Chapter 54

Hu Xiaoniu watched Qing Chen leave, feeling a familiar vibe.

It wasn't that he had seen Qing Chen before or that Qing Chen resembled someone else, but rather the attitude of keeping people at a distance.

It was like when they themselves excluded some classmates from their circle, being polite on the surface but proud at heart.

This surprised Hu Xiaoniu a bit. He looked at the building where Qing Chen lived and asked, "Have you noticed anything strange about him?"

Zhang Tianzhen, wearing black-rimmed glasses, said, "Wang Yun and Bai Wan'er are quite pretty, and they are his new classmates and neighbors, but he doesn't even look at them, let alone show any interest in talking."

"Yes," Wang Yun nodded, "It's not like the shyness of an ordinary boy, but more like he wants to avoid us."

"I asked Nan Gengchen next door today. He said this classmate has always been in the top three of the grade, so it's normal for him to be a bit proud. Isn't that how top students are?" Bai Wan'er smiled, "Our 'Hai Zhong' school's top students are like that too."

Hu Xiaoniu shook his head with a smile, "Top students in small cities have a low ceiling."

In fact, Hu Xiaoniu wasn't deliberately mocking. They were well aware that the education in top-tier cities was far ahead of that in small cities.

Top students in small cities can read and write English well, but their speaking and listening skills are far behind, even at schools like Luocheng Foreign Language School.

But in some key high schools in major cities, you can find people who can converse fluently in English just by walking around the school gates.

They have won countless competition awards and spend their winter and summer vacations in the Arctic.

It seems like two different worlds.

"Never mind, don't worry about top students or gods. We won't have much interaction with him anyway. We're just neighbors living in the same building," Wang Yun said, "Let's go inside."

As they spoke, they opened the door to room 102.

The workers had already left, and the house had been completely renovated in just one day.

The interior wasn't redecorated because of the short time, so they hurriedly laid fixed carpets on the floor and applied anti-mold treatment to the walls, then added a layer of wallpaper.

This was barely acceptable for the four of them.

"Actually, we could have stayed in a hotel. We don't necessarily have to live here. Our goal is Liu Dezhu, and so far, Jiang Xue doesn't seem special," Bai Wan'er said.

Hu Xiaoniu said, "Don't be short-sighted. Since we decided to move from City 7 to City 18, we should try to make some friends in City 18. Haven't you read He Xiaoxiao's guide? It suggests forming teams."

Wang Yun was still a bit melancholic, "You insist on slowly building a good relationship with Liu Dezhu. In my view, buying information and resources directly with money would work too."

Zhang Tianzhen shook his head, "Since we chose to come to Luocheng, we should be prepared to endure hardship. This was something Xiaoniu and I agreed on from the start. We have no roots in City 7, so what we can do is use the energy of the surface world to influence the inner world."

Hu Xiaoniu, the leader of the group, nodded and said, "Right now, we need to build a good relationship with Liu Dezhu, so let's put aside our usual attitudes. Money is important, but it's not everything. You need to understand that there are many people in the world who are richer than us. When someone else wants to buy resources from Liu Dezhu, our friendship will be our greatest advantage."

"By the way, how's your progress? We were supposed to be in the same class, but they said Class 4 of Grade 2 is full," Wang Yun asked.

Hu Xiaoniu replied, "Liu Dezhu is quite approachable, but he doesn't want to reveal much when I probe him."

Zhang Tianzhen said, "He seems approachable, but the problem is that he doesn't want to reveal anything. He looks simple but is actually very shrewd, a wise person who appears foolish."

"Right, 'wise but appears foolish' is a good evaluation," Hu Xiaoniu summarized.

"By the way," Wang Yun suddenly said, "Have you heard that Yangyang is also planning to transfer?"

"Yangyang?" Bai Wan'er and the others were taken aback.

Yangyang, the name of a seedling.

A very simple name, but from Bai Wan'er's reaction, it seemed that this name held a unique position in Hai Zhong, the top high school in Hai City, which is why everyone was surprised.

Zhang Tianzhen suddenly said, "Wait, I remember someone said Yangyang's grandparents are in Luocheng. Could she be transferring here too?"

"Let's not think about that for now. We haven't heard that Yangyang is a time traveler," Hu Xiaoniu said, "Let's go and visit our new neighbor."

He found a fancy box as a gift and led the others upstairs.

Knock, knock, knock. Hu Xiaoniu knocked on the door.

A voice from inside said, "Xiao Yun, go open the door. It might be your brother Qing Chen."

Then, Xiao Yun's sweet voice came, "Brother Qing Chen, wait a moment, I'll open the door for you."

Click, the door opened.

Wang Yun smiled and said, "Hello, little one."

Bang, the door closed again. Inside, Li Tongyun said, "Mom, it's not Brother Qing Chen."

Jiang Xue was puzzled, "Then who is it?"

Li Tongyun replied, "It doesn't matter."

The soundproofing in the house wasn't very good, and Hu Xiaoniu heard the sound of the cartoon "Paw Patrol" from inside. The door remained closed for them.

Wang Yun and Bai Wan'er exchanged glances, "Brother Qing Chen... that name sounds familiar?"

At that moment, they didn't realize that their neighbor in the building was a direct descendant of the Li family and a single disciple of Li Shitong. They had come to Luocheng with great effort, but they hadn't even found the right person.

...

At that moment, Qing Chen, whom Li Tongyun had mentioned, was standing in a small alley south of the crossroads in Luocheng.

The alley was quite old, with traditional Chinese architecture, gray walls, and black tiles on both sides of the cobblestone road.

When it rained, the raindrops would gather on the tiles and then fall down the eaves.

At the entrance of the old gold shop, two red lanterns hung, and a blackboard was placed outside: "High prices for gifts, gold, caterpillar fungus, and ginseng."

Qing Chen, wearing a hoodie, asked, "How much for gold?"

The old man weaving a bamboo basket looked at him and asked, "Do you have a receipt?"

"No," Qing Chen shook his head.

The receipt is the invoice for buying gold, which proves its origin.

Generally, gold recycling requires this. Without a receipt, the gold might be problematic, and regular pawnshops won't accept it.

The old man looked at him, put down the bamboo basket, and said, "It's hard without a receipt. If you really want to sell, I'll give you 220 yuan per gram, no questions asked."

The gold price today is 380 yuan per gram.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "Deal, 39 grams."

8,580 yuan, a huge sum for him, enough to solve his immediate problems.