Chapter 810
Someone Died
Xu Bo'an is a grateful person, but he is by no means the kind of person with a saintly heart.
He always considers his own actions and generally tries to maximize his interests in everything he does.
This purchase of the old houses in Jiangzhou Province was no exception. It not only served to repay Dong Xiaojian's favor, but also helped him to expand his network among the wealthy second-generation in Jiangzhou Province.
Hearing Qu Feifan's excited words, Xu Bo'an felt joy but not much emotion. He said to Qu Feifan calmly, "It's great to receive such a large compensation. Has there been any official document yet?"
Qu Feifan said excitedly, "Yes, Brother Xu, I actually received the news some time ago, but I was afraid something might change, so I didn't tell you. Now that the document has been officially issued, I'm informing you."
The higher-ups said all the compensation work had to be completed within this week. You have no idea how happy those rich kids who bought houses with you back then are! My phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from them today. They all say they want to follow you from now on!
Xu Bo'an said, "That's great! I'll have many more underlings now!"
Qu Feifan was so excited when he learned that the old houses they had bought were going to be demolished that he called Xu Bo'an. He talked on and on for a while, and Qu Feifan originally thought that Xu Bo'an would also be excited to hear the news, but he did not expect that Xu Bo'an's response was just a few simple words.
Qu Feifan asked Xu Bo'an, puzzled, "No, brother, how can you be so calm? Aren't you excited?"
Xu Bo'an was naturally happy to hear such news, but this was something he had already anticipated and had long accepted in his heart. He certainly wouldn't be as excited as Qu Feifan when he first heard the news.
However, in order to portray the feelings of a normal person, Xu Bo'an echoed Qu Feifan's question, saying, "Of course I'm excited!"
Qu Feifan said to Xu Bo'an, "That's more like it! But I can't hear much excitement in your voice!"
Xu Bo'an said, "You brat, do you think everyone has to act as exaggeratedly as you to be considered excited? Honestly!"
Qu Feifan chuckled and said to Xu Bo'an, "Brother Xu, you know my temperament. I just got too excited and couldn't control myself. You can't joke about me like that!"
Hearing Qu Feifan's words, Xu Bo'an laughed and said, "This isn't anything illegal or disorderly. Just do whatever makes you happy. Who can stop you!"
Qu Feifan laughed and said, "Brother Xu is right. By the way, when will you have time to come to Jiangcheng?"
Xu Bo'an said, "Let's hurry!"
Qu Feifan said, "Then remember to contact me as soon as you arrive, so I can come pick you up!"
Xu Bo'an said, "Okay, I'll contact you when we arrive. You can continue to enjoy yourself. If there's nothing else, let's leave it at that for now!"
After Qu Feifan spoke a few more words to Xu Bo'an, the two of them hung up the phone.
Xu Bo'an realized that the demolition compensation for those old houses needed to be completed within seven days, so he had to set off for Jiangcheng as soon as possible in the next two days. Before receiving the demolition compensation, there were many trivial matters to handle, such as signing a demolition compensation agreement and providing his identity certificate, property ownership certificate, and so on.
Xu Bo'an was planning when to go to Jiangcheng when the phone rang again. He picked it up and saw that it was Lin Shan calling. He answered the phone and said "Hello," and then heard Lin Shan's loud laughter on the other end of the line.
After a hearty laugh, Lin Shan said to Xu Bo'an, "Brother Bo'an, I'm calling today because I have some great news to tell you. Are you busy right now?"
Hmm? Another piece of great news?
But what great news could Lin Shan possibly have to share with him?
I haven't seen him for a while now, and it seems like they haven't discussed anything between them!
Xu Bo'an asked Lin Shan with a somewhat puzzled tone, "I happen to be free right now, Brother Lin, do you have some great news to share with me?"
Upon hearing Xu Bo'an's words, Lin Shan laughed heartily and said to Xu Bo'an, "It's like this, Brother Bo'an, we talked about opening a new hotel in Jiangcheng City a while ago, didn't we? I've been busy with this matter for some time now, and it's finally settled."
