When Hai Long finally managed to escape the clutches of his sisters with great effort, his clothes were already tattered. Looking back, he saw the older sisters laughing heartily. Hai Long was speechless, frowned, and pouted angrily, saying, "You all just bully me. Every time we meet, you bully me."
Seeing Hai Long deliberately acting coquettish, Su Xiaomei and the others laughed even more.
Helplessly pulled to a seat by Su Xiaomei and the others, Hai Long began chatting with these older sisters, explaining what he had been doing over the past few months.
Fortunately, Li Wanhuo still had some conscience and came to his rescue halfway through, saying he needed to take Hai Long to toast the guests, as there were still many guests to toast. Only then did Su Xiaomei and the others let Hai Long go.
In the end, Hai Long was left at the table of the Party Secretary of the city, entertaining the various big shots of Donghai City with Li Wanhuo and Li Jihao until the end of the banquet.
After the banquet, the Party Secretary of Donghai City, Qiao Zhenyuan, gave Li Wanhuo a look, indicating he had something to say. Li Wanhuo understood and called over the butler, leading Qiao Zhenyuan and Su Xiaomei upstairs.
Then, Li Wanhuo, along with Li Jihao and Hai Long, stood at the door, bidding farewell to each of the distinguished guests. After the main hall guests left, Li Wanhuo asked Li Jihao to take over and send off the guests in the side hall, letting Hai Long go to the guest room to rest while he went to find Qiao Zhenyuan.
During the banquet, Li Wanhuo had already sensed that Qiao Zhenyuan had something to discuss with him, but with so many people around, it was not appropriate to talk. So he had been waiting for the banquet to end.
The matter that Qiao Zhenyuan dared not discuss over the phone and had to tell him in person, Li Wanhuo knew, must be something serious. After sending off the guests in the main hall, Li Wanhuo, following the usual etiquette, would have gone to the side hall to send off the guests. However, due to the sudden situation, Li Wanhuo had to make an excuse, saying he was not feeling well, and asked Li Jihao to take over.
Li Wanhuo quickly came to the reception room, pushed the door open, and saw the anxious Qiao Zhenyuan and his wife, Su Xiaomei. Qiao Zhenyuan, upon seeing Li Wanhuo, quickly welcomed him in and gave Su Xiaomei a look. Su Xiaomei understood and walked to the door to close it.
Seeing the actions of Qiao Zhenyuan and his wife, Li Wanhuo knew the matter was serious and asked seriously, "Brother Qiao, what happened? Why are you and your wife so anxious?"
Hearing Li Wanhuo's words, Qiao Zhenyuan looked around to ensure no one was around and then said helplessly, "My brother has caused a huge disaster."
Mentioning Qiao Zhenyuan's brother, Qiao Yu, who was Qiao Zhenyuan's younger brother by nearly 20 years and always the old man's treasure, Li Wanhuo understood why Qiao Zhenyuan was so anxious.
Li Wanhuo frowned and asked, "What kind of disaster did he cause?"
Qiao Zhenyuan said, "This brat was misled. Hearing that the price of jade and jadeite was high this year, he borrowed over ten billion yuan with his friends to buy a lot of jade and jadeite from abroad, planning to sell it in Donghai. The contract for the sale was signed, and the money was to be exchanged for the goods upon arrival. However, the ship hit a reef when it reached Donghai, and the goods worth over ten billion yuan sank into the sea. We sent people to search the seabed multiple times but couldn't find anything. Now the bank is demanding repayment, and I'm desperate."
Li Wanhuo frowned and asked, "How much exactly?"
Qiao Zhenyuan sighed and said, "A total of 15 billion yuan was borrowed, of which my brother borrowed 3 billion."
If Qiao Zhenyuan's brother had borrowed a smaller amount, say a few tens of millions, Li Wanhuo would have been willing to cover the debt, hoping for some policy favors in return. However, hearing that Qiao Zhenyuan's brother had borrowed 3 billion, Li Wanhuo was taken aback. This was a huge sum, and as the owner of a fleet of over a hundred transport ships, Li Wanhuo's liquid funds were only 3 billion. Taking out all his liquid funds to help Qiao Zhenyuan's brother repay the debt would be insane.
Li Wanhuo shook his head helplessly and said, "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help, but I can't come up with that much money at once."
Seeing Li Wanhuo shake his head, Qiao Zhenyuan knew he couldn't get the money and sighed, "Forget it, I won't trouble you. I'll find another way."
Seeing Qiao Zhenyuan about to leave, Li Wanhuo held him back and said, "Brother, don't be in a hurry. Let's think of a way together. This is a serious matter, and I'll help you figure it out."
Hearing this, Qiao Zhenyuan sat down and said helplessly, "Brother Li, this matter has really made me anxious."
