In this world, everyone has to work, from heads of state to common folk.

An ordinary person who doesn't work will starve.

A boss who doesn't work will see their enterprise crumble and go bankrupt for restructuring.

An emperor who doesn't work will lose his empire, and it will be time for a change of dynasty.

Even those who claim to have a lot of free time in their profession, like internet writers—even the extremely lazy few among them—no matter how much they slack off usually, still have to update when it's time to work.

Chen Nuo knew that in a decade or so, a particularly popular term called "financial freedom" would become a goal for many people—but in reality, this dream was a scam.

So-called financial freedom, in layman's terms, means you have enough money that your passive income, such as bank interest or investment returns, can cover your basic living expenses. At that point, you can stop the daily grind.

But it was, in fact, a scam.

Because economists will tell us that social progress requires the continuous production and creation of wealth.

A life where everyone can achieve financial freedom is impossible.

If everyone in a society achieved financial freedom—if everyone could just live off their wealth and wait to die—the likely outcome would be that everyone would die together.

Because no one would be working to create wealth.

Therefore, Li Qingshan also had to work—although by asset standards, the wealth he possessed had long since reached the "financial freedom" threshold.

A person's life is like a car speeding down a highway; you can't just stop. The moment you do, you might crash and be utterly destroyed.

The so-called poor and rich, the so-called high and low social status, the so-called quality of life—the differences are merely about what you drive on this highway. Rich people drive top-of-the-line luxury cars with panoramic sunroofs, leather seats with massage functions, and even an in-car refrigerator.

And you? You might just be driving a Wuling Hongguang.

Li Qingshan not only worked, but he was also diligent and hardworking.

At fifty-seven, a man's desire for women has typically diminished significantly. The same was true for Li Qingshan.

Except for a couple of days of reckless indulgence out of a compensatory desire right after his leg healed, Li Qingshan quickly returned to his former work routine.

If he wasn't accompanied by a woman at night, the old man generally went to bed no later than ten o'clock and rose at six in the morning.

After getting up, he would first walk a few laps around the grassy area near his residence, at a moderate pace, for about forty minutes—just enough to break a slight sweat. If it rained, he would complete this routine on the treadmill indoors.

After his exercise, he'd take a shower and have breakfast promptly at seven o'clock.

Li Qingshan's breakfast usually consisted of youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) and doufu nao (tofu pudding). It used to be a spicy paste soup, but as he got older and his digestive system weakened, his doctor advised him to eat less spicy food, so he switched the spicy paste soup to doufu nao.

In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, doufu nao is savory.

The youtiao were a foot long, freshly fried that morning using good-quality oil until golden brown, then drained of excess oil and served on a plate to the old man.

Four youtiao and a bowl of doufu nao.

This was Li Qingshan's breakfast.

Then came reading the news—don't think it's an exaggeration; this is an essential ritual for every entrepreneur.

The old man no longer considered himself a jianghu figure, but an entrepreneur.

He would look at newly introduced government policies, the latest movements of local governments, the hottest trends in public opinion, and so on.

Incidentally, in the past two years, the old man had started watching the national evening news broadcast—a habit he hadn't had before, which he picked up after befriending a business tycoon who dealt with government ventures.

After the news, the old man would brew a pot of tea. Then, he would wait for his subordinates to report on the latest developments from the previous day in the industries under his control, review them one by one, and deal with any issues immediately.

This process would last until nearly noon.

Li Qingshan had quite a few assets. In Jinling City, the most famous was undoubtedly Wind Shelter Hall, reputed for its substantial daily earnings. Yet, in reality, Wind Shelter Hall was the least important among Li Qingshan's enterprises.

In fact, for the past two years, the old man had been contemplating finding an opportunity to transfer this business. For Li Qingshan, retaining Wind Shelter Hall served only one purpose: to maintain his reputation in the jianghu.

In the jianghu, Wind Shelter Hall represented Li Qingshan's fangs, his edge. With Wind Shelter Hall, he was the renowned Hall Master Li, a figure people in the underworld wouldn't dare provoke.

Without Wind Shelter Hall, he would just be a soft, toothless, wealthy old man.

And Wind Shelter Hall had long ceased to be his most profitable venture.

Besides this hot spring resort, Li Qingshan had ventured into the hotel industry. He also planned to open two chain hotels near the government-planned university town.

In the catering industry, he owned two restaurants: one hotpot place with a mass-market appeal, and another high-end establishment specializing in delicacies like bird's nest, abalone, and shark fin.

