The next morning, while lying in bed, Hailong had just fed the Dragon King breakfast when he heard the phone ring beside his body. After his soul returned to his body, he picked up the phone and saw that it was Li Jihao calling. With a cheerful smile, Hailong answered the call and said, "Brother, you're up pretty early. What time is it?"
Li Jihao yawned and said gloomily, "Do you think I want to get up this early? Today, I need to sign a contract and go to the bank to handle a fund transfer. Transferring nearly 100 million is quite complicated and requires a lot of procedures. It might take the whole morning. Dad specifically instructed me to arrange your matters as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I wouldn't get up this early."
Hearing Li Jihao's complaints, Hailong knew that Li Wanhao was grateful to him. He chuckled and said, "Brother, handling things for me is different from handling things for others. Others find signing contracts easy but getting money difficult. For me, it's the opposite; getting money is even faster than signing contracts."
Li Jihao didn't understand Hailong's words and asked, "Brother, what do you mean? I don't quite get it."
Hailong laughed and said, "Call a few more cars. My money isn't in the bank; it's at my home. All 100 million is here. You need to call more cars because one car can't fit all these boxes."
As a high-achieving student in finance at Harvard University, who had obtained an international certified public accountant qualification during his studies, Li Jihao instantly visualized the shape of 100 million in cash. One million yuan is 10 centimeters high, with an area of 1.1935 square meters and a volume of 0.00011935 cubic meters. For 100 million, these parameters would be multiplied by 10,000. That means 100 million yuan would be 100 meters high, with an area of 11,935 square meters and a volume of 1.1935 cubic meters, weighing 1.15 tons. According to the most popular portable safes, the standard capacity is 10 million yuan, meaning the volume should be about 0.1 cubic meters. Therefore, 100 million would require ten boxes.
The data flashed through Li Jihao's mind, and he realized he indeed needed to call a few more cars. Even if one car could fit ten boxes, he was afraid of any accidents.
He said, "Uh... you're amazing."
Li Jihao was speechless. He originally thought Hailong's net worth was only 100 million, and getting the money would be difficult. After all, taking out 90 million at once would make anyone think twice and carefully consider it. Li Jihao had seen such things too many times. Even the Li family's name couldn't control people's desire for money.
However, Hailong didn't even look at the contract. Based on just a few words from last night, Hailong handed over 90 million to him. Li Jihao was thoroughly confused. Honestly, he had never seen 100 million in cash before and didn't expect Hailong to be so unconventional.
He said, "Wait, I'll call the cars," and hung up the phone.
Hailong knew he had impressed Li Jihao. He chuckled and took out the ten boxes from the cabinet, opening each one and feeling extremely satisfied as he looked at the room full of pink notes.
Soon, Hailong heard the sound of screeching brakes downstairs, and his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Li Jihao. After answering, Hailong said, "I see your cars. I'll open the door for you."
Li Jihao brought five cars. One group was to carry the money, and another was to protect it. Li Jihao himself was a bit nervous, as even his family's company only had a few hundred million in liquid funds. Taking out 100 million in cash at once was not an easy task. He couldn't be too careful.
When he entered the room, Li Jihao's pupils dilated as he saw the ten neatly arranged boxes on the floor. He said to Hailong, "Brother, you're really unique. You keep 100 million at home instead of in the bank."
Hailong laughed and said, "It looks festive." Li Jihao was speechless.
Li Jihao said to Hailong, "Let's go. The old man is waiting for you at home. He said he's never seen 100 million in cash and is waiting for you to bring it over."
Hailong couldn't help but smile. The old man was quite interesting. He nodded, and Li Jihao had his subordinates load the ten boxes onto the cars. Hailong followed Li Jihao to Li Wanhao's castle.
That morning, Hailong signed two contracts with Li Wanhao. One was for Li Wanhao to purchase four medium-sized cargo ships on his behalf, and the other was for cargo transportation.
Hailong told Li Wanhao that he had no other requirements for the four ships except for a groove at the bottom of each ship. The groove should be as long as the ship's bottom and half a meter high, with several large hooks on top. If the requirements were not met, Hailong would not pay the final installment.
