74: Rescue Mr. Wu, in reality

Shu Chang ended up going back, and Li Xiuwu stood alone in the courtyard, looking at the red couplets pasted on every door, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

"Chinese New Year, it's actually quite interesting."

The Spring Festival Gala was playing on the TV. Li Xiuwu let his mind go blank, thinking of nothing at all.

Little Lion lay on the stool next to him, suddenly opening its mouth and letting out a yawn.

Cats spend most of their time sleeping, as if they can never get enough.

"Meow, I miss the big beauty." It nimbly jumped off the stool and came over to rub against Li Xiuwu's leg.

"I miss the little beauty too." Li Xiuwu pushed it away and continued watching the Spring Festival Gala programs.

The Budgerigar flew over and landed on the stool where Little Lion had just been lying.

"Water in the brain."

Li Xiuwu's murderous gaze drifted over, and the Budgerigar's body shook: "I was talking about it."

"Stupid woman, time to eat. I'm still talking about it."

"Dead ghost, don't touch me. I'm still talking about it."

Bang! The Budgerigar was swatted away by Little Lion's paw. If Li Xiuwu hadn't forbidden it from harming these birds, it would have eaten it directly.

"Dumbass." The Budgerigar flew up to peck at Little Lion. Little Lion's movements were very agile; it dodged with a sway of its body, its golden pupils looking at the Budgerigar with killing intent.

The sound of pecking came from the window. Li Xiuwu looked over and saw several Sparrows outside the window.

"Hurry and open the window, we want to watch the fight."

Li Xiuwu suddenly felt that his place was quite lively too.

"Hu'er, go for it! Dive! Defecate!" A group of Sparrows on the window were egging them on, telling the Budgerigar to peck Little Lion.

"If you dare to poop in the room, I'll roast you." Li Xiuwu glared at the heckling Sparrows as he passed the Budgerigar.

A flurry of birds flying and cats meowing filled the room. The Sparrows cheered one after another, wishing they could join in.

Li Xiuwu felt that this Budgerigar was truly a nuisance.

This New Year's Eve, although Li Xiuwu was alone, it was spent quite boisterously.

"Li Xiuwu, where are you?" Wang Jinsong called Li Xiuwu, his voice carrying a sense of urgency.

"I'm at home. Teacher, has something happened?" Li Xiuwu also picked up on the tension in Wang Jinsong's tone.

A few days after the New Year, Wang Jinsong told Li Xiuwu a shocking piece of news.

"During this time, take bodyguards with you when you go out. Don't trust anyone. Even if law enforcement officers try to take you away, you must call to confirm first," Wang Jinsong instructed Li Xiuwu solemnly.

Li Xiuwu's expression turned serious: "Teacher, what happened?"

The year 2004 had just begun; there shouldn't have been any major events happening yet.

"Kidnappers took someone from a bar in a busy downtown area. They're targeting celebrities," Wang Jinsong said.

Although the police blocked the news and announced that the suspects were captured and the victim rescued in less than twenty hours, the news still spread through celebrity circles, making many feel a sense of insecurity.

Upon hearing the news, Diva Wang flew to Hong Kong that same day.

After hearing Wang Jinsong's explanation, Li Xiuwu seemed to recall something. He remembered seeing a movie starring Andy Lau about a celebrity kidnapping case.

He hadn't expected the real-life story to happen during this period.

"I'll be careful about my safety," Li Xiuwu replied.

Putting away the phone, Li Xiuwu thought for a moment and immediately called Shu Chang, telling her to be careful when she went out.

Even though he knew such a person likely wouldn't appear again, Li Xiuwu still reminded Shu Chang to be cautious.

This incident had a huge impact. Celebrities already attracted more attention than ordinary people, and the media was reporting on it constantly.

Many people publicly pressured for the death penalty.

"Boss, this is Pan Lei. He's a good driver, he's kept his skills sharp, and he has rich reconnaissance experience," Lin Qian introduced Pan Lei.

Li Xiuwu sized him up. He was in his thirties, 180 cm tall, and looked to weigh over 160 jin. For humans, weight is a manifestation of combat power.

"Hello, Boss." Pan Lei stood up straight, looking quite sharp.

Lin Qian had said before that he was a former scout. In the military, excluding special operations units, motorcycle scouts and reconnaissance soldiers were the strongest individual combatants.

"Welcome to our team." Li Xiuwu shook hands with him. Pan Lei would serve as his driver and bodyguard in the future, so he had to be given respect.