On Chaotian Temple's Antique Street, he had two shops dealing in antiques and curios. These were actually the least profitable; after rent, they were practically running at a loss. They only made a few sales a year, and although the transaction amounts seemed large, the costs were very high from an accounting perspective.

But Li Qingshan kept them open, letting the two shops simply exist there.

Moreover, the person directly managing the antique shops was the old man's most trusted subordinate, Lao Qi.

Why? The reasons were complicated and not easily explained.

Li Qingshan was also thinking of entering the real estate market in the next two years. He had access to capital and was already working on obtaining the necessary permits.

The old man believed that in the coming era, real estate would be an explosive growth sector. The state's welfare housing distribution had ended, and the real estate industry had been liberalized. Although property prices hadn't risen much in the past two years, and there were always negative rumors about unfinished developments or bursting bubbles somewhere...

This was also why Li Qingshan had previously looked down on one of his subordinates, Tiger Wang.

That Tiger Wang had followed Li Qingshan for many years and, by rights, should have earned some money, but he had squandered it all on debauchery.

Li Qingshan had once advised him to buy a house.

Tiger Wang, however, parroting something he'd heard somewhere, told the old man, "The housing market is all a bubble. I heard those real estate developers are about to collapse! Big Brother, let's wait a bit longer, no rush! In a few years, house prices will definitely plummet! Only idiots are buying houses now!"

It was then that Li Qingshan concluded that this once-capable right-hand man of his was a complete moron!

Back when they were navigating the jianghu, this fellow had seemed fierce, but now it was clear he was brainless.

So, during the days Li Qingshan was paralyzed, he had only assigned his formerly capable right-hand man, Tiger Wang, to oversee Wind Shelter Hall, forbidding him from touching any other businesses.

In recent years, Li Qingshan's proudest venture was this hot spring resort, occupying sixty mu of land.

To secure this project initially, he had given a gift to an influential figure.

Many competitors had offered money, houses, gold; some even tried to offer women.

All of them failed.

What did Li Qingshan offer? A bag of soil!

That influential figure was from Wuyi. Wuyi was a place that produced tea. On a mountaintop there stood two ancient tea trees, famous far and wide. Hundreds of years old, they produced no more than thirty pounds of tea leaves each year, the price of which was equivalent to gold.

And it was something you couldn't buy even if you had the money.

Li Qingshan didn't buy the tea leaves—he knew that at his level, he wouldn't be able to, even if he tried. Instead, he sent someone to the mountaintop, paid a high price for a bag of soil from near the base of those tea trees, and presented it to the influential figure.

After explaining the origin of the soil...

Li Qingshan smoothly secured the project.

Most of the purchased soil was given to that influential figure. Li Qingshan kept the small remainder, put it in a flowerpot at home, planted a bonsai tree in it, and placed it on the desk in his study.

Li Qingshan had lunch in his study, as usual.

On the coffee table was his lunch: a dish of string beans, a dish of beef, a dish of green vegetables, and a bowl of Eight Treasures Black Chicken Soup.

Plus two liangs of rice.

After lunch, he would take a short stroll, then return to his room to nap for a little over half an hour.

He couldn't sleep for too long; elderly people require less sleep.

The afternoons were for meeting guests: collaborators, people he needed favors from, or people who needed favors from him.

Alternatively, he would visit official departments whose connections needed cultivating.

Sometimes, he would schedule evening social engagements. Other times, if there were no engagements, the old man would return home, eat a simple meal by himself, and watch the evening news broadcast.

If there were no social engagements, Li Qingshan's dinner was usually very simple: a bowl of noodles, mostly vegetarian.

He didn't drink alcohol—unless it was a social occasion, the old man was a teetotaler at home.

He also limited his smoking to no more than ten cigarettes a day.

This was the typical daily work schedule of the fifty-seven-year-old Li Qingshan.

Actually, it wasn't easy.

Most successful people live like this. More than a decade later, the leaked schedule of a real estate tycoon, a certain "Big Boss Wang," would reveal he had to get up at five in the morning to start working.

It was much more tiring than the average office worker.

Yachts, beautiful women, parties, fine wines, luxury cars, a life of hedonism—in reality, they didn't have much time to enjoy such things.

Li Qingshan took the matter arranged by Chen Nuo, Brother Haonan's junior martial brother, very seriously.

Over the past two days, the old man had spoken with the owners of several jade shops in Jinling City and had sent them all a photo of the jade tablet.

