Chapter 247: Take a Gamble, Turn a Bicycle into a Motorcycle

Chen Dongsheng had put in a lot of effort to bring everyone together, so when Li Xian suddenly decided not to sell the antiques, he felt a bit guilty. It was already past nine in the evening after all the commotion, so he suggested treating everyone to a late-night snack.

At this stage, Beijing hadn't yet transformed into the fast-paced, nightlife-dominated city it would become twenty years later, but there were still plenty of places to grab a late-night snack. Also, the old Beijingers hadn't yet been turned into millionaires by the real estate boom. Many of them, who would become billionaires due to relocations in two decades, were still selling traditional beef offal stew on the streets.

Li Xian loved this kind of food, so he found a street stall at a night market, ordered some beer and snacks, and enjoyed a lively conversation with everyone.

Without the pressure of making a sale, the people Chen Dongsheng had brought along became quite talkative. Although Li Xian didn't identify any future big shots among them, he did learn that these people were doing quite well at the moment.

Most of the people Chen Dongsheng knew were entrepreneurs who had left government positions in Beijing. Their insights into the current economic trends and industry predictions broadened Li Xian's knowledge significantly.

The lively atmosphere was further enhanced by the presence of Ma Modu and Li Chengru, who were both excellent conversationalists. After exchanging business cards and agreeing to stay in touch, the gathering dispersed, and Li Xian returned to his hotel.

As soon as he got back to the hotel, Mingzi grabbed Li Xian.

He didn't understand why, after going through so much trouble to bring the antiques from Bangye to Beijing, Li Xian suddenly decided not to sell them.

Faced with the question from Xu Ma and his underling, Li Xian simply smiled without answering.

After sending Mingzi back to his room, Li Xian turned off the lights and sat alone on the sofa. As he gazed out at the thousands of lights in the city and the starry sky that would be invisible in the future, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

A memory from his university days, of reading about stock market history on WeChat, surfaced in his mind.

"In mid to late September 1993, under the direction of its securities director, Li Wei, Baoan Group quietly acquired shares in Yanzhong Industrial on the secondary market."

"Yanzhong Industrial, whose stock price had been hovering around 9 yuan for half a year like a zombie, soon rose to 12 yuan per share."

"On September 30, Baoan issued a statement declaring that it had acquired 5% of Yanzhong Industrial. Following the announcement, Yanzhong Industrial's stock price soared. Believing that Baoan was making a hostile takeover, Yanzhong Industrial appealed to the China Securities Regulatory Commission and launched a counter-takeover battle. Amid the tug-of-war, Yanzhong's stock price soared to a high of 42 yuan per share... and the Shanghai Composite Index heated up as a result..."

The battle between Baoan and Yanzhong was China's first stock market war!

Fragments of memories flashed through Li Xian's mind. As he looked at the starry sky outside, he clenched his fist tightly.

"Take a gamble, turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!"

---

The next day, Xu Ma and others arrived in Beijing.

Upon receiving the call, Li Xian immediately went to the train station to meet them.

But when he reached the square in front of the station and saw Xu Ma's group, including one man with a scruffy beard, messy hair like a bird's nest, and a tan as if he'd just returned from an aid mission in Africa, he was completely stunned.

Seeing Li Xian frozen in place, Xu Ma chuckled, "Shocked, huh? Damn, I was dumbfounded when I saw him on the train! He said he was going south to work, but I didn't let him. I dragged him straight to Beijing."

Ignoring Xu Ma's rambling, Li Xian walked up to the man. Seeing the lifeless eyes of the person in front of him, he hesitated for a moment. "Brother Wang... couldn't find them?"

The man before him was none other than Wang Tiecheng, who had been missing for more than half a year.

Compared to before, he had lost a lot of weight, with deep-set eyes and wrinkles that made him look much older.

After dealing with that batch of lathes, Li Xian had given him 20,000 yuan to search for his wife and child. He hadn't expected that after half a year, Wang would look like this, which surprised Li Xian.

Wang Baoceng mumbled something, perhaps because he was meeting an old acquaintance far from home, or maybe it had been a long time since he had spoken to anyone. He unexpectedly responded to Li Xian.

"No, I found them."