I recently acquired a large hotel in Jiangcheng City that someone else was selling. The renovations are complete, all the facilities are in place, and the staff has been hired. We're just waiting to open! Do you have some free time lately? If so, how about we have a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony?
After hearing Lin Shan's words, Xu Bo'an was completely baffled. When had he mentioned the new hotel to him?
Xu Bo'an then asked Lin Shan with great confusion, "No, Brother Lin, have you opened a new hotel in Jiangcheng?"
Hearing Xu Bo'an's questioning words, Lin Shan realized that Xu Bo'an might have forgotten about this matter.
However, quite some time has passed since the two discussed this matter, and during this time I have been busy in Jiangcheng with the opening of the new hotel and have not had time to contact Xu Bo'an. If Xu Bo'an has completely forgotten about this matter and does not acknowledge it, how can I open the hotel?
The current hotel business isn't as easy as people imagine. It's because when Lin Shan was discussing this with Xu Bo'an, Xu Bo'an promised to supply him with wild Ganoderma lucidum, and Lin Shan thought it would be very profitable, which is why he decided to open the hotel.
All my energy lately has been focused on opening a new hotel, and I've spent a lot of money preparing for this big project.
What if Xu Bo'an forgets his verbal agreement with him and tries to trick him?
Thinking of this, Lin Shan quickly reminded Xu Bo'an, "Brother Bo'an, when we were at my hotel a while ago, we discussed that you would provide the wild Ganoderma lucidum and I would be in charge of the hotel's management, expanding the hotel to Jiangzhou Province. Do you remember the agreement that we would split the shares 70/30?"
After listening to Lin Shan's words, Xu Bo'an thought about it for a long time before he remembered that Lin Shan had indeed discussed this matter with him before, and he had indeed agreed to it at the time.
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to Lin Shan, "Brother Lin, I'm so sorry, I've been too busy lately and forgot about it. I hope you won't mind. When will the hotel open? I'll definitely come!"
Lin Shan was delighted to hear that Xu Bo'an had brought up the matter and readily agreed. He smiled and said to Xu Bo'an, "This isn't your fault. I've been busy developing hotels in Jiangcheng lately and haven't been able to inform you about it in time. It's all my fault. As for the hotel opening, I originally planned to open it in the next few days, but I don't know if you have time these days. I wanted to discuss it with you before making a decision. If you have time these next few days, then it would be best if we held an opening ceremony in the next few days. If you're busy these days, then I'll postpone it! It all depends on your schedule, Brother Bo'an!"
Xu Bo'an thought of what Qu Feifan had told him earlier, that the demolition of the old houses he had bought in Jiangcheng was also scheduled for these few days, and that the hotel was also scheduled to open in these few days. So why didn't he go to Jiangcheng this time and take care of these two things at the same time?
This way, I won't have to travel back and forth anymore.
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to Lin Shan, "Brother Lin, I happen to be going to Jiangcheng these two days to take care of some things. Just set a time for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and call me then!"
Lin Shan was delighted to hear Xu Bo'an's words and said, "That's wonderful! Let's schedule the ribbon-cutting ceremony for three days from now! What do you think, Brother Bo'an?"
Xu Bo'an thought for a moment and said, "No problem, Brother Lin."
The two chatted for a while before hanging up the phone.
When Qu Feifan told him about the house demolition, Xu Bo'an felt that it wasn't urgent and planned to go to Jiangcheng City in a couple of days. But now that Lin Shan was talking to him about the hotel opening, he had to go as soon as possible. After all, it was a matter concerning his career, so he couldn't be negligent.
Since he didn't have anything to do in Dongjiang right now, Xu Bo'an decided to set off for Jiangcheng early the next morning.
After deciding on the time to go to Jiangcheng, Xu Bo'an quickly packed his luggage. By the time he finished packing, it was already quite late.
