Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What kind of treasure is it?” After Li Beini sucked up the last of the lobster meat, she looked curiously at Zhao Yu. “Senior, why do you always play cards so weirdly? Isn’t that a bit wild?”
“Yeah!” Peng Xin laughed. “Yu, what kind of treasure is it? Some sort of heirloom?”
“No, not an heirloom! It’s money!” Zhao Yu spoke without any hesitation, “I have a stash of old bills, fourth generation of RMB printed! All one-hundred yuan bills. I wanted to ask an expert to get a price estimate for me!”
“Oh?” Liang Huan was suddenly interested and asked, “Zhao, does the money have any tears in it? Are the serial number all in a row?”
“No tears, just a bit old!” Zhao Yu answered, “As for the serial numbers, I haven’t looked carefully! Mm…wait…” He realized he spoke wrong and tried to backpedal, “Should…should be in a row, at least part of them! What…are you an expert?”
“Hey! What are you saying!” Zhang Jinfeng slapped Liang Huan’s shoulder and introduced him. “You guys don’t know? Liang here has some fame in Qinshan for being a collector of old bills!”
Huh? Zhao Yu was shocked. It seemed like all the good things were just coming for him. To think right that right in front of him was an antique money expert!
“Don’t speak nonsense! Be humble, humble!” Liang Huan grinned as he spoke, “I mostly collect stamps. Currently I’ve just been testing the waters with the bills! Zhao, for old bills it’s usually a negotiable price, but we need to see the condition first!
“If it’s the fourth generation of RMBs, if there’s no tear and has connected serial numbers, it’s usually worth five times its original value! Usually, it’s about two to three more times, but…if it’s not pretty, or if the numbers aren’t in a row, then it’s not worth much anymore!”
“If it’s like that, then I’ll let you check it out later!” Zhao Yu was very hopeful. He really wanted to know how much his bag of old bills was worth, so he asked eagerly, “Then, how about after we finish our food, you come to my house for a bit?”
“Well…” Liang Huan furrowed his brows. “Later my wife told me to go to the transport office to do paperwork, I can’t refuse! How about, in the afternoon since we have to go to work anyway, at work, I’ll just go find you?”
“Mm…okay!” Zhao Yu nodded. “Then I’ll bring the money for you in the afternoon so you can check it out!”
“Okay!”
After the two reached an agreement, the luxurious seafood feast seemed to be coming to a close. Everyone thanked Zhao Yu, then went their own way. Zhao Yu first needed to go home and get the money, so he headed straight for Shunfeng Street.
Due to Huahua’s sudden arrival the other day, he had not gotten the chance to check the money carefully. As he took the money out, he realized in shock that the money was neatly stacked, and that even though there were some yellow from age, every bill was clean and new!
The thing that shocked Zhao Yu the most was that every bill had a connected serial number!
“My god?! Thinking back on what Liang Huan said he thought, “If this money could really be five times its original price…then…” Zhao Yu immediately opened a stack and counted. Each stack was exactly one-hundred bills, exactly ten-thousand yuan! He decided to just dump out all the stacks out of the bag and count them. There was exactly twenty stacks!
“Aiya, holy sh*t!!! This is two-thousand yuan?! Five times the amount, then that’s…a whole one-million?!” Suddenly, Zhao Yu felt completely numb! In two lifetimes added together, he had never seen this much money!
“Wahaha…with of a million yuan, couldn’t I buy a house? Why am I renting one? I…can also buy a car? Or…I can go play in a bar, maybe I could try and act like a big shot now? Gold diggers, come now, come and dig gold from me…Muwahaha…”
Zhao Yu got more and more excited at the thought. Yet, after nearly ten minutes of his excitement, he gradually realized some small things. “Weird…Years ago, two-hundred thousand yuan would’ve been a huge amount of money, right?! Which…if it’s really like this, then…should I go back and check again? One, to see if there’s anyone under there. Two, to see if there are other…bags?!”
Zhao Yu had not even slept the night before. He had originally wanted some rest today, but every time he thought about the bills worth millions, he felt like he about to go crazy! How could he sleep?
When it was almost time, he took out two stacks of cash from the bag and wanted Liang Huan to check it out first. Yet, when he pulled out his key to lock the door, he was a bit worried. Would it be safe to keep such a large sum of money at home? If a thief came in, then everything would be lost! Especially since he had found out that Jian Wenli’s culprit may have used a homemade key, he felt even less safe.
After much consideration, Zhao Yu put the two stacks of cash back into the bag and just took the entire bag to the police station. But the bag was very old fashioned.It did not matter whether Zhao Yu held it in his hand or under his arm, it clashed badly with his clothing. It would attract too much attention going out with a bag like that. Thus, when he passed by the fruit stand under his house, he stole a black plastic bag without Jiang Dafeng noticing, and put the bag inside. Just like that, Zhao Yu carefully took the bag of money to the police station.
Li Beini was currently busy writing a report, but the girl’s eyes were very sharp. Seeing Zhao Yu come in suspiciously with a plastic bag, she was immediately interested. “Ah? Senior, the treasure’s here?” Li Beini strode over to Zhao Yu’s desk. “Quick, lemme see, what kind of treasure is it?:
“Go! Yours?” Zhao Yu hugged the plastic bag close and waved her off, “Didn’t I tell you! Money, old bills!”
“I know, che! What’s so bad about looking? Look at you being stingy. You’re so influential, and you’re afraid I’d try to steal from you?” Li Beini pouted, very unhappy.
Zhao Yu was about to explain, but Lian Huan suddenly appeared.
“Come, come, Liang…” Li Beini was even warmer than Zhao Yu. She immediately greeted Lian Huan and beckoned him over. Zhao Yu opened the bag inside the plastic bag and pulled out a stash of cash.
“Woah!” Li Beini was shocked and spoke out loud, “This much? Senior, how are you so rich?”
“Sh!” Zhao Yu did not want to cause a commotion, and immediately put the money in Lian Huan’s hands.
Lian Huan pulled out a few bills and spoke, “Looks good, just the color’s bad! Huh? The serial number’s connected, good, good…”
“I see, then how much?” Zhao Yu’s eyes lit up as he looked up expectantly.
“Hm…hard to say.” Lian Huan furrowed his brows. “You’ll have to find the right buyer. With this kind of thing, if someone wants it, not to mention that it’s already four to five times the original value, someone might even do ten times! But if they don’t want it, people wouldn’t even buy it for two times its original value! Oh…right, money like this with the connected serial numbers, how much do you have? If you have a ton, then that’s really amazing!”
“Oh? Really?” Zhao Yu looked around, and noted that there were only the three of them in the office before he picked up the black plastic bag and took the leather bag out. “I have…twenty stacks!!!”