After driving Lü Dehai and Tao Shengli to the county seat, Li Long asked where they wanted to go. Lü Dehai had already eaten, so he told Li Long to take him straight to the bus station. He wanted to take a bus home.
There was now a bus service from the county seat to Liuhudi. Although it only ran once a day, getting home was fairly convenient.
Tao Shengli said he wanted to find somewhere to stay first, buy some daily necessities, and have a meal before leaving.
Li Long dropped Lü Dehai off at the bus station first, then drove to the county guesthouse.
"Boss Li, do you know anywhere I can exchange this placer gold for money?" Tao Shengli asked. "I don't even know whether I can do that here in the county seat."
Li Long did not know either. Although he had acquired quite a few gold nuggets, lumps of gold, and now this placer gold, he had never exchanged any of it for money. He had kept it all as collectibles.
Besides, private trading in gold products apparently was not allowed at present. At least in a small county town like Ma County, there was no way to sell them.
Li Long told Tao Shengli the truth. Looking troubled, Tao Shengli said to him:
"Boss Li, could you buy this placer gold from me? I know it certainly isn't worth as much as the gold sold in shops. I'm not asking for much. I know you're a good man, so how about naming a price and taking it off my hands? I haven't got a penny on me now..."
Li Long asked:
"How much placer gold do you want to exchange, then? If it's just what you had in your waistband, I could exchange some