In the bathroom.
Lu Feng uncertainly picked up the gold jewelry, piece by piece, to examine it. The realistic feel brought a look of pure joy to his face.
He had really brought this gold jewelry out from that game world.
He wasn't sure how any of this was happening, but he didn't try to figure it out. He knew it was a great thing for him, and that was enough.
Then, he immediately looked at the screen of light in his mind. An image appeared on it—it was the same gold shop, but now, the figures of zombies had appeared inside.
The viewpoint was like a god's-eye view, utterly miraculous.
He quickly wrapped the gold completely in his clothes and deliberately waited for a while, creating a plausible time gap before opening the bathroom door and heading toward his mother's hospital room.
It would be a bit strange to return from a trip to the bathroom with a bag of gold, after all.
'But if I can sell this gold jewelry...'
A sharp glint appeared in Lu Feng's eyes. He looked again at the gold shop on the screen in his mind, his gaze lingering on the jewelry in each and every display case.
Because he had taken off his shirt, his bare torso immediately attracted a lot of attention. Walking around shirtless in a public place like this was a bit flashy.
"Xiaofeng, what are you doing?" Yang Ming asked, confused, when he saw him return shirtless.
"Cousin, can you come out with me for a bit?" Lu Feng asked immediately.
A large quantity of gold jewelry with an unknown origin and no receipt could easily lead to legal trouble.
Youcheng was just a county town; it didn't have any major gold shops or jewelry companies capable of buying a large batch of undocumented goods without fear of legal repercussions.
There were, however, some places that bought undocumented items or recycled gold.
But as far as he knew, these shops were all a bit shady. What if they tried to rip him off, or worse?
He was afraid of that happening, so he wanted to bring his cousin along for some backup.
In Youcheng County, his cousin's reputation as "Brother Ming" was quite well-known. Besides, his cousin was absolutely trustworthy.
Hearing Lu Feng's request, Yang Ming nodded. He didn't forget to tell Lu Lin, "Ah Lin, help watch my aunt for a bit. Call me if anything happens."
"Okay, Brother Ming," Lu Lin replied with a nod.
Lu Feng left the hospital with his cousin, and they drove in his cousin's car to a fruit shop.
The fruit shop wasn't large. It was the one his mother managed. Because she was in the hospital, the remaining fruit inside was already starting to dehydrate. There was a small partitioned room inside the shop.
Inside the small room was a bed, some daily necessities, and a very rudimentary bathroom. The pots and pans for cooking were right next to the toilet.
This was where his mother lived. She couldn't bear to spend money on renting an apartment.
He had always thought about when he could make a down payment on an apartment to get his mother out of this living environment. But it seemed fate was always tormenting him, making that dream a distant, unattainable fantasy.
Thinking of this, he looked at the gold he was carrying. Now, it seemed he had a chance to change his destiny.
He quickly grabbed the shop's electronic scale, locked the door to the small room from the inside, and tossed the gold he was carrying onto the bed.
The clothes fell away, and the golden luster of the jewelry was dazzling under the light.
Yang Ming was instantly captivated by the gold, a look of disbelief in his eyes. "Xiaofeng, where did you get so much gold? Did you rob a jewelry store?"
"Cousin, how could I possibly rob a jewelry store?" Lu Feng shook his head frantically. It was more like he had scavenged one. But he added, "This jewelry just has an unknown origin, but it's definitely not tied to any crime. And... I can't explain how I got it."
"Okay, then don't explain." Yang Ming wasn't the type to press for details. Seeing his cousin say this, he didn't ask any more questions.
He'd been around long enough to know that some things couldn't be explained and were best kept to oneself. The more someone pried, the more dangerous it was to let them know the truth; it would only lead to trouble sooner or later.
He suspected his cousin might have found some kind of channel. If there was no crime record, maybe the gold came from an underground source. He knew a boss in the county who had made his first fortune by discovering a tomb in his hometown, later getting into mining and becoming a major tycoon.
Besides, the style and design of the gold jewelry were different from what he usually saw.
So, he added another piece of advice, "And don't explain the origin of this gold to anyone."
With something like this, if word got out and reached someone greedy or with ill intentions, it could cause a lot of trouble.
"Okay!" Lu Feng acknowledged his cousin's words and picked up the electronic scale to weigh the gold. After a bit of work, he determined that the gold he'd brought back from the game world this time weighed 1 jin and 2 liang.
His mind started racing.
'The recent price of gold is 420 yuan per gram. One jin and two liang is 600 grams, which a jewelry store would sell for 252,000 yuan. The buy-back price is at a 10% discount, so I could get 226,800 yuan.'
'Of course, that's the buy-back price for gold jewelry with a receipt. Alternatively, it's the price you get if you register your ID. Without a receipt and without being able to register an ID, something with an unknown origin definitely wouldn't sell for that much.'
'If you insist on going to a legitimate jewelry store and demanding that price, under the new regulations, they'll require you to register your ID. What can you do then?'
'Someone might say, "If you melt the gold down, it's all the same, who's going to know?"'
'But he was also afraid of getting tangled up in some real crime involving gold, getting targeted, and having them suspect that the gold he melted down was from that very case.'
'If that really happened, it would be more than just a pain in the ass.'
'So, it's better to be safe.'