How could he not be anxious? Qiao Zhenyuan's father had also learned about the matter and ordered Qiao Zhenyuan to help his brother solve the problem. If he let his brother go to jail, he would disown him.
Qiao Zhenyuan had already made the difficult decision that if he couldn't raise the money, he would have to let Qiao Yu go to jail and then use his connections to get him out later. Although Qiao Yu's future would be ruined, he could still ensure a decent life for him. However, with the old man's order, Qiao Zhenyuan had no choice but to seek help.
Li Wanhuo asked, "How much have you raised so far?"
Qiao Zhenyuan sighed and said, "Less than 100 million, which I borrowed from Xiaomei's family. I didn't dare to raise more from other sources, as my position is very sensitive, and there are things I can't do."
Li Wanhuo understood that although Qiao Zhenyuan was the Party Secretary, he had limited options in such a situation. He asked, "Do you know exactly where the goods sank?"
Qiao Zhenyuan sighed and said, "It's somewhere near the Devil's Sea. I suspect it was carried into the Devil's Sea by the current, otherwise, we would have found it."
Li Wanhuo frowned and asked, "Can't you enter the Devil's Sea with your resources? Can't you issue an order to have the city's underwater engineering team blast the reefs and search for the goods?"
Qiao Zhenyuan said helplessly, "I had the same idea, but the engineering team has been dispatched to another city for a project and can't be recalled."
At first, Qiao Zhenyuan hadn't taken the matter seriously. The goods had sunk in the Devil's Sea, and he thought he could just call the city's underwater engineering team to blast the reefs and find the goods. The outer part of the Devil's Sea wasn't too stormy, and large ships could approach. The engineering team had a large specialized blasting ship for such conditions.
However, when he called them, he learned they had been dispatched to another city, and he realized the problem was more serious than he thought.
Hearing this, Li Wanhuo asked, "Are you sure the goods sank into the Devil's Sea?"
Qiao Zhenyuan frowned and said, "I'm pretty sure. Qiao Yu was with the goods, saw them loaded onto the ship, and watched them sink after the ship hit a reef. The current was flowing into the Devil's Sea, and I sent hundreds of people to search the other three directions, but they found nothing. So we concluded the goods must have entered the Devil's Sea."
Hearing this, Li Wanhuo smiled and said, "If we're sure they sank in the Devil's Sea, that's good."
Hearing Li Wanhuo's words, Qiao Zhenyuan instinctively felt there might be a solution and asked, "How?"
Li Wanhuo said, "Brother, I can't come up with 3 billion in cash." Hearing this, Qiao Zhenyuan felt a bit discouraged.
Li Wanhuo continued, "However, there is someone who can enter the Devil's Sea and explore it freely."
Hearing this, Qiao Zhenyuan was startled and asked, "Who?"
Li Wanhuo smiled and said, "Your wife knows him too, Hai Long."
Su Xiaomei slapped her forehead and said, "How could I forget him? Doesn't he catch and sell the crabs from the Devil's Sea?" Qiao Zhenyuan also realized.
However, Qiao Zhenyuan was uncertain and asked, "But the goods sank in the inner part of the Devil's Sea. Can Hai Long enter the inner part?"
Li Wanhuo was also uncertain and said, "I'm not sure, but let's ask him. Hai Long is currently in need of the friendship of someone like you. If he can help, he won't miss this opportunity."
Qiao Zhenyuan was not an ordinary person and had to consider many things. He hadn't taken Hai Long seriously before, coming to Li Wanhuo's banquet only to borrow money. Someone like Hai Long was not worth his attention.
However, now that he needed Hai Long's help, Qiao Zhenyuan had to understand what kind of person Hai Long was and why he had such great abilities.
Knowing that Hai Long might be able to help, Qiao Zhenyuan was no longer as anxious. He sat on the sofa and asked Li Wanhuo curiously, "Brother Li, what's the story with Hai Long? When did you start to support the younger generation so enthusiastically?"
Seeing Qiao Zhenyuan was no longer anxious, Li Wanhuo also sat down and smiled, "This story starts with a word: destiny." He then recounted how he met Hai Long while eating crabs, helped him pay his bill to win his girlfriend, and later how Hai Long helped him enter the inner part of the Devil's Sea to find a giant jellyfish's venom sac. Qiao Zhenyuan and Su Xiaomei were amazed by the story.
Li Wanhuo smiled and said, "Now you understand why I support him so enthusiastically. I also trust my intuition. I have a feeling that Hai Long's future achievements will far surpass mine, and his success is unstoppable. I see a spirit of relentless advancement in him that even I, an old man with much business experience, find intimidating."
Hearing Li Wanhuo's words, Qiao Zhenyuan became interested and said, "Hearing you say this, I really want to meet this person."