Chapter 7

Update time: March 20, 2013

The next morning, Zhang Yang cooked a bag of instant noodles. While eating, he thought about where he could go to make more money today. For Zhang Yang, who had never seen the world, this was the only way he could think of to use his ability to make money. Other things like gemstone gambling, he had only heard of but never encountered.

As he was thinking about his plan, someone knocked on the door. Zhang Yang was taken aback and quickly checked his money, putting it all away. Seeing that there was nothing unusual in the room, he walked over and opened the door.

The old landlady stood at the door with a smile. "Little Zhang, I need to talk to you about something!"

Zhang Yang, who always respected the elderly, hurriedly moved aside and said, "Grandma, please come in and talk!"

The old lady looked around the room, which was the same as before, with nothing valuable. She rolled her eyes; these workers never thought to buy anything.

"Little Zhang, we agreed on a rent of 300 yuan per month. You know how prices have risen. 300 yuan is really too little, and I need to live too," the old lady grumbled.

Zhang Yang's face changed, and he asked, "How much do you want to raise it to?"

The old lady smiled and said, "500 yuan per month!"

"What, 500 yuan!" Zhang Yang exclaimed.

The old lady's face changed. "What's wrong with 500 yuan? With the current price increases, 500 yuan is not too much!"

Zhang Yang's face turned sour. He didn't understand how the old lady could say such a thing. When he first rented the place, it was his first time in a big city, and he was eager to find a place to stay. He didn't dare contact the high-fee agencies and eventually found this place through a small advertisement on the street. He rented a room of only about ten square meters for 300 yuan, without a kitchen. It was just a converted storage room that was later rented out.

Zhang Yang, not knowing any better, thought that the rent in big cities was that expensive and rented it for 300 yuan.

It wasn't until later that he realized 300 yuan could get him a month's stay in a small hotel with a TV and a fan. This place had nothing, just a dilapidated house.

However, Zhang Yang was a bit nostalgic. He didn't mind and decided to stay, but he never expected the old lady to suddenly raise the rent.

"We agreed on 300 yuan per month. How can you just raise it like that!" Zhang Yang asked angrily.

The old lady huffed. "Little Zhang, your salary has also increased, hasn't it? I'm only raising it by 200 yuan a month, which is not much."

Zhang Yang, furious, said, "If that's the case, I won't rent it anymore."

The old lady sneered. "Even if you don't rent it, you still have to pay next month's rent."

Zhang Yang looked at the old lady in disbelief. He never thought that the old lady, who always seemed kind, could be so shameless.

"Why? I'm not staying here anymore, what do you want to do?" Liu Jian shouted angrily.

The old lady suddenly shouted, "Ergo, come in, this guy refuses to pay the rent!"

The door was pushed open, and a fat man over 180 cm tall walked in, his face full of menace. He shouted, "Mom, who dares to bully you? Living in our house and not paying rent, are you looking for a beating!"

The old lady pointed at Zhang Yang triumphantly. "This guy!"

Seeing this, Zhang Yang calmed down and asked, "What do you mean? Do you want me to rent it even if I don't want to?"

The fat man, called Ergo, laughed. "You're pretty smart, aren't you? If the old lady says to raise the rent, you should just pay up. Otherwise, you'll regret it."

The old lady's tone softened. "Little Zhang, it's not easy for you to work away from home. I understand, but you should understand me too. I live off this rent. You don't want to go to the police station over this, do you?"

Ergo added, "I'm not scaring you, but my buddy is the police chief. If you, an outsider, anger me, I can have you detained!"

Hearing the word "detained," Zhang Yang's face changed.

Ergo thought Zhang Yang was scared and continued to intimidate him. "We are native to Tiancheng. Dealing with you is like playing. Pay the rent, and this will be over."

Zhang Yang clenched his fists, looking at the mother and son, one playing good cop and the other bad cop. He wanted to punch them both. Originally, Zhang Yang planned to move to a better place after he had some money and tell them about the gold under the floor.

But their despicable performance made Zhang Yang see the ugliness of human nature. No wonder the tenants came and went, with no long-term residents. He initially thought it was because of the poor conditions, but now he realized it was due to the greedy mother and son.

"Fine, I'll pay, I'll pay!" Zhang Yang took out 500 yuan and handed it to the old lady.

After they left, Zhang Yang looked at the cement floor, a glint of madness in his eyes. Since you can treat me like this today, I have no qualms about taking the gold that originally belonged to you.

The cement floor was uneven, with some parts showing the soil underneath. It was clear that the cement was just a thin layer. After winning so much money from the lottery, Zhang Yang had no longer thought about the gold.

But now he had changed. Zhang Yang decided that even if he had to dig a little at a time, he would get the gold out. After feeling angry for a while, Zhang Yang calmed down and went out.