'Besides, no matter how much they lowball the price, it's still gold. The price won't be too low. This was a business with no overhead to begin with. Earning a little less in exchange for peace of mind is worth it!'
Lu Feng's eyes grew brighter. He quickly brought in a black bag from outside and packed the gold from the bed into it.
Seeing this, Yang Ming patted his shoulder and said, "Come with me."
Lu Feng nodded and immediately followed.
The two of them headed to Qingshui Street, which had the most gold shops in the county and was therefore also known as Gold Shop Street.
But Yang Ming didn't take Lu Feng into any of the gold shops. Instead, they went to a teahouse next to Gold Shop Street.
Upon entering the teahouse, they saw many people in the main hall brewing tea and chatting. They all had tattoos on their hands, and from their tone and way of speaking, it was clear they were part of the street scene.
When these people saw Yang Ming, a few of them stood up to greet him.
"Brother Ming, what brings you here today?"
"Long time no see, Brother Ming!"
"..."
In a county town like Youcheng, the place wasn't big. To make it on the streets, you needed connections. You also had to remember who the heavy hitters were, or you could offend someone and get a beating without ever knowing why.
Clearly, Yang Ming was one of those heavy hitters. Most of the people on the streets knew him and would show him respect.
"Yeah, just brought my cousin here to hang out," Yang Ming said with a smile, gesturing toward Lu Feng.
Those people instinctively glanced at Lu Feng. He was Yang Ming's cousin, after all. If they ran into him in the future, or if something came up, it was best not to cause trouble. Otherwise, if they made Yang Ming step in, they would be the ones to suffer.
"By the way, where's Chen Bo?" Yang Ming asked one of the men.
"Brother Bo is in the second-floor office," the man replied immediately.
"Okay." Yang Ming nodded and headed for the second floor, entering an office.
Inside, a man wearing a thick gold chain was surprised to see them at first, but he immediately came forward with a smile. "Isn't this Brother Ming? What brings you to my place for tea today?"
"I came to find you, Boss Chen, because I have some business to bring you," Yang Ming said with a smile, leading Lu Feng to a seat by the tea table.
"Brother Ming, come, have some tea first!" Seeing this, Chen Bo enthusiastically poured tea for Yang Ming and Lu Feng.
He was in the gold recycling business. Ordinary people selling or pawning gold would go to his storefront. Anyone who came here, to this teahouse, was definitely carrying something from a gray area.
He was the only one in the county with the channels to handle large quantities of this kind of gold.
And with gray-market goods, having the right channels meant you could earn a lot more.
After a couple of cups of tea and some small talk with Chen Bo, Yang Ming looked at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng understood the cue. He placed the bag in his hands on the table and opened it, revealing the gold inside.
"Boss Chen, take a look and see how much this gold of mine is worth!" Yang Ming said, deliberately claiming the gold as his own.
After all, if this kind of deal left any loose ends, it would be trouble. His cousin wasn't part of the underworld; if any problems arose, he would take the fall.
Chen Bo had guessed Yang Ming's purpose for coming and wasn't surprised. He stepped forward with a smile to examine the gold jewelry.
He was then somewhat surprised. Although the style of the jewelry was strange, each piece was exquisite. They looked like they had never been worn for long and weren't misshapen at all.
With just a little bit of polishing, they could be sold as brand new. It would barely take any effort.
"Brother Ming, the condition of this batch of gold is excellent," Chen Bo said, a little surprised. "But, as you know, for gold without a receipt or any proof of origin, I have to take an extra ten percent cut."
"Right, follow the rules," Yang Ming said, giving Lu Feng a knowing nod.
Lu Feng naturally understood how this worked. The other party was taking a risk, so it was impossible for them not to take a cut.
Besides, even at an 80% buy-back rate, he would still get over 201,600 yuan. It was all free money anyway.
Chen Bo picked up the gold jewelry piece by piece to test it. After confirming it was 24-karat gold, he began to weigh it. The final weight was the same as what Lu Feng had measured: just over 1 jin and 2 liang.
Chen Bo finally said with a grin, "Brother Ming, the total is 1 jin, 2 liang, and 3 grams. The total comes to 202,000 yuan. Give me an account number!"
But Yang Ming turned to Lu Feng and said, "Give your account number to Boss Chen."
Lu Feng nodded and recited his own bank account number.
Chen Bo wasn't suspicious. After all, in their line of work, many people had issues with their bank accounts. Money either couldn't be transferred in, or it might be frozen if it was. They often used the accounts of family or friends.
Chen Bo was decisive in his dealings. He quickly transferred the money to Lu Feng, not forgetting to add, "Brother Ming, if you have more business in the future, remember to look out for your brother here."
"Mhm," Yang Ming nodded politely.
He didn't actually expect his cousin to have more gold, though. If there really was a tomb with this much gold, it wouldn't have waited for his cousin to find it.
After that one boss made his fortune from gold discovered in a tomb, there was a period when many of the county's burial sites, no matter how hidden, received a lot of unwanted attention.
There was even an instance where an old man was buried one day, and his grave was visited by some brainless fools the very next.
As the money arrived in his account, Lu Feng's thoughts turned to the rest of the gold in that shop. He had only taken from one of the display cases. That gold shop had more than ten of them.