Chapter 622: Little Girl’s Present
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As kidnapping was a penal case, Knight was only able to hold Daimler and the other seven for a short time. He asked if Li Du would like to come over to take revenge.
Li Du did not dare go over and punish them personally. Even though Knight had a very wealthy background, Li Du could not trust him. If he were to really go over and hurt his kidnappers, it would only require some simple manipulation to put him in jail with the eight of them.
Furthermore, he had already gotten back at them bad enough when he had fired a few shots—bang, bang, bang—at them before escaping. Among the eight unlucky youngsters, six of them had been shot.
This was also the reason why they were not able to take advantage of the night and flee from Las Vegas. With six of them injured by the shotgun fire, they went into hiding to treat the injuries.
Despite that, they were still found by Knight"s men.
After the eight of them were found, two of them went to the police station while the other six went to the hospital.
The injuries on their bodies were already infected. Even if Knight"s men had not found them, they would have taken the initiative to come out of hiding. They would have definitely died had they continued fighting.
With Sophie"s company, Li Du went down to the police station to testify and close the case. The charges for this case would be carried out by the justice department and heavy punishment awaited the eight of them.
The eight men who had kidnapped Li Du were all youngsters close in age to him.
Staring at them, Hans patted Li Du on his shoulder. "This is a warning to not do anything illegal. Their entire lives are over. They"re going to jail till they"re 50 years old."
"This is indeed a warning," Li Du said, "a warning to us that we should not flaunt our wealth and be careful wherever we go."
Speaking of this made him gloomy. "F*ck, I am just an unimportant member of the Hundred Thousand Club—why did they choose me? With such skills, why not kidnap the fella Jim King? He"s worth at least tens of millions!"
"He is worth tens of millions but does not have tens of millions in capital. As you are so famous and worth at least millions in cash since Chinese people love keeping cash, who wouldn"t kidnap you?"
"What do you mean?" Li Du asked. "Who said I only have cash? Can"t I invest?"
Hans shrugged his shoulders and asked rhetorically, "Will you?"
"I will," Li Du replied with certainty. "I already did. It"s just that you don"t know about it."
Hans started laughing as he thought Li Du was joking.
Truth be told, Li Du really had invested. He had invested in a luxury goods giant in a precarious situation.
This investment had also set the tone for his future expansions. In the past, he only thought of mingling in the storage unit auction industry, slowly working his way to becoming a millionaire and, subsequently, a multimillionaire.
He believed in his own capabilities and that becoming a multimillionaire was only a matter of time.
However, after being exposed to the gemstone industry, he realized that time was not a problem at all when trying to become a multimillionaire and that he only needed to find the gemstones.
Since this was the case, why would his main expansion be in the storage unit industry? Would it not be better to dig for gemstones?
He hadn"t dug for gemstones in the past out of worry. Worry that the gemstone industry was monopolized by the industry giants and that a foreigner like him, who had no background or connections, would be torn to pieces when entering the industry without careful consideration.
Now, after his exposure to opal, he realized that the water of the gemstone industry was also not very deep.
Furthermore, being a shareholder of Harry Winston, he could now be considered to have some background. He should have no problem fiddling around in the industry.
Bringing along items found in the King Kong"s storage units, the group of them drove over to Flagstaff.
Li Du sent Sophie home first. While leaving, he said, "Let"s find a suitable time to organize a makeup birthday dinner for your father. What do you think?"
Sophie smiled while waving her hand. "That"s not necessary, darling. Let"s just find a time to get together with them. However, the kidnapping incident must be kept a secret."
It was November by the time they were back at camp. They were finally away from the scorching heat as the weather in Flagstaff was cooling.
Arizona was about to enter the best time of the year: the warm winter season.
During this time, many Northerners came here for a vacation. Arizona"s summer, as well as the winter of states such as Maine, Utah, and Montana, were a living h.e.l.l for America.
On the morning of the second day back at camp, a small bicycle rode in.
Ah Ow, who was thriving, was on alert and shook her ears twice before crying out, "Awoo! Woo!" at the door.
The cries were loud and clear. Although it sounded a little childish, it was already in the early stages of showing the might of a wolf.
Li Du curiously turned his head to take a look. There was a young girl with black hair and blue eyes on a bicycle.
Hans waved. "Hey Victoria, what brings you here? Are you lost?"
The little girl was indeed Victoria, a girl from Mesa"s welfare home.
She was very introverted. Even though she was well acquainted with Hans, she still felt a little shy after he stared at her and asked the question. She just looked at them timidly without answering.
When the scouts had sold cookies, she and Li Du had become acquainted with each other while selling cookies together. Li Du walked over in a friendly manner and said, "Wonder Woman, what brings you here?"
After seeing him, Victoria loosened up and whispered, "I rode a bicycle over."
"Huh?" Li Du respond.
Victoria blankly stared at Li Du. "Didn"t you ask me what brought me here? I rode a bicycle over."
The corner of Li Du"s mouth twitched. The little girl was still just as clueless. When he was about to repeat his question, a treasure hunter playing in the camp said, "Hey Li, is that your daughter? She"s been looking for you."
"Li, is it possible that you"re thinking of abandoning your family? That"s too irresponsible."
"This child is so adorable, how could you possibly abandon her?"
The treasure hunters were joking in a friendly manner. However, Victoria did not know that it was a joke, so she was at a loss and stood next to her bicycle, timidly watching them.
Li Du waved his fist at the treasure hunters and said, "Don"t frighten the child. Anyhow, were you looking for me recently, Victoria?"
Victoria nodded and whispered, "Yes, I want to give you a present but couldn"t find you for the past few days. Please don"t chase me away, okay?"
Toward the end of the sentence, the little girl sobbed a little.
"Of course," Li Du hurriedly said. "Why would I chase you away? You"re very much welcome to play here."
"That"s wonderful," Victoria said with a small smile. "I"m here to give you a present. Li, and also Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles, thank you for helping me sell the cookies."
She turned her head and looked at Li Du"s two small companions. Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles apparently remembered her and were both moving around her.
Victoria opened up the small school bag she was carrying and took a vase out from inside. She handled it over to Li Du and said, "This is a vase carved by me. Would you like it?"
Seeing the vase, Li Du was a little surprised.
The vase, which was most likely carved from an entire tree branch, was around 20 centimeters tall and had a very interesting design. The surface of the belly of the vase retained the coa.r.s.e bark of the tree while the base and neck of the vase were polished very clean and smooth.