After having a quick bite of dinner, Xu Bo'an observed the situation in the bonsai world for a while and found nothing unusual. Then, after looking at Chen Shishi in the fish tank ecosystem, he decided to go to bed early.
Xu Bo'an had just gotten into bed and closed his eyes for less than ten minutes when he suddenly heard a very urgent cry for help from within the bonsai world.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xu Bo'an realized the urgency of the situation and knew that someone in the Bonsai World had met with misfortune. He quickly got up and focused his gaze on the place in the Bonsai World where the voice had just called him.
Xu Bo'an quickly arrived at an unfamiliar place. Before he could even look around, he heard the voice that had called out to him earlier, "Grandpa Mountain God... Please, Grandpa Mountain God, save us!"
Xu Bo'an listened carefully and discovered that the faint yet familiar voice was coming from the place where the red light was rising. The voice sounded very much like the voice of his first and most loyal believer, Li Qingshi. Xu Bo'an knew that someone inside must be calling for his help.
Seeing that the fire was growing larger, Xu Bo'an knew that if he didn't rescue the people inside now, they would definitely be burned alive.
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an quickly picked up the half-finished bottle of mineral water from his bedside table and splashed it towards the fire.
The fire was extinguished in no time, and then a joyful cry came from inside the house: "We're saved! We're saved! It was the Mountain God who saved us!"
Xu Bo'an followed the sound into the house and saw several dusty-looking people huddled together, laughing and crying at the same time.
Xu Bo'an asked, "What's going on?"
Li Qingshi quickly turned around and said towards the direction from which the Mountain God's voice came, "Replying to the Mountain God, I don't know what's going on either. We were sleeping when we suddenly felt thick smoke coming in, choking us and making it hard to breathe. When we woke up, we found that the fire was huge. We tried to escape, but the doors and windows kept falling off as the fire spread, and fire sticks kept falling down from above. We don't have time to escape, so we can only wait here for your rescue, Mountain God!"
Although the person speaking to him had a face blackened by the fire, Xu Bo'an quickly identified him as Li Qingshi based on his figure and voice.
A few days after Li Qingshi's wedding, he returned to Qingyun Road with Sun Weiwei and Lu Zhenyuan. Xu Bo'an guessed that they had encountered an accident on the way.
Moreover, when Xu Bo'an arrived at the fire site, he saw several men in black leaving from afar.
Xu Bo'an's keen senses also picked up the sound of those people laughing and their conversation.
One of them said, "If this fire goes off, Lu Zhenyuan will definitely die. He still wants a promotion? Hahaha..."
Another person chimed in, "Let him go to the underworld for a promotion, haha..."
Xu Bo'an was about to follow the sounds he heard to find out what was going on when he was interrupted by a series of cries for help.
Xu Bo'an thought that saving lives was the most important thing, so he didn't pursue the matter with those people.
Now, putting together what Li Qingshi had said, Xu Bo'an realized that the fire that Li Qingshi and the others encountered on their way back to Qingyun Road must have been deliberately set up by someone who wanted to harm Lu Zhenyuan.
As Xu Bo'an was thinking about these things, suddenly a burnt wooden stick fell from the roof and was about to hit Lu Zhenyuan.
Lu Zhenyuan had been burned on his legs and arms while protecting his daughter, and now he was too weak to withstand such a blow. His daughter, Lu Wan'er, saw a large wooden stick coming towards her father.
Deeply worried about her father, Lu Wan'er reacted quickly and threw herself onto her father, Lu Zhenyuan, trying to shield him from the fatal blow with her own body.
When Lu Zhenyuan saw his daughter doing this, he tried to push her away, but no matter how hard he tried, it was no use.
Seeing that the wooden stick was less than a meter away from the father and daughter, Lu Zhenyuan closed his eyes in despair, and large tears slid down his cheeks.
At this moment, Lu Zhenyuan had never felt such despair. Was he really going to watch his daughter die right in front of him? This was worse than being killed himself!
Just then, Xu Bo'an reached out and easily caught the large wooden stick that was about to hit Lu Wan'er in his hand. (End of Chapter)