The old man also knew a few prominent figures among the private collectors in Jinling City and had asked them to help with the search.

News? Of course, there wouldn't be any.

That jade tablet was simply one Chen Nuo had picked from a bag of jade artifacts brought back from the Guo Family.

Around three in the afternoon, Li Qingshan emerged from a jade shop called Dongfu Hall.

The owner's surname was Wang, and his full name was Wang Mantang. He was a renowned collector in Jinling City. Dongfu Hall was less a shop and more of a personal museum Wang Mantang used to display his collection and to socialize with friends and fellow enthusiasts.

Mr. Wang had other, more profitable businesses.

At the shop entrance, Li Qingshan and Wang Mantang stood saying their farewells. Wang Mantang smiled like a Maitreya Buddha. He was dressed similarly to Li Qingshan, in traditional Chinese attire, though his was of better, more exquisite material. He wore a verdant jade thumb ring, and a jade Buddha pendant hung around his neck.

Behind them, on the wall of the main hall directly opposite the entrance, hung a horizontal plaque: "A Hall Full of Gold and Jade."

The four flamboyant characters had been calligraphed by an old director from the provincial calligraphy and painting academy, whom Wang Mantang had commissioned at a high price.

"Then I'll be counting on you," Li Qingshan said, smiling, as he bid farewell to Wang Mantang.

Wang Mantang sighed. "Mr. Li, I'll certainly help you inquire. However, you're also in this line of work, so you know that even if we find something that catches the eye, the owner might not be willing to part with it. Besides, many times, people are afraid of causing trouble by showing such items, so they won't even bring them out. So, I will ask around, but whether we can actually find it..."

"As long as you do your best, I, Li Qingshan, will be grateful!" Li Qingshan nodded.

Lao Qi had personally driven the car and parked it by the roadside. Li Qingshan opened the car door, got in, and didn't forget to wave to Wang Mantang before they drove off.

Across the street, a scooter parked by the roadside slowly started up, made a U-turn at the intersection, and unhurriedly began to tail Li Qingshan's car.

Harvey felt he had made a tactical error.

Li Qingshan's information had been easy to obtain—the client had provided it.

Harvey's objective this time was to get the half-piece of jade in Li Qingshan's possession. Judging from the photo of the item, Harvey had no idea how much it was worth.

In fact, jade items weren't particularly popular in the European and American jewelry markets.

But a reward of three million US Dollars was enough for Harvey to overlook these questions.

Harvey's original plan was to come to Jinling, find Li Qingshan, then break in at night, steal the item, and leave.

But once he actually arrived and surveyed the place, Harvey realized it wouldn't work.

Li Qingshan had quite a few people staying at his residence. After the incident with Brother Haonan, the old man was clearly more afraid of death than ever.

The security at the hot spring resort was very strong, even more so than at Wind Shelter Hall.

Breaking in wasn't impossible, but it would escalate things significantly.

Harvey didn't think he could get away with that in Huaxia. Being a foreigner, causing too much of a commotion and attracting official attention would lead to many complications. The middleman had also sternly warned him not to act recklessly in Huaxia, a country with very strict controls.

Li Qingshan's choice of location for his hot spring resort was also extremely cunning!

The local police station was on the same street, less than five hundred meters away in a straight line!

If Harvey were to actually force his way into Li Qingshan's hot spring resort and start a major fight, he would have to face direct pressure from the authorities.

He had to find another way.

Harvey had been tailing Li Qingshan for two days.

He wasn't without a disguise. No matter how brash his personality or foul his mouth, Harvey couldn't possibly be a complete fool to have made a name for himself in the Underground World—even if his name, when pronounced in Chinese, sounded very much like certain derogatory words.

When it came to work, he knew how to use strategy.

Harvey's strategy was to secretly follow Li Qingshan and find an opportunity to strike.

But this secret tailing was a bit...

A car was out of the question; Harvey didn't have a Huaxia driver's license. He did have several international driver's licenses under false names.

The problem was, Huaxia Country had never joined the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic, so international driver's licenses were useless there.

And there wasn't enough time to get a fake Huaxia driver's license.

Harvey managed to get a moped. After tipping a hotel attendant ten US dollars, he followed the attendant's directions to a second-hand vehicle market in Jinling City called Tangzi Street.

Two thousand Huaxia Currency.

The fool had no idea he'd been ripped off!

This eighth-hand moped had been sold to him by the owner as if it were merely second-hand.

