Rebirth of the Legend of the Red Age

Chapter 54, Buying Gold Bricks
Wang Li asked the man: We know each other. We met many years ago, right?

Wang Xiaohu immediately replied: Yes, yes, you have a very good memory. My name is Wang Xiaohu and I am Lai San’s neighbor.

Wang Li said to him: Let’s talk inside.

As he said this, he took him to the living room in the second courtyard where his mother lived.

The reason why he was brought here was that the reception room in the second courtyard was not as luxuriously decorated as that in the third courtyard, so it could be displayed to outsiders without attracting attention.

After the two sat down, Wang Li asked: What are the building materials?
Wang Xiaohu repeated what he had just said to Lai San.

Wang Li was a wise man. When he heard that it was a gold brick, he was already interested. He knew how rare it was and estimated that after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it would be impossible to burn it. So those gold bricks should be considered antiques.

So he said to Wang Xiaohu: I am interested in these things, please tell me the details.

Wang Xiaohu said to Wang Li: I don’t know the details, I only know that there is a family surnamed Tang in Chaoyang District, Dongcheng District, who used to work for the Imperial Household Department, and they have a batch of gold bricks that they want to get rid of.

I heard that they wanted to live in the South, but I guess he also wanted to go abroad. After all, he had some issues with his identity and it was not easy for him to survive in China.

After hearing this, Wang Li understood that this must be another smart person who wanted to cash out and run away.

Then Wang Xiaohu added: "They said they don't want cash. They only want US dollars and gold, so others are waiting and watching. I came to you after I got the news to see if you have any ideas."

Wang Li said: I have an idea, but it's getting late. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to take me to meet that family tomorrow to discuss the transaction.

Wang Xiaohu agreed: Okay, I will go to the factory to ask for leave early tomorrow morning, and then I will come to your house to find you.

Wang Li nodded: Okay, I'll wait for you tomorrow.

After sending him out the door, I went back to briefly explain the situation to a few people and then went back to the house to rest.

His father didn't say anything, just told him to be careful.

The next morning after practicing and eating, Wang Xiaohu came over and said, "I went to the factory to ask for leave early in the morning. Since the journey is quite far, let's go there earlier."

Wang Li smiled and said, "It's okay. Although the horse in our carriage is a little old, it can still be used. We can go there faster by car." After that, he harnessed the carriage and took Wang Xiaohu to the East City.

Because of the carriage, in less than an hour, under the guidance of Wang Xiaohu, they arrived at the door of the Tang family.

His house is a courtyard house with two entrances, and it can be seen that the living conditions are good. After Wang Xiaohu asked them to open the door and pulled the carriage in, he met the owner of the courtyard house, Lao Tang.

After a brief introduction, they got down to business, with Wang Li and Lao Tang discussing business alone in the house.

Through understanding, it is found that the Tang family was indeed part of the Imperial Household Department in the past.

During the war years, he hid a batch of gold bricks in his home. The reason why he didn't take other valuables was that his father was just a small official with no power and couldn't get access to good things, and even if he had them, it would be difficult to take them out.

Only these gold bricks, the guards didn't know they were treasures, they just thought they were ordinary floor tiles, so he asked his father to pull them out. They were stored in the wing room of the second courtyard of the house, and no one had paid attention to these things over the years.

Then he took Wang Li to the backyard to see the goods and introduced that there were probably nearly 1000 gold bricks in the house, both good and bad. The reason for this was that the emperor at that time wanted to repair the floor of the hall, and before the gold bricks could be exchanged, the country was gone, and no one took care of these floor tiles afterwards.

After that, the two returned to the room and began to discuss the price. The old man offered a price of five yuan a piece, and said: This is only in this era. If it was in the past, you couldn't buy this kind of thing at this price. Moreover, this thing has been discontinued and is considered an out-of-print product. It will probably become an antique in many years.

Although Wang Li agreed with him, he still bargained: Five yuan is too expensive, after all, the current workers' wages are only 30 yuan. Besides, these things are not worth much now, I think one yuan a piece is good enough.

After bargaining between the two, the deal was settled at 2500 yuan.

The old man only wanted gold. Fortunately, Wang Li was foresighted and brought 20 small yellow croakers cast with the gold he had dug out from the ground before. He picked out 12 of them and gave them to him on the spot.

The old man surnamed Tang was surprised that he carried so much gold with him, but he didn't say much.

After taking the gold and completing the transaction, the old man helped find a car to transport the gold bricks back to Wang Li’s courtyard.

It was almost noon when Wang Li drove the car into the courtyard garden.

(End of this chapter)