The four sat around a table, and after a few rounds of drinks, they were all slightly tipsy. Sister Lanhua broke the slightly drunken silence first, looked at Li Baolong, and said, "Brother Long, you don't even have a woman by your side right now. How about I introduce you to Wang Yan? She's also alone now. She broke up with her boyfriend a few months ago and came to Chengdu to stay with me."
Li Baolong quickly waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Sister Lanhua. I'm still young, and all I'm thinking about is making more money so I can register companies in Hong Kong and Europe and America and start a big business." Li Baolong thought to himself, "What kind of men haven't these women seen? I'm just playing along today."
Hearing this, Sister Lanhua couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Long, you really have lofty ambitions! But a man always needs a woman to take care of him, right? Look at my brother Liu Gan, he has seven or eight wives at home, and he still lives a carefree and extravagant life outside. Why don't you let Wang Yan be your secretary for now? It'll be easier for us to contact each other if there are any opportunities to make money in the future."
Li Baolong pondered for a moment, a smile appearing on his lips, and said, "It would be fine to have her as my secretary. After all, we have a lot of things to do in the future, such as opening an investment and financial management company in Shenzhen, which will definitely require manpower to help us."
Seeing that the matter had been discussed sufficiently, Li Baolong prepared to take his leave. Sister Lanhua, noticing this, asked Li Baolong to give Wang Yan a ride back to the city, while she and Wu Fangfang headed to the nightclub.
Li Baolong nodded in agreement and then drove Wang Yan towards the city. On the way, after a moment's thought, Li Baolong asked Wang Yan, "Would you be willing to work in Shenzhen?" Wang Yan replied, "As long as the pay is decent, I'm willing to go." She then went on to explain her situation, "I'm 27 years old and divorced. My ex-husband ran a casino and lent money at exorbitant interest rates; he was arrested during a crackdown and sentenced to five years. I used to work in a bar in Guangdong, and by chance, I met Sister Lanhua and started working at her company; I'm a client manager now."
Li Baolong listened intently, secretly thinking that Wang Yan was probably similar to Zhang Xiaohui, like a middleman, luring men to spend money. After all, places like Heaven on Earth were expensive; if one indulged in eating, drinking, and entertainment, spending ten or twenty thousand yuan a day was common. However, Wang Yan seemed simpler than Zhang Xiaohui. Apart from being a bit vain, she wasn't inherently bad. Otherwise, Li Baolong wouldn't have so easily agreed to let her stay by his side, even if it was just to monitor his movements and observe this woman for a few days.
Wang Yan was petite and delicate, with a rounded and full figure, fair and tender skin, plump and ample hips, and a pair of full breasts—she looked like someone who would bring good fortune to her husband. When Li Baolong saw her, he inexplicably thought of Zhou Jie, his first woman. The two were similar in height and figure. Having spent many years in the underworld, Li Baolong figured Wang Yan must be a very alluring woman in bed as well.
Li Baolong, lost in thought, unknowingly entered the city. Sister Lanhua rented several apartments near the nightclub for her female employees. Wang Yan shared an apartment with a fellow villager named Wenwen, who also worked at the nightclub.
Upon arriving at their destination, Li Baolong and Wang Yan exchanged contact information. Wang Yan, harboring feelings for him, smiled and said to Li Baolong, "Brother Long, why don't you come up for a bit?" Li Baolong quickly and politely declined. He was still somewhat apprehensive, worried that Wang Yan might be hiding a camera or something. After all, it was their first meeting, and caution was paramount; he didn't want to fall into some trap.
Li Baolong returned home, went straight to the bathroom for a shower, and then began cultivating his Taoist arts. Tonight happened to be a full moon night, an ideal time for cultivation. An hour later, he felt his heart was as calm as still water, undisturbed. Then, he slowly opened the mysterious space, examining it closely with his spiritual perception. He saw some runes faintly emerging within the sphere, and the Taoist cloud-script characters on the wall seemed to possess a unique magic. Li Baolong had already copied and translated them last year; they were the Taoist Seven-Seven Formula, used to improve one's Taoist cultivation. The space was now much larger than before, capable of holding many more things.
Li Baolong took out half of the Heavenly Book from his spatial storage. His gaze fell on the incomplete last page, and he sighed regretfully, thinking to himself that perhaps this was fate. Although he had already copied down the words on the last page, he regrettably hadn't translated it all. Judging from the existing content, it should be a spell, with the large title "The Art of Face Reading" and the penultimate page "Taoist Divination Techniques." Fortunately, Li Baolong had already asked the old Taoist priest from Qingyang Palace to translate those titles.
Holding the half-finished book in his hands, Li Baolong kept muttering the words "reading faces and discerning people." He pondered to himself, "If I could really learn this art of reading faces, could I see through people's hearts? That would be incredible! If I truly had that ability, making money in this world would be a piece of cake. I could see through all business secrets and human schemes at a glance. Then, wouldn't all the wealth in the world be at my disposal? With just a thought, wealth would flood in like a tide." Just thinking about it made Li Baolong grin, a surge of excitement welling up inside him.
As soon as Li Baolong opened his eyes in the morning, he went straight to school. Why? Because there was an academic paper conference at the school today, and everyone was required to attend; no one could be left out.
Li Baolong entered the conference room and saw that more than a dozen professors were sitting on the stage, and the hundred or so seats below were almost full. He quickly found a seat and sat down, but his mind was not on the professors' lectures; he was completely distracted. After enduring two hours, the conference finally ended.
After the meeting, Li Baolong went to his homeroom teacher's office. He needed to explain why he hadn't been to school for the past ten days. The homeroom teacher knew perfectly well that Li Baolong was just there to get his diploma. However, the boy was fairly popular, so the teacher didn't say much, only instructing him to come back often for extra lessons, since the summer exams were in a month, and bad grades wouldn't do.
After leaving school, Li Baolong went straight to the Jinguo Securities branch to check his stocks. Seeing that everything was going smoothly, he couldn't help but think of Liu Na. Liu Na had been avoiding him lately, and Li Baolong guessed it was probably related to things in Hong Kong. He decided that his collaboration with Liu Na in Hong Kong should be put on hold for now; after all, this woman wasn't free, and someone was holding her back. He could only wait until she returned to Hong Kong next month to see how things went.
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