Li Wanhao didn't understand why Hailong needed the groove, but when he heard about the hooks, he smiled knowingly and said, "Brother, I don't know what you're going to use the groove for, but the hooks suggest you have some ideas. Be careful, though. This era is not as simple as ours. Many advanced technologies and experienced experts make it difficult for us legitimate businessmen to engage in such activities."
Hailong smiled at Li Wanhao and said, "Don't worry, Brother. I know my limits." Li Wanhao just smiled without saying anything. He knew that Hailong was planning to engage in smuggling. In the past, Li Wanhao's generation made money by doing legitimate business while also smuggling. As the saying goes, "Horses don't get fat without night grass, and people don't get rich without external wealth." Through this method, Li Wanhao built the Li Family Shipping Group in just thirty years.
However, with the increased management of maritime smuggling by various countries, many experienced and technologically advanced experts joined the coast guard, making smuggling increasingly difficult. In recent years, Li Wanhao had completely exited the smuggling business and focused on legitimate trade.
Although he didn't believe Hailong's methods would work, everyone has their own ideas. Li Wanhao couldn't stop Hailong's desire to make money. The only way to stop Hailong would be if he got caught and realized the path was unfeasible. At that point, Li Wanhao would help Hailong out of trouble, which would be a way to repay Hailong's favor.
However, Li Wanhao didn't know that Hailong had a Dragon King avatar. Last night, Hailong spent the entire night thinking about smuggling. The Dragon King itself was a powerful tool for smuggling. It had 400 kilograms of arm strength and could swim at a speed of over 40 kilometers per hour, continuously for four hours without carrying cargo.
With cargo, it could swim for at least two hours. The distance from Donghai City to Japan was only a few hundred kilometers, which could be reached in less than two days. To South Korea, it was even closer, just over 200 kilometers. To the Philippines, it was about 1,000 kilometers, which could be reached in two to three days.
Smuggling high-tech electronics from Japan to China would likely go unnoticed by the government, as it would help strengthen the country. Ginseng from South Korea, with an export tariff of 20% for companies and 222.8% for individuals, could be sold for $40,000 per kilogram. Smuggling a ton to Taiwan would be worth $40 million, saving $8 million in tariffs. The Dragon King could carry 200 kilograms, saving over $1 million in tariffs.
Do you know about the Saker Falcon? A first-class protected wild animal in China, it can be bought for 300 yuan in the northwest, but sold for at least $3,000 in the Middle East, with the best ones fetching up to $10,000.
In today's society, if you can smuggle, you will find endless opportunities and relationships. Now that Hailong had the ships, in six months, when the ships were in his hands and Liu Yongquan and others returned from their studies, he would have to engage in smuggling. Not only would he smuggle, but his smuggling would become large-scale. The large groove at the bottom of the ship was designed for the Dragon King.
The hooks at the bottom of the ship were for hanging the smuggled goods. Whenever the ship set sail, the Dragon King would hide in the groove, monitoring the goods. If the coast guard intercepted the ship, Hailong would control the Dragon King to unload the goods from the hooks underwater. Once the coast guard left, the Dragon King would reattach the goods.
No matter how advanced the instruments or experienced the experts, they would never discover Hailong's smuggling. Now, Hailong could smuggle 400 kilograms at a time, but with the ships, the weight would increase to several dozen tons, representing hundreds of times the profit.
Li Wanhao gave Hailong four routes: to Japan, Myanmar, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. When signing the contract, Li Wanhao frankly admitted that these four routes were like chicken ribs to the Li family—neither tasty nor worth discarding.
The Li family's ships were mostly large container ships, but the cargo for these four destinations was mostly loose. However, these four destinations were old customers who had helped the Li family in the past. Li Wanhao was very grateful to them, so he preferred to use large container ships to transport their goods rather than lose these customers.
Now that Hailong had purchased four medium-sized cargo ships, they could handle the cargo for these four destinations. These four ships would still be part of Li Wanhao's fleet, allowing him to save costs, retain his old customers, and help Hailong make money—a triple win. Hailong secretly gave Li Wanhao a thumbs up, appreciating his clever strategy.
After explaining this to Hailong, Li Wanhao felt very pleased. However, he never imagined that his clever plan would inadvertently cultivate a future smuggling king who would dominate Asia. For decades, people would recall this legend without knowing how Hailong managed to smuggle without ever being caught by the coast guard.