Li Xiangdong didn't stay at home for long before embarking on another long journey.
He first went to Sishibawan Village, where Li Guoqing, Feng Yucai, Chen Zaohua, and Fang Shilan had managed the bonsai base and flower and tree foreign trade company very well.
After leaving eastern Zhejiang, he headed south all the way to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
There is a saying: "Above is heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Li Xiangdong happened to be there on the fifteenth of August, watching the Qiantang River tidal bore. After watching the tide, he walked towards the tea mountain opposite, where the osmanthus trees on both sides of the road were fragrant with sweet and sour scents.
Looking at the lush green tea mountains, Li Xiangdong bought a dilapidated courtyard house with a wave of his hand.
I also took a stroll around West Lake and bought a dilapidated house belonging to a famous person.
Then, he continued south and took a boat to Hainan Island.
When he arrived, the guavas and bayberries were ripe.
Li Xiangdong simply paid to enter the other person's orchard and enjoyed a hearty meal.
Finally, with a grand gesture, he bought more than a dozen baskets of guava and bayberries, and entrusted them to the post office to be sent to Lijiapo and Yanjing.
He came to Hainan not to eat, but to collect rosewood.
They accept everything: roof beams, door frames, plowshares, shovel handles, wheels, coffins—nothing is too hard to find.
There is also a factory in Qiongshan, Hainan that produces abacuses. The abacuses are all made of rosewood, the beads are heavy, and the abacuses are very easy to use. Li Xiangdong bought all the finished products.
Then, they spent a lot of money to buy raw materials from others, which almost caused the abacus factory to close down. In the end, they were able to reopen by using other types of wood instead.
At that time, the price of one kilogram of rosewood was 9 yuan, and Li Xiangdong bought it for 10 yuan per kilogram.
During his month in Hainan, he collected a total of 1 jin of rosewood!
Don't be fooled by the fact that he spent a huge sum of 200,000 yuan now. By 2013, the price of one kilogram of Hainan rosewood will have soared to around 100 yuan.
Therefore, as long as Li Xiangdong puts this pile of wood aside and doesn't bother with it, its value will increase 3,000 times in 30 years!
During this process, he, an outsider, was wealthy and extravagant, spending thousands or tens of thousands of yuan at a time, which easily attracted the attention of some ill-intentioned people.
However, Li Xiangdong had already made preparations. On the surface, he appeared to be alone, but in reality, he had three bodyguards secretly protecting him!
These three bodyguards were not outsiders; they were all people Yu Shi knew well and were skilled in martial arts.
Li Xiangdong treated them well, paying each of them 200 yuan a month, but he didn't require them to follow him around all the time.
Most of the time, Li Xiangdong doesn't need their help.
Only when Li Xiangdong goes to an unfamiliar city to do business, like now, will he ask them to follow and protect him.
Therefore, for minor incidents, Li Xiangdong didn't even need to lift a finger; these three handled it all themselves.
There was one particularly close call where Li Xiangdong almost fell into someone's hands.
Back in Danzhou, Li Xiangdong had already collected 20,000 jin of rosewood. He felt that was enough and wanted to go home.
Just then, a man of short stature but with a very energetic appearance, around thirty years old, came to the door.
He started by saying, "Mr. Li, I heard you buy rosewood. I have a lot of wood there, would you like to take a look?"
Li Xiangdong quickly sized him up and down, then chuckled and asked, "May I ask your name, sir? Where do you live? How much rosewood do you own? And how much do you want for it?"
"Oh, no need for formalities, my name is Gao Ming, and my home is in Qili Village, Mulan Town, Danzhou. I don't know exactly how many kilograms of wood there is, but there's a whole house full of it. If you're interested, just come and take a look!"
When Gao Ming spoke, he remained calm and composed, and his answers were quite normal.
Li Xiangdong had no suspicions. In any case, he had three bodyguards with him, so he figured there wouldn't be any major problems.
At the very least, Liu Junbo's colleague's uncle was working in Hainan, and before he came to Hainan, Liu Junbo had already entrusted his colleague with the task of looking after his brother-in-law...
Li Xiangdong went without worry.
The village is real, the rosewood material is real, and the price they're asking isn't high.
The Gao family was exceptionally hospitable. As soon as the deal was finalized, they set up two banquets at their home to invite Li Xiangdong for a meal and drinks.
Li Xiangdong thought it was a local custom, and unable to refuse, he was offered the seat of honor.
Even his three bodyguards, who came with him, were helped to sit at the table by the local villagers.
What a feast!
The villagers took turns offering them drinks; refusing to drink was considered disrespectful.
Even though Li Xiangdong thought he had an exceptional alcohol tolerance, by the end he was seeing double.
He walked unsteadily, almost falling to the ground.
In his dazed state, he felt someone supporting him and helping him into a fragrant room.
Li Xiangdong felt a pleasant fragrance filling his nostrils, and the bed beneath him was soft and comfortable.
Li Xiangdong felt dizzy and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
Just as he was sleeping soundly, he felt an incredibly foul stench emanating from under his nose.
As he continued to inhale the smoke, he felt nauseous and woke up.
"vomit--"
Just as he was about to vomit, a large hand suddenly covered his mouth.
"Don't make a sound—it's me!"
Behind me was a familiar male voice.
Li Xiangdong turned his head with difficulty to look at him; it was one of his three bodyguards—Du Liang.
"What happened?"
Li Xiangdong felt his stomach churning, his brain spinning, and his nerves throbbing.
"Look what's next to you?"
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