It ran fine the first day he brought it back, but on the second day, he discovered that as soon as he started it, clouds of black smoke would billow from the exhaust pipe!

Moreover, in 2001, wouldn't a tall, heavily built foreigner with a full beard riding a moped on the streets be rather conspicuous?

Harvey had a pretty picture in mind: riding a moped, you naturally had to wear a helmet, right?

But the problem was, after spending five hundred yuan to buy a motorcycle helmet from the owner, who claimed it had advanced anti-fog lenses, Harvey hit the road and discovered...

Damn it, people in Huaxia riding motorcycles didn't wear helmets at all!

Wearing one himself made him stick out like a sore thumb!

Harvey was Caucasian, and the type with overactive sweat glands. It was early August, and a heatwave warning had just been issued a couple of days prior.

After a day of riding the moped under the scorching sun, his shirt was soaked through, and his skin was as red as a freshly steamed crab.

And on top of that, he was wearing an airtight helmet...

Once, while waiting at a red light, Harvey, wearing his helmet, felt the surrounding Huaxians looking at him as if he were an idiot.

"What's this idiot doing? It's 37 degrees Celsius today..." he imagined them thinking.

Harvey's opportunity arrived on the third day.

The sky was overcast that day, making it slightly cooler.

In the morning, Li Qingshan left by car, but instead of heading towards the city center, he drove south.

He arrived at a place called Hengxi Reservoir.

Li Qingshan hadn't brought many people with him today, just Lao Qi and two subordinates, all in one car.

By the reservoir, a secluded stretch of the bank had actually been leased by a local farmhouse-style resort, so ordinary fishing enthusiasts couldn't access it.

The farmhouse resort was a compound of buildings, a few hundred meters from the reservoir.

Today, Li Qingshan was there to entertain an important figure who enjoyed fishing, to cultivate their relationship.

Because this figure was quite significant, Li Qingshan arrived in the morning. He personally, along with Lao Qi, reviewed the dishes prepared for the banquet at the farmhouse. Then, he and Lao Qi went to the reservoir bank to inspect the fishing spot.

"You take some men and check the vicinity. Arrange the parking spots first—not too far, not too close, and preferably somewhat concealed.

Also, set up a barbecue grill by the lake. That person enjoys barbecue. If he gets into the mood while fishing, he might want to grill something by the lake.

As for drinks, no baijiu. He prefers yellow rice wine. Make sure the Zhuangyuan Hong we brought in the car is ready."

Lao Qi looked a bit troubled. "Boss, yellow rice wine in this weather? Won't it be too warming?"

"Prepare some ice cubes."

"Huh? People usually drink yellow rice wine heated. With ice cubes?"

"Don't worry about it! Just have it ready! If it doesn't work out, we'll serve something else."

His subordinates set up the old man's complete fishing gear by the reservoir: the fishing chair, a fishing rod worth tens of thousands, the fish basket, and several packets of different types of bait.

"Now, prepare some bait spots in the nearby water... and then..."

While Li Qingshan was instructing his men, he stood under a large parasol, smoking.

At that moment, he heard a PUTT-PUTT-PUTT sound...

Li Qingshan turned his head and saw a moped slowly approaching along the edge of the reservoir.

On it was a rider drenched in sweat, wearing an airtight helmet despite the heat—a complete idiot.

Hall Master Li was startled for a moment, then frowned. "Who's that? Lao Qi, go check! If it's an irrelevant person, send them away."

Lao Qi nodded and gestured, and one of his subordinates went to intercept...

Then, Li Qingshan, still standing there, saw the moped stop. The rider took off his helmet, revealing a face so sweaty that even his beard seemed to be dripping. His face was flushed red—and he was a foreigner.

One of his subordinates approached. Before he could even speak, the foreigner suddenly waved his hand, and the subordinate just collapsed to the ground!

Li Qingshan was stunned for a second. When he saw the foreigner heading straight for him with clear intent, Li Qingshan turned and retreated behind Lao Qi!

From behind him came Lao Qi's short, sharp cries, which died out after just two sounds!

Li Qingshan didn't look back; he bolted. But he had only run two steps before his body was suddenly flung into the air! When he landed, the pain was so intense he almost passed out.

Lao Qi lay on the ground. He watched as the foreigner, holding his boss with one hand, walked up to him and uttered a sentence in broken Huaxia:

"Don't call the police. If you're smart, wait for my message."

