Far from Simple

Lin Fei had avoided talking about money because he wanted Wu Zhen to feel that he owed him an even bigger favor.

That way, when Lin Fei needed his help with something later, Wu Zhen would naturally find it hard to refuse.

"Uncle Wu, you don't need to give me anything. If you really want to repay me, I have some gold coins. You could help me exchange them for cash."

To Wu Zhen, exchanging gold coins for cash was a trivial matter.

"That's all?"

Wu Yuqing took out her phone and was about to transfer the money to Lin Fei.

"Lin Fei, those few gold coins you have aren't even enough for a week of my pocket money. I'll just transfer the money to you."

"This time, it's a somewhat larger amount. Your pocket money probably won't be enough."

Lin Fei planned to sell all three thousand gold coins at once. They were the coins he'd kept from his last deal with the Thousand Gold Pavilion.

As for the gold and silver treasures he'd found in the secret chamber of the South City Large Residence, there were too many of them, and selling them would be troublesome.

Even the Wu Family probably couldn't absorb such a large amount.

"Just how many are you selling?" Wu Yuqing asked.

"Three thousand gold coins."

"How many?"

Wu Zhen and Zhou Wangdao were both stunned.

The smile vanished from Wu Yuqing's face, replaced by utter disbelief.

"You're joking, right? Last time, you sold twenty gold coins and said they were heirlooms."

"Now you want to sell three thousand? Was there an emperor in your family tree?"

Gold was a hard currency accepted around the world, and every country kept a tight rein on it.

Even gold shops at Longhua Mall had to register their transactions.

If it was only a few dozen gold coins and they didn't enter the market, it wouldn't have any impact.

But if three thousand gold coins appeared on the market, they would definitely attract attention and might even trigger an investigation.

That was why Lin Fei had approached the Wu Family. Only they could help him handle so many gold coins.

Wu Zhen fell silent. It wasn't that he couldn't come up with that much money; he was worried the gold coins might have come from an illicit source.

In fact, he'd already had people look into Lin Fei's background. Lin Fei was just an ordinary person.

His parents were farmers. Where could he have gotten so many gold coins?

To set Wu Zhen's mind at ease, Lin Fei explained, "Uncle Wu, I can't tell you where the gold coins came from, but I can assure you they weren't stolen."

"If you think this is too much trouble, then just forget I mentioned it. I can't give you the three Small Foundation Pills I promised for nothing. Each one is worth at least twenty million."

Wu Yuqing sprang to her feet.

She was getting angry. She thought Lin Fei was making an outrageous demand and deliberately trying to rip them off.

"Twenty million for one pill? Why don't you just rob someone?"

"Three pills would be sixty million. There aren't many people across Yunzhou who could afford that."

The price shocked Zhou Wangdao too, but he didn't say anything. After all, this matter had nothing to do with him.

Lin Fei smiled, unbothered by Wu Yuqing's words.

"I know the price sounds a little ridiculous, but the pills are worth it."

In Nanli City, a Small Foundation Pill from Duobao Pavilion was worth a thousand gold coins.

Through Li Ruxue, Lin Fei had bought them from the Li Family for eight hundred gold coins each.

The buyback price for a gold coin was twenty thousand yuan.

So each Small Foundation Pill was worth twenty million.

Lin Fei truly hadn't intended to make money off Wu Zhen. Otherwise, he could have quoted an even higher price.

Wu Yuqing stared at Lin Fei for a long moment, as if she'd finally put the pieces together.

"Wait. At first, you said you'd give my dad three pills, and all you wanted in return was for him to help you exchange the gold coins for cash."

"If my dad refused, you'd sell the pills for twenty million each. So you'd already worked it all out. You just wanted sixty million, didn't you?"

Lin Fei knew Wu Yuqing had misunderstood. He was about to explain when Wu Zhen, who'd been silent for a long time, spoke up.

"Yuqing, don't talk nonsense. There's a difference."

"If I agree to help Lin Fei exchange his gold coins, then he really is giving me the pills for free, because we'll also be getting the gold coins."

Wu Yuqing frowned. "That's true. If we melt the gold coins down and make them into jewelry, we could still make quite a bit."

"But why does it still bother me? It feels like Lin Fei dug a pit and waited for us to jump in. Like we don't have a choice at all."

Wu Zhen was a martial artist, but he was also a shrewd businessman. Otherwise, he could never have built an enterprise as large as Longhua Group.

Businesspeople, after all, were always looking to turn a profit.

Lin Fei believed Wu Zhen could do the math.

For the Wu Family, this deal had only advantages and no downsides.

"Uncle Wu, even if we can't make a deal, we can still be friends. I don't want you thinking I'm a profit-hungry scoundrel."

"How about this? I'll give you the three Small Foundation Pills for free. You don't have to do anything for me. Let's just call it a gesture of friendship."

Wu Zhen suddenly burst out laughing. He found Lin Fei more and more interesting.

This young man was becoming harder and harder to read.

"Hahaha, Lin Fei, I told you I wouldn't take your pills for nothing."

"I'll help you exchange the three thousand gold coins for cash. And if you need my help with anything else in the future, I'll do my best."

Lin Fei lifted his glass and clinked it against Wu Zhen's.

"Thank you, Uncle Wu!"

After setting down his glass, Lin Fei turned to Zhou Wangdao.

"Uncle Zhou, I'll give you a Small Foundation Pill too."

"Ah?"

Zhou Wangdao was surprised, but also a little delighted.

With a Small Foundation Pill, he could conduct medical research. Maybe he could develop a similar medicine and make a name for himself in the medical field.

"But I don't have any money, and I can't help you with anything."

Lin Fei replied, "You can help me, Uncle Zhou. You're a renowned doctor in Yunzhou's medical community, so I imagine you know some suppliers of Chinese medicinal herbs, right?"

"I have a friend who wants to get into the medicinal herb-growing business. You just need to put us in touch so she can buy seedlings for a batch of rare medicinal herbs."

Zhou Wangdao answered at once, "No problem. Plenty of medicinal herb merchants want to work with our hospital. I can put you in touch."

Lin Fei was secretly pleased.

This meal hadn't been a waste. He'd taken care of two pressing matters in one go.

After dinner, Wu Yuqing drove Lin Fei home.

Wu Zhen and Zhou Wangdao didn't leave right away. Instead, they started talking about Lin Fei.

"Old Zhou, have you noticed that Lin Fei is no ordinary man?"

"Isn't that obvious? He gave me quite a fright today."

Zhou Wangdao had thought Lin Fei was an ordinary person who'd simply been lucky enough to catch the attention of the old divine doctor.

Now it seemed Lin Fei was anything but ordinary!

"It seemed like he came prepared today. Even if you hadn't asked him for a Small Foundation Pill, he probably would've found a chance to ask you for help."

"After all, not just anyone can exchange that many gold coins at once. Tell me, do you really think those Small Foundation Pills are worth twenty million each?"

Wu Zhen answered without hesitation, "They're worth it!"

"Absolutely worth it!"

"In a single night, they completely healed my old injuries, and my cultivation even showed signs of a breakthrough. If those pills went up for auction, people would fight like mad to get them!"