Li Xian was even more surprised. "If you found them, why do you look like this? Where's the child?"

The six-foot-tall man, who could break someone's leg with a wrench without hesitation, just squatted down and cried like a baby, attracting the attention of passersby.

Seeing this, Li Xian knew that there was likely a long, complicated story behind it. He sighed and waved to Xu Ma's underlings to help Wang up and take him back to the hotel.

After they had freshened up at the hotel, Li Xian informed Xu Ma of his decision not to sell the antiques.

"What the hell! Are you messing with me? Do you know how much effort it took to get these contraband items to Beijing? Didn't you say you needed money to get that King of Bids thing? What, you're not doing it anymore?"

Seeing Xu Ma jumping around in frustration, Li Xian smiled slightly.

Xu Ma had seen that smile before—in Russia.

"Wait a minute!" In the guest room, Xu Ma grabbed Li Xian, his frustration quickly turning into excitement. "Xianzi, something's up! You've found a way to make money, haven't you? That's why you don't need to sell these old junk for cash anymore, right?"

This old rascal still had some intuition.

Seeing that Xu Ma had hit the nail on the head, Li Xian nodded.

"Get ready, we're... going to Shanghai!"

---

After making arrangements with Xu Ma and the others, Li Xian grabbed two bottles of white liquor and some snacks and headed to Wang Tiecheng's room.

After knocking for a long time, Li Xian heard the sound of footsteps inside, and after a while, the door finally opened.

Wang Tiecheng was still in the same state as he was at the station, even wearing the same worn-out shoes with holes in them—the room reeked.

Li Xian placed the snacks and liquor on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa.

"Brother Wang, what's going on? We're past the point of being strangers. We came from the same forest farm and survived licking blood off the knife's edge in Russia. I see you as an older brother who went through life and death with me."

As he opened the bottle of liquor and placed it in front of Wang Tiecheng, Li Xian spoke.

Wang Tiecheng hesitated for a moment before bringing the bottle to his mouth and downing half of it in one go.

No one could drink like that without consequences, especially with 56-degree Red Star Erguotou.

After a single gulp, Wang Tiecheng's face, dark as it was, visibly reddened.

"In Heze, I found them. My wife found someone else."

What?

This shocking news piqued Li Xian's interest, but he didn't dare rush Wang Tiecheng. Instead, he opened the plastic bag containing the snacks, placed them in front of him, and waited for him to continue.

Wang Tiecheng, however, didn't touch the snacks at all. He just drank and began to recount his experiences over the past six months.

After leaving Harbin, he headed directly south. Not knowing where his wife and child were, he could only use the most laborious method, searching place by place. The 20,000 yuan quickly ran out after he placed ads in local newspapers looking for them.

But the money wasn't wasted. Just two days after placing an ad in Heze, he received a call saying that the woman in the missing person's ad looked like a neighbor.

When he arrived, it turned out to be his wife, who had run away for more than half a year.

Seeing Wang Tiecheng, his wife was so frightened she almost lost control. But knowing his temperament, she didn't try to run. Instead, she laid everything out—there was no way they could continue living together. The child was living a better life with her, so Wang should give up on them.

Wang had originally planned to break her legs, but when he saw the two-story house she now lived in, saw his son attending a prestigious school, and saw that man, whom he didn't even know, driving a car and picking up his son—who was dressed in new clothes and shoes and had a new school bag—his son happily holding the man's hand and calling him "Uncle," Wang completely broke down.

He had never seen his son smile like that. He had never been able to give him that kind of happiness.

A man's dignity shattered into pieces at that moment.

After hearing the story, Li Xian took a big gulp of liquor.

"I thought about it. She's right. My son is indeed better off with her."

Wang

 Tiecheng had already finished the bottle of liquor and concluded with that statement.

Li Xian placed the bottle in front of Wang Tiecheng and stood up.

As he was about to leave, he paused and looked back at the hesitant Wang Tiecheng.

"Bullshit! You're his biological father! Do you even know if he's happy with you or not? Did you ask your son?"

"Clean yourself up. I'll have them send over some clothes for you. From now on, you work with me. You won't be short on money." With those words, he left Wang Tiecheng, who was filled with pain.