2: Chapter 2 The Big Yellow Croaker is in Hand

After hanging up the phone,

Zhang Wei simply sat on the curb and carefully sorted out the current situation.

Firstly, the blue light screen was too conspicuous, but judging from the reactions of pedestrians, it seemed only he could see it. Although Zhang Wei hadn't been to the residential area where the information appeared, he seemed to have heard of it somewhere by chance, so it should be a real-world location. As for Global Plaza, mentioned in the first item, it was a landmark shopping mall in Shenghai City, and Zhang Wei had been dragged there by his ex-girlfriend countless times to act as her ATM.

"So, all that's left is to confirm the authenticity of the information itself," Zhang Wei muttered to himself.

First, the first piece of information was immediately dismissed.

Not to mention the value of a cup of milk tea, even in Shenghai City where Shanghai currency is used, a cup of milk tea would cost at most twenty to thirty yuan. It wasn't worth making a special trip for that little money. Moreover, the merchants must have done a lot of promotion, and the first thirty spots wouldn't even be enough for the aunties and Uncles to share.

The thought of a group of aunties and Uncles glaring at him made Zhang Wei's body involuntarily tremble. He couldn't afford to provoke them.

As for the elderly person living alone passing away, that wasn't reliable either. Was he supposed to pry open the door to steal a passbook? That would be asking for an early death.

An elderly person living alone isn't necessarily an orphan; they might have relatives, friends, or neighbors. If the body were discovered and the police investigated, he would be finished if he were mistaken for a murderer.

Currently, the most suitable option was the third one. The garbage room in the residential area was usually unlocked, so there would be no need to pry locks or break down doors, and the two gold bars were quite valuable.

Most importantly, this cabinet was discarded, which meant its previous owner likely didn't know about the secret compartment. There would be no hidden danger of being held accountable later.

"I'll do it! Fortune favors the bold!" Zhang Wei made up his mind.

He got up from the ground and brushed the dust off his backside. There were no buses or subways in the middle of the night. Zhang Wei reluctantly hailed a Didi to return to his rented room.

Entering his home, he rummaged through the cabinet for a common tool kit and put it into his backpack. Then he changed into a black hoodie, put on a baseball cap, and a mask. He looked at himself in the mirror, estimating that anyone not particularly familiar with him wouldn't recognize him.

Zhang Wei nodded in satisfaction, opened his phone, and called another car to Workers New Village.

The drive from his rented room took about twenty minutes. After paying and getting out, Zhang Wei stood by the road opposite the community gate, observing.

It appeared to be an old residential area with buildings over thirty years old. There was no access control system at the main gate, allowing free entry and exit.

The guardhouse at the entrance was small, with a light on inside where an old man was sitting, sound asleep, leaning back in his chair.

Zhang Wei pulled down his cap brim and walked towards the community entrance.

No guard stopped him. After all, security in such old communities was basically non-existent.

Successfully entering the community, Zhang Wei looked around. The community wasn't large, just over a dozen six-story buildings.

Zhang Wei thought for a moment. Usually, construction waste rooms in communities are placed in more secluded corners. So, he walked around the community and indeed found his target in a spot against a wall.

What was called a garbage room was actually just a low shed of about ten square meters. Inside, some discarded home appliances and construction waste were haphazardly piled up.

Zhang Wei crouched down and began searching. Soon, he found an old chest of drawers deep inside the shed.

"There really is a cabinet! It seems the information was true!" Zhang Wei was a little excited.

Following the hint in the information, he pulled out the third drawer from the bottom left. At first glance, it was an ordinary drawer, with some miscellaneous household items inside.

Zhang Wei didn't waste any time. He pulled the entire drawer out with force and examined it carefully in his hand.

He quickly noticed a five to six-centimeter height difference between the outer and inner sides of the drawer, which confirmed it was a secret compartment.

He dumped out all the miscellaneous items from the drawer, took out a screwdriver, and carefully, trying not to make too much noise, pried open the bottom of the drawer.

Before long, a gap appeared at the bottom of the drawer, revealing two rectangular objects wrapped in burlap inside. Opening the cloth, a golden glint caught his eye. Inside lay two gold bars. Faintly, he could still see the traditional Chinese characters "Made by Central Mint" on them.

"I'm rich!" Zhang Wei's breathing quickened, filled with excitement.

One must know that the current gold price was nearly 600 yuan per gram. These two gold bars were worth at least two to three hundred thousand.

From a struggling wage slave to someone with hundreds of thousands of RMB, Zhang Wei had achieved it in less than an hour!

This is awesome! The intelligence system is incredible!

Suppressing his excitement, he rewrapped the two gold bars in cloth, put them into his backpack, and Zhang Wei walked towards the community gate.

"Wait a moment!" But just as he feared, as he reached the gate, the gate guard, who had woken up at some point, opened the window of the guardhouse and called out to Zhang Wei.

For a moment, Zhang Wei's heart felt as if it had been suddenly clutched by a hand. Even his breathing seemed to stop.

"Should I just run? The old man definitely can't catch me, but what if he calls the police? There are cameras everywhere on the street; that would undoubtedly be asking for death.

Zhang Wei took a deep breath, turned around, and feigned impatience, saying, "Uncle, what's up? Hurry up, I'm going to be late for my night shift."

The old man, not suspecting anything, said, "Young man, just a reminder, the community's circuit breaker will be undergoing maintenance tomorrow. The power will be cut for two hours starting at 8 AM. It's best to turn off appliances like refrigerators, or they might leak water."

Zhang Wei acknowledged him and hurried out of the community.

The security Uncle mumbled, "Young people nowadays are so rude, taking kindness for granted." He returned to the guardhouse to slack off.

Zhang Wei came to the roadside and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was a false alarm.

He quickly called a ride-sharing car. Zhang Wei sat in the back and used his phone to research how to sell gold.

First, there were the common private gold shops on the roadside. These small shops were usually inconspicuous and wouldn't refuse gold of unknown origin. The downside was that these small shops generally offered lower recycling prices, and their safety was questionable.

A famous mobile phone recycling platform, "Aishoushou," also recycled gold. The gold price basically matched the daily gold market price, with only a small additional handling fee. The price was relatively fair. However, transactions required real-name authentication, which could easily expose him.

There was also the National Precious Metals Exchange Center, but Zhang Wei immediately ruled that out. Gold transactions by national institutions started at a minimum of kilograms. The weight of these two gold bars wasn't enough to qualify.

Zhang Wei rubbed his chin, thinking for a long time, and finally decided to try a small gold shop tomorrow.

After all, with the intelligence system, he wouldn't lack opportunities like today in the future. But once his identity was exposed, it would be irreversible. Keeping a low profile and quietly making a fortune was the right approach.

Back in his rented room, Zhang Wei felt a wave of sleepiness wash over him.

He had been drinking all night, then went out in the middle of the night to pick up gold bars. It was almost 4 AM now. Even a young, vigorous man like Zhang Wei couldn't quite handle it.

He hastily hid his backpack in the wardrobe and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep.