The next morning, Ye Fei cooked a packet of instant noodles while pondering where to go to continue making money using his special ability. For him, who had not seen much of the world, this was the only way he could think of to make money with his unique talent. As for other methods like gambling, he had only heard of them and never experienced them himself.
As he contemplated his plans, there was a sudden knock at the door. Ye Fei was taken aback for a moment, quickly checked his money to make sure it was all put away, and found nothing unusual in the room. He then walked over to open the door.
Standing outside was the landlady, smiling as she said, "Xiao Ye, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Ye Fei, full of respect for the elderly, hurriedly stepped aside and said, "Please come in, Grandma."
The landlady glanced around the room and saw that, as usual, there was nothing valuable. She shook her head in exasperation, thinking to herself that these laborers really didn't know how to add some decent items to their place.
"Well, Xiao Ye, we had agreed on a monthly rent of three hundred yuan. You also know that prices have risen sharply, and three hundred yuan is just too little. I have to make a living too," the landlady grumbled.
Ye Fei's expression changed as he asked, "So, how much of an increase are you proposing?"
The landlady smiled and said, "Five hundred a month!"
"What, five hundred!" Ye Fei exclaimed in surprise.
The landlady's expression turned stern as she said, "What's wrong with five hundred? Given the current rate of price increases, five hundred is not much at all!"
Ye Fei's face darkened. He couldn't understand why the landlady suddenly wanted to raise the rent. When he first came to the big city and was eager to find a place to stay, he didn't dare to contact expensive agents. Later, he found this place by chance through a small ad on the roadside. He rented this room of less than ten square meters for three hundred yuan. It had no kitchen and was more like a warehouse, which was later cleaned up and rented out as a room.
Ye Fei was not familiar with the market and thought that housing in the big city was inherently expensive, so he didn't think much about it and rented it out.
It was only later, after getting familiar with the area, that he realized three hundred yuan could pay for a whole month's stay at a small hotel outside, which even had facilities like TV and a fan, while here, there was nothing except for a broken-down house.
But Ye Fei was somewhat sentimental and felt that since he had already rented it, there was no need to argue about it. He never expected the landlady to suddenly demand a rent increase.
"We had agreed on three hundred yuan per month. How can you just raise it like that!" Ye Fei asked angrily.
The landlady snorted, "Xiao Ye, hasn't your salary also increased? It's only an extra two hundred yuan per month, not much."
"I see. In that case, I won't rent it anymore," Ye Fei said furiously.
The landlady sneered, "Won't rent? You still have to pay the rent for next month."
Ye Fei looked at the landlady in disbelief. He didn't expect the seemingly kind old lady to have such shameless behavior.
"Why should I? If I'm not staying, what can you do about it?" Ye Fei shouted angrily.
The landlady suddenly called out, "Erzi, come in! This kid refuses to pay the rent!"
The door was pushed open, and a nearly six-foot-tall, fat man walked in with a sullen face. As soon as he entered, he yelled, "Mom, whoever dares to bully you, even if they live in my house, they still have to pay the rent. Are they asking for trouble?"
The landlady proudly pointed at Ye Fei and said, "It's this kid!"
Seeing this situation, Ye Fei calmed down and asked, "What do you mean? Do I have to pay even if I don't rent?"
The fat man known as Erzi chuckled, "Kid, you're pretty clear about things! If my mom says the rent is going up, you should just hand over the money without fuss, otherwise, you'll regret it."
Ye Fei clenched his fists and looked at the mother and son in front of him, wishing he could punch them both to death. Originally, Ye Fei had planned to move to a better place in a few days and, before leaving, tell them about the gold underground, but their disgusting performance made Ye Fei suddenly see how ugly human nature could be. No wonder these tenants came and went, and none stayed for long. He had thought it was because of the conditions, but now it seemed that they were driven away by this greedy mother and son.
"Fine, here you go, here you go," Ye Fei took out five hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the landlady.
As they walked away, Ye Fei looked at the cement floor and a hint of madness flashed in his eyes. Since you treated me like this today, there's nothing more to say when I take away the gold that originally belonged to your family. It was said to be a cement floor, uneven and with spots where the soil underneath was visible. It was obvious that this cement floor was just for show. After winning so much money from the lottery, Ye Fei had already stopped paying attention to these gold pieces.
