Chapter 615: At The Door Seeking
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On seeing the plump man"s warm smile, Li Du also smiled – just not as warmly.
He simply nodded and said, "h.e.l.lo, I"m Li."
The plump man was the blond boss who had not only pushed and shouted at him, but had also insulted him.
But it appeared as though he had no recollection of what had happened before, as he gave Li Du a welcoming and toothy smile. "h.e.l.lo, how are you? I"m Jim King, the owner of King Kong Storage Company. It"s an honor to meet you."
Upon hearing his introduction, Li Du"s smile widened. It"s an honor to meet me? That"s not what you said two days ago.
Of course, Li Du knew all too well why he had behaved that way; Hans told him that Knight had exerted pressure on Jim King, and he had wanted to make use of him to relieve some of that pressure.
As Li Du shook his hand, Jim King said, "Welcome to King Kong Storage Company. I gotta say, Li, our company did not treat you right, previously. You must have been upset."
"It"s nothing," Li Du responded with an icy smile.
Noting his aloof response, Jim King knew that he was still holding a grudge.
King rubbed his hands and said, "Actually, Li, I would like to discuss something with you. Shall we go to my office?"
Li Du said, "Yes, no problem."
This was actually his purpose at the storage company – to take a look at the two paintings.
Jim King"s office was located within the office building. As they came to the door, he whispered, "Li, do you still want to take photos here? Please feel free to do so if you would like."
Last time, it was the photo-taking that had triggered the conflict between the two of them. Evidently, he did remember the incident.
Now all Li Du wanted was to see the two paintings. Why the h.e.l.l would he have any interest in this c.r.a.ppy building?
He smiled frostily, "No, I don"t really like to take photos."
Jim King was at a loss of words momentarily, as he racked his brain trying to figure out how to win back Li Du"s friends.h.i.+p.
He had a mind to give his security officers a good las.h.i.+ng. The first time, they had let Li Du enter, causing their conflict. The second time, they had even kidnapped him!
Normally, for someone like him with extreme racial prejudice, it was good news to know of a yellow-skinned person being kidnapped. Just as Knight"s investigation had shown, King was connected with the incident.
The man with the cleft lip was Daimler. He came to King a few days ago and told King that he wanted to teach Li Du a lesson by swindling him. Since Jim King didn"t have a good impression of Li Du then, what else could he have said to that? He was, of course, glad to go along with it. But he had no idea that what Daimler really wanted to do was to kidnap and murder Li Du. He thought that his henchman was only planning to set up a trap to swindle Li Du out of some money.
In any case, he was now dragged into the matter. Knight had put pressure on him, and told him that if he didn"t manage to locate Daimler and teach him a lesson, he would no longer be in the storage business.
Li Du did not know the influence Knight had in Las Vegas, but Jim King knew very well.
He also knew that Knight was someone who meant what he said. If he didn"t manage to fulfill his request, he really would be kicked out of the storage business!
This storage company was him and his family"s main livelihood. Having been built up by both Jim King and his father, it grew to its current size thanks to the effort of both generations. If Knight were to bankrupt him, he would be beaten to death by his retired father.
He would do whatever it took to keep his storage company. If he knew of Daimler"s whereabouts, he would surely inform Knight.
The tragedy was – he didn"t know!
So if he wanted to keep his storage company, he would have to come up with another plan. Since he who started the trouble had to end it, the only other way he could come up with was to use Li Du to alleviate the pressure exerted by Knight.
Li Du knew this, so he was in a relaxed mood. He entered the small building, and began to check out the décor with interest.
The office building of the King Kong Storage Company had only resembled a storage unit on the exterior. It was stylishly decorated on the inside, and looked like a collector"s room with many shelves and gla.s.s cabinets containing all sorts of collectibles.
In particular, upon opening the door to Jim King"s office, a large number of antique treasures including many antique Chinese porcelain items, glittering artworks, famous paintings and sculptures that Li Du had seen only in books appeared in front of him.
Li Du was dumbfounded!
It was the first time he had seen such a lavish private collection!
Jim King"s desk was located near the window, and behind it were two paintings. They each had a scribbled signature on it, which Li Du made out after a detailed look. It said Vincent Willem Van Gogh!
On seeing that, he sucked in a gasp of cold air and exclaimed, "My, you are quite an amazing collector…"
Upon hearing his compliment, Jim King laughed and said, "You speak too highly of me. Actually, heh heh, these are fakes. I bought them for fun."
Li Du recovered quickly. He was just momentarily shocked by seeing them all of a sudden and had exclaimed out loud without giving it much thought.
All of these things were fake. If they had been real, it would have been way too astounding – even the Arizona State Museum wouldn"t have that many world-renowned collectibles.
Jim King explained, "Since I was young, I"ve liked collecting stuff. That"s why I started a storage company. This job"s the most similar to collecting."
As he spoke, he looked at Li Du and then said with affection, "Besides, if I"ve got a storage company, I could also interact with my dear treasure hunting friends. You guys are all great collectors."
Li Du laughed, this fella was indeed a talker. Too bad for Jim King, Li Du had already seen his true colors during the conflict. Otherwise, he would have been deceived by his performance.
Jim King"s secretary brought them some coffee. As he invited Li Du to drink he said, "I am really sorry for what happened in the past, Li. To think such a matter had happened in my company."
Li Du smiled. "It had nothing to do with you."
Jim King said, "No, how could it have nothing to do with me? If I hadn"t been so blind hiring that a*shole Daimler as a security officer, such a horrible thing wouldn"t have happened!"
Li Du said, "We"ve a Chinese saying – the unconscious doer should not be blamed. Mr. King, you didn"t know of his character and couldn"t have guessed what he was going to do. So this matter doesn"t really have anything to do with you."
Upon hearing his words, Jim King laughed and then continued to condemn the wrongdoings of Daimler and the gang, pouring out a torrent of abuse as though they were his arch enemies.
After taking quite a while to vent his anger, he finally asked what was on Li Du"s mind. "May I know, what"s the relations.h.i.+p between you and Mr. Knight Ferrari? This matter seems to have angered Mr. Ferrari. He asked me to answer to him..."
Li Du smiled and answered vaguely, "We"re friends."
Jim King then asked cautiously, "I see. Then Li, could you help me explain to him that this matter really had nothing to do with me?"