36: Chapter 36 Ordinary Friends

He watched Su Wanyin leave.

Zhao Jian turned back and closed the main gate.

In the courtyard, the Landlady was waiting for him with a smile in her eyes.

"Your girlfriend?"

"No, just a normal friend."

Zhao Jian transferred 199 yuan via his phone.

The flat shoes from earlier were bought from the Landlady; they were originally sealed and hadn't been worn yet.

Zhao Jian had been quick, tearing open the box and throwing it away before heading out.

"Alright then, I'm going back to my show." Hearing she wasn't his girlfriend, the Landlady's smile clearly widened.

Zhao Jian nodded and headed up the stairs back to his rental room.

Not until the door was locked and the curtains were drawn...

...did he take the gold out of his pocket.

Wealth moves the heart.

Looking at the gold in his hand, he even had the thought of hiding it away.

He quickly dismissed it.

With the system, he would have as much of this stuff as he wanted in the future.

But if he didn't secure the Chengnan Wholesale Market now, there was no telling how long he'd have to wait if he missed the chance.

That piece of land might not generate much profit.

But the land itself would appreciate in value sooner or later.

Wang Peng couldn't see its future value because he was too eager for quick results, only caring about immediate interests and not considering the future.

A peaceful night's sleep.

With the gold tucked in his arms, Zhao Jian slept more soundly than usual.

He had to go sell the gold first today.

The asking price for the Chengnan Wholesale Market was 500,000, which wasn't expensive.

Besides, Wang Peng wouldn't give him any room to bargain.

Just before heading out, today's intelligence information appeared before his eyes.

[Today's Intelligence (Red): Online second-hand platform seller Loves Lock Heart is listing a Colored String Pendant gifted by a suitor for 400 yuan.

Inside the colored string is a Kangxi Currency coin with the character 'Xi' on the back, worth 160,000.]

Zhang Xinxin?

Her suitor is quite capable.

First the Beeswax Bracelet last time, and now this Kangxi Currency copper coin pendant.

It's just that this girl doesn't know the value of things.

As an acquaintance, Zhao Jian had followed Zhang Xinxin on the second-hand platform.

He found her listing with ease, placed the order, and confirmed it.

The transaction location was still the library.

Today was Monday, and Zhang Xinxin was still in class.

So she didn't reply to the message immediately.

He wasn't in a hurry; he could use this time to sell the gold in his hand.

He took the bus to the city center.

There were also gold and silver jewelry buyback shops in Chengxi District.

They were small and had few customers; he didn't know if they used rigged scales.

Shops in the city center had high foot traffic; if there were any issues, he could create public pressure to prevent his gold from being snatched.

He found a shop with quite a few customers.

"Welcome! Are you buying jewelry or selling?" The shop assistant was very enthusiastic.

Current gold prices were high.

Whether buying or selling, the shop made a considerable profit.

After all, when selling, they estimated based on price increases, but when buying back, they estimated based on price drops.

"Selling. 200 grams."

Zhao Jian took out the gold.

The assistant took it and placed it on the scale, not rushing to announce the weight.

He asked, "Do you have a certificate of testing or proof of purchase?"

"No, an ex-girlfriend gave it to me for my birthday."

"Oh, this is 150 grams. I also need to test the purity."

Zhao Jian immediately pinned down his hand.

"This is 200 grams. Either weigh it properly, or give the gold back to me."

The assistant tried hard to pull his hand back, but it was useless.

His face turned beet red. "Let go! If you don't let go, I'm calling the police."

Zhao Jian held him down with one hand and took out his phone with the other, ready to dial the police.

Just then, the Shop Owner came over to mediate. "Let's talk this out calmly. If there's a misunderstanding, let's just clear it up. There's no need to call the police."

He let go of the assistant.

Zhao Jian kept his eyes fixed on the gold on the scale.

He said, "Give me back my gold first."

The counter was somewhat wide.

He had been just able to reach the assistant's hand earlier, but couldn't reach the gold.

"Xiao Liu, give it back to him."

With the Shop Owner's order, the assistant reluctantly handed the gold back to Zhao Jian.

He confirmed it was his piece.

Only then did Zhao Jian say, "I weighed my gold before coming; it's 200 grams. Your assistant told me it's 150 grams, so I'm not selling."

His voice wasn't quiet; every customer in the shop heard him clearly.

For a moment, terms like 'shady shop', 'rigged scales', and 'bullying customers' began to spread in whispers among the customers.

The jewelry Shop Owner's face turned dark.

He brought the scale out and said politely, "May I weigh it once?"

Zhao Jian placed the gold on the scale.

This time he saw it clearly: 200 grams. Not a bit more, not a bit less.

The nearby customers saw it as well.

"Xiao Liu! Are you blind? It's clearly 200, and you reported 150? Get out of here right now, you don't need to come to work anymore!"

The Shop Owner cursed at the assistant named Liu.

This significantly improved the customers' opinion of him.

"It really shows 200 grams. The scale is fine; it was that assistant who had a problem."

"The Shop Owner is unlucky too, hiring such an unethical assistant who almost ruined his reputation."

"This time he was caught, but who knows how many people have been scammed by this assistant. Luckily the Shop Owner is a good person."

"Good riddance. Scammers like that should be fired and blacklisted from the industry forever!"

"This Shop Owner is alright; let's just buy from here."

Zhao Jian didn't think that withholding 50 grams of gold was the assistant's own idea.

The shop had comprehensive surveillance with no blind spots.

Buying it as 150 grams saved money for the Shop Owner, and the assistant couldn't possibly steal the gold himself.

Who would do something so thankless?

But he didn't expose them.

He was here to trade, not to be a fraud buster.

After dealing with the employee issue, the Shop Owner said with a smile, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't expect our employee to be such a person. How about this? To make up for the unpleasantness, our shop will buy back your gold bar at the market price. What do you think?"

The market price was 900 yuan. Usually, jewelry shops would give a few yuan less.

And then use rigged scales to shave off a couple of grams.

That was their profit.

"Alright."

Receiving 180,000 yuan in the transfer, Zhao Jian immediately withdrew the money to his bank card.

Only after confirming the withdrawal was successful did he leave the jewelry shop.

He had already received a message from Zhang Xinxin on his phone:

"Mister Stingy, why is it you again! Be honest, is this pendant of mine very valuable?"

It was indeed valuable, but he wouldn't say.

Zhao Jian replied, "Valuable? I was just worried you'd starve and found an excuse to send you some money."

Zhang Xinxin didn't reply; she was probably back in class.

He bought some donkey meat flatbread and ate while heading toward the library.

Near noon, he finally received Zhang Xinxin's second reply—a silly face emoji with its tongue sticking out.

The library on Monday wasn't deserted.

Even though Zhao Jian arrived right at lunchtime, there were still many people walking with him.

Most were students.

Before long, Zhang Xinxin arrived on a Shared Bicycle.

The first thing she said upon seeing him was, "Give me the money!"