Chapter 53: Trafficking Gold and Making a Massive Profit of Twenty Thousand Taels!
After searching around for a while, Li Feng actually discovered some clues!
Holding his flashlight, he walked up to a piled-up stone platform.
It was obvious that someone had disturbed this place, but because too much time had passed, cobwebs were everywhere.
Li Feng used his Tang dao to sweep away the cobwebs, then cut off a section of the platform.
Sure enough, it was hollow underneath.
He hurried forward, inspected the somewhat decayed box, and pried it open with his blade.
"Bang!"
Due to its age, the box was already fragile, and under Li Feng's operation, it simply shattered.
Seeing the gold rolling out from inside, Li Feng's breathing grew somewhat heavy.
His guess was correct.
The mountain really did contain a gold mine.
This gold was of high purity, square-shaped, and bore no official government seal. What did this indicate? It meant that the mine on this mountain had been secretly excavated by unknown parties!
Without hesitation, Li Feng raised his hand and collected all the gold.
[Ding! Five gold bricks discovered, totaling 50 catties. Do you wish to sell them?]
Hearing the system's prompt, Li Feng checked the prices in the mall.
The current price of gold was 850 wen per gram. One catty equals five hundred grams, making a total of 425,000 wen, which amounted to 425 taels of silver.
50 catties of gold was equivalent to 21,250 taels of silver!
If one bypassed the system and exchanged it at a Daliang money shop, the rate was one tael of gold for ten taels of silver!
50 catties of gold would only be 5,000 taels of silver.
Even a fool knew how to make the exchange!
[Sell!]
Li Feng did not hesitate and sold them immediately.
He had just found another path to wealth. Once his business grew larger, he would convert all his copper coins and silver into gold.
Then, by reselling it through the system, the back-and-forth would yield more than four times the profit. In this way, becoming the richest man in the country was just around the corner!
After a successful sale, Li Feng tallied his finances. He was fabulously wealthy—completely, utterly wealthy!
He no longer cared about the measly thousand-odd taels of silver he had before!
Now, with an additional 21,250 taels of silver, plus the 1,228 taels and 560 wen he had left over, he possessed a total of 22,478 taels and 560 wen of silver.
He was ready to do something big.
Having put away his belongings, Li Feng looked at the passage in front of him and decided to thoroughly explore it.
He walked from one end to the other and found no more gold, but he did discover a few letters!
Perhaps because they had been left there for too long, the ink on them had faded somewhat. Li Feng squinted at them for a long time, half-reading and half-guessing.
The general gist was asking whoever came after them to safeguard the gold and deliver it to a certain place.
As for what place and what people, Li Feng didn't look closely and didn't intend to care.
He was no paragon of high morals; this place had been abandoned for decades and no one had found it. Now that he had discovered it, wasn't that simply fate?
Hiding gold privately could spell disaster if he were discovered, but fortunately, he had the system. Otherwise, even if he got his hands on this gold, he might not necessarily be able to spend it.
People capable of wiping out an entire family wouldn't bat an eye at eliminating anyone else.
Since he had converted the gold into silver, it would naturally be safe to take out and use, but this money...
He needed to find a way to launder it!
With this thought, Li Feng raised his hand, took out a lighter, and burned all the letters to ashes.
Watching the letters turn into a pile of dust, Li Feng felt satisfied. He returned the way he came and obediently lay down on the bed.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning.
Along with the crowing of a rooster, Li Feng opened his eyes.
He got up, dressed, and washed up.
Daya had already prepared breakfast.
As per Li Feng's request, there was a bowl of corn mush, a small dish of pickled vegetables, and several white flour steamed buns for each person!
The steamed buns of this era were completely unpolluted and very fragrant. Li Feng had asked Daya to add a little white sugar and cow's milk, making the buns whiter and sweeter.
From afar, a milky fragrance could be smelled.
Four-Niu and Five-Niu were already standing obediently by the table.
