5: Chapter 5 The Surprise at the School Gate

The flames burned for about ten minutes, and the gold began to melt slowly, eventually turning into a puddle of golden liquid that wobbled in the furnace, nearly spilling over several times.

Li Xin carefully poured the molten gold into the mold, waited a few minutes for it to cool, and then gently opened the mold.

A 50-gram small gold bar was produced.

The surface of the gold bar was smooth, without any markings, like a perfect piece of art.

Although it wasn't crafted perfectly, since it was gold, it was a work of art regardless of how ugly it looked.

He repeated the melting process twenty times, eventually turning 1 kilogram of gold into twenty 50-gram small gold bars.

Then he put them into a small cloth bag and stuffed it into his backpack.

He didn't intend to touch the remaining 8.2 kilograms of gold for the time being.

Just then, the system suddenly popped up a notification.

"Host, you can actually just have this system help you make small gold bars of any specification; there is no need to manually melt them yourself."

The joyful expression on Li Xin's face suddenly froze.

He stared at the notification for three seconds, then looked down at the gold-melting furnace and molds he had spent nearly two hundred yuan on, and then at the crookedly cut gold ingots, suddenly feeling a flock of crows fly over his head...

"...System, can you say that earlier next time?" Li Xin pouted, feeling aggrieved.

"The host did not ask."

Li Xin took a deep breath and swallowed the swear word that had reached his lips.

After all, he couldn't afford to offend it; if he cursed it away, he wouldn't even have a place to cry.

Forget it. It was only two hundred yuan.

He packed up his things, shouldered his bag, and headed straight for the nearest commercial street.

There were several gold shops there. He came to a small alley and walked into an inconspicuous old gold shop.

There was only one female clerk in the shop, wearing glasses, sitting by the counter stringing a gold necklace.

"Boss, do you buy gold here?"

The woman looked up and smiled: "What kind of gold?"

Li Xin took a 50-gram small gold bar out of his pocket and placed it on the counter.

The woman picked it up, examined it carefully, and weighed it on an electronic scale. Her movements were very slow, and every action was meticulous.

"Looks like good quality. Where did you get it?"

"It was passed down from the elders in my family."

The woman looked him up and down without asking further: "The current gold price is 220 per gram. I'll buy it at 210 per gram."

"That's too low. How about 210?"

"No, I can only pay 200." The woman said unhurriedly.

Li Xin was silent for a moment: "205."

The woman stared at him for two seconds: "205 it is. 10,250. You count it."

She counted out a stack of cash from the drawer and handed it over.

Li Xin counted it once; it was correct.

A 50-gram small gold bar sold for over ten thousand yuan.

He went to a second gold shop and sold the second one. Then the third, the fourth...

He didn't dare to sell too much in one shop for fear of arousing suspicion. He only sold one or two at a time, changing shops and areas.

After a day, he had visited over a dozen gold shops, sold twenty small gold bars, and earned a total of over two hundred thousand yuan.

He divided the money into several parts: some into the system panel space, some on his person, and some deposited into the bank.

Standing at the entrance of the bank, he looked at the balance on his bank card—123,800 yuan.

In his previous life, it had taken him several years to save less than a million. Now, he had earned over two hundred thousand in just one day.

But this was just the beginning.

He took out his phone and checked for flight tickets to Dubai. From Shenzhen to Dubai, one-way economy class was 3,200 yuan.

He placed the order without hesitation.

Then he checked for hotels in Dubai. The cheapest was 500 yuan per night. He booked three nights.

Regarding the visa issue, he checked online and found that Chinese citizens can get a visa on arrival in the United Arab Emirates, which costs about 500 yuan.

Everything was ready.

He sent a message to Luo Maifa: "Maifa, I'm going to Dubai tomorrow."

Luo Maifa replied instantly: "Holy crap, are you for real? Where did you get the money?"

"Borrowed it."

"Borrowed? From whom?"

"Don't worry about it. When I get back, I'll treat you to a meal."

"...Alright then, take care of yourself. Send me a message when you arrive."

"Okay."

Li Xin put his phone in his pocket and took a deep breath.

Tomorrow, he would be going to Dubai.

It was the City of Gold, and also the first stop on his path to wealth.

He turned and walked toward the school, his steps much lighter than when he had come.

When he reached the school gate, the system suddenly popped up a notification.

[System: Gold reaction detected nearby. Location: Approximately 30 meters ahead, about 2 meters underground. Estimated gold content: 0.5 kg. Type: Finished gold (gold jewelry).]

Li Xin's footsteps paused.

At the school gate, people were coming and going; there was a security booth, flower beds, sidewalks...

He looked down at the concrete ground under his feet. Right beneath this, two meters deep, there was gold?

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then squatted down and pretended to tie his shoelaces, placing his hand on the ground.

"Collect."

[Collection successful. Obtained gold: 0.5 kg.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 0.5 kg. Another 9.5 kg required for the next upgrade.]

Li Xin stood up, brushed the dust off his hands, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He hadn't even gone to Dubai yet, and the gold had already delivered itself to his door.

He continued walking toward the dormitory, but his mind was on another matter.

The system just said "0.5 kg"—but his cumulative refined gold was 0 before, and now it had become 0.5 kg. That wasn't right; he still had 8.2 kilograms of gold in his space that hadn't been refined? Wait, the previous 9.2 kilograms had already been refined, 1 kilogram had been sold, and 8.2 kilograms remained in the space; the system cumulative should be 8.2 + 0.5 = 8.7 kg.

He paused, then reopened the system panel.

[Cumulative gold refined: 8.7 kg. Another 1.3 kg required for the next upgrade.]

Right. The 1 kilogram sold just now had already been refined, so it didn't count as new refining. The 8.2 kilograms in the space were previously refined, plus the 0.5 kilograms he had just picked up, made a total of 8.7 kilograms.

He was still 1.3 kilograms away from the upgrade.

Li Xin shook his head, kept this in mind, pushed open the dormitory door, and walked in.

Tomorrow, Dubai.

There was more gold waiting for him there.