Chapter 1625: Scout auction
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With so many things, he naturally wouldn’t notice some details. At the end of April, Sophie suddenly came to Li Du and said, “My period is late.”
Li Du’s father immediately understood what it means. He hurriedly said, “G.o.d! I’ll take you to the hospital to have a check-up.”
Sophie handed him a small piece of cardboard and smiled brightly. “We don’t need to go to the hospital. I can check it myself. Don’t forget I am a doctor.”
Looking at the two red lines, Li Du felt a little dizzy. “Are you… are you pregnant?”
Sophie smiled even more brightly. “Everything sure points to this conclusion.”
Li Du didn’t know what to say for a moment but hugged Sophie, who was smiling brightly. He felt very happy.
He forgot all about the diamond mine, the emerald mine, the opal mine, and the interest disputes. At this moment, it all seemed unimportant!
He called Big Ivan immediately. “Pack up to go back to Los Angeles.”
Big Ivan said, “Okay, boss, what time?”
“As soon as possible, we have to go back soon.”
Li Du also began to hurry to pack things up, and Sophie came to help. Both of them packed a few suitcases and distributed them to the little ones, who dragged the luggage in their mouths and went out of the door quickly.
He told his parents, “We’re going back to Los Angeles.”
Li Du’s father was watching TV on the sofa, laughing at a comedy. When he heard what Li Du said, he was puzzled. “Why do we have to go back so suddenly? You didn’t even tell us anything in advance.”
Li Du’s mother said, “We will not be going to Los Angeles. We will head straight home. We are about to move to a new place…”
“Sophie is pregnant,” said Li Du simply.
Li Duʼs father immediately stood up, “Hurry up, this island is beautiful, but it is too d.a.m.n moist, and it will be winter soon, right? Letʼs leave quickly, Sophie has to go somewhere warm and dry now!”
Li Duʼs mother said, “There is nothing to pack. What can I pack except for the clothes I have been drying? Where is the plane? Letʼs get on the plane and head straight back. Have we booked the hospital yet? Is Sophie feeling nauseous now?”
Everything was unplanned, but since there were so many helping hands, things would be easy to handle. The helicopter was quickly filled with luggage, and the group got on board. With Big Ivan as the pilot, the helicopter flew into the air.
Audrey was in charge of the mining on the island, while Su Nan was in charge of the tourism promotion. Li Du had nothing to do even if he stayed there.
The helicopter flew to Melbourne, where a chartered plane booked by JPMorgan arrived the same day. After refueling, the plane shot into the air, this time targeting Los Angeles.
Li Du’s father pondered, “Are we going to Los Angeles? Is the baby going to be a United States citizen this way? I donʼt think it is a good idea. Why donʼt we go back to our hometown?”
Li Duʼs mother countered, “Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the world, and it sure has top quality hospitals. We would not want to put Sophie in jeopardy. Besides, when Sophie goes to our hometown, she doesnʼt even see anyone with the same hair color as her. She would be in a bad mood. It would not be good for her.”
Li Du said, “The child could decide about their nationality later. Moreover, we may not give birth to the child in Los Angeles, we may return to Australia. I have just thought that Sophieʼs due date would be early autumn in Australia and it is more environmentally comfortable than Los Angeles.”
Li Duʼs father sighed, “But out Li Family were there for so many generations, and had handed down the old home. We must at least let the child have solid roots.”
Li Duʼs mother said in disdain, “Does your Old Li family have an imperial throne to pa.s.s? Letʼs wait for the child to be born. What roots do you want to pa.s.s down now?”
Sophie said to Li Du, “Stop them from quarreling, why are they having a go at each other?”
Li Du waved his hand and said, “Donʼt worry, this is how their relations.h.i.+p is. They have been quarreling with each other for many years.”
Back in Los Angeles, Sophie went to the hospital first to do some checkups.
Li Du wanted to go to the best maternity hospital, Whittier hospital in the City of Angels, to do an examination, but Sophie felt that it was not necessary. They would have to make an appointment a long time in advance if they wanted to go to Whittier hospital, so Sophie just chose a large hospital to do an examination.
A series of tests came out. Sophie was indeed pregnant, and the results were all normal. As long as Sophie took care of herself, it would be fine if she just went for all the regular appointments.
The family center of gravity began to lean toward the little life that has not yet been born, but occasionally Li Du would still attend a few social activities and auctions. Sophie was pregnant, and he was in a good mood, so the harvests he helped the others get were also a little higher. His old treasure hunter friends, who followed him, made a lot of money.
With the help of the auction on the sea, Li Du became a member of the Warehouse Auction a.s.sociationʼs Ten Million Club, almost the top spot of the treasure hunters.
Although California did have ten million club members, they all have acc.u.mulated funds over the years to be part of the club, and each was over the age of 50. Li Du was the first young man in this position.
He became so famous that even the teachers at Victoriaʼs school knew about him.
The elementary school students in America had to attend a social activity as part of the program. In late April, Victoria and Elena ran back from school and gave Li Du a list.
Li Du picked it up and asked, “What is it? Your results?”
Victoria opened the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of juice and drank it. Then she said, “No, it is an invitation form. Our school wants to invite you to organize an event for us, a warehouse auction event.”
Li Du burst into laughter. “I am not suitable for it, am I? I donʼt know how to deal with you naughty kids.”
Elena said in a dissatisfied tone, pouting, “I am not a naughty kid. I am the nicest kid at school. The teacher likes me the best.”
Li Du looked at the list. It was indeed an invitation. The Fountain Valley Church school, where the two were studying, was hosting a student-parent event aimed at increasing students’ social practice and enhance the parent-child relations.h.i.+p.
He was not interested in this kind of activity, mainly because he was not good at it.
Sophie suggested, “You can go and have a look. I think you should attend. First of all, you are a senior to Victoria and Elena. You should go and have a look at their learning environment. Second, it can increase your experience of interacting with children.”
“There is another advantage.” Lu Guan rubbed his nose and said, “Boss, you will have parent points by organizing such events, and it would be convenient for your child to enter the school in the future.”
The Fountain Valley Church School was the top elementary school in the Los Angeles area, and its admission requirements were very strict. Victoria and Elena could enter because Li Du put a lot of effort to get them in.
Li Du had no choice but to give in.
After thinking about it, he nodded and said, “OK, go back and tell the teacher that I will help you to organize the event, but you have to have the money. It is going to be a real business.”
“I prepared a lot of change.” Victoria pulled out a bank card from her small school bag to show off.
After Li Du agreed, he began to look for the appropriate warehouse. Bill and Lu Guan were very active in taking part. It made him felt puzzled. Seeing this, Bill told him that there was a term in the warehouse auction called “boy scout good luck”, which implied that taking children to partic.i.p.ate in an auction often would bring a big harvest.