Chapter 14

In the morning, Hao Meng got up early and went back to the house in the outskirts of the city to pick up a few clothes.

"Why don't you buy a bed and stop sleeping on the sofa every day? There's still an empty room upstairs, isn't there!" Wei Shufen said while eating breakfast, her head lowered.

Hao Meng, of course, had no objections. As long as she wasn't afraid of any accidents, he, a big man, had nothing to fear. He chuckled and nodded, then turned to see Guo Guo looking at him with big eyes, even winking. The little rascal knew everything and wasn't easy to fool. "Adults are talking, what are you listening to, kid? Hurry up and eat!"

The little guy wasn't afraid of him, pouted his lips at him, picked up his bowl, and drank the porridge, then ran off to play on the computer.

"I'm going out. Call me if anything happens!" After finishing breakfast, Hao Meng prepared to go to the second-hand market again, which had almost become his workplace.

Actually, fixing old things didn't make money quickly, far from the speed of restoring antiques. Back then, a set of four oil-stained monkey stamps sold for several tens of thousands. It wasn't that Hao Meng didn't want to do that, but he had no opportunity. Antiques weren't something just anyone could handle. He couldn't tell the real from the fake unless the 'Recycling Station' gave a hint.

He sighed, realizing that without knowledge, he couldn't do much. He decided to buy a few books about philately, antiques, and collecting to read and gain some knowledge.

During the initial accumulation phase, he still had to rely on those old things!

Hao Meng stood at the door, looking at the old tricycle outside, pondering whether he should switch to a four-wheeled vehicle. After all, he was now a 'boss' of sorts!

...

Second-hand market!

"Beep: A 'huge' restoration value item has been discovered!"

Hao Meng was taken aback and walked into the nearby store selling old furniture.

"How much is this chair?"

"Three thousand!" The boss glanced sideways at Hao Meng, then lowered his head and continued his work.

"How much?" Hao Meng widened his eyes.

"Three thousand. The chair is made of redwood, an old piece from the Qing Dynasty!" The boss said solemnly.

Hao Meng rolled his eyes and said, "Boss, that's no use to me. I don't know what redwood is, and I don't want antiques. I just want to buy a few usable old pieces of furniture. How much for this double bed, those two almost rotten chairs, and that big desk?"

The boss was quite amusing, adjusting his prices based on the customer. Hearing Hao Meng's words, he laughed, put down his work, straightened up, and said, "The bed is two hundred, the chairs are eight hundred each, and the desk, you can give me a thousand!"

"The bed for one hundred, the chairs for fifty each, and the desk, which looks quite new, isn't it made of redwood too?" Hao Meng went over and tapped on it.

The boss of the old furniture store shook his head and said, "Those two chairs are old, at least eight hundred each. This desk is one I just acquired, made of good wood, genuine and solid, at least a thousand. If you buy those two chairs, I'll throw in the bed for free. How about that?"

"No deal!" Hao Meng smiled and shook his head. "Those two broken chairs, I'll leave them for someone who appreciates them. I want this big desk and this double bed. I'll give you a thousand for both. Deal?"

"Those two chairs are really good, from the Qing Dynasty. I wouldn't sell them to just anyone... one thousand and one!" The boss of the old furniture store countered.

"Deal!" Hao Meng took out the money and bought the bed and the big desk. The bed and the desk didn't need 'restoration' to be usable!

The double bed and the desk were loaded onto the vehicle and taken back to the store.

The bed was moved directly to the second floor. With Hao Meng's current strength, lifting a two-hundred-kilogram object was no problem, but anything heavier was beyond his capability. This was probably due to the 'Basic Gene Agent' given by the Recycling Station.

"Sister Shufen, don't let anyone upstairs, I have something to do!" Hao Meng pulled Wei Shufen aside and whispered, then turned and went upstairs. Normally, few people came upstairs, but the young woman from the clothing store next door sometimes came to borrow the toilet!

There were two bedrooms upstairs, one large and one small. The large one was where Wei Shufen and her daughter lived. Hao Meng placed the double bed in the small bedroom. The small bedroom was a bit cramped with the double bed, but it was enough for one person. The only downside was that there was only one window, so the lighting was poor.

Hao Meng put the desk into the 'Recycling Station.' Indeed, this big desk was the item with 'huge' restoration value that the 'Recycling Station' had hinted at.

Desk: Ordinary item, white, recycling value, 4 gold coins.

There was nothing special about the desk itself; it was made of ordinary solid wood. The issue was that within the white circle of the desk, there was a streak of purple, very eye-catching!

"What is that?" Hao Meng curiously shifted his mental energy and studied it for a while before realizing there was a hidden compartment under the desk.

Or, it couldn't really be called a compartment. Lying down and looking from below, there was a piece of wood that was different from the rest of the desk. If not for the 'Recycling Station' hint, Hao Meng wouldn't have noticed. The joints were seamless, and the surface was painted, so unless the desk was split open, it would be impossible to see with the naked eye!

Hao Meng found a fruit knife and, after some effort, dug it out. This piece of wood was about thirty centimeters long, ten centimeters wide, and three to four centimeters thick. It weighed about ten kilograms and was quite heavy.

"Millennium Agarwood: An extremely valuable type of wood, recycling price: 6000 gold coins."

"I found a treasure!" Hao Meng muttered to himself. A small piece of wood could sell for 6000 gold coins, definitely a treasure, equivalent to the price of several million kilograms of cardboard.

Of course, the price wasn't calculated like that!

"How many gold coins are needed to restore this piece of millennium agarwood?" Hao Meng couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Beep: Six million!"

"Damn!" Hao Meng cursed, thinking, "Is this wood made of gold? A complete piece of millennium agarwood costs six million? That's 120 million RMB. Just the restoration cost is that high, so the selling price must be even higher, eight hundred million, or a billion?"

He first put the piece of millennium agarwood in the corner of the warehouse. Hao Meng hadn't decided how to handle it yet. The price given by the Recycling Station was too low, only 6000 gold coins, equivalent to the price of scrap. He would keep it for now. After all, it wouldn't run away, and he could deal with it later.

After coming down from upstairs, Hao Meng used his laptop to look up information and learned that agarwood was sold by the gram, ranging from one thousand to ten thousand per gram, even more expensive than gold. The piece of millennium agarwood he had was even more valuable, being 'purple' millennium agarwood!

This was a great treasure. If he ever ran out of money, he could take out a small piece of the millennium agarwood, cut it, and sell it, which might be enough to live for ten or eight years!