HLM -Chapter 1397 Selling a Favor

Capsizing a canoe was easy, and righting it was easy too, but the stove, beer, and fishing rods were gone—only two roasted crabs floated on the water’s surface, surprisingly not sinking.

The old tour guide had a mindset that Wang Bo couldn’t match. He didn’t care about being capsized. Scooping up the crabs, he laughed heartily: “Not bad, not everything’s lost. Here, take one. A roasted crab washed by the lake—must taste amazing.”

Wang Bo didn’t have that kind of temperament or tolerance. He flipped the canoe, dragged the paddle aboard, and said with a cold face, “Let’s go see what happened!”

The canoe paddled over. A jet boat lay capsized, drifting on the water, with six young people around it, shouting:

“Damn it, Locke, I told you to go slower!”

“Blame me? Who knew there’d be a canoe in the way? Didn’t you see it either?”

“Shit, stop arguing, flip the boat quickly. May God bless it’s still usable!”

“My bag? My bag fell in the water! Shit, shit!”

The canoe approached swiftly. The old tour guide smiled and asked, “Kids, need some help?”

One youth replied, “Yes, please… thank you so much…”

“That’s the canoe!” another blond youth shouted. “It blocked our way, caused us to capsize!”

The old guide shook his head: “No, kids. This isn’t your private lake. We all have the right to paddle here, so calm down.”

The blond youth snapped: “Old man, it’s easy for you to say, everyone has the right to paddle here? Do you know who we are? And this damn lake is specifically for jet boats, you know that?”

The old guide smiled wryly: “Looks like you don’t want to talk to me. Fine, maybe someone else here can talk to you better.”

The canoe paddled forward, revealing Wang Bo’s dark face behind.

The blond youth and a companion swam toward them, reaching to grab the boat: “Don’t think you can get away…”

Wang Bo smacked him down with the paddle and snapped, “Fascist, get your filthy hands off me! Who was driving the boat just now?”

Seeing him act, the youths were displeased and swam closer, men and women alike.

A red-haired girl shouted angrily, “Hey, you rude bastard! Do you even know what you’re—”

“Shut up!” Wang Bo interrupted. “I’m asking—who was driving the boat? I will arrest them for attempted murder!”

He pulled out his gleaming badge and hung it on his chest.

Seeing the badge and looking closely at him, one youth shivered in the water: “Shit, this is the mayor of Sunset Town!”

Wang Bo had planned to spend the afternoon relaxing, drinking beer—but these youths ruined it.

Losing an afternoon was one thing—but their arrogant “I’m the boss of the world” attitude, refusing to admit wrongdoing, was unacceptable. He had to teach them a lesson.

His phone had shut down after falling in the water. The old guide handed him his Nokia brick and said, smiling, “If you need to make a call, use mine. Old, but reliable.”

Wang Bo called the police. Sweet Boy, hearing about the attempted murder, was shocked, sending a helicopter first, then speeding over with police in a jet boat.

Now the youths behaved. The blond youth wanted to protest, but a glasses-wearing man whispered: “Shut up, Locke. This is his turf. Angering him will only backfire on us!”

The police arrived by jet boat, taking the six youths aboard and towing the jet boat to the dock.

Autumn was already turning cold. In summer, Wang Bo could have taken off his shirt and enjoyed the lake. Not now—he returned with the old guide.

The guide felt regret but was kindhearted, saying: “Don’t be too hard on the kids—they’re just young and naïve.”

Wang Bo replied: “I’m not their parent; I won’t spoil them. But I’m not Satan either. I’ll handle this according to the law.”

The six youths were indeed influential—their parents were well-known New Zealand businessmen—but even combined, their wealth didn’t match Sunset Ranch.

Wang Bo charged them with attempted murder. Honestly, when he spotted the jet boat, he had stood up and waved to warn them—but the youths neither slowed nor swerved, crashing straight into him.

Lawyer Muller took on the case. The youths’ parents hired their own legal team. The courtroom battle began.

Wang Bo wasn’t petty, but he wasn’t a pushover either. He instructed Muller: handle this strictly by law; give the youths a lesson.

In New Zealand, favors matter. The youths’ parents somehow contacted the domineering CEO Bartier, who called to explain the situation.

Wang Bo needed to save face for Bartier. He asked, “So I’ll withdraw the case later. But tell me, are you well connected?”

Bartier explained, “It’s complicated. They each have a company. Two had collaborated with Auckland Savings Bank and are now negotiating with us to cooperate.”

“I see. So helping you with this case helps your business?” Wang Bo asked.

Bartier laughed, “Yes. Of course, if you really have issues with these kids, you can still teach them a lesson.”

Wang Bo hadn’t intended to punish them harshly—just a lesson would do. If it also helped Bartier, he was happy to oblige.

The result: Wang Bo withdrew the case. The six youths apologized to him and Rex.

Leaving the court, they wanted to shake his hand. Wang Bo didn’t even look at them, replying domineeringly: “You’re blacklisted in Sunset Town. My town doesn’t welcome you anymore.”

He could let them go but wouldn’t give them a good face.

Within a week, the foundation of the kauri treehouse was ready. At a height of six to seven meters, workers used four tree trunks and branches to support each other, laying a solid floor.

This meant Wang Bo could now build a treehouse.

Around the thickest tree, they installed an electric lift—making transportation and material handling simple, solved with one button.

Wang Bo worried about accidents, so he had the fire department lay a thick air cushion below. That way, even if someone fell from the tree, they’d only get dazed—not injured, much less dead.