It was mid-September, and the weather was starting to look gloomy; it looked as though the city would be welcoming its first rainfall that month.
Li Du had a troublesome matter to deal with during this period of time: his visa needed to be renewed.
He had stayed in the United States for a full year now, having arrived last September. In the end, the school had closed down within two months and the school's board of directors absconded with the money. Every time he thought about this, he became so angry that he wanted to scream.
Besides losing his school fees and research funding, he was also angry that his visa renewal might run into problems. When Sophie heard about the issue of his visa renewal, she smiled and asked for the visa, and paid a visit to her parents.
Mr. Martin was forthright and immediately said, "Study visa? That's easy, just leave it to me. But Li, you actually went to National College in Flagstaff?"
Li Du smiled bitterly. "Well, my test results are not good enough to attend better schools."
Mr. Martin shook his head and said, "No, no, the test results don't matter. My point is you're really daring to choose a school that did not get certified by the Department of Education. That's really bold of you."
Sophie was peeling some pistachios. "You can get Li a tutor and let him come to your school."
"Do you want that?" asked Mr. Martin. "This is not difficult."
Li Du did not want to; the main reason he worked hard to study abroad was not to gain knowledge, but rather, he had wanted to make more money for a better life.
Now that he had the little bug, he could earn a lot of money. Why would he want to go back to school and torture himself?
Li Du received a text message as he was returning from the Martin's residence. It was the address of where Frank and York were currently staying; a hotel in Flagstaff.
Li drove over, found the room, and was about to knock on the door.
Suddenly, shouting was heard coming from the room:
"Let's go back. What are we staying here for?"
"D*mmit, what are we staying here for? Of course, it's to teach that Chinaman a lesson!"
"But this is his territory! You've seen the attitude of the local treasure hunters towards him—"
"We've already dealt with them. If they're smart enough, they won't be siding with that Chinaman anymore."
"Bullsh*t! That Chinaman went to the Casino and gave them his winnings of 10,000 dollars. These b*st*rds are now completely loyal to him, whereas the unlucky Joffrey Rick suffered a heavy social and physical blow."
"Oh, Dog Ears—he needs to change his name to Half Dog Ears now. Those Native Americans are ruthless. I can't believe they actually cut Rick's ears in half!"
"More reasons we should go back. These country bumpkins are brutal. You gotta know the silver armor is with us. If they knew that the silver armor was in the local bank..."
"Shut up! Why are you saying that out loud when you know such stuff needs to be kept a secret? Lower your voice!"
"Okay, I'll lower my volume, let's discuss this..."
Their voices toned down so Li Du could only hear incoherent mumbling.
He was suddenly reminded of that guy who tattooed a Chinese poem about a white goose on himself: Max Conrad, who called himself Lu Guan. The white lad had outstanding hearing abilities. If he were here, he would know what Frank and York were discussing.
Nevertheless, he had already overheard a lot of useful information. The silver armor they procured in Phoenix was now stored in Flagstaff. Perhaps he could start plotting his revenge towards the two in using this knowledge.
If he intended to do so, he couldn't let them both put up their guards against him. That meant he should not let them notice that he'd been outside all along and had overheard some of their conversation.
So he slipped back to the reception and said, "Could you please contact the two gentlemen in room 0415? I'm a friend of theirs."
Frank and York were very cautious. They didn't have many friends in Flagstaff, so they peeped through the spy hole when Li Du appeared outside their room door.
When they saw that it was Li Du, York started to fumble. "Hey, why are you here? What do you want? This is a hotel!"
Li Du laughed when he heard York's panicky voice. "Please open the door, pal. I'm here to make peace with both of you."
If York could have made the decision, he would not have let anyone in.
He whispered to Frank, "Who knows how many people are outside? What if a whole bunch of them dash in when we opened the door?"
Frank was stubborn. "What's there to be afraid of? Flagstaff's policemen won't let them have their way!"
York tried to persuade him. "I believe Rick had the same thinking too. And what happened in the end? You know how pathetic that fellow is right now!"
Marlin was one who had been fast to act. The night Li Du visited the casino, he sent his men to teach Rick a lesson, and Rick was beaten up badly.
Frank and York had been there and witnessed everything. But the Native Americans did not bother with them. They only instructed them to call the hospital to give Rick appropriate medical treatment.
Frank felt a chill down his spine when he thought of Rick's wretched state after the Native Americans had left.
However, Frank was someone who didn't want to admit to being weak. He especially didn't want to look weak in front of Li Du. "Open the door, I don't believe that *sshole would dare to do anything to us in a hotel!"
York opened the door unwillingly and Li walked into the room. "Hey what's up?" smiled Li Du. "The weather's good today, not going out for some sightseeing?"
Frank stared at him coldly and said, "Just cut the formalities. What are you here for? You've come to give us a warning?"
"What warning?" asked Li Du. "I'm here for peace talks. Didn't I say so earlier? I'm here to make peace."
Not waiting for the two to say anything, Li continued talking, "There's some misunderstandings between us. Frank, we're all treasure hunters and even belong to the same club. Is it really necessary to have such a strained relationship between us?"
Frank laughed mockingly and wanted to respond but York spoke before he did. "You're right, Li. You're right."
Li Du extended his hand out in a friendly way and said, "It's time for us to change our relationship for the better. One more friend is better than one more enemy right?"
Frank kept quiet and wore a grim face. He was not a magnanimous person; he was unwilling to ease the relationship with Li Du.
York, however, was a smooth and evasive person. He immediately held Li's hand and said sincerely, "Right Li, we've had a lot of misunderstandings in the past. We should be friends."
"What I mean is, the past misunderstandings were because of Rick, that b*st*rd. However, he has gotten what he deserved, right?"
Once again, Frank and York thought of the brutal beating last night; both of them showed lingering expressions of fear.
"Right," York laughed unnaturally, "he got what he deserved."
As he said this, a thought suddenly came to his mind, and he blurted, "You're the one who ordered the Native Americans to do that?"
Li Du rubbed his nose and said, "No, no, I'm not the one who gave the orders. I just told them the truth."
"What truth?" York asked.
"Well, the truth is, the money that you scammed actually belonged to the Native Americans. How should I say this? It's complicated. In any case, this matter is settled."
Frank could not believe Li Du's words. "The Native Americans last night were really acting under your orders?"
Li Du waved his hands and reiterated, "No, I said I'm not the one who gave them the orders, but you could say that we cooperated on the matter. To put it simply, the money you got yesterday actually belonged to the Native Americans."
Frank and York were very intimidated.