"A box? What would I want a box for?"
"The box is quite pretty, too. It has flowers carved on it, though it's a little old. My dad said keeping the box and the gold together would draw too much attention, so he put the box somewhere else!"
Song Ning said, "All right! I'll have to see it before I can name a price. If it's just an ordinary box, wouldn't I be losing money?"
"I guarantee it's not ordinary! At the very least, it dates back to the Republican era! Anyway, it's worth more than an ordinary box!" Wu Tao Ying looked certain.
"Then how do I inspect it?"
Wu Tao Ying hesitated, then said rather sheepishly, "Y-you pay me first! Then I'll tell you where it is!"
"I haven't even seen it yet! How am I supposed to pay?"
Wu Tao Ying held up one hand and waved it in front of her.
"You know what things are like for our family. We can barely afford food now! Just think of it as... helping us through an emergency!"
Song Ning lowered her head, took out five yuan, and handed it to her. "Fine! Where's the box?"
But Wu Tao Ying refused to take it. "N-not enough! Fifty!"
"You want fifty yuan for an old box? Forget it! Find another buyer!" Song Ning stood up to leave.
Wu Tao Ying hurriedly grabbed her. "Forty! Forty will do! Please, sis! Just help us out!"
"Forty is fine! But you have to tell me how you found the box and where you found it!"
"All right, all right! Sit down first!"
Only after Song Ning sat down did Wu Tao Ying lean toward her ear and say:
"I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else! The neighborhood office said they'd found