exalted tried opening this box also, but also didn’t know the right way to open it. He reached the fifth step on the first try as well. Reaching such a step is not impressive!”
Su Mingqi was Su Corporation chairman’s little brother. The Su Corporation wanted to buy Zhang Jingshen’s golden box so they sent Su Mingqi over.
Su Mingqi smiled, “Regardless of anyone, they are all treated the same, no matter what they try. Since the box never opened in any case. Old Zhang, don’t forget our bet.”
Zhang Jingshen was gloomy. He and the Su clan’s Exalted had a wager. If he couldn’t open the box in a given time, he would have to sell it at the lowest price to the Su clan.
And only half a month was left until the deadline.
Li Mo asked, “Is there a hammer around?”
