Chapter 53: Devalued Gold

Normally, in a place like this, the deeper you go, the quieter it becomes.

But the further Zhou Liming walked in, the louder the sounds reaching his ears became. This noise was not the kind between men and women as he had imagined, but sounded like a marketplace, just like the bustling street he had entered earlier.

Soon, the burly man pushed open a door directly. A wave of hot air rolled in, white light flooded in, and his ears were filled with noisy chatter.

“We buy gold and all other precious metals. If you have any, bring them quickly, otherwise the shop will close soon.”

A man in a plaid shirt shouted on the street. He occasionally whistled at beautiful women passing by, followed by loud laughter.

Zhou Liming was stunned. He had never imagined that behind the nightclub was such a lively street. More importantly, this gold shop was set up directly at this exit. The place the previous man had pointed to was indeed in this direction; it was just that his own route had been wrong, leading him on a memorable journey.

The gold shop was not very crowded. People who entered always left with angry faces after asking some questions.

“This is our boss.”

The burly man pointed to a seat near the lobby of the gold shop, then turned and went back to the entrance he came from. He closed the door after leaving.

Zhou Liming walked over to the seat the burly man indicated. It was a wooden tea table. An old man with slightly graying hair was sitting there, sipping tea from his cup, occasionally closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. He dressed casually, looked somewhat frail, and always had a faint smile on his face.

He noticed Zhou Liming, waved his hand, and began to brew tea.

Zhou Liming took a deep breath, stepped forward, and sat directly opposite him. He rudely picked up the tea in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. To Zhou Liming, the tea felt a bit bitter, followed by a faint freshness, and then a sweetness similar to boiled water.

“Good tea is not drunk like this.” The other man said calmly, and took another small sip of tea. “Let me introduce myself. My surname is Xu. People usually call me Boss Xu. As for my real name, I can barely remember it. I heard you have gold?”

Zhou Liming put the woven bag on the table and pulled it open, revealing the shiny gold jewelry inside. He said, “I just want to know what the current gold price is.”

Boss Xu only glanced at the pile of gold jewelry in Zhou Liming’s hand, looked surprised, and then pointed to an LCD monitor in the lobby. “You can check the gold price for today here.”

The LCD monitor in the lobby was indeed displaying today’s gold price. But as soon as Zhou Liming saw the price, he understood why the people who had just entered had left with angry expressions. Because the gold price, which he imagined should keep rising, was actually only 280 yuan per gram. It was exactly the same as before the disaster arrived, or even slightly lower.

With the arrival of the Fierce Beast Era, it could be considered a chaotic time now. Gold should have gone crazy, but here, Zhou Liming could not see any craze for gold.

“280 yuan per gram? Did you forget to add a zero after 280?” Zhou Liming couldn’t help but say. With such a huge increase in prices, the fact that the gold price did not rise but actually dropped slightly was incredible and completely out of Zhou Liming’s expectation.

Boss Xu lingered on Zhou Liming’s changing face for a moment, then said calmly, “Strange? Actually, the price is the same in the entire An J City. It is all 280 yuan per gram. Do not doubt this, because I control it all. I can also tell you that the gold price in other cities is not very different either. You don’t need to have too many illusions.”

Zhou Liming felt like something inside him had been torn. Yes, it was his dream.

When he was in Zhe B City, he risked his life to grab this batch of gold, dreaming that he could give the Dean and the others a good life then. But the current gold price ruthlessly shattered everything. At a price of 280 yuan per gram, the woven bag contained only a few million yuan. Facing an apartment that cost tens of millions, it was nothing but floating clouds.

“Why? Why is it like this?”

Boss Xu smiled and said, “It’s simple. Money!”

Thinking of the shattered dream and the Dean lying in the hot tent of the Refugee Camp, Zhou Liming suddenly stood up. With lightning speed, he lifted Boss Xu into the air and roared, “You are behind this, right? Controlling the gold price to make more money. You bastard, taking advantage of the disaster to fleece people like this.”

To control the gold price of an entire city, how much power was needed? Was he just an ordinary person?

When Zhou Liming lifted Boss Xu off the ground, more than ten burly men appeared next to Zhou Liming. They all held pistols in their hands, pointing them at Zhou Liming. A burly man wearing sunglasses said, “Take your hand off our boss. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being impolite.”

Zhou Liming gradually let go. He was not afraid of these people, but there was no need to cause a conflict now.

Boss Xu rubbed his aching neck, adjusted his collar, and coughed forcefully a few times. After catching his breath, he did not show the expected rage. Instead, he sat back down and said, “Taking advantage of the disaster? Look at the outside world. It has all gone crazy. Items that have increased dozens or hundreds of times in price, aren’t they also making a fortune from the disaster?”

As if thinking of something, Boss Xu said calmly, “Your gold, I guess correctly, must have been obtained from cities occupied by Fierce Beasts, right?”

Zhou Liming’s face changed. He said, “How do you know?”

“Look at your gold. It is all jewelry, and there are price tags and counter names on them. Anyone with a normal brain can figure it out. But it doesn’t matter, because I don’t mind the source of the gold.” Boss Xu tapped the tea table lightly. “Look at the current currency. It is gradually losing its meaning. Soon, it will surely become a pile of waste paper. Only gold holds its value best. Future circulation will definitely belong to precious gold.”

Zhou Liming did not understand. “Since you understand this principle, why are you still suppressing the gold price?”

Boss Xu laughed loudly. Looking at Zhou Liming who was pointed at by more than a dozen guns, he said, “Not suppressing it, how would I make money? The lower my buying price, the greater the profit in the future. Think about how the prices of goods outside change every day. When people have no money to eat and the government cannot provide aid, even if I offer a very low price, they will still sell it to me.”

He picked up the woven bag that Zhou Liming had placed on the tea table, smiled, and said calmly, “Well, will you sell the gold?”

Zhou Liming suddenly smiled and shook his head. “What if I say I won’t sell?”

Boss Xu also smiled and said, “If you don’t sell, tell me, what will happen to you?” He put down the woven bag and calmly started drinking tea again. Anyone pointed at by more than a dozen guns would know what choice they need to make. In the current world, killing someone is too common and normal.

To control the gold price of an entire city, if you don’t use some means, how is it realistic?

The government?

The government is busy with the housing and eating of millions of people. Who would care about these things?

Isn’t that what they mean by seeking wealth through danger?