Now he has changed. Ye Fei made up his mind that even if he had to dig just a little bit, he would dig out the underground gold. After being indignant for a long time, Ye Fei finally calmed down and went out.
This time, Ye Fei took all the cash with him. Faced with such a landlord, he dared not leave the money at home. If it were stolen, he would have nowhere to reason. After all, Ye Fei was still young and lacked social experience. As long as the rental contract was signed, the other party could not raise the rent by such means.
Ye Fei went to a hardware and sundry store and looked around, feeling somewhat disappointed. The tools here were too large. If he bought them and took them home, it would easily arouse suspicion from the old lady.
The owner asked, "What are you looking to buy, young man?"
Ye Fei replied, "I want to buy a sturdy shovel, preferably a smaller one that can be folded."
The owner smiled and said, "Young man, are you looking for a military shovel? You should go to the military service center for that, I don't have any here."
Thanking the owner, Ye Fei searched around and finally found a military supply store in an inconspicuous alley.
Inside, Ye Fei saw military coats, uniforms, and various tools.
"Hello, do you have military shovels here?" Ye Fei asked.
The salesperson inquired, "What kind are you looking for? Long, short, or foldable? Domestic or foreign?"
Ye Fei resolutely said, "I want a foldable, sturdy foreign one."
The salesperson brought out a military green shovel and said, "This one is imported and very sturdy. Many people who go camping in the wild buy this kind."
"How much is it?" Ye Fei asked.
"One hundred and thirty yuan," the salesperson replied.
Surprised, Ye Fei exclaimed, "So expensive?"
The salesperson smiled and said, "Imported ones are more expensive, the domestic ones are forty-five yuan."
Gritting his teeth, Ye Fei decided to buy the slightly more expensive one.
With the military shovel in hand, Ye Fei returned to his room, locked the door, drew the curtains, and turned on the light.
Listening for any sounds outside, Ye Fei began to dig the soil. As he expected, there was a thin layer of cement on the ground, and when he dug in the exposed area, the cement was easily chipped away, revealing the soil underneath.
Carefully listening for any noise in the yard, his heart raced. This was the first time he had done something like this, and he felt nervous.
After digging for a while, Ye Fei sat on the ground, sweating profusely. He had already dug out a hole in the ground.
Ye Fei was not unfamiliar with physical labor. However, he was extremely nervous. Whenever a car passed by on the street, he would stop nervously, his hands sweating profusely.
After getting through the most difficult part, all that remained was soil and stones. Ye Fei peered outside from the window and saw no movement. He thought that the old lady and her son might have gone out.
In fact, the landlady did not live here; she had her own house in the nearby community. She came here every day specifically to attract tenants. Because hardly anyone stayed here for more than two months, those who were initially deceived eventually refused to stay here. Not to mention the landlady's frequent rent increases.
Finally, before the other tenants returned to the room, Ye Fei dug out the box.
The box was not large, about ten centimeters high, thirty centimeters long, and nearly twenty centimeters wide. It had an old-fashioned lock with rust marks. Ye Fei used the military shovel to pry open the box, and with a creak, the box opened.
These gold bars seemed to shine, almost taking Ye Fei's breath away. Gold bars, densely packed!
Excited, Ye Fei picked up a gold bar with both hands and stared at it without blinking. This feeling intoxicated him, and it took him a long time to recover. He slowly counted and found that there were fifty gold bars!
Ye Fei took out all the gold bars, placed them on the bed, and then lay down, looking at each one and touching them. With so many gold bars, Ye Fei didn't know what to do. The only thought in his mind was that he was going to be rich!
The excitement of finding the gold bars far surpassed that of digging them out of the ground. At this moment, even if the landlady did not raise the rent, he would not want to tell her.
No wonder they say wealth moves the heart. Seeing so much gold, who could remain calm?
After a while, Ye Fei suddenly wondered how much these gold bars were worth.
Remembering what the salesperson who sold him the phone had said, that the phone could access the internet, Ye Fei hurriedly retrieved his phone.
After searching online and seeing the prices, Ye Fei couldn't believe his eyes.
Gold bars from the Republican era generally weigh 1000 grams. At the current price of 420 yuan per gram, one gold bar would be worth 420,000 yuan. Altogether there were fifty bars, so the total would be 21,000,000 yuan.
After arriving at this figure, Ye Fei was dumbfounded. If he hadn't calculated it, he wouldn't have been shocked.