156: Nine Silver Houses

On thursday afternoon, the school had free time, so Ye Su invited his three roommates to a pool hall, where they played pool for the entire afternoon.

Opportunities for the four of them to hang out together were becoming increasingly rare, and Ye Su was not the type to abandon his friends for a girl.

After playing pool, Ye Su took the three of them for a drive, treated them to a meal, and then dropped them back off at school.

By the time Ye Su put the jade pendant in the safe and returned to Chen Xinyi's place, it was already nine in the evening.

Chen Xinyi, having finished her shower earlier and currently applying a facial mask on the sofa, paid no attention to Ye Su when he entered.

There is no harm without comparison.

After the early morning intelligence and his experience dealing with Qin Manyun earlier that day, Ye Su now found Chen Xinyi increasingly pleasing to the eye.

Although she loved money just the same, at least she wasn't hypocritical about it; she didn't hide her nature of loving money in the slightest.

For Ye Su, this point alone made her far superior to Qin Manyun.

Furthermore, although Chen Xinyi loved money, Ye Su could honestly say that whenever he needed money, this "Chen Pixiu" was quite willing to spit out gold coins for him.

"What are you doing!"

It was rare for Ye Su to praise Chen Xinyi in his heart.

However, when Chen Xinyi noticed Ye Su staring at her with sparkling eyes ever since he entered, she instantly clutched a pillow to her chest, glaring at Ye Su with guarded eyes:

"Truce for tonight, don't you try anything!"

He had finally had a change of heart and praised her, even if he hadn't said it out loud.

Yet she actually suspected him of having ulterior motives. How could Ye Su endure that? He went over and gave Chen Xinyi a lesson.

"You're still wearing your outside clothes, don't rub against me!"

"My mask is going to fall off!"

The mask she was wearing today cost over ten yuan, and Chen Xinyi couldn't bear to let it fall to the floor. She could only try her best to keep the mask in place while putting up a futile resistance.

After teasing her, Ye Su finally felt satisfied and went to get his clothes to shower, leaving behind an innocent and aggrieved Chen Xinyi on the sofa, her two big eyes peeking out as she looked at Ye Su with resentment and hurt.

...

He had pushed the pedal to the metal too hard last night, so Ye Su didn't continue speeding tonight. Before going to sleep, he chatted idly with Chen Xinyi, waiting for the Friday third-level intelligence to refresh.

Approaching midnight, Chen Xinyi, whose biological clock was becoming increasingly regular, had already put down her phone and fallen asleep before Ye Su.

[Time until next intelligence refresh: 00:00:02. Please wait patiently, Host!]

[Ding!]

Under Ye Su's patient gaze, the sound of the intelligence refreshing finally echoed in his mind.

[Today's Intelligence (Level 3): Beside a large tree at the foot of the southern hillside in Tanyin Village, there is a box of ancient books buried underground from the last century.

Inside the box is a rare copy of the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop · Gold Diamond Emerald Jewelry Design Drawing]. Because it has not been crafted into finished pieces and lacks foreign trade documentation for verification, its current market price is approximately 260,000 yuan.]

[Note: The approximate prices of the other books in the box have been listed in [Details]; the Host may open it to view them.]

"A box of books buried in the ground, and one of them is the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop · Gold Diamond Emerald Jewelry Design Drawing], worth 260,000!"

Ye Su realized that his luck had been quite good lately.

The Level 2 intelligence from the day before yesterday allowed him to snag a wooden carved Buddha statue from the Wanli period, netting him a profit of 95,000.

Yesterday, Qin Manyun came to him on her own initiative, allowing him to buy a 250,000-valued jade pendant for 120,000.

Today, a Level 3 intelligence report revealed a rare book worth 260,000.

In three days, two Level 2 intelligence reports and one Level 3 intelligence report had earned him nearly 500,000 in profit!

"Now this is the kind of money-making speed I'm talking about."

"But what is the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop]? It feels strangely familiar."

Driven by curiosity, Ye Su looked it up online and remembered that the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop] was indeed one of the [Nine Great Silver Shops] of Shanghai in the early days.

The [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop] mentioned in the intelligence was a time-honored brand founded during the Jiaqing period, renowned for its exquisite gold and silver craftsmanship and expertise in creating high-end jewelry such as gold, diamond, and emerald pieces.

However, the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop] ceased operations in the late stages of the War of Resistance and was converted into a second-hand goods store after liberation.

Among today's [Nine Great Silver Shops] in Shanghai, the only ones that have preserved their complete legacy are the household name [Lao Feng Xiang] and the [Jing Fu Silver Shop], which was revived by the Weng family at the end of the last century as [Hui Cui Lou Jewelry].

"The [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop] was most famous for its high-end jewelry, such as gold, diamond, and emerald pieces..."

A flash of inspiration struck Ye Su: "If that's the case, this rare copy of the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop · Gold Diamond Emerald Jewelry Design Drawing] might have much more potential value than just selling it to Wan Yuanliang as a common antique book!"

After deciding how to handle the [Fei Wenyuan Silver Shop · Gold Diamond Emerald Jewelry Design Drawing], Ye Su opened the intelligence details again to check the prices of the other books.

[《Shi An Qi Wen》 Volume 6 · Qing Dynasty Woodblock Edition - 180 Yuan]

[《Di Li Ren Zi Xu Zhi》 Volume 3-6 · Qing Engraving Edition - 600 Yuan]

[...]

Although they were ancient books from one or two hundred years ago, they were merely ordinary books at the time, so the system's valuation was only a few hundred to one or two thousand per book.

Added together, the total price for the dozens of books was only around 20,000.

"That works. With these miscellaneous ancient books included, my earnings for the past three days will break the 500,000 mark."

Ye Su waited for a while longer, but the intelligence didn't refresh a [hidden easter egg].

"What's going on? You're making me go out to dig in the dirt, but there's no attribute reward as compensation?"

Since Brother System wouldn't give one, Ye Su couldn't force it. He could only apply a [Sleep Aid Service] to Chen Xinyi before getting up to go to work.

He first went to Liwan Community to pick up his hoe, headlamp, and other "tools of the trade," then followed the navigation for a half-hour drive to reach the vicinity of Tanyin Village.

"The southern hillside?"

After confirming the direction, Ye Su drove carefully to the hillside a short distance from Tanyin Village, where he spotted the guidance light provided by the system from afar.

After getting out of the car and checking his surroundings, he confirmed that it was nearly one in the morning and no nearby residents would be bored enough to come to the hillside to hang out. Only then did Ye Su put on his headlamp and grope his way toward the guidance light, arriving at a large tree several dozen centimeters thick.

"I hope it's not buried too deep."

Ye Su prayed as he put on his work gloves. Using the guidance light as the center point, he swung his hoe and began to dig.

It had been raining occasionally in various parts of Yangcheng recently, so the soil on the hillside wasn't very hard, and Ye Su didn't find the digging too strenuous.

Thanks to the bonuses from his previous [Physique] and [Strength] rewards, it didn't take long for Ye Su to dig a pit several dozen centimeters deep.

"Brother System has added to my [Physique] and [Strength] three times in a row—could it be that it was waiting for this moment?"

Thinking of this, Ye Su felt a pang of conscience. He realized he had probably wronged the good Brother System when he suspected it of mocking him as a weakling the last time he received a [Strength] attribute reward...

No, he had wronged a good system.

"Brother System, I've wronged you. I'm sorry!"

As he apologized, Ye Su swung his hoe with even more vigor.

Clang!

With another strike of the hoe, Ye Su felt like he had hit something. The texture wasn't as hard as stone; it felt more like a wooden board.