With that, the man reached into Lao Qi's pocket, took the car keys, and tossed them into the lake. Then, carrying Hall Master Li, he quickly departed.

Li Qingshan felt he might be fatally jinxed.

Otherwise, in his fifty-seven years of life, the most formidable martial artist he thought he had ever encountered was a master working for a boss he met when he was young and venturing in the south—and even that master eventually ended up riddled with bullets like a honeycomb.

But this year, he had met Brother Haonan, whose abilities were almost inhuman!

If Li Qingshan had a choice, he would have definitely preferred never to have met that terrifying Brother Haonan.

Why the hell did I get myself involved with people like that?!

A local tycoon, renowned in his area, with extensive connections and a net worth in the billions.

Why put myself through this?

But since he'd gotten himself involved, his lifelong experience in the jianghu taught him one thing: turn a bad situation into a good one!

So, he had assiduously curried favor with Brother Haonan and his associates, got his legs healed, and built a good relationship, thinking he might be able to call on these extraordinary individuals in the future.

But who would have thought he'd encounter another one today? And a damn foreigner, at that?!

Li Qingshan just couldn't believe it!

How did I offend this guy?

When he saw one of his subordinates—a young man who had studied Sanda for several years—collapse stiffly to the ground from a mere wave of Harvey's hand, he knew it was bad!

This was another one of those terrifying figures!

When Lao Qi also went down after no more than one or two exchanges, Li Qingshan knew he was finished.

That night, Li Qingshan sat in a desolate field. Not far away was a half-collapsed corrugated iron shed.

In the distance was a wild lake, and beside it, the half-finished shell of a building that looked like it was intended to be a resort, though the structures were unroofed.

Li Qingshan didn't know where this place was, but based on the direction they had traveled after being thrown onto the motorcycle that afternoon... he could roughly guess.

They had probably reached Anhui Province.

Jinling City was, after all, close to Anhui Province.

The foreigner took out a can of insect repellent, sprayed it around the surrounding grass, and then sat down in front of Li Qingshan.

He hadn't tied Li Qingshan up. Harvey just stared coldly at the old man and cursed, "Do you know how much I've suffered these past two days just to catch you?"

Li Qingshan stared wide-eyed at the foreigner—he hadn't understood a single word of the English spoken.

But the next moment, a chill went down Li Qingshan's spine.

Harvey took a photo out of his pocket and placed it in front of Li Qingshan.

In the photo was half a jade tablet!

Then, Harvey took the photo back, returned it to his pocket, and said something to the old man.

This time, Li Qingshan understood.

The other party was speaking rather stiff Huaxia.

"I want this!"

"..."

Li Qingshan's eyes widened as he stared at the foreigner before him. He blinked a few times, then, with a bewildered smile, said:

"Big shot, lei hai... bingo, ah?"

"???" Harvey looked at Li Qingshan, completely baffled. Obviously, he hadn't understood either!

For a moment, Harvey even doubted whether the Huaxia language teacher he'd hired for one hundred US Dollars an hour had scammed him.

Bingo?

Harvey knew the term; it was an exclamation of celebration in English, right?

What did the old man mean by 'bingo'?

Was he celebrating being abducted?

Harvey glared angrily at Li Qingshan and swung a backhand slap across his face.

Li Qingshan was quite resilient. After taking the hit, he simply lay on the ground, but he still stared up at Harvey with a thoroughly confused expression.

"..." Harvey was speechless for a moment, then took out his phone and started dialing.

On the other end was Harvey's middleman.

"Motherfucker! The Huaxia language teacher you found for me is a total fraud! I can't understand a damn word this old man is saying! Are you trying to cheat me, you bastard?!"

"How could that be? Harvey, we're old friends!"

"If I find out you son of a bitch are cheating me out of my money, I'll tear you to pieces when I get back!"

"...Take it easy, Harvey! What did he say to you?"

"He said something about bingo or whatever!!"

"..." On the other end of the line, the middleman exhaled, his tone puzzled. "I've studied some Huaxia language too. What you said... I think I might know it. Hmm, how about this, let me talk to him."

Harvey, still fuming, put the phone on speaker and placed it in front of Li Qingshan.

From the phone came the middleman's voice.

"Hey! If you don't want to get chopped, hand over that thing! You get it?!"

Li Qingshan blinked his small eyes a few times. Whoa, not bad Cantonese!

Then... the old man took a deep breath, put on a timid expression, and spoke meekly:

"What in the world are you talking about?"