This time, Zhang Yang took all his cash with him. After encountering such a landlord, he didn't dare leave his money at home, in case it was stolen. After all, Zhang Yang was young and lacked social experience. If he had signed a lease, the landlord couldn't raise the rent like this.

Taking the bus to another neighborhood, Zhang Yang earned a few thousand more yuan. He kept 1,000 yuan for emergencies and deposited the rest in the bank.

After leaving the bank, Zhang Yang went to a hardware store.

After looking around, Zhang Yang was a bit disappointed. The tools here were too big, and buying them would easily raise the old lady's suspicions.

The owner asked, "Young man, what do you want to buy?"

Zhang Yang replied, "I want a sturdy shovel, preferably a small one that can fold."

The owner laughed. "What you're talking about is a military shovel. You need to go to a military supply store. I don't have them here."

Zhang Yang thanked the owner and started looking around. Finally, he found a military supply store in a small alley.

Inside, he saw military coats, uniforms, and various tools.

"Hello, do you have a military shovel?" Zhang Yang asked.

The salesperson asked, "Which one do you want? Long, short, or foldable? Domestic or imported?"

Zhang Yang, determined, said, "Imported, foldable, and sturdy."

The salesperson took out a military green shovel. "This one is imported and very sturdy. It's popular among campers."

Zhang Yang asked, "How much is it?"

"130 yuan," the salesperson replied.

Zhang Yang was surprised. "That expensive?"

The salesperson smiled. "Imported ones are more expensive. Domestic ones are 45 yuan."

Zhang Yang bit his lip and decided to buy the more expensive one.

Seeing the camouflage uniform, he thought about working at night. Other clothes would get dirty easily, so he bought a set of camouflage, a pair of military boots, and a military backpack for carrying soil. By the time he left the store, he had spent 300 yuan.

Fortunately, he had earned a few thousand yuan that day, so he could afford it. Even so, he felt a bit heartbroken. But thinking about the box of golden bars, his heart burned with excitement.

Back in the room, Zhang Yang locked the door from the inside, pulled the curtains, and turned on the light.

Listening to the courtyard, he heard no movement. He took out the military shovel, changed into the camouflage uniform, put on the military boots, and put on gloves, ready to start digging.

The ground was as Zhang Yang had expected, with a thin layer of cement. At the exposed soil, he dug with force, and the cement surface came off, revealing the soil underneath.

Zhang Yang listened carefully to the courtyard, his heart pounding. There's a saying that thieves are always nervous, which described his current state. As a good boy, this was his first time doing something like this.

If it weren't for the old lady's excessive behavior, Zhang Yang wouldn't have chosen to do this.

Hearing no movement, Zhang Yang took a deep breath and continued digging. An hour later, he was drenched in sweat, sitting on the ground, having dug a hole.

Zhang Yang, who had done farm work before, was strong, but he was too nervous. Even a car passing by on the street made him stop, his hands sweating.

Fortunately, the hardest part was already dug out, and the rest was just soil and stones. Looking out the window, he saw no movement. He thought the old lady and her son might have gone out.

In fact, the old lady didn't live there. She had a house in a nearby neighborhood and came here every day to attract tenants. There were almost no tenants who stayed for more than two months. Initially, they were deceived by the low rent, but over time, no one wanted to stay, especially with the old lady's frequent rent increases.

Finally, before the other tenants returned, Zhang Yang dug out the box.

The box wasn't very big, about ten centimeters high, thirty centimeters long, and nearly twenty centimeters wide. It had an old lock that was rusty. Zhang Yang used the military shovel to pry it open, and with a creak, the box opened.

The gold bars seemed to glow, making Zhang Yang almost stop breathing. The gold bars, densely packed, were mesmerizing!

Zhang Yang, excited, picked up a bar with both hands, staring at it without blinking. The feeling was intoxicating. After a while, he came to his senses and slowly counted them, finding fifty gold bars!

Zhang Yang took all the gold bars out, laying them on the bed, and lay down, looking at one, touching another. With so many gold bars, he didn't know what to do, but one thought dominated his mind: he was rich!

After taking the gold bars out, the excitement was even greater than when they were underground. Even if the old lady didn't raise his rent, he wouldn't have thought of telling her.

No wonder they say that wealth can move the heart. Seeing so much gold, who could remain calm?

After a while, Zhang Yang suddenly thought, how much are these gold bars worth?

Remembering what the salesperson who sold him the phone said, that the phone could access the internet, Zhang Yang quickly found his phone.

After searching online and seeing the prices, Zhang Yang's mouth dropped open.

During the Republic of China era, gold bars were generally 1,000 grams. At the current price of 420 yuan per gram, one gold bar was worth 420,000 yuan. With fifty bars, the total value was 21,000,000 yuan.

After calculating this, Zhang Yang was stunned. He never realized how much it was until he did the math.