Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 616 - 2 Huamao Real Estate
Nathan Road No. 100.
Here, eateries and cosmetics shops abound, as do towering office buildings. The throngs of people weave ceaselessly.
Under the colorful signs, a multitude of aromas assault the senses. The snip-snip of scissors fills the air, as snow-white rice noodle rolls fall into plastic lunch boxes, followed by a sprinkling of fried toppings and soy sauce. And there’s the aromatic toasted sesame seeds.
"Five dollars."
Li Yan paid with one hand and with the other received a serving of spare rib and pig intestine rice roll, spearing it with a bamboo stick as he entered a grey, dusty building in front of him. It bore the sign, "Zhongxing Baode International Auction Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Office."
The lobby on the first floor was poorly lit and very dim. Seated in front of a desktop computer at the reception was a girl with shoulder-length short hair wearing a white woolen coat. She had a sweet appearance, reminiscent of Qiu Shuzhen in the metropolis.
"Hello, I’m here to register."
The girl lifted her head and took another look at the computer screen, seemingly confirming some information. After around thirty seconds, with a smile revealing her silver teeth, she said, "You are Mr. Li Yan?"
"Yes."
She rapidly typed on the keyboard, and soon after, the printer churned out several forms.
She handed the forms to Li Yan with both hands. He glanced through them; it was a registration form for the auction. Besides filling in personal information, it was densely packed with various notices and conditions.
Firstly, any individual or organization participating in the auction must, fifteen days in advance, deposit a guarantee of twenty million Hong Kong dollars with our company. Should any accident occur during the auction, leading to a liability determined to be on the guarantor’s part, the guarantee will not be refunded.
Secondly, the auction only accepts cash transactions on-site, it does not accept any form of checks or any other forms of paper contracts. However, it does accept various antiques and celebrity calligraphies as mortgage for a discount.
There were also some less important details, such as 3% of the auction’s turnover will be entirely donated to charity and so forth.
"What is this?"
Li Yan asked the girl.
"A registration form. This is Mr. Zhao’s instruction."
No sooner had the girl finished speaking than new task requirements materialized in front of Li Yan’s retina.
"You have completed the registration."
"Please persuade more than three local Hong Kong tycoons to participate in the charity auction organized by Zhongxing Baode International Auction Company before the fifteenth of next month. Moreover, given the uniqueness and preciousness of the auction items, all Esteemed Walkers involved in this Yan Fu event are to take turns resting and be responsible for the protection and security of the auction items."
"...Where is Mr. Zhao?"
Li Yan scrutinized the girl in front of him.
Still with a sweet smile on her face, the girl replied, "Mr. Zhao hasn’t arrived in Hong Kong yet."
"Got it."
Li Yan pocketed the three registration forms.
"Additionally, the auction items will arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon. Regarding the guarding of the auction items, Mr. Zhao hopes that you, Ren Ni, and Jin Ye will take joint responsibility. Mr. Zhao mentioned that this retrieval event is relatively simple and hopes everyone will not be too burdened mentally. Just do what you need to do, and for the rest, Mr. Zhao will take care of it when he arrives in Hong Kong."
"Did Mr. Zhao say anything else?"
Li Yan asked.
"No, that’s all."
The girl responded.
Li Yan chewed on the pig intestine roll in his mouth and asked nonchalantly, "And who might you be?"
The girl’s smile remained unchanged: "I am Ren Yi, bearer of fruit number two hundred fifty-nine in the hierarchy under sequence Di Jiazi. The sequence number will be reassigned after leaving said fruit. You can also call me Carrie. Zhongxing Baode International Auction Company is one of the subsidiary organizations of Yan Zhao Club among Daqian Yanfu, providing identity cover for everyone."
Li Yan smacked his lips: "Now that you’ve explained it this way, it’s much clearer."
"Please complete the three registration forms you have received within fifteen days."
"Understood."
As they were talking, footsteps approached from far to near.
"Hello, are you Mr. Xiaodao Cha?"
"I am."
Cha Xiaodao looked curiously at the snack in Li Yan’s hand.
"Please be on the fifteenth of next month..."
The girl said the same words to Cha Xiaodao as she had to Li Yan, handing him three registration forms.
The meeting between Cha and Li was of course no coincidence; they had agreed to meet at the office at this time from the moment the incident began.
"It requires locals from Hong Kong with at least twenty million for a deposit..."
Cha Xiaodao was a bit apprehensive. Clearly, this wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by fighting; and judging by Zhao Jianzhong’s intentions, he didn’t seem to want too much commotion.
The girl tilted her head towards Xiaodao Cha, her voice clear and crisp: "In the past few months, there have been a lot of wealthy people in Hong Kong running into trouble, and many of the auction items we specifically offered are extremely attractive to these tycoons. I believe this kind of thing won’t be too difficult for you Esteemed Walkers. Also..."
She took out two flip phones without any brand names: "Our company has prepared special phones for you, with numbers including Mr. Zhao Jianzhong’s inside, to facilitate better communication."
Cha Xiaodao gave a thumbs-up: "Thoughtful."
"You’re welcome."
With that, the girl handed the phones to Li Yan and Cha Xiaodao.
After taking care of these matters, the two walked out of the tube house. Cha Xiaodao was the first to speak up, "What’s your plan?"
Li Yan smiled enigmatically, "Check the phonebook and newspapers, see who’s rich in Hong Kong, preferably a young, rich widow with fair skin, a beautiful face, large breasts, and long legs. Hit up her company, have a meal together, then just get her to fill out the registration form, and it’s all settled."
"Yeah, keep dreaming," Cha mocked.
"Let’s make a bet."
"What’s the wager?"
Surrounded by bustling pedestrians, Li Yan randomly stopped a man in a hurry, wearing a cheap tie.
"Excuse me, what time is it?"
The man glanced at his wrist out of reflex and said impatiently, "Half-past two."
Before Li Yan could respond, the man hurried off.
"Half-past two. In just over four hours, by seven o’clock, I’ll have a rich widow with large breasts and long legs fill out this form. If I can’t do it, I’ll give you an Awakening Degree enhancement worth 20%. If I succeed, you owe me a Su Luo Chan," Li Yan declared.
Cha Xiaodao squinted skeptically, "Have you recently awakened any sort of weird genetic ability?"
"I assure you, no unconventional methods will be used."
"Deal."
Cha Xiaodao agreed without hesitation.
Li Yan hailed a taxi and glanced at Xiaodao Cha in the rearview mirror, then said to the driver, "Huamao Real Estate."
Cha Xiaodao felt uncertain, especially since there was a newspaper someone had left in the car. The eye-catching headline read, "Shocking! Hong Kong’s Richest Woman Builds the World’s Tallest Skyscraper in Memory of Deceased Mother." The subheading distinctly mentioned Huamao Real Estate.
Cha Xiaodao’s heart sank.
Huamao Real Estate’s headquarters was in Tsuen Wan, New Territories, its main business being real estate investment. The largest shareholder and chairman of the group was named Yang Baojin, with the English name Judy. She was thirty-one years old, her parents had passed away when she was young, and she had taken over Huamao’s operations at a young age. Although Huamao hadn’t made significant strides in recent years, it was still one of Hong Kong’s top property groups. As such, Yang Baojin naturally became a business prodigy promoted by newspaper media. Earlier this year, Yang Baojin announced the construction of a skyscraper over 520 meters tall on Yang Wudao Road, named "Ruxin" after her deceased mother, triggering a media frenzy.