During the Spring and Autumn period, a general of the State of Song, when distributing meat before a battle, thought he was close with his chariot driver and didn't hand any to him personally. The next day, that general was delivered by his driver straight into the enemy camp.

Li Xiuwu felt quite at ease with Pan Lei. His parents were still around, and he had two cute children. His father had some underlying health issues, so earning money to support the family was his biggest source of pressure.

In addition, Li Xiuwu was now prepared to go to Dream Time and place a Loyalty Aura on him.

Pan Lei sat in the driver's seat, driving the car very steadily.

"Lin Qian, have Wang Cheng get two cars. One for your own use, and order a nanny van as well."

"Alright, Boss," Lin Qian agreed, then added, "Boss, if you go out, try to have Pan Lei drive for you as much as possible."

This Mr. Wu incident had frightened many celebrities. After learning about it, Lin Qian was also worried about Li Xiuwu's safety.

"Mhm." Li Xiuwu nodded. He prided himself on having some martial prowess and an extraordinary Flying Needle Technique, but kidnappers could get their hands on guns.

The car arrived at Dream Time, where Qiu Wanjun was waiting at the entrance.

Seeing the car come to a stop, Qiu Wanjun's face broke into a smile. He walked over quickly and opened the car door for Li Xiuwu.

"Chief Qiu, there's no need to be so polite," Li Xiuwu said to Qiu Wanjun as he got out of the car.

"You've worked hard, Boss. This is all as it should be," Qiu Wanjun said with undisguised reverence on his face.

"Let's head inside first."

Li Xiuwu spoke to Pan Lei. Pan Lei, who had been about to park the car, directly turned off the engine and got out.

He quickly caught up with Lin Qian.

Qiu Wanjun glanced at Pan Lei and gave him a friendly smile.

Entering the elevator, Li Xiuwu said to Qiu Wanjun, "This is Pan Lei, a former scout. He's now my driver. Later, give him a position in the company and make sure his social security and housing fund are fully covered."

"I'll notify the HR Manager to come over right away." Qiu Wanjun took out his phone and had the HR Manager wait for them at the elevator door.

When the elevator reached the seventh floor and opened, the HR Manager was indeed waiting at the door.

Qiu Wanjun gave him a few instructions, and Pan Lei went with him to handle the onboarding.

Li Xiuwu was led into an office by Qiu Wanjun.

"Boss, this is the office I prepared for you. Please come to the company often when you're free." Qiu Wanjun now revered Li Xiuwu immensely, admiring him to the point of prostration.

He had been headhunted by Li Xiuwu to be a professional manager, conducting various investment negotiations.

The stock prices of the several internet companies they invested in were all rising. Shanda, which was performing well, had already tripled in valuation; once it went public, it could double again. NetEase and Baidu were also rising.

Tencent and Alibaba, which he hadn't managed to negotiate a deal with initially, had seen even larger increases. Hearing that Tencent was about to go public, he felt his boss's vision was truly exceptional.

After the work of investing in internet companies ended, Li Xiuwu arranged for him to establish Dream Time to agent overseas games. Now, all those games were profitable.

If all that just made him admire him, the decision to spend a billion to acquire land in the capital truly made him worship him.

"Boss, after the Capital Document No. 4, the value of the land in our hands has tripled on average." Qiu Wanjun spoke, his voice betraying his excitement.

Investing in land and having it in hand for less than two years to see such returns was staggering. He himself felt like he was dreaming.

Where else could money be made so easily? Even the methods in the criminal code weren't this fast.

In fact, the land Qiu Wanjun acquired wasn't even the one with the highest value growth affected by this document.

Some people had connections that reached the heavens; before Li Xiuwu could make a move, the best land had already been snatched up by others.

Qiu Wanjun was envious just looking at the value of those plots of land.

Li Xiuwu nodded. He had already read Capital Document No. 4. His purpose for coming this time was also to deal with these plots of land.

Some of these lands had seen profits quintuple, becoming hot potatoes. Holding them for too long would truly burn one's hands.

"Has anyone contacted you?" Li Xiuwu asked him.

"After Capital Document No. 4 was released, some real estate companies contacted us."

Li Xiuwu nodded and said decisively, "Contact an auction house. Within two months, auction off all these lands."

"Boss, the document has only been out for a month. The value of the land hasn't been maximized yet," Qiu Wanjun spoke up.

"Only what's in your mouth is truly yours. Being too greedy will burst your stomach." Li Xiuwu shook his head. To him, the profit was already enough.

Holding onto it would allow it to appreciate, and it might be worth even more in ten years, but would reality allow him to keep holding it?

Besides, the value created by taking this money out would be even greater.