They had just fetched the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen.
The small dish of pickled vegetables was placed right in the center to provide salt; Father eats first!
Big-Dog and Second-Niu had made a trip up the mountain. Li Feng had previously taught them how to hunt, and they could now set traps on the outskirts to catch pheasants and hares.
When it was time to eat, there was no need to call them; the two had already walked down from the back mountain.
They went over to wash their hands, and just as they straightened up, they saw Li Feng coming out.
"Father!"
Everyone chimed in together.
Second-Ya stuck to him like glue; the moment she saw Li Feng, she scurried over, wrapped her arms around his leg, and called out sweetly, "Daddy, morning!"
Her voice was soft and milky, and Li Feng had zero defense against it. He bent down, scooped up the little one in his arms, and asked, "Did you wash your face?"
"I did!" Second-Ya revealed a little white tooth with a missing gap, her voice gentle.
With Li Feng's care, plus eating and dressing warmly, not to mention sleeping on a spacious, comfortable bed, the little girl was happy every day.
Children of this age easily forgot pain as long as they were fed well; with delicious food and fun things, the little girl had a short memory and had long since thrown past unpleasantness to the wind.
Every day was filled with happiness now.
"Well, our Second-Ya is so clean. Let's go, Daddy will take you to have breakfast!"
Li Feng carried the little girl to the table!
The others sat down in turn.
Li Feng looked at the small dish of vegetables in the center, took just one bite, and was completely stunned.
"Why is it sour? Shouldn't it be salty?" Li Feng asked.
"It is salty!" Daya looked at him in confusion. "Father, is it not salty?"
Li Feng found it hard to put his suffering into words.
Far from not salty, it was extremely sour.
It must have been pickled cabbage with a little salt added.
However, the salt was insufficient, so it had turned rather sour.
Li Feng didn't say anything further. If this pickled cabbage were stir-fried in oil, used to make soup, or cooked with pork, it would still be decent.
It could also be used to make pickled cabbage rice, but the premise was that they needed oil.
At this time, every household was struggling at the subsistence level; where would they find so much spare money to buy salt or meat?
"You guys eat!"
Li Feng pushed the dish toward them, then ate a bowl of mush and a steamed bun!
Not to mention, Daya had pretty good culinary skills.
The dough had fermented nicely, and the steamed buns were soft and fluffy, completely unlike the flour lumps he used to eat.
The taste was authentic, the sweetness moderate—she could practically open a steamed bun shop!
On second thought, he dismissed the idea. Breakfast was the busiest time; not to mention the exhaustion, the earnings were also minimal!
During breakfast, Li Feng's mind wandered through many thoughts.
Once breakfast was over and Daya had cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, Big-Dog and Second-Niu began calling out to Li Feng: "Father, let's hurry to the village entrance. Uncle Dafu should still be waiting there. Father can take the ox cart to the county town first!"
Huaiyang County was further away than the town, and the ox cart ride would take about three hours. Setting off now, they would likely arrive in Huaiyang County by noon!
"Go change your clothes!"
Li Feng took out the short garments he had bought earlier and handed them to Big-Dog and Second-Niu!
"Father, these are ready-made clothes!" Big-Dog's eyes widened in disbelief. "Father, actually, I know how to make clothes!"
"You know how to make clothes?" Li Feng paused, the garments in his hand, looking at Big-Dog with astonishment.
Big-Dog nodded shyly. "Not just me, Second-Niu knows how too!"
"When Mother was sick, she was afraid we wouldn't have clothes to wear, so she taught me and Second-Niu by the dark of night!"
Big-Dog smiled with honest simplicity.
Second-Niu clutched the clothes, his fingertips turning white. "Father, you should just buy cloth in the future. Once we finish the farm work, I can make clothes!"
"I can do it too!" Daya chimed in.
"I can make shoes and socks for Father and my brothers!"
Li Feng: "..."
If he had known this earlier, he should have asked!