Money Comes In

Early morning.

Jiang Ning slung on his backpack and packed several gold beans inside.

Xue Yuantong sat at the entrance of her home, playing on her phone and laughing from time to time like a fool.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Browsing Tieba. Hahaha, it's so funny! The OP asked everyone to Photoshop him to look more refined, and then the netizens posted all kinds of prank edits." Xue Yuantong was practically laughing herself silly.

Once Jiang Ning heard that, he understood. He had seen posts like that on Tieba before, and they really were hilarious.

Back in 2013, Tieba was still the hottest online community, showing no signs of decline. Whenever Diba went on an expedition, it shook every corner of the internet, leaving not a blade of grass in its wake.

There were also forums that dominated their respective fields, such as the one where Anglers gathered.

Countless communities flourished together, creating all sorts of absurd, hilarious, and bizarre spectacles.

Unfortunately, due to a series of operational problems, Tieba's talented users gradually left for other websites, and it never regained its former glory.

Hearing the name Tieba again now, Jiang Ning unexpectedly felt a twinge of wistful nostalgia.

"I'm planning to make a trip into the city. Is there anything you want me to bring back?" Jiang Ning asked as he pushed his Mountain Bike. He was preparing to exchange some gold.

"Nope, go ahead." Xue Yuantong had wanted to buy some snacks, but she had spent all her allowance.

Jiang Ning rode toward the city along the Dam. Since the source of his gold would not stand up to scrutiny, it was best to cash it out through somewhere like a pawnshop.

As it happened, Jiang Ning knew of one.

During his senior year in his previous life, when he came to Yuzhou for work, one of his coworkers found an ancient coin. After looking it up online, he discovered it was worth over six hundred thousand yuan.

Then he took it to that pawnshop. At the time, the Shop Owner was a woman around thirty-five or thirty-six. After glancing at the ancient coin twice, she told his coworker that it was worthless.

His coworker did not believe her at all. He pulled out his phone and pointed to online auction listings, where the highest-priced coin had sold for more than eight hundred thousand yuan.

That ancient coin was exactly the same as the one in his hand.

The Shop Owner smiled and told him some insider information. She said that auction houses were all scams. If he really took the coin to auction, they would first charge him an appraisal fee of several thousand yuan, followed by another fee similar to a consignment fee. Once he paid the fees and signed the contract, the auction would begin—then the item would fail to sell. The ancient coin would return to him, but none of the fees he had already paid would be refunded.

Many auction houses used this scam to cheat people. His coworker still did not believe her, but he later went to an auction house anyway. In the end, their behavior was almost exactly as the Shop Owner had described. Only then did he believe her.

So that coworker told the story as a joke in the office. As he spoke, he even showed everyone the ancient coin. Jokingly, he said that if not for the Shop Owner, faced with seven or eight hundred thousand yuan in wealth, he might really have gotten carried away and been scammed by an auction house. Because of that, he later went back to thank the Shop Owner.

After hearing the story, Jiang Ning had kept it in mind. He still remembered the name of that pawnshop.

The Shop Owner had used a storefront she owned herself and had opened the business many years ago.

Based on Jiang Ning's guess, it probably already existed at this point in time.

From his coworker's account, it was clear that the Shop Owner was not a bad person. Otherwise, she might have taken the chance to scam his coworker.

But Jiang Ning was not too worried. He was an immortal cultivator and possessed abilities far beyond ordinary people. Even with his current methods, if he were willing to trample the rules, making several million or even tens of millions would be effortless.

It was simply that he cherished his current life and did not wish to ruin it.

But if someone tried to cheat him, retaliating would be no more than a casual matter for Jiang Ning.

So Jiang Ning did not hesitate. If some petty crooks dared to play tricks behind his back, he would make sure they learned what an immortal cultivator was.

Jiang Ning rode all the way to the area where the pawnshop was located. Its sign was not particularly conspicuous, but with his exceptional eyesight, he spotted it immediately.

The pawnshop was small, with only a single storefront. Its sign listed real estate, cars, watches, jewelry, and collateral, followed by a string of phone numbers.

Jiang Ning parked his Mountain Bike outside and locked it. Then, carrying his backpack, he pulled open the glass door. A wave of cool air washed over him; the air conditioning was on inside.

He parted the translucent plastic curtain. A woman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight sat at a desk. Dressed in a black work uniform with lipstick on her lips, she held a mouse in one hand and looked over at him.

"May I ask what you need?" Shao Shuangshuang asked as she looked at the young boy before her.

Jiang Ning casually pinched a gold bean between his fingers. "Do you buy gold?"

Shao Shuangshuang noticed the gold in Jiang Ning's hand, and her demeanor became serious.

"We do. Please, have a seat over here."

She pointed to the bench beside them, then got up and poured Jiang Ning a cup of water from the Water Dispenser. Afterward, she sat on the bench across the coffee table from him. Her posture was elegant, carrying the charm of a mature woman.

"My surname is Shao. You can call me Sister Shao. May I ask your surname?"

"Jiang Ning." Jiang Ning saw no need to hide his identity. Besides, in modern society, unless one completely changed one's appearance, it was difficult to conceal one's identity with surveillance cameras everywhere.

The moment he entered the room, he had swept it with his Spiritual Sense. He detected the camera in the upper-right corner, as well as a hidden pinhole camera near the power strip for the air conditioner.

"Take a look first." Jiang Ning set down the gold bean.

Shao Shuangshuang pulled open the drawer beneath the coffee table and took out a work case. She put on gloves, examined the gold bean, then pinched it with her fingers. Only after confirming its texture did she say, "It's gold. Do you have an invoice or proof of identity?"

Jiang Ning shook his head.

Shao Shuangshuang understood. Then she said, "I understand what you mean. If we don't go through the formal process, the price will be slightly below market value. Also, the purity of this gold isn't particularly high."

"What price?" Jiang Ning did not want to waste words.

"The international gold price is 310. For yours, I'll tentatively offer 270, cash payment." Shao Shuangshuang added, "I'll need to test the exact purity first. Is that all right?"

270... Jiang Ning knew nothing about this trade. Every profession had its own secrets, and he could not tell what tricks might be involved. Still, he was quite satisfied. It was slightly higher than he had expected.

"Test them all together." He took out six gold beans and lined them up on the coffee table.

Shao Shuangshuang glanced at Jiang Ning. His expression did not change. He had obtained this gold through his own efforts, neither stealing nor robbing it, but digging it out. If he waited until years later, when that house was renovated, the discovery of the gold would trigger a scramble and even bloodshed. Taking it for himself now was, in a sense, a good deed.

Next, Jiang Ning watched Shao Shuangshuang employ several testing methods. She measured the volume and weight, then used a delicate pair of scissors to cut a gold bean in half, confirming there was no filler inside.

After a long while, Shao Shuangshuang pointed at the number on the scale. "Seven gold beans weigh a total of 152 grams. At 270, that comes to 41,040. I'll round it up to 41,100."

"No problem?"

"Fine." Jiang Ning nodded.

Shao Shuangshuang put away the gold, then said to Jiang Ning, "Please wait a moment."

Swaying her slender waist, she went into the partitioned room behind them. When she came back out, she held a black bag. In front of Jiang Ning, she ran the contents through a machine to check them.

Once the transaction was confirmed, Jiang Ning stuffed the stack of cash into his backpack.

Mobile payments were not popular yet, so cash was still the main method of payment. Though it was a considerable amount, he was not afraid of losing it. No pickpocket could avoid his Spiritual Sense and steal his money.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Shao Shuangshuang smiled. Having run a pawnshop for several years, she had dealt with all kinds of people. Jiang Ning looked very young, but he possessed an indescribable calmness that most adults did not have.

That was also why she had been willing to make this deal.

Jiang Ning waved a hand and pushed open the door to leave. Now, he was going to do some serious shopping.